𝐒𝐓★𝐑 𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐔𝐂𝐊| 𝗣𝗔𝗥𝗞 𝗪𝗢𝗡𝗕𝗜𝗡

005 | friends

"So have you packed yet?" Elsie asked, swirling her straw around.

They sat near the back area, in a remote spot as they talked, Wonbin had intended to leave earlier than this, but the conversation between him and her kept the flow of things.

She was always easy to talk too.

He nodded with a shy smile, already flushed from the question.

Truth was he barely knew what to do.

Elsie shook her head with a knowing smile, "I take that back, you haven't, what's the hold up?"

Wonbin shrugged, he took a sip of his water, "I don't know, Anton's friend has this party—"

"Wait, her?" Elsie replied in slight surprise, "So you're really going?" Wonbin frowned, confused at her words,

"Wait, you know her?"

Elsie shook her head, "No, but Gayoung and Karina mentioned her in the chat yesterday, Karina will be going too."

Her words surprised Wonbin, who knew half of SM would be on this girl's exclusive list of friends, it was intriguing, and a little weird.

How many people did she know...

"Hey." Elsie spoke up, snapping him from his thoughts, she giggled at the look of embarrassment his face, "Thought I lost you, you okay?" She rested the palm of her hand on his own that rested on the table surface.

Wonbin didn't think much of it, they were close friends after all. He shrugged, "Just...I'm feeling pretty good about this, about this trip."

Elsie smirked, "About the trip, or having fun with Anton's friend."

"Stop," Wonbin shot her a playful glare, he sighed, his eyes faraway in thoughts, "I hope maybe...this trip is different for me, in a good way." He set his eyes on her this time, Elsie had never looked away.

He swallowed.

SM didn't have any dating bans, trainees were even allowed.

Him and Elsie...

It wasn't that they even dated, but more of a benefit thing.

It happened at night, they were just talking, just about anything honestly. Time had went by, and before they knew it, they'd made out and, the rest was history.

Afterwards, things between them didn't change, they didn't talk about it, but Wonbin was sure it was memory of the past, they'd been younger, so it was something that passed.

Now, they were older, and to Wonbin, Elsie would always be his friend, they were close, and nothing could change that.

Walking back to the dance room, Wonbin was fairly quiet while Elsie talked, his only responses were small replies or laughs at what she said.

To be honest, he'd been spacing out since practice, maybe he needed to lie down.

Before Elsie could speak up again, Wonbin caught sight of two figures standing by the vending machines, Gayoung and Sungchan.

Gayoung leaned against the machine, Sungchan standing straight as he faced her, they were obviously in the middle of a conversation.

Elsie immediately switched her focus, beaming once her eyes landed on Sungchan.

"Chan!" She raced over, calling his name as he turned, Gayoung looking over his shoulder to see her younger member running towards them.

She watched as Sungchan engulfed the girl into a gentle hug, Elsie smiling once he ruffled her hair, her gaze trailing over to Wonbin who followed, standing a few inches away as he sent her a wave.

Gayoung waved back.

"Getting a snack?" Wonbin started, his question directed to Sungchan who nodded, he glanced back at Gayoung, "I was just going back to the room."

He sent Elsie a quick smile, "Talk later okay?" Elsie nodded as Gayoung pushed herself up from the spot her back rested on, she suddenly grinned at Wonbin, reaching over as she poked his shoulder gently.

"Look at you, so New York next tomorrow, got plans?"

Wonbin shrugged, "I mean, the only thing besides our comeback is exploring—"

"I got it." Gayoung cut him off, she looked away for a moment, reaching into her pocket to pull out a rumpled piece of paper, she held it out for him to take, Wonbin eyed it suspiciously, but thanked her anyways.

"What's this for?" He glanced at the list, Elsie did too.

Gayoung rolled her eyes with a smile, "Oh Wonbin, use your context clues, it's some things to do there, don't be so surprised, you should enjoy this."

He glanced warily at the paper before looking at back her sheepishly, "You know," he held it up, "I'm definitely going to lose this."

Elsie snorted, "Duh, give it to Shotaro, he'll keep it safe, you on the other hand..." She covered her smile before looking away.

"Hey," Wonbin sported a small frown, a smile peeking through his downturned lips, "I too can keep this safe, watch me." He feigned a look of proudness.

Elsie and Gayoung shared a look, "Whatever you say," they sang in unison, causing Wonbin to groan as they laughed.

Gayoung pulled the two along, the three struggling to walk straight as they kept bumping into each other, before finding their footings.

"Ow!" Wonbin tried to control his laugh as they walked, Elsie had almost tripped over his feet, causing her to almost fall forward, if it wasn't for Gayoung pulling her back.

Elsie laughed, "You guys are the worst."