Our Journey To Soul ; Ran Takahashi

Chapter 8 - Protection

Ran~

I looked around the training room, eyes searching for Clara. I had not seen her since tucking her into her bed in the hotel, courtesy of her manager.

Clara had cried herself to sleep yesterday night, and it only made everyone worry for her more. It was clear that there was so much more she wanted to let go of, and we swore we would be there for her. It was amazing how she had already managed to swarm her way into everyone's heart.

I do not think anyone could have guessed her answer to the seemingly innocent question on her career, which added to the overall shock factor of what she told us. I wanted to burn the whole world down seeing her tears and holding her shaking body. The urge to check with my own eyes that she was okay was driving me insane and it is partially hilarious that we have not yet exchanged numbers. I marked that as the second thing to do on my mental to-do list after ensuring that Clara was fine.

~

Practice had ended for a lunch break, and as I was exiting the training room, a body crashed into mine. I was shocked and offered a hand out to the body on the floor while she muttered apologies. When the person finally looked up, we recognised each other in an instant.

"You! Do you know where this is?" Clara asked in a rushed tone, panting slightly, while promptly standing up and holding onto my arm. She shoved her phone in my face, and I recognised the location on the opposite side of where we were.

"Yeah, it's in the next building to the right. It's opposite here." Clara let out a groan, and her body droop. She looked down at her watch and sighed in defeat. Just then, her phone started ringing, and Clara answered it immediately. I took the moment to scanned Clara. Her face was slightly flushed, from what I assumed was her running around, eyes slightly puffy, her hair tied haphazardly in a low bun,   her attire of a black pants and an oversized shirt was something new, yet gave her a slightly dishevelled look. Other than that, she looked fine. Relief coursed through my veins, and I felt like I could finally take a deep breath.

By now, most, if not all of the team members, were packed into the corridor waiting for Clara. Although she had her back towards us, we could still hear her talking to someone in Korean. When her call ended, she turned towards us, surprise flickering through her eyes, yet I could tell she was less tense now.

"I was supposed to be in practice, but my manager cancelled it! Something about some emergency meeting, so now I'm free!" Clara clapped her hands excitedly. Suddenly, a loud thunderous grumbled sounded, coming from Clara's stomach. She looked down and patted her stomach, embarrassment written all over her body. Some of the guys let out loud laughs while others chuckled.

Wrapping my arms around her neck, I said, "Come, let's go get food for the hungry monster." Clara punched my side with her elbow but walked with us to the cafeteria.

It seemed we had a routine going on where I would pick out Clara's food for her, while once in a while, she would request a specific dish she wanted to be added in. I was slowly learning her favourite foods and her eating habits, like how she has to have the perfect rice to meat ratio, otherwise she will have leftover food, or how she dislikes eating seafood, but will do so if someone offered, or even how she hates eating anything with a slimy or jiggly texture.

Today, Clara insisted on eating in the cafeteria, reasoning that there were not that many people around. So, we did, filling up three rows with everyone. We had chosen to occupy a corner of the cafeteria with the tables stretching out from the windows to a gap before another set of tables was aligned. Clara sat opposite me, and we were seated towards the end of the table, beside the walkway.  I had noticed Clara did not talk much, preferring to keep quiet and listen. She was particularly skilled at it, having caught her a few times listening in onto a conversation from another table or one further down our table, despite the loud sounds coming from everywhere.