Reasons to Stay // Hyunin

~38~

"Jong-ah."

"Yes sir?"

It was late at night, and Hyunjin was sitting in the front lobby desk, thinking in silence. Jong was sitting on the couch in the living room, because it's common in gangs for the boss to always be accompanied by a supposedly loyal someone, for safety purposes.

Hyunjun sighed, "Jong, you obviously can tell that I still like Jeongin," he admitted straightforwardly.

Jong paused for a moment before answering, "Yes sir."

"So you know. But why do you just let me save him? you know that was Eun's #1 mission for a long time, he wanted to get rid of the witnesses so badly. And you've been with him for many years. Now I just sent a message to cancel all those years of work, and you haven't done anything to stop me, rather you've been willing to help it seems. You know I am saving him merely because I love him. Why are you letting me do this?"

Jong was taken aback at the youth's sudden blunt confession, and he looked at his hands for a little while, trying to choose his words wisely. He finally looked at Hyunjin's eyes and said, "You are the one who saved him so long ago, so I don't wish for you to kill him now. It mind sound strange...but I believe life is written to have you two together, so of course I don't want to stop it."

Hyunjin leaned in, confused. "Saved him? what do you mean?"

The older man sighed. "It's so obvious you don't remember, that's why they told me never to tell you. I can't talk about it too much. But I'll just say, if you look into it and use your mind, you'll be able to figure it out on your own."

"But when did I save him?" Hyunjin asked.

"I...can't say...because it was an actual agreement I made with Boss eun and I should keep it. I hope you understand."

"Okay," Hyunjin leaned back into his chair. He thought about any possible time he'd saved I.N. Was it from the car that night in Felix's neighborhood, when he let I.N go? Minutes of silence passes as Hyunjin dug into the recesses of his brain. The years of his life passed by, one by one. Teen years were full of training and crimes, mostly robberies, vandalism, and assisted murders. Middle school was more petty crimes.

Hyunjin found it hard to remember anything about his really younger childhood. Having been brainwashed slowly in the years, his past became more vague to him as time had gone on.

He held his head in his hands, rubbing his temples, trying to relieve the annoying headache pounding. Loose memories floated around in his mind, refusing to piece together.

The night of the fire.

There had only been 3 known survivors. Jeongin, Lee Know, and Seungmin.

Use your brain Hyunjin. It seems like it should be obvious...

Realisation hit him and he could not believe that he hadn't known it before. He felt stupid to the core because it had been so obvious and he had never even noticed a bit of resemblance!

There was a boy you saved from the fire...

You covered him with a blanket and ran away because your name was called...

Oh my all might, Hyunjin you are dumb. How did you never realise this?

But that truth now revealed to Hyunjin made him feel amazing.

Maybe HyunIn was written in his life's story after all.

----

Back at Innie's hospital room, Lee Know and Chan were sitting in the guest seats, talking. They had gotten more friendly with each other after Lee Know had explained everything that had happened, all the way back from Lee Know's capture after the orphanage fire. Bang Chan still didn't completely get it, but he nodded and listened. Just as long as Innie was safe and within his vision, he would be fine.

At that moment, lee Know got a text from Hannie.

one of the gangsters who didn't know abt our escape

he told me that hyunjin's the new boss now

so ig everyone knows now that eun is dead

it's on tv anyhow..

i was surprised that hyunjin's the boss.

Idk anything abt it

he didn't tell me anything

Lee Know blinked twice upon reading the messages, then looked up at Chan with a confused look, as if Chan could answer his questions.

"What," Bang Chan said, equally confused.

"I think I need to get back to Han," Lee Know said suddenly, getting up.

"...all right," Chan said, getting up to see Lee Know to the door, even though it was only a few meters away. "Nice meeting you. You can communicate with me anytime needed," he offered, since they had exchanged numbers earlier.

"Thanks," Lee Know replied, "and update me on Jeongin please."

"Of course."

Lee Know hurried out of the hospital and took a taxi back to where Han was staying at a family noodle restaurant. Lee Know entered the restaurant and Han was still sitting at a table, looking at his phone. Upon seeing Lee know, he immediately stood up. "Hey. Is Jeongin doing well? We should probably leave here as soon as possible because I kind of feel like the owners are getting restless seeing me just sit here for the past hour."

"Okay," Lee Know answered and he took Han's bag for him and the two quickly left. "where should we go?" Lee Know asked because Han had shared his worries about being visible in open public.

"Let's go to the BBQ in the closest mall, it's dark in those places. Then we'll decide our next moves," Han suggested and they agreed on the place, taking a metro.

"Jeongin's fine I think...he's in a coma though." Lee Know said softly as they waited for their stop.

"Were there any complications in seeing him?"

"Well his Channie-hyung was there but we got along pretty well. I informed him of everything possible but I doubt he really understands," Lee Know shrugged.

"It's okay, he doesn't have to," Han assured.

The two sat in silence as the ride went on.