fangirl | renjun

Chapter 16

"What?" Haechan has turned the knob so much that Aera was sure it would break if he turned it even more. "This is the third time this month!"

Aera and Jinae both turned their heads towards Haechan. It was clear he was frustrated as he began nearly forcing the door open by turning it. After a while he begins banging on the door.

"I don't think they could hear you." Aera sighs as she takes a seat at one of the last rows of the theater. She takes a seat down and pulls out her phone, planning to give the only reliable person in her contacts, Yuri.

Yet the moment she placed the phone against her ear all she could hear was beeping against her ear. She turned her phone towards her only to see that she had no phone signal at all.

"There's no service?" Aera stares at her phone.

"The school already has bad service, you could just imagine how bad it is inside a completely closed auditorium." Haechan sighs before walking towards where Aera sat.

"So," JInae walked up to the two of them, "we're stuck here?"

Haechan sighs. "It might be a long shot, but I can check the backstage entrance." He didn't even finish his sentence when he began walking towards the stage. Aera was sure that he was still mumbling to himself as he got on stage, but he was already too far for anyone other than him to hear what he was saying.

That left the two of them at the back of the auditorium.

Aera had no idea how to even ease the absolute silence the two of them were sharing. She never thought the expression 'wanting to be swallowed by the ground whole' was actually useful until this very moment. Every once in a while she would try to start a topic but find herself stopping and not talking at all.

"It must be awkward, huh?"

Aera's head snapped towards her direction and she thought that her neck would have snapped from her body. "What?"

"Sitting here with your boyfriend's ex?" Jinae was joking but she couldn't exactly look Aera in the eye.

"Uh," she nods her head slowly. She forgot that he and Renjun were still 'boyfriend' and 'girlfriend'. "But I don't think I have anything to worry about." She starts with this hoping that this would somehow start a conversation between the two of them.

Jinae's eyebrow knit together and they were finally exchanging eye contact.

"Haechan?"

That was all it took for Jinae to turn her head away from Aera. As if she had been caught in the act- maybe she was.

"What about him?" Feigning her innocence only made Aera's suspicion grow even more.

"I don't want to be too pushy with my suspicions–" once Aera turns her attention towards Jinae, she takes notice of her nodding her head ever so slightly.

"The backstage doors are locked as well!" Haechan jumps out of the backstage, by jumping, instead of using the stairs he actually jumped down the stage and began walking towards me.

"What do you usually do when you get stuck here?" Aera asked him as he approached her.

"Luck."

They weren't going home until tomorrow were they?

"So, we'll be here until tomorrow?" Aera sighs, taking her bag off her shoulders and leaning back into her chair– this time properly with her back flat on the un updated, wooden chair. "Do we even have food and water that would last the night?"

"I didn't even bring my bag along." Haechan sighs defeatedly.

"You just went here after class without your stuff?" Aera couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"You tempted me with a secret– that you didn't even tell me."

Aera's eyes grew twice as large as she turned her head towards Jinae who was simply observing the two of them talk.

"Now's not the time." She speaks through her gritted teeth wanting to pinch Haechan.

"Honestly–" he pauses and finally takes a seat beside Aera– "it's your fault– OUCH!" He stops talking as soon as he is close enough for Aera to pinch him in the side. Haechan being the theater kid he is, instead of simply expressing the pain falls down on the wooden chair of the auditorium as if he had been shot behind his back.

Then they all hear the keys just outside the door of the auditorium. Aera was the first one to stand up and head towards the door.

"Aera, you shouldn't stand so close to the door." Haechan shouts as his voice echoes through the whole auditorium.

"Oh god." She hears over at the other side of the door.

Aera's whole body goes numb as she hears that voice. Renjun was on the other side of the door and here inside the auditorium was her, his fake girlfriend, Haechan, one of his closest friends, and Jinae, his ex-girlfriend who is probably the reason why got into this fake relationship and the girl who has a crush on Haechan at the moment. She doesn't notice herself take a few steps back from the door, but with all that Renjun would be seeing right now, she was sure he would lose his mind.

What was she doing here in the first place with Haechan?

What was Haechan doing with the two girls that were involved with– at this point– heartbreaker, Renjun's love life?

Well, if we go by definition she wasn't exactly all that involved in Renjun's–

"Aera?" The door swung open and she was lucky that she took a step back. "I have been looking–" Renjun nearly runs towards her at this moment. He doesn't even hesitate to hug her– "everywhere for you."

"Renjun?" Aera's eyes immediately make their way towards Haechan and Jinae quietly observing everything that was happening. There was no sign of interest towards Renjun, her eyes were even stuck on Haechan who walked up to the personnel.

"I went to your shop earlier." Renjun moves back but doesn't let go of her shoulders while his eyes scanned her. "So, I asked your parents and they told me you weren't back. Then I tried calling you and you were out of cell coverage. That's when I started to panic and began running towards every ditch that you passed by on your way home. Then I found myself in the school and I caught a glimpse of Haechan's bag–" his hand runs through her head before he takes a deep breath in and sighs.

"I'm glad you're safe."

Once their eyes met she finally saw something she has been scared to admit for sometime now. She has hesitated several times, but this time she was sure. He was desperately breathing and huffing for air.

"Renjun–"

He shakes his head and embraces her one more time.

As their bodies remained close together she could hear his heartbeat– probably from thinking of the worst thing that has happened.

And yet, she couldn't help but think that this was due to something else.