√ 𝐸𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑒𝑠𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡 // 𝐻𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑔 𝐻𝑦𝑢𝑛𝑗𝑖𝑛

eight.

     She was scared, naturally.

     Terrified, actually. Of what her words meant, of the weight they held, of the lives they affected. Of what future they brought.

     And yet, when she saw the glint of approval in Chan's eyes, the proud tilt of Minho's head, she was sure. This was the right choice. Hyunjin appeared not to think so, however.

     As soon as the words left her mouth, he turned and stalked off somewhere in the house, hands fisted at his sides. Heart pinching, Nari bit her lip and looked to Chan for help.

     He looked like he was hardcore judging the younger boy, and rolled his eyes as he said, "Don't worry about him, Nari. He'll see eventually that this is for the best." That didn't make her feel any better though.

     Chan rubbed his forehead tiredly. "Minho, could you show Nari to one of the guest rooms? She can arrange it however she wants."

     With a nod, Minho stood, popping his back as he stretched, and gestured for Nari to follow him. "Come on. You're gonna be upstairs with the rest of us. And don't worry, you'll see everyone else soon," he said with a wink. She managed a weak smile.

     They stopped in the same hallway she had fainted in, with Chan's office at the end. Six doors lined either wall, random bits of paper or decoration on each one. Minho motioned to the third door down on the right.

     "That one's yours. All of us except Chan, and I guess you now, bunk together, two in a room. If you get scared at night come snuggle with me, yeah?" the boy said cheekily, mischief twinkling in his eyes. But Nari knew that he meant it; he would offer her comfort if she needed it. "And again, don't worry about Hyunjin. Chan's right, he'll come around."

     With that, he left her standing the hall, alone. There was a silence after he walked away, allowing Nari to hear the blood roaring in her ears. A pressure built up in her chest, and at that moment she wanted nothing more than to sit down, curl up and cry like a baby. But she straightened up, went to her door, and twisted the knob.

     It was just a bedroom; light blue walls, a gray bedspread, a desk. Very generic, really. When Nari saw the small bathroom attached to it though, she thanked the gods above that she didn't have to share one with any of the boys.

     Flopping down on the bed, Nari let out a loud, obnoxious sigh and closed her eyes. At least she could relax a bit more now. No more abuse, at home or at school, no worrying about covering up, no emergency trips to Jisoo's house...

     Suddenly, Nari's eyes flew open in panic, and she flailed her arms, trying to stand. Jisoo!!

     The walls of the bedroom floor whizzed by as she sprinted to the stairs, jumping down them two at a time. She almost missed the last step, barely catching herself from slamming down on the floor.

     Somehow, she found her way back to the living room, where two boys were lounging in the couches. They stared with startled looks when she burst in, eyes wild and panting for breath. One of them was that deep-voiced blonde kid, Felix, and the other was the fox-eyed boy she had run into when leaving Chan's office.

     Felix sat up straight, pausing a game he was playing in his phone. "Hey, you're up. What's wrong?"

     "Felix, where's Chan?? I need to talk to him and find my phone because last night when I was attacked I was on my way to a friend's house because of my uncle and I never got there and she's probably worried about me and I need to - "

     Eyes blinking rapidly, Felix held his hands up. "Whoa. Slooow down. You're looking for Chan? And your phone? I'm pretty sure Chan is talking to Changbin about tattoo stuff, and Woojin has your phone. He was putting in the tracking system we all have, I think."