Red String | Trainee A Leo

Chapter 3 - Savior

"Leo-ssi?" Aehyeon was surprised to see who it was.

"Are you nuts? They were already throwing things on you but you just stood there and didn't even defended yourself? Where's your brain for goodness sake?!" Leo started nagging tho he don't even know for himself why he is angry. Aehyeon felt sadness, nervousness and anger inside her.

"I didn't told you to pull me out from that chaos yet you still showed up pulling my wrist, dragging me into this empty room, then come nagging at me indirectly saying that I'm stupid." Aehyeon retorted as she was about to tear up because of anger.

"Unbelievable. Why am I even doing this, you're not my concern anyway." Leo whispered as he realized that his efforts was put into waste because of the ungrateful girl infront of him.

Leo walked out leaving Aehyeon behind. Again. Aehyeon ended up crying. All she wanted was a simple life. She's just going with the flow of her life but ended up bumping into a hard-headed boy and worse, she is now the most hated person in the campus, the fact that she only arrived this morning.

After roaming for how long she coudn't even remember, she finally found the classroom that she was assigned in. The moment she stepped in, the students stared daggers at her. Leo caught her attention who was sleeping while sitting in his seat.

'We are in the same class but he chose to leave me just because he doesn't want to be the center of attraction.' Was the words that she wanted to tell but she just kept it to herself thinking that they'll just annoy each other more if she starts to open up an arguement and Aehyeon is so done being the scene stealer for today.

She sat on the vacant seat beside the window and looked outside. She watched the other students who were scattered at the school grounds since it's still early for their first class.

~

"You left her? Alone? What the heck Leo how could you do that to a girl. You were oh-so-gentleman-like when you're with Hanna but now you're being rude." Junil nagged Leo endlessly bringing up Leo's past which made Leo irritated.

"Does it matter anyway? I don't even know her. Its not my problem anymore if ever she gets lost in the campus for being stupid." Leo is really getting pissed. And now his bestfriend is nagging him like a mom.

"Ofcourse it is. You promised to your mother that you'll accompany that girl in school since she was a transferee. She's your responsibility if ever those bullies attacks her again. And what will you say to your mom? 'Oh sorry eomma I didn't know she was stupid so I left her and let her roam around in the campus alone.'" Junil mimicked Leo as he said the last words with gayish hand gestures and soften voice.

"I didn't promised anything. And its not like I insisted. Besides I'm being careful on following the rules now and I don't want to be associated with another problem. And stop that it's disgusting." Leo rolled his eyes after finishing his sentence. Then they continued arguing.

Junil and Leo's bickering continued for hours but then Leo remembered something and grabbed Junil's wrist checking the time.

"Shoot. I'm late for work! I'm screwed!" Leo widened his eyes as he saw the time pass 14:00 and ran off unconciously leaving Junil alone.

Luckily, his boss was in a good mood so he let it slip this time. Leo was relieved when his boss didn't fired him. He really needs his job.

Leo had to seek for a part time job to support his needs and to help his mother since his father left them when he was a child. That's the time when he pledged to never ever leave his future wife and don't be like his dad.

The moment before Hanna died, they were arguing about marriage– Hanna wanted to be married but they were way to young for that and Leo wants to be 100% sure about on whom he'll say his wedding vows since he didn't had any plans on leaving her if their relationship won't work. But unfortunately, that very day, Hanna passed away even before Leo have said his answer. That moment he wished that he just agreed only if he knew that it was going to be Hanna's last wish. Leo was fed up with guilt.

He works in a record store. The store is loaded with official albums of different K-Pop groups, soloists, and more. He attends the cashier and overtime to clean up the store before going home.

His training is on mornings so there is always a time where he has to skip classes to attend training tho SOPA is very considerate to their pupils who were also current trainees so it wasn't really a problem. He goes to the record store after —either school or training.

Leo was waiting patiently for customers then two ladies entered the store and asked him about an album.

"Annyeonghaseyo, do you have a Border: Carnival album?" asked by one of them.

"Uhm..." Leo checked the monitor and saw on the list that they do have that album.

"Yes ma'am, what version do you like?" asked Leo respectfuly.

"Give us one Hype version, one Down version, and two Up versions please." The lady smiled as they stated carefully the albums' versions.

Leo found the section where the album was located and it was a new released album by Enhypen. He stared at the album and whispered;

"Heeseung, Jay, I guess you guys already made your first comeback. Wait for me, we'll meet again and this time it'll be on stage." Leo and Sangwon was close to Heeseung and Jay. But him and Sangwon wasn't picked for 'I-Land's line-up so they were left behind. Heeseung and Jay succeeded to the debut team and got to be part of 'Enhypen'. Now they just released their sophomore album.

Leo led his hopes up after Mr. Bang announced that they are planning to make another boy group and this is now his chance to debut. He is also longing for Heeseung and Jay so he promised himself that they'll meet again, on stage.

He didn't realize that he was staring the album too long so the two girls already approached him and asked if something's wrong.

"Oh, no there's nothing wrong. Sorry I got captivated by the album cover, the color palette is very pretty." Leo smiled. He can't flaunt his friendship with Enhypen because if he do, he'll be in trouble again and this time, he might really be kicked out of the agency.

"Thank you ma'am, have a nice day." He never let his smile fade. He gained another motivation. Now his eagerness of debuting is flaming up and he got energized because of it.

****

—The Next Day—

Leo was already on his way to school.

"Isn't that the guy who trended on Twitter? The Club Hearthrob?" whispered by a girl who was just in Leo's back. But he can clearly hear what they were saying. A group of girls recognized Leo and intended to approach him. Because it will cause him another trouble, Leo ran and the girls started chasing him.

He was nearly out of breath and was also getting tired of running. He grabbed a random girl who was just also passing by. Leo held on the girl's waist, turned around and faced the girl. The ones who were chasing him didn't saw him which made Leo felt relieved. He stared the girl who saved his life from those creepy fangirls and recognized her by the eyes. Memories started to flash into his mind.

"Hyeon-ah?"

|to be continued|