Melodies

23

Aelia's POV
"If there was a way to commit murder without going to jail, I'd kill you in an instant." I glare at Minghao.
"Say it louder. I don't think the cops heard you." Minghao smirks.
"When will you two stop?" Jeonghan shakes his head.
"Never." We say at the same time.
"Aelia, is Minghao the only one you get annoyed with?" Seungcheol asks.
"Of course not. Mingyu annoys me too."
"I haven't done anything wrong! Why are you targeting me?!" Mingyu groans.
"You're the easiest one to bully."
"No, that's Seungkwan." Jihoon points at one of the maknaes.
"That's rude!" Seungkwan glares at him.
"But true." Wonwoo adds.
"OKAY WHO AGREES WITH JIHOON?!" Seungkwan asks.
A majority of the group raises their hands and he starts going on a rant about why he's not. Everyone starts laughing, including me but it slowly fades when I see Soonyoung looking at me with a blank expression. His eyes widen and he looks away, pretending to listen to the boys' conversation. That's odd...
A couple of days later, we all end up going to Seungcheol and Jihoon's apartment. At first, it was supposed be just Jihoon and I hanging out and playing a few songs together in his room but Seungcheol invited over a few of the guys. That's when they invited others to come and eventually it's a party. Jihoon and I get annoyed at first but we soon join them when we find out they brought food. Actually, Mingyu made food. He knew we'd be annoyed so he made the food as an apology. Of course I accepted it! It's Mingyu's food we're talking about.
Joshua comes up to me while I'm sitting next to Jihoon and he nudges me. I look over at him, crisscrossing my legs.
"Am I the only one who sees Soonyoung's mood slowly deflating?" He whispers in my ear, loud enough for only me to hear.
I look over at the boy to see he's sitting next to Chan but he's on his phone. I frown and look back at Joshua. Soonyoung has become a lot quieter lately. He usually does well to hide this side of him but I know he's upset about something and it must be a big deal if it's showing around all of us. What it is? I have no idea. I doubt he's even mentioned it to anyone. What's bothering him so much that he's so sad?
Joshua nods his head towards him and I point at myself as if asking if he's talking about me. He nods his head and I shake mine.
"Hong Joshua, you know how bad I am at cheering someone up! The only reason I'm able to cheer up the younger ones is cause they're like children! Soonyoung is a few months older than me which means he can actually be mature! What if he starts talking about like... his love life?! The only person I've ever dated is this weirdo right next to me!" I jab my thumb in the direction of Jihoon.
"But aren't you guys happy together?" He gives me a knowing look.
I sigh and lower my head.
"If this all ends bad, I'm blaming you." I whisper yell at him.
"You'll probably thank me later." He makes a heart with his hands then waves bye.
I lean over to Jihoon and he leans closer.
"I'm gonna go talk to Soonyoung, alright?" I whisper.
Jihoon looks over at the boy and scans him. His eyebrows scrunch together and he faces me.
"Is he okay? He seems a little... not Soonyoung..." He whispers.
"Exactly what I'm gonna talk to him about. Here..." I nod towards Joshua on the other side of me, "Talk to Joshua or something to keep you entertained." I pat his head before I walk over to Soonyoung.
Soonyoung looks up at me when he notices my feet in front of him. His eyes widen and he fumbles to put away his phone, clearing his throat as I take a seat next to him. I suck in my breath, staring at the other boys having fun. Chan moved over to Jun and Minghao a few minutes ago so Soonyoung is just sitting by himself for once.
"H-hey." He finally says.
"Hey." I look over at him.
He's quiet again and I tap my feet on the ground, rhythmically. Why is this so hard? I don't usually go up to the person in need! They usually come up to me!
"So why're you over here?" He asks.
I sigh and tilt my head to look at him.
"Soon, you know we all care about you, right?"
"Yes...?"
"And you care about us?"
"Of course."
"So then if something's bothering you, you'll tell us because we care about each other?"
He stays silent and stares into my eyes. His eyes continuously look back and forth between mine and somewhere behind me. My eyebrows scrunch together and I look around to see who could be in earshot. The only ones around are Jihoon, Joshua, Minghao and Mingyu. Oh. I think I get it.
"How about this... I'll take you out to hang out sometime this week and you can forget about everything that's making you sad. Just the two of us. Don't tell anyone else cause it'll end up like this." I laugh as I point around the room.
"Really?" He raises an eyebrow.
"Only if it'll cheer you up."
He stares at me before a smile spreads across his face.
"Alright. I need a day out." He smiles.
"That's the smile that I've been waiting for." I hit his arm lightly, making him laugh a little, "Now go hang out with the boys normally before it looks like we had one of those deep talking session."
"Thanks, saengseon!" He squeezes my hand before rushing over to Seokmin and playing the game he's teaching the boys how to play.
Joshua comes next to me and looks at me.
"Did he tell you what's wrong?"
"Nope. I'll let you know if he does." We both look back at the blonde boy.
"What'd you tell him to make him so happy again?"
"Nothing important. Just something enough to make him at least temporarily happy. He needs it. I can tell." I frown.
What could that boy be hiding?