The Ringleader | knj

38

I froze.

The more I looked, the more I seemed to drift further and further away from reality.
In the picture, his hand was placed firmly upon her shoulder, his signature smile sprawled across his face as his up-turned eyes seemed to radiate the same amount of brightness. My sister was also smiling, sitting sideways across an ottoman with one leg crossed over the other. It was like they were doing a magazine shoot; two eccentrically good looking people playing a couple that would soon be the main cover of glossy copies sold everywhere.

They looked perfect together... too perfect.

My fingers began to tremble as I heard footsteps approaching.

"Seoyeon?" Namjoon's deep voice echoed within the corridors.

Who even was Namjoon at this point?? There was so much to him that I'd thought I'd known, yet this very image seemed to make all of that disappear.

He was right.
We weren't friends... we were still merely strangers to one another.

I quickly slid the photograph into the back of my jean pocket as he entered the room, his footsteps softening as he approached me.

"What are you doing in here?" he asked, curiously peering around the room.

"Uh, I came for some water but I can't find the glasses," I gulped, trying to control my mind that was running rampant with the desire to know more about the photograph. He began to search through the many cupboards, trying to locate the glasses.

"Sorry, this is just a make-shift kitchen for now... we used to use it as a utility room but since we had to come here unexpected everything's a bit of a mess," he said, continuously opening and closing cupboards as he tried to find the snacks I'd been after.

"I can tell," I murmured, spying a whole loaf of bread sticking out from one of the washing machines.
Well, that explained why the photograph had reached here.

I bit my bottom lip, trying to decipher what had been going on, also feeling a little betrayed that Seolhyun had never even mentioned anything about a guy, let alone Namjoon.

Did she ever mention me to him? 
And if she did, was that the reason he'd decided to kidnap me of all people...

"Here," he smiled, handing me a small transparent glass. I snapped out of my thoughts, quickly snatching it from him.
"Thank you," I said, making my way over to the tap and he nodded. I followed him back into the living room, sitting on one of the ottomans.

"If you couldn't find one you should've just told me," Namjoon said, spreading his body across the spacious leather couch. I didn't say anything, continuing to stare at the coffee table in front of me as I delved deep into thought.

"You don't know how much our men suffered as a result of your family, Lee Seoyeon"

Was that a reference to Seolhyeon...

My mind raced as all these theoretical possibilities of encounters to answer the reason my sister and Namjoon knew each other began to ate away at my mind.

And worst of all, she hadn't even said anything to me about him.

I frowned at the thought of her keeping secrets from me when we used to share everything together- and such a big one too. She was the only person I'd actually trusted within that house, yet she was the one that kept the most hidden...

"Are you okay?" I was interrupted by Namjoon's hoarse voice that sounded really close. I stumbled back a little as I noticed he was right next to me, his hand wavering in front of my face as if to break me free from my little trance.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I murmured. He raised an eyebrow, revolving his tongue around in his left cheek.

"You're lying," he smirked, as if he could see right through my deceptiveness. I scoffed, getting up and moving to some place where he couldn't bother me.

He caught my hand, smiling.

I halted, rolling my eyes.

"You can talk to me you know, if anything's bothering you," he said, his eyes lingering across my face.

"There's nothing to talk about right now." I frowned sternly, shaking free from his grip.  "Besides, we're not friends Kim Namjoon. I shouldn't mistake you for anything more than just a kidnapper, right?

His mouth parted slightly at my comment, dropping my hand as he watched me rush past him to go upstairs to my room.