𝐑𝐞𝐝 𝐋𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬 ✓

Chapter 36

HYUNJIN waited in anticipation and pure enthusiasm for his wife to walk through the door to their room, expecting to see her arms open wide to engulf him in a tight hug of hers and tell him how great he was, even if he and the rest of the members thought that it wasn't their best performance.

A few minutes had passed, and his wide, broad grin turned into a small smile.

And as soon as time had passed, his smile faded away.

Why was his wife so late?

After all, his heart was aching to see her after his (rather tiring) performance.

He stopped to glance at his friends for a moment, and as a result, they glanced back at him with concerned expressions at his rather sad face.

"Hyunjin, is everything okay?"

He shook his head hesitantly, not wanting to seem worried about something so small and insignificant.

But it was significant. For him, at least. He knew that meeting his wife after the show was a must for gaining good luck.

"W-Where is jagiya?" He questioned, his voice coming out so small and trembling.

"She probably got stopped by a bodyguard or something," Minho reasoned, resting a hand on his friend's shoulder, "she'll be fine, Hyunjin."

Hyunjin nodded and gulped, still hesitant and worried. He fidgeted with his fingernails and walked over to one of the lazy boy chairs in the nearby corners. He sunk himself as much as he could into the chair, his back arching automatically in the soft fabric.

"We did great, right, guys?" Chan started in a cheerful tone, still eyeing Hyunjin's spaced-out expression sadly.

The others nodded, mostly biting their lower lips, tension filling the rooms soon enough, leaving Hyunjin staring at his leather shoes in guilt.

A few minutes had passed, light conversations filling the room when members from other rival groups entered the room to say hello. Chan began chatting with the leader of another group and the tension began to fade away. Hyunjin kept silent whatsoever.

A member from another group, Wooyoung, who was best friends with Changbin and knew Mal at some point when she was visiting Korea, entered and hurried over to Changbin to engulf him in a hug.

"Hey, Bin!" Wooyoung began. "That was a great performance!"

Changbin sent him a small smile, patting his back, then glanced hesitantly at Hyunjin, who was standing alone with his eyes motionlessly staring at the floor.

"Anyways!" Wooyoung started again, glancing around at the gigantic room to look for someone. "Where is Mal? I could see her on the benches but now I can't see her anywhere."

Changbin hesitated for a moment, then took another glance at Hyunjin. This time, Wooyoung furrowed his eyebrows in confusion and looked at the boy too, only to find him staring at the porcelain floor.

"Um, what's wrong with Hyunjin?"

Changbin bit his lower lip, "he's upset because Mal didn't come to see him after the performance."

"Well, why didn't she?" Wooyoung asked. "Is everything okay?"

Changbin only shrugged and bit his lower lip, followed by an attempt to hide his negative feelings and start a conversation with his best friend.

Because something told all of them that something wasn't right. Because they knew Mal would have done anything to see Hyunjin during the performance if she could.

Because she would've waited for him in the back room if she couldn't see him in the performance.

And they all knew Hyunjin wouldn't have passed down an opportunity to kiss her after an exhausting performance like the one they just went through.

It was an hour after the performance now. Hyunjin was getting distracted by Felix, who was trying to calm him down by involving him in a conversation, putting a hand over his shoulder to slow his breathing.

And while the other members of different groups were trying to relieve the tension, Chan was making phone calls with people he knew from all around the building.

"Ah, yes- long brown hair, slim body, and I think she came here with a designer bag and a jumpsuit. She was supposed to wait for her husband after the performance but it's been a while now and she hasn't shown up," Chan explained in a soft, almost unnoticeable tone, "I think she's still in the building? Isn't that right?"

But what he heard next shook him to the core.

"Unfortunately not, sir. She has been transported by an ambulance to the nearest hospital after one of our security guards saw her getting stabbed by a man that matched the description of a refugee, short brown hair, slim built, muscular."

The news hit him like a locomotive.

He took a desperate glance at Hyunjin, then turned his attention to the phone on his ear.

"Is she going to be okay?" He asked, his voice trembling as he closed his eyes in an attempt to calm himself down. "Please, tell me she wasn't hurt too bad?"

The man on the other end sighed heavily, allowing dread to fill up Chan's insides and coat them with regret.

"I'm sorry, sir, but she was stabbed over five times and nobody knows if she's going to make it."

Chan's eyes welled up with tears. He thanked the man on the other end and hung up the phone call, then hurried to the other side of the room to grab Hyunjin, then grabbed Jisung, Changbin, and Wooyoung as he hurried out of the room.

"We need to leave."