xviii. Jump On, Ship On

She walked across the room, flat loafers squeaking down with every step she took on the white tiles of the room. She grasped onto the edge of the counter where the computer lay buzzing loudly despite her having put it into sleep mode just earlier, it having been too old and management too busy to replace it. She scoffed at her thoughts, thinking the excuse they gave her about being “busy” was ridiculous. The hospital was peaceful, slow. Despite everything, it remained untouched by the murmurs she had heard around town, the murmurs that talked of the second storm on the horizon.

She stretched her arms, using the counter as support. The action brought about the extension of her muscles, the release of her tension coupled with the release of the thoughts that had plagued her every night shift she had spent here, in the Springfield Hospital. She would forget them only momentarily however, as they always seemed to spring up right after she left the room after examining patient after patient after patient. It was drying her own patience, having to think about these things. But, she brought it upon herself. She brought all of it not only on herself but on another person as well.

A soft knock rapped on the door, causing her to turn and the florescent lights that shined overhead shone down on her, catching a glare off of her employee i.d. that hung securely on a purple lanyard around her neck. And the name, Song Hanbyul, seemed to sparkle for a single second, a single second before she leaned over the computer, checking the screen for who it was that had come in for a physical, for which she was to do the assessment for, this early Saturday morning. A physical that as of her knowledge, wasn’t supposed to take place for a good twenty more minutes.

And the name that flashed on the screen was one she had almost forgotten she had seen on her timesheet yesterday. She breathed a heavy sigh as she called out to him, the patient whom she saw no reason to call by such a title at all, “Come in, Jung Daeryong.”

The wooden door creaked open, revealing from behind it a face she had become well acquainted with by now. Despite him having dyed his hair the same shade of brown as his brother’s, she was still able to tell them apart. Maybe because she was older. Maybe because she wasn’t affected by them as she had been in the past.

“Long time no see, Ms. Song. You look as beautiful as always, though.” The young man, or perhaps that would not be the correct term to use, walked up to the stiff Styrofoam bed in the room and sat down onto the tissue paper that lay upon it without a second thought.

She, Song Hanbyul, Hyunjoo’s mother, crossed her arms stiffly against her chest, not moving from her place a few feet away as she looked him over from a distance. He subtly smiled all the while at the woman who was the ripe age of thirty-eight, the spitting image of his Jojo, of you. Though, to him, to Daeryong, you were definitely softer on the eyes, your jaw more round, your irises deeper as though he could fall into them if he looked too long. You, his Snow White.

Mother Snow White grabbed his attention with a sudden statement, pushing his thoughts aside, “Unless there’s a wound you’re hiding from me, I see no reason for you to receive a full physical. Which means there’s no reason for you to be here. Which means, you should leave. ”

Daeryong shook his head, kicking his legs back and forth as he completely ignored the scowl that had formed on her face, or rather in spite of her foul tone towards him, “You know you don’t mean that.”

She stood still for a moment, his words sinking in. Daeryong had read her without the least bit of trouble. It maybe have been a different cover but the straightforwardness was still there, the tell all facial expressions were still there. Hanbyul, your mother, was just as easy to read as you were.

She resigned to it, to giving him the useless assessment he had come here for as she walked wordlessly over to the sink in the room, washing her hands thoroughly. The water running and running and just like the water that spilled from the faucet, words flowed from between Daeryong’s lips. He hadn’t come here for an assessment and the last time she checked, she was not a certified therapist. Still, the weekly physicals would be scheduled. Still, he would show up to every single one he had scheduled since November.

“Everything’s a mess, you know? It keeps getting more and more complicated. Just one big knot that keeps getting tangled up more and more to the point where I can’t, where we can’t, even see where it all began anymore. We can’t even begin to undo what’s been done. But, she’s telling us to leave it be. That if it’s too hard to untangle then leave it alone. Don’t bother with it. Don’t pay attention to it. Just let it be. But, it’s already too late. We’re already tangled up in the knot ourselves.” 

She retracted her hands, using a paper towel to dry her palms before using that same paper towel to turn off the faucet handle. The water stopped flowing and along with it, so did Daeryong’s words. Words she knew the meaning of. How could she not? How could she not know of the conflict troubling him when it was the same one that troubled her?

She slipped her fingers around the stethoscope that hung from a knob on the wall, slipping the soft ear tips into her ears before holding up the metal diaphragm. “ the top of your shirt.” She spoke, her tone distant. Distant yet to his ears, comforting.

“How’s Tiffany doing?” He asked as he did as she said, undoing the first few buttons of his long sleeved checkered shirt.

