you can stay|skz

|seventeen|

I groan as I squirm in JiSung's lap. I've been sitting here for hours. He won't let me get up unless he has no choice. He even carried me to the bathroom and stood outside waiting so he could carry me back. He worries more than I do and it's scary.

"I'll be back." JeongIn calls out as he makes his way toward the entry way. He grabs his coat and peeks back in at us to wave.

"Can I go with?" I ask as I slowly get to my feet.

"No—what if you hurt your ankle more?" JiSung scolds as he shakes his head and tries to pull me back down on the couch.

"JeongIn—can I go with you?" I brush JiSung off and slowly make my way toward JeongIn.

JeongIn hesitantly looks toward JiSung. JiSung groans and lays back against the couch in defeat. Chan nods and waves JeongIn toward the door.

"Hold her hand—don't let her fall." JiSung speaks up as I slip my shoes on.

JeongIn reaches his hand out for mine while reaching for the door with the other. He tugs it open and we both slip out into the hall. JeongIn turns to face me. He makes sure my mask is on right and adjusts my hat to cover most of my face. He makes sure his is in place, too, before leading me toward the elevator. I take a shaky breath and tighten my grip on his hand. He hasn't been in the elevator with me since the incident—at least not alone.

"What are we doing?" I ask in hopes of distracting myself from where we are.

"You weren't listening were you?" JeongIn chuckles in amusement as I shake my head.

"Not at all." I admit without hesitation. I had been so caught up in trying to figure out how to get away from JiSung so I could actually do something I didn't hear a word any of them said before I chimed in.

"We're going to get ice cream from the convenience store down the street." JeongIn informs me as I manage to successfully make it to the lobby in the elevator without freaking out.

"Oh—okay. I can handle that." I smile as we slip out of the elevator hand in hand. A few people turn to look at us, but JeongIn keeps his cool. He doesn't try to hide his face anymore than it already is. He knows that if he tries to hide himself even more it'll be obvious that he's an idol.

"Just relax. They're probably just looking at us cuz we're wearing masks inside." JeongIn mumbles as we slip around the people to step outside.

"How do you guys do that? With JiSung last night it wasn't terrible because it was pretty dark. It's still pretty light right now. People can see us better. Aren't you worried they'll notice you?" I question as we make our way toward the same store JiSung and I ended up at.

"Our fans usually aren't too terrible with it. They know we have to do everyday things like they do. So if they see us they might start to group together, but they don't usually get super close. It's a little different being with you though. They might take pictures and rumors might start. If it happens though—we could always pull the sunbae and hoobae relationship. The company would back us up. They know we've been helping you practice. It's not like we're going to a restaurant together or something. We could've just ran into each other on our way out—the hand holding though—that'll be tough to explain." JeongIn chuckles as he glances down at our hands.

"You don't have to hold my hand." I quickly pull my hand away. I don't want anyone to notice us while we're holding hands. He's right. We could easily explain why we're walking together, but holding hands is another story.

"I don't mind. Nobody is really paying attention to us anyway." JeongIn goes to reclaim my hand but I pull away. Honestly, I feel better not holding his hand. I'm comfortable enough with him to let him touch me, but it still feels weird. So why hold his hand if I don't need to?