|promise|changlix

|two|

I slip into the bathroom and start the shower. I run my fingers through my hair as I stare at my reflection. A sigh slips passed my lips and I look away from myself. I can't handle it. Whenever I look in the mirror I see him. I see him watching me like he was during practice. He was worried. I kept making stupid mistakes. I even slipped and fell once. I was honestly shocked I didn't get a bloody nose.

I look back at my wrist and carefully take my bracelet off. I look at it for a long moment before setting it on top of my clean clothes. The last thing I want to do is lose it. I don't know what I'd do if that happened. I'd probably spend all night tearing the bathroom apart searching for it.

I strip down and climb into the shower. The warm water feels amazing on my sore muscles. I lift my arm to examine the new bruise on my forearm. That stupid fall did quite a number on me. I thought Chan was going to have a heart attack when he saw my feet fly out from under me. He was on the other side of the room when it happened, but I swear he was right next to me picking me up within a fraction of a second.

"Lixie!" HyunJin shouts as he bangs on the door.

"What?" I respond without much thought. They probably just want to know where something is.

"I have to pee!" He whines as he impatiently waits for my approval for him to come in.

"Hurry up." I give in and allow him to come in. We only have the one bathroom and he's let me in to use the bathroom before. It's only right for me to let him do the same. It's not like he's going to stand and watch me shower. He'll do what he needs to do then leave.

HyunJin slips into the bathroom and does his business. He flushes then heads toward the sink to wash his hands. I glance out at him and my heart sinks. He saw my bracelet and picked it up.

"Did you make this earlier, Lixie?" He turns toward me.

"Make what?" I try to act as if I have no idea what he's talking about.

"This bracelet. I know you and Binnie had said something about making some on a live. Is this one you made?" He turns it over in his hands examining it.

"Oh—no—Binnie made it for me." I try to play it off as nothing despite how much of something it truly is. I massage shampoo into my hair roughly. I just want to finish my shower so I can go lay down. I wasn't lying earlier, I didn't sleep well last night. It just wasn't the main reason I wasn't myself.

"It's pretty. Did you end up making any?" HyunJin questions as he delicately places it back down on my clothes.

"I made one. Binnie has it." I explain softly as I rinse the shampoo from my hair.

"Can you make me one next time?" HyunJin asks as he leans against the sink.

"I can try. It took me forever to make Bin's." I admit as I recall how much I truly struggled with it. It's not like he won't find out. He'll probably watch the live if he hasn't already.

"I want it to be super colorful—maybe a rainbow." HyunJin begins to name off ideas without realizing I'm waiting for him to go so I can finish and get out.

"We might need different beads then." I mumble as I stick my head out to look at him.

"Oh—I'll go—sorry." HyunJin chuckles as he picks up on the message. He slips out of the bathroom and I reach out to grab my towel.

I step out of the shower just to get hit with the bathroom door. I groan and rub at my forehead as ChangBin meets my eyes. He frowns and reaches out to take my face in his hands.

"I'm sorry. I thought you were the one who just left. I didn't think anyone was still in here." ChangBin rubs carefully at the red spot on my forehead. He leans in and presses his lips to the sore spot. I swallow hard as he pulls back.