{ D - 63 }
Over two months had passed since their first training session. By that time, many of the supplies were being gathered and secretly stored, and their entire escape route was finalized. All that was left was making adjustments on the motorbikes they would use to escape, continual training, and actually executing their escape plan.
Everyone was hanging out in the gymnasium of the Training Center. Wonwoo and Jisoo were working on the motorbikes in a far corner of the room, making the needed tweeks here and there while most of the crew were just lying or sitting down, finding things to preoccupy themselves.
"What does this button do?" Soonyoung asked curiously.
"Don't touch that button."
"What about this one? What does this button do?"
"Don't touch that one either."
"Okay, how about—"
"SOONYOUNG DONT TOUCH ANYTHING," Wonwoo shouted, causing the latter to flinch at the sound of his raised voice.
Instead of feeling afraid and offended, Soonyoung clicked his tongue and pouted, walking over to Jihoon who was sitting somewhere else and fidgeting with a gadget.
"What are you doing?" Soonyoung asked sulkily, still a little salty at Wonwoo.
"Modifying this taser," Jihoon responded.
He pointed it innocently at his friend.
"Wanna test it?"
"Nonono it's fine!" Soonyoung yelped, pitting his hands up in the air, "J-just keep working on it; don't mind me!"
Satisfied, Jihoon went back to working on the electric taser. Soonyoung sat next to the smaller and quietly watched him take out a few of the batteries and play with the wires inside.
Sure, he was bored; but it was better than being electrocuted by Jihoon.
__________
Seohyeon groaned with frustration after she missed center or the board, causing her to chuck the gun at the floor with anger. Jeonghan said that both her aim and stance were fine. Whenever she pulled the trigger, Seohyeon never missed the target, but her aim still wasn't perfect.
What was she doing wrong?
"Why are you upset? You're doing pretty well," Junhui spoke up from behind, making her flinch a little.
She flashed him a small smile before turning her focus back towards the target.
"I just can't seem to get a bullseye," she explained, a little annoyed.
"You're such a perfectionist, Hyeon," Junhui teased.
Seohyeon blushed at the nickname, but tried to keep herself concentrated on shooting. She picked up the gun from the floor and pointed it at the target, closing one eye to help with her aim.
She glanced over and saw that Junhui was now standing right behind her, his chest pressed against her back and his face directly next to hers, hovering over her shoulder. Seohyeon frantically averted her gaze and looked back at the target, allowing Junhui to correct her stance.
He placed his hands on her hips and helped her turn a little to the left. He gently pushed down on her stiffened shoulders so that they were more relaxed.
"Don't tense up too much," Junhui advised her.
His left hand trailed up her arm until it was on top of her own. As he gently held it, he slowly moved her hand more to the right and a little bit upwards.
"Okay, take a deep breath..."
Seohyeon closed her eyes and followed pursuit. When she opened them once again, her gaze seemed more focused than before.
"And shoot."
She closed one eye and pulled the trigger, a loud bang! being heard from her gun. She lowered her weapon a little more to allow herself to see if she missed or not. Her eyes widened with joy once she saw a hole in the very center of the target where her bullet had pierced through. She gleamed as she turned to look over at Junhui, who was smiling at her proudly.
"I did it!" She cheered.
"Good job," Junhui chuckled. He lifted up a hand and placed it on top of her head, lightly stroking it her hair.
Seohyeon's instructors had complimented her countless times on her work during school. Many people have told her "Good job" or "Well done," but it meant a little more to her when it was coming from Junhui. Her cheeks began to change to a light tint of pink as Junhui continued to pat her head with a smile full of adoration.
Their faces were only inches away from each other, and Junhui's hand found it way to her tinted cheek, caressing it gently as he continued to stare into her eyes. His touch made Seohyeon's heart want to burst, but she learned to love the strange feeling, especially when Junhui was the cause of it. His whole existence made Seohyeon's heart race; something about him made him special in her heart.
The question was, in what way did she find him special? She couldn't figure it out.
All of a sudden there was a loud abrupt sound coming from the end of the gymnasium, causing the two to flinch and look over at where the loud sound was coming from. A good twenty feet away was a young recruit, his eyes full of rage as he was huffing uncontrollably. Next to his feet was a gun that he threw on the ground, crushed to pieces. Wonwoo looked at it longingly, mumbling something about how he just finished its modifications.
"Chan..." Hansol began, "What's wrong?"
"What's wrong?" Chan scoffed. He pointed over to where Seohyeon and Junhui were standing. "Those two are what's wrong!"
His booming voice was echoing throughout the entire gymnasium. Everyone looked over at him, a little shocked with his behavior. Chan was usually composed and never broke out in to a fit of rage. Even if he was annoyed he always just brushed off the teasing he received from the older recruits. So his yelling at Seohyeon and Junhui was quite startling to the entire team.
