𝗖𝗥𝗜𝗠𝗜𝗡𝗔𝗟 𝗟𝗢𝗩𝗘

14) Sunoo

I admit that sometimes my ideas are bad.

It doesn't happen often, but I think telling Jungwon to seduce Jay was definitely one of my worst.

We spent most of today making the last part of our journey to Daeyi, and Jungwon stayed by the gangster's side the entire time.

I rode on my zebra a little way behind, but my gaze was hawklike as I watched them together.

I also felt shaken up after last night's attack, but Jungwon and I discussed it with our troupe, and we didn't want to let it stop us from performing tonight.

Even still, it's Blessed-Cursed's fault it happened, so I like the leaders even less now than I did before.

Jay might have helped me in the ambush, but if he hadn't hijacked our troupe in the first place we wouldn't have been attacked at all.

Niki sensed my mood and spent his afternoon travelling beside me, making attempts to cheer me up with compliments and terrible jokes.

I let him try, and if I'm honest it worked a bit, but half of my focus was up ahead on Jungwon.

I noted the way my friend smiled and laughed when Jay spoke.

This is bad.

It was my stupid idea that he should get close to the leader to manipulate him, but either Jungwon is a better actor than I thought, or he actually likes him.

Which would be disastrous.

Terrible.

Catastrophic.

Nauseating.

I ran out of words in my head, but the horror must have been obvious on my face because Niki started laughing at me.

Though he finds everything I do amusing anyway.

He's not mocking me, if anything his laughter is affectionate, and it's kind of adorable. I'm not sure what I did, but for some reason he seems to like me.

He's not the only one - our circus is quite famous so I have more than a few fans out there. Niki can join the club.

We made a stop just before entering the city, and I caught him pouting when I left his side.

Butterflies fluttered in my stomach, but I hid my smile as I walked away.

I then had to peel Jungwon from Jay to get ourselves ready for the evening.

I decided it wasn't the right time to mention my concerns, but I stayed with him to keep them apart as we entered the city.

Once inside we split off from Blessed-Cursed, and I was momentarily relieved, until I realised Jay was staying with us, along with a small unit.

He finished speaking to Heeseung and Sunghoon and immediately returned, gaze scanning over our parade in search of Jungwon.

I rolled my eyes.

"Come on." I said to my friend, urging us to head off, leaving Jay at the back.

I hope that Jake will be ok, the other Blessed-Cursed leaders took him with them, and Niki too.

I'm deep in thought, wondering why I feel disappointed by the fact that he didn't stay with us, when we finally arrive at the park we'll be performing in.

It's already dark but luckily we only need to set up the main tent for tonight's show.

Our hosts are paying for us to stay at a hotel afterwards. The small luxury is why this is one of my favourite places to visit when we go on tour.