Almost blind | Haobin

67| nostalgia |67

Yujin froze mid-dance step, his arm half-raised in the air, when a sharp burst of voices cut through the heavy bass of the speakers. For a moment he blinked, unsure if it was just the alcohol buzzing through his head playing tricks on him but then he caught the quick, startled glance Gunwook threw in his direction. Kuanjui had already lowered the bottle he was holding, his brows knitting together in confusion as he tilted his head toward the hallway. The three of them exchanged puzzled looks. It was the kind of slow wordless exchange between friends who were tipsy enough not to panic but sober enough to realize that something was definitely off. "Did you hear that too?" Yujin finally asked, his voice was slightly slurred as if he wasn't even sure he trusted his own ears. "Yeah... someone's yelling," Gunwook muttered, scratching the back of his neck, the corners of his lips pulling down.

"Great. Either we're too drunk or someone's actually losing it in the hall," Kuanjui said, half-joking..but he looked more annoyed.

They had stumbled drunkenly through the living room, laughter spilling from their lips in uneven bursts, until the distant clamor from the hallway finally drew them forward. The music behind them kept pounding yet it could not drown out the tension now radiating from the main corridor. With unsteady steps, they navigated around discarded cups and scattered decorations, finally reaching the doorway that opened onto the scene where chaos and intimacy collided.

They didnt even need words to understand. The tableau before them spoke loudly enough: Ricky standing rigid in the doorframe, one arm wrapped around Gyuvin, making sure he will not fall down. He was leaning against Ricky with a bruised, battered face that looked as if it had been beaten raw. The sight made Gunwook's lips twitch with mischievous amusement; leaning toward Kuanjui, he whispered something sharp and sarcastic into his ear, earning a muffled, drunken laugh that barely matched the gravity of the moment.

Both Ricky and Gyuvin looked equally stunned, but the mix of fury and shock in their expressions was undeniable. Matthew lingered a few steps behind, his stance uneasy, his eyes darting nervously between Ricky with Gyuvin and the pair of boys still locked in an almost unbearable intimacy.

And then there were Hanbin and Hao. They hadn't moved, hadn't blinked away the world while it rushed around them. Hanbin's arms remained securely around Hao, pulling him close as though the space between them could somehow shield them from the consequences of being caught. Hao's own hands rested lightly on Hanbin's chest and his cheeks... they were burning. Not just from the warmth of alcohol, but from the electric intimacy that had settled over them in the moments before their intrusion.

Even as they reluctantly began to pull apart, their hands stayed stubbornly intertwined. Fingers laced together, refusing to let go despite the tension crashing over the room. Both of them understood that they had been caught in the most compromising way possible. And there was nothing they could do to undo it.

A tense silence fell over the hallway, broken only by the faint thump of music. Everyone's gaze was locked, hearts beating a little too fast, thoughts spinning like a storm...their parents, furious and disbelieving; the boys, frozen with embarrassment and defiance; and Matthew, caught somewhere between shock and understanding.

"What is going on here?" Ricky's voice cut through the hallway like the snap of a whip. He wasnt yelling anymore, but somehow the calmness in his tone made it worse. It was cold and sharpened at the edges. His expression was difficult to read. It was his typical iron mask of disappointment, rage simmering beneath the surface.

Beside him, Gyuvin's eyes clung to Hanbin and Hao as though the sight alone might dissolve if he stared long enough. His face was still shadowed with bruises, twisted into disbelief, his mouth opening as if to speak only for the words to die in his throat. Shock pinned him silent and though the tremor in his clenched jaw revealed everything he could not yet say.