we the cursed, nct dream ✔

part fourteen

⇉ the one where it gets worse.

part fourteen

"I am going to kill you, Lee Jeno."

"Hey, you were the one that wanted extra help." Jeno stops jogging to look back at her. "Or are you looking forward to getting your ass handed to you again?"

"First of all, it's like, two in the morning."

"Don't be so dramatic." He rolls his eyes at her, amused. "It's only six, and breakfast starts at 7 am. We don't even have that much time."

"And I don't even understand why you're making me run," she huffs, obviously not listening. It doesn't matter that she runs almost every day anyway, it's the being forced to do so this early that has her grumpy. "The agreement was that you would teach me how to get better at using my flair, not that I was taking you on as a fitness trainer."

Jeno raises his brows. "Maybe you should," he jokes, and she gasps in mock offense. "Besides, it's always nice to warm up first."

"Not at such an ungodly hour, it's not." Juno glares at his retreating back, but he's not that much farther ahead. "This friendship just isn't going to work out, I'm sorry. Not only are you a-" She pauses to shudder- "a morning person, but you're also an exercise junkie? I can't do this, I'm going back to bed." Juno stops running and begins to head off the track.

"Oh no, you don't." Jeno reaches over to grab her by the hood of her sweatshirt, gently pulling her figure back to him. "You've committed to this, so we're doing it."

It's safe to say that Juno is never in her right mind early in the morning, and being forced to wake up at a sooner time has her quite disgruntled. She'd never thought Jeno would be so determined, but secretly, she's grateful for it. Being an incredibly undisciplined person is one of her many toxic traits. It's why she doesn't work out regularly in the first place, even though she knows she probably should.

They start running again, this time side by side. "No lip ring this morning," he comments. "I don't know why I assumed you just sleep with it in."

"Nah, it's like with earrings," she says, but she fights the urge to giggle like an idiot. Does that mean he looks at her lips? No, bitch, it's kinda hard not to notice the silver ring pierced right through the middle of your bottom lip, she chastises herself.

This boy is making her lose her bloody mind.

After a few more minutes of "light jogging" that definitely didn't feel so light to Juno, the two find themselves inside an open indoor space on the third floor. As expected, all is quiet as most students are still in their dorms preparing to start the day.

"So we're gonna start off very simple," Jeno explains. "All I'm going to do is link our hands. You have to, one by one, extricate each of my fingers from the grip until our hands are no longer connected. But you can only do this with your telekinesis. Any other way will be considered cheating, and you'll have to start over."

Juno looks down bashfully, because it kinda feels like he's making a move on her.

Even though he isn't, obviously.

And sure, it all sounds easy enough. But that's until she remembers what his flair is: superhuman strength. Juno sighs inwardly. This is going to take a while.

And it does. When the time eventually reads 6:50, she has only managed to lift three of his fingers away, and that's after intense concentration and focus. Jeno senses her disappointment, and throws a casual arm over Juno's shoulders as they head back. "Don't be sad. Baby steps, remember?"