Chaos makes the muse.
The four words hit Jisoo's current situation with accuracy. Haunting her down sounded brutal, yet it made sense after the devil's outburst she prepared herself for the worst-case scenarios: Ganging up on her, beating her in a dark alley, or burning her in a locked room.
Jinyoung, on the other hand, played smart. They were playing chess, pulling teen pranks here and there. He was pulling his strings, getting on her nerves. Jinyoung started by playing his cards to have her assigned partners, leaving her on read.
She said her thanks for passing him the wrong project requirements. He wouldn't hide a smile after pushing her arm while writing, ruining her organized notes and she wouldn't fake it either, aiming the basketball at his head. The lectures turned into wars between them being neck to neck trying to win first place in their stupid game.
Jisoo should have felt relieved that Jinyoung didn't turn out to be a Mafia boss who would kidnap her, but the game was getting harder to play every day. She wanted peace and he had her engaged in warfare.
"Jinyoung Park and Jisoo Kim."
Jisoo shook her head in disbelief. The professor's announcement of them as lab partners for the rest of the semester made her curse under her breath.
He sighed, feeling the warmth of his figure next to her. "Today is my lucky day." His whisper made her scoff.
"Mine is a nightmare, be careful not to burn us down," With a sarcastic comment, she reached out to the testing jar.
"Aww! Are you worried about me, princess?" Jinyoung gave her a wink, quickly grabbing a droplet of hers within his grasp.
"I'm nobody's princess. All I care about is my marks, so play fair and do your job."
"I don't play fair; I don't mind failing if you will go down with me."
Jisoo was 100% sure that his words were lies that were sneaking to fuel her up, and she could see his wicked smile getting wilder, catching her annoyed expression. The ticking time wasn't on her side to respond, so she chose silence, focusing on what she was supposed to do.
"Even your silence is pretty like you. It sucks to be your rival when I can be your lover." She felt his chest as he bent in front of her to grab another reagent. He was close enough for her instinct to make her elbow rest against his stomach, but not so close that it seemed like a romantic scene from a movie.
"Feisty, aren't we?"He masked his pain, and when he stepped back to work after his earlier statement, she sighed in relief. The minutes of working in silence felt like heaven, lasting short.
"Hey! Watch out!!" Jisoo's loud outcry snapped Jinyoung out of his trance as she pushed his burnt hand off the Bunsen burner. The test tubes suddenly dropped to the ground, making everyone in the lab gasp in shock.
"Get out and meet me in the office!" Their chemistry professor flared up in anger, jabbing his finger toward the door. Jisoo. Jisoo couldn't process his professor's request as she led Jinyoung to the sink. Her hands instinctively turned on the tap to run cold water over his reddened ones.
"Didn't you hear me?" The professor's voice got louder. Jisoo took a glance at her silent partner before replying on their behalf.
"We are very sorry, sir. We will wait for you in the office right after visiting the infirmary. His hand needs to get cured.".
'Why does she care when we hate each other?'.
Jinyoung stared at their intertwined hands that Jisoo untangled, forcing him to sit in the nursery bed. He watched her getting frantic, searching for a cream and bandages instead of slapping his face.
"What the hell were you thinking about, holding the tube without a holder? Look at your hand. Are you that stupid?" She shouted, popping the cream cap open. Jinyoung winced the moment she held his feverish hand, applying the cream gently to his hands.
'What's going on?' Jinyoung's mind couldn't process the sudden turn of events. His one-month rival, who hated his guts, was covering his hand with a bandage with worry. He wanted to annoy her or flirt, but his tongue found it harder to roll a word out.
"I'm sorry for shouting. I didn't mean to. It's just you are so dumb that I---" Her words were cut off the second their eyes locked in an intense stare. He could see a bit of anger, sincerity, and worry, like she was an open book, hoping she couldn't read the pain behind his unreadable mask.
Her hand resting against his was spreading an unexplainable warmth that freaked him out. He swatted her hand away.
"Why are you doing this? Don't cross the line." His words were sharp and cold as he watched her expression change to confusion, disappointment mixed with anger. He didn't give her a space to snap, leaving her dumbfounded.
It took him some time to calm down to recall what happened or how. It made no sense how his mind stopped responding even to his burning hands, turning him into a numb statue. He wasn't dumb, his body was rebelling against him.
Having Mark as a roommate made it harder to confront his demons. They were incompatible roommates who fought every single second over everything and nothing, so the possibility of showing his vulnerable side or having an attack in front of him was negative.
When Jinyoung reached his best friend Jaebum's house, he was dismayed to see Jaebum's cheerful roommate Youngjae instead. Youngjae's enthusiastic "Hello, Jinyoung!" only made him feel worse and increased Jinyoung's dislike for him.
"Jaebum,"
He passed by the annoying sunshine, stepping into the room to see Jaebum's back. The long-haired pal turned to him, giving him a tight hug. "Hi, how are you doing?" he asked with concern before he noticed Jinyoung's hand.
"Oh my god! What happened?"
"Long story," Jinyoung sighed, glancing at his friend's roommate with annoyance. "Can't he leave the room? I want to talk to you!"
Taken aback by Jinyoung's snap, Jaebum dragged him out to the balcony. "What's wrong with you?"
"This! The new students who appeared out of nowhere to ruin my life."
He was being ridiculous and loud. Jaebum was silent, taking whatever excuse he spat out of his mouth until he stopped, taking a breath after his long screams.
"Are you done? Tell me what's wrong." Jaebum calmly said, crossing his arms. His eyes were staring at Jinyoung's soul, breaking his façade.
"I need to switch roommates. It's urgent" Jinyoung's voice sounded weak and desperate, his eyes shaking. "M-my sleep is getting worse, and I can't have an attack in front of Mark."
Jaebum's eyes softened as he rubbed his friend's shoulder to comfort. "Mark is nice. He won't judge."
"You are running away, Jinyoung. You can crash on my studio, but the problem isn't Mark or Youngjae. It's simply your missed medications and appointments with Jun. When was the last time you slept?"
Jaebum's words were not false but made Jinyoung really angry. His head refused to accept the horrible reality and he couldn't think of anything to say in return. So, Jinyoung wanted to march out of the room.
"Jinyoung!" He heard his friend's call. "Hold on, let's go to the studio." His friend managed to grab his hand. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to... Let's just go, yeah?"
'Why everyone is being sorry when I'm the asshole in every story?' He swallowed the bitter thought, nodding to his friend.
"Jaebum, we are getting late. We will miss the exam." Youngjae popped his head from behind the door, ruining their plans.
"Shit, I forgot about that." Jaebum cursed, rubbing his forehead with one hand as Jinyoung watched, taking in the new bond between his best friend and the person he loathed for his smile.
'That's progress. How did he befriend his opposite, though?' He wondered, gently brushing his friend's hand off his wrist.
"Jinyoung, I---"
"It's fine, I will be okay." He assured with a fake smile.
"Wait for me at the studio."
"Sure, good luck." He managed to say before leaving to his own room to welcome another unlucky situation.
"That bastard," he cursed out loud, reading his roommate's note.
'Told you to clean up, since you didn't, I helped - MT,'
With exhaustion seeping through his body, he lamented in annoyance as he saw food crumbs, wrappings, and containers strewn on his mattress. He kept himself from lashing out and punching Mark by investing effort in tidying up the mess.
The world around Jinyoung was spinning and he could hardly focus. A shouting voice kept ringing in his mind. His hands shook while they covered his aching head. He slowly opened his eyes but could barely keep from stumbling as he tried to make it to the bed.
A blurry figure caught him, asking unheard questions. The last word he could remember was "No," before he blacked out.
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