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━━━ " 📂 " ..⃗. ༉
𝙍 𝙀 𝙈 𝙀 𝘿 𝙔
! chapter eight ─── ʚĭɞ
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It took a while to convince Eunjoo and Seokyeong that they needed to go back to the dorms.
The night had progressed far quicker than expected, the trainees spending most of the time after eating answer the two womens' questions. Hyunji was long gone, having fallen asleep on Eunjoo's sofa with Jia happily snoozing on her lap, by the time they had gotten past Seokyeong's third question about their debut.
It was past midnight, to the horror of all those awake. "Come on - you need your sleep. And there isn't room for all four of you to sleep here." Eunjoo had glanced at the time after her multitude of questions and was now gesturing towards a sleeping Hyunji, Seokyeong reaching out her arms to relieve tension and moving to lean over her daughter, checking up on her.
Jia noticed the disturbance and rose to her feet, stretching her fluffy white body upwards in an action that a cautious Seojun watched curiously.
"Come on." Eunjoo repeated, ushering them towards the front door. "I'll just be a second - I have to pack up some of this food for you to take." It was all spoken in hushed whispers, so not to upset the neighbours or Hyunji at such an hour, and this alone indicated to the three trainees that they could go nowhere near protesting against it.
And so, they did as asked, moving towards the door and pulling on their shoes and coats, Seokyeong slipping past the table to help the Choi woman.
Several short minutes later and both Eunjoo and Seokyeong were walking over to the group of trainees who were close to sweating in their layers. "Take this. There should be enough for everyone to have at least something, so share it out." Eunjoo poked Miyeon in the side. "That means the tonkatsu has to be shared."
"I know, I know." Even though both boys knew of her love for the side dish, the Hwang girl's cheeks burnt a bright pink. "I promise I'll share it - but let me carry it."
Miyeon reached out and took one of the bags, Seokyeong pushing the second into the arms of her son. "Be careful walking back." She patted Hyunwoo on the head, ruffling his hair. "We're really proud of you all." She beamed, reaching forward and hugging her son.
Eunjoo said something similar, moving to Miyeon first and wincing when the bag of plastic containers crashed into her bag. Seojun took a step back, clearly feeling as if he was intruding. "And where are you going?" She asked, bustling past the Hwang girl to give Seojun a hug. "There's no ladders around here for you to escape down."
"Huh?" Seokyeong and Hyunwoo were the ones confused, but before an explanation could be offered the Choi woman was pulling open her front door and urging them to leave.
"Go home, get some rest. If your schedules are going to be that busy it's important." Mrs Song seemed reluctant to let her son go, a sad yet proud smile refined on her features. "And no matter how much they give you, don't over work yourselves."
"We'll try our best." Seojun nodded his reassurance.
"Good. Now go, quickly, sleep!" Eunjoo and Seokyeong watched as they left, dark blue silhouettes illuminated against the yellowing glow of the light from within. The two women waved when the three turned back, just before moving down the stairs.
And then, they were gone, descending down the stairs and back into the courtyard, a group of three now instead of the two that originally came.
Their journey home began, the path taken being one that they had all walked at some point before becoming trainees together, back when they all attended Saebom High and everything was a lot easier.
And even though they lived in the city, the streets they walked along were quiet. It wouldn't be so where their dorms were, but considering the district differences, this was a lot more homely than where the trainees lived, if that made any sense at all.
"The last bus will have run by now." Miyeon's phone was slipped back into her pocket, eyes sliding away from the screen. "If you want to get a cab I haven't got my purse - just a few loose notes." The plastic bag crinkled slightly at the movement.
"Came here on the bus." Hyunwoo shrugged, looking towards Seojun.
"My motorbike is back at the café. And it seats two people." His dark eyes flickered between the two. "Obviously Hyunwoo would be my first choice but-"
"You ass!" All it took was one well-aimed swing of Miyeon's arm for the bag to hit Seojun in the junction between his waist and thigh. "It's fine, we can just go to my apartment."
"I forgot you had that." Hyunwoo mused, following the Hwang girl as she diverted them down a street to get them to the apartment quicker. "Can it sleep us all though?"
"My bed and the sofa - easy." Miyeon shrugged. "I'm assuming it'll be either you two or me and Seojun sharing the bed." It was an awkward topic, but she was approaching it with such a lightness to her tone that neither boy minded much.
"Second option. I've shared the bed with him before." Seojun frowned, watching confusion spread across Hyunwoo's face. "During early trainee days when everything was still being sorted out. He's a nightmare."
"Nice to know." Miyeon nodded appreciatively at the quick decision making. "We'll get there and go straight to bed - I'll get you two pajamas and we can go for breakfast somewhere because I definitely do not have any food."
"I thought you went there earlier?" The Han boy asked as they continued down a better-lit street, faces shadowed as they passed by. "You know, before you came to the café."
"That was to check it didn't get broken into. I don't live there, so why would I buy food, hm?" Miyeon shook her head slightly. "Honestly. Come on, quick quick, I've had a busy day and I'm about to fall asleep on my feet."
"Dance practise." Seojun muttered to a confused looking Hyunwoo, continuing after Miyeon. That was enough to explain anything really. Move Entertainment had certainly pushed the focus of playing instruments onto their band-idol group crossover, but they had been incredibly insistent on the girl group and dancing.
So much so that the four girls had gone through so many dance classes and practises that they could be, upon debut, rivalling some of the best in the industry. Neither Miyeon or Maiya had even danced before then (other than the completely different ballet lessons), but it was as if they were naturals, made to do just that.
It didn't take them too long to reach Miyeon's apartment, and as promised she quickly gave them changes of clothes and slipped down into the spare room - that was still practically the inside of one of the Entertainment's recording rooms but in an apartment - to gather a few things.
And in a daze of making sure Hyunwoo was comfortable on the sofa and feeling steady and knew where everything was in the apartment, the lights were turned off and Seojun slid under the duvet of her bed.
There wasn't a sizeable gap between them, Miyeon already fast asleep and turned towards him at the very edge of her pillows. Laid on his back, the Han boy's shoulders were mere inches away from her forehead.
Where sleep clearly favoured the completely drained and steered well away from the merely exhausted, Seojun couldn't help but let his thoughts run amock with the vision lit up by the city outside, large, wall-length windows allowing just that.
It was at hours like these, so late in the evening yet so early in the morning, that he could let them do that, to go places he had kept away from. It happened as he was falling asleep the night before as well, and only seemed to be stronger when she was right beside him.
He had grown even more confused than when he was at school. He still hadn't made a move on Jugyeong even though Suho was almost ten thousand kilometres away. And his best friend was laid beside him in bed, completely comfortable and with her guard fully down.
With a sigh, Seojun shuffled onto his side, back turned to Miyeon as he closed his eyes.
He would make the decision one day, just not then, when his mind was growing tired and the late hour caused his thoughts to go only the slightest bit crazy.