“You come every weekend, you’ve seen how she’s doing.” She replied as the cold metal slipping onto his bare skin, not a single goose bump in sight.

“That question wasn’t so much for me as it was for my brother.” He laughed, causing her hand that pressed the metal to his chest to shake slightly from the tremors it sent down his body. He moved onto a different yet still related topic, as he was prone to do when he talked to her during these short sessions, “We always miss her. We’re either always too late or always too early. ”

Your mother sighed, knowing who he was talking about even before he said his next sentence. Already knowing whom he and his brother whom was his mirror image missed without him having to say his next words, his voice calling out the nickname he had created, his fondness so obvious it was slightly blinding.

“How is Jojo doing?”

She wrapped her arm around his back, ignoring the question, “Breathe in.”

He didn’t, he remained frozen sitting there, refusing to do as she asked of him until she gave in once more, another sigh escaping her.

“Breathe in.”

And this time, he did it.

“Breathe out.” She listened tentatively, hearing his heart beat strongly in his chest, a resounding pounding noise entering her eardrums. And as she knew already, he was healthy. A healthy young man. Yet, again, perhaps that wasn’t the right word to use, “I don’t see her often.” She moved the cold metal lower, repeating the words she had said earlier as though she hadn’t broken just then. As though that crack in her rough exterior in the form of his statement about seeing you wasn’t there, sealant stuffed between the two cracked edges instead, “Breathe in.”

Daeryong again didn’t do as she asked, causing her to look up, seeing her reflection in his eyes as an almost weary smile appeared on his face and from his lips now slipped a statement that couldn’t have rang truer, “Then, I guess you miss her too.”

“Screw you!”

She screamed into the air, thoroughly pissed off at this point in time. Everything was going wrong. First, she got separated from the others, something she thought she could handle but obviously could not due to the reason that follows. Second, instead of finding someone she can actually pummel with little to no difficulty, her raw instincts being her best weapon, she found these two who were chasing after her now. Thirdly, the combination of the first and second things that had gone wrong were seeking to do her in much earlier in this team training exercise than she would have liked. So then, what was her situation right now like?

Well, she, as was stated before, got separated from her group and walked around aimlessly with no real fear of anything being able to surprise her until, something did. Until, these two, Zico and P.O. sprung forth from the forest behind her. She couldn’t take on Zico alone. Sungjong and Jaehyo she could. Sungyeol and Kyung she could with a little more difficulty. But, Zico? Really? Of all people she had to run into. This was the reason she cursed into the air. Because he would be the one pummeling her into the ground without a second thought. Even though her instincts made her unpredictable, his inconsistency and adeptness in most everything made him even more so. And thus he was an even bigger pain in her .

“Why don’t you stop running now, Jiyeon?” Zico called from behind her and she could hear the hint of a laugh in his voice, making her want to fulfill a newfound desire to punch him squarely in his face.

She, Jiyeon, scoffed as she continued sprinting through the trees. She wanted to curse him to all three planes of existence but held her tongue due to the younger werewolf by his side, a subdued response leaving her lips instead, “Hell no!”

Yet, she knew he was right. She hadn’t run into a single one of her teammates yet and she was much too focused on the image of Zico’s face being dented by her fists to focus on where exactly they might have been. So, despite her clear denial of the idea of halting her stride forward, she did. She came to a stuttering stop, pivoting on her heel to face the neutral expression she wished she could have seen without having a cocky smirk belonging to a certain werewolf leader on the side.

P.O., that’s who hadn’t said a word the entire time yet. P.O., that’s whose neutral expression made her confidence swell like a balloon, the need to prove herself sprouting up within her each and every time she saw it. P.O., that’s who she was running all this time for. How so? Because if she fought and lost to him and Zico, she’d seem weak. Incapable. Undesirable.

That’s how it was in her pack; hers, B-Bomb’s, and Zico’s for a short amount of time. Losing was a disgrace, especially to a pure bred. Much like Hoya’s, something she learned about him in the time she spent with everyone in London, her pack valued strength and ability above all else. But, not once had she been in danger of being expelled from the pack. Not once was she left behind. The bond of the impure, the mutts, was so much stronger than those of the pure bred werewolves who abandon their own as they see fit.

She saw this as a strength of the impure mutts. She also saw this as a reason to harbor even more hatred for the pure breds than before. Of course, since B-bomb respected Sunggyu’s pack, she never said a word against them. She decided to wait it out and see if they would be true to her brother, if they wouldn’t simply abandon him or use him like a pawn piece. That was the reason she stuck around, for the sake of and out of love for her baby brother. And over the course of these past two months she’s known them, the pure breds were starting to earn her respect as well.

