WORDS. |Kim Seungmin

Thirty Eight.

"Ahhhh."

Seungmin heard someone yawning loudly. Without opening his eyes, he figured it was Felix. That made Seungmin reluctantly opens his eyes. It was already afternoon but the boy needed to sleep more. He stayed up till it was almost morning.

Seungmin finally stretched up his limbs while groaning internally. He kicked the covers and then pushed his body up. He joined Felix in yawning while scratching his scalp. He looked around with his sleepy eyes.

Changbin, who was standing by the foot of the bed, slipping his clean hoodie over his body after he had his morning shower, looked at Seungmin. "Good morning, princess." Changbin teased. Seungmin just nodded at him. "Get up already. We are late."

Seungmin stood up to his feet and started walking towards the bathroom while waving at the sleepy Felix. He walked into the bathroom, slammed the door behind him, and stood by the sink. His hand found the faucet and he turned it, letting the water fall. Seungmin washed his face, not caring about how his locks were getting damp. Once he was done, he turned off the water and lifted his head up to look at his reflection in the mirror. He passed his fingers through his damp hair, pushing his locks off his face. His eyes rested on the image he was seeing. It was just a very few seconds before his eyes widens.

Seungmin's hands moved frantically to his face, touching it everywhere. He leaned closer to the mirror and started checking it closely, pushing his hair away and stretching his skin here and there. He backed off from the mirror and then rushed to the door. Seungmin opened the door and stormed outside, looking in every direction.

Felix, who was already changing his night clothes, got startled. He turned around to see his panicked friend. "Looking for Ari?" Felix asked. Seungmin nodded. "She went to grab breakfast for us. Changbin just left to pick her up." He said then walked past him to the bathroom.

Seungmin had nothing to do except sitting there, waiting for her quietly when inside his head, it wasn't quiet at all. All his gears were grinding against each other. All his insecurities and fears were coming back. The fear of her being scared was the strongest one. What if she leaves? What if she made up the breakfast thing to run away from him? What if she never comes back?

What if she had already revealed his last secret?

The time was passing slowly, painfully, ticking Seungmin's last bundle of nerves while he was waiting for Aria and Changbin to come back. He was totally drowned in his thoughts that he didn't notice Felix stepping into the room again. He didn't hear Felix talking on the phone.

"Heyy!" Felix yelled making Seungmin startle. "Are you okay?" Felix asked him, earning a weak nod from the boy. "You scared me. I called many times and you didn't seem to be listening." He said while stuffing his clothes in his backpack. "Whatever! They are here, waiting for us downstairs. Let's go."

Seungmin sighed in relief. At least she didn't run away. Not yet.

The two friends quickly collected their belongings and left the room then the whole hostel. They headed to the car where Changbin and Aria were waiting for them. Once Felix and Seungmin hopped in, Aria handed them their coffee and bakery.

The relief that Seungmin felt minutes ago, was shoved out of the window. Aria didn't look at him or smile at him as always. She was sitting in the passenger's seat, keeping her eyes ahead on the road while Seungmin was in the backseat with Felix. He kept glancing at her, trying his best to catch any gestures but there were none. And that made his heart drop to his feet.

"A serious question here." Changbin said, cutting the suffocating silence that was filling the car. "Why did you and your friends bully that girl? I checked her social media accounts and she looked cool. She looked beautiful and smart, I guess." He said shrugging, looking at Seungmin in the rearview mirror.

Seungmin tore his eyes from Aria's side profile and looked at Changbin in the mirror. He sighed dropping his shoulders. "She was different." He said in his regretful tone. "She was different from other girls at our school. She was fun and cheerful. She was the only one that never looked intimidated by us."

"So, that triggered you to bully her? Cause she didn't care about all of you?" Felix asked.

"Not only because of that. Actually, she scared some of us. She had a couple of scary eyes. She was the one intimidating us with her look. That's why they pushed me to get her."

"That is mean, dude." Changbin uttered under his breath. "Get yourself prepared, Seungimn. We are here." He added, pointing at the building that was getting closer.

From the research they did, they found that the girl recently started her career as an artist. Seungmin remembered clearly her fascinating drawings and paintings. She was always obsessed with drawing the sky, just like her name. Sky, that was her name.

The four friends stepped out of the car and stood facing the door to her studio. Seungmin's fear was doubled, not only because of meeting Sky, but also because of how Aria was ignoring him.

"Let's go." Felix said patting Seungmin's back.

Seungmin pushed the door open and walked in followed by his friends. They stood there, in the middle of the quiet studio where no one was present. They were only surrounded by paintings. Lots of them. A loud gasp left Changbin's lips when his eyes landed on those paintings. Almost all of them were of the same item, and they were nothing related to the sky as Seungmin expected.

"Well, well!" A voice said, grabbing their attention. "The great Kim Seungmin is finally here." The voice said sarcastically.

Their eyes looked for the voice's owner, who finally appeared from behind one of those paintings, making her way towards them.

And that was when another gasp echoed.

That time, it was Felix.