After taking care of Minjae, Jihyun continues throughout her day, the word quickly spreading about the change in her attitude as students begin to loosen up around her. She notices the lift in mood as she walks by, the students still obviously terrified of her, but now some sending her nervous smiles and looking at her without turning pale. It was a strange feeling, but a good one.
It's the end of the day as Jihyun is walking through the hallway, all the students having retreated to their rooms for the night to study for the upcoming final sort.
"So, it seems as though there's some hope for you after all, huh?" Jaehyun swings his arm over her shoulder, walking in step with her as he and Taeyong emerge from their offices.
"What are you on about?" She questions, nudging him in the side playfully.
"I heard you actually, dare I say, were kind to a student? Sent someone to the nurse to get" he paused for effect, "healed?"
He lets out an overdramatic gasp, causing Taeyong and Jihyun to both laugh. Upon hearing her laugh, Taeyong stops them in their tracks, quickly grabbing Jihyun's face and putting a hand on her forehead.
"What in the world are you doing Tae?" She says, continuing to smile at his actions. He drops his hands and stares at Jaehyun with worry on his face.
"Jae, it's worse than we thought. She laughed and smiled. I knew it, she's dying." He says, his voice full of fake concern before the three break out into light laughter.
"You guys are the worst" she says, playfully shoving both of them before continuing to walk. "I said I'm trying. I used to be really likable you know."
"Oh we remember, you were a wild child before you hit 18."
"yeah well, becoming a mafia boss will do that to you, but at least I have you idiots to try and bring back some sanity into my life." She sighs.The two boys smile at each other upon hearing her remarks, knowing that she was really trying.
"So, are we heading home now? I'll race you two." Taeyong says, pulling his keys out of his pockets.
"Actually" Jihyun says, "I'm going to train here for a bit. I'm getting sick of being stuck at home and from what the boys tell me, training here is pretty nice." Jaehyun nods in response.
"Yeah, the facilities here are a nice change from back home, Taeyong and I use them a lot." He responds with a smile.
"Good. Now that I'm trying to not constantly be on edge around here, I'll go give it a shot. See you guys at home." She says before standing on her tiptoes and giving each of them a kiss on the cheek before walking down the hallway towards the training center.
A blush reaches both the boys faces as they turn to look at one another.
" I never realized how much her past was weighing her down." Taeyong remarks, his eyes wide in surprise.
"I know. Now that she's talked about it, she's like a new person. Like the girl she used to be."
"I thought that girl died, but I guess not."
"Maybe theres hope, after all." Jaehyun says, turning to look at her figure retreating down the hallway. The two boys shrug it off with a smile before turning to walk out of the building.
"You know Jae, you're ears are so red I think they might explode."
"Shut up Taeyong, I'm going to beat your ass" Jaehyun growls back. Taeyong hops in his car quickly rolling down the window.
"you gotta catch me first, Jeffrey!" He shouts out before speeding out of the parking lot, Jaehyun right behind him.
- - -
Jihyun walks down the empty hallway, smiling to herself in the silence of the school. She reaches the door to the training center, walking in and expecting to find it empty, yet she hears softs thuds coming from one corner of the room.
She walks further into the massive training center, expecting to see another gang member staying back for some late training, but instead sees Jaemin in the corner, throwing knives at a target.
When he hears the door close, he turns around, making eye contact with Jihyun before quickly bowing to her.
"I'm sorry, I didn't realize anyone was going to be here. Keep practicing, I can train back at the headquarters." Jihyun quickly says before turning to leave.
"No no don't worry about it, I can head out now." Jaemin quickly puts down the knives, wiping the sweat off of his face before moving to gather his things.
"No, really it's fine. Please stay, you need to train before the exams next month." She smiles while walking up to him. He looks at her with uncertainty, slowly putting his bag back on the ground.
"Why don't we train together. The space is big enough for both of us, Jaemin, and I can help you if you need it." He raises his eyebrows at her remark.
"You know my name ? Wait, you're going to help me?"
"Yeah, why not?" She asks, genuine confusion written on her face.
"Well, no offense or anything and I seriously mean no disrespect, but you're kind of terrifying. I've never seen you even really look at another student without hurting them or killing them, let alone offering to help me. You don't even know me." He says cautiously, being careful to try and not offend her. She lets out a light huff at his remark, his shoulders relaxing a bit.
"I know you've got a good enough heart to have jumped in and helped your friend earlier today, even though you didn't know the consequences." He continues to look at her skeptically. She sighs before continuing.
"Let's just say that I'm trying to be better. I finally got some stuff off my chest last week and am trying to move past some stuff, that includes being more of a mentor to you guys, rather than just a walking death sentence." She says with a shy smile.
"Plus" she straightens her posture and looks up at the taller boy, "I know more about you guys than you think. Including the fact that I could still kill every single person in this school, easily. But I'm pretty sure you already knew that." She adds with a smirk.
