Untouched [minsung]

Chapter 80

Lee Know POV

"Chan will be here soon. He's just stopping by the market first," I told Hyunjin. He was still taking photos off of the wall while I sat in the middle of the floor. I didn't know if we were doing the right thing by waiting here for Jeongin anymore.

Hyunjin had told me that he had come here to confront Jeongin. He wanted to convince him that his parents were the bad guys and bring him onto our side. I admired his willingness to save his brother, but half of me wondered if I should just take the shot while I had it. Jeongin didn't seem like the type to play well with others...let alone listen to them as they blew up his entire ideology.

"This is a good one of you," Hyunjin joked for the twentieth time as he pulled down another photo of me crying.

"It wasn't funny the first time and it's not funny now," I rolled my eyes and laid back on the floor. I could hear into the apartment below us. They were watching TV and had started to pop popcorn. The microwave beeped, and I could hear the footsteps as someone left the group to retrieve it. They watched the TV and laughed at the jokes and talked over the dialogue as they enjoyed their time together.

What I would give for a normal life.

I texted Han that I'd be back super late or early tomorrow. He hadn't replied, but I hoped he wasn't sleeping. The doctor had made it my responsibility to keep him awake...but if I could get rid of Jeongin or at least redirect his anger, I'd be doing Han a much bigger favor.

I had texted Changbin and passed the torch to him to keep Han entertained instead. I hoped they were gaming or something.

There was a knock at the door, and I got up to open it. When I did, I immediately regretted inviting Chan to where we were.

His pupils were huge and his eyes were bloodshot. He pushed past me and looked angrily around the apartment.

"Has he come by yet?" he huffed as he continued to examine every inch of the space.

"No. But Chan what's wrong? You look crazy right now."

"Nothing is wrong. Just want to kill this piece of shit, so we can get on with our lives," he bit back. He was pacing and rubbing his nose. He didn't have a grocery bag.

"What did you get at the market?" I asked. I knew that a few dealers hung out in the alley between the market and the club.

"What?"

"The market? You said you were going by the market."

"Oh, just some gum," he told me as he rubbed his nose again.

"Can I have a piece?" I tested him.

He patted his pockets and shrugged. "Guess I lost it."

"Chan..." I began but Hyunjin walked out into the room. He took one look at him and knew what had happened.

"Bro, are you high right now?" he asked immediately.

"So what if I am?" Chan argued.

"Chan, we're not here to hurt my brother. We are going to convince him to go after my parents," Hyunjin explained.

Chan responded by laughing loudly.

"What's so funny?" Hyunjin asked, looking to me for an answer.

I just threw my hands up in defeat as I shook my head. "No idea."

"Jeongin won't listen. As long as he's out there, none of us our safe. Not you. Not me. Not Seungmin. Not Han. None of us."

Chan was spiraling. I'd seen it happen before when a civilian had been killed by a bad call he'd made. Something had to have happened after I left.

"Is Seungmin okay?" I asked him. His eyes jumped to mine, and they literally looked like they were shaking in his skull.

"He's awake," was all he managed to say.

"But is he okay?"

"No. And he won't be until Jeongin is dead."

I had no idea what that meant, but I knew this would not be a productive meeting. Jeongin was going to be here any minute now, and Chan was going to try to kill him while Hyunjin tried to persuade him. We'd be too all over the place to make an effective move.

"We need to go," I told them. Neither of them looked like that was something they were willing to do. "We can't confront Jeongin until we're all in agreement on how to move forward."

"I already packed his room. He'll know we were here and move somewhere else," Hyunjin complained.

"Until he's dead, I can't leave," Chan spat.

"We need to go. Hyunjin, you can follow him and let us know where we should go, so you can try to talk to him another time. Chan, you need to get home and sober up."

"Pshhh. I'm fine," Chan snorted.

I grabbed one of each of their hands and pulled on them.

"Come on, before he gets here," I pleaded as I pulled us towards the door. But I heard footsteps approaching on the other side and ran towards the bedroom. Chan readied his gun and Hyunjin stood in front of the door, ready to defend Jeongin.

This was going to be a shit show.

"Police open up," a deep voice bellowed on the other side of the door.

Shit. Shit.

I looked around the room in a panic and grabbed the bag with the guns. If the police found these we'd be fucked. I threw open the window and climbed out onto the fire escape.

I knew Felix's was a few stories down so I began climbing the rusty ladder. I heard the door bust open and Hyunjin yelped.

"What's going on?" Chan shouted.

"Drop your weapon, sir," the man ordered.

I was getting out of earshot but was pretty sure that Chan had obeyed the cop since it didn't sound like a fight had broken out. I hurried down and opened the window to Felix's. I needed to get inside before the cops realized the window to the other apartment was open and heard the metallic echoes of my steps on the rungs of the ladder.

I tossed the bag inside and climbed through the window to Felix's.

"Hello, Lee Know."