Collateral Love | Tao

Chapter 31

"CJ, wake up," Sehun shook my shoulder.

"I had the weirdest dream," I rubbed my aching head, realizing that it wasn't a dream after all.

"What was it?" Sehun asked.

"I forget now," I sat up and checked my phone.

TaoTao: Did you get home okay?

TaoTao: I'm sorry if I hurt you in any way

TaoTao: please talk to me

I was grateful that Sehun didn't read my messages for once. I was scared after last night though, and I would've felt better if Sehun knew because I didn't want to deal with this alone. I wasn't sure if I was legally allowed to discuss anything that happened.

"How was your date with Jongin?" I said to change the subject.

"It was good, I had a lot of fun," Sehun stretched. He seemed kind of worn out and exhausted.

"Clearly."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, clearly you had a lot of fun," I winked, "There's got to be a reason that you're so exhausted."

Sehun blushed, "I have no idea what you're talking about."

My mom knocked on the door, "Kids, you need to get ready for school."

"Ew, break is already over?" I got out of bed and got ready for school, "Is Jongin taking you to school?"

Sehun smiled, "Yeah."

"Can he give me a ride too?"

"Yep. I told him he has to be nice to you."

"Well, that's a good ground rule," I left the room and went downstairs and behind the counter.

"CJ, what are you doing?"

"Making coffee."

"I thought you didn't like coffee."

"I do now," I asked myself why I was making coffee for Tao still after what had happened the night before. I guess it was just a habit now. Sehun came flying down the stairs and outside, "Bye, mom." I followed him out to Jogin's car and got into the backseat.

"Hey, CJ," Jongin said.

"Hi."

"Did Sehun tell you about our fun night?"

"Jongin, shut up," Sehun said in a whiny voice. I decided maybe there weren't any benefits for me while Sehun was dating Jongin. 

"You know I'm just messing with you, babe," Jongin ruffled Sehun's hair playfully. Sehun blushed and fixed his hair. I was relieved when we finally got to school, minus the fact that I had to walk inside behind Jongin who didn't see the need to remove his hand from Sehun's ass.

I groaned, realizing that I didn't really have any other friends to hang out with and I'd just have to deal with them.

"CJ, can you stop following us around?" Sehun asked.

"Uh, yeah," I stopped in the middle of the hall and allowed them to continue ahead of me. I turned around when I couldn't see them anymore, only to be greeted face-to-face with Luhan.

"CJ, hey, how's it going?"

"Fine."

He took the cup of coffee out of my hand, "Thank you."

"That's not for you."

"Who's it for then?"

"Me," I took it from him and took a rather large drink. Not only was it scorching hot, but I hated coffee. I made a sound of pain.

"Oh, I see. See you later," He walked away with a smirk on his face. I rushed to the water fountain and drank from it as if I was some wild animal. When I turned around, I ran into Tao and coffee spilled onto my jacket. I immediately started undoing the buttons of my jacket before it could soak down to my undershirt.

"Are you so excited to see me that you're just undressing right here?" Tao uttered.

"This isn't funny, I'm having an awful morning," I rushed away from him and to my locker. I hung up my jacket and my bag. The bell rang seconds later.

Class started with Tao passing back papers. I watched as he quickly wrote something on my paper before handing it back. I read it, "Your bra is showing". I felt my cheeks heat up and I left the room without even asking permission. 

I found one thing to wear in my backpack, unfortunately, it was Tao's Gucci sweater. I had to decide between wearing my coffee-stained jacket, my see-through shirt, or my teacher's sweater. I opened Sehun's locker instead. When I looked in his backpack all I found was notebooks, snacks, and a box of condoms, which was definitely something you didn't want to see in your brother's backpack.

I called my mom to ask if she could bring me something to wear, but she told me she was too busy at work. I had to resort to the Gucci sweater. When I came back into the classroom, a few people looked at me weird, but nobody asked questions.

The rest of the day went by rather quickly considering my horrible morning. I was the first one to get to after-school class. 

"Jisoo."

"Mr. Huang."

"Ouch."

"What do you want?"

"Are you still going to work with Kris?"

"Really? That's the first thing you ask me?"

"Sorry. Are you okay? Are you scared?"

"Yes, I am scared. I'm scared that you're hiding more things from me and that I might get kidnapped or something."

"You're not going to get kidnapped, I'll make sure of it. And I'm done hiding things from you."

"If you're done hiding things from me, then tell me who you are."

"I'm Huang Zitao. Tao. TaoTao."

"No, what are you? Are you even a teacher?"

"Yes, and other things."

"What other things?"

"Martial arts trainer. Sniper."

"Are you actually twenty-two?" 

"No, I'm twenty-four."

I sighed, "And what's your actual reason for getting close to me?"

"I love you, Jisoo."

I was on the brink of tears, "Be honest."

"At first, it was for my other job, it was to use you as bait because you're vulnerable and young. You'd never suspect it, and you didn't. But I did actually like you from the beginning."

I started crying, "You can't just use unsuspecting kids as bait."

"I know that, and I didn't want to, I really didn't."

"I'm done being your bait. Catch the fucking drug lord yourself," I wiped my eyes.

"That's fine with me. Do you want me to stop being your boyfriend too?"

"I don't know."

Sehun and Jongin came into the room, "Why are you crying?" Sehun asked.

"I just had a rough day."

"Are you sure?" He looked at Tao as Chanyeol, Baekhyun, and Jongdae came into the room.

"Yeah, I'm sure."

Tao stood up, looking as if he were about to cry himself, and passed out today's worksheets without another word.