Multiple shouts filled the air but Chan couldn't distinguish the owner of the voice. He welcomed the throbbing pain in his face as one punch after another found its way onto his bloodied skin. He didn't scream or thrash or even flinch, he remained perfectly still, allowing his jaw to be met with a hard blow.
Chan's serene state fueled Jaeyoung's anger, causing Kang Dae to have a hard time pulling him off of Chan. "That's enough! Leave Chan be!" He yelled as he tugged at Jaeyoung's shirt, urging him to get off of the younger boy's smaller frame. Jaeyoung laid a final punch to Chan's cheek with a proud smile before getting up and looking down at the damaged boy. "Don't forget who's boss, you little fuck!" He spat and then turned and walked away from the group.
Sungjin took a step forward to follow but Kang Dae held his hand out to block him. "Tell me what the hell that was about!" He demanded, a stern look being shot at Sungjin who awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck.
Sungjin looked over at Minjae who nodded, confusing the oblivious Kang Dae further. Sungjin sighed deeply before tugging at the roots of his hair, hesitant to tell the truth on his knowledge.
"It's about In Ho. In Ho wrote three suicide notes but all I know is that one of them is about a girl called Bo Ra. I don't know anything about the other two. Dongwoo knows more than I do - he's in possession of one of them." Sungjin admitted in defeat. Sungjin had hoped it would never come to the point where Kang Dae would get involved in the Chan and In Ho incident. He had always viewed it as a sensitive subject that would never be fully solved so getting involved seemed pointless.
"Why the fuck am I finding this out now!" Kang Dae yelled, throwing his hands in the air in protest. Minjae's tense shoulders relaxed as he realised the tipsy effect hadn't worn off on Kang Dae yet. All the boys knew how bad Kang Dae's memory was after a few drinks, giving them both a sense of relief.
"Should we stop him?" Minjae distracted as he pointed to Chan who was hobbling away from the scene. "Leave him! I need to deal with you two first!" Kang Dae barked. Perhaps he wasn't as tipsy as they had first thought. Chan was more than thankful for the distraction because now he knew exactly where he needed to go. Everything seemed to lead him to Dongwoo. Why did Dongwoo have that letter and how did they know there were two more? Chan couldn't stand being in the dark any longer and he was determined to spend the rest of his life searching for the answers that seemed so out of reach. He often wondered what it was that pushed In Ho to have suicidal thoughts but a deep fear in Chan made him believe it was the due to the last conversation he ever had with In Ho, October 14th 2015.
Her plan had never been to just ditch school but what else could she call jumping the wall to escape onto the streets as? Chan had made it look so easy before but it was only as she dug her nails into the wall, desperately attempting to pull herself up to the top that she had realised how weak she really was. With much effort she managed to haul her small body to the top, feeling quite proud of herself.
"Still got it!" She smirked to herself as she thought back to her old life of skipping school and running away from the authorities. She hopped off the wall, landing firmly on her two feet before flipping her hair over her shoulder and straightening her school blazer. Na Ri began on her way down the street, ignoring the curious looks she got on her way. This was all too familiar to her life back in Daegu, the seemingly endless string of petty crimes and misdemeanours that caused her family so much grief. She couldn't deny it, the feeling of adrenaline coursing through her body was a feeling she had greatly missed since moving to Seoul but she pushed away the thought nearly as soon as it came to her.
Na Ri knew getting caught was inevitable, she had no doubt the school were aware of her past and the trouble she caused and knowing her dad as well as she does, there's no way he didn't warn the principal to keep a close watch on her attendance and behaviour. Na Ri was trying hard to keep her past self at bay, she'd never even considered properly skipping classes until this morning when her lack of concentration in class turned into a pounding headache and a strong urge to be miles away from Bo Ra who wouldn't shut up about Jungsoo at the party.
She hadn't gotten far from the school when she sensed a presence behind her, following her down a side street she was now regretting to go down just to be hidden from anyone who may report her. Na Ri's heart quickened as thoughts of her being stabbed came to mind. Her breathing became slower but heavy as she grew more conscious of her isolated surroundings. "One." She whispered to herself, her fists clenched with her nails digging into her pale hand. "Two." She continued while attempting to steady her breathing. "Three!" She yelled as she whipped around, ready to face whoever was there.
