The Reason? - Yoon Jeonghan

Chapter 53

"Wait, are you not packing your bags?" Ophely looked up at Jeonghan confused. "You're not joining us?"

"Oh, no." He seemed to deflate a little bit. It was the first tour she wouldn't be joining them on since the first swap in December of 2017. "I thought you knew. I will be moving this week, and starting my new position at Pledis." She really thought that he had known.

"So you're packing your boxes?"

She hummed calmly back at him. "It feels weird, like we've been sharing a room for so long, being all alone with just one other roommate will be an adjustment. And a girl! Can you believe it? You boys sometimes forget that I do not wish to see you walking naked in the corridors." He smiled down at her, finding a seat on his bed. Looking around he found two cardboard boxes already closed in the corner of their room. Now he knew why she hadn't been at the company that morning while they trained for their concert.

"How do you feel about moving in with Miss Byung?" He made himself comfortable on his bed, laying down on his side and watching Ophely as she sorted, re -folded some of her clothes, while sitting cross-legged in front of their cupboard. She looked up at him for a second, not once stopping her movements.

"I'm scared. Since, well, I did say that we've been sharing a bedroom for over a year, and also sharing a space with first thirteen other people and now only six. It's still a lot. I just, I'm scared of the difference." She was calm, she looked calm. But Jeonghan knew that her heart was beating kilometres per hour in her ribcage. He could feel her anxiety.

"We're just one call away if you need any help. Really, Ophely, I don't even remember how many times I called my parents when I didn't know what to do once in Seoul. Just call us, our manager, and anybody you feel comfortable talking to at the company."

"I will, thank you."

Jeonghan was worried, of course he was. Ophely was younger than any of them, and they had been able to help Dino with all of his difficulties while they worked together. Their maknae wasn't going to leave the dorms like that. Maybe the older members first, but not their maknae. Ophely, to many of the boys, was their youngest now. She was a year younger than Chan. And a girl. As much as they all tried to not act differently around her because of her gender, it did change some of the dynamics in the dorms.

"Do you need any help?"

She looked up once again, clothes finished and now going through some of her art supplies. "No thank you. I like seeing everything I have." A small smile followed her words as she stood up to pick up a stack of sketchbooks from the desk. "It feels nice to look through everything, helps to make a choice about what is truly needed. Like, did you know that I had a blue dress? I didn't. Now I will probably have to give it to someone who would wear it, or maybe just a shop. Are there any second-hand stores here?"

"I think so, maybe ask the stylists at the company. They would know if there was one. It's their job. And the cheaper, the better for the expenses."

"True." She stacked her sketchbooks in a pile, putting two in the box and the rest on another pile.

"What is that pile for?"

"I will bring all of this to the company. Some are clothes I don't wear, others are sketchbooks or designs I want to discuss with the rest of the department. They asked if they could see more of my work, so as to know better where to place me." Ophely closed the wardrobe doors and leaned against them, facing Jeonghan still on his side. "They still have me rotating each month on different parts, they want to see where my input is best placed, and where I enjoy myself the most." It was nice of Pledis to do so. Jeonghan agreed silently, and stayed where he was watching her.