13: I Don't Care

“Jung…Gaeun?”

I was surprised to see Gaeun at the café where the Witch and I were supposed to meet. I did not see this coming but…I think I have an idea of what that woman wants to happen between me and Gaeun. Ha! She’s really a sneaky one. To think that she would actually leave us alone in this place.

“L-sunbae.”

My insides are actually trembling right now. I thought this would be easy, but I’m getting really nervous. I should try to calm down. “Umm…hi,” I greeted as I took the seat in front of her. I can’t believe this. I’m really alone with Gaeun. She’s really sitting in front of me right now, with her usual blank expression and dark aura.

“Did eonni ask you to come here as well?” she asked with her low and eerie voice. All I could do was nod since I was kinda tongue-tied at the moment. “Do you know why?”

What should I say? WHAT SHOULD I SAY?!

Well, I do know the reason why. But it’s not like I could tell her the reason. It’s a bit embarrassing to just say ‘Oh, Jung Gaeun, your sister knows that I like you so she set us up on this date.’

“I…a-actually…” Dammit! Don’t stutter! “I…don’t know…”

She sighed softly. “Eonni is really weird.”

Yeah. She’s definitely a weirdo. And unpredictable. She goes from shy to scary to cute and then…

Wait…why am I talking about that Witch inside my head?! I’m in front of Gaeun!

“Yeah,” I just nodded in agreement. “Anyway…since we’re already here, would you like to eat something?”

I looked at Gaeun but it seemed like she wasn’t really paying attention, like her mind is elsewhere. Now that I can see her face clearly, I noticed that she looks a bit like the Witch. They both have milky skin and their facial features are almost identical, except for the eyes…and…

…the lips that I’ve kissed…

DAMMIT! WHY DOES THAT THOUGHT KEEP POPPING UP IN MY MIND?! THIS IS MY MOMENT WITH GAEUN, DAMMIT!

“Are you okay, sunbae? You look disturbed by something.”

I immediately stopped thinking of those stupid thoughts and focused back on Gaeun. “Oh…uh…haha. I’m okay. What about you? You seemed distressed by something, too.”

“Yeah. About that, can I leave first?” Gaeun suddenly stood up and bowed her head. “I have to look for eonni.”

“Wha—wait!” I stood up as well. “What do you mean? Why would you look for her?”

“She told me not to tell you, but things don’t look normal…” She placed a hand around her chin and stared blankly at the glass window. “I have a feeling she went after N-sunbae since she kept looking at the direction where his car was heading to.”

What is she saying? Who’s N?

“I was on my way here when I saw him talking to the other guys before they got inside the car,” she continued. “Then eonni suddenly came out of the café…hmm…”

I don’t understand anything. I’m confused as hell. And I’m also surprised to hear Gaeun talk this much ‘cause she seemed like a woman of few words.

“Oh!” She suddenly snapped her fingers, as if she just figured out something important. “I remember seeing something in N-sunbae’s hand. It looked a lot like…my black notebook…”

A black notebook, huh? It’s really unusual for someone to have that kind of notebook as well. As far as I know, only me and Gaeun have…oh…!!!

“Are you telling me that…HE HAS MY NOTEBOOK?!”

My loud voice made everyone stare at me, but Gaeun just remained poker-faced. “After putting everything together, I think that’s the case. It also makes sense that the notebook was yours since Jieun-eonni went after it.”

I gawked at her as I tried to process the situation. So my notebook is currently in the hands of a stranger.

And the Witch went after it without considering the danger that could happen!

She’s CRAZY.

“Wait…you mentioned a name earlier.”

She nodded. “N-sunbae. I know him because he was a popular student at Jellyfish High, where I studied during middle school. We’re both from the countryside. Judging by the uniform of the guys he was talking to, I guess he goes to Excelsis High now.”

“Umm…uhh…” I found myself pacing back and forth while trying to think of something. “Do you know any way for me to contact him?”

“Not really,” she replied. “But I think I know where he’s heading off to. It seems he has become popular around this area, so a lot of people talk about this place where he hangs out with his friends. They kinda marked it as their territory. Although I’m not sure if it’s the exact place since I only heard it—“

“Tell me!” I requested right away. “It’s worth trying!”

“Okay.” Gaeun nodded as she took out a paper from her bag and started scribbling. “But be careful because…

…they’re a gang.”

~~~~★★★★★★★~~~~

-Jieun’s POV-

What kind of place is that?

It looks like an underground dance studio. But it doesn’t look like people still use it to practice dancing. In fact, it doesn’t look like a dance studio anymore. There’s a couch, a television, a table filled with snacks, and some other things.

Anyway, I’m currently hiding in the pile of boxes just outside the door. Thankfully, they left it open and they weren’t able to notice me following them here. I can’t even believe I made it this far.

“So…how do we open this thing?” one of the guys asked Hakyeon as he observed Myungsoo’s diary. Tsk, that traitor. “It looks like we have to type a password.”

Hakyeon shrugged. “Then let’s type anything related to L.”

He knows Myungsoo? What is he, exactly? What are they?

There are six of them, and I think they all come from Excelsis High based on their uniforms. Also, they look like models because they’re all tall and good-looking. I feel bad for praising them because I consider them as enemies but I can’t deny the fact that they’re handsome.

“Aish! I tried everything!” the tallest guy with a cute, baby-like face shouted out in frustration. “It still won’t open!”

“Let’s hide it for now,” Hakyeon suggested as he took the diary from the cute guy. “I’ll try to figure it out somehow. The girl whom I got this from probably still doesn’t know that I took it. She also seems to trust me so I might be able to get the password from her.”

HA! Think again, Cha Hakyeon! You just got busted. You won’t be able to fool me, you liar!

“Do you really believe that woman, hyung? How did she get L’s notebook in the first place?”