Watch Out

Sneaking Around

Not even a full day after I left the company of the nine-member gang, I got a text from Changbin. It read: "Hey y/n! This is Changbin. I know you were only at our place for a little while, but it still seems gloomy again. Stop by again soon?"

I laughed a little at his text, sending a quick reply to say that I'd try to come by the next day.

At dinner, my dad asked me if anything interesting happened that day, just like he does every night. I thought for a second. I couldn't say that I met a gang. My dad's the chief of police and that would not go down well. I just shook my head instead. "All I really did today was help out at the hospital and walk home. What about you, dad?"

My dad, too, thought for a moment. "That depends on if you mean interesting on a normal standard or on a police standard. Normal for me would be chasing down criminals and that kind of thing, which would be considered interesting for a normal civilian.

Next, it was my mom's turn. Apparently, she had to help a victim of assault that was really bad. They were injured so much that they needed immediate surgery. It wasn't even a gunshot injury.

"Was That before or after I left?" I was honestly curious about the timeline, and it made me think of Jeongin's injuries which were obviously really bad, and I knew he'd need more help beyond what I could do.

"It was after. I believe he was about your age, y/n?" Hearing my mom's answer made me more anxious. My age? Please tell me that there was another teenage boy that got beat this afternoon as badly as Jeongin.

I instinctively sat up straight. "How could someone my age get hurt that badly without a gun being involved?"

"I believe it was some gang activity. He was with nine other boys. They told me that a girl did first aid for him when she saw him." Holy...there was no way she wasn't talking about Jeongin. I didn't think it was bad enough that he'd need surgery!

With that, I decided to sneak out when my parents were asleep to go see them. I texted Changbin after dinner to tell him my plan.

As I promised the dark-haired gang member, when I knew my parents were asleep, I snuck out of the house and made my way to where they were staying. Surprisingly, I didn't run into anyone else from any other gangs despite knowing that there must've been someone there. I knocked on the door of the building quietly. As soon as I did, the door opened and I was pulled inside. The lights were off, but they turned on after the door clicked closed. Eight of the boys were gathered around the room, Chan standing beside me and Changbin by the light switch. Of course, the one that prompted my visit was not among the ones there.

"Where's Jeongin?" My voice was quiet as I was worried that he was sleeping or whatever else.

Chan, being the leader of the gang, spoke on behalf of the others. "Jeongin is in his room. Last time I checked on him, he was reading. You can go see him if you want. I think he'd be happy to see you considering that you saved him today."

I nodded and was about to go see Jeongin when I realized a slight problem with that. "Ah...where is Jeongin's room?"

The guys all laughed as Jisung's arm found it around my shoulders like it had earlier. "I'll show you where it is."

I just nodded, not feeling as anxious about his arm around me as I had when I first met them. He led me down a long hallway, pointing out the bedrooms of the other boys and a few other rooms such as a bathroom. Jeongin's room was at the very end of the room.

With his arm still around me, Jisung knocked on the door softly. "I.N-ie~Someone's here to see you. It's someone that's really pretty~"

Jisung spoke in a teasing voice as Jeongin quietly told us to come in. Jisung opened the door slowly, revealing Jeongin sitting at a desk with a book in his hands. Well, one hand. The other was rested in a sling with his shoulder wrapped in new bandages. I couldn't help but feel bad for him. He was so young and innocent. He didn't deserve to be hurt like that.