Crescent // ATEEZ ✔

16 [touch]

San whistles and Wooyoung scoffs at Yunho's choice of words, while Byul digs her fingers into her ears to make sure she's hearing him correctly.

"I'm sorry what?"

Still thinking there's nothing wrong with what he's saying, he repeats it naively, "I said, then land in my arms. We don't have all day and it's just quicker for you to jump and I catch you."

"I don't trust you. You hate me and you're probably going to step away then let me fall and break my bones."

Yunho pauses. "I don't hate you." Exasperated, he adds, "I won't do something stupid, just lower yourself down and let me help you. You're wasting everyone's time."

"Oh now I'm wasting everyone's time when I just risked my life trying to avoid that Alexander or whatever-his-name-is guy." She's visibly upset.

"Isn't this the start of every romantic drama where the main girl and guy hate each other with their whole hearts but fall for each other anyway in the end?" Wooyoung asks San. "Watching a drama while lying down on the floor's fun. We should do this more often."

"The next thing we know they're already professing their love for each other and exchanging vows. I don't care but I'm going to be the best man."

"Shut up both of you," Yunho grumbles before turning back to look at Byul. "Look, I won't let you drop to the floor. I promise."

"Aww," both of them coo.

"If you break your promise I'll make sure you won't hear the end of it," she threatens. "You were so nice when you invited me into the cafe and now you're treating me like I deliberately ruined my own life."

His face remains placid, letting Byul's words hang in the air as he gestures impatiently to her, asking her to come down this instant. Hesitantly, she turns back into the vent, awkwardly shifting her body so that her legs dangle from the tight space. She pushes herself off the slick surface, the silk pajamas letting her slide with ease.

She squeezes her body through the opening slowly, and she makes sure that she has one arm, despite being bandaged, holding on to the edge before confirming that he's indeed at the same spot. He is unmoving, his arms outstretched like he's about to start singing in a choir with some practiced gestures.

Putting her trust fully into a guy she just met, she lets go of the edge and lets herself go through the 2.7m drop. He does catch her but the feeling is short-lived as the moment she lands in his arms, he throws her onto Wooyoung's bed and walks away, picking up the wastebasket on his way out.

She lands like a sack of potatoes on the super-single mattress covered with a plain royal purple bedsheet, her head hitting the soft pillow and her arms smack against the headboard. She grits her teeth, fuming with anger as she sits upright and fixes her clothes.

Wooyoung and San immediately sit upright too, shifting their gazes back and forth between two of them.

"You-" she manages.

"Before you say anything, I didn't break my promise; I didn't drop you to the floor."

He closes the door, leaving Byul slacked-jaw with his conclusion. He meets Mingi on the way outside, looking slightly curious on what happened because he heard a commotion from inside the room.

"What just happened?"

"It was exhausting," Yunho says, without even answering his question.

"What... was?" he narrows his eyes, looking at him suspiciously.

"Go and see for yourself."

He walks away, and Mingi cautiously opens the door, peeking through the crack as he discerns the situation inside. Byul is lying down on the mattress, kicking her legs upwards, as if she's angry and trying with all her might to kick the imaginary person. Wooyoung and San are sitting on the floor, prodding each other as they gesture towards her.