Warnings: Violence.

chapter xv. | enough

The sun was disappearing, the skies above them succumbing to the embrace of the evening. But even the darkness couldn’t hide the furious gleam in Hanbin’s eyes and it made Hayi want to shrink away.

She wasn’t afraid of him; she never been, not when she was his confidant and every bad and embarrassing fear he had was something she knew very well. Others may fear him, but to her, he’ll always just be an ill-tempered brat.

But right now, this belief was starting to lose weight because that boy she had known had turned into a man before she knew it, and he was now capable of things that she wouldn’t think of.

“First, you let him do whatever he pleases—calling you his girlfriend or whatever,” Hanbin said with an angry wave of his hand. “And now, he misses Hanbyul too? Okay, so does he already know my mother too, Yi? Why don’t we just invite him to a ing picnic with our families or something?”

His sarcasm was biting and Hayi cringed at every word of it.

The thing was that she understood where he was coming from. Hanbin was very protective and especially when it came to his only sibling. He would do anything for Hanbyul. So what she did without his knowledge was outrageous and she couldn't fault his brother instincts for going haywire.

Guilt-ridden, she said nothing. She tried to free herself instead.

Hanbin wasn't having it, however, and pulled her until she was tripping into him, their noses almost touching. His hot gaze rained down on her.

“Cat got your tongue, Yi? I was asking a question. Why aren’t you answering?”

If he wanted to get a reaction out of her, it worked because suddenly, she erupted.

“Just shut up!" She wrenched her wrist back. "I’m sorry, okay? What else do you want me to do?”

“Well, apparently telling you to stay away from that won’t work!”

“Screw you, Hanbin. If there’s an here, it’s you!”

He scoffed. “The thanks I get for trying to look out for you—”

“I don’t you need your god damn protection!”

“You just don’t understand! How dangerous this guy could be!”

“—the one I need protecting from is you!” continued Hayi, before hushing her voice. “I mean, who’s the one making me feel like now?”

Hanbin stopped still.

“Jaewon has done nothing but make me feel better. Even if it is to embarrass me and tease me. And even when I begin to doubt him because of what you said to me, he answers my questions. What do you do, Hanbin? You do the exact opposite. You upset me, you confuse me and worst of all, you push me away. You keep me in the dark.”

By the time she finished, his jaw slackened. The wounded look on his face made it seem like she slapped him across the face, but no, her words seemed to have brought more pain than any action could. He stepped away from her.

Hayi was surprised. She expected a fight but the fire in his eyes were already gone.

And so did her own anger.

“Hanbin," she mumbled after. 

It was startling. How he was able to transform from an intense haze of emotion to a mere shell of himself so quickly. His gaze fell to the ground, empty and dull. He looked utterly lost that it didn’t make Hayi feel any better. Whatever bitterness she felt ebbed away until only a ball of worry was left.

His wellbeing had always been her priority.

With a cautious step forward, she called for him again. He still didn’t say a word. Not for a while until she pulled his sleeve and he looked at her again. That's when she realised he was looking, but not really seeing.

She felt her head tip back, fingers landing on the back of her neck. She shivered.

Hayi was about to question him when the words died in , disbelieving at the vivid emotion she discovered in his stare. It caused a ripple inside her, soft but tangible, as his lips covered hers. That was probably why she didn't push him away.

A deal was still a deal and Hanbin was hurting.

Most of their kisses had always been frenzied and fuelled by anger, but this time, Hayi felt nothing but sadness. When their lips meshed, it was slow and unhurried. What he felt seemed to steep so into her own lips that she couldn’t help but feel it take over her own being.

He broke away not too long after.

“I’m…”

His voice was husky with torment and it stabbed her but before she could say anything about it, the sound of a vibrating phone crushed the moment. Hayi felt her heart plunge, Hanbin only hesitating a second.

Ignoring the expression on her face, he forced himself to grab the device. Phone calls couldn't be ignored, not in his case. The name Rose flashed on the screen and he knew Hayi saw it.

“What?” He croaked after pressing the phone to his ear.

The voice that resounded from the other end was so loud, he winced. The frown between Hayi's brows deepened.

“You’re needed, like right now."

“Why? The hyungs are out.”

“Oh, I don’t think you’d want to miss this, B.I.”

As soon as she finished the sentence, Hanbin heard the phone being passed before another voice came on.

“Hanbin." It was Seunghoon. "Come over. Now."

“Hyung?”

“We’ll be expecting you.” And then the call ended.

Disturbingly enough, the urgency in their voices was definitely not his mind playing tricks on him.

A small hand landed back on his arm. He found Hayi peering up to him worriedly, a tint of curiosity in her eyes. Guilt consumed him before he even opened his mouth.

“I have to go,” he forced out.

Her hand dropped away in an instant. He expected it but it still stung.

She looked away. “Okay.”

It wasn’t okay and she definitely wasn’t okay either.

After this bitter episode, it was an awful time for him to leave when they should be reconciling. But Hanbin had sworn an oath to come at every beck and call of his hyungs. This was expected of him since day one.

He couldn’t risk disobeying. Not even for her.

Since then, Hanbin wasn’t stupid enough to miss how Hayi increased the distance between them. It was inevitable that he could only accept it, especially now that things have taken a turn for the worse.

The reason for that urgent phone call was very justified that Hanbin couldn’t tell if Hayi’s estrangement was truly worse. All he knew was that the following days felt like a blur in the face of the anxiety and stress he had felt.

Everything was over and it was just as Mino as feared. Now the only thing left to do was his end of the bargain and to deal with consequences. He just couldn’t believe his luck.

The gravel under his shoes crunched loudly, garnering numerous eyes on his person and few devious smirks here and there. The attention was daunting but he never let it get to him.

He wasn’t scared of them nor was he scared to defend himself if needed, though that served to be the last resort if the situation called for it.

“So,” a voice from the crowd called once he stepped into the clearing they were in. “You’re B.I, right?”

The abandoned shipyard they were in was perfect for the confrontation taking place. It was private and had lots of room, if not a little eerie with its deteriorating state. Even the unfriendly crowd that eyed him up and down was fitting.

The person who spoke then separated from the crowd, though it wasn’t hard to distinguish him when his imposing presence set him apart from the others. His cool voice also had command.

Hanbin ignored the sweat that gathered on his forehead. “Yes.”

The man Hanbin had never seen before curved his mouth into a smile. He reminded Hanbin of Kiseok though he looked a lot more laid back despite what this meeting entailed—which was still unknown to him. Not that it mattered anyway because Mino said this was his punishment. 

Alone without his hyungs, he had to respond to the invitation that only asked for him and him alone. Even if his hyungs wanted to help, they could do nothing but obey though the request itself was suspicious.

Still, Hanbin was given a task and that was to try and sway them for one last time since the news was dropped on them.

He screwed his eyes shut, and took a breath. “You should re-think this.”

He wasn’t one to grovel on his knees for anything so this was difficult, but he was the one who landed them in this situation. For Jay’s gang to cut the alliance with them after what went down in that party, this was surely his fault.

The man sighed in what sounded like pity. “Look, kid, this is out of my hands. It’s not up to me.”

Hanbin hardened his expression. “Then who is? Jay?” He had only heard about the man but has never seen him. In fact, when he came here, he had a splitting thought that this man may be Jay, but obviously not.

What he said caused a couple of laughs. The man went back to smiling and simply shook his head.

That was when Hanbin reached his limit. He had enough. They weren’t going to change their mind and deep down, he had alread