The Tiger King (Chaelisa)

45| The Case of the Two Jinyoungs

Momo's warning from before taunted her but Dahyun brushed all thoughts aside as she operated on autopilot and walked to the corner laundromat in a daze.

Which led up to the present as she debated on the next course of action.

So Jackson was gone now, presumably out of the country and out of Dahyun's life. She shouldn't be worrying about him right? He couldn't tell Jinyoung anything, couldn't do anything to her because he didn't suspect her. If luck favoured her, Jackson would carry out his business as usual and Jinyoung would be none the wiser.

But if Jackson did warn his cousin about Dahyun reading the notebooks, did that mean she was in danger now? Would she go back to her dorm and find an army of hitmen waiting to kill her?

Dahyun shook her head, kneading her temples. 

No. Jackson didn't know what she had learned and moreover, she was sure he meant what he said about his feelings  so at least, she could count on him believing her to be innocent. No matter how tenuous that hope was, it's all she had to hold on to because otherwise, she was in decidedly hot water should Jackson turn out to be suspicious.

And if she were to be pursued, where was she going to hide from the powerful force of a shady corporation intent on hiding its secrets from the world? How was she going to be able to dig deeper to expose the truth? Her last link to JYP had now slipped out of her hands and all she had were a few scant photos of molecules and the mysterious phrase 'Tiger King'.

Think, Dubu. Think.

The answer for her next course of action was simple, almost laughable in its obviousness even though she tried considering other plausible options.

It didn't make it any less easy to accept though.

Dahyun sighed and took out her phone, tasting bile in her mouth as she typed her message with decisive stabs of her fingers, sending it immediately before she could get cold feet. 

we should meet. i have something to tell u bout jyp. call me when you get this 

She didn't get a reply within five minutes of impatiently checking her phone. In the end she resigned herself to waiting until noon before she took action herself. 

Dahyun sat back against the chair, tilted her head up to rest against the counter behind her and closed her eyes.

It was going to be a long morning.

>

"Jennie! Wake up! Wake up!"

Jennie roused herself from sleep and came face to face with Jisoo peering intently at her.

"What? What is it? Is it time to go?" Jennie slurred, blinking the clouds from her eyes. She suddenly felt self conscious and covered her mouth. "Are you watching me drool? Give people some space, please?"

"Jendeuk, have you ever met a capybara called Reginald?" Jisoo asked urgently.

Jennie blinked. "Huhhhhhhhhhhh?"

"A capybara called Reginald," Jisoo repeated in the grey light of morning, "but it seems you haven't met one because you're not understanding what I'm saying. That's good, that's good."

Jennie squinted up at Jisoo. "And uh, what's the deal with capybaras this morning? I know what they are, if that's what you're asking."

"I had a weird dream that you were playing carrot pocky with a capybara called Reginald and you two were having a romance and were planning to elope," Jisoo informed with a straight face, "and I woke up because I couldn't bear to see you kissing a capybara. So I was just checking in case you met one and my dream is already reality."