▲▼ CHAPTER 21 // BAD MEN

( A/N : Little cuss here and there. Read at your own risk. )

     Spinning your head backwards, you found yourself bumping to someone taller than you and you caught the familiar scent that he had to his body. You rolled your eyes as your lashes flicked upwards when you saw who it was. Daehyun let out an effortless laugh that echoed through your eardrums as he took a seat on one of the spinning stool right in front of the counter. You instantly took off your apron and your purse from the drawer of the counter, making your way to the nearest loo to change into your normal outfit. After you were done, you found Daehyun enjoying his brand new cup of coffee while talking to Jaebum as there was another one placed on top of the counter. "Are you guys together or what?" You heard mumbles coming from Jaebum as Daehyun flushed, shrugging his slump shoulders. "Even if we are not, you jealous?" Jaebum let out a slight chuckle of disbelief as he rolled his eyes a little, turning his back onto Daehyun and continued working. "Hey JB, I'm going off now. Update my morning shift card?" You hollered to Jaebum who was behind the counter, busying himself by entertaining the customers. He nodded, flashing you his enthusiastic smile before waving goodbye. Finally, you were ready to start of your day - technically. 

          Before going out the door, Daehyun handed you a fresh, steaming cup of Dirty Chai Latte. He showed you his infamous shrug and smiled, "My treat. You need some caffeine in you to start off your day officially." You gratefully took the cup into your grip. "You need to stop treating me these kinds of things. I'm not that poor you know." You then heard Daehyun's significant laugh, his voice changed to a much livelier atmosphere.

          Taking out the note from your pocket, you handed it over to Daehyun as he knew the town much better than you do so he was able to lead the way to the directed addresses given. The human traffic was surely unbearable and of course you had to stick together with Daehyun, sometimes even holding the sleeves of his shirt without knowing it yourself. The first address you went to was slightly further away from the town and it gave an excuse for you to slip in for cardio throughout the day due to the long journey. Surprisingly you found yourself standing right in front a huge two storey wooden house that was painted in shining white and a mixture of light brown paint to give off the country-like vibe to it. Walking up the steps, your heart pounded against your ribcage as the anxiety sips in. Daehyun saw your tensed expression as he gently took your shoulder, "Hey don't worry, relax." You nodded, taking small and steady breaths to recompose yourself. This time, a young man who was shirtless and seemed to be in his early 20s greeted the both of you through the door. He had a rather menacing stare and was very well-built with tanned, lean muscles by his arm and a wide, broad chest that stood out. Loud booming sounds coming from the inside of the house attracted your attention as it was followed with numerous squeals and screams from whom you believed, was a few teenagers.

          Sure enough there were a bunch of them who were enjoying themselves in a small get-along party. It took quite a longer time for the young man to settle down and to be asked a bunch of questions since he was antsy and he wasn't really impressed when you and Daehyun decided to barge in in the middle of his small hang out that was happening. Unfortunately, nobody was living in that house by the name of Chaerin or more specifically, your grandmother. As time goes by, you were losing hope on finding your biological grandmother and almost decided on giving up. "We're nowhere close to her." You mumbled under your breath, kicking a few pebbles intruding the way.

          Daehyun recognised the tone that you had and he knew he had to do something, maybe like consoling you. He too sighed a little as he placed his frozen hands inside the pockets of his coat. "Have faith, we'll find her in no time." He encouraged you on. "Trust me, okay?" You tilted your head towards him as you saw his eyes sparkling in the dark and the sides of his lips slowly tugging into a small, sincere smile. 

          There were 2 more addresses to go and you promised yourself to push on, hoping to find your grandmother by the end of the day. Seeing your exhausted state, Daehyun decided to take a break. The both of you arrived into a chic café that had beautiful light displays which instantly shines up the dark night and it was way different than any of the other café present in town. It had a beautiful huge clear glass door and window that portrayed the bustling traffic and the admirable city scenery. The interior of the café was colourful and was decorated with a variety of sticky notes onto the wall. "One Iced Americano and..?" Your lips were pursed as you settled your eyes onto the menu. "A Caramel Frappuccino Ice Blended." Your eyes went everywhere around the whole interior of the cafe. The sticky notes plasted onto the wall instantly lifted up the mood of the entire atmosphere.

          Curious, you stood up from your seat as your eyes travelled through the whole hallway of the café - more specifically the walls. Leaning closer to it, the sticky notes pasted onto the walls contained scribbles and even doodles which gave you the impression that they are not only for decoration purposes. It was really adorable seeing short messages and different drawings being written onto the sticky notes as they will be pasted onto the walls as a sense of memory. "Amazing huh?" Daehyun came right behind you, reading off the short messages from the sticky notes pasted onto the walls. You nodded, your eyes widened everytime you caught a glance of the decor on the sides of the wall. Sure enough, the customers of the café were mostly aged in their young adult years. It was a really vibrant café that still kept the chill vibe but having it's own twist to it which you really thought was mesmerizing. "What are these sticky notes for?" You questioned, handling into your grip after the other.

