The Elephant Between Us || SKZ

chapter twenty-two

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FAIR-WEATHER FRIENDS

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"Are you feeling better?" Hyunjin asked, handing Jeongmin a glass of water while sitting in front of her in the breakroom.

She had just spent ten minutes inside the bathroom, throwing up, sitting against the cold wall and throwing up again, so no, that was definitely not the best moment for her to throw at Hyunjin all the words, saliva and other pieces of rage she had locked in her throat. Jeongmin craved that glass of water more than she craved to see his face of remorse, and that was why she accepted it.

Nevertheless, Jeongmin made sure to glare at him before drinking the entire glass in long sips.

"Did you eat something-"

"You said you'd tell me everything you know about them." She interrupted and, pausing her left fist on the table beside them, intensified her glare on him, which he noticed, of course.

"Just answer me first-"

That time, it was her chuckle interrupting him.

"Yeah, because now you care about my f.cking well-being." She diverted her focus for a second. "I'm all ears, what do you have to tell me?"

"Before I tell you anything, I just want to let you know I'm risking a lot."

"More than my life?" Jeongmin intervened, ironically.

"My own." Her eyes turned from rageful to confused, and Hyunjin took a deep breath. "You messed with the wrong guys, Jeongmin. Felix owns a group of people, a gang, a mafia... whatever you call it, they're something around two hundred and sixty-four members, and they're dangerous, really dangerous."

What the actual f.ck.

That was all she could think about. The more words he said, the more her heartbeats failed and her legs disconnected from the central system: her world was falling right under her body again, and Jeongmin had no spare strength to hold herself on a tree.

"They make their living by stealing, hacking and, well, selling, and here's where you ruined their business."

"Come again?" She chuckled, unable to believe all the things she just heard.

"The watch you stole-" Hyunjin stopped the moment he noticed the lack of comfort that word brought her, quickly rephrasing with a sigh. "The watch you got... it was a limited version bought by ten millionaires only and, well, Felix was supposed to sell it to this man he wanted to build a strong, long connection with." The male glanced away at the lockers, licking the corner of his mouth while thinking carefully about words to use. He didn't want to sound harsh, not when he knew she was so sensitive lately. "You basically ruined it for him, Jeongmin. You caused a huge, very huge cost for Felix's business."

"Are you done?" She asked, her eyebrows raised. It didn't look like it, but the reality was that her heart was about to hang itself on her ribcage. She felt worse at each vowel he pronounced, and she didn't think her body could take it all.

"If you have any question-"

"That f.cking story makes no sense here. I took the watch from your friend, Changbin, not Felix."

"Don't you get it, Jeongmin? He's one of them!" That time, Hyunjin was starting to get nervous as well.

"Why was he wearing it??"

"To show up, to feel high, to impress girls... I don't know!"

In a split, Jeongmin stood up, holding her head between her hands. She tried, she really did, but her brain just wouldn't think. It was frozen, lazy, sleepy... whatever you want to name it, it wouldn't work no matter what you did.

You screwed it all again, Jeongmin, you f.cking screwed it all for you and your brother.

"Felix gets his hands in really expensive, luxurious things, Jeongmin. Changbin just takes advantage of it to have a good time." Hyunjin couldn't look at her walking in circles, her hands sliding down her face to cover her nose and mouth. "He-" He cleared his throat while fidgeting his fingers. "He gets attention, takes girls to Felix's apartment and has another good memorable night, just like he did with you."

"So you know about that too," Jeongmin whispered, a tear falling from her right eye as she sat down again, looking right into Hyunjin's brown eyes. "Hyunjin... Hyunjin, what should I do?"

Whatever Changbin could say about him caring or not about Jeongmin, he did. He really, really did. And that was why he felt his heart tightened with no pity at every tear she forced her eyes to contain. She was desperate to the point he could feel her despair in his own skin, muscles and bones.

"I don't have the money he wants, and I'll never do, Hyunjin." His silence caused her to hit his thigh with a fist, receiving a wince in response. "Changbin was the one stealing, why do I have to pay it all alone now? Why do I even have to pay it in the first place?"

"Changbin has got his punishment already, Jeongmin, and-" Hyunjin's eyebrows raised as the male took a deep breath. "And believe me, having to pay all that money is terrible, but it's not the worst that he could have done to you."

"What happened to Changbin?" Her eyebrows furrowed, and it was not because she was worried about that guy. Not a single bit.

The truth was that Jeongmin wasn't expecting Hyunjin to take so long to answer such a simple question as the one she had just asked. Was it hard to say it out loud? Because it was clear he knew it. It was very clear that Hyunjin wasn't telling her everything he knew, and he didn't plan to either. 

He couldn't lie to her: they had spent enough time together for her to know his tricks, and for him to know hers as well.

"Tell me, Hyunjin. What happened to him?" She was about to approach him even more when he suddenly felt the urge to stand up, taking the empty glass to the counter - he had entered that conversation knowing he wouldn't be able to get out that easily, however, now that he was between that rock and that hard place, seeing no exit seemed way more terrifying than before.

"I-I don't know, Jeongmin. I don't know those details."

"It looks to me that you do know a lot of these details." Jeongmin stood up in a split and, grabbing Hyunjin by the forearm, she faced him recklessly. "How do you even know all this, huh?"

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