Jealousy | Wen Junhui [EDITING]

Chapter 20

"Wonwoo..." the note began

I squinted my eyes to read the small note clearly in the dark.

"Her hair smells like vanilla! It's different from her usual hair scent, but it smells good," I murmured, letting out a short laugh.

I chuckled as I shook my head.

What a dork

I flipped the note around. Handwriting alien from Jun's appeared; it looked as if it had been scrawled in less than 5 seconds.

"(-_-) rlly hyung? rlly. U sent me a note bout her hair"

I was about to sniff my hair when a deep voice echoed through the classroom. I turned around in shock, hoping it wasn't Jun.

"What are doing?" the male asked.

I shuddered as the towering, silhouetted figure edged closer to me from the door, only to realize that the dark figure belonged to Seungcheol. He eyed the pen and note I held, darted his dark eyes towards the desk I stood next to, then back at me.

"Were you looking through Jun's desk?" he more deadpanned than asked. His eyes showed a mix of skepticism and hurt.

"No- I mean yes," I corrected, "I thought he had my pen."

"Oh..." was all he said.

He jutted out his chin, pointing it at the note I held.

"And the note?"

"It's nothing, I just found it. I shouldn't have."

"Ah," he breathed.

He looked down at his shoes, creating an awkward silence.

"Hey, I gotta get going. I think I left my pencil case in the art room upstairs," I informed, breaking the silence.

"Alright, do you want me to go with you?" Seungcheol offered.

"It's fine, I can do it," I replied, giving him a reassuring smile.

Seungcheol returned the smile, his expression completely different from what was before. He ruffled my hair, earning him a slight frown and a tongue pop from me.

"I'll save you a seat, yeah?" he said, still smiling.

"Thanks, dude," I thanked.

I exited the classroom, internally scolding myself.

Control your feelings, Tori, you have Seuncheol. Jun is just a friend.

Seungcheol and I were friends at that time, but we undoubtedly had feelings for each other that were more than just 'as friends.' Seungcheol seemed to have more feelings for me than I had for him. Winter, Ash, and Jenny were quite in shock when I told them about my feelings for him. They thought that D.K was the one who held my feelings of infatuation in his clutches.

I ran up the marble staircase until it led me to the deserted art room. I noticed that their was a strange aroma in the classroom - completely alien from the usual smell of paints and oil pastels. I inhaled a whiff of the strange, new aroma; it smelled like something was burning.

Is something on fire?

No, can't be. If something was, the alarm would ring.

I quickly brushed away the thought and continued the search for my pencil case. I finally spotted a blue, square pencil case. Just as I was about to take my pencil case, I heard faint screams and shouts. Focussing on my surroundings, the strange smell became stronger. I also noticed smoke creeping around the corners of the room.

Heaven forbid, please

I coughed and covered my mouth and nose to shield it from the throat-constricting smoke. Abandoning my pencil case, I sped to and down the stairs, ducking my head as low as possible.

I heard the screams getting louder and louder. The carbon dioxide, too, grew thicker and thicker. I choked and stumbled on the stairs. It was becoming harder for me to breathe; The smoke all around wrapped itself around me, nearly suffocating me. Despite my body growing weak, I knew I had to get myself to safety.

Blazing orange could be seen all around though meters away. Small to medium sized flames encircled me - as if performing a ritual - trying to trap me. Dense clouds of carbon dioxide crawled into my respiratory system, and covered my eyes like a blindfold. The heat. It was almost unbearable; attacking and biting me on my bear skin, leaving stinging marks. It, the fire, wanted to consume me alive.

"Somebody help, please!" I screamed, voice-cracking. My throat felt as if it was being ripped apart.

Squinting through the dense smoke, I could spot an open classroom, that seemed to be pretty safe. I pushed the pain aside and sprinted my way to the room, before I felt the heat becoming more excruciating. Thankfully I wasn't on fire, but a different classroom meters away was. I shrieked as the burning sensation intensified. Although I almost collapsed on the hot floor, I sprinted to the safe-ish classroom.

When I got there, I collapsed unto the nearest corner. I was too weak to move farther away. I could only call out for help in a soft, helpless tone. I was about to close my eyes and let the fire eat me up. I was ready to go down with the building.