Criminal Next Door [Namjin]

You Gotta ✨seize✨ The Opportunity

To steal or not to steal, that was the question.

Kim Seokjin examined the woman with dyed hair sprawled across the love seat before returning his attention to the gaping purse full of cash in her hands. Lips pinched, he waited for the infamous angel/devil tag team to pop up on his shoulders to give out conflicting advice.

Nothing happened. And didn't that just figure?

Instead, his conscience wiggled out of his chest, went across the room, and parked itself on the giant, unused stereo system. It crossed its arms and shrugged as if to say, "Take the shot. You don't know better."

Seokjin cocked an eyebrow. It appeared his imagination was already overcompensating for the absence of his conscience.

He plopped down on the gloomy carpet, pulled his knees up to his chest, and inhaled a shaky breath. His night shift at Bobby's Hideaway had been crazy as usual, what with the duelling bachelorette parties and frat guys screaming drink orders at him until 4:00 a.m. A typical night in downtown Daegu.

Most nights, he screamed right along with them. Playing the part. Laughing at jokes he couldn't even hear above the honky-tonk music. Giving as good as he got. Was it pure coincidence that tonight, when he'd been unable to muster a single smile for his good ol' boy regulars, he came home to find a pile of cash waiting for him?

Furthermore, their mother hadn't darkened their door in months but had picked tonight of all nights to stop by and catch a nap. The last time Seokjin spoke-okay argued-with Eun-Ah, she'd been stripping to make a living. If you called passing through life in a drug- and alcohol-induced haze living. At least she'd managed to pass out with dignity and not wake Seokjin's seventeen-year-old brother, Taehyung, in the process. Taehyung tried fearlessly to hide his depression over their mother's habitual absences, but Seokjin knew it cut him deeply.

Seokjin didn't take kindly to anyone hurting his brother. Mother or not.

He narrowed his gaze once more at the cash-filled purse. No way had Eun-Ah pulled in this much cash twirling around a pole. He analyzed through the bulging rolls of hundred-won bills held together by rubber bands. What he wouldn't give to have this much money. The pile of cash in front of him represented freedom. Change. A chance to pursue something other than pouring drinks to support himself and Taehyung.

Taehyung.

This could be Seokjin's one and only chance to get his brother away from this broken-down heap called a house. Away from the danger of the strange people his mother brought home when she actually came home. Away from the fate of ending up passed out on a thrift-store couch while your twenty-three-year-old son debated ripping you off.

And. Yet. Seokjin knew with absolute certainty that if he took this money, just walked out the door with it, it would come back to take a chunk out of his ass. Moreover, it occurred to him that this one poor decision moved him one giant step closer to his biggest fear.

Becoming his mother.

Seokjin had to believe the pile of skin and bones on the couch had once possessed dreams and ambitions of some sort. Then one misguided choice landed her in a G-string and pasties shaking it for some trucker.

If Seokjin could just be a good enough person for long enough, he could flip the script for Taehyung, though. Taehyung, who'd skipped the sixth grade, swore like a sailor and took photographs that could make Seokjin cry, would have a chance at becoming something. Someone.

He glanced around at the peeling paint, stained carpet, and twice-pawned television set. Without the responsibility of playing parent to his brother, Seokjin would have lit out a long time ago, leaving Daegu in his rearview mirror. The thought of falling asleep in his squeaky twin bed in the room he shared with Taehyung, only to wake up tomorrow and complete the same bleak routine-riding the bus into town to work a double shift, then still struggle to put dinner on the table and make rent, all the while looking out for his sister-made him feel nauseated.

I can't see past tomorrow anymore and that ain't good.

Hell, he can't live the rest of his life in this hellhole.

And for that, he'd need some cash.

Seokjin fanned the money in front of his face, inhaling the musty scent. Surely the guilt would appear any moment and he would stuff the purse back into the crook of Eun-Ah's arm and pretend he'd never seen it in the first place. He could then fall asleep with a clear conscience and the false hope that his mother had turned over a new leaf and would use the money to feed Taehyung, move his brother into a nicer home.

Or he could seize the opportunity fate was dropping in his lap and get the heck out of...

As Seokjin picked up the purse and slung it over his shoulder, he learned something very important about human nature. Oftentimes people make questionable decisions. And even though they already taste the fat regret sandwich headed their way, they do it with a smile.

He gave his trembling, wide-eyed conscience the finger and went to pack.

~To Be Continued~

A/N: Hey guys! I'm back after completing session longs of exams and assignments. This chapter is a bit short but they'll get longer with releases. Hope you get hooked on the story and don't forget to vote. And for anyone who's wondering about the title of the chapter, that's an iconic line by Mark from NCT.