𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐒 ˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳ 𝐧𝐜𝐭 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦 - 𝐡𝐮𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐮

⇛ 𝐂𝐇. 𝟒𝟒

the next morning, jihyun awoke to something heavy on top of her legs. she let out a yawn and looked over her shoulder, her eyes landing on chenle. she carefully moved his legs off her then sat up and placed the blanket on him. for a moment she watched him sleep peacefully then turned to the other side where renjun had been last night but was now gone. she climbed out of the bed but fell back onto it as soon as she was on her feet. a wave of nausea hit her out of nowhere and the room looked like it was spinning. after a few seconds, it calmed down and she left the room, closing the door softly to not wake the sleeping boy.

from the dining room, there was lots of noise coming from her six friends as they ate and talked amongst themselves. when jihyun stepped into the room, it suddenly went deathly quiet as they turned to look at her. she shuffled uncomfortably and prepared to speak but before she knew it, haechan had launched himself at her. they fell to the floor with a bang and he crushed her in a hug.

"jihyun! i swear, i would never do anything to hurt you!" he cried, squishing his cheek against hers. her heart was beating so fast and slamming against her ribcage at the action.

"you told them?" she asked renjun.

"of course, i did. i wanted you to know you're not alone." he replied and she smiled then turned to the boy hugging her.

"i know you would never hurt me." she patted the top of his head. "i just wasn't in the right mindset."

"but you're okay now, right?" he asked, getting off her and helping her off the floor.

"yeah, i am. thank you for worrying about me, hyuck." she said, pressing her forehead against his. he nearly jolted away from her touch but calmed himself and stared into her eyes with his widened ones.

"y-yeah. it's no problem." he replied as she moved back and sat at the table.

"please confide in us when anything is bothering you." mark said, squeezing her hand.

"i will. i'm sorry if i worried you all."

"don't apologise." jeno ruffled her hair as he always did.

"as long as you're alright, we are, foxy." jaemin said.

"thank you for caring. i love you, guys."

♆

"jungwoo, are you sure about this?" jihyun asked taking one last look in the reflection of the glass door leading backstage for the interviews.

"woah. i just got hit with some serious deja vu." the older replied, placing a hand on his forehead and she smiled.

"i asked you the same thing on my first interview and now this is going to be my last..." she muttered, her smile disappearing.

"you're not going to die. i promise you won't." he told her moving her hair to rest against her back. "and you look stunning."

he had dressed her in a gorgeous light blue ball gown. they decided to go with something different to the dark and electric blues. the light blue made her look elegant and like a doll. her makeup was similar in the sense that her eyeliner made her eyes look wider and innocent. her cheeks were rosy and her lips a light pink. then finally the dress was paired with silver heels and silver jewellery.

"nothing special to show this time?" jihyun asked.

"just your beauty." jungwoo replied then opened the door for her, his voice lowering to a whisper. "remember to have confidence. you are winning these games. all eight of you are."