Attention || Seulrene | Ongoing

Selfless or Stupid

Run, Seulgi.

Run!

Nothing else mattered that time. Her mind was only thinking of not tripping, not be seen by any professors and to get at the dance room as fast as possible. She also apologized to a couple of students who got in her way, where she bumped her shoulders or almost shoved them aside.

It was like her mind and body was on autopilot, as her feet dashed towards the building where the dance room was situated. Adrenaline was pumping through her veins, making her forget that her body wasn't in the best shape to dash from one building to another.

There was no burn in her shins or in her lungs, and despite gasping for much needed air and her heart was pounding in her ears, she pushed herself to run a little faster.

Gods. Was the practice room always that far?!

After sprinting through a set of stairs, she finally saw the room's door and opened it with so much force that it banged against the wall and made some students jump which were standing a few feet away from her. But she didn't care as she roamed her eyes at the seemingly empty space.

She gasped and tried to catch her breath as she scanned the area once again.

Her mind was blaring and she thought that maybe Irene was sent to the office to be interrogated. She was about to turn her back when she saw a small figure hunched on the farthest corner of the room.

Her whole body relaxed a little upon seeing the woman. With slow and careful steps, she approached the figure so reminiscent of the one she saw on the cemetery not too long ago. When she was near enough, she made her shoes squeak against the floor to make her presence known and not worsen the agitation felt by Irene.

Seulgi swallowed before squatting beside her, a few good inches away from her. "H-Hey..."

Irene's sniffs and whimpers seemed to pause upon hearing her voice but after a second, she buried her head into her knees more. Her cries became louder.

"I-I'm done, Seulgi. I'll... I'll never-"

She hesitated extending her arm but her want to comfort Irene overcame her fear. She rested it on the latter's shoulder while patting it every now and then.

Seulgi said nothing and let Irene cry. She could feel her still trembling under her arm, the cold skin against her warm sweaty one and the tensed muscle on her back and shoulders.

Irene whimpered again and shook her head. Her voice came out muffled due to her position so she leaned closer to hear her clearly.

"You don't understand. You-You don't." Her voice cracked and she shoved Seulgi away and removed her arm, letting it drop beside her body.

Squeezing herself more into the corner, Irene made Seulgi feel like she didn't want to be touched nor comforted by the latter.

Seulgi sighed and with a dull ache in her chest, she stood up. Her eyes lingered on Irene's figure, and after seeing Irene so happy for the past week and so different from her usual self, it broke Seulgi's heart to see her like this.

She decided to try again... to offer some more comfort to her friend. She knew she should be crying too and sad and also feel devastated upon being caught but Irene's feelings came first.

Bending down once again, she reached to stroke Irene's back when the latter flinched.

That hurt. She thought but there was nothing else she could do.

Seulgi retracted her arm and walked outside the room without fully closing the door. She fished her phone from her pocket, dialled Joy's number and wait for her to pickup without forgetting to glance once in a while at Irene.