EMBERS • HAECHAN (Not Finished Yet)

Chapter 54

Hesitantly, I followed my three schoolmates, who in the meantime made their way to the movie theater. However, Mark and Jeno kept a slight distance to Donghyuck, his aura still smothering the atmosphere around him.

Actually, I should consider myself lucky that he wasn't bothering me right now, but as much as I hated admiting it... I didn't feel that way.
Instead, his behavior only increased my curiosity and left me wondering what memory could silence the pushy and annoying boy in such a distressing way.

Not a minute passed before I arrived at the dimly lit room and entered after the three of them before they started choosing their seats.

I was the last one to sit down and found myself next to Jeno, who only looked at me in a meaningless way.
Next to him was Mark and at the other end of our small group was Donghyuck, from whom I was the furthest away.

Not that I had anything against it...

Sighing, I leaned back in my seat and let my body sink into itself. I was really exhausted. While every muscle in me hoped not to have to move again, my strained eyelids kept trying to flutter shut, wanting to take me to a land of dreams.
But I tried, like the last few days, to fight against the increasing tiredness until I would finally arrive safely back home. Unfortunately, this sounded a lot easier than it actually was.

It didn't take long before the rest of the lights in the room went out completely, whereupon attention was already drawn to the screen in front of us.
Only now did I realize that I didn't even know what movie I was about to watch, but I guess it was already too late to ask about it.

Faster than expected, half an hour went by during which I just sat in my seat, staring straight forward and ate my popcorn while my body tried to stay awake.
Every now and then Jeno would lean over to Mark to discuss about the movie, gaining my attention everytime they whispered.

Unfortunately, I often found myself looking past the two talking boys until my eyes got caught by the brunette who had been making my life difficult since his first day of school.

Carefully, I bent over a bit to reach for my drink on a small shelf, my eyes unconsciously wandering over to the student who was sitting at the other end.

Although I had only looked at him for two, maybe even three seconds, I somehow noticed every every little detail.

His flawless face, which was complimented by his soft brown hair, his dark chocolate eyes that seemed to sparkle due to the light of the movie and his sun-kissed skin that stood out despite the darkness around us.
I would be lying if I said that he didn't look good just sitting there.

"You like him," a deep voice sounded all of a sudden, instantly freezing the blood in my veins as my heart forgot how to beat for a second.

Completely thunderstrucked, I immediately saw in Jeno's dark eyes, which stared at me as emotionless and calm as always. Fortunately Mark didn't  seem to have noticed anything so I continued to watch the boy next to me.

"H-huh? What are you talking about?" I stammered a bit too obivious and hurriedly brushed a strand of hair behind my ear, while my forehead started wrinkle.

"Exacly what I said. You like him, you like Hyuck."

My eyes widened a bit in shock before I folded my arms in front of my chest and pretended to laugh at his assumpion.

"Very funny, as if something like that was even possible."

I tried to avoid his piercing gaze and fucused on the bright screen in front of me, still watching the older from the corner of my eye. Meanwhile he leaned over a little bit and made sure that I could hear his soft whisper.

"The only funny thing here is that you are desperately trying to convince yourself, while your behavior obviously speaks for itself."

I automatically looked back in his direction, trying to wear a relatively indifferent expression on my face.
I didn't know what kind of sensation was rushing through my entire body at that moment- was I feeling embarrassed, offended... maybe even exposed? Either way, I hated that it and hoped that it would soon leave.

"You know nothing about me" I whispered to him, my eyes narrowing into thin slits.

The ravenette wasn't deterred by this though and instead raised his right eyebrow in a challenged manner.
Before I could add anything else to my sentence, I suddenly noticed a blurred movement in the dark that instantly leaped in my direction.

Before I knew it, Jeno had grabbed my wrist with his hand while not a single muscle on his face moved in the slightest. He just kept staring into my eyes, while I tried to stay calm despite his frim grip, looking back at him unimpressed.

"You like Donghyuck," the boy repeated, my heart making a quick jump again as if it was trying to avoid his words.

How many times did he want to mention it? Did he want me to get angry again and snap just as usual? Unexpectedly, however, the student had a different plan and enlightened me on it shortly afterwards.

"I don't really know you", he began his sentence, still whispering quitely, "but I know that if you can't take your eyes off someone and your heartbeat starts racing at the mere mention of their name, you are interested in them for better or worse."

My mouth immediately opened to say something but instead of doing so, I looked at him in indignation, not uttering a word. I didn't have to think twice to realize what he had done just now.
He had taken my pulse...

Only now did I notice that my heart had been beating wildly for a long time, too distracted by the boy next to me to even feel it. My chest rose and fell irregularly as well, while my cheeks slowly but surely warmed into a faint tint of pink.
An intense tingling ran down my spine while I wished for nothing but to sink into the ground right here and now.

"You should stop resisting. He's obviously just as interested in you as you are in him."

With these mere words he finally let go of my wrist and turned his gaze back to the front while he carelessly threw a piece of popcorn into his mouth.
I was anything but unbothered by this sudden interaction and could literally feel my mind running up and down in my head.

With burning cheeks and a restless body, I bit my lips a bit overwhelmed before reaching for my jacket and grabbing it with a firm, almost frantic manner.

"I'm going to the bathroom."

"Have fun."

So that's it for today🙈
Hope you enjoyed it haha

Have a great day my lovely readers 🤧💚💚💚