COLLIDE [PARK SUNGHOON]

19.

I gulp and get the hint that this is something I'm not supposed to hear, but a grab at my wrist stops me from leaving.

"Can't she stay?"

Ms Choi throws him a deadly look and I signal to Sunghoon to let me go, as the air could be cut at any moment. Hesitantly, his fingers unwrap and release my wrist. I give him an encouraging smile and then step off the ice after giving them both another bow. Worried, I walk to the changing rooms, quickly close the door and sit down on the bench to loosen my skates.

Is he in trouble? Am I in trouble? Are we in trouble? I hear frustrated remarks through the door, but I won't eavesdrop, it's his business not mine. Sighing because our skating lesson was shorter than expected, I place my skates in the locker and grab my clothing bag that I had tossed on the floor earlier.

After changing clothes, I plop down on the bench to wait for him to finish. I can't just walk out now while they are in the middle of their conversation and leave without saying a proper goodbye to Sunghoon. My eyes stray to my phone lying at the bottom of my now empty clothing bag as I try to stuff my training clothes into it. Should I check if Ye-Jun has reached out?

Biting my lip, I drop the skating attire and grab my phone. With my back leaning against the other lockers, I unlock the device. The cool sensation of the metal lockers makes me shiver a little.

When I click the button on the side, my phone lights up with my familiar home screen. I see I have a few messages from Eun-Ji and Chae-Won and then there is Ye-Jun. I haven't had many notifications because my discussion with him was only a day ago.

Scrolling a little further to check all my messages, my eyes widen visibly as a green icon appears. Oh no, oh no.

Dad called when I was training with Ye-Jun, when I had a fight with Ye-Jun, when I had to quit roller skating. It's been a day. Oh, god. I missed his call and I haven't called back in 24 hours. My parents rarely call and they didn't even call after scolding me, so a new fear is seeping into my system. I pray it won't be a call like last time and then hesitantly press the call button, lest I make them even angrier when I call them back later.

Nail-biting, I pace around the room and at the fourth ring a stern voice sounds. "Dahlia"

My heartbeat stills.

"Yes dad?"

The silence is killing me and I tiptoe to look through the tiny window above me to see Sunghoon still deep in conversation with his coach and Areum.

"We will be back tomorrow, please listen to what we have to say okay?" His voice softens and I scoff lightly, rubbing my eyelids as I still pace around the room.

"Why didn't you call sooner?" My voice cracks and I prevent myself from crying. I knew they'd come back, but I did not expect this soon.

"We left a note, didn't you see?" Your apologies? No.

I hum, remembering the sticky note on the fridge. "You wanted to talk."

"That's right" I hear him clearing his throat and some background noise of people talking and rummaging through piles of paper. There's again a dead silence and I sigh, having no hope of talking to him in a decent way. That has always been the problem. They were never good at communicating, always running away from their mistakes and blaming others.

"Is that all?"

There is grumbling and also a disappointed sigh. I don't know why I feel guilty when he is the man who hit me. "Just...please be home tomorrow".

It sounds ridiculous. They are never home for me and now I have to be home for them? A humorous laugh escapes my lips and I run a hand through my hair to stop myself from biting back a comment.

I nod, but then realise he can't see me, so I sit back down on the bench and switch the phone to my other ear. "Sure" His hum vibrates through the device and I don't know why I suddenly want to cry again, but I hold it back.

"See you tomorrow"

His tone is flat, but there is a suspicious softness in it that makes my movements halt. I stay on the line until the beeping sound is all I can hear. It rings through my body as if it's mocking me and taunting the back of my head.

A soft knock on the changing room door startles me more than it should as I quickly hide my phone in the back pocket of my jeans, still not having read Ye-Jun's messages.

A distressed Sunghoon enters with a frown, before closing the door with a click and pressing his back against it. His head is down because thinking is all he can do right now. Hesitantly, I get up and go to him, he's acting a little weird.

"Are you all right?"

He bites his lip and then meets my worried gaze before nodding and pulling himself together. Scraping the back of his throat, he straightens himself before taking hold of my my arms. "I'll see you at school?" 

This is the first thing he says the moment he steps in here and it catches me off guard. Something in the way he says it worries me and I begin to wonder what Areum, his trainer and he have been talking about.

Noticing his strange behaviour, I draw my eyebrows together and bite the inside of my cheek. "Are you sure you're okay?" I want to be there for him like he has always been there for me, so I lightly take his hand. He gives me a weak smile and gently squeezes it, slowly entwining it.

"I am..." 

There seems to be a but, but all he does is smile and my eyes become slits. He chuckles at my reaction, but his mouth soon fades into a flat smile. "I appreciate your concern, but it's not me you should be worried about."

Huh? I find this very odd, but drop the matter if he really doesn't want to talk about it. I don't want to be seen as nosy. Nodding my head a few times, I grab my bag and think about the phone call from my parents, but press my lips together because I don't want to bother him with my problems. His eyes analyse my every move and I feel like I was the topic they were talking about and that I did something terribly wrong, because his eyes keep screaming guilt.

Giving him a wary look, I linger for a moment but then walk past his slender frame and turn the knob, looking back one last time. He doesn't even turn to wave at me and my heart seems to break and sink to the bottom of my stomach. He just stares at the changing room, not even moving since he came in here.

What's going on?

A/N:

Hey, lovely readers who read my book. A vote or comment would really help me and my motivation :) I love seeing your reactions. Thanks a lot! 

Have a great day/night x

-C