pacemaker [p. jisung]

이십육; 𝙩𝙬𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙮 𝙨𝙞𝙭

the bell rang, indicating that school was over. students rushed out of the classroom, flooding the hallways with a bunch of homo sapiens. screams were heard all over the place, making some annoyed as the routine has been going on forever. 

jeonhae trailed behind jisung while keeping a distance between herself and him. sensing that someone was trailing behind him, jisung abruptly stopped, making jeonhae's head collide towards his muscular back. 

just as jisung suspected, the girl he liked was following his tracks. unable to keep his curiosity any longer, he began questioning the young agent. "why are you following me? this is unlike you, ryu jeonhae."

shit, i'm caught. oh fuck, what i do say? i can't let him know too soon—

"just spill it, ryu. i don't like people who beat around the bush."

after much contemplating, she decided not to tell him yet. "you know, mr. park, some things are better left unknown. so for the meantime, i suggest that you zip your mouth shut."

the older boy scoffed, "and if i don't? i don't get what's so confidential that you have to keep it away from me while following me as if your main objective is to keep me safe."

her breath hitched, heart beating erratically against her ribcage. no, he can't find out about it now, he just can't. thinking of a defense, she blurted out the random words from her mind. "why would i defend someone like you? what am i? some sort of agent that's supposed to ensure the citizen's safety?" ok, jeonhae. that was too much, you need to stop.

"then why are you following me? do you perphaps," he inched closer to her face, aware that his ears were burning, but he still proceeded with his bold move, "like me?" he smirked as if it was nothing, while his mind and heart were contrast to his actions.

shit, he's too close to me. why am i so nervous? is this what they mean by liking someone? ryu jeonhae, now's not the time to like someone–

her thoughts were cut off abruptly when she pushed jisung out of her face and scoffed, "w-why would i like someone like you? the closest we'll ever be is as best friends, if that's even possible with a personality like yours."

her words unknowingly felt like a stab for him in the heart. i guess she just doesn't see me that way, who am i to think and get my hopes up?

meanwhile, the girl was surprised she didn't stutter much. not so long after, as she saw jisung's stoic expression, guilt seeped through. "jisung, i-i didn't mean what i said—" 

"whatever." he walked off, leaving the girl regretting her actions already. she didn't feel good about what she just did, especially when she's supposed to be protecting him, not hurting him in the process. oh God, what have i done? how should i fix this?

she flapped her hands around while thinking, making herself look like a madman but that wasn't the problem to mind right now. sighing after many minutes, she walked over to the bus station and rode to the cafe she worked at.

minutes and more minutes passed and soon she arrived at her destination. jeonhae enter the cafe, greeted by baekhyun and moonbin in the locker room. she changed into her appropriate attire before putting on the apron and starting her job at the counter, taking customer's orders.

as usual, she was doing a great job at her work. despite her mind being clouded with thoughts regarding her recent encounter with jisung, jeonhae still managed to pull off her job. time continued to tick, seconds slowly turned to minutes and those minutes turned to hours.

finally, it was time for jeonhae to finish up her work. the next worker was already there for her shift a few minutes early and smiled at jeonhae when she was about to exit the cafe. the young one distracted herself, scrolling through social media every once in a while. 

she saw a familiar car in front of her, immediately recognizing that it belonged to taeyong. the girl opened the door and hopped in the car, closing the door afterwards. still thinking about what happened earlier at school, jeonhae can't help but sigh over the situation.

noticing her distress, youngheum asked his younger sister in worry. "hey, jeonie. is everything alright? did something happen?"

"uhh well i umm.."

"it's ok, jeonhae. take your time, you don't have to tell use if you don't want to. we're not forcing you if it makes you uncomfortable, we'll understand."

"no, it's about the mission."

"well, what about it? did you tell the boy yet?"

"i don't think he's ready to find out just yet, the timing isn't right. he just visited his mother's grave yesterday. hearing news about his father fleeing around the city won't do any good to his grief, it'll just add fuel to the fire." 

"not to mention, i was supervising him this afternoon but i was caught, so i tried thinking of an excuse but as you can guess, it didn't go so well. i already told him that it was best that i keep the information first and that i'll tell him when he's ready, but he kept on trying. i guess he will never quit, will he?"

the two brothers listened carefully as the youngest of three explained her concerns, completely from the beginning up till the very end. that's when an idea popped in taeyong's head, "do you care about him?"

"yeah, of course i do. he's innocent and there are criminals planning to—"

"no, jeonhae. i mean, if it wasn't for the mission, would you still take care of him? would you look from afar and make sure he's safe?"

"uhh no?" her response came out more as a question. taeyong could only chuckle at his sister's confusion, ahh, young love, i guess.

their next stop was already in sight. taeyong parked his car while youngheum and jeonhae entered the gym. they were greeted by their usual trainers, jaehyun and winwin. the two smiled at their regulars before preparing the equipment they'll need.

the girl's eyes wandered off around the gym until it landed on a strangely familiar figure. he wore a plain, black sleeveless top and training pants with with stripes down the sides. his physique stood tall and muscular, veins popping from his arms and neck while sweat coated his body.

who would've known that the two would meet again at a gym? only God knows.

[a/n: school's starting today so welcome back my unusual updating schedule rip ;-; i mean, there were never any normal updates, right?]

~ 𝗺𝗷🧸✨

published on 12/1/2021