Lights Are Missing (PART 1)

8.

"Did Soobin ever get back to you?" I asked. Taehyun had bought another ticket after we'd gotten on our bikes to go home after we got bored of the train. The extra ticket was for me. Soobin was supposed to text one of us to tell us he'd be coming, but he just hadn't, at least from what I knew.

He shook his head as he dropped his arm from my shoulder and back into his pocket to grab his phone to check his phone for any notifications, "Nope. Nothing."

"So I bought the ticket for nothing?" Taehyun shouted back at us. It wasn't a big deal. He was joking, a bit of sarcasm in his voice. It was super cheap anyways, barely even 7 dollars.

Kai just shrugged, "Guess so!" It didn't matter much anyways since the only spot he was able to get was a seat right behind us, but my mind quickly drifted from that. I had to talk to Taehyun. But when?

Before the movie? We wouldn't have enough time to talk for long enough. During the movie? We couldn't get up and leave in the middle of the movie. After the movie? We'd be leaving.

I had no idea what I was going to do. Maybe, just maybe, if I sat next to him, we could chat occasionally during the boring bits of the movie. To be honest, I wasn't even sure what movie we were going to be seeing. Kai said something about it being a horror movie though. Which hit me in the gut once I remembered he'd said that.

"Wait, what movie is it?" We had gotten to the doors, Taehyun and Yeonjun had already stepped inside. Kai stopped with me, right outside of the door. He was holding the door open for me, but my feet wouldn't budge.

"I forget the name, Taehyun might remember, but it's a horror movie." He smiled as he shoved me into the building, my heart in my throat.

I hated horror movies. I hated anything scary. They were too much for me. The jumpscares had always been awful. The gore and the deaths always gave me nightmares. I grabbed Kai's hand, squeezing it as tightly as I could as I grabbed his arm with my other hand.

His face contorted, the door shutting behind us, the other two already walking up to the front to talk to the insanely tired looking girl who was working there, "You good?"

I couldn't do much to reply other than a subtle and slow shrug. I wasn't even really sure if he saw that I'd shrugged with the way he tilted his head more at me.

"I hate horror." His eyes softened, but his lips curled slightly into a smile as he placed a hand on my cheek.

"You can sit next to me, I promise I'll keep you safe." He snickered a bit. It was a joke to him, but to me, I needed him to protect me. I actually needed him.

He led me to the front with the other guys, but just as we'd gotten there, they were already shoving us along to the concession stand to get popcorn and candy.

Taehyun was pulling the money from his wallet, "What do you want, Beomgyu?" He was looking at me from over his shoulder, leaning against the counter as Yeonjun skimmed the menu above. The guy on the other side of the counter at the register was also staring at me, waiting for my answer.

I suddenly felt super overwhelmed and I just shook my head before turning my head the other way, resting my head on Kai's arm as I kept my head facing the basically empty building.

"He and I aren't going to get anything." Kai finally spoke up for us. Then, I heard the conversation between Taehyun and the guy on the other side of the counter. My head still pressed against Kai's arm, my eyes scanning the few people that walked by.

I felt myself ache a bit. It kind of surprised me that Kai hadn't gotten anything. In all honesty, I was hoping that he was going to, because my mouth was kind of watering, begging for that buttery popcorn like it was all I needed to keep myself going, but he didn't. Which meant I couldn't share with him. But that was fine.