Hard to Love - (chanbaek)

37

"Jaebum?"

Baekhyun stared at the taller male in shock. The usual confident football player was waving at him with a shy smile. "Uh, hi." He waved before scratching his head nervously. The older was confused. This was definitely not the well-known jock he knew. Daniel seemed to notice his stunned expression since he stood between them with a raised brow. "Have you two met before?" Daniel squinted his eyes, intrigued, unaware that his brother was quite popular in the school.

"Yeah... he's a self-centered jock."

Daniel choked on his own fits of laughter. He pointed at his brother with a shocked grin. "H-Hey. I had to fit in somehow!" The frantic boy tried to explain his behavior, but his brother's annoying laughter bothered his ears. "It's fine." Baekhyun bowed respectfully before sitting beside the younger against the wall. If Jaebum was involved in this mafia mess, then it wasn't a surprise to see him faking his behavior.

"Well, hyung, you have to eat lunch with us now instead of those football friends of yours."

"Wait, why do we have to eat together?"

"Well, dad wants me to explain some stuff to both of you."

"So I can't sit with my friends?"

"You can. It'd be weird for you to be absent a full week and start ignoring them." Baek nodded at Jaebum's input. He was worried about how his friends would react to his disappearance, especially the few he had recently met.

"Yeah, it's not an issue. You can talk to them, but you can't tell them anything about the gang. You know the rules. If they find out they-"

"Become a target and could possibly be killed because of me. I understand." Baekhyun looked down and thought of an excuse he could use for his absence. "Just tell them you went on vacation with your parents. Taehyung-ah said that's what he told Luhan." Baekhyun continued to nod, although his mind was in a different place. His thoughts were building up, and he was worrying too much. He did not want to be here at all...

"What does dad want us to do at this school?" Daniel looked at his brother with a shrug. "We have to protect Baek and look for anyone suspicious. Now that they know he was saved by someone, they're going to go after him and whoever he is getting help from." Jaebum nodded. "Wouldn't they go after-" His question was cut off when he noticed the glare from the blond boy. Daniel leaned in to whisper a few things Baekhyun didn't need to hear. He didn't want to frighten the older even more. "Don't tell him that yet. He's already going through so much. We'll tell him later." He stared at the blanked-out Baekhyun and nodded.

"What does this gang want from him anyway?"

"Dad said something about his father. They're basically after Baek because he's the son of the Royals. They probably think he has info."

"Do they think you're loyal to them?" Daniel smiled before chuckling at the question.

"Of course they do. I was already able to hack all their electronics, and I'm like besties with the boss. They think I'm at this school to be friends with Baek and then kidnap him." Jaebum raised a brow.

"They don't know who your family is?"

"Nah, I told them I was Park Jinyoung. Park is a common name, so if they searched me up, thousands of people would appear. They're also a street gang, so they aren't that advanced. Come on, hyung, it's us, a mafia group against a low street gang." Daniel sighed, watching how the boy with light brown hair finally returned to their conversation.

"Why doesn't uncle just wipe them out then?"

"Well, he wants you to do it. This is your problem, and he is just giving you support. As the next leader of the Royals, he wants to see if you can handle solving your own issues. This also has to do with your dad, and he thinks you have every right to trap them in order to force out the answers. But that's only if you want to know." Baekhyun nodded. "Are you ready to become a leader?" Jaebum asked, receiving a shaking head. Baekhyun wasn't going to lie to them, although they could tell he was mentally and physically unprepared.