It All Started With A Creepy Mail ⚊ Yang Jungwon [#4]

✗ forty nine ✗

⚊ chapter forty nine

The morning started quietly, the kind of calm that felt like the world was holding its breath. I woke up before Jillian did, her soft, even breaths filling the room. There was something peaceful about watching her sleep, her guard finally down, and I smiled to myself, feeling lucky just to be near her.

But that peace didn’t last long.

By mid-morning, we were all in the kitchen of the cabin, splitting up tasks to prepare lunch.

The plan was simple enough: Minji and Rei took charge of the main dish, Sunoo and Ni-ki were busy with the drinks and dessert, and I was tasked with helping Chenle chop vegetables.

It wasn’t supposed to be complicated, but when you’re stuck in close quarters with unresolved tension, simple things have a way of spiraling.

I had barely started slicing a carrot when Chenle, standing beside me, spoke up.

“You’re doing it wrong,” he said flatly, barely glancing my way.

I stopped mid-slice, raising an eyebrow. “Excuse me?”

“The carrots need to be thin, not chunky,” he clarified, his tone sharp.

I took a deep breath, trying to keep my cool. “I’m pretty sure they’re fine the way they are.”

“They’re not,” he shot back, and now he was looking directly at me, his jaw tight.

“Look, Chenle,” I said, my voice lower now, “if you want to do it your way, go ahead. I’ll work on something else.”

“Of course you’d want to quit,” he muttered under his breath, but it was loud enough for me to catch.

My grip on the knife tightened. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

He turned to face me fully, his eyes blazing. “It means you’ve got a habit of walking away when things get tough. You’re good at pretending to care, but when it comes down to it, you’re just looking out for yourself.”

The words hit harder than they should have. I didn’t even realize I’d slammed the knife down on the counter until the sound echoed through the kitchen, making everyone pause.

“Where is this coming from?” I demanded, my voice rising.

“You know exactly where,” Chenle said, his voice shaking with anger. “You’ve been acting like everything’s fine, but you’re just here to keep up appearances, aren’t you?”

“That’s not true!” I shot back, my frustration boiling over. “I’ve been trying to make things better—”

“By avoiding the problem?” he interrupted. “You’re just making it worse, Jungwon.”

By now, the tension in the room was palpable. Minji and Rei had stopped cooking, their eyes darting between us. Sunoo and Ni-ki were frozen by the fridge, while Dongpyo, Sunhee, and Kiara hovered nervously near the doorway.

“Guys, calm down,” Minji said, stepping forward with a placating hand. “Let’s not do this right now.”

“Chenle, just take a deep breath,” Rei added, trying to steer him away from the counter.

Sunoo came to my side, putting a hand on my shoulder. “Jungwon, it’s not worth it. Just let it go.”

“Let it go?” I snapped, shaking his hand off. “He’s the one who started this!”

“Because you keep pretending like you don’t know why I’m mad!” Chenle fired back, his voice breaking. “You don’t get to act like nothing happened, Jungwon. Not after everything.”