It's 4:30 in the morning. I slept for a bit, but now I need to find Jimin. If all goes well, dreadfully Lay too. Namjoon lays on the couch once again and snores lightly. He can't come though. I know he'll want to but... he just can't. I don't know how heavy of a sleeper he is, so I slowly sit up, putting my feet down on the carpet carefully. The bed creaks as I use my palm to push myself up and I freeze, looking at him.
Nothing.
I sigh and push myself to my feet, walking over slowly to the dresser, where I left my bag. I grab my black cargo pants, replacing my sweatpants, eyes not leaving Namjoon. Fortunately, he sleeps like a rock. I slowly grab my holster, clipping it to my thigh as well as my other with my temporary knife.
I grab my jacket and open the door carefully, watching to see if Namjoon stirs. Not so far. I slip through the small gap and peek one more time. He's sleeping. I sigh in relief and close the door quietly. I turn and hit somebody's chest, causing my eyes to nearly pop out of my head and my heart stopping.
Lay. Of course.
"Where do you think you're going sweetheart?" He chuckles, looking down at my gun.
"To find Jimin," I say, moving past him.
"Ooh," he raises his eyebrows, blocking my way. "Do I sense scandal?"
I give him an agitated look. "No, of course not!" I sigh, nodding my head. "Actually this makes everything easier. We're going."
"Going?" He raises his eyebrows. "Where might that be?"
"On the drop."
He quickly laughs, shaking his head. "No we're not."
"I need to go, Lay. I'm going crazy in here. A normal job will be able to clear my head."
"Or all you're going to do is bring your crazy outside into a danger zone and get yourself killed. Not happening."
"I'm going to be fine!" I snap then quickly quiet down again. "Listen, it doesn't need to be a big deal. I'll stay in the truck, out of sight. I just need to be anywhere but here and clear my head. Please." I give him a pleading look, looking down. "I'm here, in this house. In these woods. The woods where I literally gained a chronic disease and where the first people I've cared about and trusted in years almost died. I need a break. From all of this. It's just for the day."
He looks down on me, jaw clenched. He groans, looking up and shaking his head before looking down at me again, grabbing one shoulder and pointing his finger in my face, a stern look on his face.
"You don't leave the truck."
"I don't leave the truck," I nod quickly.
"Completely out of sight."
"Of course."
Moving closer, he lowers his tone. "This isn't a game. This is reality. One fuck-up and everybody is screwed, you need to understand that. No fucking around or trying to do something behind my back."
"I do," I whisper. "I understand."
He lets go and leans back. "I'll let the others know we're tagging. Get your shit."
I nod and quickly move past him, on my way to the armoury.
********
It doesn't take long until we're on the road. The customers are some regulars that Mr. Min had been delivering to for just under a decade. Close to their beginning. It's going to be a three hour drive each way. They refused to meet halfway because their shipment was delayed a week. Now it's tripled in size, more tension and more gas wasted on our end. Mr. Min understood. In fact, it was his idea according to Baekhyun.
In the backseat, I sit with Jimin and Lay on either side while Baekhyun drives, Chen on his right. We've been driving for about an hour and it's been dead silent so far. I don't think Jimin is happy that I'm coming on this trip and putting myself in danger so fast, but he also told me he understands why I would want to go. He still keeps his arm on my leg, watching the trees go by despite whatever he's feeling right now.
I look over at Lay, who is on my left, staring ahead through the windshield. I just look at him, not knowing how to feel. I do know, obviously I'm terrified of him. He's definitely a wildcard. He scares the shit out of me, but at the same time, after he told me his story and after knowing what happened to his best friends, I guess I understand why he would be a dick. But at the same time, I'm supposed to be an ally and it seems like he wants to hurt me. I don't know why or how. It just does.
I don't know enough about him to just... trust him. If it were just Baekhyun and Chen coming and not Jimin, I wouldn't have come at all, no matter how crazy I was going. If I was alone with Lay, even with his own people, I don't know what he would do or say to me. At least Jimin sets some sort of boundary.
He's had a pretty fucked up life, I'll admit that. Worse than mine for sure. There's no telling how messed up his head is. The more I think of it, the scarier it gets. His own mother literally gutted him and attempted to fish for his pancreas when he was only 8. Then killed his father who was trying to save him. Then she left him to the gang. Years later after he made connections and had solid friends, they were killed in pretty brutal ways. I would have disappeared too. Turns out, he was training in a much more intense place with a dangerous mafia.