"yeah don't worry about that, I would not like to be on the wrong side of a fight with you." He laughs out before turning back to pick up his knives. Jihyun walks to put down her stuff on one of the benches lining the room before walking over to the archery table.
She runs her fingers along the bows, selecting a dark steel one. She puts arrows into a quiver on her back, walking over to the targets before standing at one on the far end. She hears the subtle thumps of Jaemin's knives in the background as she takes her stance.
Pulling an arrow from her quiver, she draws her arm back, staring down the length of the sleek arrow at the target. She lets out a breath, steading herself as her hand brushes against her lip before letting the arrow fly. It hits dead in the center of the target.
She continues this for a bit, sending 14 arrows straight into the target, ripping up the marking in the center. As she draws back the last arrow in the quiver, she notices that the noises from behind her have stopped. Pushing the thought out of her head, she releases her 15th arrow, straight in the center just like all the other ones.
Sighing in satisfaction, she relaxes her posture and turns around to put her bow down. She looks up and notices Jaemin staring at her, a look of awe on his face. She smiles at him before going to retrieve her arrows.
She begins pulling them out and placing them in her quiver when she hears footsteps approaching her. Looking up, she sees Jaemin next to her, an impressed smile on his face.
"Well, I can certainly see why they call you the ace." He says, excitement in his voice.
"Did you doubt me?" She responds, a playful glint in her eyes as he quickly shakes his head.
"No no its just....different to see it in person i guess? It's not like I haven't seen you fight or kill, I know everyone in the school has seen that." She lets out a small chuckle, nodding at his statement.
"It's just different when it's not on at a person. It's like an art when you do it. You look so at peace, somehow it's so easy for you." He compliments her, staring off into space as he articulates his thoughts.
"Thank you. Training is one of the few things that makes me feel calm. If you keep working at it, you'll get there too" She looks at him with a reassuring smile.
"Maybe" he huffs out, "If I can ever learn to actually throw a knife even close to as good as you do." He rolls his eyes at his own lack of skill. Jihyun cocking an eyebrow and turning to him as he pulls out her last arrow, handing it to her.
"You know, knife throwing is my specialty. Maybe I can help you for real?" She asks him, the two beginning to walk back to the rack of bows and arrows.
"That would be great, if its not too much trouble, I don't want to bother you." He quickly spews out. She shakes her head, continuing to follow him to the knife area. "believe me, I need it if I'm going to stay in level 1" He chuckles out, walking up to his station.
He picks up a knife, taking his stance and lining up. Jihyun immediately notices a few issues but allows him to continue throwing anyway. After about 5 throws, he has hit the center 2 times, the other three scattered about 6 inches away from the center ring. He lets out an annoyed sigh.
"I know I'm not the worst, but I miss 3 out of the 5. Sure they might hit someone, but they also might not. I don't know what I'm doing wrong. Chan keeps correcting my posture, but I still seem to miss." He lets his hands flop to his sides as he turns to face Jihyun.
"Well, Chan has done a great job on your posture. Your stance is technically perfect, but you're never going be consistent with that grip." She walks up to him, grabbing the knife out of his hand before repositioning his fingers, demonstrating the proper grip. "Take your stance like that, but don't throw it." He sets up to the target, looking over his shoulder at her for more instructions.
"You also use too much of your arm, the wrist is where your real accuracy will come from." She steps back, motioning for him to throw. He pulls back a bit before letting the knife fly, it hitting the target about an inch off from center. He turns to her with a smile before picking up another knife.
He continues to throw the knives at the board, hitting the center about every 3 out of 5 knives, his misses now being within an inch of the center. He turns to Jihyun with an astonished smile, her returning his gaze.
"See, it's already better. You're misses aren't that far off anymore. Still accurate enough to be effective." She says with a smile.
"Thank you. I guess thats what happens when you're the best trained mafia member in all of Korea." he laughs out.
"Yeah I guess so. But it's not a success until you hit the center all 5 times." She stares at him. "If you're up for it" she adds with a smirk.
He grabs another knife, gesturing for her to correct him. She comes to stand behind him, placing one hand on his shoulder, and the other overlapping his hand on the knife. She lets out a breath before drawing his arm back, guiding him through the throw, straight at the center.
He picks up another knife, then another, her staying pressed to his back, hands on his shoulder and grip, helping him throw all 5 knives straight into the center. When the fifth one hits, he lets out an excited breath he didn't know he was holding.
"It's all in the details" she breathes out, a happy smile on her face.
He turns his head to look at her, a soft smile on his face. Only then does Jihyun realize their position. Their bodies pressed against one another, their faces only inches apart. She feels a heat rise to her cheeks as she stares back at him, a playful smirk on his lips. His eyes dart down to her lips before back to her eyes as they continue to stare at one another, unmoving.
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Oop-
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