Veil || Lee Donghyuck

Chapter 12: Flicker

A/n: Stan Enhypen

Two weeks.

Two weeks was all it took for things to slowly get back to normal.

Well, almost.

Kim Seri had been suspended from school for a two months for being the main villain of this bullying situation. Dani have said her whole story to Teacher Do once it was her time to give a testimony. There were even a couple surprising victims that came up and told their own story about being terrorized by Seri. But the final blow was that one of the goons, Jingyi, ratted Seri out, basically setting in stone all the horrid things Seri had done.

Jingyi and Doah got a week of suspension for being accomplices.

And when they returned back the week after, it was clear that Jingyi and Doah had stopped being friends. It was a weird shift. Doah continued on her life, mingling with her dance mates while Jingyi resided herself with her Chinese friends. Dani wasn't sure what to assume, but she guessed that the notorious trio had their own inside drama and it tore them apart.

Despite that, it had been nice. No longer did Dani have to worry about trouble lurking around the corner.

Dani was the first one to reach out to Geurim after a couple days from the rooftop incident. It didn't take long for the two girls to reconcile and become good friends again. Probably even better friends with their bullying situation vanquished.

During on of their breaks, Geurim told her that Jaemin now knew the tension between her and Seri. It had been a long while seeing Jaemin angry, she had said. He was clearly exasperated, as he babbled on and on about how infuriating it was that he tried to push their 'friendship' back together. Fortunately, Jaemin understood why Geurim hadn't told him about it and even vowed to never talk to Seri again if it comes to it.

Being friends again with Geurim and no bullying problem in sight, Dani could finally see a shining light. She felt relieved that everything turned out for the better. She even decided to join the art club! After much thought, joining the club would only benefit her. Not only did it give her the good-enough credentials for college, but it gave her the time to do something she loved.

Everything should be all fine.

Great, even.

But...

It seemed that Lee Donghyuck kept promises too well.

For those two weeks, Dani didn't have any specific encounters with the Dream Four. There were some brief moments here and there, but nothing really outstanding. Sure, she saw Renjun and Jeno a lot because of class, and even more so with Renjun with art club, but it was like... she was never friends with them. If it wasn't for Geurim, Dani might've thought she hallucinated the past month and she had been imagining her interactions with the four boys. But no... Renjun, Jeno, Jaemin, and Donghyuck didn't come up to her anymore for anything, not even a hi.

While that did return Dani to her quiet, peaceful life as a student with no attention... now, it felt off. After being exposed to those boys, it only felt like there was something missing in her life.

Wasn't this what she wanted though? To be like a ghost once again?

It was stupid.

Dani would occasionally catch herself gazing over to where Donghyuck would be while passing by in the hallways. He was always surrounded by people, cracking jokes and smiling brightly. She wondered what Donghyuck and Renjun must've said to Jeno and Jaemin to have them just steer clear from her... but what was done was done. Even Geurim didn't question it.