To be honest, I'm just wondering at which point he flipped that switch. When the dark side of him was born. When everybody became so terrified of him.
He turns his head to meet my eyes, but I look away, looking straight ahead. In my peripheral, I see him look back ahead.
"How do your legs feel, hon?" He speaks and I feel my face go hot when I see Chen and Baekhyun's reactions in the mirrors. Lay looks at me, raising his eyebrows. "Hm?"
"Fine," I mumble, wanting to jump out of the car. Something cold presses against my sore thigh and I wince as he pushes the butt of his rifle. Of course the only one with a rifle in the truck is the psychopath.
"You sure?" He chuckles.
"Yeah," I say, slightly strained.
Jimin growls lightly in his throat, only loud enough for me to hear. My whole body is tense now, gripping the car seat, trying to ignore the pain and embarrassment. I just keep my eyes ahead.
Lay pushes harder and I let out a nearly mute squeak. Jimin leans forward, looking as if he's about to absolutely rip on Lay, but then he removes the gun, grinning. I sigh in relief and Jimin stares Lay down, anger burning in his eyes, while Lay smugly looks back at him.
I just lightly nudge Jimin's shoulder, giving a tired look, telling him to just stop. It's not worth it. He sits back slowly, sending Lay a warning look. Of course, Lay couldn't care less. Jimin sighs, resting his hand on my knee, letting me know he's there for me.
Baekhyun looks at me through the rear view mirror and I maintain eye contact for a few seconds before looking away. I lean my head back into the chair, shutting my eyes.
This is going to be a long ride.
********
40 minutes more pass as we all sit in silence, a faint sound of the radio playing in the back. It's going so slow, it feels like hours. I've been constantly checking the time, though so it's probably my fault. It's kind of hard to avoid though. The tension in this car is killing me.
I shift in my seat, slumping down a bit, my ass getting sore. It's difficult to ignore because now it's all I'm thinking of. I chew my cheek and look around.
"Where exactly are we meeting them?"
"On a hidden beach in Mokpo. It's on the far edge of the city," Baekhyun responds.
"Don't forget about the transfer," Chen says, looking back at me.
"Transfer?"
"Just before we get into Mokpo, we're switching to another truck to do the delivery."
My mouth twitches. "Why would you go through that trouble?"
"I thought you've been around a while," Chen laughs a bit and I shrug.
"I've been around a lot of shit, but drops have never been my thing."
"If we go through the city with coke in our truck and there are feds around, they'll be able to trace it. So we steal a truck, transfer and ditch it when we're done."
"Or if we get in shit with the gang, I would rather my truck not get all scratched up," Baekhyun jokes, accelerating.
"So what we transfer outside the city or something?"
"They're going to leave us a truck at the edge, yeah," Chen answers. "We're leaving the stolen about a mile back into town when we leave and going on foot back to the truck. Less traceable. If anything happens, we'll be able to throw them off easier too."
It makes sense. But if something happens, it could be a Hyunsoo situation all over again. Going on foot and not making it back in time. I shake the thought away. I have to trust that he's gone and that these guys know what they're doing. Otherwise, this won't work.
"You're coming when we transfer, but only because I need to speak to the one in charge," Lay says. "We can't leave you here when we transfer because we need as much manpower as possible and leaving you with a guard puts us in more danger. So you're going to stay put, lay low and shut up."
"No matter what you hear," Jimin adds. "Do not get out of the truck. If even only one of them are with Hyunsoo, you, me, all of us are put at risk."
I nod. "Okay."
"Good," Lay says beside me. "Now that we've established that for the 50th time, let's talk about the plan."
"Yeah," Baekhyun says, scoffing. "Get in, drop, get out."
"You know it's not going to be that easy," Chen says beside him and Baekhyun sighs, as if he knows, but just doesn't want to accept it. "Not today."
"Like I said," Lay begins. "I'm going to talk to him. Try and work out the tension. If they are willing to cooperate with no problems, I'm going to try and see if they will meet with Mr. Min."
"Why?" I ask, looking over.
"Hyunsoo is still our biggest problem, no?"
Jimin brings his eyebrows together, leaning over to see past me. "Why would we bring a whole other gang into this? Especially one that we've been walking on thin ice with in the past three years?"
