bulletproof | insomnia series

trial 3: you can stay

a/n: SURPRISE another post teehee ily

Jiah's POV

"Repeat that again, but say it very slowly," Jisung asks, pointing at me as if he didn't fully understand what I said.

"What... if... we... stayed..." I say again and Jisung clicks his tongue against his cheek.

"No," He flat out says.

"Jisung, look at this place," I try to reason.

"We have been here for one night," Jisung sighs. Jena moans at the noise of us arguing.

"Can you two stop bickering please?" Jena buries herself into her blanket. I push Jisung outside into the hall and shut the door so we don't disrupt Jena.

"Look, I know we don't like safe zones. I know we can't trust them but look around. This place is different from the rest. People are happy here, they're relaxed and out of all people, I'm the one telling you that we should stay," I say, trying to convince Jisung that I am the one considering this. With everything that happened to me back at the last big camp we were at, I think that this one is nothing like one before. Jisung sighs, staring down at me as I try to reason with him.

"I don't like your idea," Jisung says.

"You never like my ideas," I shrug. Jisung rolls his eye and thinks for a while.

"Mom would..." Jisung mutters.

When he mentions our mom, I grow quiet and feel a chord in my heart strum. Our mom died before the apocalypse. She had cancer. When she passed away, that's when I started to think so pessimistically. That's when I started to believe that the world was wrong and evil because it took my mom away from me. She was a good person and didn't deserve to leave so soon.

"I'll see with Renjun," Jisung says, snapping me out of my thoughts. I hug Jisung tight.

"I know this idea is crazy and if it doesn't work out, we'll leave," I say and look up at Jisung. "I promise."

"I know," Jisung says.

"Why are we hugging at such an early time in the morning?" Renjun asks, walking towards us.

"Uh..." Jisung stutters, letting me go. "We have a proposal."

Felix's POV

I enter the main lobby after speaking with Jiah to see Changbin standing there, eating some of my brownies on the counter. He gives me a suspicious smile as I approach him obliviously.

"What was that?" Changbin questions, finishing the brownie piece.

"What was what?" I ask, having no idea what he is referencing to.

"I saw you talking to those newcomers," Changbin smirks. I feel my face flush with red circles and I shake my head.

"I was just making sure they didn't need anything," I say but then picture Jiah looking out the window of her room again. What the hell? Why am I thinking about her? I snap out of it immediately and try to focus on something else. "Hana's not back yet?"

"No," Changbin shakes his head and frowns. "It's fine though when she goes on these scavenges, she purposely takes long."

"Purposely? What do you mean by that?" I question. Changbin sighs.

"Sometimes when she's stressed, she feels like she needs a little getaway," Changbin explains. I nod, understanding what he means. Sometimes I just want to escape reality sometimes too.

We stop our conversation as Renjun walks across the lobby from his room to Jiah's. I watch carefully as he does this but know that he is probably wanting to talk to Jena.