I just updated yesterday, so if you haven't read the previous chapter, you can do so first! :D

’Move your family as far away as possible before something dangerous happens.’

“What’s this?” Junmyeon furrowed his brows as he read a text he received from an unknown number. It came suddenly as he was having some light conversation.

Jongdae leaned over in his chair, reading the text. “Looks like someone’s giving you a warning. A tip-off, if you will.”

“What’s that? I want to see,” Hyejin croaked out from her bed, trying to sit up. Seungwan pushed her back down.

They were all in the hospital, in the same ward as Hyejin had been in before. It was almost amusing how she ended up in the same place twice, all in the span of a few days. It had only been, what, a few days since her discharge after the kidnapping? Chanyeol was getting more aggressive by the day.

Sehun was in the room next to hers, refusing to speak to anyone. The doctors diagnosed it as a post-traumatic stress reaction, but the three of them knew better. Hyejin felt a little guilty keeping Seungwan in the dark about everything, but seeing how risky things could get, it was best to leave her out.

 “Should I take this seriously?” Junmyeon questioned, his eyes never leaving his phone screen.

Seungwan, who was sitting on Hyejin’s bed, sent a look to the said girl. It was only then when she remembered that the both of them assumed Junmyeon was in a gang and being threatened. It seemed like such a long time ago, when the both of them didn’t know any better. When they didn’t know the situation was something so colossal.

He called the unknown number and put the phone up to his ear. Everyone watched with bated breath as his frowned deepened further.

“This number is no longer in service,” he revealed, putting his phone down.

“Why do weird things keep happening?!” Seungwan finally snapped, looking around at all her friends. She kept her voice to one of an angry whisper as to not disturb the other patients in the room. “First, the school got caught on fire, which Hyejin so conveniently got caught in. We got kidnapped about a week ago and guess what they asked us about. You two! I didn’t say anything because I wanted to figure things out for myself, but nothing adds up!”

Everyone froze. All of them were unsure of whether to create another excuse like they always did, or just tell her the truth. But they couldn’t just tell her! Tensions were running high especially at a time like this. Chanyeol was poised to attack more than ever. One wrong move would cause more trouble than they could handle.

“Hey, we talked about this, remember?” Hyejin put a hand on her best friend’s shoulder. “Junmyeon’s not in the mafia. It was just a family thing with Chanyeol. As for the fire, I was at the wrong place at the wrong time. I was going to the toilet when it all happened.”

“Then what about them questioning us when we were kidnapped?”

No one had an answer to that.

“Whatever,” Seungwan hissed, hopping off the bed. “I guess it doesn’t matter if I’m your best friend or not, because I know you’re keeping secrets from me. Do you think I’m dense? I’m sure that the three of you here are leaving me in the dark on purpose.”

Jongdae stood up. “Seungwan, it’s not what you think-”

She cut him off with a wounded glare. “It’s exactly what I think. Talk to me when you guys are ready to tell me everything.”

She left the room without another glance back. Hyejin knew that her friend was hurt; they never kept secrets from each other. Until now. However, Seungwan being mad at her was still a thousand times better than her getting hurt.

“We can’t tell her,” Hyejin blurted out after a few moments. “Not now. Maybe after the whole thing blows over, we can reveal everything. But it’s too dangerous right now. We can’t make any excuses either. It’s too obvious and she knows too much.”

Jongdae was still staring at the door where Seungwan had left through as he replied. “But what can we do? Chanyeol will hurt her either way. Her knowing everything won’t make a difference.”

“But have you ever thought that Chanyeol might have been the one to warn Junmyeon about moving his family away?” Hyejin suggested, drawing attention from the two boys. “Who else would know about that? Mr Park wouldn’t have leaked that information to anyone else.”

“Are you for real?!” Junm