yingyue tried her best to forget what had happened half an hour ago. temporarily, at least. she plugged her ears with music, the volume turned up to the point where everything around her was slightly incoherent.
the ride home was a lonely one, but she couldn't care less about that at the moment. she just wanted to go home and sleep everything away.
while she made her way up to the dorm, her phone was bombarded with messages and missed calls from the dreamies. she took a glance and put it on 'do not disturb'.
it was quiet when yingyue stepped into the home. she figured everyone was at the entertainment building and trudged to her bedroom, lazily letting her school bag drop to the ground.
"just one day," she said to no one except herself. "just one day."
her voice was brittle and sounded as if she were on the verge of crying, which she really was.
she fell back on to the bed and covered her face with her hands. "my god, why am i getting so emotional over this?"
deep down, she knew the reason for her own question: she finally liked someone who liked her back, and when she was asked out on a date, it was cut short. all because a few of her group members were jealous.
yingyue took her phone out of her pocket and sighed at the nonstop notifications. without another thought, she leaned over the edge of the mattress and slid the cell across the room, watching as it hit the wall under her desk.
and like every other time, she tucked herself into bed and closed her eyes. before drifting off, several tears had escaped and traveled down her face.
yingyue must've been asleep for a while because when she woke up, she noticed that her alarm clock was now four hours later.
chatter was heard from the living room, and as much as she wanted to see her members, she wasn't in the mood. instead, the girl swung her legs over the edge of the bed, stood up, and stretched her arms and back before changing out of her school uniform.
after getting dressed in a pair of sweatpants and a loose tee, she headed to the bathroom to wash up. at the same time she stepped out into the hallway, so did doyoung.
"how was the date?" he asked with a small smile.
yingyue reluctantly lifted her head to face doyoung, an absentminded frown tugging on the corner of her lips.
doyoung's grin faltered at the sight and he stepped closer. "what happened? did chani do something?"
"no, no. he was great," yingyue exhaled, debating if she should even tell him what went on. "some kids just ruined it, it's fine."
with a look of distrust written on his face, doyoung placed his hands on her cheeks and gently made her focus on him.
"i know you better than you know yourself. so, tell me now or i'll figure it out on my own."
yingyue parted her lips to speak but was cut off by an announcement from the living room.
"we're back!"
despite it being softer than normal, the girl knew it was haechan's voice. her gaze fell to the ground once the scenario replayed in her head.
doyoung, who had turned his head away for the moment, looked back and caught the sight of yingyue's hands fiddling with the pendant of the necklace gifted by johnny. it was a habit of hers that occurred when she was embarrassed, lying, or daydreaming. doyoung assumed it was the second option.
"did haechan do something?" he continued to ask.
footsteps were then heard, interrupting the two for the second time now. it turned out to be taeyong, looking for the members that weren't already in the main area.
"they brought food back," he told them. "how was today, yin?"
letting out a sharp breath, she lowered doyoung's hands. "i don't wanna talk about it."
and she left for the bathroom.
taeyong furrowed his eyebrows in confusion as he watched her close the door behind her and turned to doyoung.
he nodded his head in the way of his room so they could have more privacy.
"she said a couple of kids ruined her and chani's date," he said. "but you know that habit she has when she's not telling the whole truth?"
"yeah, she plays with the necklace johnny hyung gave her," taeyong recalled.
doyoung hummed. "she was playing with it when haechan came back."
"so you think haechan was one of the kids?"
"maybe.. it could even be all of the dreamies. should we tell johnny hyung?"
"yeah."
to yingyue's disappointment, nct 127 had practice the next day. as if it wasn't already hard enough being with haechan in the same house after what happened.
it was nearing late afternoon, and everyone was taking a break. they had successfully gone through the choreography and live vocals for their next comeback.
the girl was laying on the ground next to the mirror, sprawled out and breathing heavily. in the dance, she and haechan shared the center and there was definitely awkward, to say the least, tension between them.
besides that, she either gave him dry, short responses or ignored him completely.
yingyue was basically haechan's best friend and to have her be so upset with him hurt.
from the other side of the room, he looked at her, resting with her eyes shut. he pushed himself off of the wall he leaned against and was about to walk over until taeil and jungwoo beat him to it.
a frown was evident on haechan's face and doyoung lightly elbowed johnny's stomach.