Though, of course that wasn’t the sole reason she stuck around. The other reason, the tall, young mutt that stood in front of her at this very moment, was also a big part of her decision, something she would admit without hesitance. And you were becoming a reason as well. You, whom the others were too blind to see for who you were. For what you were.

She was looking forward to it, to meeting you face to face during this training exercise. To seeing how far she would be able to push you. How far you would be willing to go to survive. But, her chances of doing such a thing were bleak now as Zico just took a step towards her, closing in on her in a not so subtle manner.

Still, she kept her stubborn façade, not moving an inch. Not backing down from what was about to ensue.

And, honestly, she was relieved when, as she stood there, she heard them approach. She was relieved when she not only felt them but heard them as well, two pairs of feet landing beside her own; one walking there and one descending from a tree above her. She was relieved but she would never admit it to their faces. She would never admit directly to Woohyun and U-kwon that she was thankful for them showing up at such a crucial time as this.

She would though, convey such an underlying message in her next words, “About damn time you two showed up!” And even though she couldn’t see it, a smile formed on P.O.’s face just then, even if just for a moment.

“Yeah, I’ll trust the guy who got his foot stuck in a flytrap. That sounds like a great idea.” Sungjong rolled his eyes, bringing up a topic that must have happened while the fourteen werewolves were all in London.

Kyung’s jaw dropped in utter disbelief, “Really, Smile Boy? Really? Was that or was that not something we were going to keep between the two of us?” He pointed between the two of them with his index finger, disliking the sudden attack on his image, “But if you want to play that game, why don’t we talk about the smiling boy that set the microwave on fire and then proceeded to waft the air with pillows to get rid of it before anyone came home? As though we wouldn’t notice.”

“You didn’t until I told you,” Sungjong half-yelled right back.

“We didn’t say anything for your own embarrassed sake. Who doesn’t notice when the couch pillows had been caked in gray ash? You’re welcome, by the way.” Kyung answered right back, escalating the childish banter that to you, could only occur between two close friends. So then, why were the two still behaving in such a manner towards each other?

Speaking of that kind of puzzling relationship, there were two others who maintained a similar bond here at the current point in time.

And the bickering between these two, Sungyeol and Jaehyo, started after a single laugh left Sungyeol’s lips in response to Sungjong’s claim about Kyung and his fly paper feet.

“What are you laughing for? As though you didn’t get stuck to it yourself after trying to help him get it off.”

The image was laughable to be sure. Kyung with a flytrap stuck to his foot and Sungyeol’s hand stuck on that same flytrap sticky paper. It wasn’t as funny though to Sungyeol who had actually experienced the situation. He pointed at Jaehyo, raking his brain for a comeback. Thinking and thinking and thinking about one of Jaehyo’s own embarrassing moments. Except, he came up with nothing. Because there were none.

“Dammit!” Sungyeol cursed, something he had picked up from being around the others for so long. He stomped his foot into the snow laden ground, throwing a fit, “You’re not as cool as you think you are!”

“I neither thought nor said I was ever cool.” Jaehyo raised his eyebrows in response, a sly smile spreading across his lips then, “What? You think I’m cool?”

Again, Sungyeol was at a loss for words, much to Jaehyo’s satisfaction.

You all had been stuck in one place like this for around half an hour now and it seemed as though Myungsoo had reached his breaking point. How did you know? Because he actually did something. That’s right, Kim Myungsoo wasn’t standing by your side anymore watching on as though completely unfazed by the situation as it were. No, he was walking towards them. Walking towards Sungjong who was nearing a calm and collected Kyung, his fists clenched tightly. And when he reached them, he stepped in between the two of them, placing a hand on Sungjong’s shoulder and giving him a gentle push to move back.

“Are you done?” He asked, his tone taking on it’s cold, detached tone that you remember from so long ago. And, you were surprised by it. It had been a while since you had heard him talk like this. “If not, then be done after throwing a few punches back and forth.” Sungjong’s fist loosened, something Myungsoo noticed and proceeded to point out, “What? You weren’t planning on hitting him?” He looked to Kyung now, his expression unfaltering, “If you don’t intend for it to come to blows, you shouldn’t be provoking each other in the first place.”

Sungjong and Kyung locked eyes, neither one saying a word as they stared at each other for a long while. Myungsoo’s last sentence had thrown the punch Sungjong wasn’t able to. They argued, but not once had they ended up hitting each other. Not once had they ended up harming the other. It was all words, nothing else.

