bad chemistry

twenty - eight

Jungwoo parks at the parking lot of the police station as he rushes inside to the swat team unit. A few members have already left the area like Jaemin, Renjun, and Chenle. Minhyung is out eating dinner with his friends as Jisung is furiously typing on his computer to finish a report. Jungwoo arrives at the office and quietly hesitates on whether he should enter or not. But a voice interrupts him as Donghyuck asks, "What is your business at our office?"

He is carrying a cup of hot coffee as he approaches the older, as Jungwoo smiles politely, "I was wondering if I can make a report."

"Well, you would need to make that report at the police station, not the swat unit here."

"I want to know why Jeno-shi is with Minju."

Donghyuck sighs to himself as he knows about Jungwoo's behavior as Minju mentioned it before when she was in their office often during her training days. He opens the door instead and lets Jungwoo follow inside as Jisung looks up confusingly from his desk with his disheveled hair. Donghyuck sits down at the desk with his legs crossed as Jungwoo stands in front of him.

"I believe that's personal information that the swat unit cannot release."

"Well, I need to know what's going on because I'm well-aware of the situation that happened a few days ago regarding Jeno-shi getting hurt on duty. So as Minju's guardian, it would be best to know why my friend is hanging out with someone who is in danger."

Jisung bites his lip quietly and turns his head back towards the computer, typing furiously once more as he sends a quick message to Minhyung and Jeno about the situation. Jungwoo taps his fingers against his hip impatiently as Donghyuck knows he is not supposed to give out information to someone that is not relevant to the case. "I am given orders to not speak of the incident because you are not biologically related to Minju-shi."

"Can I place a report that my friend is going to be danger as well if she is around that ticking bomb?"

In a flash, Jisung dashes to Donghyuck and Jungwoo as Jungwoo's collar is grabbed instantly by the officer as Donghycuk angrily raises his fist in the hair. Jungwoo does not falter one bit as Jisung pleads as he holds onto Donghyuck's fist to stop him, "Hyung. No."

"I swear if we weren't in an office and you weren't so fucking annoying, you don't know what I'll be doing right now."

"And threatening a civilian is a duty of a swat team officer?"

Jisung apologizes instead as he manages to pry Donghyuck's hand off of Jungwoo's collar, "He's been kind of sensitive these days. The officers are watching over Minju noona so that she wouldn't fall in danger so don't worry too much about it."

Jungwoo straightens his shirt briefly before turning to face the youngest as Jisung is doing his best to calm down Donghyuck. "If anything happens to her, I will report you all for not protecting her...and for threatening my life."

-

A snicker can be heard as Minju slowly finds herself waking up from her sleep. They managed to keep themselves in the same position, which must have been for a few hours. Minju rubs her eyes gently to wake herself up as she quietly stares up at Jeno, who is still fast asleep. But soon again, she hears another snicker from afar as she tries to find the source of it. Jeno soon then wakes up as well when he starts to yawn, and Minju finds herself staring at Minhyung and Chenle standing near the doorway as she widens her eyes while being in fluster. She sits up quickly as Jeno whines a little to lay back down.

Chenle's loud laughter echos through the room and Jeno's eyes shoot open in an instant as he recognizes this laugh. Minhyung is laughing along as well as the two on the bed both look away from the pair in embarrassment. She turns her head towards the window where Renjun is leaning against as he speaks up, 'Wow, you really couldn't handle sleeping on your own bed."

Jeno groans loudly as he knows that this will be the talk of the century for a while. Minju stands up from her position and rushes towards the bathroom in embarrassment as Chenle continues to laugh without stopping. Minhyung crosses his arms and taunts the younger, "So what happened to not being interested?"

Jeno rolls his eyes as he sits up carefully and leans against the bed post. He looks over at the three before hiding his face behind his hands. "We were just sleeping."

Jeno mumbles as he continues to not look at their eyes as Renjun shakes his head in response to this. Chenle manages to find his composure before clearing his throat to calm down. He then asks brightly, "So, you really needed some privacy?"

"Shut up guys!"

—

The next days was a busy timeline for Minju as she would stay over at the hospital with Jeno during the night and would go to her shoots in the day. As tiring as it was, she found it safer than her own home without any protection. Especially, she wouldn't want to go home alone without Jeno's presence. Jeno felt the same as the members all rotated on their shifts to watch Jeno during the day, and Minju would be with him at night. They never really mentioned the kiss between the two as they both were not able to understand how to describe their feelings for one another.

But often times, Jeno would find himself talking with Yeji as she kept trying to visit him. He ended up throwing a huge fit, and Jisung had to ultimately request the nurses to make Yeji stop visiting them.

Minju walks towards the hospital room once more as it is now evening time. She passes by the nurse stations and hands one of them a bag of bread and milk to reward them for their works throughout the day. Also, she wants to make sure that there is no rumor spreading about Minju visiting the hospital way too often. She adjusts her black cap once more before smiling at the nurses and heads her way towards Jeno's room.

But someone is already awaiting for her as Minju grunts to herself in annoyance when she finds herself standing in front of Yeji, who is sitting down on the bench near Jeno's room. As if she knows of an approaching presence, Yeji shoots her her head up and stands up to greet the other. Minju rolls her eyes annoyingly before walking up to Yeji as she rudely asks, "What the hell are you doing here?"

"I still love Jeno."

"Well right now he has no interest."

Yeji crosses her arms and tilts her head to the side as she scoffs in response of Minju's attitude. Minju visualizes the image of Xiyeon that is being portrayed in Yeji's character which makes her even more furious. Yeji rapidly twirls her hair within her fingertips before asking with a questioning tone, "Do you think Jeno will like a celebrity? Will the public accept this relationship?"

Minju is slightly taken aback as she never really thought of anything of the public that involves of their relationship. Yeji knows of the weak spot that celebrities would date in secret as she then adds onto her statement, "I work for an entertainment, and I know the life of secret dating. Jeno isn't the type to stay quiet with a relationship..although after his accident, I'm not sure if he can fully understand his own emotions. He also places work before love actually, and he wouldn't be able to focus on you at all."

Minju takes a step forward as she glares at the other in disgust as Yeji smiles an annoyingly smirk to agitate the actress even more. Yeji leans over and quietly whispers against Minju's ear to asset her dominance and knowledge of Jeno, "He will show his feelings since I know he isn't able to express it properly. But he won't look for a relationship because he's a workaholic. And especially, he wouldn't want to date a celebrity that always gets into trouble."