hurt road - kwp

c h a p t e r 1 0

An hour passed.

It seemed like the slowest hour of my life.

Despite having wanted to spend the day alone, I didn't really know what I wanted to do.

So I just waited for Younghyun to come while staring outside my kitchen window, thinking... about anything really. My mind wandered a lot.

I jumped slightly at the sound of my doorbell ringing. I set my strawberry milk back down on the table and headed, a bit slowly, to the door. Upon opening it, I found Jaehyung and Younghyun outside with red faces. A freezing breeze suddenly hitting my face made me step back a little in surprise.

I ushered them inside, not wanting them to stand in this weather. The two immediately stepped in and took off their coats and shoes. They made sure to place everything down neatly, which i appreciated.

Once we got to the living room and sat down, quiet ensued. We just kind of, stared at each other.

"So... why did you want to come here?" I slowly began. They both glanced at each other.

"We wanted to apologise," Jae started, "For thinking of that post. I didn't know how much it would actually hurt you and we both regret it; a lot." Younghyun nodded along.

I bit down on my lip, then softly smiled at Jae. "Ah, it's okay, I forgive you," I told him with a small shrug. My smile then grew wider at the relief present on his face.

Younghyun looked slightly less tense now too. He leaned back on the couch. "I'm glad," he sighed out. We all shared a small laugh.

The rest of their visit was spent in a pleasant atmosphere. Now that the whole drama between us had settled down we just went back to talking about, well, anything.

Soon enough, sitting at home was becoming a bit boring. The other two realised this too so they decided to head over to the café for brunch. I had barely eaten anything all day so I gladly joined them, my tummy was already rumbling at the thought of those delicious cakes...

•

Once we arrived the café was fairly busy; much more than the weekdays. Although, thankfully, my usual seat beside the window was free. I was the first one to get comfortable there after getting my food.

We all dug in eagerly, appreciating the sweet taste of toffee cheesecake. Everything was going well, until I felt that... thing, again. The feeling that made me become all paranoid.

I lifted my head and licked my lips to get rid of the food that had missed my mouth a bit. Then, I looked to my left so I could scan the rest of the shop.

There was an old couple sipping tea and chatting, a girl studying in the corner, a kid discussing something with his mother, and two girls giggling away and hiding their faces from someone.

I looked back at my half-eaten cheesecake, then back at them. They were stealing glances at me.

If they had their phones out I would've ran away but they just seemed genuinely shy, which I found quite cute! It made me grin to myself. I waited for them to look up at me again, then waved at them. In short, they died.

I looked around again. No one was pointing a camera at myself, Jae or Younghyun so I took that as a clear.

Thank God.

Still smiling to myself at the experience with the fangirls, I continued eating.

"Wow, Wonpil, you eat so fast," Jaehyung remarked after swallowing a bite. They were only halfway through their food when I finished. I pushed the plate away proudly then waited for him and Younghyun to finish theirs.

"Wonpil," Younghyun suddenly started, "About that video on Twitter last night, do you think we should try, I don't know, taking it down or something?"

This topic wasn't one I really felt like discussing, so I made my response quick. I just about held back a sigh before talking; "It's okay, I'm sure it'll go away soon." He seemed slightly reassured afterwards, which I was glad about.

The rest of our time at the coffee shop was spent happily, just like the time spent at my home. Two hours passed before we decided it was best to head off. It wasn't really getting late but they had a lot of 'stuff', apparently, to get done.

We all hugged each other before we parted ways, which was obviously my idea! I squeezed them both tight, to which they both responded with a hesitant squeeze back.

We all headed out the café with big grins. I waved excitedly at Jaehyung and Younghyun as they parted ways with me. The sugar was finally kicking in...

Looking back, I am more than glad that it had done so.

I walked along the frozen pavement, trying not to slip on the ice, before I heard a deafening scream.

"WONPIL!"

I glanced behind me, my eyes widened at the sight of three teenage-looking girls running my way. They were sliding on the ice, which was a bit funny, but right now I had to worry about not getting killed by these people.

Slightly panicking, I stepped up onto the grass beside the pavement and immediately began urgently legging it, full speed, towards the comfort of my house. The chilly wind was blowing in my face and I thought my nose would snap off due to the cold. Behind me, I could hear the shouts for me from those seemingly possessed human beings; those sasaengs.

'Faster, faster, faster,' I thought to myself as I increased my speed even more to lose those people. The yelling had become more distant now, which I was extremely thankful for.

It wasn't long before I reached into my pocket, unlocked my door and rushed inside. The key in my shaky hand furiously prodded at the keyhole before it slid in and I managed to finally lock the door. I slid down it, my hands slowly coming up to cover my face in relief.

Quick a/n...
i'm sorry if this chapter wasn't really up to par with my other ones. i just don't feel that great at the moment about this book and where it's going so i've recently been feeling discouraged. i hope you will like the next chapter i upload. also, i'm sorry for uploading it a little late for any of you that still care lol.

thank you for reading,
~ Paulina