Donghyuck-IDIOT

5

Tuesday
4:00pm

The sports hall echoed with faint sounds of shuffling feet and laughter as Yejin finished folding the jerseys they had used during practice earlier. She had volunteered—well, been forced—to help clean up after their department's casual basketball game, which she hadn't even wanted to attend. The others had already left, leaving her alone in the sports storage room.

Just as she stacked the jerseys onto a shelf, the door creaked open. She turned to see none other than Donghyuck walking in, holding a basketball under his arm.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, narrowing her eyes.

"Forgot my water bottle" he said casually, holding up a sleek bottle from one of the shelves. "What are you doing here? Cleaning up?"

"What does it look like?" she shot back, brushing her hands on her jeans.

"Wow, so hardworking" he teased, leaning against the wall.

"Don't you have somewhere to be?"

"Not really" he said, tossing the basketball up and catching it effortlessly. "Besides, I didn't want you to feel lonely."

"I'd prefer the loneliness" she muttered, placing the last of the folded jerseys onto the shelf.

Before she could make her way out, Donghyuck kicked the ball across the floor, where it bounced and rolled to the door.

"Careful!" she snapped.

"Relax. I'll get it" he said, walking toward the ball. But as he bent down to pick it up, the door suddenly slammed shut with a loud clang.

They both froze.

Donghyuck turned the handle, jiggling it a few times before glancing back at her. "Uh... it's locked."

Her heart sank. "What do you mean, locked?"

"I mean, as in, it doesn't open" he said, pushing against the door for emphasis.

"You've got to be kidding me" she groaned, walking over to try for herself. The handle wouldn't budge.

He raised an eyebrow. "I just said it's locked, sunshine."

"Don't call me that!" she snapped, glaring at him.

"Well, it's not like yelling is going to magically unlock the door" he quipped, leaning back against the wall.

Yejin reached for her phone, but her face fell when she saw the screen. "No signal. Great."

Donghyuck pulled out his phone and held it up, twisting it around as if that would help. "Yeah, same here. Guess we're stuck until someone finds us."

She groaned, slumping against the wall across from him. "Why is it always you?"

"Fate,sunshine. Fate." he said with a smug grin.

"I hate fate."

The air in the sports hall storage room was heavy with silence, broken only by the relentless drumming of rain and the occasional boom of thunder that made the walls seem to shudder. Yejin sat cross-legged on the floor near the door, her arms wrapped tightly around herself. She tried to focus on anything but the storm outside, but every crack of lightning sent a jolt of fear racing through her.

"You're scared of storms?"

"No" she answered quickly,too quickly.

Donghyuck, sitting casually on a stack of mats across the room, watched her with an amused expression. "You know" he said, tossing a stray tennis ball into the air and catching it, "you could at least try to look like you're not scared."