The Rose

Chapter 4: Fall, fell, fallen

I whirled around, coming face to face with Jungkook. His shirt was unbuttoned, and the fabric, damp with sweat, clung to his skin. Reds and oranges and blues and greens dusted his skin, from the light above.

'Oh, hello.' I gazed upon Jungkook and attempted a smile. 'I didn't mean to intrude. I'm lost. I was here to find this book.' I held out the crumpled scrap of paper the librarian handed me.

Jungkook took it with his calloused hands. Lowering his head, his long eyelashes, dark as soot, feathered against his cheeks. Lifting his brown eyes to mine, he sighed, 'You've gone the wrong direction. I'll show you the way.' He turned and strode into the library aisle, and I went after him.

'Thank you,' I murmured gratefully. Unsure if he'd heard me. His longs strides were hard to keep up with; I had to make three steps for every two of his.

We walked in silence. He's clenching his fists, and his shoulders are tight. And I'm still holding his blazer, I thought to myself.

After a few stifling minutes, I couldn't stand the awkwardness anymore. 'Thank you for showing me the way,' I started, this time loud enough for him to hear me. 'Forgive me for being nosy, but the way you spar is exceptional. How do you move so fast? You remind me of the Emperor's men.'

Jungkook halted in his tracks and swivelled around. Incredulous, 'Do you......train? What do you know?' Narrowing his eyes, he studied me coldly.

'I do. Did you not want anyone to know that you were trained by the Kadura?' His furrowed brow confirmed my suspicions. 'I won't tell anyone. My lips are sealed,' I added.

He exhaled heavily and his shoulders dropped, resigned. 'My swordsmaster is a Kadura.' Gravely, 'He taught me how to integrate sorcery into my swordsmanship. Air magic reduces air resistance and increases the force behind movements. Hence the movements would flow better.' He raised his right hand and slashed it to his left, and true enough, I could feel a mild tingling over my skin, from the stirring of air currents.

'That's interesting.' I levelled my tone of voice, trying to keep my excitement concealed. I had heard of master swordsmen doing that in the past, but the technique was a really well-kept secret of the trade. And a very valuable one at that. 'I used to take swordsfighting lessons, but I stopped a few years ago when I began to focus on sorcery. I never knew they could be integrated like that.' I wavered for a second before meeting his eyes. 'Could you,' I gave him a little smile, 'teach me how that works?'

Jungkook seem baffled for a second, but he recovered his cool soon enough. He shrugged, and to my surprise, coolly replied, 'Sure.'

'Really? Thank you, Jungkook!' I had no idea what favor he would ask in return, but this opportunity was too precious to let up. I'll worry about that later.

He had already turned and strode away. We passed a few more rows of bookshelves, and he disappeared into row 51, which was what the librarian wrote for me. I had to suppress a cry of joy. Finally!

Jungkook patiently stood at one side as I scanned the columns of dusty, dull, and painfully thick books. On the top shelf, there stood 'Sorcery on Small Colonies', its title embossed in gold into the faded green spine. It was bulky, as thick as a generous slice of carrot cake (my favorite). I am craving carrot cake, not gonna lie. 'There!' I pointed. I tried to reach for it with my hands, but unfortunately, it was too high and out of my reach. I was jumping up and down, trying to grab at it and make it budge.

'Let me.' Jungkook murmured, halting my antics. His hand stretched upwards, so much longer than mine, that I almost went green with envy. With ease, he tugged at the book, pulling it free.

And dust came spilling down on both of us. Some went into my nose and my gaping mouth, making me sneeze and cough, and so was Jungkook. He sneezed five times in a row! I almost laughed, but my eyes stung from the debris.

Just in time, I raised my head and saw the cursed book pummeling down the shelf; also just in time, I whispered, 'Léviter.' But turns out Jungkook also saw the hazardous book and decided to pull me, ingeniously, to his side. Caught off guard, I tripped on his feet and knocked him down.

That was how we ended up in a pile on the ground. My left cheek was splayed against his chest, and I could hear his heart thumping wildly. I think mine is, too. My legs were tangled with his. My skirt might had flipped upwards to reveal my gorgeous bum, but modesty was the furthest thing from my mind. He's so warm. And also cozy, that I wanted to snuggle against him, in this position, and take a really long nap.

But before I could do that, Jungkook cleared his throat and said, drily, 'Your elbow is kneading me in the stomach.' I snapped out of it and scrambled to get up.

'Sorry,' I said sheepishly.

Jungkook waved his hand dismissively and placidly replied, 'It's okay. Don't forget your book though.'

I gazed up and saw the green bulky floating mid-air, from the spell I casted before our fall. Holding out my hands just beneath it, and it fell into my palms with a heavy thud.

Hit with the sudden revelation, 'Wait, how come Sorcery isn't blocked in the library? I thought the Academy bans its us in the whole Academy.'

'That's true, but there are some spots where the blocking magic don't really work. The Circle is one of those. The lack of blocking extends to here, so you were able to cast the spell.'

'Wow.'

Jungkook bent down to pick up his blazer and dusted it. I must had dropped it during the fall. Not now, I thought to myself, as I felt my cheeks threatening to blaze if my mind goes further.

Fortunately, Jungkook intercepted my train of thought. 'You really want me to teach you the Kadura technique? Meet me at the Circle on tomorrow after school. I won't go easy on you,' he warned, and I smiled.

'I'll be fine. Thanks again.'

'You can easily find your way out from here. And another thing.' He paused and we made eye contact. 'I guess we could say that you fell for me just now.' He had a slightly amused expression. Tilting his head, he regarded me with his inscrutable brown eyes for a moment, and turned to leave.

'What?' I sputtered, completely lost. Is he flirting? Or is he just making fun of me?

He strode away, raising his right hand in farewell. But, to my absolute delight, his ears were bright red.

I couldn't help but call after him. 'Well, to be fair, you fell too, so the falling part should be mutual!'

No reply. Cracking a smile, I shook my head and made my way out. I did find the way this time.

Hello! Thank you for reading till this far. Tell me what do you think! Are you ship Jeonghan (crown prince) or Jungkook (the library guy) so far? Hahahaha. A girl got to have her ships.

Please vote and follow and comment, if you'd be happy to. I'd really appreciate it!