Chapter 6

Jongin sighed as he walked down these familiar streets once again. They had stuck together as a group for at least ten minutes before they decided to split up.

Jiyong followed Senguri.

“You’re back once again,” He said while smiling.

Senguri turned around to face Jiyong.

“Already figured out the answer?”

Senguri hesitated before answering. “Curiosity.”

Jiyong chuckled. “Your friend said the same thing the last time,” he said in amusement, “Yet you’re scared. It wouldn’t be strange if you’d back down. Its common sense even if you’re not scared.”

Senguri raised an eyebrow. He admitted that if one thought about it logically, common sense was a good thing. But here, nothing was logical so it’s probably better to do things without common sense.

“So what brings you here?” Jiyong asked with a smile.

“I think you already know the answer.”

“I just thought you you’d spill it if I asked. You’re here for TOP aren’t you?”

“Is TOP is Choi Seunghyun? If he is then yes,” he replied.

“Who knows,” Jiyong replied.

They stood there in silence for a while without saying anything to each other.

Usually with Senguri’s cheerful and outgoing personality he would be the one to initiate a conversation, but now he was nervous and wanted to tread carefully. “His parents are worried.”

“I see.”

Was it ever this difficult to keep a conversation going?

“Why are you doing this?” Senguri asked.

“What?” he asked with a smile.

“Making people join your gang.”

“You wouldn’t want to join us?” Jiyong asked.

Now, that definitely caught him off guard.

“Do I have to believe that you were a polite and a nice and serious student before you joined the Zutters?” Jonghyun asked when he noticed someone following him.

“Me?” followed by a short laugh.

“That’s the only thing Hanbin and Seunghyun seem to have in common.”

“They’re both pretty good at rap,” Key replied.

“When I ask your parents how will they describe you?”

“Something sent from hell,” Key laughed.

Jonghyun laughed because he believed it was a joke, but he felt unsettled “Do you believe that yourself?”

What if it wasn’t a joke?

Another short laugh.

“Is that why you left your home?” Jonghyun asked. He didn’t know why but he believed all of them had walked away from home.

Key laughed. “You know, you should really stop. You’re not gonna get any of us in jail.”

“I will.”

Key stopped laughing; his almost always present smile was gone. He wanted to say “try”, but he knew the person opposing him really would. He also knew that Jiyong feared that he would succeed. He knew Jiyong feared for the other members in the group. He knew that by provoking the person in front of him, he would put his friends at risk.

Jiyong would do everything to protect them. He would sacrifice himself to make everything stop and Key couldn’t let that happen now.

“You finally stopped laughing,” Jonghyun said with a smile, “You’re afraid you’ll end up in jail.”

“Nah, I couldn’t care less,” Key smiled again, “But then you’ll be a hypocrite.”

“Why would you say that?”

“Because you’ll destroy a family,” Key said before walking away.

Jonghyun was slightly surprised. He had thought that Key would have challenged him, telling him to try or something like that. He was surprised that that his answer seemed to be thought through. He had always thought Key was stupid. Well he was wrong.

“Taemin wake up,” Jongin said in a playful voice.

Taemin stirred but kept his eyes closed.

Jongin smiled. He still found it hard to believe this kid could do any harm. “Taemin.”

Taemin opened his eyes lazily then they widened in realisation. “You.”

“Yes me.”

“How do you know my name?”

“Your friend’s father told me.”

“Oh,” Taemin replied, but he didn’t seem happy. He actually looked kind of nervous.

Jongin studied the boy. He couldn’t understand how this person could heartlessly destroy other people’s families or harm their lives. “Taemin, can you tell me how you became part of the Zutters?”

Taemin turned to lie on his side, his back now facing Jongin.

“Taemin, I just want to understand.”

“Stop saying my name.”

Jongin blinked “I’m sorry could you repeat that?” Jongin asked, not sure if he heard correctly.

“Tch,” Taemin scowled.

Jongin smiled. “Please?”

“I said stop saying my name.” Taemin said, annoyed however there was still a hint of nervousness.

“Why?”

Taemin scowled again.

Jongin couldn’t help but feel curious whenever he was near the boy. He wanted to know everything and when he got a little bit of information, it just called upon more questions. He just figured that he would never ever get any answers. Wait, had he ever asked which number the boy was? “If you’re one of the Zutters then what number are you?” Jongin asked with a bright smile that could probably charm all the girls in the world.

The boy didn’t reply.

“I’ll stop calling you Taemin, Taemin.”

“Three,” Taemin muttered.

“Three?”

“The number after two,” Taemin said in annoyance.

