𝙳𝙴𝙲𝙴𝙸𝚅𝙴𝙳 |ᶰʲᵐ

Chapter 23

They froze. Shinrae still has her hand covering Jaemin's mouth as the two tried to calm down.

"yeah I'll be out in a bit," she yelled out at Kun who was still on the other side of the door. Shinrae turned to Jaemin, letting go of her hand slowly as she looked around. She quickly spotted a window on the top corner of the restroom and pointed at it to Jaemin.

He nods as he hurriedly stepped on top of the toilet with Shinrae helping him go over. Kun had his arms crossed with his feet tapped on the floor as he waited. A few ruffling sounds was heard, Kun began to look around to see where those sounds might come from. He then leaned his head forward towards restroom door, trying to listen whether all those noises was coming from in there.

And with surprise, the door swung open as it startled the man who pounced backwards. Shinrae stood there with a surprised look and went up to Kun.

"you okay?" she asked him. Kun made it back up to his feet and brushed off his clothes. He made eye contact with Shinrae and turned slightly, to see the restroom at full view behind her.

"yeah, i just needed to," He managed to say as points forwards directing towards the room. Shinrae let out a small laugh as she moved aside, letting the man go. She waved at him and walked away right after he closed the door. Increasing her pace, she fled out of the store. With her head laid low, Shinrae slowly head towards the back of the store where Jaemin should be present.

She made a left turn to see Jaemin standing, fixing his attire. He had his hands on his hair and puts his cap back on. Shinrae ran her way towards him as she grabbed him by the shoulders, making a quick scan.

"are you okay?" she said.

"yeah don't worry about me," he said in response. She let out a huge sigh of relief and grabbed his hand.

"let's go, i know a way,"she spoke and dragged Jaemin out of there as they made a turn at the back of the building into another street.

-

Kun left the restroom and paid for the snacks he picked out by the counter. He didn't see Shinrae in the store so he presumed she left right after their weird encounter in the back. He left the store and made his way into his car.

"-that's odd," Kun closed his door shut and turned to see Mark awake, currently on the phone. The other two was still in a deep sleep in the back. Not long after, Mark ended the call and made a look.

"that was weird,"he said as he began to furrow his eyebrows and turned to Kun.
He sat there silent, waiting for Mark to say something.

"Jaemin was spotted in Seoul but he fled off," Mark began to explain leaving Kun in shock.

"who was that on the phone?"

"Jaemin's mom, she saw them outside not far away from their shop " he explained further.

"them?"

"yeah that's the thing. He was with a girl, they fled off together,"

-

Shinrae and Jaemin walked hand in hand as they walked down the street. Both were in deep thought, with Shinrae thinking about how Kun knows, nope, are friends with NCT, and Jaemin worrying about the thought that his friends are in the area. They made a turn and finally made it back home, as they enter to see the other family members in the living room watching tv.

"we're home!" she cheered as the family turned their attention towards them. The two entered the house with a smile, trying to hide their worries from them.

"so how's the date?" Aunt Soo began to tease, making the two to look at each other.

"it was great!" Jaemin spoke with eyes remain in contact with hers. The two adults turned to look at eachother then back at the young couple.

"that's good to hear, now go freshen up, you both must be tired from your long trip," Aunt Soo points out as the two bowed and wished then goodnight before making their way up the stairs. The two began to split into their respective rooms to change.

Jaemin closed the door behind him and removed his cap and mask as he lazily walked towards his bed. He laid down with his hand on the back of his neck and stared up on the ceiling. The thought of his friends being in the area gave him mixed feelings of happiness and at the same time worried. He was happy to find out that his friends were here, to find him but he doesn't want to be found yet. That's what he's worried about.

He huffed as he began to sit up, removing his shirt and threw it into the laundry basket in his room. He grabbed his towel and puts it over his shoulder, walked straight into the bathroom to take a shower.

-

"make a turn here," Mark points out as Kun did what he was told. There, they've reached their destination. Mark went to wake the others up while Kun called Jungwoo to inform him that they're outside. The two youngsters have finally gained consciousness and stretched out their arms as they yawned.

The front door of the house opened to see Jungwoo exiting the house, walking up to them as they all went out of the car. They greeted their friend and began to take out their stuff in the trunk before making their way inside. With everything done and settled, Kun finally locked the door and made it inside with Jungwoo.

"any luck?" Jungwoo spoke as Kun shook his head in response. He sighed, stopping his tracks and turned to his friend.

"but i think we got a clue,"

Jungwoo guided his friends into the guest room and warned them in advance to keep it down as his grandma was in her room already asleep. They made it up the stairs and walked down the hallway. Jungwoo opened the door and assured them to enter first.

"since there's four of you guys, two each on the beds," the owner of the house spoke, pointing out the two beds present in the room.

"well it depends on you," he smirked. The oldest among them ordered the little ones to clean up first while the other two settled down with Jungwoo. They sat in a circle, discussing about today's happening and ofcourse, the information given from Ms. Na.

"so what does the girl look like? does she know?" Jungwoo said as he turned to Mark with his arms crossed.

"yeah, she said the girl was about Jaemin's shoulder height," Mark started as he began to recall the phone call conversation he had earlier.

"she must be around 5'4," Kun murmurs as Jungwoo agreed with him.

"hair tied down, i think. she wore jeans and cream wool jacket with a white top," Mark added as he began to laugh. His sudden reaction frightened the other two.

"its so funny. when Ms.Na was describing this girl to me, another girl from the store earlier left wearing the same thing," he spoke as he continued to laugh.

"Shinrae?" Kun thought to himself as he tried to recall what happened in the store. It was true that Jaemin's mystery girl matches her appearance. She did act strange, as if she was in a hurry but could it be?

"that's a crazy coincidence," Jungwoo spoke as he joined in the laughter with Mark but Kun on the other hand, had something in mind.

"what if it wasn't a coincidence?"