          Daehyun did the same too as he turned towards you and bat his long lashes. "Have you always had those moments of wishing your dreams would come true?" You pursed your lips tightly against each other as you remembered yourself vowing that you wished for a better life and nothing else. Slowly nodding your head, to muster your bravery and searched for the meaning behind Daehyun's eyes. "Or maybe just want to write down your thoughts?" Again, you nodded slowly as you saw the glint of sincerity in Daehyun's eyes. "Well you can write them down onto these sticky notes and just paste them anywhere you want in this cafe. It can be somewhat like a sweet memory of this place." You liked it here, you had to admit that. It seemed so cool and to you, magical. You had never bumped yourself to one of these places and you found it to be really peaceful and open minded which you enjoyed. "So inferring from your explanation, you've been here before?" You questioned Daehyun who was fiddling with the sticky notes onto the walls with his slender fingers. He nodded as you could catch the small, adorable smile that he had tugged to the end of his thin lips.

          "You know alot of great cafés." Daehyun let out a dry laugh as the both of you went back to your seats where your beverages were waiting. "I just happened to find out about them and they're pretty neat." You had to admit that Daehyun had a really good taste in finding these good cafés. "How are you?" You stopped sipping down your coffee as your eyes narrowed to Daehyun - more specifically his forehead.

          He had his eyes opened with curiosity and his hands balled up into a fist. Raising an eyebrow, you said in a questioning tone, "I'm fine?" Daehyun only let out a chuckle as he shook his head and raised his hands slightly which was then quickly changed to a much serious yet comforting expression. His lips were slightly agape from each other and his eyes were sparkling with worriedness.

          His laugh didn't mean to be harsh or rude but it was more of a disbelief. "I'm asking how are you, how are you. Because I know you're not and you're lying that you're fine." Those words hit you hard and finally, you understood what he meant. Again with your lips pursed, you directed your eyes else where as you pushed your head downwards, slowly taking small sips of your coffee. Your eyes were closed for a second and you thought to yourself, you couldn't get away with this this time. Daehyun had his eyes on you, waiting for your answer. You didn't know how you were supposed to answer him because sure as hell you felt terrible but yet amazed by the whole adventure that happened in your life currently. But saying that you were totally fine made it worst as it felt like you were betraying your ownself and most of all, betraying Daehyun's trusted words. You were just an ordinary woman from the outside that can instantly turn into a fragile and weak little girl on the inside which you were trying your very best to overcome it. You were utterly at loss of words.

          "Why do you care?" You weren't trying to act cold but it just came out naturally from the tip of your tongue. This time, Daehyun was at loss and he didn't knew what kind of answer would you be expecting to listen to. He fiddled with his hands and his eyes wandered everywhere around the table. He was worried, merely worried about your current state right after he knew what had happened to you before. Eventhough his mind was jumbled up, he can never stop worrying about you. Most of all, he wouldn't want you to end up in her situation - he wouldn't wished to lose you. "Let's just say I had the choice not to care but yet I took the risk to." Somehow it felt like a wave of electric current passed through your whole body and froze you. For as long as you knew, nobody ever cared about you.

          For as long as you lived, nobody showed their sense of care to you and to have someone that you barely knew like Daehyun to say that he cared, instantly brought butterflies in your stomach. Soon, silence took over the atmosphere as nothing interrupted your thoughts except for the breathing sounds exhaled. You didn't know how you should be feeling and how your reaction would be. Somehow there was this slight wave of relief washed over your body and you wasn't sure if you were suppose to feel good or bad about it. The both of you stayed in the café for awhile before it turned dark in the town. "Here, take a pen and write down anything you want." Daehyun handed you a yellow sticky note and a ball point pen. "Anything?" You asked, unsure of what you were supposed to write. He nodded and started scribbling a few words onto his own sticky note and when he was impressed with it, a genuine smile was seen creeping up and allowing his cheekbones to rise.

          Your hands were still frozen in it's spot with a pen in between your fingers. Sighing and pursing your lips together, you started writing the first few words onto the sticky note as the idea went through smoothly. When the both of you were done, you then travelled the whole hallway of the café and trying to find a perfect spot to paste it. Luckily there was enough spot for the both of you to fill in your sticky notes on the first section of the wall right beside the door. You were happy with the message that you had written down and you felt good about it. The both of you had promised each other not to take a peep on each other's sticky notes and you wanted to keep that promise. Before you left the café, there was a waiter standing right beside the door, behind the counter with a clear plastic container right before him. You noticed that everytime a customer leaves, he would reach his hand into the container and pass them an origami piece of paper that looked like an airplane.  

