My Little Puppeteer [NCT]

fire vs fire

The walls of the Corsiva Common Room were dimmer than usual, the emerald green with black shadows bouncing back and forth from the walls. Haechan was silent when he led me in and I told him that I got it from there, Haechan giving me a tired smile.

"And hey..." he began, lips pressed against each other. "I'm sorry you had to be dragged into all this."

Haechan did seem apologetic and I told him that it was my own choice as well. I wouldn't be part of it had I just refused. Haechan left, leaving for the dorms when I could hear heavy coughing from the other side of the door. I pushed the door open, Yuta's back towards me when he turned.

"Aera?"

I hummed, closing the door with my leg and placing the medicine down at the side of the bed. It was hard not to worry. His face was flushed and his forehead was painted with sweat, Nakamoto Yuta looking fucked up as the fever coursed through his body. I placed a hand on his skin, the heat making me gasp the same time he had flinched, pulling away.

"You're sick." I sighed, sitting down on the bed when he sat up. I saw how he struggled to do so, the male finally running a hand through his hair. All I wanted to do was hug him but I was never in the position to do so. "I brought medicine."

Yuta cleared his throat and I tried to find something to talk about. The atmosphere was so tense that I could cut it with a knife, Nakamoto Yuta's eyes never leaving mine. Did he know of the bet being found out by the Veritas? Surely, he did. Haechan seemed to know.

The question is, did he know of the bet I had with Jung Jaehyun to bring him down? The Veritas knew of me backstabbing Yuta for Jaehyun, but it was still a wonder if everyone caught on.

"I got kicked out," I began, Nakamoto Yuta's face unchanging. "They found out about my bet with you."

"I heard. My room is always open." He breathed, a hand going out to rub my cheek almost lovingly. "Are you sad about it?"

"Just... I don't think so," I said carefully, Moon Tae-il's voice coming up in my head. Come clean, he said.

I had looked up at Yuta, the male pulling me forward until I had my face against his chest. He had no idea. He had no idea about my bet with Jaehyun and a part of me wanted it to be kept that way. Yuta peered down beside me, his eyes on my lips when he pressed his lips over mine so softly, I sighed.

"I thought you said your lips were mine."

His eyes were filled with an emotion I couldn't point out. His heart was beating under the palms of my hands and his silver hair made him look so ethereal from where I was at. His fingers traced my lips ever so gently when I slowly physically pulled myself away from him.

His hands tightened around my wrists, his red lips making me feel like I was in a trance when he spoke.

"You're different from them, aren't you?" His question made me blink and the softness was gone. "I keep telling myself that but why is it that I feel like there is more to you that I don't know?"

"I feel the same way," I answered. Why wasn't I angry? I knew what he wanted to happen since the start. "There is nothing about you that I'm sure about."

Yuta breathed heavily, giving out a small cough when he looked away. He looked frustrated, like there were so many things he wanted to say but he couldn't.

"I want you to end the bet," he said it as a demand, looking towards me.

"And when I do, what happens of us?"

What happens when I don't have to pretend with Jaehyun anymore? Would Yuta be fulfilled and not be the same person he was?

"What do you mean by that?"

"What happens to us?" I repeated and for the first time, I felt a rush of emotions that I've never felt before. "All this kissing, all these hugs, and you acting like this. This all stops, doesn't it?"

"What is this about?" he asked and I huffed, moving away from him.

"I like Jaehyun, Yuta," I concluded when his expression began to change. "Not in a romantic sense. I actually like him... As a person."

"You know nothing about Jung Jaehyun."

"No," I corrected, shaking my head. "I know nothing about you. I've spoken to Jaehyun more than I've spoken to you. And I like him but with you—"

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that I'm not supposed to feel this way." I finally told him, sitting back down and rubbing my eyes with the palm of my hand. "Because it's a game for you. I know what you wanted to happen. You wanted me to fall in love with you. Break Jaehyun's heart. This is why I came back to agree to the bet in the first place."

He didn't say anything and I felt tears prick the back of my eyes but I managed to keep it in.

"And this is me coming clean because I'm tired," I said to him, giving him a shaky breath. "There was no loyalty in this in the first place. When I agreed with Jaehyun—"

"You spoke to Jaehyun about it?"

"I spoke to Jaehyun about it the moment he came to me to tell me what you had in mind," I snapped, Yuta looking away. He was fuming. "It was a game to us, Yuta. A game. How you act like this is all real is beyond me."

"Did it work?" he suddenly asked, throwing his feet over the edge of the bed to stand up.

"Work? Do you want it to work?" I asked, finally getting on my feet. "So, you could fuck both me and Jaehyun up? Sorry to tell you, Yuta, that Jaehyun doesn't feel that way with me. I just want you to admit it. Admit that you were ready to play in the first place."

A beat of silence.

"That was the original plan," he finally said and I looked down.

"I know."

"But I can't believe you were backstabbing me—"

"I only do that to people who backstab me first." I shook my head. "There was no bet in the first place. It was us playing each other."

"You don't know what I feel," Yuta suddenly said and he turned to me, his face rigid.

"No, because you never tell me. You were never honest." I ran a hand through my hair. "You're spoiled, Yuta. You are spoiled and you're selfish and you think that everyone is in the wrong. You don't care about anyone other than yourself."

"Don't act like you're any different," Yuta snapped and I scoffed.

"Why do you think I'm here?" I just wanted to leave. I did my part. "Because I actually care."

I didn't bother to look at him to see how he looked like before I left.

Because I didn't want to feel disappointed when it would be obvious that he didn't feel the same way.

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