Untouched [minsung]

Chapter 37

Felix POV

It had been a couple of days since the dinner with the Seo family. I had learned that I was much stronger than I gave myself credit for. I hadn't brought up Lily to Mrs. Seo. Even one mention of her name would have thrown off the entire plan, but I'd managed to avoid that conflict.

I couldn't talk about her at all with Changbin or Chan either, though, which meant I hadn't talked about her with anyone. Well...except with our families who I still hadn't told of her passing. Not only would that make it more real, but I hadn't had the opportunity to come up with a story that would justify her being dead, but also the fact that we would never be able to have a funeral because her body was long disposed of. But, hey, at least I hadn't ruined everything and gone off on Mrs. Seo.

Honestly, Mrs. Seo had liked me a little too much. She texted me often for updates and photos with Changbin, and to ask about the status of our planning.

Updates about Changbin were easy. She just wanted to know that he was safe and happy.

Updates about the plan were difficult to provide because Chan and I were struggling to find a way to infiltrate the Hwang family without seeming suspicious.

We'd opted to leave Seungmin alone for now. If we monitored him enough, his relationship with Jeongin could help us gain information that we could use to save Han and the others. Plus, we didn't want to tip off Jeongin that we knew Seungmin had played us.

As for gaining access to the building, just like with my previous plan, my brain was flashing an obvious answer, but I worried about the position that it would put me in.

I'd just sent off a photo of Changbin and Chan to Mrs. Seo when she messaged back asking me to remind Chan that he had gala duty in a few days.

I don't think she realized that I knew what that was, and it reminded me that no matter how kind she was towards me and others around us, that she was still the monster who had killed my wife.

I flashed my phone screen to show Chan the text, not sure if it was something Changbin could hear or not, and he nodded at me with a straight face and a sigh. He didn't seem too excited about it.

Chan had been hard to get a read on. On a social level, he was fun to be around and seemed to be very likable. On the other hand, I wasn't sure to what extent his loyalty lay with the Seo family. What did he gain from doing their messy work?

I planned to dig at that the next time we were alone which, unfortunately, was not often. Changbin hated to be alone. Whenever he wasn't with me, he asked Chan to hang out with him. Whenever Chan was busy again, he'd call me.

So far, all we had determined was that we needed more help. Having to spend every moment watching or entertaining Changbin, while also planning an essential prison break that the person we had to spend every minute with couldn't know about, was proving to be impossible.

"I think we need a plan so we can have time to plan," I complained to Chan while Changbin went to the bathroom.

We'd only found time to discuss rescuing the others when Changbin was safely at his house, which wasn't often since he preferred my apartment.

"Any new ideas?" he asked.

"I have one, but we'll need to talk about it later. There's a lot of ways it could go wrong."

Chan nodded and Changbin walked back into the room. "My father just invited me to help him with something. I think he wants to show me around a new property he wants to buy," Changbin said.

"Oh, well see ya later!" Chan said, sounding a bit too eager to get rid of him.

I didn't want Changbin to know that I was equally excited to have time to talk to Chan, so I hugged his side and whined, "Do you have to?"

Changbin kissed my forehead, "Sorry, Lix. I'll text you when we're done, though."

I walked Changbin out to his car and hugged him properly. "I'll miss you," I said as I gave him a kiss.

He held my waist and kissed my nose. "See you soon. Love you."

"Love you, too," I replied. I waved as he drove away and down the street. It was actually quite easy being with Changbin. I often wondered if a future with him would be possible after I grieved for Lily.

"So gross," Chan said, fake gagging.

"Are you homophobic Chan?" I joked. I knew he was talking about the PDA.

"You know what I meant," he said rolling his eyes.

I hopped into Chan's car, and we headed to my apartment.

"So what's this plan of yours that could blow up in our faces?" Chan asked once we'd gotten settled back at my place. Chan sat on the couch with his feet up on my coffee table.

"First, I need you to keep an open mind," I began. I was seriously about to put myself in danger. My heart pounded with anxiety and my hands were sweating.

"Okay..." Chan extended the word slowly, cautiously.

I went over to my bookshelf and breathed a deep breath. I grabbed "You'll Be Okay" off of the shelf and handed it to Chan.

"You want me to read a self-help book?" he snorted. "Am I that hard to be around?"

I shook my head and, with a shaky hand, opened the book to the photo I kept inside.

Chan stared at it for a moment. He seemed to be trying to wrap his head around the fact that I'd been married. Maybe he thought I wasn't into guys since I was with a woman and was using Changbin.

The anticipation of what he'd say was making me want to throw up. I wondered if he'd just pull out his gun and shoot me right there. Tell Changbin it was a drive-by. He'd tell his mom I'd lied to her son. I'd be forgotten soon enough.

Chan looked up at me with a confused expression. "You're married?" he asked.

When I'd made the decision to confide in Chan, I decided to take a route that would make him pity me the most so that he'd hopefully be less angry when he found out I was technically on payroll for the Hwang family.

"I was married," I began, emphasizing the past tense.

"What happened?" he asked, his voice full of empathy.

"She died at one of the gala nights trying to pay off her debt to the Seo family."

Chan looked at me with a confused expression. I hadn't been expecting that.

"No she didn't," he said matter-of-factly.

"What do you mean? Seungmin looked it up in the system and told me her profile was listed as deceased."

I felt like I had whiplash. She's alive. She's dead. She's alive...

"He was wrong," Chan began. "I know her."

The words hung heavy in the air, and I couldn't breathe.

He knows her.