2.1 | The Better Half and Half ✓

FOUR>> Found A Talentless, Uneducated Lad

CHAPTER FOUR |Found a talentless, uneducated lad| CHOI HANUEL

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When my exhausted body organs were about to give up on functioning properly, I opened my eyes for the last time to look at my favorite chandelier dangling from the ceiling. I was unable to make out whether it was bodily fatigue after organizing the entire thing by myself, or the depressing thoughts edging me toward my early demise. For once, I snapped shut my eyes and prayed wholeheartedly to rip the harsh events off from my head permanently.

I'll tell Uncle Mojo about Taehyung. Tomorrow morning. Or maybe that's too early. How about the late evening?

I rolled on to Uncle Mojo's room to seek his permission to go out. I whistled absentmindedly and played with the keys of the car, hopping from one hand to another. My gaze searched his face as I moved into a pin-drop silence drive. He was looking astray on the TV with no movements assuring he was alive. "Uncle Mojo, I'm calling on Lisa tonight, we will go clubbing-"

"Keep it low, you jarring buzzer! Can't you see I'm watching a movie? The protagonist is going to teach the banker a lesson for not giving him a bank loan." He turned a little as much as his thickened back had allowed.

"W-e-l-l, I won't be disturbing you anymore. Might be a little late, so don't skip your dinner," I spoke meekly.

And as I was about to run at a speed of an athlete, his words pulled me back fervidly, "Aish, just look at these girls, one is dining out, and another is sinning in the disco. Then what did I do wrong to be under lock-and-key like a prisoner?"

I pouted and stalked backward as I playfully smacked on his arm. "Uncle Mojo, you are free to roam around the city. Nobody has clipped your wings. Ask Minho to take you to the night festivities-- Nanta performance, ppongjjak, etc. "

"Whatever. Are you taking your phone with you?"

"Yep."

"Is it charged up?"

"Yes, it is. Why are you asking though?"

"Because when I will give you the first warning, you don't give me these excuses back."

I narrowed my eyes slyly, "You do know I'll get late."

"By all means."

He was a man who could count the feathers of a flying bird, I wondered how was he susceptible to the lies I had been feeding him with overtime. Admittedly, I wouldn't put it past him if he somehow found me lying to him all the while. God save me.

***

The night celebrated the dalliance of my hair with the slightly warm breeze. My luminous convertible car moved further into the dinky area that made my status emblematic of Juliet scurrying away to meet her Romeo who belonged to her rival's clan. But the modern-day Romeo lived in a place where rag pickers were his counterparts. With so few people strutting on the street, peace accompanied me all through the way. The surroundings shone with a palette of orange hues, covering the upkeeps of the dirty neighborhood.

The feverish feeling took birth as I pulled up my car near the run-down building. Carefree as I had been, I tossed a pink gum in my mouth and jumped off the car without bothering to open its door.

The white paint started to chip away from the stumped walls of a building and also had wires sloped against it. Acquainted to the smallest detail, I remarkably placed my feet onto the dried surface and avoided the small patches of fetid water as I took to the flights.