𝚃𝙷𝙰𝚃 𝙵𝙴𝙴𝙻𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝚆𝙷𝙴𝙽 [𝙴𝙽- 𝚁𝙴𝚅𝙴𝚁𝚂𝙴 𝙷𝙰𝚁𝙴𝙼]

Chapter 12

Without the mask, he looked as ethereal as the media portrays him to be. His skin almost the color was a creamish snow even without makeup. He wore a similar polo shirt as Jay but in black color with a thin blue jacket and similar colored jeans. His hair too was black.

He stood up from the couch after seeing Jay.

"So what do you think of-" then he saw me behind Jay and stopped mid-sentence.

He looked at Jay, who nodded in a small and really subtle way. Sunghoon looked relieved for some reason and then turned back to me.

"Come here." He gestured his head towards the other couch. "Leah, right?"

"Yes" I said. I took a few small steps and gingerly sat down on the couch. The white satin of it almost making me grimace about a possible accident with any girl.

"We're sorry about the delay. Sunoo and Niki did not wake up in time." He apologized.

"Its fine. Don't worry about it." I said, training my eyes on his rather than is arms. Because damn they were thick.

"Leah we'll go check on the kids. Will you be fine on your own?" jay asked me from the doorway.

"I'll be good." I show him a thumbs up. Sunghoon gave me a last smile and left with Jay. As soon as the door shut, I remove my specs from my face and out it down on the coffee table with shaking hands.

When my most precious thing was off, I slapped both of my hands on my face and bit into it. I fidgeted around in my seat while holding my hand on mouth very tightly. I removed them after a few seconds and took deep breaths to calm myself. I could almost feel the tears starting to form in my eyes. The very people who used to bring me joy on a rough day were talking to me. Whose edits I watched on repeat whenever I felt like crying. They remember my name. I was close to hyperventilating but I caught my emotions before they went out of hand and anyone saw me brawling my eyes out. I had to maintain my composure in front of them. I cannot look like a crazy fan to them. I cracked my neck and knuckles to mask my expression just in time to hear the door unlock. Two boys spilled into the room and I stood up to see them. Jungwon and Sunoo. Jungwon had a white polo along with a cream colored jacket and jeans. Sunoo had on a beige hoodie and black jeans. His hoodie making me concerned.

I smiled wide at the sight of them and waved.

"Hey leah sorry to keep you waiting." Jungwon said.

"Hiiiiiiii Lee" Sunoo looked so happy I almost looked behind me if there was someone else standing there.

"Hi Sunoo, Jungwon." I said.

They came and sat on the couch in front of me, telling me all kinds of stuff they planned to do today and also what Niki did since the past few days to get their phones to text me. They looked exactly how I saw them in En o Clock. Cutting each other off to start a new topic over and over again. which made me wonder why and how they were being so friendly to a stranger.

"-and then I had to put my phone under the bed covers to save it from Niki. But ended up sleeping on it." Sunoo finished.

"I gave it to Jay hyung so Niki didn't even think of it." Jungwon looked proud of himself.

I laughed along with them imagining Sunoo groaning in sleep because something was poking him in the back.

Right then the door opened again and in came the boy. Niki had a black shirt and a black jean on and seeing him without his mask made me gulp. Where Sunoo and jungwon had smile on their faces when they came, Niki had a straight face. Hands in pocket, he strolled towards us and at on the edge of the couch on which Jungwon was sitting, eyes on me the whole time. I started imagining his cute face from Iland, hoping it would balance out my expression.

"Hi Niki." I said cautiously. "How have you been?"

He looked up at the ceiling and closed his eyes for a minute. And damn the way his veins pulsed in his neck.

"You think you're seducing her well. But you're not." Jungwon swooped in to save me.

"Yeah she looks like she's about to vomit." Sunoo, thank you for saving me from the embarrassment of ogling at Niki.

"And you look constipated." Jungwon, my love, I'll never forgive you for making me snort out a laughter. But my laughter increased when I saw how Niki was at loss of words.

"She knows everything you did so drop the façade of sexiness. It doesn't suit you." I mentally disagreed with Sunoo.

Niki stood up and Jungwon scooted over to give him a seat. But Niki came and sat beside me making Jungwon glace at me with a smirk. I saw the time in my watch and it was almost 8 40. 40 mins flew by and I did not even realize it. Right then, Jungwon got a call.

"Yes we'll be down in a few minutes." He said. "Heeseung hyung is calling us down." He said while standing up.

We all hurriedly walk out of the room and onto the elevator. There were already a few people there. We got in one by one. Jungwon and Sunoo infront of us and Niki behind me. A man in there looked Niki up and down twice making me chuckle slowly. Niki was towering over everyone in that elevator. On the 5th floor a few more people stepped and everyone took a few steps back to make space. Even though it wasn't too crowded people had shuffled a bit closer.

I felt a had touch mine and a trained annoyance crept into me. But this touch felt soft and almost nervous. I felt Niki's hand slowly close in close in on mine. My body went rigid. I did not turn back but kept staring straight ahead. His thumb slowly grazing the back of my hand. I relaxed at the sensation which made him a bit more confident. He tugged at my hand drawing me closer to his body. My head almost touching his chest at this point. His other hand hovered near my bare shoulder. My mind was running wild between taking a step forward and staying put. I chose the latter. With each stroke of his finger, a shiver ran down my spine. Our small bubble was broken when the lift door opened. His hand went over my shoulder, guiding me out without as much as stepping near anyone else and finally went back to his side when we were out.