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. . . Bittersweet chocolate, the end taste is always the same. . .
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CHAPTER 38
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I was awoken by a bright light in an unfamiliar room– too bright for my liking, with no curtains at all, but a wonderful view of the centre of Seoul. The building I was in was obviously taller than those around, besides it was an apartment on one of the higher floors.
I groaned lowly as I turned around to avoid direct contact with the light coming in through the windows. Although the room was facing the shadows of the building it was still way too bright.
Now I was facing halfway opened sleepy blue eyes covered by messy wavy mocha coloured bangs. Suddenly the brightness of the early morning had no effect on me. I was too distracted by the young man that pulled me closer to him sniffing in the scent of my hair before mouthing a low husky "Morning..."
I wrapped my arms around his naked chest, resting my head against him and I glanced up with a soft happy smile that naturally came to me before I pecked his lips– soft besides the morning dryness. "Morning to you too."
"What's the time?" Jaemin questioned lazily and I shrugged in response. I knew as much as him and I didn't even care. It was Saturday, we didn't have school or any appointments out of school or connected to the gang. Things had been pretty quiet in the underground lately or I just wasn't as informed.
The ringing bell got my attention but Jaemin didn't seem to care. Once I tried to get up, I was pulled back down in a kiss by surprise and I giggled uselessly trying to pull away.
"Can. I. Get. My. Underwear.?" I asked in between the short kisses.
He shook his head a no and continued what he was doing making me playfully groan and roll my eyes, pushing his hands off me before I shot him a soft yet warning look. "Jaemin."
And he stopped, rolling his eyes as he pulled away and turned to the other side sulking like a little child. A sweet laugh escaped my throat as I back hugged him, resting my chin on his shoulder while I spoke softly like I would to a kid. "Jesus, Jaemin, I'll be back in a minute. Then we can continue."
"Whatever." He shoved me away childishly and I rolled my eyes as I grabbed my panties and bra and got up, putting them on fast and throwing a towel around me, since putting on my clothes would be too much work when I planned to go back to bed immediately. Though the towel barely covered my butt.
"I'll go see who it is, okay?"
Before I could walk too far from the bed, Jaemin grabbed my hand, stopping me. I fell sitting down again, losing balance from the sudden pull. I looked at him with a raised questioning eyebrow.
"Put this on." He gave me his button shirt which was too oversized on me and I smirked.
"Thanks." I threw it on me instead of the towel and started walking away
"Button it up!" He added with a serious face, making my evil smirk grow before I walked out of the room. "I'm not shy to show some skin here and there." His voice from the bedroom made me laugh before I went to open the main door, rubbing my head.
"Oh, it's you guys." I tilted my head to the side, as Haechan sighed and rolled his eyes, walking past me. "What? Why are you here though?" I questioned as Jina smirked, glancing up and down my body.
"Button up bestie, Renjun and Jeno are coming this way." I felt my eyes opening more from surprise, we were fucked. If Renjun saw us in his apartment he was going to kill us. Besides we were doing some unholy shit in here and that was not allowed at all.
Quickly closing the door behind me, I locked it. "Well..." I glanced at Jina with an evil smirk and stare. "He won't get inside." I shrugged before speed walking to the bedroom.
"Get ready immediately!" I pulled Jaemin's arm recieving confused stares from his completely relaxed face. I gave him a stern look, I realized pulling him up was impossible unless he decided to get out of bed himself. "Renjun is coming!!"
"We're fucked." The way he immediately jumped up the moment I said Renjun's name, with panicked wide eyes I couldn't help but laugh especially as Jina and Haechan started first, evilly enjoying watching us try to clean and tidy everything up before Renjun arrives.
• • •
"So where are we going?" Jina asked looking at each one of us with huge eyes as we walked down the street. We left Ten's car for Renjun to bring it back to the mansion. At the end we managed to leave before he sees us, so we were safe at least until we were to meet him.
The grey haired guy shrugged his shoulders at Jina's question and looked back at me and Jaemin, as if we knew what we wanted to do in the middle of a late fall cloudy Saturday afternoon.
Jaemin and I shared a look before shrugging our shoulders too, none of us had an idea of how to spend the day. The plan of rolling in bed all day was ruined and I didn't even have a back up plan prepared.
Jina sighed before smiling from one ear to the other. "Well than how about we go on a double date?! I want donuts, so let's go have some donuts and coffee somewhere expensive." She wiggled her eyebrows excitedly with the big smile across her face like a happy little spoiled child. I chuckled with a nod, supporting her idea. None of us had had breakfast yet so going to eat somewhere was needed. Now that she mentioned it, my stomach growled accepting her idea wholeheartedly.
