𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐒 ˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳ 𝐧𝐜𝐭 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦 - 𝐡𝐮𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐮

⇛ 𝐂𝐇. 𝟕𝟒

jihyun had said her goodbyes to doyoung and the other mentors. she had nearly cried when hugging them but she held back her tears until she got onto the aircraft and then she hid in a small storage room. everyone else was strapped in their chairs ready for take off while she was trying to stop her tears. then she heard a knock on the door.

"jihyun?" renjun called, knocking again.

"i'll be out in a second." she replied, harshly wiping her eyes. she wasn't sure how he knew she was in there because she said she was going to the bathroom, if there even was one on the aircraft.

"open the door."

he knew. he knew she had been crying. he always knew everything about her. just as she was good at reading her friends like books, him and mark could easily do that with her.

knowing there was no point in hiding anymore, she opened the door to reveal her red puffy eyes and sullen face. he sighed and stepped into the tiny space with her.

"look at you, cry baby." he playfully teased, pinching her cheeks.

"if you're trying to cheer me up, that won't work." she mumbled.

"i want to cheer you up." he said. "you're always so sad. i feel like it's my fault because of that day we pressured you to cry after doyoung's death. now, you don't stop crying and i want it to stop. but i know holding it in is even worse."

"it's not your fault." she said, holding his hand on her cheek. "i've had years of tears bottled up. you all just gave me a bit of a push. i might be a bit of a softie and a crybaby now but i'm still a strong girl. don't worry."

"you are the strongest girl i know." he whispered, his hand moving to her jaw. her gaze softened as she also moved her hand to place it on top of his.

"huang renjun, i didn't realise you were such a seducer." she joked.

"do you want me to seduce you?" he asked, drawing her closer as a sudden burst of confidence hit him.

"i've never seen you act this way..." she whispered, shying away from his touch.

it wasn't that jihyun didn't want to respond to his actions. she was more scared of what she would do if she did. if she let herself loose and gave in...

she didn't get to reply or do anything as the aircraft suddenly shook violently. the two stumbled, reaching out to grab onto something but then it shook further and tilted upwards. they lost their footing and fell into the storage room, the door slamming shut behind them. jihyun's back hit the wall and renjun landed in front of her, his hands planted on the wall so that he wouldn't crush her.

"shit. are you okay?" he asked, looking down at her. when he did, he saw her shaking. "ji, what's wrong?"

"nothing. that just scared me. i've never been on an aircraft that shakes this bad."

"that's because ten is flying it." he laughed.

"i can't believe we're trusting him to fly us all the way to district one without crashing."

"well, it can't be any worse than jeno. let's be thankful we didn't make him the pilot."

"yeah, you're right."