Jinhye's POV

It has been about 3 weeks since the week after I discovered what are my elements. I genuinely believed that I could control my powers and use them to protect myself, but that was to no avail. They decided to pause my training after the 2nd week as they wanted some time to figure out how to bring out my powers. Although both Shownu and Changkyun had reassured me that everything was fine, I knew that I was behaving anomally. Beginners usually only took a maximum of one week to weld their energy in their attacks, but I showed zero progress for 2 weeks. It was undeniably frustrating. The subtle anger and disappointment on Min's face that only I detected was intimidating. I felt so lousy about myself that I could not bring myself to face Changkyun. I even have to lie to Hyemi about the reason behind my feelings as I dare not tell her for fear of putting her in some sort of danger. The lame excuse that I was forlorn over Seungcheol was ridiculous and she knew that. But thankfully,  she decided not to pester me as she knew that I would tell her if I wanted to. Her presence was comforting to me, giving me a sense of normalcy. Today, however, she was sick and had not come to school. Changkyun was also missing for some reason, simply texting me "Not coming today. ". Without Hyemi and Changkyun even though I had been avoiding spending time alone with the latter, I felt even worst. 

I made my way to the cafeteria and looked around for an empty seat. To my disappointment, there was none. Even my brother was not at the cafeteria. I contemplated taking away my food and going to the track to eat when someone tapped me lightly on my shoulders. I turned to see the bright smiling face of Mingyu, one of Seungcheol's friend. This was the first time I am seeing him alone. 

THIRD POV

"Are you looking for a seat? You can join me if you want!" Mingyu asked.

"Uh, it's okay. I'll just find some place else." Jinhye replied hesitantly. She did not really want to face Seungcheol right now after the last time. He and his friends were all supportive of her but she did not want to ruin their reputation. Jinhye's own reputation was still in a fix as Yoo Min was never going to let the matter die.

"Don't worry. It's just me today, the rest of them are having classes and activities right now. I'll like it if there's someone to eat with me. It's less lonely." Mingyu cheerfully replied. He had noticed Jinhye's troubled expression for the past week, but did not think it appropriate to ask her about it. After all, they never really had a proper conversation before. Seungcheol had noticed it too and encouraged Mingyu to show concern. Mingyu wanted to scream at his friend for his ignorance. It was so obvious to him that Jinhye had something for Seungcheol. He was just a nobody, and things would be so weird if he had approached her without reason. However, the opportunity had come. Mingyu was eating alone today and he was surprised to see Jinhye standing alone at the center of the cafeteria. 

At his words, Jinhye decided that there was no harm in this. She really needed some company before she go crazy from thinking. There was no awkwardness in this and in fact, for the first time in 2 weeks, Jinhye felt a sense of peace as she ate her meal quietly with Mingyu sitting opposite her. 

"Are you feeling better?" Mingyu asked cautiously, afraid of making her mood sour again. Jinhye looked up in surprise, not expecting him to detect her feelings at all. 

"To tell the truth, I am not feeling great at all. But eating with you like this made me feel a little better. The peace was welcoming." Jinhye replied, unsure of why she was easily sharing her feelings. She just felt the need to tell it to someone.

"Well, I know some place where you can feel better, for me that is! Whenever my mood is bad, I will go to this place and just forget about my worries. Would you like to join me after school?"  Jinhye was surprised to find herself nodding. Maybe she just needed an escape, a way to release her stress, and Mingyu was providing it. "Yeah, let's go."

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"The arcade?" Jinhye voiced her surprise at the place that Mingyu had brought her to. 

"I know I know but trust me. It's going to be fun!" Mingyu promised her. 

True to his words, Jinhye forgot about all her worries. She shouted in excitement playing the shooting games with Mingyu, racing against him, shooting hoops and dancing away. Jinhye had not had so much fun since her birthday and she felt so good. Now, Mingyu was trying to get a plushie from the claw machine that the both of them had thought was cute. 

"Left... left... stop stop!" Jinhye tried to help by looking at the position of the claw from the side. Mingyu pressed the button and they watched intensely as the grasp goes down and clamps around the toy. As it rise up, the claw swayed but the toy remained tightly clamped. 

"You got it!" Jinhye shouted excitedly as the toy fell successfully to the box. Mingyu took the toy out and held it out to Jinhye. She looked at him in surprise, "Why are you giving it to me? You like it don't you?" 

"I wanted to catch it for you. I saw you looking at it when we came in just now." Mingyu said sheepishly. Jinhye was touched that Mingyu had noticed such unimportant details and accepted the toy. 

"Thank you so much. I feel so much better after today and it's all thanks to you." Jinhye thanked Mingyu as they reached her house. 

"If you ever find yourself in a bad mood, just call me and I'll be there." Mingyu shyly said. He really hope he was not overstepping his boundaries. 

"I will."

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That night, Jinhye hugged the toy tightly to sleep. She did not have any nightmare that night.