DOUBT | KH

SEVEN

I went out of school and the sun was already about to set. I looked at the sky and admired it for a while, taking deep breaths as my body relaxes to the wind. I leave school and decided to walk home since it felt like a good day to.

"Hyunji!" Someone called. I turned and saw Wonho with Hyunwoo approaching me. I raised both brows, "oh, what's up?" I may seem calm and collective, but deep down, I'm panicking. Like I said, I've never had a proper conversation with any of them. I've only had small talk because of Kihyun. But that doesn't change the fact that these two are big giants.

Wonho flashed a bright smile at me with his one hand on the strap of his bag. "Where are you off to?" Hyunwoo asked. "Just heading home." I stated, pointing at the direction of my place. "Were waiting for a table at this ramen place, would you like to join us?"

My eyes widened before shaking my head with a faint smile, "I'm good! I wouldn't wanna cause any trouble or disturbance." Wonho does nothing but shake his head, the friendliest smile on his lips, "it's alright really! We have an extra ticket for a discount anyway."

And next thing I knew, I was eating ramen with these two men. "It's shocking to see you alone without Kihyun." Hyunwoo says, breaking the silence. I took a quick glance at Wonho who was now devouring his ramen the moment it arrived.

"He's got a competition to prepare for. You know how serious he is with singing." I said, blowing on my hot ramen. Hyunwoo grabs his cup filled with water and chuckled, "yup, he won't rest until his voice is gone."

This was a pleasant conversation. Although I do get awkward vibes from Hyunwoo. Or maybe it's because he's just shy?? I have no idea.

Wonho's eyes suddenly widened, dropping his chopsticks and tapping on the table, "why don't we check on Kihyun after eating!" He points at me. I sighed, "I don't know. I don't want to disturb him." There was this silence. Maybe these two aren't the muscle boys I thought they would be.

I expected these two to be the easiest to talk to since they might be the loudest. But here we are, in a ramen place, eating together for the first time even though we haven't even had a proper conversation with one another. Cool.

"But really though, do you wanna watch Kihyun practice?" Wonho asked. Hyunwoo suddenly paused. "Come to think of it, we never see her at Kihyun's practices. Ever." The two turn their heads at me in sync.

"What?" I asked, my mouth stuffed with food. "Do you..not watch Kihyun sing?" Hyunwoo asked. I shook my head and placed my chopsticks down, clearing my throat. "It's not that. It's because Kihyun...well," I looked around, starting to feel ashamed. I heaved a breath, "Kihyun doesn't allow me to watch him perform."

Hyunwoo dropped his chopsticks and quickly picked them back up while Wonho's eyes were wide. "He what?" I rubbed my temple, "yup. You heard it right. Kihyun never wants me to watch him perform or practice." I took a sip from my water. "Why? Shouldn't you be there at all times for support?" Hyunwoo asked, giving me a concerned look.

I nodded and leaned back, stretching a little, "well, that's what I thought. But those are one of the things Kihyun really never wants to me do. So I follow it. I don't want him stressed and upset for my actions." My words seemed to make the two boys more and more shocked.

"What if he performs at school though? Do you hide in the bathroom with earphones on or something?" I managed to laugh, "no. He just lets it go. It's not like I'm gonna start running away from the stage because of that. If he performs at school, then I can watch. That's really one of those rare times where I can watch him."

"Don't you get..upset?" He asked, his eyebrow raised. I hesitated to nod, "yeah. I do. But what can I do about it?" Suddenly, Hyunwoo stands up, "where are you going?" Wonho asked. "Were taking Hyunji to watch Kihyun's practice."

Wonho's eyes widened, "but.." he averted his eyes at his almost empty bowl of ramen. Hyunwoo rolled his eyes, "you've eaten enough. Plus, it's bad for your kidney." That didn't stop Wonho. He takes his chopsticks and grabbed every thing in the bowl and shoved it inside his mouth, his cheeks even more chubby now because of the food.

Wonho wipes his mouth with a tissue before standing up with Hyunwoo. "You owe me." Was all Wonho could say before turning towards me. "You're not coming?" I flash a big smile, shaking my head. "I'm good."

That doesn't stop there.

Hyunwoo grabs my wrist while Wonho took the other. Next thing I knew, we were inside a bus. "Where are you taking me?" I asked the two of them. No response. This was all new to me because Kihyun practices somewhere and he would never tell me the location.

Hyunwoo presses a button in the bus which signals the bus driver to stop. We hop off and there's this twisted feeling I feel inside of my stomach. There's two sides of me that's screaming, "oh, I'm so nervous. What if he kills me?" Or "I've been waiting."

The two led me inside this big area. It was a basketball court. There was a stage though. A group of boys were playing basketball. Then I saw a familiar figure. My body automatically turns around, regretting everything. "Hey, where are you going?" Wonho asked.

I shook my head, "this was a bad idea. I don't want him to see me and get mad." They both look at each other before finally turning back at me. "He won't. He needs to accept that best friends are there to support one another. And if he does blow up on you, were here to back you up and tell him that it was our fault."

Before I could say anything, angelic singing started. The three of us turn our attention to the stage where Kihyun was singing his heart out. His expression turning sad to happy before sad again.

The thing about Kihyun is that he's very expressive with his emotions. His facial expression was actually painful for me. I ended up sitting somewhere by the bleachers with Wonho and Hyunwoo.

Ballads are really Kihyun's go-to. Nevertheless, his voice matches every genre there is. I didn't even notice time was passing by so fast.

"That was a good one." A person said. I assume was his vocal coach. But I don't even think he needs one. "But maybe add a little more hand gestures? Everything else, it's all good."

"We'll continue our practices tomorrow, alright?" Kihyun waves and bows goodbye. But I stopped when I noticed that he wasn't leaving. Instead, he was about to start over?

"Why isn't he going home yet?" I asked. "That's Kihyun for you. He'd stay here all night just to practice more and get better." Hyunwoo replied. I gasped silently, turning back my attention to him.

My whole world just exploded. Kihyun saw me and dropped his water bottle, quickly running towards me. I start shaking, my eyes almost teary. Why was I suddenly afraid?

Wonho and Hyunwoo suddenly stood up and went down the bleachers, approaching Kihyun. I couldn't hear their conversation. I didn't bother. I was too paranoid.

Hyunwoo and Wonho split apart and Kihyun walked between them, walking towards me. Yup, I'm dead.

Kihyun stands in front of me, my head remains down, avoiding his eyes. He slowly sat down, still no words leaving his mouth. I would've talked but my lips remained shut.

"You don't need to be so silent." Kihyun said. "If you think I'm mad at you, I'm not." I felt him tense up a little and shoved his hands inside his pockets, standing up. "Hyungs told me what you're doing here."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to break a rule you made. I should've known it was a bad idea." My fists clenched. Kihyun sighed and chuckled, "you're overreacting. I mean, I'm not mad. Just disappointed."

"I'm a disappointment, I know." He quickly shaked his head, bursting out of laughter. I was there confused. "You're not. This may sound cheesy as hell, but you're something I'm really proud to have in my life." There was silence.

Kihyun suddenly jumps up, his two hands clenched tightly before screaming loudly. This only meant that: he was cringing.

I laughed loudly, "idiot." Kihyun rolled his eyes, scoffing. "I was just disappointed because I didn't perform that good and that's when you came to watch." I gave him a look, "oh shut up." I folded my arms. "You did good and you can't say otherwise."

He chuckled, giving me a warm smile which melted my heart.

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