A few days later, Hanbin was still not over the shock, but - and he hadn't really expected it -  everything seemed okay so far.
Sina's behavior towards him hadn't changed so the chances were good that she couldn't remember him. Well, it wouldn't be a surprise, he had changed a lot. Or maybe she was just too focused on Mino. Either way, he tried not to attract her attention too much, meant that he tried to ignore the way she acted around Mino, and when she and the other girls were chatting with the iKON members, he stayed in the background. All in all, he simply pretended he wasn't there. This worked good for him, at least when it came to Sina. It didn't go unnoticed by Mino though. He paid more attention to Hanbin in general and he seemed to be very amused by the way the younger rapper behaved when Sina was around. That was actually quite embarrassing, but if he wanted to keep his secret a secret, he had to take it.
Hanbin shot a glance at his mobile phone, a silent sigh on the lips. It was past 11pm and he was tired, but he still had some work to do. An hour ago, he had told the other members to go home and get some rest, they all were exhausted and he wanted them to go to bed. So he was alone now, taking a short coffee break. He knew that WINNER were also still here, at least Mino and Seunghoon. They had taken some of their precious time to spend it with the female trainees and Hanbin couldn't lie, it bothered him so much. No matter how hard he tried to suppress this emotion, it didn't work. Of course it didn't. That would be too easy, wouldn't it?
"Ya."
The voice that suddenly echoed next to his ear caused him to almost drop his coffee when a jerk went through his body. Mino couldn't help but laugh at the sight of Hanbin clinging to the cup with both his hands to prevent it from falling down. The younger was close to a heart attack.
"Hyung! Are you crazy??"
"I'm sorry, I didn't know you were lost in thoughts."
The elder smirked at him while leaning against the table the coffee vending machine stood on. He crossed his arms loosely in front of his chest, the chest Hanbin glanced at for a second, despite his shock. This was something that already happened automatically, most of the time he didn't even realize the way he looked or stared at the other. But Mino did. Unlike the younger boy, he didn't make bones about the way he looked at and over Hanbin. So it was just a normal reaction of Hanbin's heart to pump the blood a little faster through his veins when he felt the elder taking a closer look at his face. It was hard, but he tried to ignore it. And he especially tried not to blush. God, he felt like a little boy right now. Maybe it would have been better if he also had gone home.
"What is it?", he asked after he had cleared his throat, now sipping on the coffee.
"I want to get some ice cream for the girls. Do you want to come with me?"
Hanbin's answer was a blank stare. Ice cream, yes. For the girls.. Mh.
His cold reaction caused Mino to laugh. Honestly, he enjoyed this too much. Not because he liked to tease the younger, but because it was so cute to see him getting flustered or mad. Well, okay, he also liked to , but that was another story.
"How do you even know that I'm still here?", Hanbin asked instead of giving an answer.
"I know everything, that's it."
No, you don't, the young rapper thought to himself, but didn't say it out loud. So Mino, who obviously didn't want to go without him, cocked his head, wiggling his eyebrows.
"I'll buy you some ice cream, too." He was satisfied with the pondering look that appeared on the other's face. That was definitely an offer Hanbin couldn't refuse, and as expected, he agreed just a few seconds later.
"Well then, let's go."
Sure. Where there was free choco cone - the only ice cream he accepted -, there was Kim Hanbin. He put his coffee away, right before the older one grabbed his hand to drag him out of the building. This behavior actually confused him a little, he seemed so.. happy? Pumped? Something like that. When they stepped onto the street and Mino still didn't let go of his hand - Hanbin thanked God that there were no fans waiting outside anymore -, he decided to get to the bottom of it.
"Are you okay, hyung? You're so clingy."
"Of course I am. It's just that you ignored me so much, I have to catch up on some tender loving care."
"What? When did I ignore you?"
Mino turned around to look at him. There was still this smirk on his lips, the smirk that made Hanbin want to scream into a pillow for the rest of his life.
