Finally Realize
UnexpectedYour expression turns serious after registering what he had said as you look up to face him, your eyebrows scrunched up together in the middle of your face.
"What did you say...?" You ask him carefully, wanting to confirm what you had just heard.
Hanbin hesitates, thousands of thoughts rushing through his head like loose cannons all going off at once before coming to a conclusion that what he was about to say will only make things harder for the both of you.
"Did you really think I was serious?" He scoffs, brushing his own comment off as he playfully shoves you, causing you to step back a bit, still unable to register everything.
"You were.. joking?" You ask as your tense expression begins to change,
"For someone who makes jokes all the time, you're pretty clueless" he teases half heartedly, a part of him knowing that he was going to regret this later.
"First person to reach the cafe wins!" He swiftly changes the subject, pushing past you and dashing out on to the main road. You startle your body back up again also not wanting to continue on the subject as you realise he was challenging you. You follow closely behind him, calling him out for starting too early.
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You came home late that night, finding Jina sprawled on the sofa watching some variety that was on at the time, a bag of snacks clung tightly in her arms.
"You're back" Jina jumps up, giving you space to sit down. You nod, tired from the occurrence of that day.
"You okay? You disappeared after what happened" Jina says as she moves closer to you.
"I'm fine, but that Miyeon girl is so dead to me" you let out, still angry about what had happened.
"Ahh" Jina now realising who the perpetrator was, "I thought I was going crazy when I saw Miyeon holding onto some glass behind her back", you nod again knowing that you didn't even have to explain anything to your friend, she was always on your side anyways.
"So what's the deal with you and Hanbin huh?" Jina nudges you teasingly, changing to a more important subject.
You chuckle at her silliness, "Nothing, he was just being nice" you tell her before his little confession at the building suddenly flashes back.
"Being nice?" Jina repeats your words with a questioning tone, "He missed his last practice in Korea before leaving for a big event in Japan for you. Hanbin never misses practice!" Jina utters out as if to remind you what sort of person he was.
You look at her with a confused expression, "He told me their practice was called off for them to rest.." You mumble
This only seemed to cause Jina to smile gleefully, "The guy totally likes you!" she exclaims excitedly dropping a few pieces of chips on to the ground.
"I think you're overworked" you brush her comment off, but the possibility lingered deeply somewhere in your head.
"Anyways, I'm going to take a shower" you decide after a bit, rising from your seat.
"Oh!" A thought suddenly enters Jina's head, "You've been booked to go to Japan after we arrive on the performance day because we need an extra stylist on hand"
You turn to face your friend with an out raged expression, "Did you not witness what happened this morning? Why did they keep me on this team after that?"
Your friend shrugs, an unbothered expression stays on her face, "It doesn't matter, even if they hate you they still need an extra stylist"
You sigh tiredly, "It's good to know they hate me" you add as a joke knowing what Jina had meant. Even if they were to actually hate you it wouldn't have bothered you too much, as long as your friend was happy with the job, you were happy too.
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The next day at the front of the YG headquarters the crews and staffs were busy packing last minute belongings and in no time began heading into the two vans that were parked, ready to take everyone to the airport. Hanbin was the last to get into the van, his eyes frantically scanning around for you, thinking that you might have been running late.
"Looking for Ally?" Jina asks as she walks past the van to get to the second one.
"Oh...uh ...no I was just checking if everyone's ready" Hanbin manages to say,
"Oh, alright then, I'll see you at the airport" Jina lets out a suspicious smile as she continues on her way to the van.
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.......
Two days later on the performance night everyone was busy getting ready. The staffs were running around like crazy ants, stumbling over each other to do their job right. You had arrived in Japan only hours before and without even a second to breathe you headed over to the venue. You found your way into the building and was directed to the dressing room after showing a staff member your tag. You thank the guy dressed in the usual black YG t-shirt most of the staffs wears before heading into the room.
Your eyes quickly scan the chaotic room in order to analyse what has been happening before a familiar voice excitedly greets you after spotting you standing in front of the door alone.
"Ally!" Bobby exclaims, "We thought you weren't going to come!" He adds running over to pull you to greet everyone else.
You were startled by the loud welcoming but glad before acknowledging the other ikon boys who have managed to gather in the middle of the room, where bobby had pulled you to. You talked for a small while with everyone before realising one person was missing.
"Where's Hanbin?" You ask concerned, causing Jinhwan to suddenly let out a chuckle, satisfied with the question.
"He's still getting ready in that room over there" he says as he points to the room on the opposite side of them,
"There wasn't enough stylists so he's trying to get himself ready right now" Donhyuk adds. You nod before deciding you should probably go help him as you gesture for the rest of the guys to go finish getting their hair done.
You carefully walk around everyone before stopping at the front of the door of the room Hanbin was in. You knocked twice, letting him know you were there.
"Come in" You hear him say in a broken voice, causing a concerned expression to take over your face. You didn't hesitate to turn the door knob, swiftly placing yourself into the room and shutting the door behind you. The room was small and stuffy but that wasn't your concern right now. You look at Hanbin who still had his back turned against you as he mindlessly takes the shirt hung on the wall off to put on, not realising you were even in the room.
You couldn't help but observe him for a bit, noticing the bruises on his body.
......
"Here let me help" You finally manage to say after having waited a bit for him to turn and he didn't. Your voice must've startled him as he swiftly swings his body around, unable to finish doing the buttons.
"All...Ally..?" He utters out confused, not expecting to see you there before he suddenly lets out a few coughs.
"You're sick?" You ask, as you step forward to finish the rest of the buttons off only causing Hanbin to step back a bit at your touch.
"Uh, yeah, it's nothing to worry about" he reassures you, his voice however was definitely telling you a different story.
"But you're boiling" you say not buying his words as you reach for his forehead. He looks down at you unsure of what to do as his chest suddenly becomes tighter. You could feel his breath against your skin, he was breathing faster, his eyes as if busily searching for something to distract him from you.
"Hanbin ..what's wrong?" You ask even more concerned. You could see he was trying to hold back something before abruptly deciding to push past you, unable to hold it in or be in the same small space with you anymore as he lets his body fall out of the room as fast as he could. You turn around confused as you watch him make his way past everything and out of the dressing room.
For some strange reason, it felt as if you could also feel what he was feeling....
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