GROUND ONE • LEE DONGHYUCK •

thirty-nine.

JUNGWOO WAS WOKEN UP BY RUOLAN'S EXCITED SCREAMS AS SHE LOOKED AT HER PHONE.

He trudged out of his room with a blanket wrapped around his body, his eyes still slightly closed. Ruolan looked at him before giving him a big hug— almost knocking him down. He shrieked but none the less, returned the hug.

"I got the job!" she yelled cheerfully, her feet tip tapping against the wooden floor.

"And you're gonna get us kicked out if you jump one more time."

She punched him before showing him the phone. She had done an interview a few days ago to become a dance choreographer at a dance building near the apartment. Ruolan had always loved dance but her father had told her when she was young that medicine was a better option because it was more realistic.

Now that he was gone, she was able to pursue her own dreams. Jungwoo worked at the hospital as an ER doctor and had been providing for the two since Ruolan had to lay low until she was in the clear. She had felt bad about it but Jungwoo had reassured her plenty of times that he made more than enough for the both of them.

"Jokes aside, Congrats Ruolan. When do you start?."

"Next week," she answered. Her phone beeped again, her eyes going back to the electronic device. The text from Haechan seemed to ruin the happiness she felt as soon as she read it.

Don't come over today Ru, I'm sorry. They didn't take it well.

Jungwoo looked at her once he read it, watching as she let her head fall down out of sadness. She placed her phone onto the couch and scoffed. "How stupid could I be?" she whispered, not caring that her vision had grew cloudy from her tears. "Why did I even think they would forgive me."

"Ru... they will. Just give them some time."

"You don't know that."

Before Jungwoo could speak again, Ruolan was out of the door with her purse— leaving her phone on the couch. He sighed, knowing that it was better to leave her alone. She didn't know where she was going honestly. She just needed to be alone.

She truly did miss the Neo's. She missed bickering with Chenle in Mandarin. She missed training with Yuta. Johnny's sweet words that always made her feel better. She especially missed Renjun however. The boy who brought her out of her shell. The boy who never gave up on her.

Was he the one who didn't want to see her? The thought of it only made nauseous. She found herself at an café— ordering her usual matcha tea latte that she always craved whenever she went out.

She sat down at one of the tables, looking out of the window while she waited for her drink. She was too distracted to notice the familiar song that played throughout the entire cafe. Her eyes dawned towards the sky that had began to darken— a storm more than likely to come since it was quite literally morning. "Shit," she muttered, mad at herself for not checking the weather before leaving. Then her anger grew once she realized that she didn't even have her phone to call Jungwoo.