New Year's Kiss | N. Jaemin

Act V. Sc 1 | What makes a winner

5.01

"Congratulations all of you! We literally made an all kill for every category, first place in everything—I'm so proud of you guys!" Coach Wang tells everyone as he huddled the team up in the circle once they're back at their practice room.

"Yes, you guys did pretty awesome. But what can I say, y'all got an awesome coach and some awesome captains," Jaemin smirked as he pats himself on the back, standing on the left of Coach Wang as the rest of the team burst into laughter.

Standing on the right side of Coach Wang, Eunbi tries to shrug off how normal and nonchalant Jaemin sounds as if nothing ever happened and congratulates the team as well. "Literally all of you did so well. This is the first time in 5 years we've gotten an all kill, not to mention this is the first competition of the season. You guys are crazy!"

In return to all of their congratulations, the whole team erupted in fits of screams and cheers, and the team huddles up together in the midst of it to break out into their team chant.

Within the circle, Eunbi and Jaemin made eye contact for a brief second and it seemed like Jaemin wanted to say something, but the latter broke it off quickly to prevent the flashbacks of what happened during their duet invade her mind.

I really should explain what happened but I don't know where to start, Jaemin thought.

"Also, don't think we didn't forget to bring something in order to celebrate. Regardless of whether you guys made an all kill or not, you guys deserve a little party!" Coach Wang breaks out into a grin.

"Yup, we ordered pizza, chicken, and ice cream for all of you!" Eunbi as as she goes over to the long table covered in a white sheet right by the wall mirrors. As she takes off the sheet, everyone's eyes were met with the treats and delicacies promised seconds before their reveal. The whole team then chorused in a bunch of thank you's and waited for their coach and team captains to get their food before falling in suit.

In line, first came Coach Wang, then Eunbi, and then Jaemin. With Jaemin trailing right behind her, she felt more conscious than ever and as much as she wanted to confront the boy about the stunt he pulled at the end, now wasn't the time or place. And so the the awkward silence in line was broken by no other than Coach Wang who was also wary of the tension between them, one different from the tension he witnessed weeks ago, and he knew it had to do something with the way Jaemin ran off stage. But once again he'd rather the two figure it out on their own and offered the the two captains with his personal congratulations, which was returned with a smile from both of them that didn't quite reach their eyes.

"They're at it again aren't they," Chenle nudged Jisung who was well on his way to eating more of his slice of pizza.

Choking on the piece, Jisung nudges Chenle back with twice the force as he grunted out, "What the heck? I could've almost died! But who the fuck are you talking about?"

"Damn, that must've been a really good slice of pizza if I got you cursing like a sailor," Chenle chuckled. "But who else other than our favorite couple, our beloved dance captains."

"What about them?" the other queried, eyes still focused on his pizza.

"Did you not see what happened at the end of their piece? Jaemin ran off stage which from I recalled—wasn't even part of the routine at all."

"Okay but you gotta give props to Eunbi, she definitely improvised the last part, picking up Jaemin's ring and all."

"Hmm now that you mentioned that, do you think she gave it back to him?" Chenle said curiously.

"I don't know," Jisung finally looks up as his eyes grazed over Eunbi. Following where or more specifically, who her eyes were fixated on Jisung concludes to Chenle that, "Considering the look of longing that Eunbi is shooting at Jaemin, I'm sure she hasn't even thought of a way of how to return it."

"Well, better think twice about that cause it looks like she's on her way to him right now."

Well, here goes nothing. I'm only returning his ring anyway, Eunbi mused in her head as she made her way over to Jaemin.

Still distracted by talking to the other members on the team, Jaemin wasn't aware of the figure coming towards him, until a teammate pointed out that they were right behind him. As his eyes locked with the girl, he excuses himself from the group and meets up with them, moving to another corner of the room.

A silence broke out between the two as their stares bore into each other but eventually, Eunbi cleared her throat saying, "I'm here to return your ring. And to say congratulations."

Her hand reaches out with the ring and as Jaemin takes it, the brief skin to skin contact sent a chill down both their spines. "Thanks, for the ring and congratulations to you too," Jaemin smiles softly.

"Why did you ru-"

"I'm sorry Eunbi."

"What?" Eunbi exclaimed, taken aback by the sudden apology.

"I'm really sorry for running away like that, at the end I mean," Jaemin continued.

"Why did you?"

I got scared, once again. "Well the audience was clapping and so I didn't wanna risk giving a show beyond dancing..." Jaemin trailed off but right as those words tumbled out, Eunbi's face hardened for a split second until it settled back into a nonchalant demeanor. She was faking it of course, but then again when have the two ever been truthful about their feelings.

"Right. We have to keep it professional and not let our feelings get in the way. You truly encompass the mind of a performer indeed," Eunbi responds,

"Yeah. I'm really sorry once again. We'll do better next time."

"Next time?" Eunbi asked. "Aren't you back to dancing with Chaeryoung?"

"Oh...right," Jaemin says hesitantly.

"Well it was nice dancing with you. Again, congrats," Eunbi pats his shoulder and walks away, leaving Jaemin dumbfounded. Thoughts swirling his head, these were thoughts he could never form into words out loud for Eunbi to hear.

*A/N: I got back into playing PUBG mainly bc I be watching clips of the chinese broadcast video game series the dreamies do LOL. I dropped the game like last yr but I be back on track 👀 I forgot how fun it was but not sure how long I'm playing it for cause I get bored easily. Anyways enjoy this double update :)