~<*>~ Music in me: seventeen fan-fiction ~<*>~

Chapter 35

Seungmin has to admit that he had imagined this a little bit different. He didn't think that they would lock him up like a criminal. Even though he understands that they want to be careful, this just isn't fair. He literally saved Dino's life and what does he get in return? Being treated like the enemy. Seungmin sighs while he stares at the wall in front of him. The brunette notices that Scoups and his team have tried their best to make it cozy, but the effect didn't really work out. Seungmin doesn't even know how long he's been there, he just hopes that they will keep their promise and protect him. The brunette can praise himself lucky that Chan didn't kill him. But the leader has made it clear that he doesn't want it to happen again. Seungmin looks up when he hears muffled voices from behind the door and gets up to listen, but someone already enters the room. Another brunette walks over to him and smiles friendly.
"Hi, Dino", Seungmin says while he let's himself fall down on his bed disappointed.
"Why are you so sad? I'm good company", Dino tries to get the bad tension away, but it's not helping. After a long silence, Dino finally speaks up again.
"Allright, I get that you're mad about this whole situation and I don't think that this is fair either, but we can't do anything about it", the brunette says while looking Seungmin in the eye.
"Easy for you to say", Seungmin mutters and Dino sighs in response.
"What do you want me to say? I'm sorry?" Dino asks desperate.
"I don't want your pity", Seungmin snaps.
"What do you want!?" Dino is now standing up, clenching his fists frustrated. Seungmin sighs, how many times does he have to explain this?
"I want to be treated right! I want to be safe, goddamnit I just want to be loved! Is it that hard to just give me some respect?" Seungmin blurrs out and Dino looks at him surprised. Apparently, the brunette didn't expect that answer.
"Is that why you ran away?" Dino's soft voice triggers Seungmin to sit straight and look the brunette in the eye.
"Excuse me?" Seungmin snaps offended.
"Chan didn't kick you out, you ran away", Dino explains and Seungmin would like to scratch that stupid smirk off of the brunette's face.
"I understand," Dino keeps going because Seungmin decides to stay silent, "I would be scared too. It's pretty freaky if your leader doesn't trust you and the whole team probably wants you dead."
"I wasn't scared!" Seungmin snaps, trying to shut off the conversation.
"Then why did you run away?" Dino continues.
"Because I felt lonely! I ran away, hoping to find someone who would respect me for who I am! So no, I wasn't scared!" A silence falls down between the two males and Seungmin realizes what he just said.
"Oh, you filthy, little-" Seungmin's words get cut off by Dino placing his hand on the brunette's shoulder. Surprised, Seungmin looks up, only to meet Dino's eyes, filled with pity.
"It's okay", is the only thing the brunette says and strangely, Seungmin relaxes a little.
"Don't you think that I am going to tell you everything right now", Seungmin tries to keep his cool. Dino nods and bites his lip as if he's thinking about something.
"Would you tell me if I tell you my story first?" the brunette asks after a short silence. Seungmin looks at Dino surprised and blinks a few times to see if he really said that.
"Do you really trust me that much?" Seungmin asks startled.
"No," Dino admits, "but I believe you. I also think that you deserve more than this." Seungmin blinks a few times in order to keep his tears from streaming down his cheeks. It's the first time in years that someone actually believed him.
"Okay," Seungmin sighs after thinking for a while, "tell me your story." Before Seungmin knows it, Dino starts talking about how he got here, his meeting with Scoups and even more things like the friendships he made and even the deaths that have happened in the past few weeks. Only now Seungmin realizes how much damage Stray kids have caused them. Seungmin has to fight the urge to apologize because he knows it's stupid to just say 'I'm sorry'. When Dino is done talking, Seungmin takes a deep breath.
"Woah", is all that the brunette can say. They stare at each other in silence and Seungmin realizes that Dino gave him lots of information that Stray kids doesn't know about. Seungmin could easily just tell his old group and betray Scoups' group.
"Why are you telling me this?" Seungmin asks curiously. Dino lifts his shoulders while answering.
"Like I said, I believe you. And that means that you did run away, which means that you won't go back to your group without getting killed for betrayal." Seungmin nods slowly while he takes every word in. This guy is pretty clever to be honest.
"You're clever", Seungmin mumbles in disbelief.
"And you're about to tell me why you ran away", Dino responds. Seungmin let's out a chuckle before he starts talking.
"I actually never felt like I belonged there. They're all so cold-blooded, so cruel. They also showed that they didn't like me because I was too kind and I cared too much about others. But the ones who said that are dead right now, so I guess I was right." Seungmin stops for a moment to let Dino take it all in and the brunette looks at Seungmin confused.
"Why did you stay there in the first place if it was that bad?" he asks and Seungmin smiles.
"Chan was my reason to stay", he admits.
"Chan!?" Dino yells in disbelief. Ofcourse it sounds weird to him. To Dino, Chan is an enemy, but to Seungmin, Chan was a friend.
"Believe it or not, he was very kind to me. He tried not to make me feel left out and it almost worked, I have to admit." Seungmin stops again, but now it's because he has to make himself ready to go over to the next part.
"Take your time", Dino encourages him and Seungmin can't hold back a thankful smile. After a few minutes, Seungmin is ready to talk again.
"I felt bad for you, you were in there for nothing. So I decided to help you escape, but subtly so that no one would notice. But ofcourse, Hyunjin noticed immediately. He accused me in front of the whole group and Chan read right through me. He knew and he was furious. I could feel that he was hurt, he felt betrayed and it hurt me too. I was scared that I would get killed or something, but surprisingly, Chan let it slide. He told me that he knew that I just pitied you and that I didn't want his group to fail. He promised me to tell the group that it was nothing, but only if I promised him that it would never happen again", Seungmin says softly.
"I guess that you couldn't keep your promise?" Dino asks curiously. Seungmin shakes his head.
"I tried my best, I really did. But every time they robbed a bank or someone got hurt, I just had a feeling that what I was doing, was wrong. And the fact that Chan acted different around me, as if he couldn't trust me anymore, made me cross the line. I packed my bags and I left the building. Ever since, I have been wandering around the city, trying to find something new. But the fear of Stray kids hunting me and trying to kill me held me back. I just couldn't do it anymore."
"So you came over to us?" Dino asks.
"I was desperate", Seungmin defends himself. Dino wants to say something, but a knock interrupts the conversation. Without asking, Scoups walks into the room and shares a look with Dino. The brunette nods slowly, smiles at Seungmin and leaves the room.
"We were in a conversation!" Seungmin yells, but Scoups sits in front of him silently. The black-haired leader stares at Seungmin and it gives the brunette shivers.
"Can you tell us something about Stray kids?" Scoups asks, waiting for Seungmin to answer. The brunette is a bit taken aback by the question.
"I'm sorry, sir, but I can't tell you more than you already know", Seungmin responds. Even though he left the group, he's not ready to betray Stray kids, to betray Chan. Scoups nods and sighs.
"So you're not going to tell us anything?" The black-haired leader asks and Seungmin shakes his head.
"Allright", Scoups sighs while he gets up to leave the room again. For a moment, Seungmin had felt welcome in this group, but now he knows that it was all a lie. Because what he sees in Scoups' eyes is what he saw in Chan's. They don't trust him.

