groupie

-eleven-

Alcohol. The amount of alcohol running through their blood is something ungodly—except for EunChae. No matter how much she drinks, she's still unaffected by it and it's infuriating. What's the point of drinking if you can't drink your problems away for a few hours?

"Let's take a picture!" HwanWoong chirps, quickly gathering everyone around. Without much thought, he grabs ahold of EunChae's arm and tugs her closer.

Once the picture is taken, she quickly pulls away, rubbing at her arm. She takes a shaky breath and contemplates leaving. While it was fun when it started, the loud sounds, crowded room, and alcohol are making it more overwhelming than enjoyable. Her feet carry her toward the door without much thought.

"Chae—where are you going?" MinHo speaks up the moment he notices her slowly creeping away. The room falls silent with the exception of the playing song.

"Oh—just—just going to the bathroom. I'll be right back." EunChae mumbles, all eyes falling on her in concern. She rubs at her arm where HwanWoong had grabbed her, lowering her head awkwardly.

"I'm sorry—I wasn't thinking." HwanWoong apologizes, his gaze on her arm.

"It's alright. I'm really just going to the bathroom." She allows her hand to fall from her arm, forcing a reassuring smile.

The boys let her disappear without objection. That doesn't stop them from immediately whispering when the door closes behind her.

"I messed up. It's my fault."

"It's not your fault. It's just everything adding up."

"She probably just couldn't handle it all at once. It's loud in here, it's hot, and it's kinda crowded."

"She just needs a minute to breathe."

Swallowing hard, EunChae turns on her heel to head toward the bathroom. The moment she lifts her head, her heart drops. Her feet stop moving and the door opens behind her.

"I'm singing first." JiSung states firmly, tugging on ChangBin's arm to lessen his lead.

"No—I am! You went first last ti—EunChae—" ChangBin stops in his tracks, no more than a few feet in front of her.

A strong hand finds it's way into hers from behind. Her head snaps in the direction of the owner, a wave of relief falling over her as she identifies them.

"I told you you didn't need to wait for me. Let's go get some fresh air." WooBin smiles, taking control and helping EunChae remove herself.

You wouldn't have to know the connection between the two to know that she was extremely uncomfortable. The look on her face and the rigid way she was standing made it clear as day she was overwhelmed and didn't know how to react.

WooBin leads her passed the trio of boys, Chan's eyes following them the entire time. The two brush shoulders, the tense air between them suffocating. Chan reaches out and wraps his fingers around EunChae's wrist.

"Isn't that a bit fast?" Chan mumbles, his eyes glued on her freshly painted nails. She hadn't had them done at the hotel. She doesn't even like painting them herself. It was always him who did it for her. If he didn't, she'd chew her nails until they were so short it was painful.

"Chan—let's go." ChangBin attempts to pry Chan's hand from her.

"Sorry—but we really need to go. We have people waiting for us." WooBin assists ChangBin in freeing EunChae, immediately dragging her forward the moment she's free.