Almost blind | Haobin

33| Snowman |33

"Did you text your trainer about this?" Gyuvin asked, his voice sliced through the heavy silence in the car.

He didn't answer immediately. He just sat there, his bag slumped at his feet, his hands limp in his lap. The world outside blurred past the car window, neon lights streaking across the glass like smeared paint on a canvas. But he wasn't really noticing it. His mind was stuck somewhere else, tangled in a loop of uneasy thoughts.

Where was Hao?

What had happened?

Why did it feel like something was about to go horribly wrong?

"Yes," Hanbin finally muttered. His voice was dull, lifeless, like a radio playing static. He didn't bother looking at his father. He didn't need to. The tension between them was thick enough to choke on.

Truthfully, he wished Ricky were the one sitting in the driver's seat right now. Not because he particularly liked Ricky-no, that wasn't it. It was just that, somehow, Ricky didn't make him feel like he was being dissected under a microscope. He didn't make him feel like he was expected to be someone he wasn't.

Gyuvin noticed. Of course he did. He always noticed.

"Yujin... Did you guys call Yujin?" Hanbin asked suddenly, his voice sharper this time, edged with something unsteady.

Gyuvin inhaled deeply through his nose, his grip tightening around the steering wheel. His knuckles turned bone-white. "Yes," he said, his jaw clenching. "He's not answering. Neither of them are. Straight to voicemail, every time. It's like they vanished." His lips pressed into a thin line. "And we don't have his parents' contact."

A long exhale, heavy with frustration.

"Ricky's already on his way to Yujin's place to find out what the hell is going on."

Hanbin's hands curled into fists. His nails dug into his palms, but he barely felt it. "I told Hao he's not okay," he hissed, voice trembling.

And suddenly, he was angry. At himself. At the situation. At the fact that, just hours ago, he had convinced himself he didn't care anymore.

Hadn't he told himself that? That he was done? That it wasn't his responsibility?

But now, his heart was hammering against his ribs, his stomach twisting itself into knots. His mind was racing with every worst-case scenario imaginable. Gunwook's words from earlier rang in his head, louder now, like an echo in an empty room.

He was worried.

Truly, deeply, sickeningly worried.

"I don't understand what could've happened," Gyuvin admitted, and for the first time, there was something raw in his voice. Fear. Real fear. "Ricky's terrified...and..im too." A pause. "Maybe something happened to both of them."

Hanbin's breath caught.

"That's bullshit," he snapped, the words spilling out before he could stop them. His voice was harsher than he intended, but he didn't care. "Yujin's a jerk. Something happened with Hao. I know it."

Then he turned his gaze back to the road. "Go faster."

Gyuvin didn't move his foot, didn't press harder on the gas. He just glanced at Hanbin, his expression unreadable. "You're really this worried all of a sudden?"

Hanbin scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest. "It's not like that," he said quickly, too quickly. "I'm just-" He hesitated. His throat felt dry. "I'm just worried. Like a normal person would be."

Gyuvin hummed. A simple sound, yet somehow, it made Hanbin feel exposed. As if his father could see right through him.

"I'm worried too," Gyuvin admitted. "But honestly?" His voice softened, the weight of his words sinking in before he even spoke them.