Luminous • Jisung

42 • Silver

"What?" It took her off guard. 

"I thought he was just being overprotective for no reason but if you are too lazy to even try properly then I really can't blame him for thinking you wouldn't be able to do it." 

His voice was low and cold but he talked swiftly and smoothly. Just as if it had been running through his mind for a while. Like he had been wondering about this. 

Like he meant it. 

Cho-a brushed it off with a disheartened laugh. "It's not that I am not trying, I am just-"

Chenle nodded dismissively. He pushed his hands into the pockets of his trousers. 

"I thought you were better than this, that's all. After protecting Jaemin and Jeno I really thought..." His voice trailed off. He scrunched his nose, looked away as if she wasn't even worth being looked at. "This is really disappointing. You are really disappointing." 

The stars were staring down at them. Chenle inhaled sharply through closed teeth, the ice-cold air rushed down into his lungs as his words echoed in her head.

"You won't be of any help to us so it would be better if you just stayed away so you won't get in our way."

"I can help!" Cho-a argued, completely lost in the seemingly endless chain of words Chenle was uttering. What threw her off wasn't just how sincere he sounded. It was more that he... he was right. 

Wasn't he? 

She wasn't helpful at all. 

"You will just be a burden," he said through a sigh, eyes tumbling down to meet the girl's. "And next time, don't be delusional and run after a random grim reaper if you have no way to protect yourself." 

He looked to his side and at Jisung who froze at the sight of the older one's cold gaze. 

"Should we just stop?" Chenle asked. He sounded bored. All of a sudden he sounded so bored. "Dumb of me to even try to help someone like her." 

Cho-a tore her eyes off him to catch a glimpse at Jisung. It was probably for reassurance. It was so he could smile at her and she would be reminded that Chenle wasn't being serious. 

But Jisung didn't look at her. His eyes were stuck on Chenle. 

He wasn't sure whether to play along or stop him and once he managed to rip himself out of his thoughts and looked at Cho-a, she was no longer looking at him. 

From where he stood he saw her eyes and the way she grew smaller under Chenle's glare. 

She seemed distraught. 

"Chenle it's not funny," she pushed out quietly. 

"Because I am not joking." He took a step towards her. Before her, he stood tall. As he was so close, his voice got quieter. "It's not worth it." 

Cho-a stayed silent. 

"You won't ever be able to help anyone like this. At this point, you are practically useless-" 

"Chenle!" Jisung warned but got just a disinterested glimpse from the older one. He pushed out a short, shallow laugh before looking back at the girl. He stepped closer to her yet again. 

She took a step back. 

"You aren't waiting for Jisung to stick up for you, are you? Like you waited for Taemin to help you out? Like you provoked Young-hee and then let us handle your mess?" 

He had a brow raised expectantly. He didn't think she would say anything back to him, he just wanted her to feel like he was awaiting a response - even though he knew she had nothing to say.