lyricist°l.jn [editing]

chapter fourty-one: runaway

  Jinkyong winces. There it is again, the pain in her chest as she wipes away Jeno's tear.

  What kind of dream is he having to be able to shed a tear in his sleep? What painful scenario is he seeing for him to express such excruciation in his unconsciousness?

  "Jeno, wake up," Jinkyong starts shaking his shoulders. "Jeno. Jeno!"

  He awakes with a gasp, glossy eyes wide with terror as they frantically scan the surroundings but they freeze when seeing her who stands in front of him.

  He stares, unmoving. Just seconds ago in his head, he witnessed her running into the road as a car closes in to her at a risky distance.

  Now, he sees her completely fine and well in front of him. She was the cause of his fear and yet, she too is the one who stops it from repeating again.

  "You were having a nightmare. I had to wake you up," Jinkyong says, voice strained from the unstopping throb in her chest. Fortunately, it's bearable but seeing him with open eyes suddenly doubles the pain.
"Are you okㅡ"

  She's stuffed into his chest when he suddenly stands and pulls her into an embrace.

  "You're okay. You're really okay. Thank goodness," he recites into her hair as his hand delicately holds the back of her head- his voice in shaky whispers as he slowly sways her side to side.

  Jinkyong is unmoving. For some reason, she can't. Was it shock that causes her to remain paralyzed?

  Her brain says yes but the diminishing pain in her chest says otherwise.

  She can feel the relief in his relaxing shoulders yet, fervent desperation and longing from his fingers that curl into her hip as he hugs.

  Jinkyong frowns, feeling an utmost confusion and pain. "Tell me."

  Jeno slowly opens his tightly shut eyes and he blinks repeatedly to rid off the blur. "What?"

  He's abruptly pushed away but her hands remain grappling his arms. He feels her grip tremble yet, the expression she wears is of determination- striking gaze piercing into his with force.

  "Tell me the truth. You know something, don't you? This situation, everything... They're not normal. An idol going out of his way just to visit his, what, music composer at the hospital? It would've been less strange if you came as a team but, you- you came alone.
  "There must be something between us- or at least, was between us. I need to know," Jinkyong pleads for an answer and seeing her eyes brim and hearing her cracking voice shatter Jeno's heart. But he can't simply forget about the hardships she had to endure when they were together. He can't let her go through that again.

  So, he turns his face away.

  His rejection causes Kyo to gasp faintly, in disbelief and again, the unexplained chest pains surface- more agonizing than usual.

  But now she's covering it up- blanketing up all that pain with anger. Furious, from having to be kept in the dark for such a long time.

  "Fine. Then, I'll find out myself," she hisses and it all happens within a blink. Her snatching her bag from the couch, yanking the needle off her arm and wearing the slippers provided in the ward before slipping out the room.

  "Jinkyong!" Jeno shouts, shocked by her runaway but is unable to follow immediately due to the risk of exposing his face in public. Not only will that cause trouble for him, but to her as well.

  "Exactly. And so I saidㅡ Jinkyong?" Deiji recognises the patient who dashes past her like a ray of light and her sister, who she was talking to, also, notices.

  "Jinkyong, wait! Where are you going??" The two girls fall into the chase but Kyo, being in front has a much bigger advantage and swiftly slides into the door to the stairway.

  She's relieved once she hears their fast footsteps pass by the door and leisurely, to calm her breaths, she climbs the steps to the rooftop.

  Cold winds slap her face but it isn't an issue as she's too busy digging through her bag for her phone and as soon as she finds it, she goes straight into Google drive.

  Her brows raise when seeing an unfamiliar folder titled, 'Remember,' and she taps on it before pressing on a random image. But it causes her gears to stop as it shows her and Jeno smiling brightly to the camera as they sit side by side- his arm around her waist and heads touching.