A/N:  Just a disclaimer, but this chapter contains subject matter that deals with anxiety and anxiety attacks. If you would rather, feel free to skip this chapter.

******

At the restaurant, Hana was able to sit by Bong Ki, much to her surprise and relief.
   The three of them ordered their meals, and no one ordered alcohol. Not even Hoseok. She could tell that this confused Bong Ki, but it made sense to Hana.

   Hoseok didn't really like alcohol that much, he never had. He rarely ordered drinks when they went out together. That was why his drinking binges were so confusing to her. She wondered why he had turned to alcohol when he didn't really enjoy it that much anyways.

She tried to push those thoughts from her mind, however. She wanted to just  enjoy her "date."

   She had been wrong about the merits of ignoring Hoseok though. Yes, she didn't have to speak to him, but instead of remaining silent as she had hoped, he continued to speak to Bong Ki.
   "So what do you do for a living Bong Ki?"
   "Where did you grow up?"
   "What do your parents do for a living?" And on and on and on. Bong Ki answered each one with courtesy and politeness, despite Hoseok's rude and prying attitude.

   Hana and Bong Ki didn't actually get to talk much because of Hoseok's rapid fire questions.
   He was really ticking her off.
   Bong Ki shifted uncomfortably when Hoseok insisted on paying the check. His protestations were met with Hoseok's fake politeness and generosity.
   Yes, Hoseok was a very kind and generous person, but right now he wasn't being himself. He was being a jerk, and she didn't buy his act for one moment.
   Once the check had been settled, the three of them headed to the movie theater, which was right down the street. Hoseok walked in between Hana and Bong Ki, only another one of his annoying involvements in the night so far.

   "So, what movie are we going to see?" Hoseok was addressing Hana, but she didn't answer right away. So Bong Ki told him the movie's name.  Hana knew he was upset that she was going to see it with someone else, and she felt slightly guilty once again. Hoseok looked at her in surprise at first, and maybe a little hurt, but soon his expression leveled out into a sly grin.

   "Oh, really?" He put on a fake expression of concern. "The last time I took her to see a movie like that, she was hanging onto me in fright the whole time." He pulled a frightened face, imitating the faces Hana had in fact made. "She kept burying her face into my hoodie and she was clutching my hand the whole time." Embarrassment flared on her face as Hoseok laughed slightly. She paled as she watched Bong Ki's jaw tighten and as he quickened his pace. She could just see Hoseok's smirk from her peripheral vision, and a vision of a flaming city flashed before her eyes, it reminded her of the disaster unfolding before her eyes. The night was young and already turning towards disaster.

   Once the three of them had arrived at the theater and paid for her tickets and her snacks Bong Ki excused himself to the restroom.

   She pulled out her phone and tried to ignore Hoseok's probing looks. He tried to get her attention by clearing his throat and coming up beside her, but she continued to ignore him. He pulled her phone out of her hand.
   He either didn't notice or didn't care about the death glare she gave him, continuing on with his patronizing, big brother act. "Now, Hana, I don't want any cliché hand holding in the popcorn bucket during this movie." She rolled her eyes at his tone.

   "Shut up Jung Hoseok. You are being a child." Hana had to check herself before she wrecked herself in full view of the other movie-goers, so she lowered her voice and softened her tone. "You need to knock it off."

   "Knock what off? As far as I'm concerned I've been nothing but polite to Bong Ki." She shook her head and he just continued to smile smugly.
   Luckily Bong Ki returned before she lost her patience and ripped Hoseok's head off.

   As he began to walk back towards her, she noticed another girl checking him out and she shifted uncomfortably.
   Bong Ki did look really good. Tonight he wore a pale blue sweatshirt and black jeans. His hair was again casually styled. She didn't blame the girl for checking him out; he was still extremely fine.

   Her attention was then drawn to Hoseok.
  
   As the three of them walked towards the showing room, she mentally noted Hoseok's appearance as well.

   He was just wearing ripped blue jeans and a yellow hoodie, he looked perfectly casual and effortless. Somehow, he still looked really good though.
   Just as good as Bong Ki.
   An argument could be made that he looked better.

   As she sat down in her seat, Bong Ki and Hoseok on either side of her, her thoughts continuing to run wildly.
   She had always thought Hoseok handsome. He always seemed to look effortlessly good. Now that she thought about it, his attractiveness always made her slightly uneasy when she was out with him. She just felt so out of place when she was being stared at because of him. Hana could feel the silent judgments people were sending her. It was like their jealousy was tangible.

   Being with two severely handsome men like Hoseok and Bong Ki, well she hadn't thought about the consequences.

