Luminous • Jisung

30 • Harder

his gaze though 

• Chapter 30 •

"So..." Haechan said under his breath, grimacing awkwardly. "How are we going to explain this to Kun?" 

The air inside the spacious living room was heavy. The light of the lanterns outside pushed through the windows of the house half-heartedly, too tired to compete with the bright light of the lamps inside. 

Everything seemed dull. The boys' worry mixed in with the air around them.  

Jeno's head perked up, eyes a little wider in surprise as he stared at the younger one. He shook his head in disbelief when he asked, 
"Kun doesn't know yet?!" 

"I didn't want to worry him," Renjun noted briefly and seemed a little uncomfortable to admit that. He sat slumped down on his end of the sofa. "I told him she was at the sleepover with us." 

Chenle raised a brow. His lips parted in disbelief. 
"Are you serious?" 

"I-" Renjun exhaled deeply. "I didn't know what to do." 

There was a sense of uncertainty triggered by how insecure and hesitant the oldest seemed. After all, he was the one that kept no secrets from Kun when it came to Cho-a. 

It felt odd even though they all understood. 

Interrupting them, voice piercing through the tension with ease, Jisung got up from his spot on the armchair next to the sofa, cleared his throat and looked intently over at Renjun. Then at the others. 

"That's not too important now. I called Kun already, he'll be here soon and we can explain it all," he noted. Renjun stiffened, yet nodded. "I also asked the others to help us track either Young-hee or Cho-a down." 

Once again, the others just nodded. Jisung took action right away as they were used to. 

It grew silent again. It was late already, time passed fast. The weekend was supposed to be relaxing. It maybe even would've been, if Jisung made sure to get someone to accompany Cho-a home on Friday. 

But he didn't. 

There was no use in blaming himself. However, he felt bad so he reached for one thread after the other. 

The thoughtful expression didn't go unnoticed by any of the boys. They all watched carefully, patiently. 

Yet, no one ever said something. 

Up until when Jaemin found the courage to ask the question that had been on his mind ever since Jisung came home from his walk with Young-hee earlier. 

Looking down at his hands first, then up slowly, he caught Jisung's attention. 

"Yeah?" Jisung asked gently after noticing the older one's nervous gaze. 

"Do you really think she'll hurt Cho-a?" he questioned at which Jisung couldn't help but let his eyes drop to the floor. He bit the inside of his lip. 

Maybe. Considering what she had done before, there was a possibility that he couldn't completely deny. 

So it became Jisung's turn to hesitate. The older ones watched him with worry. 
"It's hard to tell," he said eventually. "Let's just find her soon." 

Appreciating his reply, the others nodded and agreed swiftly. Just another moment passed before there then was a knock at the door and Chenle rushed to open it. 

He smiled sweetly. 
"Hey Kun," he said politely, trying to sound as nice as he could to set a calm atmosphere. "Come on in." 

Kun gave the younger one a doubtful look. He knew that Chenle was putting on an act, he just didn't understand it yet. Stepping past him wordlessly, he soon found himself in the living room where he met exhausted faces and worried eyes. 

They all seemed a little anxious. 

Looking around, glimpsing from person to person, Kun soon understood where the problem was. 

"Where is she?" he asked. A monotone voice, strict glare. It startled them - that he just guessed correctly right away. Maybe it was too obvious for him after all. 

"We don't know yet," Jisung said. He glimpsed at Renjun, who watched the oldest carefully. "We are trying to find her." 

"Okay." Jisung's reply was enough for Kun. He had somewhat started to trust him by now. It felt easier not to get concerned now. "What exactly happened?" 

At which the youngest got quiet for a moment. 

"It's," Jisung clenched his jaw, looked down for a second. He swallowed hard, his throat felt dry. "It's my fault." 

Kun frowned. He shook his head, dismissed it. 
"I doubt that," he spoke, completely convinced. "So what happened?" 

Startled by his reaction, Jisung went silent. He stood there, watched Kun. Impressed. Surprised. He seemed so sure. 

So in this tense silence, Haechan ended up explaining that, 
"Young-hee took her somewhere as a way to get Jisung to meet her." 

"Young-hee did?" the oldest questioned. When Haechan nodded, Kun rolled his eyes, tilted his head back. He wasn't surprised. "I hate this girl." 

He wasn't the only one that felt that way. 

"Did you ask your people to help?" Kun asked further, now looking at Jisung again who nodded quickly. 

"Yeah, they are working on it. Chenle, Haechan, Renjun and I wanted to help too once we informed you and also," Jisung glimpsed to the side where Jaemin and Jeno sat. "Maybe you could look after them." 

The boys in question were quick to react. Both having the same thought, they gave the youngest a look of betrayal and quickly interjected that,
"We can help!" 

Even before Jisung could reply to that, Kun stepped a step towards the boys, a brow raised and expression strict. He looked down at them with a sugary sweet, awfully fake and very warning smile.
"No." 

Chenle's eyes widened at the older one's reaction. "He's scary when he's being serious," he whispered to Renjun. 

"Tell me about it," he sighed. 

"Okay then, go find them," Kun said. "In the meantime let's hope that Cho-a tries her best not to upset Young-hee." 

Cho-a laughed between coughs, looking at the other girl with a challenging glare. 

"If you want to kill me, you have to choke me harder," she noted with a husky voice. Though struggling to breathe, she didn't mind making jokes. She didn't mind the way the other one seemingly got more and more annoyed by the second. 

"Do you want to die?" Young-hee asked. It sounded like an offer. 

Cho-a grinned, suppressed the disgusted expression that dared to creep onto her face when she swallowed down the mixture of saliva and blood in her mouth. Exhaling flatly, she shook her head. 

"Why?" she asked, provokingly. "Wasn't Jisung the reason why you didn't want to harm me? You changed your mind quickly-"

"I might actually kill you," Young-hee warned. 

Cho-a grinned, white teeth stained red from the blood that was smeared over them.
"How exciting." 

• Harder •