This Friend | Yeonbin

12

Soobin P.O.V

The new suit is black, sleek, and, to be honest, badass. It’ll be delivered in two weeks. Dad was kind of pushy with the tailor, making him guarantee it’d be ready in time for the ball. I wish he’d been nicer, but whatever.

As Dad pays, I sit down and check my phone.

Come on

I have a new message.

I unlock my phone.

But what about our deal? If I meet your parents, I’ll know who you are.

I feel like he must already. I’m a Choi. We’re one of the two most powerful families in the underworld. If he’s from a family allied to us, he must know who I am. I’m underworld famous.

I hate even thinking this, because it feels smug, but I’m sort of a prince, given Dad is our current leader.

I don’t mind you knowing who I am. Why do you care so much?

That feels a little too aggressive, though, so I delete it. He obviously does care about this, and I don’t want to scare him away. This is also confirmation that our deal is continuing, at least for the time being. I change tack:

Not if they’re out of the house. I usually have the place to myself on Saturday nights.

My phone chimes.

Okay. If they’re not there, I’m in.

It’s Saturday night, and Taehyun still hasn’t left.

Dad has gone to a meeting at the bar. Apparently something big is going down, something he isn’t ready for me to know about yet.

All I know about it is Dad told me to be prepared, even though I don’t really know what I should be preparing for.

This is typical. He still thinks I’m too young to know everything.

Most of the time, I don’t want to know.

Anyway, I checked, and I know Taehyun is going out with his friends from college, a lot of which are his friends from high school.

He’s always been popular. I get it; he’s a cool guy, but it bothers me that he’s figured out how to be likable when it’s been so damn hard for me.

Yeonjun is the first person in a long time who seems to like my company.

And he’s coming over tonight. But only if Taehyun isn’t here.

Which is why I’m so stressed that my brother hasn’t left yet. I swear he doesn’t normally take this long. It’s, like, comical how slow he’s being. He’s currently in the shower, singing “Sweet Caroline.”

Loudly. And terribly.

My phone buzzes in my pocket.

Has he left yet?

Nope. He’s in the shower now. Singing.

Haha! You’re not a fan?

He’s no Beyoncé.

To be fair, nobody is. And that’s promising, right? The showering, not the singing.

Yeah!

Cool. Well, I’m ready to go. Text when your place is free, I’ll head over.

This feels so risky. I know from past experience that Dad and Taehyun don’t normally come home until really late, and most of the time I’m asleep by then.

But what if they come home early?

Maybe I should just cancel. Bringing him into my house feels like a kind of leap I’m not sure I’m ready for.

But I don’t want to cancel. I just don’t want to get caught.

If I told Dad and Taehyun that I was having a friend over, they probably wouldn’t care. If they asked how I knew him, I could say school.

If I said I met him at the bar, I know they’d ask me what family he’s from. And I don’t know the answer to that.

Why is he being so weird about which family he’s from?

Down the hall, I hear the shower shut off. Finally. A few seconds later, Taehyun walks past. I watch a BuzzFeed Unsolved video as I wait. A few moments later, he appears in my doorway.

He’s dressed in his usual attire: a well-fitting black shirt, jeans, and his most expensive pair of dress shoes. Dad got them for him.

“Hey, I’m about to head out,” he says.

“Okay, have a good night!”

“You too. Don’t get into too much trouble without me, okay?”

“I never do.”

I hear the door close. Then I wait. I hear a car pull up by our house, I’m guessing his Uber, because he’s planning on drinking. It drives away.

I want to be sure, though, so I go through the house, to the front door. There are glass panels on either side of it, so I look through those, out at the driveway.

The street is empty. Eddie comes up to me. He always sulks whenever Taehyun leaves. His ears are pressed down, and his tail is hanging limp. I scratch the top of his head, until his tail starts wagging.

“You can keep a secret, can’t you, buddy?”

He nuzzles against my leg. I’ll take that as a yes.

So I text Yeonjun. My heart is seriously pounding.

Hey, guess what?

What?

He’s gone.

The typing bubble appears.

Sweet! I’m on my way.