ch. 33

"i want to escape."

-lie

"fuck!"

eunbi slams her face into her pillow and screams, kicking her bed numerous times.

"shut up eunbi!" jungkook yells from his room. "i'm trying to play overwatch with taehyung!"

she lifts her head from the soft material to glare at the wall that connects her room with her cousin's room. "i don't give a shit jungkook!"

falling into the cushion once again, she closes her eyes and recalls the events from last night: the series of performances, the conversations with hana, the sound of her voice resonating throughout the theater, the sight of her friends performing, the explosion of confetti...

the dance proposal.

"eunbi, you fuckin' bitch!"

she rubs her face deeper into the pillow.

out of all the girls of the school, wooyoung chose her to be his date to the dance.

and out of all the responses she could have used, she chose to say yes.

why did you have to say yes? the brunette scolds. you absolutely hate going to school dances.

an image of the black-haired boy's expression then appears into her mind.

the way his eyes drooped a little as the both of them made eye contact, the way his smile curved a little as he observed her figure, the way his ears and his cheeks grew redder as he awaited her answer...

curse her and her inability to say no.

she lifts her gaze from the white covers of her pillow to her bed's head-frame, hugging her shiba inu dog plushie that was beside her.

she still cannot believe that the girl he was talking about at the cafe was her, someone who is pathetic and worthless; there is nothing good about her whatsoever.

plain and simple.

just plain and simple.

that is what she is.

yet what does he see in her that her insecure-self doesn't see?

bringing her stuffed animal closer to her, she lets out a sigh as an unsettling feeling expands within her.

most importantly, the fact that she is attending the dance with someone she does not like romantically makes her feel sick. she is leading him on by accepting his proposal, raising his hopes that will soon be destroyed by her non-mutual feelings.

and that reminds her of someone in particular.

jeong yunho.

she definitely does not want to repeat history, especially if she ends up being like that jerk.

but wooyoung looked so happy when she accepted.

"what should i do, shibo?" she caresses the plushie's head. "i don't know what to do."

with her thoughts spiraling into denial, she flips herself where her back meets the comfortable mattress of her bed while she spreads her arms apart. she closes her eyes and takes a deep breath, reminding herself that it is the weekend and she needs to rest.

her mind enters the abyss of darkness and a relaxed smile tugs on her lips, her ears muting all the noise around her. the sensation of her tensed muscle loosening up travels through her body and slowly, she drifts into slumber.

until her phone begins ringing.

"are you kidding me?!?" grabbing her pillow from underneath her head, she shoves it into her face and screams again.

after her little tantrum, she groans in dissatisfaction as she forcefully presses her eyelids together, her eyebrows scrunching together. who in the right mindset would call her on a saturday morning?

nonetheless, her arm reaches over to her desk, where her hands grab onto the rectangular device. she squints when she reads the caller's name and reluctantly presses the accept button.

"hello?" she presses her phone closer to her ear, hearing a child laughing and glassware breaking in the background.

"noona, help me!"

hearing the caller's voice, she rolls her eyes while dragging herself out of bed to head to the bathroom. "little apple, what did you do this time?"

the sound of multiple people yelling join the background noise as jongho continues to explain his situation. "mom and dad left to visit their parents and i wanted to prove to them that i can take care of kyong, so i convinced them that they can leave both of us alone while they were away. i invited the hyungs over to celebrate our win last night, but kyong is whining for some reason. i don't know what this brat wants, like i even tried giving him some apple juice but it's not working-"

eunbi stops brushing her teeth and simply blinks a few times at his rambling.

what does this boy see his younger brother as? a dog?

spitting out the toothpaste and rinsing her mouth, she pinches the bridge of her nose and sighs. "jongho-ah, you are really stu-"

"mingi-hyung, why are you holding him upside down?!?"

"what? i thought kids love this type of stuff."

"no! you gotta spin him around!"

"wooyoung-ah, he's not a toy!"

"why is he crying?!?"

"seonghwa-hyung, you're the mom of the group- do something!"

"hand him over, mingi!"

with all the shouting, she is visualizing the situation as she puts her messy, dark brown hair into a bun. she places her device onto the counter and puts it on speaker, so she can use her hands to pin the loose strands of her hair. the sound of their shouting echoes throughout the bathroom and her ears twitch at the loudness of their voices.

she is already losing her brain cells from listening to this chaos.

"yah little apple," she calls out. "i'll be there in fifteen minutes, so try to give him some of his favorite snacks. you should know where they are."

before he could respond to her, she ends the call and rushes out of the restroom. her hands reach for a random t-shirt and a pair of jeans, flinging her clothes all over the place. she bursts through her door and scurries down the stairs once she compiles her outfit together.

seokjin, who was in the kitchen cooking breakfast, lifts his gaze from the cutting board to see his relative running around the house. "eunbi-ah, what is wrong?"

"i have to go over to the choi household and babysit," she answers, rushing back upstairs to grab her jacket and her drawstring backpack.

when she arrives at the shoe shelf, she takes her worn-out sneakers and quickly puts them on so she can hurry to her friend's house, bidding goodbye to her cousin. she enters the cold environment and begins her journey as she clutches her jacket for more warmth.

but never once does the uncomfortable feeling leave her.