ch. 16

"but my heart's still on fire with a burning desire."

-heartbeat

what was that for?

san has been asking himself this question ever since the incident in the hallway. he looks at the hand that grabbed the girl, recalling the vivid sensation of her skin on his, and puts it over his excited heart.

why am i like this?

"san!"

the said boy snaps his head to the front and locks eye contact with yunho, who is tapping his foot impatiently.

"this is the fifth time you dozed off," his friend scolds. "we have a few weeks before the showcase and you're still messing up."

the boy mumbles an apology before doing another run-through of the dance. with his eyes on the mirror, he watches himself perform the dance, taking note of any improvements. he slides to the left, throws his hands up into the air, staggers a jump...

but for some reason, he can't take his mind off that girl.

that girl with the pretty smile.

that girl with the gleaming eyes.

that girl with the cute dimples.

that girl with the beautiful brown hair.

that girl with the sassy attitude.

that girl with the awful singing.

that girl with the name park eunbi.

the unknown feeling gurgles underneath his skin once again.

"ten minute break!"

everyone lets out a quiet cheer before heading to their belongings, where their bottles were residing. the sound of crinkling plastic fills the silent dance room as the guys gulp down the cold liquid within seconds, each one letting out a satisfied sigh when they finish their drinks.

the male with the red highlights swipes his sweat on his face with his sweatband and fans his shirt to cool his body as he takes the time to regain his breath. his limbs feel numb from the extra hours of after school practice and any minute now he will collapse onto the floor. he stretches his muscles to let his blood flow through his veins.

randomly, an image of eunbi smiling at him appears in his mind. he shakes his head and shoos the imaginary thought from his view.

why is she appearing in my mind all of a sudden? he ruffles his hair as he groans in frustration.

as he experiences a mental crisis, the dance leader spends his time texting his girlfriend, a smile pulling on his lips, as the remaining members chat with one another about their lives.

suddenly, the door opens  and everyone adverts their attention to the entrance of the room.

at first, no one was standing in front of the door, making everyone a little spooked. seonghwa asks mingi to check the hallway for anyone since he's the closest one to the door.

the red-haired boy peers into the empty space, slightly scared for no apparent reason, and screams when he feels something grab his shoulder. he uses his free hand to swat the stranger away from him, tears threatening to fall out.

"stay away from me!" he continuously shouts, hoping for someone to come to his rescue.

at the sound of their friend's distress call, everyone frantically grabs any sort of weapon and rushes to his aid.

however, a high-pitched voice speaks up.

"yah! mingi, you're such a scaredy cat."

from the side of the entrance, a petite figure reveals themselves draped in black- black shoes, black clothes, black face mask, and black cap. they see the person patting the trembling boy with their free hand as the other holds a variety of plastic bags.

"what a baby," the stranger rolls her eyes.

cautiously, the youngest member of the dance group approaches her with an empty water bottle in his shaky hand.

"wh-who are y-you?" jongho questions, his tone laced in a nervous tone.

they scoff in utter disbelief, as if they were offended by that inquiry. although their face was concealed, the group can tell a smile pulling on their lips.

they gently push mingi off them before removing their mask and their cap, earning gasps of shock.

"eunbi-nie!" wooyoung immediately tackles her into a hug, which she successfully evades.

hongjoong comes up to her and grabs the bags from her hand, curious of what is inside. "what's this?"

"i remembered  you guys talking about after school practice during lunch, so i decided to get you some food after my work shift." she flashes the older male a small smile.

yeosang peers into the plastic bag and his eyes gleam with happiness when he recognizes the boxes. the blonde surprisingly rushes to her and squeezes the girl with a grateful hug before jumping in circles. "you got us chicken!"

eunbi has never seen the reserved boy show so much emotion, finding his excitement cute.

from afar, san can feel a familiar sensation building inside him when he sees his friends interact with the girl. he attempts to suppress it with deep breaths, but it continues to grow.

he averts his gaze from her and harshly grips the hem of his shirt.

it's that painful feeling again, he recognizes.

that painful feeling he felt when he watched eunbi and jongho tease each other...

jealousy.

before he could explode, he taps seonghwa, who is currently thanking eunbi for the food, on the shoulder.

