Interwoven ✔️

44~ Space Between Us

Felix's arm immediately slipped off my shoulders as he too straightened.

I spun on my heel to find Jimin standing a couple feet away. His features were smooth but I didn't miss the dark storm hidden in the depths of his eyes. Several trainees paused and stared.

"S-sir..." Felix blinked, obviously unsure of how to proceed.

I, on the other hand, met Jimin's gaze evenly. "I was showing him how to properly fire a gun... sir." I added the 'sir' as an almost afterthought. There was no way I'd be able to call him by his name in front of everyone.

"I don't see how hugging each other has anything to do with properly firing a gun," he retorted curtly. "If you must flirt with each other, have the courtesy to do it outside the training class."

You had to be kidding me.

"Y-yes sir." Felix stepped back as if to further show his understanding.

I didn't move and continued staring at Jimin, even when the trainer wheeled around and strode off. What the hell was his problem? Felix had literally half-hugged me for less than ten seconds. How did one get so ruffled up about that??

The rest of the training class I was painfully aware of Jimin's sharp gaze piercing the back of my skull as well as Felix making sure to keep a solid six feet away from me— like they did back in the old days when the infamous coronavirus was everywhere and everyone was social distancing.

When the class had ended I released a breath of relief and scurried to find Krystal.

"Number 24!"

I winced at Jimin's voice. Oh boy....

I'd just spied Krystal up ahead and she paused long enough to shoot me a sympathetic grimace before she filed out of the training room with everyone else.

I crossed my arms tightly over my chest as Jimin shut the door after the last trainee left the room, leaned against it, and gazed cooly at me.

I pursed my lips. The silence between us tightened and tightened and tightened, until it snapped. I snapped. "Oh come on. It was just a hug! Not even!"

"You did more than just hug him," Jimin snapped. "From what I saw, your hands were all over him."

"Well get some glasses then because I clearly told you I was just helping him pass the test."

"Really?" I gulped as Jimin began to prowl towards me. There was something about his movements that was absolutely feral as he drew closer to me. "Because I didn't need glasses last night when I found you very close to kissing some other guy!"

I almost bleated in fear when he stopped with only centimeters of distance between us and grabbed my chin into his hand roughly. There was something hard and unyielding in his voice and eyes that I'd never experienced before, and I realized he was still in his trainer mode.

I also realized how more and more this iron side of him was coming out. The playful, towel-turning-banana-teasing boy was becoming more and more distant from me. Slowly disappearing as the the trainer-side of him was always in demand now.

I gently wrapped my own hands around his wrist holding my chin. "Look, I'm sorry. I admit, I should've thought more about my actions."

Guilt prickled through me, chasing away the defensiveness in me as I tried looking at our current predicament through Jimin's point of view. I'd stubbornly argued with him so that I could come to the Capital Base and become an official trainee. And within 24 hours of coming to the base, I'd already gotten drunk out of my own mind and  had a close call with a boy.