thirteen
A Worth Obsessing Over
There was a deathly silence that thickened the already dense and heavy atmosphere. It was unnerving, spine-chilling, and Daehyun did his best to ignore it all by staring out the window. They had picked up the bag Junhong was forced to leave behind prior to his arrest and after taking a picture of its contents, he fell victim to the tension that filled the car.
“So I’m just going to say what everyone’s thinking.” Just when Daehyun was about to smash his head into the window, Chen stopped him from doing so by being the distraction he desperately needed. “Daehyun…you’re into…um…you‘re all up in…erm…” As luck would have it though, Mr. Too-reserved-for-the-nitty-gritty was having a hard time choosing the right words to convey what apparently ran through everyone’s head.
“Jeez.” So Luhan took it upon himself to finish his train of thought for him. “Are you gay Daehyun? Because I’m pretty sure you were as straight as a flag pole the last time we saw you.”
Why?! Why did this had to happen now?! Daehyun knew the question was going to come up sooner or later but he was banking on prolonging the inevitable as much as possible. With a heavy sigh and a shrug of his shoulders, the brunette decided to let them fill in the blanks with the vague gestures he had given. Too bad the blond wasn't one to let an uncomfortable topic go.
“So you’re bi?” The patronizing tone had died down into one of curiosity.
“Does it matter?”
“I wouldn’t be asking if it didn’t matter.”
“Well, I’m not gay.”
Luhan tilted his head off to the side in confusion. “So…you’re bi?” He reiterated himself as if Daehyun didn't heard him the first time.
“No.”
“Come on Dae!” Luhan threw his hands up in the air in agitation. “What are you then? Demiual, omniual, you-think-you-too-good-for-a-uality ual?”
“The last one doesn’t even make any sense!”
“It wasn’t supposed to make sense. Just tell me! I want to know.”
“Why do you want to know?!" He had already tore his gaze from the passing scenery at that point. "Why does it matter?!”
The vile mix of amusement and misguided frustration on Luhan’s face didn’t touch the older’s trying eyes. Daehyun had just about enough of all the questions, and as if god was watching over the ed up matter that made Daehyun want to choke a , the car came to a complete stop, which eventually ceased the pre-empting of yet another question.
“Go get the stuff Luhan.” One quick glance in the rearview mirror sent Luhan out the door before he could say another word. It usually wasn’t the boy’s job to get the said ‘stuff,’ seeing as he was the ‘I-don’t-do-a-’s-work’ type, but with how Kris’s eyes harbored a glint of something dangerous threatening to glare daggers, the blond followed orders to a tee. “Go with him Chen. He may need some help.”
And if the silence prior to their arrival wasn’t nerve-wracking enough, try adding Kris’s ominous stare into the mix. “So what’s going on with you?”
On that fateful night Yongguk ‘kidnapped’ him, threatened his life with a speeding car and out-right left him in the middle of the road, Daehyun was certain he was going to receive a beating of a lifetime when he wondered off into his old neighborhood. However, things happened, amnesty came out of nowhere and, for the most part, Luhan and the others didn’t see a reason to kick his anymore. It was strange at first but having someone, other than Youngjae, so concern about every single aspect of his life was refreshing. Kris sounded genuine for once and when his furrowing brows began to soften, it felt like the happiest, most secure part of his past really came to full bloom.
“It’s nothing.”
“You’re really going to pull that line with me?”
Daehyun interlaced his fingers over his eyes and leaned as far back into his chair as possible. It was out of both self-derision and self-loathing that got him heaving out a sigh. “I don’t know what’s going on with me anymore." He confessed. "I‘m making ed up decisions, I‘m doing things that are even more ed up than my decisions, and the mind-ery of it all is as worse as everything combined. He‘s just ing things up.” Fingers unwind as he flung his body forward with his elbows resting on his knees.
“That guy…he’s part of the basketball team, right?”
“Didn’t really guess you’d be the type to follow high school basketball.”
Kris cracked an imperceptible grin. “All work and no fun makesYi Fan a dull boy.”
