Ashes | JENO

Chapter 6

"I don't get it." Soojung said as she stared at the frog opened up in front of her and Jaemin, the animal being a sacrafice for their knowledge as the subject of their dissection.

"Don't get what?" Jaemin said as he poked the animal with his probe, locating the different organs on the diagram in front of him.

During the multiple hours the two had spent together, Soojung had gotten to know how Jaemin really was.

Somehow, this male who had a wide grin as he spoke to the patients at the hospital, gently patting the heads of children and stiching wounds together without a single complaint was also a member of the most dangerous gang in Neo City, not to mention their leader's younger brother's best friend.

"How are you a member of the Phoenixes?" Soojung asked, cutting open the stomach. "Ew, a fly."

Jaemin giggled at her reaction before writing down their discovery. "It's because of Jeno actually."

"Jeno?" Soojung exclaimed, surprised. This earned her a few looks from her classmates, only making Jaemin's grin grow.

"Yeah, we were really close friends and he protected me from the bullies at school." Jaemin told her. "So that's why I joined the gang."

"That doesn't sound like a good reason." Soojung said as she put her probe down, exchanging them for the forceps.

"Jeno and I are a lot closer than friends are." Jaemin continued. "We're more like brothers if anything, he cares about me like family."

Soojung couldn't help but scoff at Jaemin's words, making the male stop working on their dissection. "What?"

"Jeno? Caring? I never thought someone would describe him like that." Soojung said with a chuckle but Jaemin clearly didn't find her words funny.

"That's because you don't mean anything to him." Jaemin said bluntly.

"Huh?" Soojung said, confused.

"Jeno doesn't waste his time with people that don't matter to him, that's why you don't know. But if you're someone he really cares about, then you'll know that he'll bend over backwards and even risk his life for you. I can't even name the number of bullet wounds he's suffered just to make sure one of us didn't take them." Jaemin said, giving her a look before continued. "But you wouldn't know."

"Oh." Soojung said, not knowing what to say to all that.

It was clear that Jaemin's mood was ruined as they silently finished the dissection before exiting the lab.

At this point, Soojung wasn't even surprised to see Jeno standing outside but she was surprised when Jaemin walked right past him.

This only made Jeno, who Soojung thought would stop glaring at her, whip his head right towards her and the face he wore was not one that one would want anyone giving to them.

"What the heck did you do to him?" Jeno asked, approaching her.

Soojung began backing up, feeling the wind being knocked out of her lungs just by Jeno's presence until she couldn't go any futher, feeling the wall hit her back.

"Nothing." Soojung somehow was able to squeak out but that clearly wasn't enough for the male.

Soojung saw Jeno's hands balling into fists right as Jeno's face was inches away from hers and closed her eyes, bracing for the impact.

"What are you doing?"

Soojung opened her eyes to see Jeno stepped back, revealing the famous Phoenix couple behind them.