"When Sina happened? I thought you'd never talk to me again."
Hanbin bit his tongue. He luckily didn't need to comment on this because Mino had turned away again already, now opening the door of the 7-Eleven. Only now he let go of the younger and greeted the cashier, then he walked straight up to the freezer. While he looked through the ice cream offered, Hanbin watched him in silence.
Mino could feel that. He could feel how the other one was following his every move, but it didn't bother him. Just a few days ago, Hanbin had been avoiding him as far as possible, maybe he needed to catch up on some things too. After Mino had chosen the ice cream for the girls and Seunghoon, he added the promised choco cone and handed it over to the cashier, shooting a glance at the other boy. He actually wanted to talk about Sina with him. After all, it was still quite funny that they had gone to the same school together and that Mino was the reason why she was here. Of course it was an issue to him. But it didn't feel like it was the right time, now that Hanbin was almost back to being normal. It had been easy to put one and one together and reveal Sina as the reason for his behavior. Maybe he needed some more time to start to like her. Maybe he never would. It didn't matter to Mino, all that mattered was that he was talking to him again.
"Do you still have much to do?"
The ice cream stowed away in a plastic bag, they left the 7-Eleven and went back. Hanbin slid a hand into his pocket while pretending that he had to think hard about Mino's question, but he ended up shaking his head.
"Not really." This was a lie, obviously.
Mino only looked at him for a second before he stepped into the hallway. He actually knew that it wasn't the truth, but he didn't dwell on it and just turned around to the younger.
"Then come with me. We will leave soon, but until then, you can keep us company. Or we can keep you company, I guess it's more like that."
Hanbin didn't seem happy. He hadn't planned to hang out with the female trainees, not at all. He prefered working until 3am over spending one hour with the girls, and Mino knew that. Still he tried to convince him. Not with words, it was the way he looked at him, and damn, he knew that Hanbin couldn't say no to his puppy face. No wonder that he sounded a little annoyed when he agreed.
"Perfect", Mino grinned and quickly directed him to the practice room where they were staying.
Seunghoon was rumbling a song when he opened the door and they both entered the room, and he didn't stop until Mino presented the plastic bag.
"Aaaaaaah, the lion's finally back to feed some hungry mouths. And look, he found something to play with on his way."
The girls giggled while Hanbin just put on a strained smile. Only the pat Mino gave him on his back kept him from leaving again. He really didn't know if he would survive this.
"I thought you were the lion?", he asked to distract attention away from how hard he was trying not to look at Sina. The blonde was sitting next to Seunghoon, her gaze fixed on him.
"Well, you have a point." Seunghoon smirked and grabbed the plastic bag to give out the ice cream everyone was waiting for, but when he took out one of the choco cones, Mino took it from him and gave it to Hanbin who returned the smile that appeared on Seunghoon's lips. Of course this was for him.
"Oppa, come sit with us!" It was Shinhee who raised her voice now while pointing at the floor next to her. She was sitting in front of the bench, looking at Hanbin, but first, he seemed unsure whether she was talking to him or not. He shot a glance at Mino and only when he nodded, he sat down next to the girl. She seemed happy about it and immediately started to talk to him, telling him what they had learned and practiced today. He was actually taken by surprise because he hadn't been prepared for the waterfall of words, but he slowly began to feel more comfortable and even managed to smile at her while she was busy talking about her day. At least this was way better than having to talk to Sina who still looked at him. Their eyes met for a second, but Hanbin quickly focused on Shinhee again, and also Hyohwa who had chimed in. They asked him questions and he was willing to answer them, even gave some advice and told them about his days as a trainee. Mino was happy to see that.
