𝔹𝕖𝕤𝕥 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕐𝕠𝕦//_[𝐁𝐚𝐧𝐠 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐧]

27: ᴍᴀʏ ᴛʜᴇ ᴛʀᴜᴛʜ ꜱᴇᴛ ʏᴏᴜ ꜰʀᴇᴇ

Please vote and comment. 

"Bienvenidos a mi casa," Lucas announces. 

"La casa de mi Papa," Althea corrects. "You could give em' the tour while I-" Althea almost trips again but Hyunjin catches her arm. "Thanks."

"Althea, if I gotta glue ya ass to the bed so you could rest I will. Sit down you damn workaholic!" Lucas barks. 

"Pendejo..." she grumbles. 

Hyunjin looks around confused and Althea guides him to her room. Other than the directions she gives, it's silent between them and slightly uncomfortable. They have yet to mend the rift after the car incident like her and Jisung and he's since kept his distance from her. Part of her is still wary of his intentions but she'd at least want to be on civil terms with everyone in Stray Kids. 

She managed to get Minho for God's sake. She's just trying to complete the collection. 

Althea opens the door and holds her throat as her phone vibrates again. This is Leon's fourth time calling so she knows he really needs to speak with her about something. By now he's probably livid that she hasn't answered. And he knows that she has nothing to do so she's sure he's aware that she ignored his call. 

Her hand flies to her throat and she gasps as her throat starts closing up. Hyunjin quickly sits her down on the bed and hovers in front of her worriedly. 

"U-Um...how do I...?"

Althea points shakily to her pills bottle and the man instantly hands it to her. She screws the cap off and chucks two pills out before throwing them back down her throat. She forces them down and massages her pharynx to help them go down easier as she tries to calm her breathing. 

"Are you...okay?"

"Fine..."

The dancer averts his eyes and glances at her phone. He notices the name highlighting the caller ID and Althea notices his face curl into a scowl. He glares openly at the phone and shoves a pillow on top of it. 

"Hyunjin?"

"You don't need to be bothered with him..." he grumbles. "I'm gonna join Channie-hyung. Call if you need help."

"Huh? Hyunjin are you-"

"I'm fine," he forces out. "Just rest." He leaves right after.

Althea's somewhat scared of his tone and swallows the lump in her throat. She sits stiffly on her bed and throws the covers over her body as she rolls over and wills herself not to cry. She's been doing that so much lately and she feels pathetic. Like she can't control her emotions and she suddenly fears every jolt, voice raise, or hand motion because she thinks it'll end badly.

Leon's....done so much damage. And she's stayed with him and tried to help a myriad of times. But he still does damage. Out of love, she's stayed.

Or....is it really love at this point? Or...just clinging to a memory of what once was? Being dependent on his love? Having the intimacy of a relationship?

Whatever it is, it only seems to be hurting her. She's known that for a while but kept denying it because she didn't know what to do and felt she could fix it if she worked hard enough.

Then...she gets a taste of what a relationship is. What a relationship should be and was in the earlier days for her and Leon. The softness, the care, the feeling of safety. She honestly hasn't felt security being hugged by a male like Bang Chan. Or Felix. Or any of the members really. She doesn't have to fear being hit or belittled for her weight. All because of a K-pop idol who's sparking feelings and desires for unfaithfulness that she hasn't addressed nor acted on. That she's been suppressing and ignoring for the sake of trying to be the good girlfriend.