The Red Thread of Fate || Wen Junhui

➶ seven ➴

When I make it into the hallway, the boys are already awake and dashing around.

They make their way from one room to another, argue over who gets to go to the bathroom first or participate in idle conversations at the end of the hallway. In the few seconds that I had, while opening and closing the door to the workshop, I quickly composed myself to seem calm and not overwhelmed at all.

But inside, I am freaking the fuck out.

What did I just find? In the heat of the moment, the blueprint almost looked like a joke—like the codes were just made up out of boredom and some idiot came up with the stupid name 'Dragon's Blood'.

To be honest, Soonyoung's reaction set me on edge as well. I never knew he could yell like that, and even though I've been here for about twelve hours, he didn't strike me as the kind of person to lose his temper so quickly. I'm going to have to apologize to him eventually, but as of right now, I'm too embarrassed to even think of doing that.

All of the liveliness in the hallway fades away as soon as they all see me. The conversations and arguments stop, and nobody is smiling anymore. I gulp down the sudden lump in my throat, trying to ignore the unwanted attention and focus on the task at hand. My eyes scan rapidly through the frozen faces until they land on Chan, who is about to walk into the bathroom.

"Chan!" I call. "Soonyoung wants to see you in the workshop."

No matter how calm I want myself to seem, there's still a slight trembling in my voice.

He furrows his brows. "Why does he want to see me?"

"He just. . .just needs to see you. Please hurry."

I watch him disappear into the workshop and suddenly realize that any chance we once had at a friendship exists no more. If Soonyoung lost his shit towards me, I can't imagine how he's going to react to Chan—especially since that blueprint was definitely not supposed to be in his toolbox.

I turn to face everyone. As per usual, most of them are staring at me—like Seungkwan, Wonwoo, Minghao, and Junhui—as if I'm a freak show. I flash them a glare and then they go on acting as if I do not exist.

Another wave of shame washes over me.

Junhui. I completely forgot about our fight last night. I guess I need to apologize to him too. Pretty soon, I'm going to need to make a list of people I have to say sorry to.

I'm too deep in my thoughts of guilt that I don't even realize Jisoo standing in front of me for a moment. He hands me a fresh pair of clothes and a towel with a smile.

"Morning, Angel." Jisoo greets me. "Did you sleep well last night?"

I nod and take the clothes from him. "It was probably the best sleep I've had in years if I have to be honest."

He chuckles—probably unsure of what to say towards that—and points to the lineup outside of the bathroom.

"You should get in line there. Breakfast is going to be ready in about thirty minutes, so don't take too long."

He pats my shoulder in a sort of goodbye and rushes off into the main area.

I move to stand in the line. It's already kind of long, with five boys ahead of me and another three behind me. The line moves incredibly slow, and, one by one, the boys come out of the bathroom, looking fresher coming out than when they went in.

Then it's my turn.

The bathroom is honestly the worst part of Seventeen's dorms. It's so small that it's hard for even one person to be inside. There are combs, containers of hair gel, deodorant and toothbrushes scattered all over the counter. Also, the sink faucet is rusty and there are yellow spots inside of the toilet bowl.