I walked down into the basement and to the room at the end of the stairs, where Jaemin was supposed to be practicing.
"Jaemin?", I poked my head into the room, "The others told me to bring some mochi down for you..."
Jaemin looked up at me from one of the punch dummies. He had sweat all over his forehead and some of it was brushed into his hair, too.
Even though he'd been working out all afternoon, he still had a big grin on his face.
I awkwardly held out the plate of mochi for him to take.
"Thanks", he smiled.
"N-No problem", I said quietly.
I looked at the punch dummies.
"Why do you practice all the time?", I blurted out.
Jaemin looked at me. I don't think that he was expecting such a random question from me.
"To get better", he replied.
"But the others said that you're the best one on our team"
"Did they?", he chuckled as he took a mochi out of its wrapper and popped it in his mouth.
I just nodded and kept my eyes fixed on him.
"C'mon", I crossed my arms and leaned in the doorway, "There's gotta be some reason why you're so dedicated"
He just shook his head and took another bite of mochi.
"Jaemin, you're knuckles are literally bleeding", I said, "People don't normally put that much work into something for nothing"
He looked at his knuckles and back at me.
"So...?", I raised my eyebrow.
"Why are you so concerned, though?", he smirked.
"I'm not concerned", I looked at the ground, "Just...curious, that's all"
Even though I wasn't looking at him, I could tell his eyes were still fixed on me. I looked back up and we just stared at each other for a few seconds.
"Jaemin?", someone else walked down the stairs.
It was Ryujin. She shot me a look when she saw me.
"What's up?", Jaemin looked at her.
"I was just checking in", she said with her eyes fixed on the punch dummies that were still swinging around.
We were all quiet for a bit.
"Um", I started, "I'm gonna head back upstairs..."
Jaemin and Ryujin just nodded.
I couldn't help but think of Jaemin for the rest of the day.
What was he hiding behind the smiling face of his?
I was starting to get desperate. I wanted answers so badly.
