Redamancy

33

"Someone is writing down a history, I see..." Sarcasm laced in the tone was evident, nonetheless, Soobin tried to play it cool by ignoring it. "Chae..."

But the playful tone calling her name which sounded like a funny song then made her huff.

"What?" She put down the iPad and glared at the demeanor across from her in the cozy office of Chanhee's cafe.

Kevin silently laughed, making fun of her as he nudged the boss next to him. It was that day Kevin collected his courage to meet Chanhee and fix the broken friendship. And it turned out well - luckily.

But, when Soobin slowly trailed her gaze at Chanhee, the boy had his face painted with hatred. His arms were crossed as he shut Kevin down from talking about Sunwoo.

"Why are you hating that boy?" Kevin questioned and Chanhee waved him off.

"Trust me, that was my first question when Sunwoo started his job here," Soobin said, elegantly crossing her legs.

Chanhee rolled his eyes. "He's always getting on my nerves! He's tricky!"

"That's true!" Kevin held his palm for a high-five but Chanhee wasn't having it. So, he awkwardly pulled it down. "But, you should try befriending him. He's quite a fun guy. If not, Chae wouldn't even try."

Kevin grinned and his brows wriggled as if teasing her again. It made the girl grimace for damn, she never knew that dealing with her friends was far more harder than her family.

"You should be ready once Changmin finds you," Chanhee said, chinning at the girl in the process. "That squirrel has gone insane."

At that, she let her head fall backward hitting the headrest of the couch she sat on. She started blaming herself if she had made a wrong decision by exposing herself to the public with a boy.

But, she wondered: how about Sunwoo then? Was he also dealing with such things?

It was then that a loud bang was heard probably from the back storage alarming Soobin and Kevin who flinched. Chanhee on the other hand jolted up, cupping his thin waist.

"What are they doing now?!" He was enraged, marching for the door. However, before he could grasp the knob, the wooden door opened, revealing a frantic and breathless Haechan.

Color was drained from his face hinting to everyone that he was here not for good news.

"We have a problem..." 4 words were enough to make Chanhee run - something he would never do, followed by the other two.

However, when Soobin passed by, Haechan grabbed her thin wrist. He didn't say anything but from the way he avoided her gaze, Soobin swore her heart skipped a beat.

"Is it Sunwoo?"

"Y-Yes..."

Soobin then ran. She didn't know why she ran, and neither did she know why tears slowly brimming in her eyes. She hated bad news, specifically when it came to accidents. Never mind it was minor and nobody hurt, she still hated it.

When Soobin arrived at the storage room, she couldn't find the courage to pass through the crowd. Her legs felt weak, and the gravity was strong enough to pull her down.

"Hey, hey, you okay?" Luckily, Kevin noticed and immediately supported her.

"Explain!" Chanhee's loud voice snapped the two back to reality, all heads of his staff were down, and neither could see him in the eyes. "Haechan!"

"I'm here!" The boy raised his hand and squeezed himself among his colleagues.

That was when Soobin saw it. The scattered unopened boxes on the floor and Sunwoo who seemed to be silently groaning. He was grabbing his left shoulder with his right hand, his face scrunched in pain.

"W-We were moving stocks and we... accidentally ran into the stacked boxes and they fell." Haechan glanced over at Sunwoo on the floor. "They fell on him."

Chanhee tugged a handful of his hair, it infuriated him. Having any of his staff injured would burden him, not because he had to be responsible but because he would be needed to show how he cared for them.

He hated to expose himself.

"Get up." Soobin held out her hand for Sunwoo to grab which the boy blinked at first before he took it. She didn't hesitate to push the sore spot on his shoulder, and Sunwoo immediately groaned. "I'll take him to hospital."

"Chae, it's okay. I'll settle everything out." Chanhee said, pinching his nose bridge in the process.

"Then you do it." Furious, the girl tutted with quite a stern tone. "I'll help by taking Sunwoo."

"I'm fine," Sunwoo tried to assure her but to no avail, she glared at him.

"But I'm not."

"Chae, both of you and Sunwoo are a hot topic now," Kevin spoke up, catching the attention of everyone. "Will you be fine if you two are alone again this time?"

For a brief moment, Soobin's breath hitched and her shoulders slumped. Kevin was right, who knew what kind of article would be published today and what would her parents say?

Biting her lower lips, she was engulfed in hesitation. Helping Sunwoo wouldn't mean anything, it was nothing personal, and it didn't relate to their feelings. She genuinely, worried about him.

"We're still going." She announced, softly grasped Sunwoo's hand, and walked away.

"S-Soobin..." Sunwoo seemed to want to argue just before they went through the exit. "I said I'm fine."

She glanced over her shoulder, not caring about the stares from the customers who occupied the space.

"Sunwoo, it's the price you have to pay to be someone in my life."

He chuckled, tongue then poked through his cheek. "I like you more now."