ELECTRIC ϟ LEE HAECHAN

sixty five

To say the least, a fair share of people were acting weird.

It all started the Saturday after Neo Elemental High won their game against Bulneul, finally advancing them into the finals. At last, the game of the season had been announced and tickets were selling out quickly. To a few, it was a battle of betrayal; Jaegu's number one player switching sides for the rich, preppy school. How could it get more high school than that? Luckily for her, not too many people knew about her switch— but how long was that going to last?

When Minseo made her trip to the pharmacy, she couldn't help but feel not only Uncle Jin's, but Mark's eyes staring her down. She pondered all the possibilities. Was there food in her teeth? Something in her hair? But as she checked her appearance in the glass counter for the umpteenth time, she was beginning to look more conceited than crazy. God, she never thought eye contact with Mark Lee could be so scary. Not due to intimidation, or anything of the sorts- his eyes were just extremely huge as he talked. And he was talking, a lot. Even more than usual.

On Sunday, Chenle forbade people from coming into his house until seven in the evening, which was strange as they always met at five. That scenario is a long story short though, he just wanted to surprise the group of friends with his new puppy as he panic-cleaned the entire house that the mini devil had ripped apart.

Monday followed afterwards, her and her tutoring partner stopping by the river's best ice cream shop before the mini lesson. It wasn't weird for them to stop by together, in fact they were the most frequent customers. Yet, as opposed to Uncle Jin and Mark, Mr. Han didn't share a glance of eye contact to Minseo. Even the way he handed over her cone was a tad off, giving it to Hyuck instead, which he then gave to her.

Speaking of Donghyuck, the boy was off. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but there was some cloud blocking the rays of sunshine that radiated off of him. His smiles began only reaching to his cheeks and not his eyes, the lines around his mouth less prominent. For once, his eye bags grew heavy and dark, but she attempted to excuse it for his late night gaming sessions. He didn't put in the effort to tease, or to even comment about how bad her playing was when she hopped onto his gaming chair. His playful nature had suddenly disappeared, and she had no idea where it went, just like small things in his room that were beginning to go missing.

Though, above all? Choi Minseo was acting the strangest out of everyone.

Perhaps strange wasn't the correct word. Much like Donghyuck, it was like the girl had lost all of her energy. But who could blame her? As spring was in full bloom and the sun began rising and setting later, she couldn't catch a lick of sleep. Her trips to the river had become more frequent, she even met Seorin one night. Traveling between three different households had become quite the schedule. As much as she wanted to spend time with everyone, it was like she had three arms being pulled in all different directions. For once, maybe Minseo wanted to be alone.

"Girl, you need to sit down." Hyerin raised an eyebrow, seeing the figure on the verge of passing out. Minseo could barely muster the energy to look up, sweat raining down the sides of her face. As she rested her palms on her knees, hardly catching a breath in the humid gym, her eyes closed shut in pain.

"No I don't." she shook her head, pushing her messy hair back.

"Yes you do." Hyerin rolled her eyes, dragging her by the wrist to the locker room. "We aren't even supposed to go all out right now. This is our last practice before finals and coach asked me to lead it, so you're done till Friday." she shook her head. It wasn't necessarily out of annoyance, but as the leader, the brunette couldn't feel more pressured with responsibility. Minseo furrowed her eyebrows.

"I can't. I can't let them down." she insisted. Hyerin looked into her eyes. The blue in them held complexity, like tidal waves crashing down all at once. The aquamarine contained the deepest emotions that were coming to the surface— desperation. "And what are you gonna do when you pass out tomorrow?" Hyerin crossed her arms.

"Seorin has literally met you at the river not once, but twice this week well past midnight. You haven't been resting, Jisung is practically shoving food down your throat during lunch— as of right now, you're barely in a place to play tomorrow."

"I'm fine, Hyerin."

"Quit lying to yourself, Choi Minseo." the brunette snapped, knitting her eyebrows together in frustration. Minseo blinked hardly at the suddenness. It was like a trigger, making her bite down on her bottom lip harshly. The silence that surrounded them in the empty locker room was heavily eerie, leaving them a foot away with so much to say, but so little courage.

"You're not talking about just volleyball, are you?" she choked out, finally meeting her emerald eyes. Hyerin paused, the lump in her throat not going away. Instead of waiting for the response she knew she was going to get, Minseo harshly grabbed her things, storming out of the room with a huff. She fumbled with her keys, slamming the car door, and putting her car in drive.

And Minseo drove. She drove and drove, out of the neighborhood, onto the highway, and in the direction of the sun setting. She couldn't bring herself to turn on any music, or even roll down a window. She drove and drove in the confides of her car, the muscles in her fingers guiding her to wherever the wind took her. Her nose didn't scrunch up as she passed by a smelly landfill, she didn't bother to bat an eye at the flock of birds flying ahead back to the south. Minseo was simply unbothered and so bothered at the same time.

For what felt like hours, her foot finally pressed on the brake, thankfully missing rush hour as she laid back into her seat. The steering wheel was warm in her grip, along with the braid in her hair from practice. Minseo glanced in the rear view mirror, catching sight of her eyes that had grown worryingly dark with bags. Also in the reflection, she saw a familiar street sign.

And that's when the tears started pouring down.

Minseo cried— no, bawled. It was messy. It was ugly. It wasn't just a couple of tears. It was waterfalls pouring, even out of her nostrils. Saltiness invaded her mouth sloppily and her lips cried out to nothing. Not even the sudden rain from outside could completely hide the sound of her sobs, incoherent and painful. It was excruciating. It was embarrassing. God, she hoped the rain pounding on her windshield did a good enough job at hiding her figure in the car sat in front of a house that wasn't sold yet.

Minseo stared. She stared at the tan concrete that built the small walls mighty, the ceiling with a tile or two missing. She stared at the gate that kept the front door shut, as well as the many locks she knew were inside. She stared at the garage where her car should be, dad knew a vehicle like hers wasn't safe in the open. She stared at the sidewalks she used to draw on with chalk with Minjun. The remembrance of her childhood was more sweet than bitter this time, the lost innocence leaving the most unpleasant aftertaste.

She wasn't crying tears from falling off her bike, or Minjun stealing her favorite candy. She wasn't crying about a below average grade, or losing a game in her middle school. She wasn't crying about not having friends, or the hands that grasped her when she screamed no.

Minseo cried and cried— and she was the only person she could blame.

sixty five — blame

a short, uneventful chapter, but i feel like it's one of the most significant ones.

strap in for the next ones, this was just the calm before the storm ;)