Jongin was shocked. He couldn’t believe that this boy only had two people above him.

“Surprising?” Taemin smirked.

“Yes it is. I thought the higher numbers would be a bit older,” Jongin said, still sounding surprised. He seemed to be forgetting that every one of the Zutters he had met so far hadn’t been much older than himself.

Taemin grimaced. He had broken the rule Jiyong had set; he had given them information. He only did it because he thought it was less risky for Jiyong if people knew his number rather than everyone know his name.

Jongin studied Taemin’s expression.

It was a mixture of anger, confusion, fear, annoyance and doubt.

Jongin chuckled at how easily he could read the boy’s emotions, it was written all over his face. But at the same time he thought that doubt and fear did not belong there on that beautiful face .

“Will you leave me alone now?” Taemin asked, annoyed.

“Hmm,” Jongin pretended to think about it, “No, don’t think so.”

Taemin scowled again.

“Why don’t you tell me about yourself?” Jongin asked.

“No,” Taemin replied instantly.

“Tell me about your leader then,” Jongin said, ignoring the cold tone of the boy.

“No,” Taemin said, voice filled with venom.

“Did you run away from home?”

“Leave me alone,” Taemin said angrily.

“Do you think your parents miss you?” hoping to at least get some answers if he stirred up some emotions.

“Leave. Me. Alone.” Taemin said through clenched teeth.

“What do you think your parents would say if they heard you have become a gang member?” Jongin continued.

“Leave.”

“I’m not going to. Not until you answer some questions.”

“I’m not gonna.”

“Then I’m not leaving.”

Taemin stood up, planning to leave.

Jongin also stood up planning to follow Taemin to wherever he was going.

Taemin got annoyed and turned around to face Jongin. “Just leave me alone! Why can’t you just mind your own ing business?” he yelled.

Jongin was startled by Taemin’s sudden outburst. He stared at the pretty boy in front of him. He looked extremely angry, annoyed and… hurt.

Suddenly he kind of felt bad for trying to rile him up.

“I’m sorry,” Jongin apologised.

“Is it really that fun to purposely do things I hate?” Taemin continued.

Jongin didn’t know what to say. He didn’t know that the boy disliked him that much. Then again, he had never pestered anyone that much in his life until he met Taemin.

“Sorry,” Jongin said again.

Taemin glared at him. Taemin always thought was in control of his emotions. He always believed that he was in control of himself and he never ever felt this lost; not once since that incident. But now here he was in front of some boy from some rich family who doesn’t seem to know the least bit about respecting other people’s privacy, in front of a spoilt brat who probably did not know what it meant to suffer. And he lost control. He had gotten angry.

Jongin’s chest clenched as he looked at the boy who glared at him. In a usual situation he would probably find Taemin's glare kind of cute, but now was not a usual situation. His eyes literally showed hatred; one that you would see when you threatened someone important to them. If you looked a bit further, there was a hint of distress one would see in a wounded animal that was trying her best to protect her cubs.

And Jongin saw that.

The emotions attatched to that glare were a lot deeper than the 'Oh, you annoy me' or 'Don't tease me' type of glare.

He really didn’t know what to say.

He didn’t know what to do to make the boy in front of him believe that he doesn’t mean to harm them.

“I don’t want to hurt you or any of your friends,” Jongin said genuinely. “I don’t want you guys to feel threatened by us.”

“Yeah and we’re not supposed to feel threatened by your friend who is trying to send us to jail,” Taemin said sarcastically.

“I’m sure Jonghyun would understand if you spoke to him,”Jongin believed in his friends, and he also believed that the Zutters would not have done anything that would warrant them in prison. Their reputation of never killing anyone was because they were good people, he believed.

Taemin didn’t reply. His eyes stung, but he wasn’t crying.

He was feeling too many things at the same time that he knew he wouldn’t be able to formulate a proper logical response.

Jongin took a step towards Taemin. He pulled the boy’s head towards himself and hugged him.

Taemin’s eyes widened in surprise, but he didn’t push Jongin away, nor did he return the hug. He just stood there limply.

Jongin rested his chin on Taemin’s shoulder and spoke softly, “I’ll never hurt you. I know you don’t trust my friends, but please… trust me.”

Taemin’s heart started beating faster. He hated this feeling. It scared him.

Feeling safe scared him.

A/N: I'm so sorry that I took so long to update. I was going through a rough patch and then I didn't have time. I typed this chapter in a hurry so if there are mistakes, please do tell me. 

And did you guys watch Day6's debut MV? They were so amazing!!!

Anyways, hope this chapter didn't disappoint.