29: TURNED TABLES

//

6:07 P.M. // 10 - 28 - 2023 // Arc - Club Streets Auditorium

Starring Serene Goldwin

Featuring Junseo Park, Avil Daniase, Parker Glass and Dean Harvest

//

I could have had the stupidest look on my face at that moment, and I wouldn’t have cared if I did.

“Hi everyone. My name is Jun.”

Wearing a plain white shirt that revealed a defined and athletic body, simple jeans, and a confident smile, he was like a star. How hadn’t I noticed him earlier?

His arms extended out in confidence as if he was opening himself to his audience without a single secret in sight. “I’ve noticed that many of us have personal connections to our desired destinations,” he began with a strong and smooth voice, buttery and enticing to everyone, woman and man alike. The words were effortlessly projected across the room making me wonder how much experience he had with public speaking. “However, I think venturing into unknown areas is far more interesting, exciting, and memorable than places we may already have been to.”

Jun boldly pointed a finger into the crowd, making a few random girls gasp as his attention flitted across them for a mere second. “In other words, I’d like to support Avil Daniase’s adventurous idea to go to Maine for a few more reasons than what he said.”

And not only did he make my eyebrow raise, behind me two people stood up as a wave of both excited and confused muttering overtook the room. The quick turnaround glance I gave to the girls behind me made them sit back down immediately, their faces shocked and mesmerized by something that had barely begun.

How did Jun make such an impact in the thirty seconds he had been on stage when Avil didn’t even get a single honest clap from his convincing advertising? I thought about it for a second, then came to a conclusion.

It was because he was dazzlingly hot. The smile probably helped. Even if I couldn’t see his stat window I knew his Charisma was at least in the 30s to 40s range, or even higher.

I breathed in, glad to have more support. But why did Avil want to go to Maine in the first place? Jun and I were both informed on events to watch out for by the 55th Serene, such as the death of a certain Dean Harvest character’s grandmother. On the other hand, Maine was probably just as unappealing to Avil as it was to us if we didn’t have any incentive. So… it wasn’t my problem anyways. Why did I even care?

I heard someone snort somewhere to my left and leaned forward to identify them. However, I didn't see anyone out of the ordinary, so I returned back to my regular position.

Oh wait, how did Jun know that the grandmother was in Maine?

“To start,” Jun said and I looked back up to him, “Maine is actually home to one of the largest collections of demonic Artifacts, most of which are located at the Bellowing Fires guild impressively ranked 43rd worldwide and the fourth largest Preservarium base.”

He paused for a second for everyone to digest what he said. From the little worldly knowledge I had, I knew that Bellowing Fires was a guild known for their important disaster containment and relief works highly related to demons, and the Preservarium bases were government operated monster research sites that also functioned as zoos.

It was a well known fact that government workers in monster or mana related fields made loads of money in compensation for their ‘risky’ and ‘stressful’ work environments, and it was also well known that most of that were total exaggerations. It’d been a couple decades after the initial pandemonium, so there was more or less nothing to worry about. Most of the research was actually done by specialized guilds and companies.

With all of that, I understood why Jun decided to mention the Preservarium, being a great job prospect and all, but Bellowing Fires? Wasn’t that guild associated with real danger?

Looking around I wasn’t surprised to see a split crowd, a few people muttering to each other, others completely entranced by Jun.

Jun spoke again, and like bees and flowers everyone immediately turned to him with interest. “I’m honestly pretty fascinated with things like these,” he scratched the back of his head as if he was nervous, “and I’m sure that I’m not the only one here who shares this sentiment.” I caught the eye that strayed in my direction. Clucking my tongue, I made sure not to look away in case anyone else also saw his fleeting glance towards me; I would rather not know how many people were giving me disgusting looks.

“Going on, I actually would like to share something else with everyone here,” I noticed a change in his tone. His eyes seemed to sparkle and shake ever so slightly, and I could barely make out a sheen of sweat on his forehead. Jun’s arms, which he had spread out just earlier, faltered inwards. Though still wide out it didn’t express that same confidence that I had worked wonders, and clearly I wasn’t the only one who felt this sudden change. “Come to think of it, I think you guys will be the first to hear about it… umm…”

The whispers and murmurs overflowed.