Sungyeol and Jaehyo went silent as well, the two of them not as blinded as the former pair to not realize themselves the nature of their relationship. Their twisted, odd, unexplainable relationship.  

“Sungyeol,” Myungsoo spoke up at last and five pairs of eyes including yours looked to him, “Get into the trees and watch out for B-bomb. You’re the only one who is efficient at climbing on our team while the other team has U-kwon, B-bomb, and Hoya who can ambush us from above at any point in time. Something I’m surprised they haven’t done yet.”

Sungyeol didn’t waste a single second as he took a few steps backwards before pivoting on his heel and approaching a tall tree in front of him. He jumped up, grabbing onto a low hanging branch and swinging himself just once before he was able to flip forward and set his feet down firmly onto the branch. You had never seen him do such a thing before and stared on with wide-eyes. He saw the look you were giving him as he turned to face the group, his shoulder steadying him against the tree. He smiled then a bit, something that was nice to see after his previous conflicted expression when he, Jaehyo, Sungjong, and Kyung were inadvertently called out on their behavior by Myungsoo.

“I learned a thing or two from the monkey.” He explained and by “monkey,” you knew he was referring to U-kwon. A reference that wasn’t lost on the others as the mood lightened a bit thanks to his jest.

“Jaehyo,” Myungsoo called out again, “back him up from the ground. The two of you should look out for B-bomb further ahead.” The two locked eyes once more before setting off together, disappearing into the green and white shades of the forest.

“Sungjong, scout on ahead with Kyung.” He finished, and the two begrudgingly set off, a good few meters between the two before they soon disappeared as well.

And now, it was just you and Myungsoo who still stood here at the starting point for your team. You couldn’t help but be slightly impressed by his ability to take control of the situation. You had never seen him done it before though maybe he just never had to. He always seemed to have a sort of authority about him. A sort of “leader”-like air about him. This was probably due to his natural personality that in the face of almost anything remained temperate and controlled.

That he had been able to step in and seize control of the four werewolves without difficulty now was something you couldn’t help but admire. You hadn’t even thought about interfering at all while they argued. You were simply waiting for someone from the Blue Team to show up and force the arguments to stop, something that didn’t happen. Which meant Zico was having an interesting morning somewhere far from where you were now. Yet, Myungsoo stepped in and actually got them to set off together. If that wasn’t impressive, what was?

You had been staring openly at him as you thought these things, something he would have been too blind not to see. He turned towards you, his eyebrows narrowed downwards as from his lips flowed out a different tone from earlier. The tone he had been using with you since he had gotten back to Springfield with the others. It was pleasing to your ears to hear and admittedly, you liked it much better.

“What?”

The look on his face, that look of inquiry that coupled that one word, made you have to hold back a laugh. “Nothing.” You shook your head, “So, what do we do now?”

He raised an eyebrow at you, his hands shifting into his pockets as the light breeze batted his face, causing his fringe to go fluttering in the wind, “You do know what this whole training exercise is for right? You have thought about why we’re paired up together, haven’t you?”

You pursed your lips before nodding your head, “Yes.” Before he could say anything in response, you spoke again. “But then I chose not to think about it anymore,” you mused with a shrug of your shoulders, already knowing that the relationship between the two pairs would work itself out even if they tried to stop it from doing so.

That’s what this team exercise was for. That’s what the buddy system was for. You may have been completely clueless as to why Zico came up with such a plan on Friday afternoon but Friday night, you thought about it and you had figured it out then. It was to give Sungjong and Kyung and Sungyeol and Jaehyo a chance to work out their difficulties on their own, without the watchful eyes of anyone else. At least, you had to hope they would. The chances of it working or not though wasn’t up to you to worry about. It was in their own hands now.

And Myungsoo, your own buddy, your own buddy that you would have to thank Zico for pairing you up with later, showed you rare half scowl half smile in response to your nonchalant shrug.

You were just one step away from a laugh. You could feel it. For now though, you’d settle for just a casual smirk. After all, you still had the rest of the day left to unravel a few more mysteries that the galaxy sprinkled with stars held.

It was Woohyun and U-kwon on Zico and Jiyeon on P.O. If P.O. got out, then Zico would be left at a disadvantage. No matter how difficult he already found it to survive whilst going up against both Woohyun and U-kwon, if Jiyeon joined the two in their assault on him, he’d be a goner. He knew this, Woohyun knew this, U-kwon knew this, and P.O. knew this. This was way he had set his sights on Jiyeon, looking to eliminate her and join with Zico against Woohyun and U-kwon. If this happened, the advantage would be with the Red team once more.