Glancing at Jaemin I gave him a small smile. He bent his head on my eye level and placed a quick peck on my lips before nodding himself too. Jina excitedly jumped throwing herself at Haechan, who definitely saw his life flash before his eyes from the sudden jump. We all laughed at his expression and it felt nice, being out with friends and a boyfriend, laughing at silly yet normal things like this without faking it. Besides it was my first double date ever and to think that we planned a lot of them with Jina when we were little.
But the ringtone of my phone stopped my laughing. I looked at the screen with a raised eyebrow at the private number. "What the fuck..?" I mumbled to myself, but probably loud enough for the others to hear, besides the confusion written on my face as my eyebrows furrowed together probably gave me up right away.
"What is it, Ji?"
I glanced up at Haechan and shook my head. "It's nothing."
"Don't take it though! Let's have fun, out of everyone's reach today." The gray head smirked, making me chuckle as I shook my head. The idea was tempting, not gonna lie.
I didn't answer the call right away, just stared at the screen with an unknown fuzzy feeling in my stomach as if I knew that the private number was bad news. The voice in my head mumbled in disappointment "You let your guard down, Soji. You don't get to laugh and be happy." Like the call was a reminder of every single thing that had ever happened in my life every time I'd feel a sparkle of happiness.
Like the bright light at the end of the tunnel was always disappearing for me right before I reach it, giving me hope just to take it away in a second.
I sighed, slowing down as the other three kept walking. I shook my thoughts away, realizing I was starting to uselessly overthink again and without much more thinking I slid the green button and pressed the phone against my ear. Trying to sound positive and not phased by the word 'p r i v a t e' written on the screen.
My bitchy personality climbed to the surface, though it lasted for a mere second. "Who this and what do you wa–"
"I see you are having a good day without me. Do you want me to ruin it, my dear..?"
My heart skipped a beat. My eyes shot opened wide like two baseball balls that were about to pop out. The tone of the voice on the other side shot ugly chills down my whole body that made even my hair stand up like a cat's fur when afraid.
The voice was one of those edited deep barely understandable ones, hard to predict who could that be, but even so, I knew oh-so-well who I was finally talking to. My teeth gritted tightly "You. . ."
My stalker laughed psychoticly on the other side of the phone call, giving me chilly goosebumps all over my body once again. As on cue the darkest cloud on the sky slowly moved above me, it barely looked like it was day outside and I was expecting rain to pour down any second now.
I stopped in my tracks, allowing the other three to slowly distance themselves from me, not even noticing that I've stopped and that was my intention all along. None of them knew about the weird letters, so them finding that out now would mean I would have to explain everything back from the start.
"What do you want from me?"
"Not much... just you..." He chuckled, low and creepy. Suddenly I wanted to disappear from the face of the Earth. I wasn't ready for another fight right when I thought I had won the previous. Life had to always slap me in the face when I felt the happiest.
I rolled my eyes with an unbelievable scoff as I got ready to hang up. "Well you ain't getting me–"
"Before you regret hanging up on me, would you kindly look up."
I gulped, rethinking twice what to do. At the end I looked upwards. I wasn't sure what he wanted to show me until I actually looked up at the top floor of the tall building next to me. A man dressed in all black with a black mask and gloves and a black sniper in front of him, like a shadow hunting from above, so far yet so close.
Fuck. . . My heart thundered in my chest. It wasn't even pointing at me, it was targeting the three idiots in front of me.
I internally started to panic. My hands were shaking like leaves on the wind and I found it hard to hide the way my breathing raged as the creepy voice spoke in my ear making me jump in surprise. "That one is pointing at your boyfriend."
My jaw clenched tightly, just as the terrified heart in my chest.
"Now look right... that one is pointing at your best friend." Looking at the right another sniper professionally hidden got my attention, on top of the building opposite of the first.
Were we surrounded? Who was this guy? Couldn't he be just a highschooler crushing on me? At least his first letters seemed like he was.
Feeling eyes on me I turned around and immediately faked a laugh. I was getting paranoid and it was showing. I couldn't even think straight anymore. I stared at the three laughing in front of me, Jina wrapped in Haechan's arms like the clingy girlfriend she was, cutely giggling with the other two. Jaemin's genuine smile as he looked back at me. My eyes teared up as the realization of the snipers hit me and I faked another smile signaling for them to keep walking.
"Why didn't I bring mine." I said innocently as I made sure that they started walking ahead again. Then I turned around folding my arms over my chest. My face becoming more serious, knowing that this isn't some kind of a joke.
I took a deep breath and opened my mouth to talk again. "I don't know who the fuck you are, or what exactly you want, but bringing other people in our business?" I scoffed, closing my eyes and opening them with a teasing look knowing that he was watching from somewhere. I had to at least try to act tough even though I was panicking way too much. "Pussy..." I finished the sentence with a soft short panic laughter escaping my mouth and it gave away my tough act that I was desperately trying to keep up.
