the years until you

18. roomers

Tuesday, April 12th
"So you'll be good to go tomorrow?"

"I will."

My voice is as much apologetic as it is relieved, being able to tell the director that I'm recovered enough to film again. These past days have been spent with anxiety, my mind constantly spinning about how much of a burden I am to the entire team. They've basically lost two days of filming and despite how well they've managed to fill it in with other scenes, I know that it must've caused a lot of stress on them.

"Take care, Alba."

I take a deep breath after finishing the call, turning around to meet Jake's eyes from where he's casually laying on my bed.

"Everything was alright, yeah?" he asks me, raising his brows as I lightly nod my head. "See? I told you not to worry."

He gets up from the bed, finished with his task of being my moral support. I let out a sigh as I pull a hand through my hair, still feeling anxious about the situation.

"It's okay to be sick, Albi," Jake puts his arm over my shoulders as he leads me out of the room. "And I know that doesn't make the consequences disappear, but bad things happen whether we like them or not. Hm?"

I place my hand where his rests on my shoulder, thankful for his pep talk. He's right - I can't help that I've been sick, but it's incredibly frustrating none the less.

"Did she talk to him?"

Heeseung shows up as we've not even made it halfway through the hallway. His eyes are observant, deer-like.

I can't keep the endeared smile away as I look up at Jake. "You told him about the call too?"

The Australian is not as endeared as he sighs, letting go of me as his pink haired friend is quick to fill the empty spot by my side. "He's been nearly as anxious as you. Calm him down, will you?"

I laugh at his tired words, watching Jake walk into the distance until finally meeting Heeseung's curious gaze. His eyes continue to effect me without close to no effort at all.

"It went well?" Heeseung softly asks me, facing me fully as the closure makes me a little shy.

Glancing down to his shoulder, I hum positively. "I shouldn't worry. I can't do much about the situation anyway."

He hums back, hearing the very same words he's been telling me each time I've been anxious these past days. I appreciate how he's cared for me, and suppose that I could be better at responding to it. I tend to become quite closed when I'm worried, and again, his eyes tend to make me shy.

He's just about to say something when Sunghoon's voice echoes through the dorm's walls.

"Ey Heeseung, how's Karina?"

His gaze, which had security been observing me before, now slowly moves away after his friends words. Not recognizing the female name at all, I try to get out any hints from his reaction, though he doesn't give me much at all as he stays seemingly unmoved.

"Shut up," he still replies to his band mate, if anything then just a tiny bit bothered.

"Karina~" Niki joins Sunghoon's call, making Heeseung's calm gaze start to move even more in a sign of stress. "I'm on the next, level~"

"Who's Karina?" I can't help but to ask, too curious to keep it to myself.

Though I tried to keep my tone quiet enough to only reach Heeseung's ears, Niki must've snapped it up as he quickly responds from his room.

"His girlfriend-"

"She's no one," Heeseung tries to drown out Nikis voice, hoping to catch my eyes and attention. "They're all just messing with me. Don't listen to them."

I nod my head. The unpleasant feeling in my chest continues to linger there somewhere in my chest, even when I keep my remaining questions within. The female name continues to stay in my head as I unconsciously keep one extra step away from him during the rest of the day.