ch. 23

"can i capture you in my mind?"

-scenery

"eunbi-ah!"

hearing her name being called, the girl comes out of her room and rushes down the stairs to see her relatives dressed in warm clothing and wearing caps on their heads.

"oh you guys are back from work early," she greets with a small smile. "why did you call me down?"

all the males slap their faces with their hands as the little one blinks her eyes with innocence, not comprehending the situation. they continue to stand near the door tapping their foot impatiently.

"did you forget kiddo?" yoongi rolls his eyes in annoyance. "we're going busking in daehango."

her eyes almost pop out of her eye sockets when she listened to those words come out of her cousin's mouth, jokingly cleaning her ear to make sure she heard that correctly.

"i thought we were doing that on friday," she says while raising her eyebrow. "it's only wednesday."

a chorus of frustrated groans and sighs echoes throughout the house; they are dumbfounded, astonished, flabbergasted at how stupid the female was. the fact that staying inside the house for too long is getting into her brain and shows that she needs to get out of this suffocating place.

"sis," jimin exhales. "today is friday."

she takes a moment to calculate the day of the week, counting with her fingers, and finally gasps in realization. sprinting up the stairs, she barges into her room to change into a simple red t-shirt and light blue skinny jeans before slipping on her black fur-hooded winter coat and black cap.

hopping down the stairs while shoving her socks onto her feet, seokjin brings over her black converse and helps her put them on before the group head to their two vehicles.

during the forty minute ride to daehango, eunbi, unfortunately, ended up in the loud car that consisted of seokjin, yoongi, and taehyung. with this odd grouping, she thought she could take a peaceful nap, but she was totally wrong.

the three of them were literally blasting pop music and screaming the lyrics.

when they arrived, everyone attends to the trunks of the vans and loads out the item necessary for their performances tonight. with eunbi and yoongi being the weakest ones, the group decides to send the two of them to go search for an empty place for them to set up while they carry the heavy objects.

since it was the girl's first time in this district, the male decides to tell her a little about the place, pointing and informing her about the different booths and stores here. her eyes glow in amazement at the vibrant colors and the crowd of people.

once they find the perfect place to set up, they wait for the others to catch up so they can begin preparing for their performances tonight. everyone comes with speakers and lighting equipment and settles it down on the floor, sighing in relief, before beginning to set up the stage. not wanting the girl to fiddle with the appliances, namjoon sends hoseok to escort eunbi around the district.

"you haven't had dinner yet right?" he asks as they walk beside each other.

she nods, hearing her stomach grumble from underneath her coat in embarrassment.

"let's go then, eunbi-nie!"

with a grin pulling on his lips, he grabs her wrist and tugs her to a food booth not too far from their stage. fortunately, there was no line when they arrived, so he orders for her while she waits underneath a tree nearby.

and she takes this moment to appreciate her surroundings.

inhaling the aromas of different food, her eyes wander along the shining street lights that brighten the district as her ears embrace the sound of chattering. she can feel the liveliness of this place through the people's laughter as the beautiful colors of neon signs that decorate the night life.

her lips curve into a lovely smile.

when she lived in busan, her parents never allowed her to go far from her home, only to the closest mall, cafes, and grocery stores from their house. she always hung out with siyeon since she was her only friend, only going to the place she wanted to. being the obedient child she was, she never took a step out of that boundary, afraid of the punishments that will later come.

but here she was, free from those chains.

"i got spicy rice cakes for you!"

eunbi perks her head to the side to see her cousin running up to her with a steaming cup in his hand. clapping her hands in excitement, she gladly takes her food into her possession and thanks him for the deliciousness before digging in.

they walk around the place a little more, both mouths filled with rice cakes since the little one is nice enough to share her food, as the male rambles about his day today. being the polite person she is, she listens to his talking and laughs whenever she mentions something funny.

but then, they spot a crowd surrounding a specific area.

hoseok gleams with anticipation when he hears the music playing in his ears, slowly drawn to the crowd, while the female chuckles at the way his body naturally moves to the beat. nonetheless, they go to the concentration of people to check it out.

in the center of the circle is a group of boys, all decked in black, performing a dance for their audience. the intense beat of the music loudly pulses in her ear while the dance steps are precisely executed in a uniform fashion. the expression of each member radiates an alluring charisma that entices everyone all around them.

she eagerly taps her cousin's shoulder and points at the group. "hoseok-oppa, is this what you guys do?"

the said male turns his head and nods. "something like that. we do dance covers and we perform our songs as well."

"wow," she says in awe. "you guys are so cool."

eunbi looks over to her cousin to see him grinning like a maniac, bobbing his head to the beat as his eyes continue to watch their performance.

hoseok is known for his perfection in dance- a literal master when it comes to performing and creating dances. although she has not witnessed it in person, she has heard stories from her brother about how strict hoseok was during rehearsals, so seeing him reacting this way is surprising.

they must be that good.

intrigued by this group, she taps the person beside her.

"sorry if i'm bothering you, but can you tell me what the name of this group is?"

politely enough, they answer her with a simple response.

"you must be new here," they notice, earning a nod from her. "this group is ateez, but they come here once in a while since they're high school students."

"ah okay," she says before bowing to them. "thank you."

she checks her phone to see that everyone is finished setting up their area and waiting for the two of them to come back. tugging the hem of her older cousin's jacket, she pulls him out of the crowd and makes her way to their relatives despite the fuss he was creating for her.

but before they left, she caught one of the member's attention with a small wave, unexpectedly being the one person that stood out the most to her during their performance. she motions him to open his hands, where she placed a few bucks, and flashes him a smile.

"you guys did well out there," she comments in a quiet voice. "i can tell that everyone worked hard."

even though the shadow of his cap concealed his face, she can see a dimpled smile appear on his lips. from his appearance, he is a very cute person compared to his betraying demeanor when on stage. she notices the slight roughness of his hands and concludes that he practices a lot for these events.

"thank you for watching us," he says, the smile still on his face. "we really appreciate your support."

that voice.

he reminds her of someone she knows.

before she could stare at his face any longer, she catches herself in mid-thought and pulls down her cap a little. thank goodness she wore this accessory or else she would be embarrassing herself with her red, rosy cheeks.

squeezing the tips of his fingers as a sign of encouragement, she does a small bow to him before departing from the crowd, a thought coming to mind.

i wonder how san's doing right now.