Game - Haechan

²⁹

The fast clicking of the heels echoed through the empty corridor. The clicking stopped as the pace of the girl slowed, halting on her steps.

Yoonna squatted down, hands trembling as she read the single line from her phone again and again. Her free hand reached up to her face as she wiped the cold sweat on her forehead, a sigh leaving her lips.

She sat down, back leaning on the wall as she turned off her phone after it rang. She shut her eyes, trying to get rid of her thoughts.

"Yoonna?"

The voice questioned, and she opened her eyes to see Haechan a few feet away from her spot. Seeing that Yoonna responded, Haechan approached her.

"What are you doing here? The rest are searching for you. Winwin hyung was afraid you got bombarded by the reporters and asked us to help."

Haechan kneeled down in front of her, checking if she had any injuries and Yoonna allowed him without much resist. He scanned her face as she avoided making eye contact with him.

"Are you okay? You are cold sweating," Haechan inquired softly, passing Yoonna a tissue as she thanked him.

Haechan had gotten close with her after the past few months as both of them realised they have the same dedication on improving their skills, always persistent in sharpening their reactions and control over their positions. They clicked right away after one match where Yoonna coincidently bumped into him practicing in a room and joined him, thinking it should be good to practice with one of the players she may pair up with in the future.

"Do you need anything else?"

Yoonna shook her head, pushing Haechan away slightly as she started to get uncomfortable with the close distance. The male took that as a sign to stand up, slowly moving his limbs backwards so he wouldn't collide with the girl as he stood. He extended his hand to her, who looked up at him confused.

"I'm just helping you up, nothing else."

Yoonna thanked him again softly, grabbing his hand to stabilise herself on her feet. She felt Haechan pulling her towards the waiting room and tried to stop him. The boy noticed her shaking hands and paused his steps, glancing back at the girl.

"What's wrong?"

"My mom is here..."

Yoonna whispered quietly, looking down at her shoes.

"She came to congratulate you?"

He received no response as Yoonna removed her arm from his grasp, refusing to follow him back to the waiting room.

"Do you-"

The ringing of his phone cut him off as he picked up the call, humming a few times before stuffing it into his pocket again. He grabbed onto Yoonna's arm, pulling her with him towards the opposite direction of the waiting room.

"Come, we are hiding."

He didn't let Yoonna question further as he opened the door to the stairs, leading her up. Yoonna panted as they reached the floor Haechan was searching for, tugging his sleeve to stop him.

"Please, let me catch my breath."

"It's close, we can walk there slowly," Haechan apologised and guided her to a door. He pushed it open, revealing an empty hallroom with some beanbags around. It doesn't look worn out, but it doesn't fit in the place either.

"This is where we usually stayed when we tried to escape from the reporters."

Haechan sensed her confusion and explained, bringing her to a beanbag near the small stage. He motioned her lie down on it, walking away to grab another and jumped on it after adjusting it beside Yoonna.

Haechan sighed, turning around so that he was facing the ceiling.

"Mark hyung found this place when I first had a panic attack due to a stalker following me into the toilet, trying to break the door. From then on, all of us would stay here for fun or when our manager told us that the reporters are too much to handle."

"Won't the owner of this mall kick you out?"

"Not really, this mall is also under the NT School principal's name, surprise surprise. He knew we face these kind of problems so he gave us the permission to come here."

Haechan shrugged, slightly flinching when Yoonna jumped at her phone's alarm going off.

"Who's that?"

"Jaemin."

Haechan watched as Yoonna stared at her screen until the ringing stopped. She shut her phone again right after, throwing it to the side of the stage.

"Why didn't you take the call?"

"He would probably nag at me for going missing. I bet Yuta explained briefly to you guys."

"Yeah, he did."

Haechan nodded. They stayed in a comfortable silence, letting time pass. The door finally bursted open after some time, as expected by the two that were still laying down, unbothered by the loud sound.

"Hey! I called the two of you! Why didn't you pick it up?"

Jaemin looked down at the two above their heads as Yoonna closed her eyes, pretending not to hear him while Haechan shrugged. Jaemin smacked his head, earning a whine from the boy as he rubbed his head.

"What a betrayal, resting here and not calling for us to join."

Renjun moved a bean bag beside Yoonna and laid down on it, joining them to stare at the ceiling mindlessly. The other soon joined them, talking amongst themselves as they waited for their coach to urge them downstairs.

"What's on your mind?"

Jeno asked the girl who was the only one zoning out as the rest were talking not so softly. Yoonna yawned slightly as she snapped out of her space, glancing over to him.

"I want to move away."

"Why?"

Chenle shrieked beside them as the rest winced at the pain on their eardrums. He giggled a 'sorry' and the rest paused their game, waiting for Yoonna's answer.

"I don't feel safe. Something felt wrong."

"Don't overthink, Yoonna. But if you really feel uncomfortable, we can help you find another house to stay in temporarily."

Mark comforted her and Jisung side-hugged her. She smiled, thanking them.

"You will be alright."

Being half med student is so busy and full of tests and projects to finish, I'm having another anatomy test next week after last week 😂

I'm just getting out of the studies and update this chapter, let me procrastinate for a while and I shall return back to studying later AHAHAHAH

Have a great great day everyone, please don't procrastinate till the last minute on the tasks or it will be very overwhelming to handle. Neither could I handle going through a whole semester's stuff within a short period