"what?" the elder asked.
"do you see how sad he is when he looks at dayoung?" doyoung mumbled, gesturing to the boy with a nod of his head.
johnny subtly caught a glimpse of haechan's downturned lips. "after practice, we should take him to dream's dorm and talk to all of them."
"i'll let taeyong hyung know."
when the leader was near, doyoung did just that. so after enduring practice for a little longer, all of the members were preparing to go home except for the three.
haechan was behind the others and more than ready to get back to the dorm, shower, and sleep. however, taeyong had different plans for him.
he slung an arm around haechan's shoulders and swiftly turned him around, leading him back into the room.
"wha— hyung?" haechan tilted his head.
"we're going to the dream dorm first," taeyong told him. "we have to talk about something."
the younger's stomach dropped.
they found out what happened, didn't they? he inwardly panicked. did dayoung tell them?
he was in his own world on the way there, his head filled with millions of thoughts.
okay, on my behalf, haechan mentally wrote his explanation, his leg bouncing up and down in anxiousness. i was only making sure chani wasn't a bad person and that yin was safe.
"come on, we're here," johnny announced and climbed out of the vehicle.
reluctantly, the youngest among the four of them dragged himself out and followed johnny, doyoung, and taeyong. the walk was just as quiet as the car ride, and it made haechan feel uneasy and awkward.
taeyong knocked on the door then stuffed his hand into his pocket, waiting for a second before renjun pulled it open.
"hyung? what are you guys doing here?" he asked and stepped aside to let them come in.
"dreamies!" doyoung called throughout the home.
one by one, the rest of them came into the living room, just as surprised as renjun was.
"we didn't break anything—" clarified a scared chenle, putting his hands up in defense.
"i didn't— whatever," taeyong said. "what did you guys do during dayoung's date? and why is she so upset about it?"
"she told me that some kids ruined it," added doyoung.
jisung's eyes widened and he looked at haechan, who was sheepishly scratching the back of his neck while gazing at the floor.
"well.."
"we kind of, um.."
"we were just worried!"
"we wanted to make sure she was alright!"
"i made jisung call her in the middle of her date and tell her that jaemin was sick and asking for her."
doyoung raised his thumb and forefinger up to his temples, rubbing them in an annoyed manner.
"did you guys even think before you did that?" he sneered.
"no—"
"none of you have any idea about how excited she was to go on a date with chani. she came into the room and was the happiest we've seen her in a while. your jobs are to look out for her when the elders can't; to make sure she's doing good in school and smiling like she deserves to."
everyone could tell that doyoung was gradually becoming more livid and the dreamies hadn't seen him like this before. johnny put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. nobody said a word, so doyoung continued.
"but instead, you disregarded that yesterday."
chenle's eyes were watering as his stare fixated on his feet, a pit forming in his stomach. taeyong's hardened expression softened once he noticed and he wordlessly motioned for doyoung and johnny to wait in the car.
the two obliged and after the door clicked shut, taeyong walked over to the living room. he told the six members to sit on the sofa and give him an explanation as to why they did what they did.
"and i want the truth," he said.
jaemin leaned forward and placed his elbows on his knees, crossing his arms.
"i— uh, we were.. jealous.." he susurrated almost inaudibly.
taeyong bent down in front of them and shook his head.
"you guys have to apologize. she was really upset but she loves you guys so much that she didn't tell us that you were the ones to meddle with her date."
the dreamies nodded in agreement, and once taeyong said his good night and left, they began to organize another plan. one that they were sure would make up for what they did.
➥ 終。
➥ i'm a #liar lmAO THIS IS GETTING SO LONG I AM SO SORRY BUT I KNOW HOW TO END THIS SERIES BARE WITH ME PLS IM SORRY IVE BEEN MIA TOO
might be going offline for the next week bc i'm going on a trip by myself buT ILL FINISH THIS BEFORE SCHOOL STARTS I PROMISE