Chan, Changbin and Jisung were the cause of the loud noise and when I laid my eyes on them, I stopped in my tracks. I hadn't completely made it back to our table and stood frozen in place in the middle of the room.
Jisungs expression was a mix of worry and caution as his eyes were fixed on his leader, carefully watching his every move.
Changbin mirrored frustration, the muscles in his face tensed up as he too focused his attention on Chan.
Chans face however showed pure anger. His brows were furrowed together so tightly, it looked like they were about to kiss and the gaze in his eyes was colder than ice.
He looked like he was about to kill a man.
The raging boy wasted no time stomping through the café, his hands balled into fists, so hard his knuckles were turning white.
He stood in front of Johnny in a split second, his members following close behind, struggling to keep up with his pace.
That was when I started walking again and made my way back to the table.
Chan slammed his palms on either side of the table, gripping it, not caring if it would bend under his weight. Once I got closer, I could see his body shivering from exasperation.
All of them were so focused on the guy in front of them that they almost ignored me.
Jisung was the first to observe their surroundings and find me. I could see him take a deep breath and his demeanor relaxed slightly. He nudged Changbins shoulder and nodded in my direction.
Changbins head turned towards me and he got calmer as well, however both of them didn't dare to touch their friend and tell him about me.
"What the fuck is going on here?" I blurted out, finally reaching the spectacle in front of me. I stood behind Chan, not being able to see his facial expression anymore. I could only see how his tense shoulders dropped at the sound of my voice.
Johnny Suh raised an eyebrow as he witnessed what was happening and started grinning mischievously.
"So I guess it's true huh, Stray Kids Leader Bang Chan has a soft spot?" he laughed loudly and shook his head in disbelief.
Chan still hadn't turned around to face me, I could only imagine he had to be giving Johnny death glares.
"Seems to be more than just a soft spot if you ignore the rules and cross our territory." He sneered, stirring his americano. The situation definitely amused him.
Our territory?
I felt another presence coming up behind me and turned around, coming face to face with the young barista who had served us before. At first I thought he was just checking that everything was alright or trying to get to know what was going on, but on second glance I noticed a slight smile creeping up his lips.
Jisung swiftly got between me and the barista and placed his hands on my shoulders to spin me towards the rest of them again.
"She's ok, Chan." Changbin whispered in Chan's ear, trying to calm him down.
That was the keyword he needed to finally turn around and look at me. So many emotions went through his eyes in a speed that made it impossible for me to recognize all of them.
Anger.
Hurt.
Sadness.
Relief.
Then he suddenly shut them and spun around towards Johnny again who continued his mocking.
"Never thought you'd be stupid enough to come here. You know how many we are."
Before Bang Chan could reply I took a few more steps to stand next to him and in front of Johnny now.
None of them had answered my question as to what was going on and frustration clouded my judgement.
Sana couldn't tell me, Stray Kids wouldn't tell me.
That leaves option number 3.
"Johnny, what are you talking about? What is going on?" I demanded, feeling how every single pair of eyes in the room was now on me.
"Oh honey." Johnny gave me a pitying look.
"We heard a rumor about how this handsome young man here", he pointed at Chan "has found himself a weakness." Now he pointed at me.
"And my boss asked me to act on it and get some more information, because you know, that's what I do", his gaze shifted to Jisung for a moment.
So he and Jisung had the same role in different gangs.
Rival gangs.
"But who would've thought I'd be that successful" he laughed again and leaned back in his seat smugly. "Who would've thought SKZ would cross into NCT territory and start a war like this" he snapped his fingers.
My eyes widened in shock.
"Fuck" Changbin shook his head in realization and Jisung nodded.
They apparently understood something else that did not get translated to me. Chan cleared his throat.
"Your intention was never to hurt her" he concluded and ran a hand through his hair in frustration.
"Oh no, I would never!" Johnny exclaimed and smiled at me. "My mission was to find out your weakness".
He never was a normal nice boy who took my mind off the gangster boy.
