Reflections ⋈ Jaehyun

9 ⨝ Pieces

⋉ 9 ⋊

Johnny entered 127's office building, then headed straight to Taeyong's office when he noticed that they were all alone outside. The others were either not there yet or they were inside their offices, doors closed indicating that others should stay outside. The only exception was Taeyong who had his door open wide.

Hye-jin followed her brother wordlessly, watching as he grew a big grin when he finally spotted his friend. Taeyong sat in his office chair, leaned back as far as he could with his eyes on his phone. Upon noticing the siblings though, he sat up straight and put his phone away.

"Hey guys," he greeted them. "You're punctual as always."

"I made sure to get off work on time," Johnny commented, then glimpsed at Hye-jin who noted,

"I picked him up from work."

Taeyong smiled. "Cute."

"Do you want something to drink?" Johnny asked the girl eventually and added, "I think I still have some fruit in the fridge too in case you are hungry."

"I'm good," she said. "You said you wanted coffee though."

The older sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Right," he agreed. He was nearly constantly tired and yet managed to put on such bright smiles all the time. "I'll go do that, be right back."

With that, Johnny left the two alone. Hye-jin leaned against the wall next to the door, her gaze running through the office, cautiously inspecting the room as if she had never seen it before.

"Hye-jin," Taeyong called her to get her attention. She dragged her eyes over to him and watched him with disinterest as he asked, "Do you trust me?"

She shook her head right away. "Not at all."

Amused, he laughed a little to himself. Meanwhile, the girl just kept watching him. Though not afraid, she refrained from letting her guard down when she was with him. So, despite the softness of his laugh, the beauty of his face or the gentleness of his voice, she remained cautious.

"Can I ask why?"

"You are disingenuous," she pointed out drily. "And you make it worse by pretending like you aren't."

"You are saying that as if I was a liar."

She hummed. "That's not what I tried to say but if you are interpreting it that way then it probably says more about you than you'd like to admit."

Her comment caused Taeyong to laugh once again, this time more genuinely. Her behaviour was refreshing. However, she couldn't quite find the humour in this situation because,

"You are putting others in danger."

Taeyong hummed. "Am I?"

It wasn't planned that, right then and there, a puzzle piece fell into place. Something had clicked in Taeyong's mind, causing a wave of emotions to rush through him. And as he felt the weight of this piece on his chest, Hye-jin equally felt as if her lungs were void of air, as if her heart was about to break in two. Taeyong's eyes found Hye-jin's that were wide in shock for a second - before they turned empty.

Empty because she realized something.

"You are putting me in danger." It was all part of the puzzle. He didn't want to deny it and so he nodded. "And for what?"

"I don't know," he said quietly. He hadn't expected her to ask him so bluntly.

She raised a brow. "If you knew, would you tell me?"