“Oh, poor Jun.”

“C’mon, we won’t judge!“

“—it’s okay! Guys, let’s—”

“Don’t worry—“

“Please, don’t be nervous.”

“We all understand—”

“Quiet down, everyone,” I coughed loudly. “Let him speak.” Surprisingly, people nearby actually heard me over the noise and heeded the words. Beside them their confused friends also quieted down, and others nearby, noticing the sudden change in volume, also quieted. Like a wave effect there was no more noise that Jun couldn’t speak over.

Still, he hesitantly opened his mouth. “Well… sorry—”

“Don’t be sorry, Jun!” The girl behind me called out, and I promptly flung my arm over the back of my seat. Turning to her I put my finger to my lips.

“Shut up.” I glared at her, and she flinched. “It’s not your turn to speak.”

As I turned back I waved my hand at Jun, a sign for him to continue.

“… alright, I’ll say it.” A quick breath in.

“A dance studio in Maine saw a… a choreography video that I posted. They said they wanted to film something with me.”

The gasps did not come fast enough to cover his next words.

“They wanted to support my debut into the idol scene.”

We made eye contact, which he then averted towards somewhere up at the ceiling, then somewhere down at his feet as he smiled sheepishly.

“What?!”

“Oh my god. He looks so cute.”

“—didn’t expect that!”

“—where are the videos? I wanna—”

It was that same feeling again. That surprise that I felt when he said his name on the stage.

“That’s so cool!”

“—but it’s in Maine.”

“—then what’s he doing at Arc?”

“Jun’s totally a natural—”

The next two minutes were a blur. There was excited talking all around, Henry trying to calm everyone down, watches out with text apps and forums on, videos being filmed, Jun looking back and forth between me and somewhere else, myself blankly staring at him. News like this was going to spread like a wildfire.

And then we were all sitting as Jun began talking again. “To be completely honest, I only planned to attend Arc for two years, and sorry for announcing something like this right now. Especially to you, Henry—”

“Don’t worry about it, man,” Henry said simply, “keep going. I think we’re all interested to hear what you have to say.”

“That’s a shame—”

“I’ll miss seeing his face.”

“—I’d love to watch the filming—”

Look at me, Jun. Why did you never tell me this?

“I think most of the filming will be at a public park, so people can technically watch—”

“Kyaaaaaaah~!!”

“Really?”

“Oh my god he’s so cute…”

“Dude, stop drooling.”

Jun.

“Hey.”

Why didn’t you tell me?

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

“Junseo Park.”

What kind of a friend—

“What kind of bulls*** advertising is this?”

Surprised, I turned my head to the source of the sneering words. The speaker was standing obviously, a guy with a black hoodie, almost ghostly pale skin, and one hell of a handsome but unsettling face. A few people turned around to bite off the audacious speaker’s face. “Who—”

The guy’s voice was oddly powerful despite an almost whisper-like quality to it.“You know you’re quite manipulative, Junseo. Care to explain how talking about your ‘debut’ is relevant to convincing us why we should go to Maine?”

The expression on Jun’s face changed again. Now a more perplexingly neutral look had taken over. He had heard the newcomer loud and clear.

“What do you mean—”

“How dare you!”

“—mean-spirited jerk—”

“Rather than giving us straightforward qualities of Maine,” he raised his voice as more people began trying to silence him, “you’re trying to appeal to us with your face and body? Isn’t this basically just a shameless self-promotion?”

The mood in the room was starting to change, and as sudden as Jun had taken the spotlight now it was being reversed on him, though in a much more suspicious manner. Oh, man did I know how fast rumors could be made and their violent results.

I swiveled back to Jun, and bit my lip. Say something. Anything that can help.

But he made no noise. No, he was instead vaguely staring at the crowd in front of him like it was his first time doing a presentation. The edges of his eyebrows dipped as his lips stretched thin. It didn’t look like he was breathing properly.