"Because if we're going to take down Hyunsoo, we're going to need numbers. There's no point in trying if we're all just going to get killed. We need eyes and ears everywhere, they won't necessarily have to be smack in the middle of the battle, guns blazing. Like I said, Mr. Min is going to be the one to talk to them, it's his plan. I'm only the messenger."
"Did you know about this before or after you let me leave?" I ask, narrowing my eyes at him.
"After. I informed him you insisted on going and he said it would be a good opportunity to try build our numbers."
"You told him," I scoff. He growls and grabs my face, pulling it toward his, stopping to the point our noses touch. Jimin leans forward and reaches over, but Lay points his pistol at Jimin's head. My eyes widen in fear. Jimin immediately stands down, but is obviously fuming.
"Sweetheart, you need to understand the concept of authority. If I didn't tell my boss where I was taking the most important part of this whole operation, there would be a bullet in the back of my head within two hours easy. You might not have grown up with mommy or daddy to watch your attitude or train you into recognizing who you should be respecting, but that changes now. Grow up or I'll have you digging a six foot hole in the ground for yourself."
My jaw clenches and I feel my chest tighten.
"You're done," Jimin growls and Lay lets go of my face and points his eyes at Jimin, putting his gun further into his face and I panic, pushing on his chest.
"Stop!" I say, raising my voice.
"Go ahead," Jimin challenges, tilting his head. "Shoot me Lay, I dare you."
Lay pulls the hammer back and my breath catches in my throat. What do I do?
Chen turns around, scolding Lay. "Enough."
Lay and Jimin continue staring each other down until Chen snatches the gun from Lay's hand, pulling it away from Jimin's forehead, but it slips, going off with a loud pop. Everybody in the car either screams in surprise or yell at each other, although it's faint due to the ringing in our ears. Baekhyun swerves a bit and pulls over.
Everybody stumbles out of the car and I do too, holding my left ear, wincing in pain. It blew out my eardrum. Everybody is grabbing their ears too.
"Was anybody hit?" Chen asks, looking between Jimin and I. Neither of us are. The bullet just missed us, but barely. At this point, I feel my rage boiling over. I look at Lay, who is laughing to himself, rubbing his ear. Psychopath. He really thinks this is amusing.
"What the fuck was that?!" Baekhyun screams at us, pointing his eyes at Lay and Jimin.
"Everything's fine, don't worry. Just some harmless fun," Lay answers and I look at him in disbelief.
"Harmless fun?" Jimin raises his eyebrows. "You almost fucking shot me!" Now he raises his voice, throwing his arms up. "Baekhyun nearly crashed the goddamn car, how is that harmless?"
"You shouldn't have stepped up," Lay argues back, stepping to him. "You need to learn to keep your mouth shut around me. Her? I understand, she doesn't know me. But you?" He scoffs, looking Jimin up and down. "You know better. Watch yourself, Park."
He turns and gets back into the truck, Baekhyun following, and I just stare at him, petrified. I don't want to be in the same truck as him. I thought it was bad before, but he literally almost killed Jimin then crashed the car.
Somebody touches my shoulder and I turn, expecting Jimin. To my surprise, it's Chen. He lowers his voice, nodding toward the truck. "Listen, why don't you ride up front with me? Baekhyun and I are switching anyway, so he can sit in the back with those two."
As I open my mouth to protest, Jimin comes on my other side. "She'll do it."
I look at him, shaking my head. "Jimin he just tried to kill you, why would I leave you with him?"
"He's not going to try again. He was just trying to scare me. You. It went too far, but he made his point. It won't happen again."
I sigh in frustration. "Fine. How long until we get there?"
"A little over an hour," Chen responds. "Come on." He leads me back to the truck, Jimin trailing behind silently. As I open the passenger door and Jimin opens the one behind, we make eye contact.
"I'm sorry."
*********
The majority of the rest of the car ride was silent and tense. Not one person spoke for the whole hour. Lay ended up shooting up the door, which pissed Baekhyun off the most. He skimmed Jimin's jacket on the top of the shoulder, pissing him off. Although neither of them have said a word.
It's my fault. If I would have just kept my mouth shut, Jimin wouldn't have felt the need to protect me and nearly get shot. I know that. He's not going to let me believe it, but deep down, he believes it and he knows I do too.
As a town begins to appear in the distance, Chen begins to pull over and stops the car. I follow as the boys get out of the truck and to the back. Chen pulls out a duffel bag between the boxes, taking out vests. He distributes them and gives the last to me.
