𝑨𝒎𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒐𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 - {𝑆𝑘𝑦 𝐶𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑙𝑒}

𝟗. 𝐄𝐮𝐧𝐚𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐂𝐡𝐚 𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐡𝐲𝐮𝐤❜𝐬 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮

━━━━━ IT SEEMED RIDICULOUS TO GO TO SUCH LENGTHS FOR A SMALL VOTING SESSION. Yet, here they were, sitting in the library at their usual table, facing a black box in front of Cha Minhyuk. Taking a deep breath before starting, Cha Minhyuk adjusted his facial features to prevent a scowl before forcing his lips to curl up into a stiff smile.

"It's time. Let's begin the vote."

Picking up a piece of paper from the bundle beside the box, Cha Minhyuk held the side with the print-up. The print had two sides with headings as 'for' and 'against'.

"Those who believe Omphalos should continue to exist, please make a circle in the 'for' section, and those disagreeing, in the 'against' section."

Leaning towards Hyunae to ask her for an extra pen, Eunae's attention, along with others, was drawn towards the sliding sound of the library's door.

In walked two pairs of footsteps belonging to Kang Joonsang and Roh Sangwook—the two individuals who openly displayed their hatred towards the book club out of spite and hostility against Cha Minhyuk—fashionably late. Both halted in their steps as they looked in Cha Minhyuk's direction, feeling satisfied with ruining the mood of certain people. Han Seojin sat frozen in her chair, staring at her husband—whom she had specifically ordered not to be anywhere near the club—as both Joonsang and Sangwook took their seats, sitting exactly on the opposite end of Cha Minhyuk.

Quietly grabbing the voting materials, both late joiners stared at Cha Minhyuk, who, in return, glared at them. None of the three in the staring contest realised that the others could see them making funny expressions at each other.

After everyone had settled, Cha Minhyuk set a timer of 5 minutes to decide before signalling to begin.

Eunae, unlike everyone else, immediately marked the 'against' section and stood up to place her vote in the black box. Sensing someone staring at her as she took her seat, Eunae looked up to see Cha Minhyuk, Yeseo, Han Seojin, and Jin Jinhee staring at her in disbelief and disdain. Curling her lips into an innocent smile, Eunae openly mocked the four individuals. Scoffing at her best friend, Yeseo made her vote in favour of continuing the club before sitting back down in her seat.

Rolling her eyes, Eunae let out a sigh as she felt her patience being tested by the insufferable idiots who couldn't make a simple decision and get done with the voting. It took a great deal of self-control to not bang her head on the table.

Thankfully, before she could do it, everyone had cast their votes. Cha Minhyuk—devoid of any emotion previously—snapped out of his internal monologue of cursing everyone and forced himself to smile. Standing up from his seat, he called Woojoo to maintain the record of votes on the whiteboard standing behind him.

As Cha Minhyuk called out the votes, his expression progressively turned ugly, no matter how hard he tried to keep a smiling face. The result had been obvious to him after the first few votes, yet for every new piece of paper he pulled from the black box, he prayed for it to be in favour of the club, only to be met with constant disappointment. Pulling out the last piece of paper, he hesitated for a moment before opening up the paper. Taking a sharp breath to stabilize himself, Cha Minhyuk gazed up from the paper before speaking in a solemn tone.

"Against."

Marking another tally, Woojoo returned to his seat. On the whiteboard, 4 people favoured continuing the book club, while the total count against the continuation displayed the tally equivalent of 12 people.

The utter humiliation Cha Minhyuk felt at being betrayed made him feel as if he had been slapped in front of everyone. He tried to maintain his aloof expression, but inside, he had already wreaked havoc. In his mind, he had already thrown away the items on the table before flipping the table off and screaming his lungs out at everyone. One good look at him could tell anyone how badly he wished to break down.