Laughter erupted at the quote Daehyun had popularized amongst their little clique all those years ago. And to think, Daehyun assumed they had all forgotten about his little antics. “I can’t believe you just said that. I remember you'd get so pissed whenever someone so much as mentioned your real name. Remember when Tao was trying to win a staring contest against you and he just blurted out 'Yi Fan' out of nowhere. Your face was priceless.”
Kris rolled his eyes. “Don’t change the subject. Answer the question.”
‘Dang it’ And he was so close in derailing their conversation too. “Yeah…he’s part of the basketball team.”
“Ah,” The single syllable wafted in the air in what Daehyun assumed was Kris’s way of consuming the situation that was given. “I see.”
“ ‘I see?‘ That’s all you’re going to say?”
“What do you want me to say Daehyun?”
“I don’t’ know. Maybe ask those stupid questions Luhan was pestering me with.”
Kris redirected his attention on Daehyun’s reflection, a brow raised. “Are you gay?“
He grimaced. “No.“ And perhaps he shouldn’t have sounded so defensive. But when you have Kris staring you down with a question that rubbed you in all the wrong ways, it would be but a miracle for any man not to sound offended under such circumstances. “I’m straight.”
“Then there you go. There’s nothing else to question. If you’re straight…you’re straight.” Blowing petty issues out of proportion wasn’t Kris’s style. He was more of a ‘factual’ individual who relied on past circumstances to determine a person's character.
Luhan and Chen returned with a duffle bag shouldered protectively at their sides. Something heavy was thrown on Daehyun’s lap and upon realizing what it was, he shook his head fervently, spouting out a series of ‘no ways’ that widened his eyes.
“There is no way.” He repeated more forcefully this time around. “Guns?! This was a part of the objective too? Are you serious right now!?”
“Relax Daehyun.” Relax he says?! How could he relax!? These were guns he was talking about! Lethal and most likely illegal guns! “Its loaded with tranquilizers…not bullets. Are you crazy?” Who did he thought they were anyways? Murderers? “That prize money you want isn’t worth hiding a dead body.
Neither was knocking people out for the sake of an objective. “This is so ed up. I hate this so much!”
“You’re just lucky Lay hacked into that game’s server to check up on you. Knowing how you are, you’d probably get yourself into way more trouble if we weren’t saving your again.” But that was what friends were for, right? They spotted you money when you couldn't afford a sandwich, gave you a peppermint before you tried to sweet talk your way into a girl’s pants, and slept with her obnoxious and ugly excuse of a bestfriend just so you could experience the best of your life. It was the bros code.
And it was because of that code Daehyun wasn’t swimming up creek at that very second.
They got to the abandon warehouse where two duitiful males stood guard at the entryway. They were young men - about the same age as they were. “Let me shoot Kai. I want to shoot him!” Luhan practically pleaded with his gun raised at the ready. “I hate him so much.”
“Then I’ll have my sights on Baekhyun.” Counting down to three, Luhan and Chen hovered their index finger over the trigger and fired once the clock struck one. With a resounding thud, two bodies fell unconscious to the floor. Daehyun and Kris rushed to drag the dead weight out of sight, Luhan deciding it was the most awesome thing ever to draw a mustache and sharpie in some glasses on Kai’s face before they continued inside the seemingly empty warehouse.
It felt like playing a round of capture the flag at Camp Casey, one of the largest paintball fields in South Korea they had frequented when they were young. They were ducking behind oil drums and shelves filled with old car parts and other miscellaneous items Daehyun didn’t care to identify. They moved slowly, carefully, their footsteps barely audible over the small talk between men just beyond the maze of shelves they weaved through.
“We should’ve brought along the rest of the gang for this.” Chen said in barely a whisper.
“We are badasses.” Announced Mr. badass himself. “We can so handle this.”
Kris hushed the two with a hard slap to the back of their heads, Chen and Luhan rubbing at the injury that jutted out their lower lip in a pout. Being an army brat of sorts, Kris knew a thing or two about infiltrating enemy territory. His parent’s occupation overseas in the armed forces made him a tactical individual who turned out to be the best ‘leader’ they ever had. Now, mind you, they weren’t in a 'gang' or anything like that.
Kris was just a great ‘father figure’ when it came to the dysfunctional family he adopted into his life.
“I got my eyes on D.O.” Chen locked in on his next target and assumed his position.