The guy on the other side sighed. "Watch your mouth dear, you don't want my friends to get serious."
I threw a quick glance up at the buildings, checking if the snipers were still there. "Oh, yeah yeah right, I forgot." I sighed. "Now, what the fuck do you want, except for me of course, I'm not single as you can see."
"I can take your best friend, you see~"
Deja vu. . .
Now he's done it. Now I wanted– no, needed to break down crying as the past played in front of my eyes with all of its dark colours portrayed like it hasn't past a day since then.
This time my eyes definitely widened but not in surprise, I was getting angry and sad and terrified. I would rather die than face that same pain again.
I looked ahead again. Haechan and Jina both glancing back at me, the difference being the boy's eyes stayed on me longer as if trying to read my face as I desperately tried to hide the uneasiness behind a very forced smile.
I spun around so I'd hide my face from them and kept talking to the creep on the phone. "Umm... no..? If that's all I'll be hanging up now."
And before I could hang up for the second time, he started counting. "Five... four..." The snipers! My heartbeat rushed.
"Wait–"
"Three..." He's serious.
"What?! What're you–"
"Two..." No one touches Jina.
"Stop! I said stop!!" I couldn't feel anything else other then fear and panic now. He pushed me in an angle with no escape. Now he got me. He knew all my weaknesses and soft spots. He knew me better than I knew myself. How? Why??
"One–" I protect her in my own ways, he can't touch her.
"I will work for you okay?! Deal?!" I quickly mouthed the words outloud, a maniac smile on my face hoping he would agree. Of course he would, he wanted me after all. Right?
"Hmm..." He hummed lowly making me gulp multiple times in a row, sure taking his time to answer. "I might actually consider that one." His answer made me sigh peacefully.
"I will do any one of your dirty jobs, just don't touch them! Don't touch anyone of my family!!" I may have said it too loud because the three at the front turned around with raised eyebrows. I laughed it off awkwardly as I turned away from them. "I really have to go now." I said through my teeth.
"15 milion, I want them on this date next month." What? There was no way. I could've never got that much money in such a short time. It would be mission impossible. Even if I asked Taeyong he would never give that much to me.
"8 million?" Raising an eyebrow I tried to make a deal.
"10 million, but with a few conditions: I don't want NCT's money, I want yours. I want you to work all alone, no distractions, stay away from NCT. If I see you interact with any of them from tomorrow on, the one you'd talk to, will be dead by the second you realize it, okay dear?" He hung up leaving me dumbfounded. Paralyzed as I stared at blank air with the phone still on my ear.
Why not interact with them? What was his deal? Why separate me from them??? As if I'd risk telling them now when I was so far in the game.
"Fuck. . ." I could feel every muscle in my body tensing up as I glanced at the buildings again. The snipers were finally gone. I let out a sigh in relief before realising a few more things– how could I make that much money in such a short period of time?
Screwed, I was so screwed. Just when it was all getting better it fell apart once again.
I laughed pathetically at myself as I aproached the others finally with a huge fake smile that was barely keeping me from breaking down.
"Who was that?" Jaemin immediately asked not giving me any time to even think of an excuse.
Looking at the ground before at him I let out an annoyed sigh. "It's Jaehyun."
"What does that bitch want?" Jina asked unamused with a raised eyebrow. "He wants to bring some sluts in the alley tonight." Groaning she started cursing the guy when he wasn't even at fault at all.
I gulped down my tears rolling my eyes away as if Jaehyun was the reason. I had to leave, I was getting impatient and so paranoid. Every second I was spending with them was dangerous. I still had time until later in the evening. I could at least try to enjoy the little time I had left with them.
I'm sorry Taeyong. You swore to protect me no matter what, yet I can't tell you about this guy. He's way too dangerous controlling me from the shadows like a puppet. This time I can't relay even on you.
I'm sorry Mark. I might worry you again and I will miss you. I wish we could at least clear things out between us first. But I guess we'll have a chance for that when I get back.
I'm sorry Jaemin. We promised no more secrets, yet look what I am doing. Just when I thought things started to work out for us I will have to break our promise. Maybe you'll give me a chance when this ends and I really promise to not disappoint you then. Forgive me. . .
I'm sorry Jina. I know how mad you'd get every time I put you before myself, but the older sisters are there to protect the youngers, so forgive me this one time as well for putting you first. I just wouldn't be able to forgive myself if something were to happen to you. Please take care while I'm gone and don't worry about me. I will forever be there when you need me. . .
I'm sorry everyone, but I have no other choice this time. . .
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To be continued. . .