The 1 Rule - haobin

call

The soft rustling of the forest leaves wakes me up as I sense someone walking past my tent. The light of the morning is jumping at my side, and the sun lightly falls onto my cheek. I groan as I get up, and slowly open my tent to see Ricky and Cho talking around the worn-out campfire from last night.

I walk up to them, giving them a small wave

"Hey," Ricky says, handing me some food. I thank him before sitting down next to Cho, noticing her still face

"What's with your mood?" I ask, lightly hitting my elbow against hers. She snaps out of her thoughts and shrugs, a smile plays on her lips

"I'm not a morning person," She says. I nod, but I can't help but see Ricky's cautious eyes

"What're we doing today?" I ask. Ricky shakes his head

"I'm hanging out with Gyuvin today," he says. I look at him with a smirk

"A date?"

"No. Stop it, Hanbin" Ricky says, throwing me a ball of aluminum foil that he had kept from last night. I laugh before throwing it back to him

"I was joking!" I say but look at Ricky with mock in my eyes. Ricky rolls his eyes before getting up from one of the logs, and walks up to his tent, closing it behind him

"Damn. You think he's mad?" Cho asks

"Nope. He's probably just going to sleep more" I say, and Cho hums in response. I look at her, and once notice the dark circles under her eyes

"You seem kinda off. Are you ok?" I ask in worry

"I'm good"

"You sure?"

"Don't push it, Hanbin. I'm fine" Cho says. Her voice is light, but I can tell that she's getting annoyed

"Right. Sorry," I say, leaning back on one of my bags. Silence awkwardly fills the forest, with Cho and I being the only ones who are awake

"I was surprised when Hao came," Cho says. Her voice sounds almost... cautious?

"Yeah?" I ask. My stomach churns as I hear Cho say his name out loud. How will I ever tell her? Will she ever know?

"Yeah. He's not the social type"

"Weird. He and Ricky get along really well" I say, as cautiously as possible. I don't sound too obvious right?

"Really? What about you?" She asks, and I freeze. Why would she ask that? Does she know what happened between us that night? No, obviously not. How could she know?

Cmon Hanbin, pull it together

"What do you mean?" I ask

"Are you close to Hao?"

"I mean, since Ricky is my best friend I obviously see him a lot," I say, not a stutter heard in my words. Lying came out easily, but at what cost?

"But are you close to him?" She asks. I shrug, not exactly knowing what to say. She'll be less mad if I consider him a friend, right?

"I guess. We talk sometimes. He and I have gotten close since Hao helped Ricky with a few things" I say, half genuine. I feel Cho relax by my side

"Oh," She says silently

"Why did you ask?" 

"Dunno. I saw you guys yesterday and you seemed pretty close" 

"When?" I ask, curious

"Oh, just when you were setting up the campfire" She responds quickly. I hum in response and glance over at her

"Does it bother you? I mean, I remember when you told me-" I start, but Cho cuts me off