“Suho’s just across the room.” Crouching as low to the ground as possible, Kris quietly made his way around several shelves to get a good shot of his own target.
“Incoming Chanyeol.” Daehyun aligned the crosshairs of his weapon on the man who greeted his friends currently in their ‘target zone’. “I got him.”
Now that only left one person. “I’ll go find Sehun.” While Luhan was doing that, the three who was left behind had a five count in progress. They looked to one another between the small crevasses the shelves provided and just like before, took them all down in unison.
They slowly made their way into the little area where a coffee table, an old couch and a television resided. Everyone was knocked out cold and, boys being boys, they admired their handy work with a triumphant grin before they had set out to search for what they came there to do.
“Call Luhan back.” It was Chen who found the duffle bag of stolen goods and Daehyun picked it up, setting it on the table. “Lu, you heard me?” Chen repeated himself over the headset they all wore.
With Chen currently occupied with Luhan’s whereabouts, Daehyun went to work in opening the bag filled with pills of various colors. What they were had to have been ecstasy, meth and a few other unidentifiable drugs that joined the mix. ’I guess this is it.” He took a picture of the multi-colored baggies of varying shapes and sizes and threw it off to the side, not wanting anything else to do with them. “Let’s go, I have everything we need.”
“Something’s wrong.” And as if on cue, an exchange of curses started booming throughout the entire building. They were arguing, threatening to cut each other’s throats as a scuffle unfolded in a booming mess of things that knocked over trash bins and shattered tables. It was the crack of glass beneath their feet, the splintered breaks of wood and the clash of metal that sent the three running in the general direction of the commotion where two men went at each other without restraint.
“Wait!” All was quiet after the initial command that sent a cold chill down everyone’s spine. “Hold on Sehun!” Panic filled the air as all cessation of movement sent a piercing silence through their ears. “Don’t do anything rash!” They may have stopped the scuffle but Daehyun, Kris and Chen kept on racing against the hands of time until suddenly…
Pop!
…a gun fired and the loud resounding quality of the shot rooted them in place. It was fear that made their hearts drop into the acidic pits of their stomach when they came to realize...
...it wasn’t Luhan’s gun that went off.
It had taken all his willpower to disregard the debauched ’affairs’ that had vividly emblazoned through his mind. When the excitement of a sinful twilight fell with the moon and their boring day-to-day lives emerged with the rising sun, he expected everything to fall back into place - for everything to go back to normal. It would be as if nothing happened and he could go about his daily life thinking and feeling the way he did the day before they all subjected themselves to the objectives that really dared them to break out of their comfort zone. But that didn’t happen. Instead his mind laid waste to the degraded acts of ersion that unfolded between him and a certain Junior who really knew how to play hard to get.
It was a game.
Yongguk figured that was how things worked and yet, it was strange how that bastard would leech his way into his thoughts without so much as a trigger reminding him of everything they had done. It was as if Yongguk unintentionally committed that arrogant Jung Daehyun to memory, his lips, the eager tips of his tongue, and especially the way his nails dug into his arm locked and stored away into the part of his mind that made him unaware of his surroundings.
“Yongguk? Are you listening to me?” The soft timbre of a female’s voice pulled his gaze away from the window he must’ve been staring at for nearly 10 minutes now.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I wasn‘t ignoring you I swear.” He was met with a sweet smile and a giggle that had always appreciated how dreamy he looked when he lost himself to his thoughts.
Long, full lashes fluttered, but to her disappointment, her flirtatious ways went undetected even as she twirled her pretty little fingers into the soft brown tresses that were elaborately ringlet in a way that could not be imitated. She was unique like that, always dressing to impress everyone that laid their eyes on her, especially the one that went by the name of Bang Yongguk.
“What were you saying?”
“I was just saying how much of a relief it is to finally get our scores.”
“Oh right.” There was a very discomforting, almost unsettling look in his eyes. “Our scores.” He muttered dishearteningly.
It was Tuesday and Bang Yongguk was currently in the presence of their psychology teacher whom went from one desk to another handing out the biggest research paper that would determine whether you breezed through the year or bust your making up for the points lost. After he had thrown all hope for a passing grade (a.k.a his computer) out the window, Yongguk had given up on the attempt of pulling an all-nighter.
