The End of Fire and Ice

chapter 3: the walls have ears but the sky has eyes

"I'm the one that's got to die when it's time for me to die, so let me live my life the way I want to."
ೃ⁀➷ Jimi Hendrix

┊ ➶ ｡˚ 　　°

After the disaster at the track, I didn't go to the pool. I couldn't be bothered with being cautious.

Instead, I quickly ran to the washroom to shower and planned to sneak into the library once I was done. Except just as soon as I had stepped out of the washroom, my hair still dripping wet from my impatience, I was met with the disastrous presence of my newfound enemy.

Park Jongseong.

Before I could harass him with my words, he spoke first.

"Why would you shower before training is over?" He asked with that abrasive voice I'd come to loathe, folding his arms over his chest. His hair was dripping with sweat and I think he might have needed a shower more than I did.

"Why would you follow me to the washroom?" I shot back. Deflecting suspicion is my specialty...or at least I am pretending it is right now.

"Bold of you to assume I was following you." He glared down at me and I almost squirmed away in fear. Keyword is almost.

"Then why exactly are you here then?" I countered, placing my hands on my hips in hopes of appearing the slightest bit intimidating, but I highly doubt it helped in my case.

"Answer my question first."

Okay, maybe I am not so good at deflecting suspicion. Time to do something I'm actually good at, playing dumb.

"I was not paying attention to what you said, you'll have to repeat it if you want an answer." Maybe he'll get annoyed and walk away...?

"There are nearly two hours left for training, why would you shower before it is over?" He repeated his question real slow, probably thinking the slower sound waves would be better intercepted by my feeble mind. He wouldn't be wrong.

Quick brain, think of a lie- "I'm going to swim laps for the rest of the time, like I said earlier. I showered because I didn't want to get my sweat all in the pool water." That is the dumbest shit I've ever said in my entire life, but it is all I could come up with.

"That is the dumbest shit I've ever heard," he scoffed out, clearly unamused. At least we agree on one thing.

"I don't have to justify myself to you. Now answer my question." I insisted, in an attempt of shifting focus away from myself.

"No. I have to get back to training." He turned away from me at breakneck speed and immediately walked to the stairs to go back down to the training room.

What the hell. I wanted to know why he followed me. Well, at least he's not in my business anymore.

I kept my eyes on his retreating figure until he had completely disappeared from my sight.

Then I booked it to the stairs on the opposite side of the hall.

These were the stairs I always used to get to the library. They were rundown and I knew the cameras on this side had long been broken. This route was perfect and had never failed me.

The only liberation I had from the confines of these cold walls and the strict schedule was the dust-coated books in our library.

No one else ever visited the library. It's as if they had all forgotten it was there, but I simply couldn't stay away.

I made it my mission to spend all the free time I could there in hopes of reading every book and visiting every imaginary reality. Knocking the dust off one page at a time.