Underwater || BBH

37. Yearning

"Chaeyeong! Hey!" Taemin stands up to greet me, smiling his gorgeous smile. "I hope you don't mind, I order for us already."

"Thank you, I'm so sorry that I'm late." I sit down across from Taemin, grabbing set of chopsticks and getting stuck into barbequing the meat on the grill, completely famished.

"I would be worried if you showed up on time instead." He jokes with me, plopping a piece of cooked meat into his mouth. "So how have you been? You stopped showing up to the bar for a bit there. What happened if you don't mind me asking?"

I didn't think we were going into the nitty gritty conversation straight of the bat, I thought we'd start with a few common pleasantries before having a heavy conversion. I take my meat off the grill, place it in my mouth, chew a few times before swallowing, giving myself a few more seconds to think of something.

"I just needed some time to myself, to be in a better headspace for a bit." He nods his head at me, understanding what I'm saying. It wasn't a full lie; I was just being a little vague.

"Yeah, I get that. Sometimes you just need a breath of fresh air." He takes a spoonful of rice into his mouth, finishing it before speaking again. "So has that club owner finally made a move on you?"

I also choke on my food, no, not almost, I do choke on my food. "What?" I question him between coughs.

"Oh, come on, we all see it." He laughs at my reaction, becoming flustered so easily. "On a serious note, Chaeyeong, I can't tell you much, but you need to distance yourself from that bar or any club around here."

I was heavily confused at first, my eyebrows furrowed at his words trying to piece together what he was trying to tell me discreetly. Then it finally clicked in my brain; He was talking about the production of 'Hybrid'.

Taemin was giving me a warning, that fairly soon 'Hybrid' was going to be made and sold into every club around, turning people's brains into mush with the intense and unsafe side effects. But to me, that also meant he was about to wire that money and incriminate himself. There was no time for mucking around anymore, this isn't going to be a gradual thing, I have to convince him tonight.

"Taemin, the club needs me more than then ever right now." The confusion fell from my face and replaced with seriousness. "I'm Lee Chaeyeong, Lee Dohwa's stepdaughter."

Taemin looked lost a first, eyebrows furrowing before quickly raising at the realisation. "What? I was told the stepdaughter when meant to be collecting information, a spy on the inside and that she changed sides. How did I not put together that it was you."

"I was never on his side, not fully." I put my chopsticks down, completely turned off my food now. "I know what your role is, Taemin. You're making a big mistake."

"Chaeyeong, you think I made this decision myself. I was forced into this, I don't want to, but I have no choice anymore." He learns forward, trying to keep our conversation between us and not the whole restaurant.

"You always have a choice, Taemin." It was true, no matter what, you also have a choice, it's something I wish I knew sooner.

"How do you know that?" he looked broken, like his ankles where chained and he was being commanded to do entertaining tricks for people. He looked trapped and was screaming for a way out.

"We can help you, get you out of this mess." I start off. "I just need you to trust me completely and entirely before we can move forward. If you betray me or any of us, I can't promise you safety."

"We? You mean you and EXO?" he questions, and I nod my head. "I trust you, Chaeyeong."

I believe him. I trust him and he trusts me. He said he was forced to do this, I don't want to push him for answers, he'll tell me when he's ready. Or not at all.

"We can offer you immunity, you won't bear any consequence and will be safe. We just ask one thing from you." I start my explanation, I didn't expect Taemin to be this compliant straight off the bat, but I am thankful for it. "Instead of making the wire transfer disappear, you need to make it visible, only just slightly. It won't be enough for Dohwa to notice it, but it will be enough to use as evidence against him. We can keep you safe."

"I'll do it, I'm on your side."

o

After finishing dinner with Taemin and filling him in on some more details about our plan, I was now walking to work. It wasn't cold anymore, so the warm night was the perfect atmosphere for a calming walk. Of course, it was calming before I received a phone call from Chanyeol.

"Good evening, Chanyeol." I speak into the phone.

"Hello, hello. Do you think you'd be able to grab some band-aids on your way to work please." He speaks coyly into the phone.

"Sure, what do we need band-aids for? I though we had some in the first aide kit." I reply back to him, not paying attention to my surrounding at the very moment.

"Remember how Sehun and I were having a tower making competition?" I roll my eyes, knowing exactly where this is going.

"Yes, I do." I take a quick look up to see a convenience store right next to me, I walk straight through the revolving doors and into the medicinal isle, grabbing a large box of band-aids.

"Well, we were using the glass cups, the ones you told us not to use and Sehun's tower fell and shattered, cutting up his hand."

"I'm not surprised one bit." I move to the counter, saying a quick goodbye to Chanyeol and that I'll be to work soon, so I could pay for my items.

Once paying for the band-aids, I exited the store, throwing the receipt into the small paper bags. "Whatever it is you're doing, stop, it's not a good idea."

His woody scent surrounded me, suffocating me as I look up and met his eyes. "What, are you going to run back to your master and tell him I'm up to something?"

"You're going to get hurt." His face was serious, and his hands were shoved into his jacket pockets.

I scoffed at him. "You never seemed to care about that before."

"I've always cared. I never meant or wanted you to get hurt at all." He face stay serious, not moving expressions one bit.

"See the thing is, Ten. You are the one that ultimately hurt me, and it started that night you betrayed me." His face dropped at the mention of our past. "If you don't like to see me hurt, why do you still side with him?"

"Because I have nowhere else to go, Chaeyeong. I owe him." He said defeated.

"That's bullshit, Ten. You don't owe him anything!" I raise my voice at him, growing more frustrated by the minute.

"Sweets-"

"You're not allowed to call me that remember?" This was the first time confronting Ten, that didn't leave me in tears.

"I'm so sorry, for everything I've done." He apologised once more, he had his own tears brimming in his waterline, threatening to fall.

I know the plan was to convince Ten that was turning over to his side, but I couldn't live with myself if I betrayed him the way he did to me. That wouldn't make me any better of a person. Because at the end of the day, I know what Ten yearns for, and that's freedom.

"The offer still stands from years ago, Ten. You can still leave this life, and I can help you."