He had focused his energy on other matters instead, making calls and looking into his contacts list for an approach that would avenge the tireless hours he’d soon spend on extra credit assignments. Who knows, he probably had to kiss just to convince his instructor to keep him on the Basketball team. It was so screwed up that Yongguk was willing to do everything and anything to destroy Daehyun even if it meant trapping him into his web of lies that would eventually make the Junior, as he ‘explained’ to Youngjae, fall for him.
But it wasn’t just the assignment that pissed him off.
It was those incriminating photos Daehyun still had in his possessions. The boy was sneaking around, doing things he wasn’t supposed to do and infiltrating places he wasn’t meant to be in. Daehyun was such a mystery that Yongguk couldn’t pass up the opportunity to break him in and see just what was under the mask Daehyun couldn’t pry himself away from.
So Yongguk thought about him. His mind fixated on Jung Daehyun every second of every hour of the day. It was natural to say the least. To think about the man he was going to bring down to his hands and knees was what made this game unlike any other game he ever played before. Because this game was special. This little chase of cat and mouse didn’t give Yongguk the luxury to forgive and forget when he was certain Daehyun deserved everything that was coming to him.
“Yes.” Song Ji Eun, the lovely woman who sat right in front of him, let out a hiss of excitement once she had received her paper. “I got an 85 out of 100. Not my best but I’m still really happy.”
“That’s great. You did really well.”
“I bet you’ll get a 100 out of a 100.”
He highly doubted that because as soon as the instructor took her seat in front of the class without a single paper in hand, Yongguk waited for the inevitable. “Bang Yongguk. Can you approach my desk please.”
He did as he was told and waited for her to give him some kind of lecture reprimanding him over such wasted potential. The woman placed a few sheets of paper in front of him and as he looked down to face his punishment, Yongguk literally got the wind knocked right out of him when he scanned over the information on her desk. His round eyes had a perpetually surprise quality to them, his mouth that hung slightly agape not helping his body’s efforts to in the much needed oxygen his lungs were deprived of.
“Congratulations.” The woman smiled. “You got a perfect score as I expected from you.”
As if to convince himself this wasn’t a dream, Yongguk picked up his report that he thought had been lost forever. But it was real alright. Every word, every line, every paragraph and every single thesis answered to perfection was all right there in the palm of his hands as he noted a few dozen corrections that really put the piece together. After praises were given, he slowly returned to his desk with that same glint of astonishment flickering in his eyes.
“I told you that you’d get a perfect score.”
But why? And how?
He had a pretty good idea who was responsible for this miracle, but what placed him under a cloud of suspicion was the ulterior motive that he was 100% sure had to have came with a supposedly 'good deed.'
“You are who you pretend to be, so be careful who you pretend to be.” She had always warned him to be cautious of the lies he lived and the masks he so confidently wore without a single thought put into it. His past actions worried her to no end, his behavior always having been on the erratic side but, as of late, he became more daring than usual, much more careless with his decisions that he eventually paid the price with his sanity “I worry about you.”
When she threw aside her tomboy act and drowned him with the sincerity that was as rare as Astatine (the rarest natural-occurring element on earth), he knew was about to get real. “You’re ing up. You’re changing and for what? Money?! Goddamn! I hate this side of you.” She called him on his . She laid down the law and wasn’t afraid to back him into a corner with an accusatory forefinger jabbing painfully into his chest. “You and them Chinese speaking es are acting like total . You are so ing lucky I don’t punch you out right now for being the I never thought you’d become.”
He’d turn his head off to the side and she wasn’t sure if it was the guilt that made it difficult for him to look her in the eye, or just his way of showing how much he didn’t give a . “…you better look at me.” Hands stuffed into the depth of his pockets and he leaned back against the wall, letting out a huff of laughter as he refused to abide to her command. “I said look at me!” If words couldn’t get through to him than her actions would surely do the trick. She took him roughly by the jaw and sharply directed his attention upon the sadden look in the eyes that tried its damn hardest from spilling a single tear. “Xiumin, Luhan, Chen, Tao, Lay, Kris…you.” Her prodding fingers gently took a hold of the front of his shirt. “You all are my family. We’re family and if anything happened to any one of you, you know I’ll go ape. I’ll tear this mother-ing town upside down and anyone responsible for taking away the best thing that has ever happened in my life. You hear me?”
