The door closed behind him with a sound that felt too loud.
Sungchan didn't look back.
The late afternoon air hit his face immediately - cold, sharp, grounding in the worst way. His chest still burned, breath uneven, like he'd been running even though he hadn't moved fast at all.
A black van waited at the curb.
Johnny leaned against it, phone in hand. He straightened the moment he saw Sungchan step outside.
"You good?" Johnny asked carefully.
Sungchan nodded too quickly. "Yeah."
It was a lie so thin it barely qualified as one.
Johnny didn't call him out on it. He just opened the door and gestured inside. Taeyong was already there, sitting in the back. Jaehyun beside him.
Both of them looked up.
Sungchan froze for half a second.
Taeyong's expression wasn't angry.
That somehow made it worse.
Jaehyun's gaze lingered on him longer than usual - quiet, observant, like he was already piecing things together.
Sungchan climbed in anyway.
The door shut. The engine started. The car pulled away from the villa smoothly, efficiently - like nothing inside it was breaking apart.
Silence filled the space.
The kind that pressed against your ears.
Streetlights passed in slow rhythm, casting shadows across their faces. Sungchan stared out the window, jaw clenched so tightly it ached.
Why did I say that?
The question had been repeating in his head ever since he'd stepped out of the dining room. Over and over. Louder each time.
You're a burden. You should disappear.
He swallowed hard.
He hadn't meant it like that.
Or maybe he had - just not in the way it had sounded.
He had been scared. Furious. Helpless. Every emotion tangled into one sharp, ugly thing that needed somewhere to go.
And he had aimed it at her.
Because she was close.
Because she mattered.
Because he knew exactly where to hit.
His fingers curled into fists on his thighs.
Across from him, Taeyong shifted slightly.
"Sungchan," he said gently.
The sound of his name almost made Sungchan flinch.
"What?" Sungchan snapped before he could stop himself, still staring at the window.
Taeyong didn't rise to it.
"You didn't have to come," Taeyong said. "If you needed space."
"I needed to leave," Sungchan muttered.
Jaehyun finally spoke. His voice was quiet, but it carried.
"You don't usually run."
Sungchan closed his eyes briefly.