"You fucking scared me! Don't do that!" Jungsoo exclaimed, his large hands placed over his heart as he gasped for air. "I scared you? I thought you were a murderer or something?" She laughed heartily at her own stupidity. "Why would I want to harm you? We're a team." Jungsoo replied with a warm smile. She chose to ignore his statement about being a team and instead questioned his motive. "Do you always follow teenage girls or am I just special?" She teased the flustered boy who looked everywhere but at her. "I just - saw you leave and figured I should follow in case you get in trouble somehow." His hesitant lie made her slightly apprehensive but right now he was the last thing on her mind. Na Ri couldn't shake away the constant thoughts of Chan that seemed to make her heart skip a beat until his harsh words replayed over in her mind, turning her warm heart cold.
Jungsoo noticed the flicker of hurt that flashed across her face but it disappeared nearly as soon as it happened. She was vulnerable now and he knew it. He could see just how affected she was by whatever Chan had done at that party and for some reason, he felt his heart ache at the sight of her. "Don't look at me like that. It makes it seem like you pity me." Na Ri snapped at him, not enjoying his sorrowful appearance. Jungsoo couldn't deny her statement, he did pity her and all that she'd come to be involved in. Jungsoo knew all too well that Chan was nothing but extra baggage and no good ever came from him. His original plan to use Na Ri had changed. He no longer wanted her for his own selfish reasons, he wanted to help her too. Jungsoo felt protective over her ever since he saw her troubled state on Monday night.
"I think it's time you met someone." He took her arm and pulled her behind him, not even giving her a chance to respond. "Where are you taking me?" She protested. "Somewhere quiet to murder you." He joked with a laugh but she tugged her arm away and scowled at him. "Are you always this annoying?" Na Ri huffed but Jungsoo just smiled and continued walking ahead of her.
After what felt like an eternity of Na Ri's complaining and Jungsoo's constant mocking they reached their destination. "A graveyard..." Na Ri couldn't hide the nervousness in her voice. Who could she possibly need to meet here? Jungsoo sensed her uneasy aura and immediately moved closer, preparing his arm to swing around her shoulder but she dodged his touch and walked ahead, entering the unfamiliar place.She admired the pretty bouquets resting at gravesides and the soft song of the birds in the trees above. "Pretty, right?" Jungsoo softly spoke from beside her, following her gaze onto the tree tops covered in candle lanterns.
"So why are we here?" Na Ri questioned the boy who met her curious gaze. Instead of answering he beckoned her to follow him to the end of the graveyard. She kept her head down, watching the contrast of her black shoes on the green grass when suddenly she crashed into Jungsoo's back. "Hey! Why-" She yelled but he quickly placed his hand over her mouth. "Shhh!" He hushed her as he glanced over his shoulder to watch the blonde haired girl by In Ho's grave. Jungsoo was a frequent visitor to In Ho's grave site and yet he'd never seen any girl ever visit him, not even Bo Ra.
"Perhaps now's not the time." He muttered, putting his hands on either side of her shoulders and putting pressure on them, guiding her as she walked backwards down the grassy path. She opened her mouth to speak but the words that filled the air weren't hers. "I was just about to leave."
Jungsoo turned to face the blonde girl who spoke, deliberately blocking Na Ri's view of her. "That's fine. We have somewhere else to be anyway!" He lied to the stranger. "We do?" Na Ri deliberately said aloud, hinting to the girl that he was lying. She couldn't contain the curiosity towards this girl's identity. Why was Jungsoo so tense and on edge? Did he know something she didn't?
The girl leaned to the side, trying to get a glimpse at Na Ri who was hidden behind Jungsoo's body. He quickly turned around and covered Na Ri's eyes. "We need to go right now!" He demanded as he hurriedly shooed her down the path. "Jungsoo stop!" She swatted him away before side stepping away from him and laying her eyes on the girl.
A gasp fell from both the girls lips as they eyed one another. "You!" They both responded at the same time in disbelief.
"What have I done?" Jungsoo tucked his head into his hands before letting out a deep sigh. He regretted everything. Why did he look into Na Ri's past? Why didn't he warn her away from Chan? Why did he bring her here? He couldn't help but blame himself for the current situation. All he could do was stand in defeat as Na Ri faced her past.
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So, I debated on posted this for a while because I feel it's not my best work but this was as good as it was going to get since my minds a bit all over the place. I don't want to go too deep into it but a pupil at my school passed away this morning and it's really strange to think about, especially since I have very little experience with death.
Anyway, on a higher note...8K! Thank youuuu my lovelies! Not only that but I noticed the other day at school that this was ranked at number 2 in Bang Chan fanfics! That's pretty damn awesome. Thank you so much to all my readers, commenters and voters and welcome new countries that joined in!
This week's question is what is your favourite social media site? I think mine's Instagram tbh becoz I'm past caring about my snapchat streaks and I'm only on twitter for Stray Kids and BTS.