bleached bones and pinned butterflies

i'm acting like a fool

"There's a couple of ways you can do the nose-manual," Hyeok begins, and Noah snaps herself out of her daze to listen to his words. "First is the same as with the normal manual, where you rely on your body control and balance, but with your weight and trajectory shifted more towards the front. Or, you can-" 

Hyeok pulls on the BMX, a smooth, jerking motion that ends with him and his bike tilted forwards, rear wheel up in the air. His foot is on the front wheel, just behind the fork holding the front wheel itself, and Noah realizes that Hyeok's foot is helping him keep the front wheel from moving so much, easing the entire balancing act. 

Hyeok drops down out of the nose-manual with a loud huff and a louder clatter of the bike, and he turns to her. "Seems like you had a realization." He comments. "What are your thoughts?" 

Noah points at the front wheel, then Hyeok's foot. "Your foot acted as a stopper for the front wheel, making it easier to just focus on just balancing the bike," Noah begins, and Hyeok nods encouragingly, motioning for Noah to continue. Encouraged, Noah does. "Unlike the regular manual, you can keep both feet on the pedals as they're located near the rear wheel thus lets you find your balance pretty easily. And as for the front wheel, putting your foot on it while doing the other manual gives you a boost in helping you find the best position." 

Hyeok claps, and it doesn't sound mocking. Noah feels warm from the pride that fills her chest. "No wonder you're a world-class cyclist," Hyeok murmurs, and Noah wishes she wasn't so pale, so if she ever blushes it won't be obvious. "Right on all accounts. Would you care to try?" 

Noah eyes the bike as Hyeok hands it back to her. "... If I eat concrete..." She begins, and Hyeok nods. 

"I'll catch you, don't worry." He says casually, as if it was no big deal. As if he didn't just promise to catch Noah everytime she'd fall from the bike. 

Noah gives him a slow up and down look. "... Would you even be able to?" She asks, because he's not actually that taller than her, maybe just around 3 inches of height, actually, and under all his baggy clothes and layers, he looked sort of... skinny. "I mean, no offense, but-" 

Hyeok merely nods, and Noah has to wonder if this guy ever gets bothered. Even when they first met, while he was indeed rude, he kept a terrifying level of calm and level-headedness. 

"Understandable." He says, before he looks over to his friends for a moment. "It's a pity we don't have easy access to a place with soft soil to act as cushion, but... Would you feel safer if my friend Joker would catch you instead?" 

Noah stares. "Who the hell is Joker?" Moreover- "You have a friend named Joker?" 

Hyeok wasn't smiling, but from the way he just looked at her, Noah could tell he was amused. "Yes, the oldest member of our crew is Joker. He's the one with the gray hair." He says, and Noah could only gape. There was so much to unpack in that statement and she has no clue where to start. "So, what about it?"

Noah hesitates. On one hand, the Joker guy - Mr. Tall-and-Gray's name, apparently - does seem like he could catch her with ease, but at the same time... She doesn't really know him. That and his expression gave her the heebie-jeebies. 

Not that Hyeok's own blank expressions were any better but at the very least, Noah knows Hyeok's blank face. The Joker guy... Not so much. 

"... If I eat shit I'm kicking your ass." Noah says in the end, and Hyeok huffs what could've been (maybe) a laugh. Who knows with this guy, really; he has the expressive range of a teaspoon. 

"I'll catch you princess, don't worry." Hyeok says, using that stupid nickname he gave her again, no matter how much Noah tells him not to use it. 

"Not a princess." Noah reminds him, but judging by the indulgent nod Hyeok does, Noah knows he'll keep on calling her that, whether or not she likes it or not. Noah rolls her eyes with a huff, but doesn't bother arguing.