Fully expecting more from the table turner, I stood up abruptly to confront him, but then I realized he was no longer focused on shooting down Jun. Rather, behind him was a familiar person. The face of a meek puppy-turned-human, a head of desaturated green hair, I knew immediately that I was looking at Dean Harvest.

Dean’s eyes were large with shock and what I recognized to be anger as he leaned over the chair in front of him, whispering something into the hooded guy’s ear. Inspecting him further, I noticed a slight tremor in Dean’s hand.

“—thought that he was being honest…”

“I can’t believe—”

“Is Jun even real?”

“Now that that guy said it—”

“I told you!”

“—has to know about this!”

“Are you texting her?”

“—catch in on video—”

“—never even liked him.”

This had to stop.

“Who even cares?”

“—can’t be bothered to—”

“—born a chronic liar.”

“Come to think of it…”

“Uggh.”

“—like, Maine? Are you kidding—”

“Can we just vote now?”

“—wish he would just shut up.”

I reached beneath my shirt and pulled the gun out of the holster.

—CKKK

“Serene!” Henry was the first to react.

Then almost instantly a wave of noise and agitation spread throughout the room. The safety was off.

Staring up to the horror of the girl behind me, I couldn’t be bothered to listen to all of the people repeating my name over and over again like it was some kind of curse.

“There’s no use in beating around the bush,” I said to no one in particular as another tide of distrust and anticipation washed over everyone while I fiddled with the bullets in the magazine.

Confidently I stuffed the bullets back in with a loud and crowd silencing CLACK!, then strode to the stage. The palpable feeling of Jun’s confusion and possibly disbelief rested behind my ears and on the back of my head.

My eyes twinkled as I glared daggers into each and every person I swept across.“If Maine is voted as our destination, I will give each person a $4,500 allowance.”

…

The fencing club’s room was quiet and cozy, and the couch I sat on was soft and cool, a perfect relaxation temperature after moving around. A rug and large table in front, a couple chairs scattered around, lockers to the right where the entrance was. From the wall to my left was a curtained window which streamed in sunlight, and by it hung the rack where most of the handheld equipment was. The box of armor and other miscellaneous things below, motes of dust in the air and on some surfaces as if the room wasn’t regularly cleaned.

It didn’t surprise me that Ced, who I leaned against with my eyes half closed, smelled nothing like sweat.

He was a little flustered. “I just finished practice. You sure that you want to—”

“It’s okay. I don’t mind.”

A clock ticked somewhere above me, softly and gently. His body was dense and warm, each muscle like carved stone and was uncomfortable to a degree. With my ear against him, I could hear his heartbeat. I didn’t feel tired.

“Ced,” I murmured.

“Serene?”

“Nothing.” A strand of my hair fell over my face and tickled my nose. Brushing it off with a lazy finger I accidentally touched Ced’s side, and his heartbeat quickened.

It was quite peaceful, being all alone with him. Oddly enough it was when I was with him that the words of the 55th Serene were silent. I hoped it would remain that way.

I knew it couldn’t.

“Hey.”

“Yeah, Ced?”

“I like you.”

“What’s the correct answer?” A grin crept across my face. I knew something was going on.

He chuckled easily. “It’s, ‘me too’.”

“What do you want?” He always danced around the bush.

Gladly he took the opportunity to answer me. “Can I go with you next weekend? For the Travel Club thing?”

I closed my eyes. I…

Didn’t know.

I didn’t know if he could go. Not with all that I was planning to do. Not with my murderous intentions which I so desperately wanted to hide from him. I didn’t want to look at him, but still felt obliged to give an answer.

“Ced…”

But… there was something in me that stirred. I didn’t want to give him the correct answer. I wanted to give him my personal answer. Traveling with him was something I knew I wanted to do. And it wasn’t like I was going to go alone. Fanny and Jun were along with me as well. I could trust them… I hoped I could trust them.

“Yes.”

Another silent moment passed. I felt his warm breath against my face, and it smelled like the minty tea I had bought for him before his practice session. I felt so good.

Maybe it would be better if I let myself forget all of the 55th’s words when I was with him.

“Serene.”

“Hmm?”