He never saw her cry. No one did.
Tears was a sign of weakness she never allowed herself to succumb to, so when she was on the verge of staining her cheek with the tangible evidence of sadness, Daehyun pushed passed her and started walking away. He couldn’t see her like this. Daehyun couldn’t stand there and endure a side of her that wasn’t fitted with the smile he only ever seen her portray.
“Yah!” She yelled after him, and it was only when she took a hold of the back of his shirt was she able to stop him in place. “ you Jung Daehyun.” He spun round and in that split second, his world darkened, stars flashed before his eyes and his feet shuffled backwards when a fist flew right across his face. “Want to act like a tough guy, then c’mon Daehyun. Show me how ing tough you are.” She always knew how to throw a wicked punch. One strike and he could already taste the blood gathering at the corner of lips that lifted into a condescending grin.
“Sorry,” He straightened up, spitting a wad of scarlet red off to the side. “I don’t hit 'girly' girls.”
That really set her off and it was intentional too. She attacked him, one punch after another bruising, battering and beating the life out of him without an ounce of mercy. Daehyun didn’t believe in laying a hand on the opposite , but when she was throwing punches left and right, morality was the farthest thing from his mind when he tried to literally smack a .
'Tried' being the word of course.
Because when a fist came barreling toward her, his attack came up short when the crook of his arm was caught by the wrist she lifted to defend herself. A final blow was made within that time frame of vulnerability and Daehyun fell back on the cement floor looking like a bloody mess. “This is what family is for.” She stated, stomping the treads of her combat boots onto his chest when he tried to sit up. “We beat the bull out of them until they get their stubborn asses back in school and finally realize how stupid money made them become.”
He learned a lot from that beating, almost had a broken nose to prove it, and it was because of that ‘life lesson’ Daehyun tried to stay as far away from trouble as possible. But he wondered:
Was that a temporary fix to an otherwise reoccurring problem?
“You should really get in there.” They were all sitting on the hood of Luhan’s car parked right outside the hospital. It had been so long since he walked into a clinic of any kind that he forgot what it looked like.
“Nah.” Daehyun declined. “Hospitals aren’t my thing. I hate the clean smell in there…it gets me dizzy.” Tao only smiled at the very lax state he was in despite what brought them there to begin with. Everyone took shifts, one coming out, one going in, a few staying by Daehyun’s side, and he thought the day was going to stay in that repetitive cycle until his phone alerted him of a text message:
HYYUUNNNNGGGGG!?~~~~~~~~ ( ╥Д╥ )
??
THE BAG!!!!!!~~~~~~~~~~ ( っ ಥ╭╮ಥ)っ
Bag?
THE BAG YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO TAKE A PICTURE OF ON FRIDAY?!~~~~~~~
Oh? The one you tossed aside before you got arrested?
YES THAT BAG HYUNG! THAT BAG!!!!!!!?!?!?!?!?!!!!!?!?!?!?!?!?
ಠ_ಠ DAMN IT JUNHONG! STOP CAPLOCKING ME! I FEEL LIKE I’M BEING YELLED AT!
( ╥︿╥)
I’m sorry hyung
So what do you want?
The bag.
Why?
Cus I had to buy all the stuff in there with my own money and I want to return it cus now I’m poor ╥╭╮╥
Oh, so you want the bag huh ¬‿¬
That’s what I said hyung (╥A╥ )
You sure you’re going to return what’s in the bag Junhong ¬‿¬
Yes…I want my money back
Are you suuuurrrreeee~ ¬‿¬
Stop it hyung…stop making those faces ( T╭╮T)
What faces Junhong ¬‿¬
Those faces at the end of your sentences TAT
Oh? You mean the I-know-you’re-hiding-something-from-me face?
