bad chemistry

nineteen

Jeno manages to get her safely out of the room, as he lifts Minju up in his arms and dashes towards the rooftops so that she could get some fresh air. Jisung already has the production crew waiting a little longer as he tries to request some more time for Minju to rest before shooting again. Minju barely breathes as the pain in her chest is uncontrollable, as she holds onto Jeno for support. He safely places her down on the bench of the rooftop, before checking her pulse. Already known what to do, he hands her a paper bag so that she can start to breathing into it and finding her state of peace.

Minju frantically grabs the bag, and holds onto Jeno's hand during that process without noticing it, as she breathes heavily into the bag. The bag gets filled then scrunches back tightly, repeating itself as Minju finds her rhythm of breathing. After a few more times, she finally reaches to a point where the pain starts to disappear and everything starts to become clear once more. Jeno just stares quietly at her, and lets her hold his hand as if it's the only thing he can do for her.

She removes the bag from her lips as she finally inhales the fresher air around her. The sky is bright blue with no clouds surrounding the sun, and an airplane seems to slowly soar past the two as they sit like this without another word. Minju realizes that her hand is holding onto Jeno's and she slowly lets go as Jeno speaks up quietly which makes her jump, "I remember when we first met."

Minju smiles to the instant memory that pops into her head when they first met at the hospital rooftop. Back then, her memories were flooding with all the pain that she received from Xiyeon, and the same thing happens to her today. She frowns slowly after, when she realizes that as she tries to distract her with the plants around them. Jeno continues to speak mindlessly, "I can't feel anything. Sometimes I wish I can remember what pain felt like. It's the only thing that I miss the most, because then I know that I shouldn't do something against that pains me."

Minju doesn't reply back to what he says as he then hands her a water bottle that isn't chilled. She didn't even realize how dry her throat was, and how it burns like the desert sand against her throat. She remembers that she didn't even take a sip of water that Jungwoo offered her. Jeno then stands up as he places his hands inside his pocket, as he turns his back around and towards the door, "Drink that and come down so that we can finish. You still have a lot of training to finish after the shoot. I don't need you to faint on me right now."

She nods quietly at his comment, before she sees him disappearing after he leaves the rooftop. Minju takes a sip of the bottle as she remembers that Jungwoo confessed to her, but it didn't even sting her one bit. But the moment she let go of Jeno's hand, that's when she felt the most emptiest as she never really got a chance to feel how soft and gentle Jeno's hand felt despite always punching something....is she becoming crazy...or normal?

The set soon wraps up as Minju completes a few of the shootings early without any NG's. As the movie set starts to clean up their cameras and lights, Minju heads towards NC901 office to drop off some snacks for the other members. She carefully knocks on the door to see if anyone is inside, only to be greeted by only Jeno sleeping on the couch. She remembers how many times Jeno needed to show her how to do the tricks, not to mention to pretend to fall every time her foot was near him for the action shots. Minju realizes how tired Jeno must have been but he never complained once during the filming in contrast to his reaction. She tries not to make much noise as she was shuffling around the desks as quietly as she can in the process. Jeno still sleeps without even moving from his current position, and she is surprised to see that the other doesn't make any noise when he sleeps.

Behind her, Jaemin walks while whistling quietly into the room as well, and he notices the actress struggling around to place the snacks on everyone's desk. He whispers slowly to not scare her with his sudden presence, "Jeno seems to pretty knocked out. The rest of the members are eating dinner right now; you can join us if you want."