haunted // nct.dream [1]

{8}

      The door creaked open as Chenle and Jeno came out. Chenle had his hands shoved in the pockets of the new jeans. He kept his eyes on the ground, obviously wishing he would just fade away from existence since he was so embarrassed. I felt really bad for the guy.

      "I told you to use the bathroom before we left," Johnny mocked, placing a hand on Chenle's shoulder. I lowered my eyebrows.

      "Johnny," I scolded. "Stop. If you didn't scare us, we wouldn't be in this situation."

      Johnny's smile dropped and his face hardened. "It was a joke. Plus, how was I suppose to know it would cause this." Johnny blew air out of his mouth. "I never saw you get mad at Haechan when he started laughing."

      I glanced behind me just as Haechan glanced the other way, no longer laughing.

      My vision was back at Johnny. "You must be such an obvious person, huh?" My hand twitched. I knew that I was getting harsh. If only I could've stopped myself.

      "Oblivious to what? Oblivious to the fact that you've had a giant crush on me ever since you and Jueun became friends?" Johnny looked me in the eyes, not showing a single hint of regret in telling me this. "I think you're the oblivious one here. I'm in a relationship."

      My heart thumped. He knew all this time.

      The back of my throat closed as I stared at the wall. Johnny leaned his weight to one foot, crossing his arms. All I wanted was to be back in my room, no one home, so I could scream into my pillow, making it a book filled with words of my anger.

      Jueun made an annoyed noise. "Let's not do this. Look, we're all okay. Isn't that enough?" She paused, letting silence fill the hall. "We should just leave."

      "Yeah," Renjun agreed. "It's Jisung's birthday."

      Jisung pushed his lips together, looking up at the ceiling. Thick, awkward air piled around.

      Johnny huffed, shifting his weight to the other side. It looked like he was thinking for a second before he dropped his arms to his side. "Let's go."

      He weaved through everyone and headed down the stairs before us. I didn't move, only swallowed, trying to open my throat back up.

      People moved past me.

     "Hyunji, we're leaving now," Jueun put a comforting hand on my shoulder. "This was a bad idea."

      "You were right." A weak laugh escaped my mouth. "I would never end up with Johnny. The funny this is I knew that all along, but didn't want to admit it. Hearing it come directly from him really makes it true. You were also right about another thing."

      She looked at me, sympathy in her eyes. "What?"

      I peeled my eyes away from the wall to face her. "I did get over him quickly." My feet turned on the heels and pushed past Jaemin and Haechan, who heard what I said.

      I stomped down the stairs along with everyone else. The whole time we've been in this house, I've had fear sitting on my shoulder. What do you expect going into a house supposedly haunted by a spirit? However, that fear, for some reason, was completely lifted away. Maybe it was because we're finally leaving, or it was because I'm used to it now.

       Or maybe it's because I conquered something.

       We lined up behind Johnny as he reached for the door leading to the garage. He twisted it a couple times, but didn't actually open it.

       "Johnny," Jueun sighed, "what are you waiting for?"

       Johnny's expression was straight, but I could sense a panic-like feeling radiating off of him. He narrowed his eyes and peered through the window on the door into the garage. "Uh, bad news..."

      "What's wrong?" Mark asked. "Why aren't we leaving?"

      Johnny swallowed hard and turned towards us all. "Not only is the door locked, but something is blocking the door from the other side."

      "Start by unlocking it since the lock is on this side, then we can push whatever it is away," Hana said impatiently.

      "Hana, I don't think you understand," Johnny's voice came out breathy from being scared. "How the hell did something get pushed in front of the door when we're all inside?"

      That's when it sunk in.

       Goosebumps ran over my skin, and the atmosphere chilled. I covered my mouth, trying not to freak out. Who, or what is messing with us?