Alone | NCT

Chapter 32

Rena rubbed her temples as she looked at the notes in front of her. Her friends were all busy and these days, Jaemin seemed to enjoy his alone time more than spending time with her, so she spent her weekend studying alone.

"You seem stressed." Rena looked up to see Minjee standing at the edge of the table she was at.

"Studying isn't exactly fun." Rena responded. Rena and Minjee weren't close at all so she was curious as to what the young witch wanted from her.

"I have a question." Minjee said, taking a seat.

"Shoot." Rena said, putting down her pen.

"How do I become a board member?" Minjee asked her. Rena let out a small chuckle.

"You get the highest scores on your academy exams, it's that simple." Rena answered. Minjee shook her head.

"Yeah, I know that but how exactly do I get there?" Minjee said, clarifying her question.

"You study and train hard." Rena said. "Being on the board doesn't actually mean that much. You just get a small say in some decisions the agency makes. Plus, if you stay long enough, you'll end up on the board in the end, so it really doesn't matter."

"Do you get a spot on the board because you're a demon?" Minjee suddenly asked. Rena raised an eyebrow, unimpressed by the question.

"No."

"But it helps, doesn't it?" Who does this girl think she is? Rena thought to herself.

"Rena gets her spot from working hard. There's no cheating the system, Minjee." Rena looked up to see Renjun and Haechan. Renjun had his arms crossed, staring at the girl.

"If you want to be a board member, you should probably do other things instead of bothering Rena." Haechan added.

Minjee let out a deep sigh before getting out of her seat.

"Thanks." Minjee said, tucking her seat in. Rena watched as Minjee purposedly bumped into Renjun's shoulder as she walked away, making Renjun clench his teeth. Rena could tell that it took everything in him to not lash out at the girl.

"Done reading for the day?" Rena asked the two boys, hoping to take Renjun's mind off of Minjee.

"No, but we thought you would want to join us for lunch." Haechan told her. Rena didn't hesistate to pack her things. She noticed Renjun looking around.

"Where's Jaemin?" Renjun asked her. Rena let out a deep sigh.

"In his room." Rena told them. "That's the only place he seems to be these days."

"Weird." Renjun mumbled to himself as the three of them made their way out of the study area of the female dorms.

...

Chanwoo had led the pack to a herd of caribou. Jeno had stopped, letting Jiwoo get off before making his way to the front of the pack, beside Jinsol. Jiwoo simply stared as the werewolves worked on their strategy.

As the wolves gathered around, Jiwoo noticed that the caribou weren't like the regular ones in the human world. These ones had pitch black eyes and a different aura around them. Judging by the way they ran and leaped, they were probably much stronger as well.

Jiwoo watched as Chanwoo seemed to be the wolves orders before making an attack. The wolves ran forward, targetting one of the caribou that were falling behind. That's when Jiwoo noticed one of the wolves separting from the group to attack another caribou, a familiar one. Jeno.

Jeno seemed confident in his movements, but Chanwoo and the Alpha had turned to face him while the rest of the wolves focused on their original prey. As Jiwoo watched Jeno, she noticed why. Jeno was targetting the leader of the caribou herd.

The leader of the herd quickly noticed Jeno from the corner of its eye and was about the knock Jeno out with it's antlers while Jeno was preparing to pounce. Knowing that Chanwoo and the Alpha were too far away, Jiwoo took matters in her own hands.

Jiwoo entered her faerie door, opening another one right in front of Jeno just as he pounced forward, straight into her open door. She reopened another one where the pack was, making Jeno fall out in his human form with a thud.

"Jiwoo, what the heck!" Jeno yelled as the caribou herd ran away, leaving their fallen member behind. The other wolves were already feasting on the caribou when Chanwoo, Jinsol, and the Alpha approached them.

"I should be asking you that." The Alpha said, staring at his son. He didn't look to impressed.

"You idiot, Jiwoo saved your life." Jinsol said, arms crossed.

"I could have taken down that one by myself." Jeno mumbled but his father shook his head.

"No you wouldn't have. We all know that these caribou are much more powerful than they look on the outside, which is why we always hunt in packs. What you did out there was not an act of bravery but a foolish one." The Alpha scolded him. Jeno simply looked down at his feet not wanted to look at any of them.

"Thank you for saving my son, Jiwoo and Chanwoo, good job with the hunt today." The Alpha said. Jiwoo watched as Jinsol excited linked arms with her mate, bright smiles on their faces.

"You on the other hand, you can eat last. That's your punishment for your actions today." The Alpha said to Jeno before walking away with Chanwoo and Jinsol.

Once they were far enough away, Jiwoo put her hands on her hips, staring at Jeno.

"Are you going to scold me too?" Jeno asked in an irritated tone. Jiwoo exhaled deeply before shaking her head.

"No Jeno, I'm not." Jiwoo told him. As Jeno looked up at her, Jiwoo see how hurt he was from his eyes. He quickly looked away, biting his lip.

"My father's right, that was pretty foolish of me, wasn't it?" Jeno said, hand behind his neck.

"Yeah, it was. But I know why you did it." Jiwoo said, reaching out to give his arm a squeeze.

"Really now?" Jeno asked, raising an eyebrow. Jiwoo nodded.

"Yes Jeno. I know exactly how it feels to be in the shadow of your older sibling who's the heir to the kingdom. I know how it feels to want to impress your parents, to be show them that you're not just second place. And lastly, I know how it feels to think that no one else will ever feel the same way that you do." Jiwoo said, stepping close to Jeno.

As Jeno looked up at her, Jiwoo realized that their faces were inches away from each other. Jiwoo could feel Jeno's breath hot on her face as he exhaled. Her hand was still tightly gripping his arm, feeling the subtle flex of his biceps. She watched as Jeno's gaze dropped from her eyes, slowly leaning forward.

"Jeno, you can eat now." Jinsol said from behind Jeno, breaking their trance. Jiwoo immediately stepped back, hiding the blush that had began to appear on her face. Jeno changed into his wolf form, slowly making his way to what remained of the caribou.

"Hey." Jinsol said, catching Jiwoo's attention. "Do you have a thing for my brother?"

Jiwoo's eyes widened from the quesiton, not knowing how to answer. A chuckle escaped Jinsol's lips.

"It's okay if you do, he's not in line to be the Alpha so it's fine. I just wanted to tell you that Jeno's pretty cold on the outside but deep down, he's a complete softie." Jinsol told her.

Jiwoo shifted her weight between her feet, not exactly knowing how to respond. She looked up as she felt Jinsol's hand on her shoulder.

"He's also stubborn, so just bear with him. He cares deep down, he just has a bad way of showing it." Before Jiwoo could respond, Chanwoo came over, wrapping an arm around Jinsol.

"So, how was I?" Chanwoo asked her.

"You were amazing." Jinsol said before giving him a peck. Jiwoo looked away from the couple, focusing on the lone wolf picking at the bones of the caribou instead.

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:)

What? Another double update? WOW (ft jaemin)