Echo || NCTau ||

37 - Fly away

"Why didn't you tell me that you were coming?" a girl with glittery eye makeup and pretty lips asked while Haechan tried to find an empty spot on the table for his beer. The other guys he had befriended over the past year were still waiting for their drinks at the bar, leaving him alone with her.

Haechan pushed an empty bottle out of the way and gave the girl a once-over with raised eyebrows. What was her name again? Seoyeon? Seoah? They had some mutual acquaintances and Haechan knew that last weekend, he had spent some time dancing with her at a club but all he could remember was that her name started with Seo. The otter in the back of his head chastised him for being impolite. "What would you have done if I told you?"

The girl pretended not to notice his gaze, instead leaning forward and resting her chin against her hand.

"I would've gone somewhere else", she whispered loudly but the smile on her lips and the keen look in her eyes told another story.

It hadn't been on Haechan's agenda to seek company for the night but, then again, it hadn't been his plan to go out to begin with. The pack was having a movie night and he would've actually enjoyed staying in for a change. He hadn't spent much time with them lately and he knew that they were worried about him and his irresponsible behavior.

If only Jaemin hadn't brought up the –

Haechan poked the inside of his cheek with his tongue, annoyance flaring inside him, and closed his eyes for a second, forcing himself to not think.

When he opened his eyes again, his hand had already found the beer bottle on the table. He needed to distract himself with something.

"Are you alright?" the girl asked, having noticed the sudden change in his demeanor.

Haechan, having almost finished his beer in one long swig, turned towards the girl again, reassuring words ready on his lips. 'It's been a long week at work'. 'I just have a headache'. 'It's nothing, sorry about that'.

The girl was frowning slightly – her eyebrows had knitted together and her lips pouted. She looked very pretty even when she was displeased.

There was nothing similar, yet, somehow, Haechan no longer saw the girl in front of her – in her place, he saw someone else.

He saw her.

Her serious, unfathomable eyes, her doll-like soft features – her pursed mouth and sharp chin.

Haechan shook his head violently.

Damn it, why did Jaemin have to bring her up?

"You know, if you want, we can go with you on Monday", Jaemin said out of nowhere while they were preparing dinner. "It's not an issue for us."
Haechan froze in the middle of mincing garlic. "Go where?" He expected Jamin to understand the tightness in his voice and to change the subject. That was what usually happened if they treaded too close to this specific topic.

This time, however, Jaemin didn't back down, not even when Jisung gave him a warning look. "To the memorial hall." He placed a hand gently on Haechan's stiff shoulder. "Look, I know that you don't want to talk about this but we're here for you. And if it's too hard for you on your own, we can come with you and give you – "

"Save your breath, Jaemin. I'm not going." He dropped the knife on the cutting board and stood up before Jaemin could say anything else. "You'll manage the rest of the cooking by yourselves, right? I'm heading out."

The girl in front of her was still waiting for an explanation for his odd behavior. "Is something wrong?" She looked and sounded awkward – it probably had been a surprise that her playful flirting caused an existential crisis.