Behind the scenes

Chapter 8

The first half of the practice went surprisingly mistake free.

I'd kept on reminding myself if I just kept my head down and focused on the moves then it would be fine. And it worked. Really well.

And then it was lunch break.

"Did you forget to bring lunch again?" Jooheon questioned, this time choosing to sit with Changkyun instead of the others. Hyungwon kept glancing over every now and then as well, quieter than usual as he only smiled instead of laughing when the others joked. "It's a good job I pack extra snacks right?"

"Yup," I chuckled, accepting the apple and cereal bar he chucked into my lap. My stomach grumbled, desperate for some form of nutrition. Picking up the medium sized apple, I brought it to my mouth and took a relatively big bite. Just chew it slowly, that way it can look like I have eaten a lot by the time break ends. Jooheon grinned, munching on his own lunch before pulling out his phone and beginning his usual routine of scrolling through social media. I grabbed my bag and pulled it onto my lap, digging around and eventually finding some spare change. I had a craving for iced coffee. "Hyung, I'm gonna go to the vending machine to grab some iced coffee. Do you want me to grab you anything?"

"No thanks Kyunnie," Jooheon grinned, using a nickname. Out of all the nicknames that were floating around in the world, he had to use that one. I just smirked, nodding slightly before groaning my way up off of the ground and sighing at the aches that engulfed my body. 

"Does anybody want something from the vending machines?" I questioned, raising my voice slightly to be heard over their loud chatter. Hyungwon was quick to rummage through his bag, grinning when he pulled out a handful of coins and rapidly counted up his change.

"Nothing healthy please," he requested, dropping the change into my hand. I nodded, watching as the others all ignored my question and continued as if I didn't even exist. Oh well, their loss. 

I made my way over to the practice room door, walking out and starting my journey down the hallway. It was eerily quiet and the feeling that something was off quickly became apparent as I walked closer to the wall, glancing back behind me to see if someone was following me. Once again, just like last night, it was irrational and stupid to think someone was following but it felt real. The hairs on the back of my neck stiffened, my heart beginning to thump away as adrenaline started to course through me. Was I going to have another panic attack? No, I wasn't. I couldn't. If I don't think about it then it wont happen. Just breath, nice and slow, in and out, through the nose and out the mouth. There was the slam of a door in the distance, forcing my heart to skip a beat as I jumped. 

Something is going to happen.

No it's not. I'm going to get to the vending machine, grab my iced coffee and Hyungwon's unhealthy snack and then go back to the training room. Nothing is wrong.

Where was the vending machine anyway?

I could have sworn it was down the corridor somewhere. In fact, it was. And you'd never guess who was stood next to it. Bohai and his unusually large sidekick, Insik. It took everything in me to not turn around and just go back to the training room. In fact, if I was only getting an iced coffee then I would have just decided to give it a miss. Sucking in the little oxygen that surrounded me, I slowly made my way over, keeping my head low and the eye contact to a minimum. The vending machines were right next to the offices for the Managers. It was too open for them to try and do anything too risky. Or at least it should be.

"Ah, we were hoping we'd see you around soon," Bohai chuckled, giving me a hard pat on the back. Just ignore him. He's not worth being acknowledged. Kind of like you. "Hey, respect your elders you punk."