Humans used to play Mobile Legends through the screen. It is now 4050 and it is no longer a game but a sport. Players are handpicked to enter the arenas as they strive to work as a team to destroy turrets and bring their team to victory.
Neo Cultur...
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Later that day
Lee Jeno was walking down the hallway. It had been a rough day for him. Jeno had always prided himself in being quite an impressive player in the arena but today, his evaluator didn't seem to think so. They said he was too rigid, that he wasn't flexible and that he should have played the game with a little bit more understanding of Kim Bunny's character.
He could have saved her when she was outnumbered. He could have tanked for her because his build would have held the opponents off and she would have been able to escape. Jeno was not one to care much about other characters and on some days, it worked. On this particular day, it didn't.
Didn't help that Na Jaemin was placed in another team and Jeno felt lost. He hated to admit it, but Jaemin was basically his other half in the arena. He did not trust anyone else other than Jaemin and himself. His knuckles turned white at the thought of Kim Bunny trying to tackle the opponent's team down to the ground, her tiny body flailing back and forth.
Stupid girl, Jeno thought. He shook his head.
Jeno was not cold to Kim Bunny. He was indifferent and that made a huge difference. Kim Bunny was the light (source of irritation) of the party and she changed the vibe of the room just by being around. Jeno steered clear of people like Kim Bunny. She was the "middle of the room" type of girl and Jeno was the "in the shadows" type of guy.
No wonder she got along well with Lee Haechan. They were one and the same.
He made a mental note to go through the specs and attributes of other characters when he reached his room, Lee Jeno taking a sharp turn when he heard footsteps. He didn't think much about it when the person yelled out his name, Lee Jeno freezing.
Upon turning around, he saw her. She was huffing and pugging, her pigtails swinging back and forth. It was loose and Jeno had to hold himself back from reaching over and tightening her hair. Kim Bunny bent over, her arms trembling and he could tell she had sprinted from where ever she was at.
Then she straightened herself and smiled.
She smiled at Jeno, shoving a box towards his chest.
Jeno stared at it, Kim Bunny's eyes urging him to take it. He tilted his head at her questioningly, Kim Bunny finally gaining her composure.
"I made it for you," she told him, her eyes eager. So eager to please him, so eager to have him reciprocate whatever feelings she had for him. Bunny knew that Jeno knew. It was not a secret in the whole NCT Center. "A sandwich."
Jeno blinked. He ran a process through his mind—if he took it, would she think that it was okay to act this way? Wouldn't it be better if he just turned her down since he had no plans of ever dating in his training days?
He did just that, giving her a shake of his head. "I ate already."
"Oh."
He watched her face falter, her lips turned down. She was struggling to understand and Jeno knew it had to be done. Kim Bunny was a woman of persistence.
"Just take it."
"It's fine."
"Oh..." her voice trailed and this time, she did not hide the fact that she was disappointed and wanted to cry. Jeno did feel guilty... for a split second but not longer than that.
Bunny expected it. Jaemin had always complained to her every time she talked about Jeno. He would tell her that he knew Jeno like the back of his hand. He had no interest in dating and he wasn't one to mingle.
Haechan's reaction to when she told him about her feelings for Jeno also was enough for her to understand what kind of person Jeno was. Why would you like someone so... unattainable? Out of all people, why Lee Jeno?
Her two best friends were the middle ground between her and Jeno. He was so near yet so far. Bunny blinked back her tears, Jeno looking away from her before giving her a nod of his head before he began to walk away.
She would be able to handle it. She had people to fall back to.
He did not expect what she said, however, the female calling out for him.
"Lee Jeno!" she said and he froze. "One day, I'll learn not to like you!"
He did not turn around but he did see her face on the mirror placed on the wall that was angled at the right direction. Her face was red, her lips pressed tightly against each other and her arms gripping the edges of her shirt. Lee Jeno remained silent, Kim Bunny taking a deep breath.
"One day, I'll find someone who likes me back."
Stupid girl, Jeno thought. Stupid for her to think that feelings were learned. If feelings were learned, he wouldn't be the person he was today—living in his head because that was the only place he ever felt safe. He wondered why he could not look away, Bunny wiping her cheek and sniffing before she shook her head.
And then she was back to the Kim Bunny he was used to. Loud, quirky and back on her feet.
"But not today," she announced to him before turning on heel and walking away.
Not today, Jeno repeated her words in his mind before he realized he was chuckling.
He shook his head.
He didn't know that one day, he'd end up dreading the day it'd come.
