Secrets and Lies

34.

The girl had left school the second Tao was transferred to the hospital. She couldn't stay there knowing that one of them were practically fighting for his life whilst the other one had a gunshot wound. Jiyoo blamed herself. Kris wouldn't have entered her life if she hadn't been so nosey that day. She was only causing trouble, and there was no wonder why no one wanted to be around her. The girl was a walking disaster. Yet, those three remained by her side. Either they were stupid or just being nice. Being pitied wasn't an ideal situation, but it was better than to be all alone.

Her father called just before she stepped inside the enormous building. The man wanted to know why she was ditching school. "Something happened." she didn't want to explain everything to him. Not that he would care either way. "What do you mean something happened, return to your class, now." never, Jiyoo was not going back there that day. She had to make sure that Daehyun was still breathing and that Tao's hand was okay.

"Noona." Jiyoo spun around as she sucked in a deep breath to calm her nerves. It felt like she was about to cry again when Zelo came into view. The younger boy's eyes were red and traces of tears stuck to his cheeks. "Noona, you're going to get sick." he pointed at her uniform, which was still wet after the rain. Jiyoo shrugged, unbothered by the fact.

"Have you seen Daehyun?" with a small shake of his head Zelo explained that the doctors were still fixing his wounds and bruises. Trying to keep in the tears she spoke up again, "he's not going to die, right?" she didn't want to think about the possibilities of the boy passing away. It would haunt her forever if he did. "Noona, it's not that bad." sadness and worry was displayed in his eyes as he enveloped her in a tight hug. Jiyoo's arms were limply hanging by her sides as she couldn't bring herself to place them around Zelo.

More painful emotions rushed through her as Tao crossed her mind. A gunshot wound to the hand couldn't be fatal, right?

"Zelo, I need to go somewhere." the boy pulled back and glanced down at her, "where?" he didn't want to, after everything that'd taken, let her out of his sight. He'd gotten to know about Kris and it was safe to say that Zelo didn't want his noona nowhere near that boy. "To someone that helped Daehyun." she was more than certain that Tao had received the bullet that was reserved for the blonde boy. It made her uneasy to know that the latest incidents were all tied together, somehow. There were simply too many of them to say that they were just pure coincidences.

"Who?" the young boy was confused, yet thankful. His hyung would've, probably, sustained even worse injuries if it hadn't been for that person. "Just follow." to explain who Tao was would be hard, especially since she barely knew anything about the Chinese boy. They needed to ask a nurse about Tao's whereabouts as she had no idea of where he could be. "The doctor is not finished so you'll have to wait." a hard tug at her heart caused the girl to bit down on her lower lip. Why was it that all bad things happened around her?

Slumping down in a chair she buried her face in her hands, "I'm such a failure." the whole part of playing tough was slowing cracking. It was just a matter of time before she wouldn't be able to handle it anymore. On the contrary was everything her own fault. If she hadn't been so curious about things then Jiyoo wouldn't have met Kris. The boy had, ever since his entrance into her life, caused nothing but trouble.

"Noona." never before had Zelo seen the girl so emotional. "Don't say that, he's only looking out for yo -." he slapped a hand over his mouth when Jiyoo reacted,he'd said too much. "What do you mean, why is Daehyun keeping an eye on me?" in haste did she stand up. Why would the blonde boy need to do such a thing?"Zelo?" she grabbed onto his arm and squeezed, "what's going on?" there was no chance in the world that Jiyoo would let him leave, not until she got an answer. "Nothing, there's nothing going on." the truth was not for him to explain as that was Daehyun's task. "Don't lie."