war of love, jeno

chapter fifty

If you were to find out that your best friends were only friends with you because they had no other choice, how would you feel?

Eunjin didn't feel too good about it. She was heartbroken. The only people she ever spoke to with such care and adoration since waking up were just actresses. They were playing roles.

And yet, they were acting so well that without the sudden memory from earlier, she would have never guessed any better.

The driver in the front seat was oblivious to all the thoughts running through her head. All he knew was that Eunjin asked for him to drop her off at the park.

She wondered if the girls even did see her as a friend or just as an order. Of course, in the beginning, she was nothing more than an order but they had been together for five months now. They had to at least see her as an acquaintance by now, right?

No, no. Maybe she was just remembering things wrong. Maybe her head was making stuff up. How could she even remember that conversation if she was still in a coma? And how did she even see them standing next to her? It was too much.

With fearful eyes, she reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone. Her thumb shook slightly as she opened up the device and tapped on Jihan's contact. Seconds later the phone was ringing and she wondered if her roommate would even pick up.

She did.
Eunjin couldn't tell if she was thankful or not.

"Eunjin! Please, where are you? We need to talk. You don't understand-"

"Was it real?"

There was silence on both ends of the phone. Eunjin waited as her- still working- foot tapped against the car floor anxiously.

"Eunjin..."
"Was it real," she repeated. "Was the memory real?"

A sigh, "yes. Whatever you saw was real. But you have to understand Eunjin, it wasn't-"

"Thanks, Jihan. But that's all I really needed to know right now. Please, don't try and find me. I'll be fine on my own."

And with that, the call ended.

A teardrop fell from Eunjin's eye as she looked back out the window and noticed the driver was pulling into the parking lot of the park.

She thanked him, gave him his money, and picked up her crutches to carry herself outside. She did not attempt to sit down quickly, her pace slow as she neared an awning.

How was she supposed to react to all of this? Was she supposed to be upset, sad, angry? Should she feel the betrayal? After all, they were under order. They had no choice but to go along with the plan.

But that didn't make her pain any less important, right?

Birds chirped happily in the sky, their wings fluttering against the wind as they roamed free. Eunjin watched them with envy. She would do anything to feel that free.

Her back began hurting, making her sit up for a second. Turning her head right and left, she checked to see if there was anyone nearby.

Not seeing anyone, she turned to the side. Her fingers gripped the sides of the metal bench as she leaned backward- her back soon touching the heating seat.

She had so much to think about but one thought pushed itself to the front of her head.

If the girls have the same leader as Jeno, they must be in the same gang.

Her throat felt dry as the panic set in. Her right hand once again reached into her pocket and pulled out her rectangular device.

She hesitated before tapping on Jeno's contact and letting it ring. After a few seconds, he finally picked up and hummed a quick yes.

Eunjin's breath got caught in her throat as she tried to think about how to phrase her sentence but she decided to just come out and say it.

"I know about Jihan, Chaeyoung, Jisoo, and Yuna's order to protect me by Taeyong."

There was silence on the other end of the phone call as Jeno registered the words that had just left Eunjin's mouth.

"Look, Eunjin, they-"

"I want to ask you something," she said, cutting him off. "Were you given an order to protect me or something as well?"

More silence. "No, I wasn't given an order about you. Even if I were to get one, it would more than likely be to stay away from you."

Eunjin sat up but kept her phone close to her ear. She was surprised to hear what Jeno had said. "What do you mean to stay away from me, why would you need to stay away?"

Jeno sighed, hesitating, "you and I knew each other when we were kids. We were very... close." More hesitation before continuing. "When I had heard you were in a coma after an accident, I became very depressed and reckless."

Eunjin was quiet as he continued.

"About two years ago, I was at my worst. That being said, I still took care of my team. But I didn't care if I died while on the job. So during a mission, we were ambushed. On that mission, Chenle was attacked and almost died. But I took his place, blocking him from all the bullets aimed at him. He was only shot once or twice and would recover just fine but I, on the other hand, was apparently found with five or six, I can't really remember. I had lost so much blood, they assumed I had died and left me alone while Chenle went to get help."

"My team doesn't want that to happen again so they told me it would be best to stay away from you and start fresh since you didn't have any memories. It obviously didn't work since we were brought together but only my unit members know that we have been around one another."

have y'all watched the fear street trilogy on netflix? tbh i rlly like them honestly. i was not expecting that twist at the end of the 1666 movie tho 👀
sarah deserved better ‼️

#justiceforsarahfier

honestly i'm still upset over merryboy. poor dog didn't deserve what happened to him ✋🏽🤧

anyways how is the drama for you all? there are only 10 chapters before the book is completed and i might just start spamming y'all with chapters at some point 🏃🏽‍♀️ but yeah u guys finally found out why jeno and jaemin missed their first years of college!!