"hyung i'm going to the restroom," he grits his teeth and instantly stomps away from the dance room.

he can hear the older male yell at him to hurry up since they are planning to eat once they enter the room, but he ignores him and continues to walk to his desired location.

he spots the familiar bench outside the building and settles himself down, resting his head on the edge of the seat. his eyes watch the pink clouds flow along with the gentle breeze as the sun slowly sets. the flowers surrounding him entertain him with their little dances in their colorful tutus, swaying back and forth.

with the comfortable atmosphere, the feeling dies out from within him.

he lets out a sigh.

he takes a moment to enjoy his peaceful environment, closing his eyes to feel the breeze kiss his skin.

however, a sound of rustling then startles him, his bottom almost jumping off his seat, and he turns to the source of the noise.

"wow, i didn't think you would be a scaredy cat like mingi."

eunbi stands a few inches away from him with a plastic bag hovering between them. she settles the bag down and carefully steps back from the bench. "i had a feeling you were in a bad mood and needed some space from the others, so i brought some chicken for you."

she turns around and is about to leave the male alone until she hears him speak in a small voice.

"do you want to eat with me?"

she looks at him, debating whether she should or not, before placing herself a few spaces away from him since a specific person was still in the dance room.

in the silence, they grab a chicken drumstick, savoring each bite of the crispy skin and juicy meat without conversing with one another. instead of looking at each other, they observe the setting painted with beautiful colors of the sunset and listen to the plants sing to them with their rustling.

not bearing the quietness anymore, the girl speaks up.

"is something bothering you?" she asks, averting her gaze from the beautiful flowers to the male beside her. "you've been... moody lately."

he takes a bite of his new piece of chicken as an excuse to not respond.

eunbi huffs in frustration and scoots closer to san, placing the bag of chicken on the other side of her. "you know you can trust me; we've been through this before."

he slowly chews on the food in his mouth.

"playing the silent game, huh?" an irk mark appears on her temple.

before she could stand up and storm into the building, he finally builds the courage to say something on his mind.

"how did you find out that you were in love with yunho?"

hearing a familiar name, her eyes almost pop out of her eye sockets from the shock. she never knew that san figured out who she had feelings for, but thinking back to the one time she broke down in the bush, it was obvious who she had her sight on.

nonetheless, she does not ask him about his discovery and takes a moment to reflect on his question.

"i started noticing the little things about him," eunbi begins listing. "like the way the side of his eyes crinkle when he smiles or the way his fingers play with one another when he's nervous."

she taps her head as a habit when she tries to remember certain things. "but as it progresses, i subconsciously think of him all the time, whether i'm with him or not."

she rests her hands on her chest. "being around him makes my heart have a mind of its own, making me do things i wouldn't normally do."

with a pained expression, she lets out a bittersweet smile. "but when he's with someone else..."

"waves of sadness and frustration crash into one another, fighting for dominance. it's like the end of the world."

when she finishes her little talk, an unfamiliar feeling arises underneath her.

the feeling of letting go.

she looks over to the boy, who sits there in silence. "san, have you ever been in love?"

the said boy takes a minute to carefully reflect on the question and recall her experience of love before replying. "n-no."

"oh."

she's slightly disappointed by the answer, but she has to remind herself that he's going through a tough time with himself. why would he fall in love when he can't love himself?

she checks her watch to see fifteen minutes have passed and remembers that their dance practice should be resuming soon. grabbing the plastic bag beside her, she stands up and offers her free hand to the male.

"practice is going to start, so let's begin our way back."

he takes the hand and the girl helps him off the bench, keeping their hands interlocked, before heading back into the building.

the walk back to the dance room is quiet, only the sound of their footsteps bouncing off the walls of the hallway. eunbi swings their hands up and down like a child, excited to see the boys again.

although the passageway was silent, san's mind was not.

in his thoughts, he repeatedly asks himself eunbi's question.

"san, have you ever fallen in love?"

"san, have you ever fallen in love?"

"san, have you ever fallen in love?"

"san, have you ever fallen in love?"

it takes him a minute before truthfully answering the inquiry.

yes, i have...

looking over to their intertwined fingers, he softly smiles at the sight and raises his gaze to the girl beside him.

i have fallen in love with you, park eunbi.