Broken Connection

16

After explaining to them why I was freaking out and exactly who had been in our coffee shop everyone's face got just a bit darker.

"I knew something like this would happen," Taeyong said, shaking his head.

"Well, we can't leave her alone," Jaehyun said to him, almost ignoring the fact that I was there at all.

"She wasn't alone. I was here," Hyuck cut in.

"Shut up, you know we're all trying to keep you as far away from this side as possible," Taeyong snapped back.

Hyuck immediately shut his mouth and started wiping the counters down. It was times like this that I could see how Taeyong could be the leader. People listened to him, even if they didn't listen to others. Hyuck had never stopped talking when I asked him to, but one word from Taeyong and he was silent. You could also tell it wasn't out of fear but a sense of respect.

"Eve, I know this is going to be annoying, but from now on one of us will always be with you. Jaehyun is going to stay with you for now. I'll have to work out a schedule. I've got things to do now. A lot of things to do. Keep yourself safe. Don't go too many places, especially not around this area," Taeyong left me with instructions and hopped back over the counter, swiftly exiting the shop.

He was rubbing his hand on the back of his neck, something that seemed to be a nervous habit.

Jaehyun offered me a hand to help me to my feet, and it was only then that I realized I was still on the floor. I was shaken, though maybe not quite surprised. I had never looked back after Lucas had taken his shot the other day. It shouldn't surprise me, considering we were running full speed. He didn't have time to take aim, and he was probably trying to buy us time more than he was trying to hurt someone.

The rest of that day was oddly quiet. There were only a few customers after the incident, and the ones that did come in didn't stay for long. The only conversation that broke the uneasy silence was Hyuck trying to spread his personal brand of sunshine to Jaehyun and me, two rainclouds dragging down the mood with the weight of our worry.

As we closed up the shop we decided that all three of us should take the money to deposit it. It was safer that way, and I didn't want Donghyuck walking alone. The day had quickly gotten cold and dreary, and misty rain sprinkled down on the streets and made the chill cut right down to the bone.

Our walk was silent, and the walk back to my apartment without Hyuck was odd. Jaehyun didn't make me uncomfortable, but just knowing that I knew nothing about him yet was willing to put my safety in his hands made me feel odd.

When I opened my apartment door and flipped on the light something felt... wrong. Nothing seemed out of place except for Jaehyun, but my body was telling me that something was very off. It was almost like a different smell in the air. I could feel myself becoming tense, and I know Jaehyun noticed it because he slipped around me and grabbed what I assumed was a pistol out of a holster inside the waistband of his jeans.

The way he moved around my apartment checking all of the small rooms reminded me of a police officer, and I wondered offhandedly if any of the boys had been trained like that before coming to work with Taeyong. I could definitely see Jaehyun wearing a uniform.

It was only a few minutes before he gave me the go ahead, but something still felt off. I settled in like I normally would and brought Jaehyun some blankets and a pillow for the couch instead of questioning things too much, though. It probably just felt weird because I had never really had another person here before.

I pulled my covers over my chin and closed my eyes to sleep with that unsettled feeling lingering in my mind.