So the fight that currently went on between the two star-crossed lovers, at least that’s what Jiyeon joked in her head that they were, was the deciding factor in this entire training exercise. Get rid of the powerhouse that was Zico and dealing with the rest of the Red team would be much easier.

As P.O. bared another one of her kicks, able to deflect it with his forearm with ease each and every time, Jiyeon was caring less and less about this possible chance to grab victory. Even now, as she threw a punch aimed at his stomach, he was unflinching. It wasn’t that he didn’t feel it, because he certainly did. He felt each and every one of her hits, a slight twitch in his eye every time she landed one.

And despite adoring his resilience, his stamina, his strength, she couldn’t help but feel disappointed that not once had he thrown a hit her way. Not once had he tried to get at her. All this time, he merely defended against her. Who wants to hit the man they like over and over again? Not Jiyeon, no matter how cliché that was. So, she decided to end this. She decided to put an end to this one-sided fight.

So, as he blocked another punch she had aimed at his face this time, the first time she had done so, she closed the distance between them, catching him off guard as she raised her leg and kneed in in the stomach. She used his surprise against him as she sent him toppling down, her knees straddling him on either side.

She sighed amidst the grunts she heard coming from Woohyun, U-kwon, an Zico as she stared down at him, unsatisfied with how easily this would all end, not just the fight between herself and P.O. but with Red versus Blue as she joined with Woohyun and U-kwon to take out Zico.

“I’m sorry, Jihoon.” She called his real name as she looked down at him, a few snowflakes sprinkled on his face, the feeling of his chest heaving up and down beneath her. And in the moment, it was affirmed once more why she had chosen him out of all of them. It was affirmed not as she stared down at him, the world seeming to go quiet, the training exercise just background noise. It was affirmed as before her fingers could grasp around his neck for her to fake an action that would have ended him if all of this were real, she felt his hands rise up, his fingertips sliding up her legs, sending shivers up her spine, before gripping onto her thighs and sending her under him with a single flip.

And the situation was reversed, his own heavy weight now on top of her. She stared up at him with wide eyes, shocked by the sudden offensive action on his part. He hadn't tried to attack her at all up to this point not because he didn't want to hurt her but because he knew he wasn't fast enough to land a single hit. So, he was waiting. Waiting until she was close enough for the chances of him missing to be slim to none. 

“Sorry for what?” He asked as he retracted his fist, a slight cunning smile on his face, before he sent it flying downward, pausing it in midair just before it could hit . She in a breath, a light gasp escaping . And he laughed, he laughed at her in a way that didn’t at all make her want to punch him. Quite the opposite in fact as she stared up at that crooked curve of his lips. He let his fist drop to his side, his gruff voice murmuring her name along with two other words she couldn’t make out right away, “Jiyeon, you’re out.”

And just like that, he got off of her and stood up, readjusting his clothes for a moment before running towards Zico to back him up.

And Jiyeon? Jiyeon shifted onto her side, watching his receding back as he joined the fray between Woohyun and U-kwon and Zico. And as she watched him, a wide smile adorned her face, “I’m out? I don’t mind it. Not. At. All.” 

A/N:

It's Spring Break! What else needs to be said but that? A whole week free! Excuse me while I weep tears of joy! A whole week of not having to get up early, read Shakespare, study Indian Buddhism, almost pass out in Imperial Japan class, and student-teach at a middle school! Kids are adorable, true. Kids use this to their advantage, also true. Conclusion, I'm super excited to sleep this whole break. Anyone else going to be doing the same thing?

Now, onto this chapter. This was definitely a Jiyeon/P.O. biased chapter wasn't it? I basically puked Jiyeon/P.O. fluff all over this chapter. And so, despite Jiyeon being out in the training exercise and N not being in this chapter (slightly saddening because he's just so mysterious and fun to write), the  fluff made up for it.

So then, we have an advantage for the Red team, Myungsoo and Hyunjoo alone, Sungjong/Kyung and Jaehyo/Sungyeol alone as well, and Daeryong visiting Hyunjoo's mom? What's this? What was that about? Things just get curiouser and curiouser, don't they?

For those hardcore Springfield fans, I changed Hyunjoo's mom's name to Hanbyul. For those who didn't notice (everyone maybe?), don't worry about it~ 

(sidenote: her name was mentioned in chapter 70 of Springfield)

(sidenote to the sidnote that has nothing to do with the sidnote: the title of this chapter is subliminal messaging)