Always Seven // Xdinary Heroes 7th Member

ׂ╰┈➤ part 32.

I.

Seungmin sighed heavily, placing his controller on the coffee table in front of him. He leaned back against the sofa, crossing his arms as he raised his eyebrows in a way that made Minhee's stomach churn. "Did you have fun with your date?" he asked, his tone seemingly casual, but Minhee could sense the underlying tension in his words. 

It wasn't like Seungmin to be so passive-aggressive, especially not with her. The question caught her off guard, causing her to blink rapidly as she processed what he had just said. A date? Was he seriously thinking that her dinner with Felix was anything more than two close friends catching up? 

She couldn't help but feel both shocked and confused by his reaction, her heart sinking as she realized just how upset he must have been this whole time. Minhee hesitated, the weight of his words making her feel uneasy. She could see it now—the way his shoulders were slightly tensed, how his gaze remained fixed on her even as she avoided eye contact. 

"What do you mean?" she asked cautiously, her voice barely above a whisper as she tried to navigate the conversation carefully. "It's not a date." She forced herself to clear her throat, the sound filling the otherwise quiet room. Her eyes darted away from his intense gaze, landing on the television that was still playing the game's main menu music on loop. 

The flickering images on the screen did little to distract her from the growing discomfort between them. Seungmin didn't respond immediately, and the silence that followed was deafening. Minhee felt a pang of guilt twisting in her gut, even though she knew she hadn't done anything wrong. 

She was struggling to understand where this sudden jealousy was coming from. Felix had always been like a brother to her—a friend who she could confide in, someone who understood her in ways that others didn't because of their shared experiences as idols. And Seungmin knew that. He knew her relationship with Felix was purely platonic, yet here he was, acting as if she had crossed some sort of line. 

"Seungmin-Oppa," Minhee tried again, her voice gentler this time as she glanced at him, trying to meet his eyes. "You know Felix is just a friend, right? We were just having dinner, nothing more. You don't have to worry about anything like that." Seungmin let out a slow, frustrated breath, finally meeting her gaze. 

II.

There was a flicker of something in his eyes—hurt, maybe, or insecurity—that made Minhee's heart ache. "I know he's your friend, Minhee," he said, his voice calmer but still laced with an edge that Minhee wasn't used to hearing from him. "But it's just... I don't know. It feels weird knowing you're out so late with someone else, especially when I'm here, waiting for you to come home." 

His admission hung heavily in the air between them, and Minhee could see how much this was affecting him. It wasn't just about Felix; it was about them, about the dynamics of their relationship that had shifted ever so slightly without either of them noticing until now. 

She bit her lip, searching for the right words to reassure him, to ease the tension that was building up between them, but all she could manage was a soft, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you feel that way." Another sigh escaped from Seungmin's lips, this time carrying a sharper edge of frustration that cut through the tension in the room like a knife. 

Minhee felt her stomach tighten, her nerves heightening with each passing second. Was he really this upset? The thought of them having a serious argument, something they had always managed to avoid, made her heart race with fear. They'd never had a messy fight before—never let anything fester long enough to explode into something they couldn't control.