Taste | Changbin

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Her death never came because, by some miracle, the bar was lifted off her neck. She opened her eyes to see Changbin above her. With ease, he lifted the bar and placed it back on the rack. She quickly forced herself to sit up. Her hand went to her neck. Her flesh, where the bar had sat, was tender to the touch. 

"Are you fucking stupid? Why were you lifting that much weight if you knew you were that weak? If I wouldn't have been here, you would have died! What the fuck were you thinking?" Changbin yelled. "Do you have a fucking death wish?" 

"I thought I could li-" 

"You thought? Use your fucking brain for once! Why the fuck would you consider doing something so careless? You're not supposed to be doing that shit unless you have someone to spot you!" 

Tears pricked Lennon's eyes for the second time tonight. "I'm sorry, I really thought it was going to be fine. I didn't think th-" 

"That's your problem, isn't it?" Changbin cut her off. "You never fucking think! You never think about the consequences of your actions!" 

"What's going on here?" Chan stood in the doorway of the weight room. He had a blue hand towel strung over the side of his shoulder. A water bottle sat in his right hand. 

"She almost got her dumbass killed by doing bench presses without a spotter!" 

"So your first reaction is to yell at her? I thought we talked about this earlier!" Chan scolded the younger member as he came further into the room. 

Lennon got up off the bench and walked over to the door, "I've got to go." 

"Wait!" Chan reached out and grabbed her arm before she could walk by him. "Your neck, it's all discolored. Are you okay?" 

"It's fine, it's nothing really. It'll go away in a few days. I'm going to go back to my room. Have a good night." She jerked her hand away and continued towards the door. 

She heard Chan chewing Changbin out even as she walked away from the room. Her hand went back to her neck. She gently rubbed the bruised skin. This time, she was going to take the elevator back to her floor. She was shaken up from nearly dying. She didn't want to start going up the stairs and fall down them. It'd only make everything worse. 

Meanwhile, Chan glared at Changbin. 

"Can you stop looking at me like that?" Changbin threw his hands up in the air. "Who's that fucking stupid? I can't believe she didn't know any better. I almost watched her die. If I wouldn't have been here, she would have let go of the bar, and it would have crushed her." 

"Changbin," Chan started. 

"Save it, I don't want your stupid drawn out lecture. I know I shouldn't have yelled at her and blah, blah, blah." 

"Changbin," Chan tried again. 

"I get it! I'll try to be nicer next time. I panicked, I freaked out! She nearly died! The color left her face and I only realized she was struggling because she made a noise. I paused my music to change the song and I-" 

Chan turned around and closed the door to the weight room. Changbin continued rambling. He threw his hands around in the air while he talked. 

"If you yell at that poor girl one more time, we're going to have issues." 

"I get it, but that was my first reaction. I got angry, okay?" 

"Is that also the reason why you asked her if she was done whoring around while we were at the arcade?" 

Changbin's mouth dropped open. The words he wanted to say caught in his mouth. "How do you know about that?" 

"Because she told me earlier." 

"I didn't mean it." 

"Yeah, well it's a little too late to say that now. You already did it and I really hope you're happy with yourself." 

"It's not that big of a deal!" 

"Lennon's dad was abusive, Changbin!" Chan crossed his arms over his chest. 

"What?" 

"Every time you're yelling at Lennon, you're reminding her of her father. When we were in the car earlier, she started having a panic attack. That's why she wanted out of the car so badly." 

"I-I didn't know." 

"But now you do, so you really need to start doing better. Nobody else has had an issue with Lennon besides you. We already know you like her and I know your first reaction is to be on the defense, but jesus christ Changbin, when you hear what her dad did to her..." Chan trailed off. "I'm sure she didn't tell me everything and I'm not going to tell you everything because I promised her I wouldn't tell anyone." 

"Now I feel like shit." 

"You should. You should have felt like shit when everything first started. I'm not asking you to be nicer to her, I'm telling you to be nicer to her. Nobody wants to spend this tour miserable because the two of you can't get along. You can try to get along with her." 

"She probably hates me," Changbin's shoulders slumped. "I've been nothing, but an ass to her." 

"You can start by apologizing to her." 

"I suck at apologies." 

"You'll never know unless you try." Chan walked over and patted Changbin on his shoulder. "Now, what were we going to do?" 

"Well, we were going to do bench presses, but after that whole incident, I really don't want to. I got really scared, Chan. She, seriously, almost died. If I wouldn't have been here, I almost decided not to come here, and if I wouldn't have..." 

"But you were here and you were here for a reason. How about we jog on the treadmills instead?" 

"Yeah, I guess that sounds good."