phobia (sequel to insomnia) | stray kids ff

zone 21: shy

[even if you dont

know the truth yet]

I slowly knock on the door. Changbin is with Jinyoung and Yeji right now. They said it was important they talked to him privately which made me very scared for him. I wait silently for the door to open but instead I hear a voice.

"Who is it?" His voice is still sweet but deeper. I smile to myself and almost feel my eyes water.

"Yah, open the door!" I say impatiently, trying to stop myself from crying. I hear the person inside jump up and mumble to himself.

"Wait, why do they sound like..." The door opens and reveals the matured and handsome Jeongin. I smiled widely and before Jeongin could say another word, I hugged him so tight. "Oh my goodness." Jeongin smiles and hugs me back. "You're like an immortal. I feel like you just came back from the dead again," I laugh and release myself from my best friend's arms. I squeeze his chubby cheeks which he has lost after growing up.

"Ew, you're so manly now," I say in disgust and Jeongin removes my hand from his face.

"Stop it," Jeongin whines. "If you want to squeeze chubby cheeks, go see Jisung." My eyes light up.

"Jisung?" I say in excitement.

Jeongin leads me outside to their training area where they have shooting targets and dummies to fight with. I see a cage full of zombies in the far right of the area which makes me curious.

"We use those zombies to help train people to fight them," Jeongin explains as if he knew I was wondering about it.

"What do you guys feed them?" I question suspiciously.

"Rabbit, sometimes pigs when they miss their meal for the week," Jeongin says. You would have to feed them if you want them to be dueling opponents. A weak zombie won't prepare you to fight a strong one. "They're pretty hard to find nowadays but we have people travel to the city sometimes to get more if we need."

We approach a guy shooting at the targets and I immediately know who it is. I jump in excitement and run over to him, tackling him to the ground.

"Hey, Felix!" Jisung exclaims but pauses when he meets eyes with me. "Hana?!" Jisung says in a high voice and hugs me. I help him up from the ground.

"Changbin is inside right now!" I inform him and then he smiles even wider but it slowly fades when he looks at Jeongin.

"They're telling him, aren't they?" Jisung asks me.

"What do you mean? They just told me they needed to talk to him alone," I obviously say. I look over at Jeongin and he cracks.

"Ryujin is dead," Jeongin says and silence follows after. I try to comprehend it but it doesn't resonate well with me. Ryujin was so strong and smart. How did this happen? I didn't want to ask because I already see how low the conversation became.

"I should go check on him," Jisung excuses himself and we agree, watching him leave.

"Since," Jeongin starts speaking again, making me more nervous. "We have reached this energy, I think it's a good time to tell you," Before Jeongin could finish, I heard the gates open at the front and interrupt him.

"Is there a scavenge group?" I say.

"Yeah, that's actually what I have to," Jeongin tries to speak again.

"Hyunjin was apart of that group right?" I remember Jinyoung telling me. I grab Jeongin's arm ecstatically. "Let's go! I can't wait to see him!"

"I-" Jeongin sighs and nods. "Okay," he pithily smiles and guides me back to the front.

He opens the doors to the front yard and I see two black vans parked with supplies piling out of them. For some reason, I feel so nervous. The last time I saw Hyunjin he was angry at me. How will he react once he sees me again? I hold onto Jeongin's sleeve tightly, slowly hiding behind him.

There he was. He steps out of the driver's seat with a smile. My lips curl up watching him silently and then someone appears next to me.

"Uncle Hyunjin!" I hear Lucy and look down at her.

I look back up and see Hyunjin's face smile at Lucy until he meets eyes with mine. His face drops as if he has just seen a ghost. Jeongin shakes his arm to make sure I am still breathing and I slowly stand beside him. Lucy runs over to him and Hyunjin catches her but doesn't take his eyes off me. Jeongin looks nervous as he stares at Hyunjin.

"Hi, little princess!" I see a pretty girl walking over to Hyunjin's side and squeezing Lucy's cheeks. I tilt my head in confusion as I analyze this mysterious girl. She has a beautiful smile.

"Who's she?" I whisper to Jeongin.

Jeongin lets out a deep breath. I continue staring at her until my heart drops when I see her hold Hyunjin's biceps too comfortably. My eyebrows furrow and I look back at Jeongin who has no words.

"Is she?" I ask curiously, feeling jealous. Jeongin nods and sighs.

"I tried telling you back at the training area but," Jeongin's voice drops when he notices how sad I look.

I glance back at Hyunjin who is now staring at her with the eyes that he used to gaze at me with. I lost him. I came all this way to find him and I lost him. He's not mine anymore. I'm so stupid.

"Hana," Jeongin tries to speak but I stay silent. He hasn't even tried to talk to me since he saw me. It's like he's acting as if he doesn't know me.

"How should I act?" I ask immediately, look up at Jeongin who is now taller than me.

"What?" Jeongin says, confused.

"He's moved on without me..." I look at the ground and sigh.