Peaches || JJP

아흔여섯

When Jinyoung arrived at Chan and Felix's place, he was greeted warmly and sweetly by the two and their other seven friends. He smiled at the fact the Seungmin was literally going crazy at the presence of Wonpil and made his way to the couch where Hyunjin and Jeongin were spread together while laughing and making fun of Jisung. Wonpil and the others followed him and seated on the two adjacent black sofas which faced each other. The room grew silent and all eyes were suddenly glued to Jinyoung. He felt exhausted and anxious but smiled and shrugged in his green leather jacket.
«So what's the plan?» Chan asked, his eyes roaming on his hyung's face, while his attention went for a moment to Woojin who stood up to go grab some drinks for them. Then he came back with water and some beer cans.
«Well.» Jinyoung's voice trailed. He cleared his throat and looked at his friends who trembled in hesitation and expectation. «You already know what happened with that girl, Paris. She threatened me and Jaebeom and, even though police is searching for her, she doesn't want to stop, so she came back. It's not like I want to get myself in danger again, but I asked you to organize this party because of her. I decided I want to confront her and, in order to do that, I had to find a strategy to draw her attention. She wants to be noticed and she wants to hate others publicly but privately, so let's give her the attention she wants.» He then explained rubbing his hands on the black jeans he was wearing. His dark brown orbs fixed on the Australian guy who looked back at him with arched eyebrows in a surprised grin.
«That's a fucking hell of a plan. I must recognize.» Chan nodded and shared a reassuring smile with everybody in the room.
«Why don't you work for the FBI again?» Jisung stepped in the conversation while pointing his elbows on his knees to move closer and attentively look at Jinyoung with his big and bright eyes.
«That's just not my vocation I guess. I've never been interested into getting myself killed with a bullet planted in my skull.» Jinyoung answered sarcastically. «And obviously I'll get myself as far away as possible from that world after what happened that night.» He continued while he nervously played with his hands. He didn't care if his fingers were now bleeding. He just needed something to distract himself from those thoughts: that was going to be the end of that story and he would be the one to put a full stop to it; it was going to be a closed chapter that couldn't come back and hurt him again in the future.
«Okay, that's enough, I think.» Woojin chuckled sweetly and rested on the back of the sofa, his arms crossed and his chest covered with a warm black oversized sweater. «You made your point.»
«That was a stupid question. I'll apologize on behalf of this idiot.» Minho lightly ruffled Jisung's blonde hair receiving a deadly look. He snickered and ignored him.
«I'm used to it, actually. You sometimes forget that I live in close proximity to six other dumbasses.» Jinyoung joined Hyunjin's laugh. Now that was an improvement.
«Anyway, you shouldn't feel nervous, hyung. We'll be by your side if you need us.» Felix's deep voice echoed in the crowded living room, a smile plastered on his lips and the numerous freckles even more evident on his golden skin. «You can always count on us. We helped you with your plan so we won't leave you alone. Not even for a minute.» The younger Australian continued while reviving his pink hair with his little and puffy hand full of rings.
«Thanks guys. That really means a lot to me. I'll never forget this.» Jinyoung answered with a broad smile then stretched to reach one of the beer cans. He grabbed it, opened it and took a deep sip. Then the bell rang. At the sight of the first invitees, a thought popped in Jinyoung's brain: let's get this party started.

The music was loud and a lot of people were now drunk. Except for Jinyoung. Obviously. He had a simple red cup of iced tea and kept an eye on everything that surrounded him and that could possibly be a source of danger: windows and doors were his favorite. He also kept an eyes on his friends who checked the perimeter of the house. He was tired and the only thought that kept coming to his mind was to just give up and go to sleep. Maybe in Jaebeom's protective arms. But he couldn't back off now that he was just a step away from capturing and arresting the person who corrupted his existence for the past months of his life and who decided his fate like a judge or a mighty god.
«Do you think Paris is here today?» Jinyoung suddenly heard Youngjae's strong voice. He jumped in fear and turned to look at his friend, his heartbeat going crazy. «Ah sorry, I didn't mean to scare you.» His tone was so loud Jinyoung could hear it clearly even with the music playing.
«Yeah.» The older answered directly in Youngjae's ear in order to overcome the high volume of the sound system. «And I also think she will step forward soon.» He continued then brought the cup to his lips to chug his iced tea in a single sip. «It's gonna be interesting, I guess.» He ended the conversation and went to the quiet kitchen where only a few people were making out or lightly chatting.
That's when Jinyoung saw her. She looked like an average young woman, her body wrapped in a shiny black dress and a pair black Louboutin at her feet. Her wavy raven hair delicately framed her milky-skinned face and emphasized the red lipstick she was wearing. How could she be so different from the last time they saw each other? It was like she wasn't herself.
«We meet again, Jinyoung.» Even though Paris looked like another person, her voice was just the same. Jinyoung jolted while his breath got caught in his throat. «You seem surprised. Well, I'm a girl too after all.» She shrugged and smirked.
«Last time you didn't give me the chance to ask you why— why you hate me so much.» The boy left his empty cup on the counter and looked in Paris' eyes: there was something scary, insane in those dark orbs, like they were two little black holes which were ready to swallow him whole.
«There are a lot of reasons I'm sure you're dying to know but the first and the most striking one is... you don't deserve to live the life you have.» Her face looked bored and annoyed while her hands gesticulated relentlessly in the air separating the two of them. «I mean, you're literally just a normal person so why do you have so many friends? And a horribly sweet and caring boyfriend? And a lot of followers on a social media you don't even care about?» Paris pursed her lips and her glare became deadly.
«Ah! So you're just jealous. You want what I have but you can't have it because of your—» Jinyoung's words were cut off by the girl.
«Mental health? Probably. Maybe I'm jealous I'll never have a beautiful and perfect life like yours and I decided that if I can't have it, you won't either.» Now her eyes were delirious and her lips were contorted in a scary smirk. She dig her hand into her little white purse and all of a sudden a gun was pointed to Jinyoung's chest.
He could sense the fear creeping up behind his shoulders and the adrenaline kicking in but he kept his feelings down in order not to ruin his own plan.
«If you want to kill me, it's okay. But just think about it: isn't it better if you put the gun down so we can talk? If you shoot me, you'll go to jail and you'll spend the rest of your life — who knows, regretting your decision thinking about the fact that killing me didn't really satisfy you.» Jinyoung put his hands up and carefully looked at Paris, noticing only in that moment that the music stopped and that a lot of people were looking at them. «"Ah, I didn't really need that. That person died but that didn't change anything and now I'm secluded here where I can't extinguish my blood-thirst". That's what you'll say.» He tried to keep his voice steady while stalling. He needed to buy some time so that the police could get there and arrest that young woman before she could do something irreparably dangerous.
«STOP!» Paris screamed at the top of her lungs. She brought a hand to her temple and squeezed her eyes as if she had a terribly painful headache. «WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE TO TELL ME WHO I AM?!» Her shaky hand took the safety and her index slowly pushed the trigger.
As the sirens resonated in the far distance and the first red and blue lights started to light up the darkness of the night, Chan's house was shaken by a sudden gunshot. Everybody screamed in fear but Jinyoung stayed weirdly quiet as a scarlet stain expanded on his white shirt. Then a stinging pain started to grow. His waist hurt like hell. In a matter of a second Jaebeom was with him as his sight got blurry, his eyes closing peacefully at the sight of a pair of cuffs at Paris' wrists. It was worthy Jinyoung thought to himself while his friends surrounded him and two paramedics rushed to him. His eyes fluttered close and his mind felt drowsy, his body growing weaker until eventually he gave in and passed out in the arms of his loved one.