✔fault ; choi yeonjun

forty two - hide and seek

-

"what are you, four?"

"just because i suggested that we play hide and seek..." beomgyu grumbled.

"fine, we'll play your stupid game if it makes you happy." taehyun resigned.

the skies were grey, and flashes of lightning convinced the group of friends against leaving the safety of the apartment today. a sudden crack of thunder followed the bolt of lightning, and taehyun jumped.

"i guess you're four too huh?" beomgyu taunted the boy, who simply flushed red.

"i'll beat you at this game of hide and seek, i swear!"

the rest of them barely flinched as the two boys yelled back and forth; it was a common occurence that they had long learned to shut out.

yeonjun had his feet placed up high on the couch, and his head was balanced precariously at the edge of the seat. he wore an expression that was a mix of fondness and boredom as he basked in the noise — his apartment was always quiet.

soobin, on the other hand, was near to getting up and shoving the two boys into a closet to sort out their problems.

"you're the only one i like." he turned to hueningkai, who was sitting next to him and watching a video.

"friends don't tell lies." he said simply before turning his attention back to the video.

soobin was about to defend himself when taehyun suddenly announced that they all had thirty seconds to hide before he came looking.

beomgyu sprinted off immediately while the rest of the group got up unwillingly. they could have opted to stay still, but that would mean putting up with beomgyu and taehyun's endless squabbles.

stifling a yawn, minyoung barely processed anything as someone tugged her arm and led her to hide. she had been taking a nap when taehyun's shout jolted her awake and she suddenly found herself a part of the game.

"when we get back home," she was mumbling, "i'm knocking them out for a week."

"what was that?" yeonjun asked her as they ran into his room.

he looked around for awhile for places to hide, and an idea soon struck him. shifting a huge speaker out of the way, he shoved both minyoung and himself into the space between the wall and the cupboard.

"i'm out of here." minyoung was not in the best of moods given that she had been abruptly awoken.

"shh," yeonjun pulled her back firmly, "i'm a sore loser, i don't want to lose this game."

minyoung opened her mouth to protest, but yeonjun simply covered her mouth with his hand. this shut her up for awhile, and yeonjun gradually relaxed his grip.

she licked his palm.

this made him release her quickly, and he wiped his palm against her clothes. his face contorted with irritation, but minyoung's simply wore amusement.

"it's a bit like déjà vu isn't it?" she whispered.

yeonjun was confused at first, but realisation slowly struck him as he gave a low chuckle.

"ah, that time we were stuck in school?" he asked as she nodded.

"yeah, its like the same thing."

"this is different though."

"how?"

"because now i get to do this."

he leaned in and kissed her.

the previous time they were in a similar situation, it had led to refusal to make eye contact and pink cheeks.

it only lasted for awhile, but the butterflies in her stomach refused to go away. he smirked and leaned in again, but she turned away quickly and his lips ended up brushing her cheek instead.

he stared at her in amusement as she laughed.

"better luck next time."

he bit back a retort and the speaker suddenly shifted away.

"aha! i knew i would catch the both of you at once!" taehyun said triumphantly as he bounded away.

yeonjun and minyoung went back out into the living room and saw that everyone other than hueningkai had already been caught.

"you two lasted longer than i thought." seulgi said.

"ask taehyun to give up, he'll never find huening." soobin said softly as taehyun whizzed past them into the kitchen.

"why's that?" minyoung asked.

"he's not in the house," beomgyu simply said as he crossed his legs, "i convinced him to hide outside just so i could see taehyun try and look for him."

a frustrated yell came from the kitchen as taehyun came out and walked right past them and back into the rooms.

"leave him to it." beomgyu pulled minyoung back down when she tried going after the boy.

-

hueningkai returned to the house approximately twenty-seven minutes later.

by this time, taehyun had walked around the entire apartment twenty-three times, and was just about to make his twenty-fourth round claiming he forgot to check under the shoeracks.

"you cheated?"

"yeah, but i bought ice cream," he lifted a plastic bag, "swiped on everything with yeonjun's card."

taehyun seemed torn between getting angry at hueningkai and accepting the free ice-cream. it took him all of twenty seconds to choose the latter.

"you took my card?"

"borrowed it," hueningkai corrected him as he leaned forward to slip the card into yeonjun's pocket, "and now i've returned it."

no one with even a shred of humanity could get angry at hueningkai, so yeonjun just shrugged it off and picked an ice-cream from the bag. he tossed one to minyoung before tearing the wrapper off his own with his teeth.

"eh, i don't fancy chocolate," she walked up to the bag and picked another flavour, "strawberry flavours remind me of you."

she made a big show of winking at him and he returned the wink with equal enthusiasm.

"way to remind me i'm single." beomgyu muttered as he bit into his own ice-cream.

"i'll date you." taehyun smirked as he tossed an arm over beomgyu's shoulder.

"over my dead body." the boy flung taehyun's arm off him and moved next to soobin.

beomgyu moving next to him meant that there were now four people squashed onto the couch, and soobin shifted his elbow with difficulty.

"you're starting tomorrow right?" soobin addressed yeonjun, "that means we can go with you!"

"and watch me suffer? no thanks."

"its just therapy," seulgi smiled, "we'll cheer for you!"

"its the only time we can go anyway, we leave next week." hueningkai said.

the atmosphere in the room visibly dampened at his statement, and they fell quiet for some time.

"fine, i'll let you guys come."