“Can I…” he paused, “can I call you Sera?”

With a blunt shake of my head, I pulled back to get a good look at him. He wanted to call me by a pet name now, huh? I giggled, and he looked slightly confused.

“It’s because it sounds too close to Reya, dummy,” I explained. A blush on his cheek told me that he was very conscious of me. It was the same with me as well, except my eyes were clear. “Wanna come up with something else, then?”

He huffed. Lately I’d been noticing that his mannerisms were changing. He didn’t say dumb things out loud anymore. I think I liked it better this way. “You first, then.”

“Hah.”

“Can’t think of one?”

I turned, now facing the door, and then fell back on him. I propped my legs up on the couch’s armrest. “Ced is cute enough.”

“Come up with something better.” There it was with those dumb thoughts again. And playful eyes…

I thought for a moment, deciding how I was going to entertain him, and smiled. “Ceddy?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Cedo.”

I could feel him shake his head almost exasperatedly, like he hadn’t expected much to begin with. “No?”

“What if I just called you Cedrance?”

He sighed almost melodramatically. “Didn’t I tell you I thought my name was weird? Ced is so much better.”

“Yeah, yeah, teachers and other kids alike raise their eyebrows when they hear your name, mhmm. And now you’re telling me to find a new nickname for you.” I tilted my head upwards and blew in his face to annoy him. “How about, Stupid?”

“How about, no?”

“Jumbo.”

“I’m not—”

I kicked one leg up. “You’re 6 feet tall or something, Jumbo.”

And then another idea popped into my head.

“How about Cedar?”

“Are you calling me dumb as a tree now?”

I shook my head. “No, you’re just dumb.” His grades were higher than mine.

“I can’t think of anything anymore.”

Ced’s body shook as he began to laugh.

“What.”

“Nothing, nothing.”

Ughh. I looked up again and threw my arms upward. I grabbed his cheeks, but without much cheek fat to grab onto I settled for his neck, and then pulled myself up and onto his lap staring straight up into his face as I held him by the back of his neck staring down at me.

“Pinecone brain. Stupid. Jumbo.” I stuck my tongue out. “What do you mean you don’t like ‘Ced’? I do.”

He was definitely blushing a violet color, and struggled to make words out with a panicked, way-too-cute look on his face. Once again I pulled him down, which he didn’t resist, and I kissed him on the cheek.

Ced made noises like he was crying for air as I let him go, and just as I was about to laugh at him he pulled back. It was my turn to feel hot in the face as he smiled so adorably at me, bashfully daring and preparing to make the next move.

As he leaned in closer to me, the door suddenly opened and startled us both.

There stood Michael, still half in equipment with his helmet beneath his arm as he gaped at us. I realized what he looked like.

“I-I’m sorry,” he stuttered, possibly more embarrassed than I was, “I’ll just go—”

“Wait!” I yelled at him, standing up quickly and walking towards him with intent in my steps. His dark skin was coated in sweat, but I swore all of it froze the second he turned around to me with wide eyes. “It’s not—”

“—what you think?” He said alongside me, and I felt my pride shrivel. “You think this is my first time hearing that?”

“Michael,” Ced called his name from behind me, now standing up. Was that really how red my face was?

Why did that matter at all?

“Don’t tell anyone about this.” Ced had a loud voice, and Michael’s face shifted twice: once to confusion, the next to understanding. He nodded, and I had a sudden awareness of what was going on.

“Yeah, yeah, I won’t,” Michael glanced nervously at me. “But I think I’m gonna go now. Tell the team that, uhh, Coach called and he don’t want us back for at least another twenty minutes. That good?”

“Perfect,” Ced affirmed. “Thanks, bro.”

“No problem, man, but you owe me your soda next practice,” Michael hurriedly finished his sentence, looking back down the hall towards the gym area. I could hear a few voices approaching, and again I realized what was going on. “I’m gonna go now.”

True to his words he booked it back down the hall, and a few loud exclamations later both from Michael and the other guys, their voices disappeared as the glass door closed behind them.

“Ced,” I muttered blankly. “I think we should get them a cake.”

“Yeah. We should.”