part twenty-three

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the one where he asks her out (kinda).

part twenty-three

"You've gotten really strong."

"Nah, don't flatter me." Juno's hands swing languidly at her sides as they walk, determined not to pay attention to the way her arms brush against Jeno's every so often. "I've got a long way to go."

"Maybe, but you should be proud of where you've gotten so far." He shoots her a bright smile, and her heart stutters. "You've improved really fast."

"Thank you, Sensei." She stops walking to bow to him, and he just shakes his head.

"No, I'm serious. Your strength has increased astronomically. Almost alarmingly fast." Jeno squints at her. "You aren't doing anything... extra, are you?"

It takes her a few seconds to catch his drift, and then she throws her hands up exasperatedly. "Do I look like a druggie?"

"No, I was just kidding." His eyes are crescent moons when suddenly, he swings an arm over her shoulders, and her feet stall. Jeno must catch sight of her expression because he glances down at her. "You okay?"

"Yes, I'm great." Goddamn, this is embarrassing.

They manage to make it through the infirmary doors when her legs decide to start cooperating again, and the nurse immediately shoots her a judging glance. She gives him a toothy smile, and he sighs.

"You're in here too much for my liking, Baek Juno." Nevertheless, Moon Taeil rises and immediately starts preparing bandages and salves for her injuries.

"I can't help it, sir," Juno replies, sheepish.

But Jeno isn't smiling anymore. "Wait, how often are you in here?" Juno can see the precise moment he puts two and two together, disappointment creeping into his tone. "You've been training without me, haven't you?"

She doesn't look at him. "Yeah. The others help out sometimes."

"Who?"

"Jaemin, mostly. His powers are kind of similar to mine, so." It's true, even if they haven't trained together for a while due to their argument in Psychology the other day. Juno does miss him, but her proud side won't allow her to admit that she has anything to apologize for.

Jeno glances away, irritated by the foreign feeling in his chest. It's so stupid that he should feel betrayed over this, and yet he does. Her training with somebody else really shouldn't matter... and yet it does. He refuses to think about what it means that he's feeling this way, and just looks on impassively as the nurse cleans her up.

When he's finished, Nurse Moon wisely leaves the two alone as Juno stretches out on a cot, evidently sensing the heavy atmosphere. Juno now tries to catch Jeno's eye, but he's staring resolutely at everything but her. "Are you angry at me?"

"No." His monosyllabic answer is accurate. He couldn't get angry at her even if he tried.

She sighs. "I was just really annoyed with myself, you know? Literally everyone else is stronger. I didn't want to bother you to train more - you've got your own things to do, I can't expect you to be available whenever I need." Juno pauses, then musters up all her courage to reach out and take his chin in her fingers, gently turning his head in her direction to make him look at her. "I am really thankful for you, you know. But I was a weak and impatient bitch, so please don't hold it against me."

The twinkle in her eye and small smile upon her lips soon has all the tension dissolving from his shoulders, and Jeno hopes she doesn't notice the flush creeping up his neck. "You know I would've helped immediately if you'd told me you wanted more practice," he says.

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