For Love's Sake || Jeno

04: Wise men say only fools rush in

She made her move when she heard the bathroom door close. One tap on her phone and the money she'd made yesterday was transferred to Seulgi's account.

She entered her sister's room on quiet feet and spotted her phone on the table. She unlocked it and deleted the text that would have notified Seulgi of the transfer. Placing the phone back in its place, Naeun left the room.

A sigh of relief left her lips as she successfully reached the kitchen. Even thinking about doing this every day henceforth exhausted her. The money she'd made in five hours was enough to cover grocery expenses for a month.

Her accomplishment made her think of Jeno. If it hadn't been for him she would not have been able to earn so much in such little time. And who knows what would have happened if had not shown up last night. She had believed she was going to get an earful from him after he had told her countless times how dangerous it was for her. But he had only asked her if she was alright.

Maybe I should get something for him, she thought as she picked up an apple from the kitchen counter. She quickly got rid of the thought. With the kind of relationship between them, an exchange of presents was ridiculous. And she didn't even know what he liked anyway. She didn't know anything about him. It just made her more curious. Why did he fight in The Ring? Was he in a situation similar to hers or was it something completely different?

With the apple in her hand, she hurried to the bus stop. Donghyuck had a math test in the first period and had asked her to teach him a few concepts. She couldn't be late today.

Upon entering school, she saw him right away. He was sitting on a bench, his brown head bent over a book. He raised his head from the book when Naeun sat down next to him. "Thank God, you're here," he said. "I was starting to think that you might come too late."

"I told you I'd be on time, didn't I?" She took off her bag and placed it on her lap. "So, what's the problem?"

"The problem is that if I don't pass this test I might have to take extra classes."

Naeun tapped his book with her knuckles, "I meant the math problem."

"Oh, right." He placed his book on top of her bag and pointed to the highlighted questions. "I'm very confused about these." Naeun read the questions and began with her explanation. Donghyuck picked up the concept quickly and was able to do the next question himself.

While Naeun was explaining a question she felt a tap on her shoulder. Turning her head, she found Jeno standing beside her. "Can I talk to you for a minute?" Naeun immediately tensed up. The rebuke that she had escaped before, was she going to face it now? He didn't wait for an answer and walked away from her.

She turned to Donghyuck, "give me a minute." She stood up and followed Jeno, taking quick strides to catch up to him. When he stopped and turned to her she held up both of her hands in surrender. "I know what you're going to say, alright?"

He cocked an eyebrow, "you do?" He asked.

Naeun took a deep breath before saying, "you told me it would be dangerous and it's not that I dismissed your warning... it's just... I don't know. I am very grateful that you showed up last night." Jeno didn't reply but only watched her with an amused smile playing on his lips. "You can go ahead and say 'I told you so.'"

"So... you're going to quit?"

"No, I can't." Jeno opened his mouth but Naeun held up a hand, stopping him. "I don't have a choice, okay? I know it's still dangerous."

Jeno sighed, "I'm glad that you figured that out on your own but that's not what I was going to say."

"It's not?"