Anchorage › Bae Jinyoung

f i v e

"We need to go!" Jiho hissed and pulled Jinyoung behind her. The seventeen-year-old lad held his breath by the sudden touch of Jiho's hand on his wrist. He gulped quietly as he let the high school lass guide him through narrow alleyways until they reached an old looking teahouse.

Jiho let go of Jinyoung's arm and looked at him with a stern expression on her face. "Ya!" She hissed angrily before sighing and rubbing her temples. "It's dangerous to hang out around my school, Jinyoung-sshi!" Jiho explained as she stared intently at the Idol in front of her.

Jinyoung pouted slightly and looked down. "Sorry to cause you trouble, Jiho-sshi." He mumbled and Jiho furrowed her brows.

"You know what, drop the -sshi. We're the same age." The boy immediately smiled once Jiho allowed him to drop the honorifics. Already, he felt that they were slightly closer than before. "What are you even doing here?" Jiho asked, paralyzing Jinyoung with the question. The singer bit the inside of his cheeks thinking of a way to explain in what a misery he had talked himself into at the dorm a few days ago.

"So I met your sister at her school." Jinyoung had said once he came home with his triangle kimbap after meeting Jiho in front of her school gates.

Jihoon had choked on his strawberry milk and had looked at his Dongsaeng. "Wait, what?" the older boy had asked once Jinyoung had sat down on the black leather couch in Wanna One's dorm.

"Yeah, I walked past her school after getting this," he pointed at his snack before taking a bite. "She had P.E!" He smiled when he saw Jihoon nodding approvingly.

"Was she playing with her friends?" He asked proudly and Jinyoung choked on his kimbap and coughed, staring at Jihoon with widened eyes.

"F-Friends?" He stuttered and slowly nodded. "I couldn't talk to her much because her teacher called her." Jinyoung said, keeping his head down. "I couldn't stay much longer after that."

Jihoon seemed to be in deep thought after everything the younger had told him. An idea then popped into his head and he leaned a little closer. "Jinyoung, you go to that convenience store quite often, right?" Jinyoung nodded in response. "How about you go and check on Jiho from time to time? See if she's doing well with her friends? She's ignoring my calls and texts once again."

And here he was, checking on Jiho because his Hyung had demanded it from him. "Well, Jiho-ah," Jinyoung started, scratching his the nape of his neck, "Jihoon kind of asked me to check on you?" He asked and flinched when he heard Jiho gasp.

"You told him of our first meeting?!" She asked in utter shock, her arms waving in the air.

Jinyoung was surprised by her loud reaction. "Yes? Shouldn't I?" He asked when he saw Jiho fall on her knees in defeat.

"Jinyoung-ah, what have you done?" The girl, who was now feeling weirdly comfortable in Jinyoung's presence, sighed. Could she even trust him now? God, it was no wonder this boy supposedly popped out of nowhere. It was because her Oppa decided to have someone else lamely check on her. She couldn't help but feel the embarrassment burn her body.

The young boy looked down at her figure, that was kneeling on the floor. "Stand up, you'll scrape your knees." He said and helped Jiho stand up. "Why shouldn't I tell Jihoon-hyung?" He then asked and looked straight into Jiho's brown eyes.

The eye contact struck at the girl and she felt shameful that this was how it came to be. She had been hiding her dilemma for so long. "Jihoon doesn't know-"

"Jinyoung-ah!" A male voice suddenly echoed from the alley walls and a random tall man ran up to the idol and the student. The man glanced at the bewildered Jiho, recognizing her as Jihoon's sister. "You're lucky you're Jihoon's sister," The man said strictly and grabbed after Jinyoung's arm, leaving her behind in confusion.

"Jongsuk-hyung!" Jinyoung whined while the man, Ha Jongsuk, dragged him farther and farther away from the girl. Jinyoung managed to throw one last smile and his typical finger guns towards Jiho to reassure her that everything was perfectly fine, before his manager had led him back to the van Jinyoung had fled earlier.

Jongsuk and Jinyoung entered the van and the manager glowered at Jinyoung with obvious anger in his eyes. "What the hell was that? I am only getting something to drink and you disappear? I thought you got abducted by the crazy students from that girls' school!" Jongsuk explained in a ramble.

Jinyoung shook his head instantly, hoping to show that wasn't exactly the case. "Hyung, no! I just had to meet a friend!" Jinyoung whined and put on his seatbelt while Jongsuk started the car.

"You're lucky nothing happened today but you can never know Jinyoung. Fans can be dangerous." Jongsuk announced before looking at Jinyoung through his rearview mirror. "Why were you meeting Jihoon's sister for? Couldn't he do it himself? He has a day off after all." Jongsuk complained and Jinyoung couldn't dare to meet his manager's eyes, not answering the question. He couldn't even bring himself to utter a word about the weird situation he suddenly got himself into.

His mind was racing. He was thinking about the last thing Jiho had said before Jongsuk had interrupted them. Jinyoung wondered what Jihoon didn't know about his beloved sister. It was also worrisome to see her rash reaction when he told her that he spoke to Jihoon about their chance encounter. Was something going on with Jiho that her older brother doesn't know about?

"Is she hiding something?" he murmured out with his brows knitted. He didn't even realize he was thinking out loud.

"What are you saying?" Jongsuk asked, stopping at a red light.

"Nothing, Hyung." Jinyoung quickly answered and wondered what he should tell Jihoon once he reached the dorm.

The dorm was quiet when Jinyoung arrived and he quickly hid in his room that he shared with Sungwoon and Daehwi, hiding under his blanket, so Jihoon couldn't find him. But Nation's Wink Boy had heard the door and the light footsteps that were rushing through the living room. He could only assume it was his younger friend back from the mission he had asked for him to do. He quickly exited his own bedroom, his significant pink suit on his body, and opened Jinyoung's door without knocking.

"How's my sister? Did you meet her? Did she say she misses me?" Jihoon jumped on Jinyoung, who was still wrapped in his blanket, as he bombarded him with a million questions.

"Hyung, please!" Jinyoung whined and Jihoon climbed off him at the sudden change of tone.

"What's with that expression?" Jihoon looked at the younger lad in confusion and Jinyoung opened his mouth.

Should he tell Jihoon about his troubling thoughts on Jiho or would he betray her like that? He didn't want to ruin anything with her, now that she started getting comfortable around him. Jinyoung put on a fake smile and patted his Hyung's shoulder.

"She was doing very good. She was in a great mood-"

Jinyoung got interrupted by Jihoon's phone that was ringing in the pocket of his pink sweatpants. Jihoon pulled out his phone. "Speaking of the devil!" Jihoon smiled and answered the call. "Hello, Jiho-yah! How are you?" He asked in his sweetest tone when Jiho snapped at him all of a sudden.

"How dare you send Jinyoung to spy on me during school!" The young lass yelled making Jihoon almost drop his phone in surprise. The two boys exchanged concerning looks. What was with the frightening tone in Jihoon's sister's voice?

What was wrong?