𝐓𝐎𝐔𝐆𝐇 𝐒𝐄𝐂𝐑𝐄𝐓𝐒 || 𝐉𝐄𝐎𝐍𝐆𝐇𝐀𝐍 ||🥀

13

Jeonghan

The thieves looked even more pitiful than their haul of crushed snack cakes and potato chips.

Three boys under the age of fourteen in varying painful stages of puberty sat on cold metal chairs outside the store manager's office, looking like they were ready to puke. Beyond them, Jeon Wonwoo hovered in the cookie aisle.

After that morning's three-vehicle fender bender on the highway, the hardware store's "stolen" string trimmer display that turned up in the storeroom, and Mr. and Mrs. Jang nearly getting scammed over the phone by someone claiming to be their grandson, I'd had a busy damn day already.

It was a good thing I'd had my first full night's sleep in weeks.

Thanks to Mina.

I usually woke with a start to the sound that haunted my brain. And while I did remember it in my dreams, this morning I'd woken to Mina in my arms. She'd sought me out in her sleep. That fact-and my reaction to it-made me think that just maybe I was still alive, still worth trusting.

I owed her, the woman who was taking up every available brain cell that wasn't occupied with work and breathing. Thanks to the talk and the sleep, I was feeling more hopeful than I had in a long time. She'd opened up just a crack, and what I'd seen beyond her sexy exterior had me wanting a longer, deeper look.

"I hate to have to call you in here for a couple of Little Debbie's, Chief, but I gotta set an example," Manager of Ground Groceries said.

"I understand your predicament. All I'm saying is I think there's a way around this that doesn't involve pressing charges. We all do stupid things. Especially at that age."

He huffed out a breath and glanced over my shoulder at the kids. "Hell, when I was that age, I was stealing my daddy's cigarettes and cutting class to go fishing."

"And you made it out of childhood without a record," I pointed out.

He nodded thoughtfully. "My mama scared me straight. Guess not all of us are lucky enough to have parents who care enough to scare the shit out of us."

I knew what that was like. Could still feel the tilting of my axis after Mom-the glue, the fun, the love of my family-left this world, and me, behind.

"Chen and Ten, their parents are gonna ground them until it comes time for learner's permits," I predicted.

"But Woojin..." The manager let that hang there.

But Woojin.

Riperia wasn't good at keeping secrets. That was how I knew Woojin Park was a tall, tough kid who had a mum that skipped out on him and his siblings two years ago. His dad worked third shift, which left little time for raising kids. I also knew that Woojin had quietly joined the Drama Club at school. First, probably to have a place to go when no one was home, and then because he'd taken a liking to trying on other people's lives. He was good at it, according to Mimi. But no family members ever showed in the audience on opening night.

"I noticed the paint's peeling outside," I mused.

"That's what I get for hiring that yahoo's crew outta Linedown Hill. Did a shit job with shit paint because they don't give a shit. Pardon my French. None of them live here to be embarrassed by watching their half-assed work flake away."

"I bet some motivated young labour could get the job done for you for the cost of materials." I nodded toward the hallway.

His smile was slow. "Huh. You might be right, Chief. Nothing like a little manual labour to keep you out of trouble."