CHAPTER 14: RETURN

The first thing I did after returning to the headquarters was to head to the CEO’s office. The secretary in the lobby glanced at me curiously but bowed at me as a greeting as I rushed pass her. I was in such a rush I didn’t really even realize to greet the young woman back. My mind was flooded with worry for my sister. I couldn’t have showed my fear back in the coffee shop but now that I had left Yikyung behind, I was terrified, I needed to talk to my father-in-law. I needed help and advice.

Fortunately, the man was in his office and didn’t have anything urgent to do or attend right then. He was quick to open the door for me after I rang the door chime. He looked concerned, which wasn’t actually any surprising. I hadn’t really visited the office very often, not to mention by myself. And this was my second time in the last two days. The man invited me in and told me to sit down on the sofa. I did as I was told and let out a deep sigh. I had been walking, running even, like someone was chasing me. It was nice to get to sit and breathe normally now.

“What is the problem, Aeri?” the man asked, sitting into the armchair opposite to me.

“It’s Yikyung”, I said. “I revealed that I’ve decided to step down from my mission.”

“And?” the man raised his eyebrows.

“She didn’t take it very well”, I stated, tilting my head. “I think I’m really in trouble now. And I’m afraid she’ll target my little sister next.”

Mr. Kim frowned, massing his temples. “That woman’s behaviour really worries me. But be assured, child, you’re safe here. This is your home now, and we don’t kick people out very easily. And what comes to your sister… she will be welcomed here too. But the problem is, how do we get her out of the tunnels without creating any suspicion?”

I nodded at the man’s words. He was right. Chanmi would probably be under strict supervision and control from now on. Yikyung had probably informed everyone in the tunnels about my betrayal and made sure Chanmi wouldn’t be able to leave the tunnels unsupervised. My thoughts lingered to my unit but I knew they all probably thought exactly same as the others – I had turned my back on my gang. I blew out a sigh. I had cleared one problem by confessing my wrongdoings but now a bigger one had arisen.

“Do you have any ideas?” my father-in-law asked.

I shook my head. “No. I’m sure my sister will be looked after very carefully.”

The man nodded. “That’s right. Our next step is to come up with a plan. How do we get your sister out of the tunnels?”

My first, insane, thought was to call the police. But if we were to do that, I’d lose the whole world I had grown up in, the tunnels would be permanently shut down and my friends would end up in prison. Not to mention the suspicion the police would get after we’d reveal the gang in the tunnels – how did we know about them? Further research would reveal the corporation’s criminal connections too and we’d bring ourselves down as well.

In that moment, we were both at lost, we just couldn’t come up with any ideas. I felt restless as I exited the office and returned to the apartment. Only Bin was there, everyone else was somewhere else, on a mission or out doing something else.

“Hi”, he greeted me first.

“Hello”, I sighed as I threw my back into the bedroom and fell down in the living room’s sofa.

Bin glanced at me. “You look a bit troubled.”

I turned around to look at him. “How can you be so relaxed? You just found out I’m a traitor and a liar!”

The boy shrugged his shoulder and sat next to me on the sofa. “Because you did the right thing by confessing and telling the truth. I don’t think of you as the enemy but the victim.”

I sighed. “Do you pity me?”

“No”, he replied right away. “My opinion on you hasn’t changed at all. You’re a feisty one, the scariest noona I’ve ever had. Even scarier than Miyeon.”

I chuckled. I had to admit this boy had the skill to make me feel better anytime. He kind of reminded me of Jinwoo. They were both pretty serious most of the time but when they happened to feel more relaxed and outgoing, they became free-spoken and even funny in their own way. Bin also seemed to be a very good friend, just like Jinwoo was to me and the whole unit. Bin was the one who kept this unit together when Myungjun was having hard time. They seemed very close.

“Do you know what I think?” he asked.

I raised my eyebrows at the boy.

“I think you need something else to think about. I’m going on a mission soon. Do you want to join me? I kind of feel that you miss the missions”, the boy offered.

I felt myself brightening up the exact moment. “Can I come?”

“Of course”, he said. “I know you’re used to a bit different missions, though. This one will be just making sure our area is secured and there are no trespassers.”

I nodded. “I will come!”

It was almost funny how such a small thing made me feel better immediately. The mission would probably be quite peaceful and relaxed but at least I’d get something else to do than just sit and sulk.

After eating some snacks and changing our clothes, we headed out to the streets of Gangnam. It was a chilly Thursday evening. It was pretty much the middle of February, and very soon the winter would step aside and let spring take over. But what surprised me the most, as I thought about it, was that it had been just a couple of weeks since I had come here. Time had gone by so slowly it felt like many weeks or even months.

As we walked silently, turning into an empty alley to make sure it was actually empty, I came to think about the incident we had in the coffee shop with Myungjun, Eunwoo and Sanha. Myungjun had mentioned Bin to Eunwoo and made him angry. I glanced at Bin. I usually wasn’t the overly curious type but since I had no idea these two boys even knew each other, I really wanted to know more.

“Uh”, I started awkwardly and Bin immediately turned to look at me. “Can I ask you something?”

“Sure”, the boy replied, shrugging his shoulders.

I held my breath for a short moment before opening my mouth. “I happened to hear something and became very curious… Do you perhaps know Cha Eunwoo?”

Bin stopped walking suddenly and it almost looked he became a statue for a second. I stared at him as he turned to look at me in shock. “Did Myungjun tell you?”