¬‿¬
¬‿¬
¬‿¬
¬‿¬
¬‿¬
DAEHYUN! ಥ_ಥ
Why are you so nervous ¬‿¬
Something you’re not telling me Junhong? ¬‿¬
Cus I really want to know why you want the bag back ¬‿¬
I seen what was in the bag ¬‿¬
And it’s pretty funny seeing all those colorful thongs in there ¬‿¬
Tell me Junhong ¬‿¬
What are you hiding ¬‿¬
WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME!!!! ( ಥಿ▃ಥ)
The mission told me to do it! It was the mission, not me!? ╥﹏╥
Sure it was. Kekekekeke~
Okay okay fine…I’m done torturing you. You’re no fun.
(╥◇╥ )
You want the bag, then come to the hospital in 20 min. or I’m tossing it in the nearest dumpster.
J’WOJ’IEWJAEIOJW;EIGJKDJ What?! 20 minutes?!
Wait…What?! You’re in the hospital hyung?
Are you okay?
Youngjae’s been looking for you and trying to call you!
Is that why you didn‘t come to school?!
You were gone for three whole days!?
Are you hurt?
SHUT UP JUNHONG!
I’M GOING TO GIVE YOU THOSE FACES AGAIN IF YOU DON’T STOP!
I’m not hurt
Just come to the hospital and I’ll give you the bag.
Ever since the weekend came and went, Daehyun was never in the best of moods, especially when the irate chime of his phone only ever reminded him of the cash he had to dish out to replace his old cell and his PDA to boot. He brushed it off as a mistake on his part, figuring it had just fell out of his pocket back at the ‘homo’ hotel room. So it wasn’t too much of a big deal. They were password protected and Lay had configured the devices in a way that it would erase itself if the phone remained inactive within a 48 hour period.
His information was safe for the most part.
What was getting under his skin was the prize money he had to spend. “Lay…he’s coming. You got the tracker?”
“Daehyun…” He had that look in his eyes - that look that only meant Mr. Techie was seconds away from giving him the geek talk of the century. “This is a really important piece of equipment. It took me forever to find and countless hours to -”
“I know Lay. It’s expensive. I got it. I promise you I’ll return your baby back to you safe and sound. It won’t have a scratch on it.” Ripping the small tracking device out of his hands was just as difficult as claiming the last bag of chips in his presence. Lay was reluctant. He could see it in the eyes that locked upon the minute piece of technology Chen couldn’t part from. Though, after a few choice words of reassurance, Daehyun was able to pluck the mini device from his hands and safely conceal it in the duffle bag Junhong was so desperate to get his hands on.
The rest of the gang had started to approach him once everything was set, their smiles as lopsided as the male who walked with a limp. “You stayed out here the whole time? You’re such a puss Daehyun.” Luhan growled.
“You know I hate hospitals. Besides…it wasn’t like you were injured with a real gun.”
“But it was still a gun.” The boy shot back, showcasing his thigh that was wrapped in a layer of gauze.
“It was a BB gun and if you had just put some alcohol on that minor cut, we wouldn’t be here treating a preventable infection.” Luhan had nothing to retort with because he knew that his stubbornness and his fear of dabbing a bit of alcohol on an open wound was deserving of the limp and the crutch tucked under his arm.
They all took a seat on the hood of the black impala Luhan had managed to salvage from a friend 3 years ago. It was old, the wear and tear of the vehicle prominent in the rust that appeared on the cars frame. The upholstery of the seats were fading and ripped, the rug was battered with blotches of dirt, and almost always required daily maintenances just to keep it running. Yet, despite it age, like Lay’s Mini tracker, Luhan’s car would always be his baby forevermore.
“So you think Sehun’s going to rat us out?” Chen asked, a bit worried.
Kris shrugged his shoulders with a look of indifference. “If he does then he’ll just retaliate against Luhan. He was the only person he saw before we shot him, so there‘s nothing to worry about.”
“Wow, okay. Thanks a lot for having my back guys.”
He didn’t see what the big deal was. They may have put them in a drug-induced sleep, but it wasn’t like they stole anything. Daehyun listened in silence, taking in their opinions and their jibes at one another but was force to cut himself out of the picture when a phone call pulled him off to the side a distance away from the others. He usually sent his calls to voicemail whenever he was around his ‘family‘, especially if it was Youngjae who would no doubt chew his ear off with one question after the next.
But this call was different.
This particular call was someone he couldn’t quite ignore. “Myu Na. Hi. Um…what’s up?”
