abide

chapter 21

how jeongwoo did not have to be afraid anymore

the delivery was successful. haruto once again flipped the colorful papers in his fingers, enjoying its structure, thinking how this money could benefit them in the future. after sending a signature message to his boss "sealed" implying that the client was almost drooling once purchasing their goods and the debt was now a bit less burdened, the boy walked forward, to yet another destination he had to visit that day.

"a spoiled nobleman" was one of their long-term clients, and he was also the one haruto was now about to meet. jaehyuk was the one coming up with such a creative name and since it suited the wealthy with his parents' money man really well, his real name was long forgotten. the sachet brimmed with a product was hidden in haruto's jacket, the inside pocket containing its' desired-by-many contents.

the boy chose the path normally attended by passersby. he resembled one of them, nothing gave even the tiniest hint that he was a dangerous drug dealer, educated what spot to choose to kill in one blast. haruto smiled back to the children, basketed in the sun which decided to reveal itself, even hummed some incoherent melody. his last wish was to be pointed out an outsider, no matter what his profession was, he didn't want to be bullied by others. it would bring back the memories.

at the moment his vigilance was shallow, someone bumped at him with such strike that the sachet exploded, unfurling the precious powder to the eyes' of others. haruto's clothes looked as if someone has sprinkled snow on them, the same could be said about the pavement, and even the person who was the cause of all of it examined his shirt with perplexion.

"I-I am sorry."

the boy said, meaning it. but at that time no apology would change the rage that welled up in haruto. firstly, they lost a product, secondly drug was wasted, thirdly - a random stranger could now easily discover what the substance on him was, and report it to the police. as he tried to brush some powder off himself, his fingers got white as well, and the moment he gripped the other by his collar, his fingerprints were left on it.

"look what you have done! you have to pay for it now!"

haruto's eyes were probably shooting thunders and lightning at the other now, and yet the boy didn't even flinch. only his brows raised, he seemed to realize that he encountered the worst person he could. if he couldn't pay the debt, haruto felt sorry for him, cause their way of dealing with problems was severe, and haruto would conduct it with his bare hands.

"are you working for my brother?"

this time haruto's brows went up, his forehead wrinkled despite his young age. if the stranger spat at his face he would be less confused.

"and your brother is...?"

"selling drugs just like you."

haruto rapidly drew him closer, hushing. "be quiet! are you insane? you want to set us?! I will make sure you and your brother go down the sewer with us!"

the member of a gang gave a quick but sweeping glance around. to his benefit, the surrounding emptied, there wasn't even one person with them.

he let go of the other boy after the dawn came upon him. if someone was here and saw his odd, impudent behavior he would be again in the centre of attention he tried to avoid by any means. what's lost was lost - he could just leave what was once supposed to give them cash here, hoping that the wind would scatter it, the rain melt, other people ignore and step on it.

"you." his finger pointed at his unbidden partner in crime threateningly. "come with me."

it was an order which haruto was responsible for obliging, for he was the one dragging the other to the unknown direction. just distant from the crime scene, so that no one connects them to it later on.

"it hurts!"

"I don't give a fuck if it hurts. do you know how my heart hurts after what you did? I lost my money." he whined, although his words were mocking. and so, not releasing the other from his grip, he kept on pulling him behind.

the sole reason he decided to put with the delicate boy more was to interrogate him about his brother. the drug dealing group which haruto was a member of moved into this area not that long ago, being certain that there would be no competition. if they were in the wrong, haruto must have reported it to the leader immediately.

at first the boy refused to speak. insisting that he didn't know much, was of no use and would rather go home, tried to flee, but haruto kept him firmly, growling to "stay put."

"he wants to do good by doing badly." the boy's voice altered. he was sick of how disrespectful this leather jacket brute was to him, showing his manly side wanted to intimidate him.

yet haruto only smirked, liking that the puppy could bark if was pushed hard enough.

"what's his name?"

"I am not telling you."

"then..." here haruto lowered his voice, simultaneously hovering over slightly shorter and weaker-built boy. "what's your name?"

before they maintained eye contact which was now broken. the boy was flustered, felt so small under the other's gaze which as it softened was much more of a danger to him.

"I am not telling you this either."

"I am haruto."

the other hasn't talked to someone else like that apart from his guard - of which haruto had no idea about - for many years now. haruto seemed like guilty pleasure, with such a deep voice one could dive in, dark, captivating eyes, and healthy body that made the boy gulp.

"jeongwoo."

haruto came without permission into jeongwoo's life, and turned it upside. he gave him courage to fight for what he truly loved and desired, he taught him that being defiant could be a virtue.

"later on I found out that that day he ran away from home for the first time. his brother locked him up like some damsel in distress, not allowing to go anywhere on his own. from that day onwards, we never stopped seeing each other."

yoshinori now understood everything. haruto was the person who notified him about the possibility of another gang ruling the area. thanks to this, he could just patiently await for jihoon to visit them. what's more, he was now staring at haruto's fingers. one ring was missing, the one yoshinori let him wear if he wanted, which was originally the leader's possession. jihoon must have found this ring somehow, the track guiding him to the wrong person.

"hyung forgive me for being so irresponsible. I acted like a kid, I shouldn't have been hiding it from you."

they looked each other in the eyes. haruto was feeling sorry, although he couldn't predict that this time because of their love so many people will get hurt.

"you acted like a kid that you are. try to remain a kid as long as you can, once you lose it, you will realize what regret feels like."

haruto nodded. yoshinori didn't hold grudge against anyone. it wasn't haruto's fault, wasn't jihoon's, wasn't jaehyuk's.

all of them wanted to do good by doing bad. 

// ✧ //