∞ Chap 13: LIFE SAVER ∞

So who was her life saver?

Lina opened the door, revealing Jeno sitting on the floor at the corner of the room with his legs crossed. He, once again, paid all his attention to his novelistic world. His narrowed eyes and wrinkled forehead oozed a calming vibe as if nothing had happened. With a monotonous attitude, Lina approached Jeno, receiving no slightest reaction from the boy.

“I thought a dancer like you would be more active,” she sneered at the unamusing sight, landing on the chair beside him.

She received no reply. Awkwardness filled up the atmosphere. Lina furrowed her eyebrows while waving her hands in front of him, trying to get his attention.

“Hello! Are you even listening?”

Lina gave up when Jeno’s expression remained the same. She attempted to ease down the dead air that surrounds them.

“Even if you shut your mouth, I’ll keep talking,” Lina stated. She was getting a little frustrated at Jeno’s behavior when a tiny light bulb popped out from her head. “You know what? Let me tell you a story so that maybe you’ll be less boring.”

Lina put the fingers on her chin and hummed, recalling her memories. She dug through her collection of stories from her fascinating life, but it seemed like her brain could not come up with anything. While she looked for ideas, a soft voice distracted her.

“I bet you can’t remember anything cause you have a short-term memory,” he . Lina faced him; eyes squinting. What could she expect from this boy? He did not converse much with her. She always started a friendly conversation. But when he opened his mouth, he would always make fun of her. Not to mention, his eyes fixated on his book with zero emotion on his face. His poker face drove her crazy.

“I regretted talking with you,” Lina leaned back and rested her head on the backrest of the chair; her fingers interlocked and she positioned them on her stomach. She closed her eyes to relax after all the frantic events. Lina couldn’t help but giggle at the earlier scenes: Mark’s cute gasping face, the ‘confession’, Haechan’s attention-grabbing speech, and his reaction after knowing the truth.

Nonetheless, the tranquility made her feel unpleasant. Lina needed to get rid of the silent air.

“Do you know when the trainer will come?” Lina asked, despite doubts that he would even hear her question.

Nothing came out. Lina sent Jeno an uncomfortable gaze.

“Hello? Are you deaf? Why won’t you answer my question? Just a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ will do you know,” she scoffed, her voice getting louder with every word she said. After seconds of silence, her stares succeeded in separating the boy’s attention. Jeno glanced at her before putting his book away. Lina immediately regretted her action after seeing his dull eyes.

Jeno put his elbow on the table, his chin in his hand and replied with a low flat tone, “I did answer you! I shook my head.”

Lina slouched against the chair. Jeno looked at the lying body, whose jaws clenched, cheeks flushed rosy and arms folded in front of her chest. The corner of his lips curled at the sight of the girl.

“Cute…”

Lina titled her head, barely hearing his reply. She swore she would beat him to death if he was just teasing her again. Wrinkling her eyebrows, she asked, “What did you just say?”

Jeno internally jumped out of his skin, he quickly darted his eyes. He calmed himself down and wore his intimidating face and irritating smirk.

“Why aren’t you mute?”

With a deep breath, Lina exploded. That’s it. He did not greet her when she entered the room, he ignored her existence, and he kept on annoying her. She felt as if all the anger she accumulated all those years created a monster that was about to erupt like a dormant volcano. All because of a boy named Lee Jeno. And the only thing that can calm her down is violence.

“Urghh Lee Jeno,” she groaned while showing her white knuckles; a grimace appeared on her face. “You’re dead!” Lina grabbed some pillows on the chair and hit his arm frantically whilst making Bruce-Lee sound effects.

“Yah! Stop right now!” Jeno swiftly held her wrist. Lina struggled to break free from his tight hold. Jeno withdrew his hand as soon as he noticed her actions. She stepped back a few steps, massaging her wrists.

“Are you crazy? You’ll hurt yourself!” he raised his voice. However, Lina saw it as a caring gesture. Her brother usually scolded her like this when she intended to do something risky. Did Jeno just… do the thing that she thought he would?

“Oh my god!” Lina covered her wide grin. “Did you just …uh… care for me? Wow, that was surprising! Thank you! See, I know that you’re really kind!” her eyes curved into thin lines.

Jeno shook with laughter. He folded his arms with a smirk on his face.

“I didn’t finish my sentence yet,” he said and Lina threw him a glare as a warning. He knew what that look meant, so he continued with a confident smile. “You’ll hurt yourself and if you do, you won’t have enough energy to speak and I’ll finally live in peace. Thank god!”

As Jeno expected, Lina needed some time to interpret the sarcasm. She was left baffled, her eyes wide opened. Then it hit her. She shot him an irritated look before stretching her neck and cracking her fingers. She stood up and quickly grabbed a pillow so that she could smack the smug out of his face.

“Wait!” Lina stopped midway at his sudden order.

“What now?” she put her hands on her hips. His eyes darted to the door and she followed his gaze. Soon after, the trainer went into the room, smiling.

“Hello, kids. Let’s get practice! Today’s moves are really difficult so prepare yourselves!”

Lina hid the pillow behind her back and a small chuckled escaped Jeno’s mouth. Just when she was about to move, he came nearer and whispered in a breathy voice, “While you were blabbering, I tried to find solutions to your stupid request!”

Before Lina could respond to what Jeno said, the boy had already gotten into his position. Lina stared intently at the ceiling, as if the words she was looking for were, somehow, written there. When the realization hit her, formed an O. Even with his tight schedule and lessons for the upcoming performance, Jeno still remembered and made some time to help her create the potion. Lina hurriedly got to her position, waving at him to gain attention. Jeno furrowed his eyebrows.

“Thanks!” she signaled. Jeno looked away, not showing amusement.

*

Lina let out a yelp when she hit the ground for the nth time of the day. She felt a burning sensation in her shaking legs and sore ankles. She had to master a complicated ballet move: the Fouetté. Where she had to do a full spin with one leg on her tippy toes whilst her other leg keep moving from extending to the front then to the sides. She just could not get a hold of it in an hour, unlike Jeno who could learn it in fifteen minutes. The world around her was whirling like a roller-coaster.

“Stand up and do it again! This move is one of the performance’s spotlights!” the trainer raised his voice, sending her a piercing look. He grew impatient after seeing her multiple failures. She sincerely had no intention to waste their time and she tried her best.

Despite her aching feet, she attempted to stand up and did the moves again. Another spinning led to another unwanted fall and another shout from the trainer. She brushed off her throbbing legs and kept redoing the part. Lina glanced at Jeno who was practicing with the poker face, not minding his surroundings.

“I’ll leave you guys here and be back soon. You,” he looked at Lina and the girl’s body abruptly tensed up. “Keep practicing. Forget about your pain and try as hard as you can. You should at least not fall for today’s lesson. Jeno,” he changed his gaze into a more gentle and comfortable one to Jeno. “Keep it up!”

The trainer went out, leaving a heavy atmosphere in the room. She really needed to say something just to express her pain right now. She sagged down on the floor and exhaled audibly right after he exited. Between her heavy breaths, she managed to murmur some words.

“It was so…”

“Why are you sitting down?”

She glanced at Jeno, who was crinkling his forehead and staring at her figure with a frown. His tone still sounded low as usual, but it felt more hurried and frustrating.

“Uhm… I…”

“You should stand up and continue your practice. Sitting here and complaining is such a waste of time. Lik