A few days later I was in the grocery store trying to decide between white bread or whole wheat bread when I felt someone watching me. I turned

around to see Jongup squinting at me.

“Uh hey Jongup. What’s up?”

“Hey, Jenny. I thought that was you. But my eyesight is pretty bad so I wasn’t sure.”

“You don’t wear contacts or glasses?”

“Nah I’m too lazy.” I wasn’t sure how to respond to that.

“Uh ok. Anyway, what are you doing here?”

“I’m here to pick up some chicken eggs for my pet snake and some regular groceries. Apparently, eating McDonald’s everyday is bad for you.” I wasn’t

sure what part of that I wanted to address first. My first impression of him was someone a bit unapproachable and a bit intimidating but I guess he’s

actually just quiet and a bit eccentric. He spoke up while I was still trying to formulate a response.

“Are you almost done grocery shopping? I want to talk to you for a bit.”

“Um yeah sure. I’m ready to checkout. We can go to that nearby park to talk.” After we both checked out, we headed to the park.

“So what did you want to talk about?”

“I heard Sunmi already talked with you, but I had a few things I wanted to say and I was also curious about some things.”

“Alright. Go ahead.”

“I know why you ran away. It makes sense. But I think you need to understand why he was so hurt.” He took a deep breath.

“Before he was in BAP, he was basically a slave for TS. I don’t know how that ended up happening. I didn’t ask because that’s not my business. But

anyways he was just a kid. So he’s always wary of trusting people and so it takes a lot for him to let someone in. But once he does, you can count on

him no matter what. He is honestly one of the best guys I’ve ever met.”

“Why are you telling me all this?”

“We aren’t like Daehyun and Youngjae or Yongguk and Himchan. But I think me and him are pretty close. Both of us were the last ones to join the group

so maybe it was natural we became close. Zelo is like a brother to me and after you came the real Zelo showed more and more. He was happy. But

after your escape attempt, he started closing himself off again. The other guys said that if this goes on he might revert to how he was when he first

joined.”

“Thanks for telling me all this. Zelo is lucky to have friends like you guys. Alright I’ll talk to him properly ASAP. This Cold War is pretty tiresome anyway.”

“Thanks Jenny.”

His pocket started to vibrate. Jongup pulled out his phone.

“Hello?” While he took the call, I noticed that he had the Gucci phone case with the snake on it. That’s so expensive. He must really like snakes. It

looks like a….coral snake? Is that right? Is the deadly kind red, black, yellow or  was it red, yellow, black?

“Sorry, I have to leave. Will you be ok getting back by yourself?”

“Yeah, I don’t have long to go. I’ll see you later.” I walked back home rehearsing various scenarios on how the talk could go. When I got home, I found a

note from Zelo waiting for me.

Will be back around noon tomorrow. We need to talk.

                                   -Zelo

P.S Don’t forget to feed Mochii

I guess I wasn’t the only one tired of this Cold War. After putting away the groceries, I made myself some chicken nuggets and tater tots for dinner.

Mochii and I watched tv while we both ate dinner. After cleaning up, I headed upstairs to call Sunny.

“Hey how are things over there?”

“Still cold but we’ll work it out soon. Can you do some snooping for me?”

“Snooping? That’s my favorite hobby.”

“I need some info on The Silvers or TS for short. I don’t think they’re an average gang.”

“Roger that. I’ll have a complete report for you in the morning.”

“Thanks Sunny. I can always count on you.”

“What would you ever do without me?”

“I don’t know. You know I probably wouldn’t be the same person I am today without you, right?”

“Whoa where’d this sappiness come from? Did something happen?” So I told her about my talk with Jongup.

“Man, that’s some tough stuff. I’m glad he got out and found people who really care about him.”, she said when I finished.

“Yeah, I am too.”

“Well, I’m gonna start researching TS. Talk to you soon.”

“Bye Sunny.”