"Put this on under your jacket," he says. I pull my jacket off my shoulders and begin putting it on. I watch as the rest of the boys pull out rifles, checking their clips and putting them over their shoulders after they put their own vests on. I fasten the last strap and something pokes my arm. Baekhyun is giving me a rifle. I take it while I look at an unbothered Lay.
I grab an extra clip from the bag, shoving it in my pocket just in case anything goes wrong.
"We'll be there in five," Lay says, holding his rifle in front of his chest, pointed down. "The transfer needs to be quick, if Hyunsoo ever kept tabs and knew about these drops or is working with them, he could be waiting for us. Or send somebody. Chen and Y/N will pull them out and on the ground, then grab the last crate and bring it to the back then she will wait in the back out of sight. Jimin and I will grab the second. Then we all go back for the last two. Baekhyun you hide the truck in the usual spot and run back quickly. We need to be gone as soon as possible."
Everybody nods and he claps his hands, jerking his head toward the truck.
"Okay, let's go."
Jimin slams the back of the truck shut and we all pile back into the truck, Baekhyun replacing Chen's previous spot. He starts the engine and peels off. He picks up speed until I feel the need to grab the chair. The highway is empty, but the cars begin to come into view writhing a couple minutes as we get close to the city, in which Baekhyun slows down.
As we're about to take the main road in, we swerve to the right to a backroad. After a minute, a big semi comes into view. That must be what we're taking. He stop in front of it and we all quickly get out. Chen and I go to the back and he gets on top, pushing them out as I catch them and put them on the ground. Lay picks one off with Jimin and start hauling it to the semi. Chen and I pile four on the ground and with the last one, he jumps off the truck and we both lift it off.
As soon as we're off, Baekhyun backs the truck off and speeds off the opposite direction, still close to the border.
It's heavy, but I can handle it. It just takes me by surprise at first. I adjust my grip and we both move toward the semi. Somebody pulled a ramp out and I walks backward on it as Chen directs me where to go. There are shelves screwed in the truck with white industrial buckets with a logo resting on them. Haebim. A restaurant. I've never been, but Seho told me about it when he came to Mokpo a couple years ago.
I shake my head and put the crate down where Chen tells me.
"Stay here," he says, pulling my sleeve between two shelves in the middle. He leaves and I sigh, watching them between the cracks. Lay and Jimin are hauling another crate up as Chen gets ready for another one. Lay runs back to help while Jimin pushes the previous one to the right spot.
"You okay in here?" Jimin asks, looking up at me. I nod. "Good. When we get close, you're going to have to sit up in the front, but under the dashboard. Do you think you can stay there for a few minutes?"
"Yeah. Is somebody going to be sitting there though?" I ask, my eyes wide.
He laughs. "No, we're all going to be back here. Baekhyun is going to drive up and turn the truck around so that the back is easier to access. Then he's going to come help us. You're going to be on the opposite side of everything. Alone. Are you going to be okay with that?"
"Yeah, of course. Just have to stay hidden," I say, nodding. Then my mouth twitches to the side. "What if they come to look in the front?"
"We'll have a couple boxes on the seat and have a blanket on top of them. We'll keep them open with junk so that they don't think anything of it. You'll be fine."
I nod. Good idea.
Lay and Chen grunt, pulling our attention away from the conversation as they bring the last crate in. Jimin goes over and helps heave it up on top of the other. Lay picks up some boxes from the shelves and looks at me, jerking his head to the side, leaving the truck. I follow him as I see Baekhyun running back to us from where he took off with the truck. Lay brings me to the front and opens the passenger door, letting me climb in.
"You can fit under there?" He asks, putting the boxes on peg.
"Yeah," I say, looking at the space under the dashboard. I've fit in smaller areas for a longer time. "When do I go under?"
"We're going to be passing a bridge over the ocean to get to an island. When we're there, it'll be about 10 minutes to the beach."
"So when we pass the bridge?"
"Yes."
Baekhyun opens the door and pulls himself in. Lay puts the boxes on my lap, making it impossible to see over them.
"Good. Sit tight, don't move until we get you."
I nod and he slams the door, disappearing to the back of the truck. After a moment or so, there's a loud smash indicating the door is shut. After a couple seconds, somebody bangs the front of the cart, letting us know they're good to go.
Baekhyun sighs, switching the gears into drive before slowly taking off once again.