Untouched [minsung]

Chapter 23

...what Lee Know was doing with you.

The phrase rang in my head like a tornado siren. If my brain were a town, it would have been flattened and reduced to nothing. Everything had been a lie. My chest ached. My stomach hurt. My eyes stang.

"That's what you argued about right? You betrayed his trust and he thought you outed his job to someone?" Felix asked.

I couldn't even formulate a response, so I just shook my head.

"Shit..." Felix whispered with a sincere look of pity. "I'm sorry, Han. I thought you knew."

"Lee Know was doing the same thing?" I asked, finding my voice.

"I'm not sure of the specifics, but I know he works for Changbin's family. Jeongin told me."

All of the secrecy made sense. The way he and Seungmin seemed to be in on something that I knew nothing about. The instructions to hide truths from my friends.

"Seungmin, too?"

Felix nodded. "Seungmin, too.

"But why?" Who was I to be watched like this? My family wasn't anything special. Although, Changbin had no idea so maybe my family was secretly committing felonies too.

"His family hires people to watch anyone close to them. You and Changbin have become best friends. I'd assume they wanted to make sure you weren't a threat."

"But why get close to me? Why not watch from afar?"

"I asked the same thing about Changbin, but they find out more information when the target...person believes they have a relationship of some sort."

My brain had broken earlier trying to understand what I'd seen and now my heart was breaking trying to understand what I was hearing.

Is that why Lee Know never let me touch him? It was fake for him...a job. His job was to get close to me, but that didn't mean he had to let me get close to him.

On top of being hurt, I felt angry. Angry at the families for treating us as pieces in their game. Angry at Jeongin for his part in all of this. And angry at Lee Know for his hypocrisy.

He'd kicked me out, and yelled at me because he found out I'd watched him. But that was his whole job...to spy on me and report findings.

I wanted to confront him. I wanted to ask what he gained from this. And I wanted to know if it was all a lie.

"I need to see him," I told Felix.

"Whoa whoa," he said sitting me back down. "That's not a good idea. At least right now."

"Why not?" I asked. I was sure steam was coming out of my ears.

"I think you should sleep on it, and we can decide tomorrow how to best approach Lee Know and Changbin."