Just as quickly as Hansol had lowered himself to sit, he was standing again, towering over Nabi, who remained seated on the pavement. The movement was almost like an instinct—he was ready to go back, back to the awkward dinner, the unfinished conversation, the tension in the air. But there was something in Nabi's expression that made him pause. She wasn't ready to let go, not yet.
Typically, after the storm of emotions from the past few minutes, Nabi would have let the silence stretch between them, content to let the peacefulness of the moment settle in. But this time, her mind was racing with a question she couldn't shake. She didn't know Jeonghan well, but what he'd said earlier... it didn't sit right.
"Wait. Hansol." Her voice came out sharp, startling even her. The name had slipped so easily from her lips, but there was an urgency behind it now. Something in her needed the answer.
Hansol turned, lowering himself instinctively to match her height, as if he were subconsciously trying to close the distance between them.
"Sorry, I can't stop thinking about it... what was up with Jeonghan's story back there?" She asked, her voice a hushed whisper, as if the man in question might be standing just behind her.
Hansol raised an eyebrow, a slight frown tugging at his lips. "You know, I'm not sure," he said, the words leaving him almost as if he were still processing everything himself. Nabi's face twitched with frustration, and she was about to speak again when Hansol added, "But Jeonghan's one of my group members, along with everyone else you met."
Her mind short-circuited. Nabi could feel her jaw drop, but she fought the gasp back into silence. "What the hell?" she whispered, more to herself than anyone else.
Hansol's lips curved into a wry smile. "You didn't know?" he asked, his voice light but laced with something else. Curiosity, maybe. Or amusement at her surprise.
"No," Nabi muttered, still reeling, her thoughts colliding with each other. "I had no idea."
Hansol chuckled softly, slipping his hands into his pockets and watching her stand, her thoughts clearly racing. "Jeonghan's a bit of a mystery to everyone. He's got his... quirks." His voice softened at the last word, almost as if trying to keep the situation from escalating.
Nabi's mind spun faster. Was this kind of thing normal when you were around Seventeen's members? She felt a strange unease wash over her—like there was something lurking beneath Jeonghan's words that wasn't entirely innocent. His behavior felt calculated, as if he was hiding something. Was this just how things were in the world of celebrities, where deception was part of the game? But then again, no one would lie like that unless there was something to hide.
"Is he... mental or something?" she asked, the words tumbling out before she could think better of them.
Hansol almost choked on his laughter, his hand clamping over his mouth as if he were trying to stifle it. "No, nothing like that," he managed to say through muffled laughs, his shoulders shaking slightly with amusement.
Once he calmed down, he took a few steps closer to her, his features illuminated by the soft glow of the streetlamp above. His gaze flickered toward the restaurant, and he gestured in that direction with a slight tilt of his head.
"Want me to ask him straight up?" Hansol offered, his voice lighter now, but there was a weight behind the words. He would have asked Jeonghan himself, but this was something that needed to be between Nabi and him. It felt like their moment to confront whatever was left unsaid.
Nabi hesitated. The easy flow of conversation between her and Hansol felt like a rare kind of comfort, but now, with Jeonghan's mystery looming, the air between them shifted. She wasn't sure what to do next.
