Savage || Lee Haechan

Chapter 24 | "this isn't good"

Minji woke up the next morning with a smile on her face. The events of last night still making her heart flutter as she leaped out of bed and got ready for the day. She quickly made her way downstairs, grinning as she noticed a familiar figure talking with Sungchan at the kitchen table.

"Morning Minji." Sungchan said, sliding her a cup of coffee as she approached them.

"Morning Sungie," she replied, taking it with a grateful nod. "Morning Haechan."

He didn't meet her eyes, just awkwardly dipping his head towards her without a word.

That's weird...

She shook off the thought, straightening up with a smile.

"Want me to give you a ride to school today, Haechan? I can-"

"It's fine. I was just leaving actually." He replied, cutting her off as he grabbed his bag and rushed to the door.

"Oh, well, I'll see you at-"

She didn't get to finish as the boy quickly left, slamming the door behind him. Sungchan watched the whole thing with raised eyebrows, confused at the young boy's behavior and even more confused by the sad look on her face.

"Everything alright, Min?" Her best friend asked, grabbing his bag and walking around the table to stand in front of her. "I thought you two were on good terms?"

"I thought so too..." she trailed off sadly. "Whatever, he probably just slept bad. Let's get going." She said cheerily, waving off the strange interaction and heading towards the door. "Everything will be back to normal once he just wakes up a bit. Come on."

- - -

Everything was not back to normal. Haechan completely ignored her. He didn't speak a single word to her no matter how she tried, he wouldn't even look at her.

Minji tried to brush it off as just one bad day, but it wasn't. He continued that was for the next few weeks. The only time he spoke to her was when they were paired up for an assignment in class, and even then it was no more than a sentence or two.

She thought that everything was finally working out for her, but obviously not. Haechan even made a point to ask to switch seats in one of their classes in order to not be next to her. Anytime she entered the practice room, he would leave immediately, and when she tried to go to his room to talk to him at night, she found it locked.

To say that Minji was upset was an understatement. She was crushed. For the first week, she tried her best to talk to him but eventually she gave up. She'd seen him laughing and talking with all the other members like usual, so it was obvious that he was only being that way with her.

Every time she saw him, her heart hurt, knowing that he was only going to ignore her. She did her best to avoid him, which was easy at school but significantly harder at the house, especially at night when everyone was sitting around.

To distract herself, she began taking hits. She reached out to an old acquaintance that she'd worked with after her parents died, a man she hoped she'd never call again, but she did. He began sending her lists of all the hits set on different people. She'd go out at around 8pm and wouldn't return home until around 3 in the morning with an empty gun, some blood splattered on her face, and bundles of money.

Her whole personality had changed. The members had noticed how happy she had been. As she grew closer to Haechan, she'd been literally glowing, but recently that glow had dimmed. She was quiet, rarely laughing or smiling anymore. She skipped meals, avoided her usual training sessions with the guys in favor of working solo. It hurt to see the person she loved reject her.

The guys had noticed her behavior and tried to talk to her about it, but it seemed as through every time they tried, she either rushed off to training, school, or to take another hit. She just kept trying to distract herself with things so that she didn't notice the ache in her heart.

She was packing up her bag for the night, getting ready for another night of crossing people off her hit list when there was a knock at the door. She felt her heart skip a beat, the tiniest bit of hope in her eyes as she waited to see who entered.

"Hey Ji." Her shoulder dropped seeing Sungchan walk in.

"Oh, hey Sungchan." She replied, checking to make sure her gun was fully loaded before slipping it into her hip holster. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah, I was just hoping I could talk to you for a bit."

"Oh, sorry but I'm about to head out actually, and I won't be back for a while." She said, sliding the bag onto her back.

"Minji, I'm worried about you. This isn't good." He replied, stepping to block her exit.

"I'm fine, Sungchan. Everything is okay." She mumbled, not meeting his eyes.

"No. Stop pretending to be okay, Minji, because I know you. And I know you're not okay. You've been skipping meals and avoiding training, I swear you're always locked in your room or out taking hits. You're so unfocused in school, and you've barely spoke two words to me these past few weeks! I can see it all over your face, you're sad and I don't know why or how to fix it!" He exclaimed, shocking the small girl.

"Sungchan, you don't have to." She whispered, seeing the desperate look on his face.

"We've been best friends since we were 3, Minji. I'm here for you, always. I remember what it was like after your parents died, and I don't want you falling back into that. Please don't go back to that dark place, we barely were able to pull you out of it last time a-and I can't lose you. I almost lost you once and I won't let that happen again, please Ji, just-"

"Haechan and I kissed." She said quietly, cutting him off with a frown. "And he's avoided me ever since... I think he might hate me."

"Oh Minji..." Sungchan immediately opened his arms, allowing her to run into them.

He pulled her tight against his chest and stroked her back gently, feeling her body tremble as tears formed in her eyes.

"I don't know what to do, Sungie." She sniffled, unable to stop the tears from pouring over. "I really thought I had a chance to find love. I opened my heart to him and he just slammed it shut. I-I don't know what I did wrong. I-I thought he felt the same way but he didn't."

"He does, Minji, he loves you."

"No he doesn't."

"Yes he does. We all see it, he does too, he's just too scared to admit it." He let go of her, holding her at arms length to get a good look at her face. "It's all going to be okay. You're heartbroken right now, but you're going to be okay."

"For the first time in a long time, I really don't feel okay."

"Oh Ji... come here." His heart broke when he saw her expression, she looked so defeated. "Just cry then, alright? You're going to be okay but you don't have to be right now. For now, just let it all out and cry. I'm here for you."

He pulled her over to her bed, allowing her to lean into his chest and finally let out all the pent up sadness that had been eating her up inside.