chamber of 7 | enhypen re-editing

-☽ ch. 09: silent growing tension

𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴:
ANTIFRAGILE (lyrics ver.) - LE SSERAFIM
00:14 ━━●───── 03:05
◁ㅤ ❚❚ ㅤ▷

party packed with lies, they don't even burn.

─── ⋅ ∙ ∘ ☽ ༓ ☾ ∘ ⋅ ⋅ ───

when hyunli went downstairs the next morning for breakfast, niki had sneaked over to her, whispering that jay was in a foul mood and warning her to not anger jay further. she thanked him, glancing at jay.

the black-haired vampire indeed looked angry as he busied himself over the stove. hyunli approached him carefully, and his expression seemed to soften up when he spotted her.

"good morning, jay." she said, as jay gave her a small smile. "morning, hyunli-ah." he greeted, as the bacon sizzled loudly on the frying pan. "did you have a good night sleep?"

"yeah, i remember falling asleep in the library, though." hyunli yawned as she opened the fridge, taking out a carton of milk. jay flipped the bacon over. "i brought you back to your room."

"oh, thank you very much!" hyunli said, jay waved his hand dismissively, pouring the bacon out. "it's no big deal-"

"good morning, hyunli." sunghoon walked into the kitchen, as jay's expression quickly fell. hyunli didn't know what to do, and she was glad that jungwon entered the kitchen at this timing, interrupting the growing tension.

"good morning, jungwon-nim." hyunli decided to call jungwon by a formal title, and the vampire glanced at her. he seemed to be a little surprise at how formal hyunli was with him, but his expression quickly returned to normal. "good morning."

the two older vampires were distracted by this exchange, but hyunli had already poured her glass of milk and hurried out of the kitchen. she took her seat next to niki, who grinned at her as he took a bite of his own toast. "how's jay hyung?"

"he seems okay, he said hi to me... did sunghoon-ssi and jay-ssi fight?" she questioned, as niki swallowed, reaching over for a glass of grape juice.

"well, last night they had a fight... but don't worry, nothing is serious." niki's thought travelled to the destroyed patch of the forest, and he looked back to hyunli. "by the way, hyunli-ah, i can speak comfortably with you, right?"

"yes, please do." hyunli smiled back at niki. the blond vampire gave her a wide smile, and she couldn't help but think how cute he is. "awesome, you can just call me niki. do you want to come with us to the mall to get your essentials? since you're going to live with us." he asked, suddenly leaning closer to hyunli.

hyunli blushed at the sudden closeness, noticing the teasing expression on niki's face. however, before she could say anything, niki was lifted into the air, and he was sent flying backwards by an unknown source, crashing through the window.

hyunli screamed, standing up and running to the window. however, a pale hand grabbed her arm, stopping her from moving.

"he'll be fine. " it was jungwon. the teenager pressed on hyunli's shoulder, forcing her to sit back down. sunoo, who just stepped out of the kitchen and witnessed everything, snickered.

"i've been itching to throw him out of the window for quite a while, thanks for the service." he sat down opposite niki's empty seat, while jungwon remained expressionless. "he'll be fine, niki's skin is thicker than metal armours." sunoo added, catching hyunli's worried and unsure expression.

true enough, when niki reappeared back in the dining room, he appeared to be as per usual, throwing a stone at jungwon. the older did not look at him and held out a hand, stopping the stone in mid-air and sending it back at niki, who turned his body to avoid it.

"damn it, i saw myself being thrown out of the window earlier, but it's because of this? i'll get back at you one day, jungwon hyung!" the blond gritted his teeth, taking his seat beside hyunli again. jay smacked the back of niki's head as he walked past hyunli, placing a plate in front of sunoo. "stop it, you idiot. here, sunoo... heeseung hyung...."

he placed a cup of orange juice in front of heeseung, who muttered a small 'good morning' to hyunli and quickly take a sip of the orange juice. sunoo grabbed his cup of hot chocolate from jay and thanked the older vampire quickly before taking a mouthful.

the rest joined the table, eating breakfast in silence. well, if you don't count the loud munching noises from niki and jake. when they have finished, sunghoon cleared his throat, making the others except for jay look at him.

"we're going to the mall later... someone's gotta stay back to guard the house... any volunteers? apart from hyunli." he looked around the table.

and jungwon raised his hand.

hyunli felt sad. she was a little surprise when jungwon had interacted with her earlier, thinking that jungwon might finally opened up to her...

"no, i'll stay." heeseung offered, giving jungwon a warning look. jungwon's eyes travelled over to hyunli, and he frowned.

"why? i don't feel like going to the mall today." he said, folding his arms. "besides, i need some alone time."

"you can have your alone time when we come back." jay said lightly. jungwon scowled, and hyunli looked away from him.

she bit the inside of her cheek.

why does he dislike me so much? what have i ever done to him?

sunghoon heard hyunli's loud thoughts, and he tapped his fingers on the table thoughtfully. "jay's right."

hyunli saw sunoo's eyes flickered over to sunghoon, to jay, and sunghoon again. she fought back a smile, hastily taking a mouthful of her glass of milk.

sunoo looked like he's from a cartoon.

"i need to tend to the greenhouse anyway." heeseung placed his hand on the table. "that's decided, won."

"whatever." jungwon got up from the table and left. hyunli stared at his retreating back, her urge to smile disappearing.

"erm. i actually prefer online shopping." hyunli spoke. the others at the table turned to her, surprised. "i don't think i would like to go out today."

"but you promised me!" niki pouted. sunoo looked thoughtful, as the other three frowned. jake looked a little lost in the turn of events, his fork missing his waffles.

"maybe another day? please excuse me, and thank you for the food." hyunli stood up, quickly leaving the room.

fine, yang jungwon. she thought, as she hurried up the stairs and back to her room. if you want it to be like this, two can play at the game.

─── ⋅ ∙ ∘ ☽ ༓ ☾ ∘ ⋅ ⋅ ───

1083 words

a/n: im happy and sad about two things.
firstly, I'm happy that I'll be going for the ateez concert in my country!!! woohoo!!🎉
secondly, I'm upset that I won't be going to lee youngji's concert. i really want to go support my girl, but unfortunately buying the ateez tickets had left my wallet bleeding and empty (also because i bought the xikers album).

thank you for reading, voting or commenting on this story. love y'all lots.