The Gangleader's Sister

Chapter 34

I made my way up to Chan's room and hesitated outside his door, my fist raised to knock on the door. After a moment of hesitation, I gained the courage and lightly knocked on his door. It opened after a few seconds to reveal my brother. His hair was a mess and his eyes were red.

He pulled me into a bear hug before I could even say anything. I hesitantly wrapped my arms around his torso and squeezed him tighter as I felt his body start to shake and small sobs escape his mouth.

"Hey, hey," I pulled away from the hug and looked at him in the eyes. We were still in the hallway, so I pulled him into his room and sat him down on the bed as I sat next to him. "Channy, you're scaring me, what's wrong?"

He wiped his eyes and took a deep breath as he looked me in the eyes. "I'm so sorry, Rae. I was such a dick to you earlier. I didn't mean any of that. Nothing that happened was your fault. I was just super stressed from everything that happened and I wasn't being the good brother that I'm supposed to be. I'm so sorry!"

He buried his head in my neck as he hugged me again. I was taken aback not only by the apology that my brother had delivered, but also by the state he was currently in. I have never seen him this vulnerable. Even when we found out that our parents had left us he didn't shed a tear.

"Shh, it's okay Channy. I forgive you." His head snapped up and he looked at me, surprise evident on his face. I just smiled at him. "Your words hurt me immensely, but they were true. I just need you to understand that I'm not being stubborn about it." I paused and wiped some tears from his cheeks since they had stopped falling.

"Think about how much our lives have been flipped in the last week. I found out about your gang, I found out that people are after me, Nuri goes missing, then ends up dead, I fucking killed someone Chan. It's a lot for a girl to experience. Especially when her own brother wasn't there to help her with most of it." I looked down as I mentioned the last part.

He took a deep breath. "I know Rae, and I cannot apologize enough for how shitty I was to you while this was happening. When Nuri did go missing, I blamed you since you wanted to stay here instead of coming back, then when you into the room where she was.." He took my hands in his. "I shouldn't have been so cold to you, or ignored you when you needed me most. I'm the worst brother ever!"

"No you're not! If you were, you wouldn't have protected me like you have, you wouldn't have apologized to me about what you said, and you certainly would not have cared that those other gangs are after me. You are the best brother ever. You've taken care of me ever since Mom and Dad left us. You've put my wants and needs above your own. So if I ever hear you say that you are the worst brother, I will slap some sense into you."

Chan chuckled at my last statement as he pulled me in for a hug. "I love you, Rae. You know that right?"

"Of course, Channy, I love you too." I snuggled into his chest and tightened my arms around his torso.

"Now what's this I hear about you and Hyunjin?" I felt my cheeks warming up as Chan pulled away from the hug and smirked at me.

"Um, well, you see..."

Chan's chuckle cut off my awkward rambling. "It's okay, Rae. Don't worry, he talked to me about everything before I went upstairs to check on you. He's kept me updated on you while I was being a douche and ignoring you. I like him for you, Rae. He's a good guy and he really cares about you."

My cheeks were even redder than before as Chan talked so highly about Hyunjin. "Chan, he told me he loved me."

"Did you say it back?"

I shook my head. "I know that I really like him, but I don't know that I love him yet."

"That's good that you didn't just blindly say it because he did. And if he really does love you, he'll wait until you can say it back and mean it."

I smiled at my brother as he smiled back. "I'm so glad you're my brother."

"And I'm honored that you're my sister."

I giggled as I leaned on his shoulder.

"Come on, we'd better let everyone know that we're all good now." Chan stood up and pulled me up with him as we headed to the door. When he opened it, Hyunjin, Jeongin, and Felix all fell inside the room.

"Um, we were just coming to get you guys for lunch," Jeongin stuttered over his words and gave a guilty smile as he quickly dashed out of the room and down the hall.

Felix only let out a nervous laugh before he ran after Jeongin.

"What was that about?" Chan chuckled as he looked at Hyunjin.

"Uh, I think they were just trying to make sure you guys wouldn't kill each other," Hyunjin walked over and wrapped his arm around my waist.

I smiled up at him as Chan spoke. "Huh. Well I don't think I could ever hurt Rae, so..." He then walked backwards out of the door. "I'm gonna go and book our flights back to Seoul, see you guys later!"

As Chan disappeared from sight, Hyunjin brought me into a proper hug and I laid my head on his chest. He pressed a lingering kiss on the top of my head.

I felt him take a deep breath, like when someone is about to say something, but someone else's voice filled the silence.

"And by the way, you guys are the cutest couple ever." Chan poked his head through the door and I didn't need to look to know that he was smirking.

Hyunjin's chest rose up and down as he chuckled while I buried my face deeper into his chest to hide my face. There's no escaping Chan's teasing about this, and Lord knows there will be a lot of it.