Painful Secrets

Chapter 34

"Hyung, I don't want to go. I'm scared." Jeongin said as tears began welling up in his eyes.

"Look, baby. I know how scared you are. But you're gonna have to come." Seungmin stepped closer to Jeongin.

Jeongin shook his head as he backed away. "No!"

"Jeongin, please. Try to understand. I told you no one is going to do anything bad."

"I really don't want to go." Jeongin cried.

"Look, you're coming down with me and that's final. Or else someone will come and drag you down." Seungmin said.

The statement only seemed to scare Jeongin more and the younger one backed away from Seungmin.

"I'm not gonna hurt you, sweetie." Seungmin said. "But please, you'll get yourself into more trouble with others, especially Chan hyung. He might think you're up to something."

Seungmin gently grabbed Jeongin's wrist that felt so small, pale and fragile under his hand and looked at the younger. "I'll be with you, okay?"

Jeongin nodded as he wiped his tears before walking downstairs, clinging onto Seungmin's arm.

He felt a bit uneasy as he entered the living room. Everyone was there.

Sitting on the couch was Minho with Chan and Hyunjin. On the other were Felix, Jisung and Changbin. And one was left empty, probably for Seungmin and Jeongin.

"You can sit." Chan spoke and they obeyed.

Seungmin sat down beside Jeongin, taking the younger's warm hand in his.

Jeongin felt fear creep over him as he realised Hyunjin was looking at him with cold dead eyes. Hyunjin looked at him as if he were a threat, waiting to pounce at any time. After giving Jeongin a look full of pure disgust and hatred, Hyunin turned his gaze towards Felix.

"Soooo," Jisung said, breaking the awkward silence. "Is there a decision that has been made?"

Chan nodded. "I have decided that since Jeongin is not actually a threat or a set up sent by his father, it would be unfair if he killed him without any reason."

A wave of relief swept over Jisung, Felix, Changbin and Seungmin's faces but Hyunjin didn't seem at all happy with the announcement.

Jeongin knew that the only reason Hyunjin wanted him dead was because he was afraid Jeongin might do something to Felix.

Jeongin looked at Minho who was staring at his feet, not looking at anyone.

"Though, I want to ask you, Jeongin," Chan said, demanding silence. "Is there anything else you haven't told us?That we should know?"

Jeongin took a deep breath, gaining his confidence to speak.

"I .... Uh... have heard of your mission about destroying my father's drug cartel." Jeongin started, feeling the smile Felix gave him as a sort of energy boost he had been craving. "You see, there is some stuff about your job that you don't know that I do since he talks about it with my mother. I wanted to tell you but ........"

"You didn't." Hyunjin finished the sentence. "Despite knowing that it might get us killed?"

"Hyunjin!" Felix frowned. "Stop that!"

"And it was nothing like that." Jeongin said, his voice quiet but loud enough for everyone to hear. "It wasn't really important. Stuff you didn't have to know because you would've found them out yourself."

"Do you think you can tell us what it is?" Changbin asked.

"It's the drug cartel's blueprint. He's trying to lure you in a trap. That room Hyunjin hyung found out about is actually a cage. Anyone who steps inside it never comes out. The blueprint in there is fake. However, the drive you mentioned is real. It opens the room's entrance but it also has the image of the original blueprint saved inside of it. So, you would've figured it out when you would've gotten the key and plugged it inside a device to reboot its system. Once he found the you guys, Stray Kids were after him, he tried to make deals with other gangs to take you down."