Street Cred

Chapter 37

"Oh. Okay. I mean, I would've been fine, but it's sweet that he cares so much." Byeol smiled and blushed as she picked up her book again to begin reading.

"Kind of obsessive in my opinion, but you're like a sister to me, so I don't mind making sure you're safe."

"Aw Ji, you're so sweet!" The sarcasm in Byeol's voice caused the boy to chuckle as he continued to watch his youtube.

The two enjoyed a comfortable silence for the rest of the period and were only interrupted when the bell rang indicating lunch. Byeol put her book away and walked with Jisung to the front of the library to wait for Jeongin. As soon as she saw his blonde head walking towards her, Byeol smiled and hurried into Jeongin's arms as he hugged her and placed a kiss on her head.

"Hey baby," Jeongin pulled away from the hug, but laced his fingers with Byeol's as he walked to Jisung. "Thanks for staying with her, Jisung."

"No problem man. But hey, what's going on with Soobin?" Jisung crossed his arms and leaned against the locker.

"We don't know yet. We're supposed to meet up with him and Chan like right now." Jeongin pulled out his phone to check the time as he spoke.

"Should I go with you?"

"Jisung, I think you should stay in the lunchroom. It might look suspicious if too many of us are gone," Jeongin nodded his head in agreement to Byeol's statement.

"Okay, but will you guys at least let me know what happens?"

"Of course we will Ji," Byeol gave her friend a smile and he nodded his head then headed down the hall to the lunch room. "Ready?" Byeol turned to face Jeongin who only smiled and nodded his head before he started walking towards the roof access.

The couple made their way up the stairs and onto the roof where they waited together on a bench. A few seconds after getting settled, the door opened and Jeongin turned around to see Chan walking towards him.

"Hey guys," Chan sat on the bench next to Jeongin. "Any word from Soobin?"

"No. We just have to wait, worst case scenario he just doesn't show up. But I mean, he seemed pretty-"

The door opening cut Byeol off and the three looked over to see Soobin walking towards them.

"Hi, I um. Didn't expect you to actually come. But I'm so glad you did." Soobin stopped walking and stood in front of the three on the bench. "I must say that I'm a bit surprised to see you here though."

Chan chuckled when Soobin looked at him. "I'm not okay with whatever Yeonjun is planning to do to her. So I'll do what I can to prevent it."

Soobin nodded at Chan before turning his attention back to Byeol.

"So, are you going to tell us what he's planning that's so bad?" Jeongin took Byeol's hand in his as she spoke.

"Well, I'm sure you know by now that your father came for a visit a while back?" She nodded her head and Soobin continued to speak. "Okay, so basically your dad and Yeonjun are fucking psychopaths and your dad said he wants you 'taken care of' and not in a good way, so Yeonjun is trying to come up with a plan to get you killed and your friend," he pointed to Chan, "Minho is helping him. They're fucking insane. And they're gonna try and kill you."

"What?" Byeol's voice was barely above a whisper as she spoke.

"Uh, Soobin, let's go talk over here," Chan stood up and headed to a corner of the roof away from Byeol. Soobin followed and the two of them spoke in hushed tones.

"Byeol?" Jeongin turned to face his girlfriend and his heart ached when he saw the tears silently falling from her eyes. He reached his free hand up and gently wiped away her tears with his thumb, keeping his hand cupping her cheek as he spoke. "Baby you know that we won't let anything happen to you right? We are going to find a way to put them in jail. We've already been talking with Chan, and now Soobin is on our side, and I doubt his other friends are okay with the idea of killing someone."

Byeol looked up at Jeongin who gave her a faint smile before leaning in and placing a sweet peck on her nose. "Come on," He stood up and pulled Byeol with him as they made their way to Chan and Soobin.

Chan saw them approaching and smiled. "So good news, nobody except Yeonjun and Minho are wanting to go through with hurting Byeol, they're going to help us. We just have to catch them plotting something and we can get them on conspiracy for murder. But we also need proof that Byeol's dad is in on it as well. Since Soobin is Yeonjun's right-hand-guy, It shouldn't be too difficult. But Jeongin, you and your friends just need to worry about keeping Byeol safe, okay?"

Jeongin nodded his head and pulled Byeol into his side, sending a protective arm around her small frame.

"One more thing, before I forget." Soobin got everyone's attention. "They were going to try something after school today, so you might want to leave early or take a different way home."

Jeongin looked down at Byeol who was biting her lip to keep from crying. "Thanks Soobin. It really means a lot that you told us."

Soobin nodded his head before disappearing behind the door and returning to the cafeteria.

"Um, I think I'm just going to take her home. This is a lot to take in." Jeongin looked up at Chan and the older male nodded his head.

"That's a good idea. But maybe don't take her home, that's the first place they'd look." Chan gave Byeol a quick hug and kissed her head before heading back inside and leaving the school.

"Come on, let's get you out of here," Jeongin grabbed Byeol's hand and brought it to his lips, kissing it as he led her down the stairs, out the doors of the school, and to his car. After getting her situated in the passenger seat, he sent a quick text to Jisung asking him to grab his and Byeol's things, briefly explaining the situation. Jeongin then started his car and left the parking lot, a smile coming to his face as he remembered the perfect place to take Byeol.