𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧ˡᵉᵉ ʲᵉⁿᵒ

06

Jinhee watched with fire burning in her heavy heart, Yuhwa laughing and acting as if they were best friends with Jeno in the empty classroom at dawn, she wanted to burst in and ruin their happy moment.

"We have another 00 liner's race tonight. Are you excited to get your ass beaten?" She heard Yuhwa say.

"I recall beating yours last time." Jeno answered, tossing paper balls into the trash bin.

"Pfft." Yuhwa snorted. "At least my car's prettier than yours."

"The worst argument, so I'm not going to bother—" Jeno stopped, his eyes on the girl standing at the door. "Jinhee, what brings you here?"

"I need to talk to you." She smiled at him and then at Yuhwa. "Privately, please."

Yuhwa rolled her eyes, grabbing her backpack while muttering something about waiting in the library for him. As soon as she had left, Jinhee closed the classroom door and cornered him to a wall, eyes desperately studying his confused face.

"I need to catch the bus, so make it quick." Jeno spoke.

"Don't you have a car picking you up? I thought rich people never use public transport." Jinhee said, taking a step back and looking around. The classroom seemed definitely cleaner than before.

Jeno sighed, forcing himself from speaking coldly to offend her, a habit he picked up from Yuhwa. "Using a bus after school is very serene to me. Helps me calm down after having a long day."

Jinhee nodded. "Anyways, I wanted to talk to you because," she grinned, taking out an envelope and handing it to the boy. "My parents are coming back to Korea in a few days, they're expecting me to have a boyfriend."

"And you're telling me this because?" He asked, opening the envelope and fishing out the photos of his traumatic childhood. Pictures of him being bullied, teased and even beaten were placed in his hands right in front of him. "I get it. You want me to pretend date you so you can impress your family."

"Not only mine, but also yours." A single trace of guilt wasn't visible in her eyes. "My parents want you and only you to be my boyfriend. Seems like your dad is on the same page with them, I even heard that they will arrange a marriage after we're done with college."

"So you're threatening me with these?" Jeno threw the pictures at her face.

She grit her teeth and told herself this wasn't going to be an easy matter to handle. "Just a game until they head back to Canada."

"And how long is that?" He wasn't interested but just curious. Jinhee saw it as a chance to convince him smoothly before throwing out more pictures to hurt his pride.

"Two month is all I ask. They're going to host a party before they leave Korea, so until then."  She explained. "We have to fake it in front of everyone else and we don't have to pretend when we're alone."

"I'm not interested in having a real or a fake girlfriend at the moment." He met her gaze.

"But you still hang out with that lowlife, don't you?" She sneered. "Being with me is easier and more comfortable, she's not a good influence and will stain your reputation. Your father would be very disappointed in you, Lee Jeno."

With a careless laugh, Jinhee placed her hand on his. "I won't tell the whole school about your tragic past if you do as I say for two months."

Jeno hated it. It felt like middle school all over again and he wanted to curl up into a ball and weep.

"Oh come on, it won't be that bad?" She tried to sweeten her words with her honey like voice.

"I would do anything to be a disappointment to my father." Jeno spoke, his voice bitter than the coffee Jaemin drinks in his free time. "At this point I don't care if he wants to disown me."

Taken aback, Jinhee stared at him as if cat got her tongue. "But I don't want you to expose my past. So I'm going to pretend date you but don't expect me to act like your slave, Kim Jinhee. And you certainly can't force me to stay away from Yuhwa or my other friends."

He had laid out his conditions and now all she had to do was, agree.

"Fine." She groaned, not particularly happy with him remaining to be be friends with the girl she hated the most. "We will start tomorrow, if that's okay with you."

"Yes. I will pick you up tomorrow morning." He informed, voice chilly. "Now if you excuse me, I have someone waiting."

○●○

T

he library, where he was headed, wasn't exactly what people would call it. Sure, there were books and shelves and other things that belonged into a place like that, no one really stepped into the place to read or do their homework. The place held many secrets, including dark ones that concealed its faults perfectly.

Jeno spotted Yuhwa, asleep in one of the beanbags next to a dying fire, shivering under her uniform. He smiled softly, walking toward and covering her with his blazer.

"What took you so long?" She mumbled, hugging the piece of cloth closer while opening her eyes slowly.

Jeno bit his lower lip, hesitating to answer her question. He had the choice to lie and cover up his past or to spill the truth to someone he only recently came to know.

"Nothing important." He said, helping her stand up. "This place is dangerous you know, you should've gone home without me."

Surrounded by books and people who smoked, chatted and drank, Yuhwa shook her head. "I'm used to it. I do these things too you see, I'm dangerous to you."

Jeno furrowed his eyebrows, lips forming to a frown. "I want you to stop that. Racing is already a big risk—"

"I'm trying okay? Johnny's not a bad brother you know, he burns every cigarette he spots just so I can suffer without them." Yuhwa rolled her eyes, remembering that she didn't have a chance to smoke ever since she met Jeno. "And you too, you destroyed my last one."

Jeno chuckled, crouching down to match her height so he could ruffle her hair. "Let's leave this awful place. We have a race to win."

"Oh shut up, Lee." She grinned. "I have a race to win."

●●●

I can finally update this book every weekend haha let's see how far it goes 👀

Also check out my new haechan ff, I'm trying out a new style which is way out of my line and I'm already in the mood of giving it up cause it feels like too much work lmao.