He was another gangster using me to get a rise out of the other gangster.
I felt sick to my stomach.
More people started to crowd around the five of us and the fear started to settle in as I frantically looked around.
"I hope you're aware of what you started" the barista next to Jisung stated.
"Well, technically you started this because you involved one of us", Jisung pointed out and playfully rested his arm on my shoulder.
One of us? He was talking about me?!
So after I did the unthinkable and disappointed them in the worst possible way, they still wanted me to join them?
"We're outnumbered" Changbin murmured in Chans direction. Chan turned around and took my hand in his.
"Let's go". He dragged me through the café behind him, Jisung and Changbin following us closely.
"Where do you think you're going?", a tall man blocking the exit door asked, a smug smile on his face as he winked at me. Chans jaw tightened as did his grip on my hand.
"Unless you want all of our allies involved in this and it end pretty badly for you, I suggest you let us pass", he dreaded.
The moment those words left his mouth at least ten cars began shining their headlights through the café window, lighting up the room.
The doorman moved reluctantly, letting us escape our misery.
A black van came to a squeaking hold in front of us and Changbin opened the back door, climbing in. Chan pulled me in with him and Jisung closed the door behind all of us.
Minho sat in the drivers seat and took off as soon as Jisung stepped in the car.
Chan squeezed my hand tightly, making me look at him. The scary angry man from earlier had disappeared and was replaced by a tired looking, calm one.
"Y/N" he whispered, giving me a sad look. "I'm so sorry..."
It still hadn't completely registered in my brain what had happened in the café.
Sana warned me because Johnny was a gang member, ordered to gain information about Chan through me.
Sana had called Chan because she thought Johnny would hurt me.
"Sana-?" I asked, looking at Chan.
How would Sana know about Johnny?
How would she know how to contact Chan?
"She hasn't told you yet?" Chan asked, surprise lingering in his eyes.
Told me what?
"She called...you?" It ended up sounding like a question although I had figured it out already. He nodded. Out of all the questions in my head, his answer didn't solve any of them, only more and more arose.
He sighed deeply and turned to look at me.
"Let's do better this time... I'm taking this as my second chance and I'm gonna make it right", he sounded like he was talking to himself.
"I'm Bang Chan, leader of Stray Kids. We're only half as bad as our reputation and we won't hurt you. In fact, with us on your side, we'll make sure no one does." He sounded ridiculous, introducing himself to me again.
"You already know what the guys and I do... I know your head is about to explode with questions and I promise you I'll be honest with you and answer them all but please start somewhere in the beginning" he gave me a reassuring smile.
"I-I'm-", yeah, great start to a sentence.
Nothing was making sense.
I didn't even know what I wanted to know.
"How do you not want to kill me after I told the police-? How do you forgive me that easily?"
"It's seriously not that deep Y/N", Changbin answered, opening a can of coke and taking a sip.
"Yeah, Hyunjin and I used to rat each other out to the cops in the beginning all the time", Jisung laughed, rethinking of memories.
What? He saw my confused look and continued explaining.
"When Chan recruited Hyunjin, we couldn't stand each other. I hated him so much, I always wanted him as my partner in training, just so I could hit him." Jisung scratched his head. "We were such idiots".
"Were?",Minho added his sarcastic commentary from the drivers seat, watching us through the rear-view mirror.
"But- they now know that Miroh is your property-" I still wasn't fully convinced.
"We're good enough at what we do to not have our names connected to anything." Chan explained. "The lease is under the name of Park Jinyoung, he's an uncle of some sort to all of us."
Minho scoffed loudly but Chan ignored him.
"When we first met at Miroh, I had already told the boys about our previous two encounters." He nodded over to where Changbin was seated. "That's why he recognized you." My eyes went over Changbin and then looked out his side of the window, coming to a sudden realization.
"Chan?" he looked up to look at me and followed my gaze.
"Where are we going?"
His sorrowful eyes answered what I feared.
SKZ Headquarters.
And I had a feeling that this time, I wouldn't be able to leave.