The 10th Month

05. call? call.

Everytime the memory of that particular someone popped inside his head, Hanbin felt the blood rushing to his cheeks.

Normally, he would be annoyed by drunk people. Whenever iKON drank together, he'd leave before things got chaotic. As iKON's grumpy man, he would grumble at the way everyone was acting even though he shed tears from laughing too much, too. Most of the time he usually recorded the members' drunken cry, their silly drunken slurs, the incoherent yells before taking off.

However, when it comes to Jennie's drunken state that night, he found it adorable. He wanted more of that. Though intoxicated by alcohol, he believed she meant what she said. Her words were rather vague and quite ambiguous, but still, Hanbin felt his heart skipping a beat.

It had been two weeks now.

Fourteen days had passed ever since the phone call.

Two weeks went on ever since she said she wanted to keep him as her little secret.

And no words were said ever since. She was ghosting him.

He figured as no strings were attached between them, Jennie didn't owe him any explanations. They were.. colleagues. Grew out of their teenage years together. Used to be in the same group of friends when they were young, or "squad" if you call it now. No big deal.

As much as he didn't want to, Jennie kept appearing on the back of his mind. She posted his pictures on Instagram, yet she acted as if nothing happened between them. She told him she wanted to keep him as her little secret, and then she disappeared. 

Why?

Did she not mean what she said?

She was drunk, though?

Or perhaps, she forgot everything?

She couldn't possibly forget, right? She couldn't.

Hanbin couldn't wrap his mind around what was going on. He couldn't help it, it was Kim Jennie he was dealing with. Hearing such words from a girl as beautiful as she is was a privilege. He wouldn't allow himself to easily forget about it.

"Ugh." Hanbin groaned. He ruffled his hair in frustration as he got up to sit on the edge of his bed.

One hand scrolling through Instagram while another was resting on his chin, Hanbin nervously bit his nail. When he caught a familiar picture, his thumb stopped scrolling. He took his time to admire the person that was being portrayed inside the picture. He smiled slowly as his mind took him to when the picture was taken.

"Posted an hour ago.." He mumbled under his breath. "Okay!"

Without further thinking, Hanbin picked up his most favorite sweater and slipped on a pair of shoes. A mantra was being repeated inside his head as he stared at his own reflection on the mirror. 

He was only going to iKON's dorm to pick up a few things. If by chance he bumped into Jennie later, that would be a bonus. That's it. He wasn't going in hopes to see a glimpse of Kim Jennie. Not at all.

Hanbin whistled behind his mask when the building came to his view. Unknowingly, a small smile was plastered on his face.

His smile disappeared the moment he welcomed himself inside the dorm.

No one was home yet.

He felt a sinking feeling inside his chest when his eyes traveled around the room. He ignored it by taking a seat on the sofa, eyes focused on the phone. It was a failed attempt as Hanbin could feel his heart beating rapidly now.