"I don't understand," Seohyeon said, inching closer to the younger. "Did we do something to offend you? I'm sorry if we did—"
"No, Seohyeon, you're not sorry," Chan snapped, causing the girl to stop in her tracks. "You don't even know what you're apologizing for!"
"What's going on" Junhui asked, a little irritated with the way Chan was speaking to Seohyeon. He walked towards Seohyeon until he was right next to her placed a hand on her of shoulder, pulling her closer to his side. "She didn't do anything, Chan. Why are you yelling at her?"
"You don't think I see it?" Chan asked, chuckling sarcastically. "I know what you're doing, Junhui. You're such a coward."
Junhui frowned, ready to shut the boy up with a punch. Seohyeon quickly stopped him though, preventing him from stepping any closer to Chan.
"What are you even talking about, Chan?" Seohyeon continued to ask with confusion.
"It's because you guys are in love!" Chan declared, causing Junhui's eyes to widen.
The room grew silent; no one dared to speak a word, not even Soonyoung. Chan was now fuming. His hands were curled up into fists like he was ready to punch someone. His eyes were piercing with anger, but somehow Seohyeon could sense a hint of sadness in his glare.
"Every day," Chan began, his eyes starting to well up with tears, "you guys are always together, never leaving each other's side. It's like you guys can't last a day without seeing other. You two look at each other lovingly, smile at each other whenever you make eye contact; and you guys do literally everything together... it's sickening to watch!"
The tears began to spill out of his eyes, leaving everyone in shock. Chan looked at Seohyeon straight in the eyes, his gaze boiling with all the negative emotions inside him.
"I hate it! I hate YOU!" Chan screamed at Seohyeon before rushing out of the Training Center.
The rest of the team just watched as he ran outside, all not really knowing what to do. They never expected this type of behavior from their young recruit. He was always so cheerful or sarcastic in a charming way. He got along with every member; none of them ever expected him to actually hate someone.
"Maybe its just puberty?"
"Soonyoung," Wonwoo warned his friend, who only shrugged.
"Just a thought."
Furious with the younger, Junhui was about to run after him to give him a scolding, but once again Seohyeon stopped him from doing so.
"I'll go talk to him," Seohyeon told him, but Junhui only looked at her perplexed.
"I distinctly remember his saying that he hates you," Junhui reminded her, "I don't think it's a good idea for you to go after him."
"I think she should," Jisoo spoke up. Everyone turned to look at him with bewildered expressions, but he simply looked over at Seohyeon, sharing eye contact with her.
"Would you?" He asked with a guilty smile.
Seohyeon nodded obediently and ran after Chan, the rest of the team watching her exit the Training Center. Once she was out of the building, Junhui looked over at Jisoo, baffled with the ridiculous favor the instructor asked Seohyeon to do.
"There's a lot more about Chan than you know about," Jisoo explained before Junhui could even say a word. "And I think Seohyeon is the right person for him to talk to about his past."
"His past?" Seokmin asked, confused. "What do you mean by his past, Jisoo?"
Jisoo looked back at Seokmin, then at the rest of the recruits. He was debating on whether or not he would tell them about Chan's past and why he was put into prison, since he always intended for Chan to them when he was finally able to talk about it. But with crestfallen eyes, he decided that he would give them a brief explanation of the trauma within the younger's heart.
"Chan lost someone important to him."
___________
Seohyeon searched all over the district for Chan, trying to find where he ran off to hide. Surprisingly, she wasn't mad; in fact, she was a little sad for the boy. Something about his voice and the look in his eyes told Seohyeon that he didn't really mean what he said. At least she hoped that was the case.
She sighed with relief once she saw a familiar young student sitting down by the River with his knees curled up to his chest and his arms wrapped around his legs. As she quietly made her way over to where he was sitting, she thought she heard a few sniffles come from the younger. Careful not to cause a disruption, she sat down next to him, sitting in the same position he was in.
Chan looked a little shocked, his puffy eyes wide with confusion once he noticed Seohyeon beside him. The girl simply gave him a gentle smile before turning her attention back to the rushing waters.
"I'm sorry," Chan mumbled, also looking back at the River.
"It's alright," Seohyeon assured him. "Something tells me that you weren't exactly yourself back there."
"I-I just was angry," Chan confessed, "really really angry... Sorry I took it out on you. That wasn't really nice."
Seohyeon turned her head towards the younger. She tilted her head so that it was resting a little in between her knees.
"What were you so upset about?" She asked.
The younger chuckled bitterly. "It's a long story."
Seohyeon looked up at the sky, the sun still high in the sky, and then looked back at Chan. His eyes were welling up with tears as he continued to ponder on his silent thoughts. She didn't know what he was going through, but she wanted to understand.
"I got time." She smiled.
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A/N: sorry for not posting yesterday! i was trying to but my wifi was being mean and wouldn't let me post >:( better late than never tho right lol