His place was next to Seunghoon, but while his friend was also deep in conversation, he only sat there and watched Hanbin. It had been a good idea to bring him here. Since the day they had been introduced to the girls, he had barely talked to them and Mino really had wanted to change that. Of course he wouldn't force him talk to someone he didn't want to talk to - Sina for example. The fact that he was talking to the other girls was satisfying enough. A smile shaped his lips the longer he watched the kids - they really looked like a bunch of little children - and he could have stayed like this forever, but after a while he felt eyes linger on him. When he turned his head, he saw that Sina was watching him and for a second, he felt the urge to ask her what she was thinking. But he didn't. Instead, he kept smiling so that she didn't have any other chance than to smile, too.
"Oh my God." Seunghoon suddenly interrupted them.
"What is it?" Mino looked at his friend, his brows raised a little.
The rapper only pointed at the clock on the wall and let out a deep sigh before he got up, signalizing Mino to do the same. When he did, he checked the time and repeated Seunghoon's words. It was past 1am.
"We have to get up in three hours," WINNER's dance machine explained the sudden atmosphere of departure.
"Means we have to go now, or Seungyoon will murder us."
The girls were disappointed and asked them to stay just for a little bit longer, Hanbin only checked his phone. There was no message from Bobby so he was sure that everyone was asleep. That was good, so he still had some time left to finish what he wanted to finish. It actually annoyed him a little that he had spent so much time here, he could have used it for working. Now he'd have to stay another two hours. But in the end, he had enjoyed the last hours, hadn't he?
"You all should go to bed, too", Mino silenced the protests and stepped a little closer to Hanbin, who shrugged when the elder suddenly stood next to him, emphatically saying, "and when I say you all, then I mean you all."
Hanbin looked up at him and screwed up his face, but he didn't respond, he only nodded. The WINNER members got busy saying goodbye to the trainees now and iKON's leader couldn't help but turn away when Mino and Sina hugged for a second. No, this simply hadn't happened.
"Okay, see you later, my children." Seunghoon waved before he left the practice room, followed by Mino who shot a last glance at Hanbin. Then they were gone, leaving the girls and Hanbin behind. He as well got up now.
"Okay, I will leave too then. I still have some work to do."
"But didn't Mino oppa tell you to go to bed, too?" Shinhee cocked her head.
Hanbin couldn't stand the way Sina looked at him during this question, even though she was smiling. Or maybe because she way smiling.
"Yeah, he did, he always does, but.. Well.."
"He really cares about you", Jojung commented, receiving nods of assent while Hanbin just swallowed.
"Actually, he told us not to become like you."
"Yes, he said you always stay here too long and we shouldn't do that, it will only make him worry." Shinhee gazed at him with big eyes.
Okay, this was enough.
"Anyways, I'll leave now. Rest well and.. see you sometime."
Smiling - it was a little tensed, but no one seemed to notice -, he waved them goodbye and returned the small bows before he quickly disappeared. As soon as he had left the room, he took a deep, deep breath and ran his fingers through his hair. He couldn't believe that Mino had really talked about him with the girls, really. Why the hell did he do that? He really cares about you. These words echoed in his head and it made him want to yell.
"Hanbin."
A female voice behind him let him turn around to check who followed him even though he thought he had finally escaped them. Well, he wasn't really happy when he saw who it was.
"Sina", he answered, hoping that he didn't sound cold or something.
"I'm sorry, I don't want to detain you, but I have a question." She seemed a little nervous but Hanbin wasn't sure about that, he didn't know her good enough. He just watched how she played with her blond hair for a second, before she came to the point.
"Your stage name is B.I, right?"
What? Why did she ask this?
"Yes, why?"
"Well, I actually wasn't sure about something and I was thinking about it a lot the last days, but after today, I'm finally sure that we met already. Could that be?"
. His face was frozen. Sina seemed to interpret it as being too direct for his liking, she hurried to raise her hands in an apologetic gesture.
"I don't want to be pushy or something, I was just wondering because I think I remember that I met someone named B.I in the past. And I don't think there's someone else with this name, right? And your age would fit. I mean, you were really young back then, and you changed a lot, but I'm sure it's you. I'm sure that we met at one of Mino's shows."
Great.
That's it.
This was the end.
He was going to be dead.