   She could now literally feel the jealous and hateful looks other girls were shooting her. Hana could hear their thoughts, immediately growing self-conscious.

   "Why are they with her? She's not pretty enough for them."

   "Why do girls like her get all the luck?"

   And on, and on, and on, and on.

   She tensed beside them and her breath quickened as her thoughts raced, the anxiety and nervousness she had felt all evening was beginning to catch up to her. Her heart rate increased and she couldn't seem to focus on anything else.

   Someone said something to her, but she couldn't hear. Her own thoughts were too loud.

******
Hana was really angry with him.

  He could tell by the way she was passively aggressively ignoring him and by the way she kept lightly slamming things down. The vase of flowers, for instance, was lightly slammed onto the coffee table in the living room.

The fridge door was slightly slammed once she'd placed her takeout on one of the shelves. Her attitude was evident.

Hoseok just rolled his eyes at her passive aggressiveness.

  Nothing would keep him from going tonight.

  At exactly 5:30, someone knocked on the door, and Hana went to answer it. He assumed that it was Bong Ki, especially due to the time it was taking for her to return.

  Then Hoseok started to wonder why it was taking so long. Had something happened? What if it hadn't been Bong Ki at the door and something terrible was happening?

His protective instinct kicked in within seconds.

  Quickly he made his way to the entry hallway.

  The scene that greeted him caused the fiery feeling to flame up once again.

  Bong Ki had his hands around her waist, and Hana had her hands braced against his chest. Their eyes were locked into each other's gazes and they were just frozen there. He wanted to go forcibly remove Bing Ki from the apartment.

However, he calmed himself, knowing a fight with a stranger wasn't a good way to satiate Hana's anger.

  He spoke up without warning, and he took immense pleasure in seeing Bong Ki's bewildered look. The feeling of anger had died down when the two had separated and he had proceeded with his patronizing attitude, doing his best to irritate Bong Ki.

  He had taken immense pleasure in his little sabotages.

  He sat in the front seat so that conversation would be more awkward to carry out.

  He questioned Bong Ki's personal life, sizing him up.

  His favorite part of the night so far was the walk to the movie theater. More specifically, the conversation they'd had on the way there.

  When he found out that they were going to see the movie that he and Hana had planned on seeing weeks ago, he felt the intensity of the fire flare once again. He hadn't expected her to go and see the movie with someone else, especially not with a guy.

     "Oh really." He put on a fake expression of concern. "The last time I took her to see a movie like that she was hanging onto me in fright the whole time." He pulled a frightened face, imitating the faces she had made. "She kept burying her face into my hoodie and she was clutching my hand the whole time." Bong Ki had tensed at his description of Hana's dependence on him, and Hoseok could barely contain his smug grin.

He didn't feel as bad about Hana going to see the movie with someone else now. He knew that now her date was thinking about the scene Hoseok had described so well.

  Once they'd reached the theater, and once Bong Ki left them alone for a moment, Hoseok took the opportunity to speak to Hana.

  But she didn't want to speak to him. Of course, Hoseok knew this would happen, but she wouldn't stay mad forever. He could make it up to her later.

  But began to question himself as he could feel her uneasiness grow as they all walked towards the viewing room. However, he couldn't really be sure what was wrong. He wished he could just ask her what was wrong, but he doubted that she would answer him.

  As they sat down in the dark theater, he could feel her breathing intensify until it was coming out in short, shallow gasps.

  She was hyperventilating.

  She was having an anxiety attack.

  Bong Ki spoke to her first. "Hana, are you okay?" She didn't answer him, but Hoseok knew that she wouldn't. She couldn't.

  He grabbed her hand and squeezed it to get her attention. "Hey, just breathe Hana." He began to do the breathing exercise he had learned just for times like this. "Breathe in," pause. "Breathe out." It took a few tries but soon she was following Hoseok's instructions and her breathing was normal. He took his hand off of hers.

  She pulled both of her hands into her lap. By the light of the commercials on the screen, Hoseok could see her look down at her hands, which were now being wrung relentlessly. He could also see the tears in her eyes.

  "I'm sorry." Her voice was barely a whisper. Hoseok shook his head, trying to convey to her that there was no reason to apologize.

He noticed Bong Ki's expression of confusion.

  "There's no need to be sorry. You haven't done anything wrong." Hoseok's voice was a whisper too, only she needed to hear his reassurance. "Everything is okay, I'm here with you okay." He gently touched her shoulder. She looked up at him and he smiled at her.

  She didn't smile back though, instead, she only nodded her head and looked forward.

A/N:

Please eat well and take care of yourselves!

(Edited July 2019)

*Novi*