I felt myself blushing for an unknown reason. “No”, I stated. “He and Eunwoo ran into each other and Myungjun mentioned something to him. I just thought I’d ask you.”

The boy let out a sigh. “We used to know each other when we were younger. We went to the same school for years.”

My eyes widened. “Really? I didn’t know Eunwoo had any friend outside of the gang. Did you stop contacting each other after middle school? In our gang we’re home-schooled after middle school.”

“I know”, he said like it was the most obvious thing ever. “We went to different ways around the time he changed his name. Calling him Eunwoo isn’t very natural for me.”

I blinked my eyes. Eunwoo’s birth name was Lee Dongmin. He had never really used the name so it surprised me Bin even knew about that. Lee Dongmin was the name his father had given him but once his father was killed when the boy was just 2 years old, his mother started calling him Cha Eunwoo to protect his identity. Eunwoo wasn’t entirely sure about the situation either – he had been very young. Anyhow, his name hadn’t been officially changed until he turned 15. In the gang, he was Cha Eunwoo. In school and outside world, he was also Cha Eunwoo. He had revealed his real name only to few people. Knowing Bin was one of them, they must’ve been very close.

“Why did you part ways?” I asked.

“We just happened to do so”, Bin replied, and I sensed his voice started to get lower. He started to get annoyed, even angry. I didn’t want that, not at all.

“I’m sorry”, I apologized. “I just got curious.”

“Just don’t talk about him again, please”, Bin stated and continued walking.

I tried to read his expression but failed. His face was back to his cold cat-like face he had when he wasn’t smiling. I felt a bit bad, I had no idea what had gone wrong between the two boys but there was definitely something. A part of me wanted to know, but I didn’t want to be rude so I decided to forget the whole thing.

The rest of the round around the nearby area went by quickly but peacefully. We didn’t talk much but there were no signs of intruders either. As we returned home, the rest of the unit had returned there as well. We ordered fried chicken and ate all together, and the atmosphere was a lot more relaxed than it had been in the morning. There was a conversation going on and we ate freely. Still, I couldn’t help but to glance at Myungjun from time to time. He had apparently been attending a meeting or something as he was wearing a suit. He had thrown the suit jacket away, loosened his necktie and ed the first buttons of the shirt so he looked pretty comfortable eating. He didn’t seem any different from usual – except for the fact he didn’t really talk straight to me. I wasn’t sure if it was a bad thing or not so I tried to ignore it and continued eating.

After dinner I took a quick shower and as I returned to the bedroom wearing my bathrobe, a towel tied up in my wet hair, I was surprised as Myungjun was standing at the door, leaning against the doorframe, apparently waiting for me.

“Hey”, I said and stopped at the door.

“Hi”, he replied. “I thought we should talk.”

I nodded and crossed my arms, walking into the bedroom and Myungjun following behind me. I wasn’t sure if I should be the one to talk, or him, and he seemed to be the same. We stayed silent for a moment that felt like hours. After a while it was Myungjun who opened his mouth.

“I’m sorry.”

I turned to look at him. “I thought I was supposed to say that.”

Myungjun shook his head. “No. You’re the one who did the right thing by telling the truth. I was an idiot because I got angry.”

“Well”, I stated and tilted my head. “That’s true. Let’s say it’s a tie. We were both at fault.”

The boy chuckled quietly and nodded. “Are you alright”?

“I guess so”, I shrugged my shoulders. “For now.”

He nodded. “Dad said something about your sister.”

I looked at the boy. It was just logical he’d tell his son but still I was a little bit surprised. “Yeah. She’s my main worry right now.”

Myungjun sat on the bed. “Don’t worry, dad will come up with something.”

I nodded slowly as I walked into the walk-in-closet of the bedroom, not caring about the fact Myungjun was still in the room. It was our room, after all. I closed the door behind me and dropped the bathrobe to the ground, changing into my pyjamas and then returning to the room. For my surprise, Myungjun was still there.

“I thought…” he started. “Maybe I could return here?”

I snorted. “It’s your decision. It was you who left in the first place.”

The boy chuckled. “Alright. I’ll get my stuff from Bin’s room.”

As the boy left the room, I gave a quick blow-dry for my hair before heading to bed. I wrapped the warm blanket around me, lying on my side and going through my phone. I was exhausted. The day had been long and I had experienced a lot. I had gone through a small fight with my friends, almost got beaten up by Yikyung, worried my head off about Chanmi and went on a mission with Bin. I closed my eyes. I felt like I could fall asleep immediately. Without even realizing, my thoughts wandered back to the morning, to the small incident between me and Myungjun. I felt almost worried about the fact that he had developed feelings towards me. How does one fall for someone this quickly?

I heard the door opening and felt someone walking towards the bed. I felt the mattress sinking down a little bit as Myungjun buried himself under the blanket. I was too sleepy to react, but when I finally slightly opened my eyes, I was about to jump off the bed. He was lying so close to me it wouldn’t have taken much effort for our faces to touch each other. My eyes widened and I tried to wiggle backwards.

“What?” he asked, raising his brows at me. “Do you think I’d actually do something?”

I sighed and turned to lie on my back, closing my eyes again. “No. Just sleep now.”

The boy chuckled but proceeded to put the lights out. I felt him changing his position on the bed and very soon I could hear him breathing very deeply in his sleep. It didn’t take long for me to reach the same state.