Sideline | RENJUN

Chapter 1

Jieun was no stranger to Neo City, she had grown up here. She knew that people should avoid the dark streets at night, dangerous people roaming around once the sun came down.

Yet as she chewed her gum, Jieun was anything but scared, used to seeing the druggies and creepy men, staring at her all black outfit.

"Stupid Phoenixes." Jieun mumbled as she walked by an alleyway, noticing the mark of the most dangerous gang of the city on the ground. It was faded, meaning that it was old but it was still a mark. A mark that represented that the Phoenixes owned Neo City and there was nothing anyone could do about it.

"They're so damn selfish too." Jieun continued as she walked down the street, remembering the time one of them had dropped one of her drunk friends off. It was clear that he had taken advantage of Jieun's friend, and although Jieun wasn't particularly close with the girl and her friends, they had gotten lucky.

If Jieun didn't just happen to be in that group chat because they forgot to remove her, she was certain that the Phoenix would have full on taken advantage of the girl.

Jeno, Jieun though, recalling the cross on the male's cheekbone. Jieun's fist tightened at the thought, her blood boiling.

The sound of the metal door hitting the cement wall rang through the room as Jieun entered the old garage, located in the corner of Neo City. The people sitting around the fire turned their heads towards her, but Jieun simply shoved her hands into the pocket of her jacket, too angry to care.

"Someone's in a bad mood." One of them snickered, leaning back in his chair but Jieun was not having it tonight.

"Shut up, Yangyang." Jieun said as she settled in her usual place, the metal legs of the chair making a screeching sound as they scraped the ground.

"Make that a really bad mood." Yangyang mumbled, sitting straight again. Jieun rolled her eyes, turning her head to the male sitting between her and Yangyang, a serious look on his face.

"Xiaojun's almost fully healed." Hendery told her changing the topic. "We can start again."

"I don't trust Xiaojun." Jieun told them, crossing his arms. "He's an idiot for showing his face again."

"He was trying to get Zhilan on our side." Yangyang explained. "We told him not to. Not my fault he didn't listen."

"Plus, he was a Phoenix. He knows how to take them down better than we do." Hendery said, staring into Jieun's eyes.

Jieun sighed, not really convinced. "Weren't you two in China with him too?"

"Yeah, we helped with the plan there but we weren't part of the Phoenixes. We were only in contact with S-"

"DON'T!" Jieun yelled, making Yangyang freeze mid-sentence, biting his lip. Jieun saw Hendery smack himself in the forehead, knowing that Yangyang had been close to making a big mistake.

"With your friend." Yangyang said, biting his lip as he quickly corrected himself.

"Anyways, the point is, none of us know how the Phoenixes work aside from Xiaojun and he doesn't even know how the ones in Neo City work." Hendery said, choosing his words carefully.

"I mean we probably could have if he didn't break that girl's heart." Jieun mumbled but the other two heard it.

Jieun groaned as she could tell the two boys were giving her a look. A look of pity.

"Listen Jieun, the Phoenixes all took away someone we loved, it wasn't just you. We're in this together, alright?" Yangyang said softly, giving her a comforting smile.