didn't know you were cold ('til you felt my fire) // JENLISA AU

Chapter 6

Jennie stared at her reflection in her locker mirror, nervously adjusting at her loose hair framing either side of her face. The rest was tied up in a tight high ponytail, effectively hiding the missing chunk so no one could tell she'd been the victim of an errant cut.

She'd tried a few different styles obsessively that morning to hide the gap, but kept coming back to the one Lisa had adjusted her hair into for her, loose strands at the side. Nothing else seemed to fit her, or felt off. She wasn't sure why. Maybe she was just so used to wearing her hair down that the small sections left were a familiar comfort.

Yeah, that must be it.

She furrowed her brows at herself in the reflection, lightly touching under her eyes where the barest hint of red puffiness from her frustrated crying that morning still lingered. Pressing uselessly at the skin, she sighed and pulled her lunch bag out along with her books for the afternoon and closed the locker door. She headed down the hall, avoiding any gazes from her peers, as if they could tell her hair had been embarrassingly destroyed.

She arrived at the open door to the metal/auto class and knocked loudly on the doorframe, three staccato knocks. She leaned delicately against the frame, waiting for a reply.

The auto teacher, Mr Seunghyun Choi, looked up from her magazine and waved.

"Well hey, Jennie." He smiled. "What's the occasion?"

"Free for lunch?" She asked, holding up her bag and giving it a little shake. Auto was right after lunch period today anyway, so it seemed easier to just hang out here for her meal to skip the travel time. Not to mention she desperately could use a venting companion.

She'd known Seunghyun since she was a child due to their parents knowing each other, and he was very much like an older brother to her; she often minded her when both her parents were busy working and both of them being only children, they appreciated the family-like bond. They had both also bonded over their mutual love for cars and mechanics, keeping their friendship intact even once Jennie was old enough to spend time by herself home alone.

Although Seunghyun had originally gone to university for engineering after graduation he had applied for the auto shop class job on a whim (and a slight push from Jennie) and found he actually really liked teaching.

Having Seunghyun as her shop teacher was extremely helpful for Jennie, it turned out. Not only did he help keep her current project a secret from her parents but he was an excellent source of advice when she needed a friend.

His eyes wrinkled at Jennie's question. "What's wrong?" He asked with a light chuckle, as he waved her in.

"Obviously, something has to be wrong for me to visit you." Jennie teased as she walked in. Seunghyun made a mock hurt expression, a hand over his heart, before he burst into a laugh.

"So what'd your mom do this time?" He asked as he settled back at his desk, folding his arms behind his head casually. Jennie huffed a small laugh and shook her head. She grabbed a seat at her usual work bench, dropping her books and lunch bag on the table before slouching into the seat with a sigh.

"It's not my mother this time. I'm tutoring Ella's sister." Voice dejected, she began to unpack her lunch. She placed the packed containers on the grease-stained wood, opening the largest, staring at it with little appetite.

Seunghyun gave a little cough of surprise, looking over at her from across her desk, amusement all over his face. "You mean The Livid Lisa?" He let out a snicker. "And how's that going?"

"Terribly," she mumbled, poking at her salad with her fork. "She mutilated my hair."

"She what?" Seunghyun's smile instantly dropped, blinking at her in shock. Jennie ran a hand over her ponytail with a sigh and began to tell Seunghyun about Ella approaching her about the tutoring and Lisa needing it for graduation. She carefully brought up Ella 'suggesting' Jennie help Lisa out with some social/appearance improvements as well, but left out the ulterior motives and Ella's compensation. Seunghyun made a couple of bemused expressions but otherwise didn't interrupt as Jennie spoke.