Poison Paradise

17.

"I've been expect-"

Unfortunately for Jumin, Zen's shrill voice had cut through his words, stopping him from finishing off his sentence. The albino's eyes had started tearing up, he hadn't touched the cat yet and he wasn't close enough to her either but, just looking at her curled up on Jumin Han's lap was enough to cause him to change state.

Of course, none of that mattered to Jumin, he didn't take Zen's allergies seriously. He should've but he didnt. He just couldn't understand how someone could react like that when seeing such an adorable cat like his Elizabeth the third. Zen was an actor so he assumed that he was only acting up when he saw Elizabeth the third.

"Pet her," Jumin, with a straight face, commands Zen who was currently freaking out, had Jumin called him, threatened him and made him wait that long just to pet his cat? A creature he was allergic too.

"Are you crazy?" Zen asks, stepping back as Jumin stood up, holding Elizabeth the third close to him, his expression unchanging. He was ready to run out the moment he got a chance because it didn't seem like he was joking around. Then again, it was Jumin Han. His jokes were not even funny and sometimes even hard to recognise as a joke - well, to him at least, "Did you call me here just to make me pet your cat?"

"Of course not," Jumin answers him calmly, sitting back down, as if the question Zen had asked was the most stupidest question he'd ever been asked. Maybe it was but, in Zen's perspective, it seemed like the perfect question to ask and he was very serious about finding out the answer to it.

"I have other reasons for making you come over."

Back to MC's POV

I had recently taken an interest to anime and had spent most of my time watching a series called Naruto. I don't remember how I had found it but I was glad I did. Saeran had kindly showed me a way to binge watch it all online; It should've felt new to me but it really didn't.

I couldn't understand it but, as I watched young Naruto chase after Sasuke, my memory unfolded, a mixture of emotions rushing through me as a sense of familiarity came to me. Perhaps I had watched it before or maybe there was something deeper to it, I couldn't tell.

I wanted to ask Saeran but he would pull that "ask me in seventeen weeks," crap again after showing a weird emotion on his face. Everything I said seemed to effect him, it was clear he knew things he was keeping from me. It was a matter of time before I found out what he was hiding. Had he thought about that?

Was he just going to erase my mind again?

My arms tighten around my knees, my chin tucked neatly above them. Sasuke was being a right pain in the neck about now but I couldn't bring myself to hate him. I couldn't understand why a part of him reminded me of someone.

The ending of the episode I was currently watching rolled in, the music chiming around the walls of the room I was stuck in before my ringtone came and ruined the beauty of the song. Sighing, I pull out my phone to see who was calling me, I figured that it was either Seven - who called me often, or Saeran, to tell me to get up and do some work because I had been lying around all day finishing off the last of Naruto so I could move onto Naruto Shippuden.

But, it wasn't either of them.

I answered the phone, pausing the Naruto ending so I could talk to them properly, "Jaehee, how are you?" I ask, my voice coming out lightly as I spoke. I hadn't actually heard her voice so it was a little exciting.

"I'm fine, thank you. How have you been?" I hear her voice respond back to my question and I suddenly froze. Her voice... I couldn't quite point it but I was certain that I had heard it before. I had forgotten that we were talking to each other on the phone and not texting, "M... MC?" Her voice interrupts my thoughts.

"Oh-um. Sorry. I dazed out. I've been good," I quickly answer her all at once, my teeth catching my upper lip as I try to think of another line to say to her.

"That's good. I know this is all too sudden but I didn't know who else to say this to," her voice came out in a excited tone, it seemed like she brushed off what had happened earlier so I let it slide too. I'll ask her another time.

"What do you want to tell me?" I ask her, trying to match my tone with hers so that she would remain excited. I felt a little-lighthearted hearing her speak like this.

"Zen has asked me out on a date," She rushes out, it was obvious that she couldn't hold it in her anymore and I could imagine a grin settling on her face.

"No way," I laugh, I didn't know what else to say, we had been joking about this on the group chat earlier so hearing this seemed to be quite funny, "Wow. What did you say?"

"I-uh. About that. Zen's career is very important to him. If I go on a date with him, it might destroy it. I don't know how to say no to him, he texted me and-"

"Jaehee." I cut her off. I wasn't an expert but I could tell that she did want to go on that date with him. She was just too loyal to him and his fan base to go with her own wishes, "You can't reject Zen, just imagine how upset he would be? I know that you want to go on that date so tell him you'll go. It's only one date, it won't hurt."

"But-"

"One date, Jaehee. Just one date," I interrupt her, yet again, "Tell me how it's like after. Okay? I have to go so I hope I hear that you went on that date with him. Bye."

And before she could say anything further, I ended the call. Perhaps I should've stayed on the line with her longer but, I knew that if I did, she would continue debating with me until she came to the conclusion that she would decline Zen's offer. I didn't know Jaehee that well but I, for some reason, could figure that much out about her.