runaway love / cha eunwoo astro ✔

+thirty five

a week had passed since the whole dating scandal fiasco broke out, and eunbi could say it was an ultimate turning point of her career. thanks to the false scandal, more people got to know her, her fanbase was expanding and she was able to get recognition from people around her.

despite her promotion for her debut single had ended, she still got offers to guest in tv shows, and some companies even wanted her to endorse their products, together with taehwan.

the two got the nickname 'the national sibling' from the netizen after taehwan shared their story to public when he was invited to a popular talk show. their family story was quite a hit, probably because it touched many hearts — for how dramatic it was. and of course, both companies were happy for the outcomes.

while eunbi was happy for all the positive outcomes, there was one thing that bothered her.

eunwoo.

he was definitely avoiding her. for what reason? eunbi didn't know herself. he didn't answer her calls, nor did he replies to her text. it was as if he was pushing her away.

eunbi remembered back when she met up with astro members the day of the scandal. despite eunwoo not joining them, she had explained the truth behind the scandal to his members so it was not possible for him to not know the truth, or even misunderstand her.

she had thought over all the possibilities and there was only one that seemed to make sense, given all the circumstances.

he probably had stopped wanting her, and eunbi didn't want that.

—

it was eleven p.m. when eunwoo reached his dorm after a whole day of hectic schedule. he was too tired that he didn't even notice jinjin at the living room, apparently waiting for him.

"eunwoo-ya." jinjin called out and he stopped in his track. "before you sleep, eat first. manager hyung told me you refused to eat anything today." the leader almost sounded like a mother reprimanding her child.

"i don't have the appetite, hyung." was eunwoo's answer but jinjin wasn't having it. he dragged eunwoo to the kitchen and forcefully sat the latter down on the dining chair with a bowl of rice and a few side dishes served before him.

"eat." eunwoo wanted to refuse but upon seeing the stern look on jinjin's eyes, he reluctantly reached for the chopsticks.

jinjin watched as the younger picked on his food, instead of eating them, and sighed frustratedly. "why are you acting like this again? the last time you act so out of character is when eunbi left. but now, you two are fine. so what's the matter?"

eunwoo remained silence, staring blankly to the table. jinjin said they were fine? huh. eunwoo couldn't help but to sneer at the fact. jinjin knew that eunbi had a new boyfriend, how could he say that eunwoo was fine with that? knowing that he still loves eunbi. his members should know that much, and yet, everyone acted like nothing happened — like their member didn't just get dumped by the girl he loved! the least they could do was to let him grieve and they won't even let him do that!

"yah, cha eunwoo." jinjin was getting annoyed by the latter's indifference but right at the moment, eunwoo's phone rang.

eunwoo reached for his phone and looked at the screen. her name appeared as the caller id, but he made no effort to answer the call. the ringing stopped after a while and a few beeping sound, signaling the newly received text messages, followed soon after — all from the same person.

"who is it?" jinjin was intrigued when he saw eunwoo became rigid after the call. he peeked into the latter's phone, seeing eunbi's name on the screen. "why aren't you answering eunbi's call?" he asked in pure confusion.

"there's no need to." eunwoo was about to pocket his phone when the device beeped again. he ignored jinjin's confused look and finally opened the text messages from eunbi.

—

eunbi
cha eunwoo, answer my call
are you really going to ignore me?
what did i even do wrong?
you've been so distant to me since the scandal?
if i do something wrong, tell me
instead of avoiding me
ughhh you said you want to start over
is this how you are going to act?
then, forget about starting over
i'm not going to bother you ever again
because we are totally over, you stupid jerk!

—