Artificial Water

Chapter 17🥀

Kyungsoo

It was right after dinner when Jongin went to have a shower and I received a message on my phone. Joonwoo wanted me to come to a club tonight and I told him he was crazy, which led to him telling me he only needed to call one person to let everyone that wanted to know where I was. I asked him what he wanted from me and he said it was a surprise. I didn't bother to tell him I hated surprises and realised I had no option. He probably was the reason they didn't look for me at school and I couldn't let him down because of that.
I found myself thinking about excuses I could give Jongin so he would let me go away tonight, but I really didn't want to. I wanted to stay with him and tell Joonwoo he could go fuck himself, but I knew I couldn't. If he told his dad where I was everything would fall apart, so all I could do was doing what he wanted me to.

I got up from the couch and put on my jacket. Maybe I could leave before Jongin came back so I had more time to think about an excuse. It could make him worried, but he didn't really care that much about me right? He just shared his home with me so I wouldn't do anything stupid. I sighed deeply before putting on my shoes. I wouldn't be missed for a good reason anywhere.

"What are you doing?"

I looked up from my kneeled position on the ground and immediately started blushing. Jongin was standing in front of me with only sweatpants on and a towel around his neck. "I... eh... I was going out for a while."

"To?" He ruffled his wet hair while staring down at me. Something had changed in the way he looked at me and it made me wonder what he had wanted me to say this morning about his emotions.

"I need to write an essay and I need to read a book for it," I replied softly. "I'll go to the library now."

"Want me to drive you there?" He walked past me to the kitchen and came back with a bottle of water, taking a sip. "It'll be dark soon."

"I know, but I'd like to walk on my own." I opened the door and forced a smile on my face. "I'll be back soon, okay?" He nodded slowly and I closed the door behind me. If I walked fast I would be there in ten minutes and I hoped Joonwoo wasn't as crazy as I thought he was and wouldn't do something stupid. I bit my lip nervously and for the first time since I met Jongin I felt scared they would find me. Scared that they would take me away and do things I didn't want to imagine. I pulled my hoodie over my head, hoping it would make me feel safe, but it didn't work. I wanted this to be over as soon as possible.

My feet wanted to turn around and run away every moment I slowed down a bit but the fear won from the need of security and I ended up standing in front of the club. I couldn't go back anymore.

Jongin

I rushed into my bedroom and grabbed a shirt out of my closet, putting it on while running back to the front door. Something was odd about this situation and I wasn't gonna let Kyungsoo go on his own.

I went outside and ran down the stairs, feeling the cold air brush against my cheeks as I searched the street for Kyungsoo. I noticed him walking through the street, his shoulders jerked up and his head low. I ran a hand through my damp hair, slicking it back before taking a few steps. Was I really gonna sneak after him? It didn't feel right to let him go out here on his own, not after everything I found out and the things I still wasn't sure about. I looked around me and sighed deeply before slowly following the figure disappearing around the corner.

The further we got, the more people walked by and the more I realised Kyungsoo lied. He missed the street of the library and at first I thought he would know a different way but that was just me trying to make me feel better about the situation. He had pulled his hoodie over his head, which made him look even smaller. It made me want to run up to him and hug him from behind and tell him he had to stop doing what he was doing and that I would help him find a way out of it all, but I couldn't. The lie had a bitter taste and was like poison in my veins, paralysing my whole body.

I stopped when Kyungsoo looked behind him to see if he could cross the street. I held my breath, not knowing what would happen if he found out I followed him, but relaxed once I noticed he was too focused on the cars passing by to care about people. Until now we had spend every evening together so this came as a surprise. An unpleasant one. The want to take care of him turned to annoyance when he walked to the other side of the road towards a club. He slipped past some people standing in the doorway and I felt anger filling my body. Was he for real? Lying to me about such a thing?

I crossed the street with clenched fists, feeling anger and disappointment being replaced by hurt. People had lied to me and I had lied to them. I never felt bad about it cause I didn't care, but right now, my heart was aching like someone had just told me something horrible. The bouncer eyed me up and down and nodded at me, probably seeing I wasn't a minor, and let me get in. The music was loud enough to make thinking difficult and the temperature went up enough to make sweat starting to form on my forehead. I looked around but Kyungsoo had disappeared. Shit.