Colors || Lee Jeno

Chapter 3 | "bad days"

"Welcome back, guys." Kun said as they walked into the main room, him, Hendery, and Ten all waiting up for them. "How'd it go?"

"Pretty good, we got it done in record time." Hyewon replied with a nod. "They never saw us coming."

"Any injuries?"

"One minor one on me." She grumbled, pulling back her mission suit to reveal a dark red slash across her collar bone. "I'm gonna kill you for this on, Hendery."

"It was... more than two people... wasn't it?" He asked with a nervous sigh, seeing her nod her head. "Sorry about that Hye, the infrared couldn't distinguish between them, my bad."

"It's fine, not a big deal." She said with a laugh, dropping her angry expression when she saw the apologetic look on his face. "All that matter's is that we got it done."

"Well that's good to hear, nice work." Kun said with a smile as Ten brought out a first aid kit and began treating her.

Since they were a smaller gang, they didn't have a real medic, but Ten did his best. She hiss as he cleaned her wound, the older boy muttering a quick 'sorry' before putting on some ointment and bandaging her up.

"You're all good to go, Hyewon. Let me know if it gets any worse and I can have Chaemin come over to take a look." He said, talking about his girlfriend who was currently in medical school.

"Thanks, Ten." She replied with a smile, standing up from her seat and stretching out her arms. "Do you know where Xiaojun is? I thought he would've been here to see us home."

"He's probably in his room, said he was busy with some new game he got a few days ago when we tried to call him down." Ten said, seeing the slight frown form on her face. "Is everything alright with you two?"

At that question, she instantly brightened up, straightening her posture and smiling at the older boy.

"Of course! We're doing great, just waiting for our colors." She said cheerily. "He probably just didn't hear you right."

"Yeah probably." Ten said with a chuckle. "Go get a good sleep, kid, you did well today."

"Thanks, Ten!" She called over her shoulder as she skipped up the staircase before heading to Xiaojun's room.

She quickly knocked on his door, her stomach twisting as she waited to see him. After a few seconds, he opened the door, his headphones still around his neck.

"Hey, I heard you guys got back a while ago, what took you so long?" He asked, walking back over to his chair where his game was paused.

"Oh, uh, I got a knife cut on my shoulder so Ten was treating it." She replied, pulling down her shirt to reveal the bandages on her wound.

"All that for a little knife wound?" He said with a chuckle. "You should've been more careful, it's not like you to get hurt."

"Yeah I know." She sighed, taking a seat on the edge of his bed. "Hendery said it was only two guys, not four, so I was a bit caught off guard."

"Well, you should still be able to handle that. I can do some extra training with you tomorrow." He said, turning back to his game and putting his headphones on. "Uh, I'm going to be playing this for a while so you should go to your room to get some sleep, I'm sure you're tired."

"Oh yeah alright." She said with a smile, standing up from his bed. "Have fun playing, see you tomorrow."

"Night."

She watched as he pressed play on his game, fully zoning in as she walked out of his room, shutting the door with a sigh and heading to get some much needed sleep.

- - -

Kun was more than satisfied with their mission success, only mildly concerned about Hyewon's injury but she was quick to reassure him that she was on the mend. After their success that night, Kun decided to give them a break before the upcoming mafia truce meeting, allowing the whole gang a full week of fun and relaxation.

With their one year anniversary coming up the day before the truce meeting, Hyewon spent every night working on the present she was preparing for Xiaojun. She had found all their old photos, videos, anything from their relationship since they've known eachother, and compiled it into a short movie to play for him. They'd been through so much together, and seeing colors would make it all worth it for her.

During the day, Xiaojun and Hyewon went out a ton. Both of them were pretty busy with missions and training, so they didn't always have that much time to just spend with one another. In honor of the week, she planned a different date for every day, fully utilizing their free time. It was rumor that the more time you spend with your soulmate, the more likely you are to see color but 7 days later and it was still the same.

Now they were sitting in Xiaojun's room, about to go out to check out a new club that had just opened up in the city.

"What's wrong, babe?" Xiaojun asked from the couch as she noticed the frown on her face as she stared at herself in the mirror.

"Just having one of those bad days." She mumbled, staring at the scar on her collarbone, fully on display with the outfit she was wearing. "Insecurities and all."

"Eh it happens, we all have insecurities." He replied with a laugh. "Just part of life. What's bothering you today?"

"I hate this scar." She groaned, seeing the dark mark cutting across her otherwise pale skin. "It's horrible."

"Well, you're a mafia member, so scars happen. Don't sweat it." He said lightly. "You can't even see it when you wear certain clothes, so just wear stuff that covers it."

"Yeah, I guess you're right. You almost ready to go?" She replied, forcing herself to turn away from the mirror and seeing him wearing sweatpants and a tshirt. "What are you doing? We're going to a club, Junnie."

"I know, but Kun doesn't want us staying up too late so I might call it a night, plus we've been hanging out so much this past week, I need a bit of a break. We can miss one night." He sighed, going to sit on the edge of his bed.

"Oh yeah for sure...." She trailed off, unsure if he was just tired or if he was getting tired of her. "I'll see you tomorrow!"

"Bye, Hye."

She had a puzzled expression on her face as she shut the door to his room. She'd be lying if she said that his words didn't bother her, but she just brushed it off.

Maybe this is all part of his plan for tomorrow. Get me all down just to surprise me with something for our anniversary.

She allowed her hopeful thoughts to wipe the frown off her face, convincing herself that must be it as she quickly retuned to her room to finalize the details on his gift.

Double update for today so that I can remind y'all once again to stream the Stray Kids comeback :)