Hyunji's P.O.V
Johnny pointed his phone at the spot that surrounded Chenle's feet. "What spilled?" he asked.
Chenle gulped and shook his head.
"Wait." Jueun widened her eyes.
"Chenle, you didn't!" Jeno clamped his hand over his mouth. Haechan crumpled to the floor, crying with laughter. A group of loud footsteps came barging into the room. I spun my head in the direction of the other people, Hana and Jisung in front.
"What happened?" Mark asked, looking worried.
"Nothing!" Chenle shook his head violently.
Out of his laughter, Haechan tried to speak. "Chenle, you-you better be thankful your jeans are black!"
Chenle's face was becoming a literal tomato as he stood in shame.
Jeno huffed a laugh, reaching into his backpack. He pulled out a pair of pants. "Go to the other room, kid."
Chenle clutched onto the jeans. "I can't go off by myself," he squeaked.
"Ah, seriously?" Jeno sighed. "Come on."
Jeno and Chenle pushed out of the room to go into the one on the other side.
"I'm getting out of this room as well," Johnny dashed into the hall. The rest of us quickly followed.
"Johnny, you should've been the one to go with Chenle," I stated.
I got no reply from Johnny. Mark closed the door to the room, blocking out the memory of what just happened.
Haechan leaned against the wall, one arm resting over his face as he continued to gasp for air during his laugh attack. "Hyunji, I think the rent for this house is going to go down with a big stain on the wood floor."
Jueun then let out a chuckle she tried so hard to hold in while standing in that room. Just then, she stopped herself.
"Hey, where did Mi-Cha and Jaemin go?" she asked. My eyes grew, trying to look between everyone.
It seemed like the other group just now noticed as well. "Uh-oh," Hana whispered, letting her arms fall from their crossed position. "Mi-Cha? she called. "Jaemin?"
"Yeah?" We heard Jaemin.
All of us spun around, shining our lights their way. Mi-Cha cowered closer to Jaemin.
"Is everyone okay?" Jaemin asked. "Where's Jeno and Chenle?"
"Why was there a scream?" Mi-Cha's face was vibrant with the look of fear.
My eyes traveled down their arms to see their hands clamped together. I narrowed my eyes suspiciously. "Chenle had an accident, and Jeno is accompanying him so he isn't off on his own." They narrowed even more as I looked back up to Mi-Cha and Jaemin. "Are you guys good?"
Mi-Cha caught on as to why I was making the face I had. She slipped her hand out from Jaemin's and stuck it behind her back. Jaemin bit his lip, slipping his into his pocket.
"Fine," was all Mi-Cha replied with.
Not gonna lie, that would be cute, but it seems awkward since she's my friend, and Jaemin is Jisung's friend. I planned on brushing it off and forgetting about it. Maybe he was just comforting her since she's scared and it's nothing more than that.
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?