Brain Dead | skz

Chapter 3

9:45 pm

Yoonah was panicking. She was pacing back and forth, her hand raised to her mouth as she anxiously bites on the nail of her thumb, eyes flicking up every second to look at the clock. Jeongin was never this late, never.

Anything could've happened, and no matter how much Yoonah tried to calm herself down, negative thoughts clouded her mind and she felt sick to her stomach as her heart throbs uncomfortably in her chest.

"Yoonah you need to calm down. He's probably out with a classmate." Chan says from his place on the floor of the living room, playing a game of snap with Changbin, who is shifting uncomfortably at the sight of his friend freaking out.

"No, he'd tell me," Yoonah whispers, as if trying to convince herself of the truth of her own words. "Jeongin would tell me, he would." She whispers, her hand shaking as she digs her teeth into her nail, her head feeling hot as she continues to stress herself out.

"Well, to be honest, Yoonah, a lot of the reason why Jeongin's been on time is that he'll call me to come to pick him up because he doesn't want to make you worry. Usually, he'd wait with a classmate because they're waiting for their ride." Chan says, causing Yoonah's eyes to widen.

"What?" She whispers, turning her head to him as her hand slowly falls from her lips. She couldn't believe the words that came out of Chan's mouth. He sighs, placing a card down on the card pile, and turning his head to Yoonah.

"Look, this might sting a bit, but Jeongin's not a baby anymore. He's what, seventeen? Eighteen? He's not far off becoming an adult, and sometimes I wonder if you maybe treat him like he's not seventeen." Chan says softly, and Yoonah has completely frozen. She's not sure what she's feeling, but something's building up inside of her. "I'm worried about him too, but we just have to trust that he's waiting with a classmate."

"THEN WHY HASN'T HE CONTACTED YOU YET!?" She completely loses it. She's clenching her fists so tight that her hands are shaking in anger, and her knuckles are going white. She breathes shallowly while glaring at Chan, tears pricking her eyes. Silence fills the room, and Yoonah continues staring at Chan, waiting for an answer.

"I...don't know," Chan whispers, lowering his head. Yoonah lets out a small gasp, and she sniffs, wiping her tears while looking up at the ceiling, and taking a deep but shaky breath.

"To be honest, guys." The small voice of Han Jisung speaks up from his place on the countertop in the kitchen, where he was sitting with crossed legs, cleaning his precious Glock 19. However, he had paused to view the situation. "My parents thought I ran away at eight years old, but really I was just going for a drive with a dude in a white van." The silence that followed his statement was deafening.

The blank stares he got from his friends caused him to suddenly feel defensive.

"He offered me a cheesecake! CHEESECAKE! Anyway, that doesn't matter! Turns out he was a paedophile although he was super nice and asked for lots of kisses and hugs which I was happy to give because of CHEESECAKE!" He says, and Changbin just blinks at his friend who is sitting there, his arms in the air.

"My Mum's friends literally asked for the same thing whenever they saw me, don't look at me like I'm stupid!" Jisung folds his arms across his chest, feeling annoyed at the fact that everybody has just stopped talking and isn't giving verbal replies. "Anyway, my parents had a right to worry so I'm glad they came after me that day, because what if he really was a paedophile?" Jisung asks, tilting his head.

...

"Ugh, I'll just make my point. Chan, you say Jeongin is nearly an adult but I'm like...four months and twenty-four days older than him!? That makes me closer to an adult than him, but does it really seem like I'm responsible?" Jisung says with quite a lot of facial expressions despite speaking as if he was trying to be quiet. Jisung had made his point to his friends, and Chan begins doubting his own words from earlier, Yoonah letting out a panicked sigh as she runs her hand through her hair, beginning to pace back and forth across the room again.