“I thought we could talk a bit…if you’re not busy.”
“Talk?” Holy ! He learned from experience that whenever a woman wants to ‘talk’ usually hit the fan. “About what?”
“About Friday…when you…” she paused. “When you asked me out.”
When it came to the ‘bros code’ his friends always had his back. They were people he could count on, but once you start taking your phone calls a good distance away and you’re smiling with a nervous twitch at the corners of your mouth, that’s when your ‘bros’ become gossiping es who shamelessly stared like it was the most natural thing in the world to do.
Daehyun turned his back on them and chuckled lightly. “Yeah…you never really gave me an answer.”
“I’m sorry.” She apologized sheepishly.
“No, don’t be. It’s okay.” He laughed some to lighten the mood. “You were kind of out of it so I should be the one whose sorry for laying such a question on you like that.”
“It’s fine Daehyun…really it is. You don’t need to apologize. I just…well…” A sigh passed her lips and he tried to imagine her cupid’s bow mouth struggling to form the words that made her a nervous wreck. The girl had a really great smile. She was quirky in her own unique way, her laugh taking on that same individuality as freshly manicured fingers seem to always draw toward lips in a loose fist. She was really pretty. She was gorgeous in fact and even though her intellect boost her up a grade, Daehyun didn’t feel intimidated at all when it came to her outstanding academic achievements.
He was best friends with Youngjae after all.
“I just wanted to talk to you at school tomorrow…that’s all. Are you going to be there? I was looking for you today but no one has seen you around lately. Even my brother was trying to find you.”
Holy to the nth degree!
“Your brother?” He didn’t want to see him. If Myu Na was talking about Bang ing Yongguk (which he was 9,000% sure she was) than Daehyun didn’t want anything to do with him. The very mention of such a demon was already knotting the pit of his stomach when everything Yongguk did to him pushed into the forefront of his mind. It was sickening, his body convulsing with subtle shakes and tremors his damnable mind couldn’t contain. Electrical synapses were on fire, sending unnecessary messages, images and sensations from one neural cell to the next. It was spreading like the plague and his body writhed at the thought of him, curses internally screaming within him as he bit down at his lower lip, grinding his teeth as if wanting to taste the iron indicative of blood.
“Yeah…“ It was Myu Na’s voice that cut into his nightmarish reverie. “I’m not sure what he wanted from you though.”
“Oh…well…” But like the hand that gripped onto the phone, his throat tightened and his words came out in a squeak of nervousness that Myu Na caught onto.
“Are you alright Daehyun?”
“Yeah, I’m great…I mean…I’m fine. I’ll be at school tomorrow so I’ll talk to you then, okay?” He hung up before she could say goodbye.
‘What is wrong with me?’ It wasn’t a traumatic experience. That sorry excuse of a kiss Yongguk planted on him all those days ago was just as quick, just as meaningless and just as spontaneous as a one-night stand that should’ve been forgotten the second a new day began. There was no need for the memories, no use for the emotions because there was none. It didn’t exist and Daehyun had other things to worry about. He had to uncover a secret that would put all his other secrets to shame. What Daehyun had to do was train his thoughts solely on Myu Na, and get back on track with a single goal in mind: Find out who Bang Myu Na really was.
And to find that answer and eradicate every irrelevant thought in his head, Jung Daehyun needed a distraction.
“Hyung. I’m here! I’m here on time.” So that’s where Junhong came in. “You didn’t throw my bang in a dumpster did you?” The Not-so-innocent and so very naive Choi Junhong was going to be his unfortunate target for today or so help him god, he’ll make use of his fake ID and go to the nearest ’Massage parlor’ he could find.
A/N: I totally said events would be picking up but it didn't OTL ..I swear! After the next ch. events will pick up. I swear to um...Zelus! Oh god, the ch. looks so long OTL
Anyways, I have to say thank you to dddaehyun, chaotic_tranquility, KING24, hellobabyyoucalled, and ForeverAlone_Dragon for the upvotes ;n; Let me combine parts of all your names cus I"m bored lulz Baby daehyun is forever a tranquil king ...lulz...NAILED IT! xD and I really don't know why aff put an automatic M rating for this...maybe cus of the excessive swearing OTL....sorry bout that
Comments