pacemaker [p. jisung]

사십칠; 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙮 𝙨𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣

if there was anything jisung hated more than headless rubber chickens and soggy fries, it was the fact that he was dreading to go to school and face the very person he now considers as a mortal enemy.

to make things even worse, jeonhae hasn't been speaking to him either, leaving the poor boy to stress in his misery. whenever jeonhae was chatting with his friends, she'd seem just fine. but as soon as he joins the group, jeonhae would either pretend he's a ghost or make up excuses to leave.

not to mention that everyone has no idea what's going on, not suspicious about a single thing and believing every single excuse jeonhae gave them, even if it was "i had to take care of the nurse's sea urchin" when the nurse herself despised sea urchins or "i have to change my uniform because the next period is physical education" when there wasn't any meetings for the next two months.

and that was basically it. for the next few weeks, jeonhae has been avoiding, or at least has tried her best to avoid, jisung. both parties didn't like how things were going, but what could they do? as much as they both hate to admit, they felt vulnerable. jeonhae, feeling small because lives are on the line and if she decided to go against just once, it's the end for them. jisung, feeling little because his father is making him do things he doesn't desire. 

every day, or at least every week, kang seri would come to jeonhae to check up on her little "puppet". the said girl's eyes would dilate and gulp at the very sight of seri, reminding herself every single day to follow her orders, like "get me a can of coke" or "send these papers to the teacher's office".

whenever jeonhae felt like rebelling, seri would act quicker and show her the video of beomgyu working at the store, diminishing any bad intentions from the female. before leaving the classroom when jeonhae's errands were completed, seri would give jeonhae a villanous smirk, satisfied that jeonhae still follows her orders.

[a/n: pretend that seri is ha eunbyeol bcs honestly, she radiates a bit of eunbyeol energy with the whole "ju seokhoon is mine" ruckus :'D]

jeonhae was sick of seri making her feel inferior, like she was nothing. but what can she do about it? well, in the meantime, nothing. she could only wait, patiently waiting for time to tell.

did you really think all her friends didn't notice? you're wrong, if that's the case. the first person to notice was renjun, given that he was also a spy under training. the said boy picked up her behavior the day they came back to school after the weekend.

just like jisung, he felt that she wasn't her. there's something missing, judging from the way she walks like a zombie, the way she would speak, the way she easily plastered a fake smile, or maybe it was the eyes.

mark and jaemin also noticed, but they thought she was under the weather so they just shrugges it off as if it wasn't a big issue. meanwhile, jihyo, daeyoung, jeno, donghyuck, and chenle weren't suspicious of anything. so sadly, only renjun and jisung understand the situation.

the boys have tried finding jeonhae, running around the school in hopes of seeing the girl with shoulder-length hair somewhere, but she was no where to be found. she had left early, not wanting to meet anyone at the moment. she wanted to be alone for the time being, making sure that she'll be able to calm down before coming up with a plan.

the first person on her list to save is beomgyu, knowing that the male had no idea on what is happening. jeonhae thought of ways on how to protect him as soon as she came home. the girl entered the bathroom, taking a quick bath before plopping herself on her bed.

she took a piece of paper, a pen, and a blue highlighter with her. jeonhae uncapped the pen, starting to write a bunch of nonesense she could do. she was really out of ideas right now, wondering where the old, smart, fearless jeonhae went.

it was like in a flash, she became a totally new person. and she's willing to retrieve the old her back, as soon as she possibly can. after much crumbling papers and nearly breaking her stationary many times, she felt like giving up, and ryu jeonhae NEVER  gave up before. 

the girl sighed, mindlessly grabbing her phone before opening her gallery. it was filled with pictures of her and her friends, bright smiles on their faces. what a shame it would be if any of them were to die. jeonhae continued to scroll through the many pictures, watching every video and analyzing every face.

she didn't even realize the tears running down her face, not until youngheum knocked on the door. "hey sis, are you alright in there? i could hear sobs coming from your room.." he trailed off.

jeonhae quickly wiped her tears and sniffed, "yeah, everything's fine here. i just...stubbed my toe really, really hard ad it was so painful. sorry if i worried you" she said in a sheepish tone. youngheum could only sigh before continueing to go to his room.  

jeonhae took one last look at her phone before making up her mind,

you've got this, jeonhae! let's go save your friends, one by one.

[a/n: writing skills hv gone rusty and i'm not sure what to do :/ going on semi-hiatus again after publishing + another birthday curse

hAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE ONE AND ONLY KIM JELLY YOUNGHOON ! :> ]

~ 𝗺𝗷🧸✨

published on 08/08/2021