𝐘𝐮𝐧𝐠𝐢 | 𝐁𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐏𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 ✓

𝐍𝐢𝐧𝐞

May 31, 2023

A small smile flitted across Mingi's lips after he recognized Jeongin's face in the doorway the next morning. He and another policeman, whom Mingi did not know, were talking to Yunho. Then Yunho said goodbye and left the small house.

Mingi walked to Jeongin. He smiled at him. "You should have listened to me," Jeongin said. Mingi nodded sheepishly. "Yes, maybe, but maybe I would have been dead or kidnapped today." Mingi made a theatrical expression. "Stop joking about it," Jeongin said, slapping him lightly on the shoulder. "You're lucky we don't have to work today and were able to come here." Mingi frowned.
"I thought you were working when you are here." Jeongin shook his head. "Yunho said he'd pay us if we came here. Officially, there's no reason for you to hide."

Mingi groaned. "I don't want to be scared all the time or hide or listen to Yunho anymore. I want my old life back." Jeongin looked at him a little pitifully. "You know what I still don't understand," Mingi mumbled and Jeongin looked at him questioningly. "Why did this random man get into my car that day? It doesn't make sense, I didn't even know him. And why are these guys chasing me now,
I know nothing about them and have nothing on them. If I was in the mafia, I wouldn't waste my time with something like this."

Jeongin laughed briefly, then became serious again. "I don't know any more than you do, Mingi, and I don't understand it either," Jeongin said. "What do you know about these guys?" Mingi, curious as he was, wanted to know. Jeongin scratched his head thoughtfully. "Nothing much, we've been following them for a while. But we've never caught them yet. They're always one step ahead of us, like they always know what we're up to."

Mingi nodded slowly. "What about Yunho? What does he know about them?" Mingi asked. Jeongin took a deep breath. "I don't know. He doesn't talk about it with anyone except our boss. He always wants to decide everything on his own." Mingi's head ached even more than before. He went back to the bed and let himself fall in. Couldn't he just go back to his old life?

...

Mingi lay curled up in bed. The thick blanket over him. It was getting dark outside. Jeongin and the other policeman were somewhere outside the house. Mingi felt alone and trapped. In addition, his stomach growled incessantly and Yunho was still not back. Mingi thought about Wooyoung and Jongho and the university and his parents. It was as if he missed everything. Everything and everyone. Even Yunho. But only because he brought food for him, right?

Mingi's thoughts stopped abruptly when he heard a loud gunshot from outside. The blood rushed through his veins. What was happening? Mingi peered into the darkness of the small house. It was as quiet as before. The only thing he could hear was his own breathing. Then suddenly he heard footsteps coming closer and closer. He didn't think twice and rolled with the covers off the bed. He landed on the wooden floor with a thud. His face tightened painfully. He slid across the floor in one swift movement and disappeared under the bed.

At the same second, the old door of the house opened and Mingi held his breath. He didn't know if it was Yunho or someone else. He didn't know who had just fired the shot. He didn't know how much longer he would live. All he knew was that he was not allowed to make a sound. The light was switched on.

Then Mingi heard the footsteps coming closer. He looked cautiously in the direction of the footsteps and recognized two black boots. And the sight made him sick. They were the same boots he had seen before. The boots that belonged to the one who had killed the strange man that night. It was so quiet that Mingi felt like even his thoughts were too loud.
It wasn't long before more footsteps were heard and another person entered the house.

"Where is he?" Mingi heard a voice. The voice sounded rough and frightening and yet somehow gentle. Were these the men who belonged to the mafia? "He must be here somewhere. I know that Yunho brought him here," said the other person. His voice was totally different and Mingi couldn't tell whether he found it reassuring or creepy.