          Sure enough as you were walking pass him, he showed you a really kind and genuine smile as he gave you the piece of origami into your palm. Turning around, Daehyun got one too while the waiter bid goodbye. You fiddled with the neatly arranged airplane, eyebrows knitted together trying to understand the reason for him to give tons of these away. "What's this for?" You turned to ask Daehyun while he too, was fiddling with his own origami. "Keep that, you'll need it." He claimed, pushing your hand lightly near your purse as he urged you to keep it in a safe place. Of course you were still confused but you did what you were told and tried to figure out what he meant by it. Finally the both of you were off to the second address which was much nearer to the cafe.

          Trudging along the path to the house, Daehyun had to keep a decent distant among the both of you since he had to keep an extra eye out for you. The bricked path went deep into the other side of the town and there was a house placed in the middle of a really huge lawn. Unlike any other houses, this one seemed to be in a really bad condition as the exterior of it was rusted and broken apart. From afar, it seemed rather intimidating and eerie when it was accompanied by the dark night atmosphere. When you knocked onto the door, a middle aged woman greeted you with a welcoming smile. Her aura was very welcoming and a positive energy engulfed you. When she was asked about the presence of your grandmother, she denied and indicated that she bought this house from another woman which was believed to be related to your grandmother. Unfortunately, luck wasn't supportive enough as she claimed that she didn't know where the owner of the house moved to.

          You let out a frustrated sigh while the both of you walked your way back home. You insisted on going even further, finding the last address but Daehyun didn't want to take the risk to stay up all night since it would be too dangerous. The walk back home wasn't too far but yet you felt grateful that you had a company with you.

          As you were walking near the bound of the street back home, you heard soft murmurings and muffled voices which triggered your sharp ears. After the muffled voices then came a slightly angered voice. Daehyun heard it too and the both of you froze to your steps, hiding behind the pillar of one of the buildings as you saw almost 3 mens standing before Anthea's doorstep. All 3 of them seemed to be very furious and dangerous which frightened you, the butterflies in your stomach went wild and your mind tangled in different thoughts. You wasn't able to identify their faces since they had a hoodie hovering above their heads and the vision at night wasn't clear enough. You thought they were just a couple of youngsters who decided to play a prank in the area but their actions immediately shocked you. One of the men decided to lash out a huge piece of rock while he went further back to the other side of the street and hurled it through the upper window which you recognised as the bathroom. Your eyes widened and your body shook by itself as you saw the anger through their wild actions.

          They let out a maniac laugh after smashing the window followed by numerous loud punches onto the wooden door. "Do you know these guys?" Daehyun whispered, lowering his gaze as he kept his eyes onto the men. You shook your head vigorously, denying the fact that you knew them. "I've never even seen them before. What the are they doing here?" Your eyes widened with fear as it almost looked like it would come out of it's sockets any second and your tight jaw dropped to the ground. You were furious and terrified by their actions.

          Most of all, you were concerned about Anthea's condition inside the house. What if she had gotten hit by the humongous stone earlier on? Daehyun turned as he saw the fear in your eyes and the shook of your small body. He too was shocked and petrified after seeing how ruthless the mens were to do such rash acts to someone's house. If you were bigger and more courageous to confront them, you would have stopped their actions. Your eyebrows furrowed and eyes narrowed to their direction, hoping to get some of their detailed faces but to no avail. With their well built body and their voice, you reckoned that they weren't youngsters but more of adults who were in their mid 20s.

          After almost 10 minutes, the ruckus finally came to an end as the group of men decided to make their way down the street. You waited for a few minutes to trust your instinct to make sure they weren't going to come back. "I'll leave you here then." Daehyun called out as he showed a small smile at you, bobbing his head up and down before turning to leave you. Your mind and heart was in a million places and you bit your lip, pondering into space. With a clear voice you called out to Daehyun before he was gone through the misty night.

          "Send me to the front steps?" You were anxious, mostly scared that the bunch of guys would make their way to Anthea's house again and having Daehyun would at least help you to calm yourself down.

          He didn't even bothered to hesitate and take the time to give a thought but instead, he shrugged and nodded at you before sending you off to your front steps which totally surprised you. The walk to the front steps was a drag and you kept fearing the fact that the group of men would come out anytime to threaten the both of you. With all the negative thoughts that you had, you kept really close to Daehyun, bumping your shoulder against his and making sure he was always right beside you. It was surely a great relief after you had set foot onto the front steps, attempting to open the doorknob. Daehyun decided to wait till you would enter the house before leaving.

          Slow and steadily, you creeped into the dark house and turning swiftly behind to call Daehyun before he left. The ends of your mouth rose by itself, "Take care." You let the words escape from your lips smoothly as Daehyun flashed you his all time charming smile which would somehow create this tingling feeling inside your stomach without knowing it yourself and nodded goodbye.

          "You too, stay safe and I'll see you tomorrow." After walking a few metres away, he turned his head again to make sure you were safe inside before leaving back home.