19 | minsung

14

the group had made their way to the mall, and felix, who had been crying on chan's shoulder earlier, now appeared calm and acted as though nothing had happened, except in minho's eyes, who had witnessed the incident.

they were currently at the bowling alley on the top floor of the mall, watching a heated bowling showdown between chan and changbin.

"i bet all my lunch money for this week that changbin will lose," seungmin declared, sipping on his soda.

"yah! just watch me beat chan hyung's ass," changbin protested, flexing his biceps and generally provoking chan, who just laughed in response.

while the two of them settled their showdown and hyunjin and seungmin cheered for their chosen champion, minho scooted closer to felix.

"hey," he began, catching felix's attention.

felix turned to minho. "mhm?"

"are you okay?" minho asked, being careful not to overstep any boundaries.

felix slightly furrowed his eyebrows at minho, nodding his head. "yeah, why wouldn't i be?" he asked.

minho replied, "nothing, it's just... you were kind of out of it earlier in the karaoke booth."

felix reassured minho with a smile, "i'm fine, hyung. don't worry." he then shifted his attention back to chan and changbin playing bowling, and minho did the same.

laughter, grumbles, and changbin's enthusiastic shouting filled the bowling alley. eventually, changbin emerged victorious, leaving chan kneeling in front of the alley in mock despair. seungmin scolded him, blaming chan about him having to subsist on air for the rest of the week due to losing the bet with hyunjin.

after their time at the bowling alley, the group headed to a fast-food place for lunch. minho sat between felix and chan, with changbin, seungmin, and hyunjin sitting across from him.

chan took the group's orders and proceeded to the counter. as minho was about to use his phone, he noticed chan's wallet on the table. "guys, i'll be right back. chan hyung left his wallet," he announced.

the others nodded in acknowledgment, and minho made his way to the counter.

"hyung, you forgot your wallet," minho said, standing beside chan in the queue.

"oh, you can hold onto it for now, min," chan replied. "by the way, how about you help me with the orders later? i doubt i'll manage to carry all the trays to our table," he added.

minho agreed, "sure," and joined chan in the line, still holding his wallet.

as it was now their turn, chan placed everyone's order, surprisingly memorizing it. but when it came time to pay, his forehead creased as he noticed that the money everyone gave him was short.

"min, can you grab two one-thousand-won bills from my wallet?" chan asked, turning to minho.

minho promptly opened chan's wallet, searching for the required money. as he looked through it, something caught his attention.

it was a photograph, a picture of the group with faces he wasn't familiar with.

he fixed his gaze on the photograph for a little while longer. everyone from the group was present in the photo: chan, changbin, hyunjin, felix, seungmin. but what made minho's eyebrows furrow were the two people in the photo he didn't recognize.

one of them was wearing a school uniform, seemingly looking like a high school student, while the other had a beanie on, obscuring minho's view of his face. the others, however, were wearing their usual outfits.

"min?" chan called again, bringing minho out of his daze, and he finally handed the older of the two thousand won.

"thanks, min," chan replied, passing the payment to the cashier. with that, the cashier processed their order and gave them a number, saying that their food would be served when their number was called. for now, the two of them returned to their seats and joined the conversation with the others.

however, minho's mind was still preoccupied with the photograph inside chan's wallet. he had already returned chan's wallet to him, so he couldn't take another look at the photo. he also felt like asking about them might not be the best course of action, sensing that they had never talked about those two people, and it might be a sensitive topic. this left minho wondering who they might be, further confirming that the group indeed had something they were hiding.

-----

they continued to hang out after their lunch, and minho couldn't deny that it was one of the best days he'd ever had. unfortunately, the enjoyment had come to an end, and they needed to return to their respective dorms as they had classes tomorrow.

currently, minho, hyunjin, and felix were on their way to the elevator that would take them to their dorm rooms. hyunjin and felix were in the same dorm building as minho, while seungmin, chan, and changbin were in the other dorm building.

"what floor are you on, hyung?" hyunjin asked, still cradling his dumpling plushie that he got from the arcade.

"the 4th floor," minho replied. with that, hyunjin pressed the button with the number '4' on it before pressing the '6' button.

"you guys are on the sixth floor?" minho asked, noticing the numbers hyunjin had pressed.

"yup," hyunjin replied, popping the 'p.'

as the elevator started to ascend, felix asked, "so, what's it like being a resident on the fourth floor?"

minho shifted his attention to felix, placing a finger on his chin to appear as though he was pondering an answer. "nothing much, really. at first, i thought it was ominous because, you know, how the number 4 is related to death and all. i was scared that i might experience some supernatural stuff during my stay here since dormitory horror stories are actually pretty common," minho began.

"so far, i haven't experienced anything, well, other than the elevator acting up on me," he shrugged, prompting hyunjin and felix to exchange glances.

"boo, i thought i might hear a scary story from that," hyunjin protested, teasingly. minho playfully rolled his eyes, while felix chuckled at their banter.

suddenly, the elevator came to a halt, followed by a 'ding,' and the doors slid open.

"see you later, guys. good night!" minho said as he hopped off.

felix and hyunjin waved goodbye. "good night, hyung!" they both chimed. with that, the elevator door slid closed, and minho made his way back to his dorm room.

upon reaching his door, he fished out his keycard and swung the door open. he sighed, noticing that all the lights were turned off, indicating that his roommate was once again out of the dorm.

"what's gotten into him..." minho muttered, noticing that jisung had been showing up less after their grocery shopping.

he then turned on the lights in the living room and operated the AC using the remote. after that, he plopped down on the couch with a heavy sigh.

the events of earlier began racing through his mind, accompanied by the thought of jisung likely avoiding him.

"why is everyone acting so weird lately?" he groaned, his voice echoing in the empty dorm room.