Burnout by LeeChunsa

01. STILL THERE

"Put two tablespoons of sugar, a pinch of salt, a pinch of pepper, and then stir..."

Hyesung scrunches his eyebrows as he tries to absorb whatever he was watching on television. He shifts his position; now fully facing the television, his eyebrows still meeting at the center of his forehead.

"Let that simmer a bit..."

He sighs as he presses mute on his remote and faces the ceiling, sighing heavily.

"What's the point, Shin Hyesung." He mutters to himself, lifting his right hand towards his forehead and closing his eyes, trying to clear his mind of all thoughts.

He's been lying on the sofa in the past hour, trying so hard not to think about what was happening that day. It's been creeping up on his mind every few minutes, to the point of being irritating. He's made up his mind, nothing or no one will be able to change it.

"Perhaps." He mutters to himself, opening his eyes, breathing heavily, and shifting his position again on the sofa, now with his back turned away from the television. "But." He continues, then laughs weakly, "Nevermind." he finishes closing his eyes again.

Buzz.

Hyesung's thoughts stop as he slowly turns towards the center table. His mobile phone has been lying there untouched for the past hour.

He knew what this was about.

He refuses to check it.

Buzz.

His mobile phone lit up again as another set of messages came through.

He closes his eyes tightly, trying to block all sound and thought.

Buzz.

Sighing heavily, Hyesung turns from where he was lying and stares at his phone, blinking and buzzing rapidly on the wooden table.

He was sure this was the group chat, as no one would actually message him like this other than the boys.

And he was also quite sure... that they were looking for him.

Covering his face with his hands, he sighs yet again and abruptly sits down, ignoring the slight dizziness that follows his movements due to his blood surging on his head. He closes his eyes a bit to regain normality in his system and then picks up his mobile phone from the table.

We've arrived. Where are you guys?
Sent by Park Choongjae

On the way, I'm picking up some stuff on the store. Hyesung there?
Sent by Kim Dongwan

No. Is he with you Minwoo Hyung?
Sent by Park Choongjae

No. I thought he was coming with you?
Sent by Lee Minwoo

Oh. No, he wasn't. I thought he'd ride with you today, since his car is being fixed at the moment. Andy?
Sent by Park Choongjae

Hyesung laughs at the obvious confusion going on the group chat, not minding one bit that he was the one who caused it.

The buzzing from his mobile phone stops as no response from Andy comes. He stares at his mobile phone for a bit, waiting, but there was no message coming from their maknae.

Ofcourse, Hyesung knew very well he didn't talk to Andy about going with him to the venue of today's event; In all truth, he didn't talk to anyone about carpooling. He was sure he wasn't going.

Still he was curious what Andy would've said and what they would've reacted if they found out he wasn't carpooling with anybody.

Or maybe he was just being dramatic.