Connected 2 You

Negotiating

Clouds had moved in, blocking the sun almost completely by the time I walked out of the house. I wished the sun had still been out. I wished it had been able to block my view entirely. I wish I hadn't seen the disappointment on the faces of Changbin and Jisung. I wish I hadn't seen how their mouths opened in surprise or how their eyes widened as they realized what I was doing. And I especially wish I hadn't seen the Captain's hand move and then hover at his side, over his gun in its holster.

I took a few steps to the left, away from the front door. My arm felt heavy as I gripped onto the horrible thing that Rena had given me. There was no turning back now; no way I could get out of the trouble that I had placed myself in, again. The only way through now, was forward.

They all stood behind their open car doors about 100 feet away. Changbin and Jisung looked back and forth between me, the Captain, and each other unsure about what was going on. I'm sure they were also unsure about what they should even do. This was not a part of their plan.

"What are you doing?" The Captain yelled.

I stopped a few feet from the house, closer to the car that I had driven to the estate. "I'm finishing things." I yelled back.

I brought my arm up and steadied my shaking hand with my other arm. The gun in my hand felt even heavier as I pointed it directly at them.

The entire place went silent. Jisung's mouth dropped open as he stood frozen in surprise. Changbin's hand rested on his own gun at his hip. The Captain pulled his own gun out of its holster but pointed it at the ground in front of himself.

"What the hell are you doing!" I could hear the anger in his voice now.

"She's being a good girl." Rena's voice came from my right as she finally emerged from the house, taking a few steps past the doorway.

Even though I was the one holding the gun, all of the attention turned to Rena as she continued out towards me. Weapons had now been fully drawn and Rena was the only one without one. I watched as they tracked her as she walked out to stand next to me.

She patted my shoulder. "See what happens when you trust the people you work with, Captain."

I wasn't sure if she had said her comment loud enough for him to hear it, but I could see him drop his arms a millimeter, before straightening out again. I knew he was looking right at Rena, but from the distance I felt like his eyes were burning holes into mine; anger and betrayal shining brightly at me.

"Funny that. I would never ask someone I trust to stand in front of a bullet for me." He shouted back.

"Deep breath." She murmured close by my ear. I did and I felt my arms steady slightly, a small amount of pressure releasing. I hadn't realized how bad they had been shaking.

Rena leaned onto my shoulder and stood more to my side. "I didn't ask. She volunteered." She threw the statement at the Captain.

Jisung and Changbin shared another look between each other. They must have said something because the Captain shook his head in response.

"Plus, this is Korea. Police Officers are more likely to ask questions before shooting an unarmed woman."

I felt Rena lean into me slightly and I took another step closer to the escape car.

"Stop!" The command wasn't yelled out by the Captain, but rather Changbin had been the one to say it. "Don't move anymore." He demanded.

Changbin's command prompted Jisung to yell out. "Let Y/N go."

Rena laughed next to me and took her hands off of my shoulder. "I'm not the one holding her here. She is free to leave me at any time. It's her own choice to stand here next to me."

I didn't move. My arms still stretched out in front of me, pointing the gun at the three of them in front of us.

"I don't believe you." The Captain said.

Rena scoffed. "You should have encouraged her instead of fearing what she could do. Your overbearing fear clouded your relationship with so much distrust, it's a wonder she didn't find me sooner."

"That's- That isn't true." He shook his head.

"Of course it is. Maybe stop mooning over her and actually talk to her. She is so much smarter than you all give her credit for."

Rena leaned against me again and I took another half step. "The things that she can do with coding and computers are absolutely remarkable. Such a shame that you all wasted her talents."

No one said anything this time. The Captain's face had pinked slightly as Changbin and Jisung tried to figure out what they should do.

"So this is your big plan then?" He yelled back.

"This is-"

"Not you." The Captain yelled as Rena began to answer him.

He stayed quiet for a second but I could tell the exact second his eyes left her and met mine. "Y/N."

I blinked a few times.

He shook his head slowly before putting his gun back in the holster. Then he began to walk around the car door.

He only got a few steps closer to us before Rena yelled, "Stop!"

He stopped but his eyes stayed on mine. "You think the two of you will get away?" He directed his question at me.

"Maybe she can, but you're dead weight to her now. She may not have whatever it was that she came to get, but she can just run and start over. You can't do that."

He took another half step forward as I shook my head.

"stop." My voice came out a bit broken. Rena shifted to my other side.

"You have people here that love you, that care for you. How can you do this to them again?" He asked.

"Stop it." My voice was clearer this time.

He paused as I narrowed my own eyes. "Stop the guilt trip." I spat out.

"My brothers are more than capable of living their own lives without me. They have proved that time and time again over the last five plus years. Don't I deserve to live my own life how I want to live it?"

"This is how you want to live your life? With an International Fugitive? With a standoff with police? You want to be on the run everywhere you go, always looking over your shoulder?" Another small step forward.

I felt Rena pull me another step back.

"I want to see the world." I yelled back. "I want to work with computers again. I want to have a fulfilling life with no regrets, instead of being shoved in a small back room staring at a screen waiting for something to happen."

It was his turn to blink several times. I could see him try to make sense of what was going on.

"Even you all couldn't stand working at the desk. How do you think I felt?"

He took another step towards me. "I'm sorry."

Rena had let go of my arm and I couldn't see her out of the corner of my eye anymore. What did it matter? She was the one who had to get away right? I was the one who was supposed to stay and be arrested.

"That's not good enough." I said through clenched teeth.

Somehow, the Captain stood half the distance between me and the cars. How had he done that?

I waved the gun slightly to get his attention and he stopped.

"You won't do it." He said matter-of-factly.

"Won't I?"

He shook his head. "You won't."

I cocked the gun, just like Rena had showed me only minutes before. Then I aimed the gun right back at the Captain's chest.

Blood rushed in my ears, drowning out the shouts from behind the Captain. But I didn't move and neither did he.

"Goodbye Chan."

I squeezed the trigger and the gun went off with a BANG. And I watched as the Captain moved forward.