[Book I] Winter Falls [ENG]

Chapter 4: Third session

TW: anxiety attack, mention of physical and psychological abuse

Enjoy !

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Chan was tapping his nails against the table, waiting for everyone to arrive for the club meeting. He glanced at his bag, the nervousness taking hold of him. He was certain that what he had planned today would be very useful in moving everyone along, but on the other hand, it would put him in pain.

Well, it would mostly put him in pain next week, if all went well.

He came out of his thoughts with loud voices coming from the corridor. Curious, he passed a head, discovering Jeongin and Seungmin, who were heading towards him.

"Leave me alone!"

"Jeongin, just listen to me."

"I'm telling you to leave me alone! You don't know anything, so shut up."

"So you admit that what I implied happened? You went to the police at least?"

"Forget about it, Seungmin!"

The older one cleared his throat, interrupting them.

"What's going on?"

"Nothing." The youngest hastened to answer.

"Jeongin-" Seungmin began.

"I said nothing!" Jeongin almost shouted with a sharp glance.

Seungmin remained silent as Jeongin entered the room, settling in his usual place. The older one glanced at Seungmin, but Seungmin told him to drop the case.

They entered, and quickly, everyone arrived as well, so that he could begin the session.

A glance at Hyunjin is enough to make him hot. The young man was still wearing his team hoodie. When he returned his belongings, he explained to Chan that he couldn't return the hoodie to him right now, because he had stained it. So he wanted to wash it before giving it back.

It was several days before, and now he was wearing it again. Not that it bothered Chan. He rarely wore this hoodie because it kept him too warm. If Hyunjin wanted to keep it... He certainly could.

He climbed up on his chair, sitting on the back so he could see everyone.

"Hello! I hope you're okay. How was your week?"

The young man quickly listened to the various members of the group tell about their week. Apparently, everyone had rather spent a calm week, despite the winter atmosphere and the seasonal depression starting to dig their hole in their lives.

"Good. I'm glad to hear that everyone looks pretty good. Today's session may be a little... rough."

In front of some interlinked gaze, he hastened to continue.

'We're going to talk about some things, and for the sake of our progress, I'm going to ask questions and bounce back on what you're saying. I could be rude and you could take this very wrong. Or what someone else will say, because the discussion is obviously open to everyone."

He took a breath.

"So, if it gets too much for you, you have the right to say stop. Then we'll move on to someone else. You have the right to go out and get some air as well if you need it. The purpose of today's exercise is to highlight the connections you have left with the person. Does everybody feel good about that?"

Chan glanced at everyone while catching his little notebook. Most of them looked nervous, especially Jeongin and Hyunjin. Changbin and Felix clearly seemed uncomfortable, obviously because of each other's presence. But in Chan's opinion, it will do them good to hear what he had to say.