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back at the hotel, the group had finally dispersed after a long day of sightseeing and laughter. the elevator doors slid open with a soft ding, spilling out their tired bodies into the dimly lit hallway. yuwon stretched, her arms rising above her head, a soft groan escaping her lips as she relaxed into the exhaustion of the day.
heeseung glanced at her, barely catching himself before he stared too long. he hated how his heart reacted to her, especially when yeonjun sidled up next to her, cracking some joke that made her eyes light up. she nudged yeonjun playfully, her laughter soft but enough to send a bitter reminder to heeseung—yuwon wasn't his.
heeseung's jaw tightened as he walked a few steps behind them, his eyes fixed on the ground, trying to drown out their conversation. it had been too easy to get comfortable with her today. between the shared glances and the stolen smiles, he'd felt a pull to her that he wasn't ready to acknowledge. but then yeonjun would do something like this, brushing his fingers along her arm, and it'd yank heeseung back to reality.
no matter how much warmth he'd felt in her presence throughout the day, how close they'd been during the moments where her hand brushed his or when their eyes met, it didn't change that she was free to laugh and smile with anyone. and yeonjun had always been a little too familiar with her, hadn't he?
heeseung shoved his hands into his pockets, trying to shake off the feeling that had been building all day. getting too comfortable. that's what he had been doing. he didn't even realize he'd been drifting toward yuwon more than usual—until moments like this, when someone else stepped in. someone who had every right to be there.
the rest of the group scattered to their rooms, but heeseung and yuwon still lingered by the door to their shared room. yeonjun said his goodnights, his hand resting briefly on yuwon's shoulder before walking off down the hall. heeseung watched, his throat tightening with something unnamed—jealousy, frustration, maybe both.
"heeseung" yuwon's voice was soft, pulling him from his thoughts. "you coming in or just gonna stand there and brood?"
he blinked, realizing he had zoned out, and nodded, pushing the door open and stepping inside. the moment the door clicked shut, the atmosphere shifted. the silence stretched between them, and heeseung braced himself, half-expecting her to bring up the elevator incident, the one thing he didn't want to talk about. his fingers twitched by his sides as he hesitated by the edge of his bed.
but she didn't. yuwon didn't mention it at all. she acted like nothing had happened, and for that, he was thankful. he couldn't handle opening up about the past—about why small spaces made his chest tighten and his breaths come out short and panicked. instead, yuwon just flopped onto her bed, tossing a pillow at him playfully.
"what are you doing?" he muttered, a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips despite himself. "you look so out of it" yuwon pointed out with a shrug and heeseung sighed. "i'm just tired" he mumbled, running a hand through his hair before sitting up on his bed. "by the way thank you. . . for today" yuwon shakes her hand in the air dismissively. "don't mention it, what are friends for?"
