Secrets and Lies

14.

Jiyoo was feeling quite alright. She had to ditch school though as she couldn't bring Ahri with her. Yongguk had left early in the morning, saying that he was needed down at High and Low. Apparently did he need to go over the performance he was going to do that night. Because of his choice had the girl stayed home. Not that she minded that much. It gave her some time to think.

But Jiyoo soon noticed that the restlessness wasn't all that good. Zelo's words were ringing inside her head and the girl furrowed her eyebrows. She wondered why she even paid attention to those thoughts. It was all just nonsense. Jiyoo knew who her boyfriend was and some middle school student was not going to step into her life and destroy that.

Normally she wouldn't be that upset over something. But deep down Jiyoo did doubt Yongguk a little. Never before had he spent that much time down at High and Low. Of course would it spark her curiousness. The girl wanted to know what was going on. But despite wanting to know she was still a tad afraid. What if he really was cheating on her?If that was true then Jiyoo would honestly not know what to do. To be upset and throw a fit would be unfair, especially since she'd been playing around with Zelo. It was a subject that caused a lot of emotions.

"Unnie, can't we go out and eat?" Ahri tugged at the sleeve of her blouse, her little tummy made a loud growl whilst doing so. Almost in an instant did Jiyoo head over to her wallet. That boyfriend of hers had brought home quite the amount of money the other night. He'd apparently won the music competition that'd been held and received one million won in price money for that. After have checked that she had enough money the two of them headed out, "what do you want to eat, ddeokbokki?" it'd been quite some time since she last ate out, mainly because they'd never afford such luxury. "Yes, yes, ddeokbokki." Ahri was jumping around in joy and that was all that was needed for Jiyoo's previous thoughts to disappear.

Daehyun, on the contrary, was having a mental battle with himself. He'd overheard the teacher speaking about Jiyoo not coming to school and it made him worried. The boy knew that all hell was soon going to rise and he truly hoped that nothing had happened with the two girls. His father would most definitely beat the living soul out of him if they ended up being kidnapped, or worse, killed. He sent away a text message to Zelo the second it rang for lunch.

He couldn't ditch school, and that despite that he wanted to. Luckily could Zelo get away with about anything, including ditching school. To say that the younger boy's parents allowed such behavior was probably not right. Though, they understood how their son worked and as long as he didn't involve himself in illegal stuff then they let him do pretty much anything.

Daehyun was phasing back and forth, "are you just ditching school or did something happen?" he was speaking to himself, as if that would ease the horrible thoughts in his head. He wouldn't even be able to forgive himself if something were to take place. Maybe he actually needed to approach Jiyoo after all. She couldn't be kept from the truth much longer. Plus, Yongguk would have to go; he was only putting the two girls in even more danger. Their father was someone he couldn't do anything about. Only his father could do that.

An answer from Zelo landed in the inbox of his phone a few minutes later. The younger boy was definitely up for the task of tracking down Jiyoo. Daehyun felt some of the tension slip away. Still, it wasn't enough. To concentrate during the afternoon classes were impossible. All the boy could think about was Jiyoo and Ahri.

Zelo had, with ease, slipped past the gates and jumped on his skateboard. One would think that skipping school would make you a bit happier, but not in this case. Zelo was probably just as worried as Daehyun were at that moment. His hyung had given him the address to the apartment which his noona lived in. The only thing he hoped for was that her boyfriend wouldn't be there when he came knocking on the door. Though, Zelo doubted that he would be there, especially since Daehyun had explained how Yongguk was regularly seen down at the warehouse. It was a place where Seoul's most powerful gang had its hangout. All in all, Jiyoo's boyfriend was mingling with kidnappers, murderers and other people who'd committed countless of crimes.

The way Yongguk was putting his girlfriend's and younger sister's life at stake baffled both Daehyun and Zelo. Not that the girls' father was any better. His greed to earn more money was putting their lives at stake equally as much. Apparently was the man's company not going that well due to the financial crisis, and because of that would he have to take drastic actions. Daehyun and Zelo could still, somehow, understand the man. He wanted to survive, just like anyone else. Though, the man's choice of partner could've been better.

Zelo came to a stop and hurried up the stairs. His heart was racing as he pounded his fist hard against the door. An action he repeated when no one opened. "Fuck." He sent his foot to meet the wooden door. The boy didn't know Jiyoo that well, and it was something that was an obvious disadvantage. He had no clue to where she could possibly be. Zelo brought his phone out before dialing his hyung.

"She's not at the apartment." Daehyun felt immensely frustrated upon hearing that. "Ahri is probably with her, so just search the area around the apartment." He doubted that the two girls would wander off too far. It was unlikely. Then, it suddenly struck him. Ddeokbokki, the girl loved that stuff.

"Zelo, keep your eyes out for snack stalls." He added on. Daehyun couldn't think of any other place. "Okay." So, whilst Daehyun returned to class did his dongsaeng violate the streets with his skateboard. The fact that Zelo was skipping school was met with some remarks as he passed people by. He didn't care thought. The only thing on his mind was Jiyoo. "Noona please be alright."

In another area, not too far from the apartment were Jiyoo and Ahri munching away on ddeokbokki. "Unnie why did oppa not come with us, doesn't he eat?" the young kid was confused. "Don't worry about it; he's just busy with other stuff." She came to understand that the whole ordeal was slowly turning into a problem. To be down at High and Low each and every day was unusual, even for Yongguk.

"Then, when is daddy going to pick me up?" Jiyoo sighed, she was not certain to when their father was going to come back. It had to be soon as she couldn't continue to skip school. To pursue Yongguk into babysitting would never happen. "Ahri we'll solve that later, okay." She felt that having to take care of that then and there would spoil the entire day. Instead did Jiyoo change subject to something complete else, "do you want to go and play some games at an arcade later?" they'd actually never done that together. So it was definitely something she wanted to try out, "Really, yes." Ahri cheered happily.

"NOONA." And there did Jiyoo's smile falter.