~<*>~

Scoups sighs defeated while he lets Caroline inside the apartment. The conversation with Seungmin went terribly wrong and it's clear that the brunette won't betray his group, although the black-haired leader has a feeling that Dino might get Seungmin to talk. He knows that his roommate doesn't like the way Scoups treats Seungmin, but the leader sees no other way.
"I see that you're feeling better", Caroline pulls Scoups out of his thoughts. The black-haired male nods and smiles.
"I think that I can walk properly again", Scoups says thankful. Caroline smiles, although she's acting a little different than other times, she's still very kind.
"So you're not dizzy at all anymore?" She asks curiously. Scoups shakes his head while Caroline walks through the apartment.
"Nope, I feel a lot better, thanks for that." Caroline throws him a brief smile before she continues asking.
"Do you have any pain?" she asks while she runs her finger over a little closet. Scoups' heart skips a beat because that's the closet where he hides his gun.
"Uhh, no, the pain has faded", Scoups answers, suddenly a bit nervous. Why is Caroline acting weird?
"So you're feeling all beter? As if nothing happened?" She asks, still standing by the little closet. Scoups looks at her confused while he answers.
"Yes, why?" he responds a little nervous.
"Just to be sure", she says and Scoups notices a little smirk forming around her lips. The black-haired male wants to say something, but before he knows it, Caroline opens the closet roughly and grabs the gun. Scoups takes a step back, but she is quick to aim it at the leader.
"What are you-"
"Quiet!" Caroline yells, Scoups shuts his mouth immediately out of fear, he can't risk getting shot again. Did Dino check if she is safe? Scoups' heart is racing while he takes a deep breath to calm himself down.
"Where is your phone?" Caroline asks and Scoups starts to understand what she wants.
"You can take it if you want", he says quickly, hoping that she will run away right after. But to Scoups' surprise, Caroline scoffs and her eyes burst with anger. She is clearly not afraid to pull the trigger.
"Stop talking, Jesus! Grab your phone, but do not make any sudden movements or I pull the trigger!" she yells and Scoups has never been so confused in his life, what does she want from him? Scoups slowly walks over to the other side of the room, with Caroline following him with her gun. Luckily, Scoups can always still see the front door, that means that he still has a way out.
"Here it is", Scoups informs her.
"One more word and I swear to god that you won't be alive anymore", Caroline grunts irritated and Scoups presses his lips against each other.
"Now call the police", she adds and Scoups looks at her confused.
"What?" he blurs out.
"Call the police and tell them where you are! Now that you're all better, you can go to jail for killing Hyunjin!" Scoups takes a deep breath in, so this lady has been working with the cops all this time. Dino really has to learn how to do good research. Subtly, Scoups takes a step back, he has to catch her attention.
"Call them!" Caroline yells again and Scoups unlocks his phone, right at the moment the front door opens and two brunettes enter. To Scoups surprise, Dino walks in followed by Seungmin. What is he doing outside? But Caroline doesn't care, she aims the gun at the two boys, ready to shoot.
"No!" Scoups yells, catching her attention again. The two brunettes look up startled and Seungmin stares at Caroline in shock.
"Caroline?" He states in shock and the fake doctor drops Scoups' gun.
"Seungmin?" Both Dino and Scoups stare at the two in shock and confused.
"Do you know each other?" Dino is able to get out.
"She's my sister", Seungmin responds and Scoups doubts if he can take any more surprises today.