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BETWEEN A ROCK AND A HARD SPACE

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Jeongmin was only an inch away from dreamland when a loud bang caused them to jump.

"Jeongin?" Her eyes widened, her muscles tensed and, slightly raising her head to look around the dark room, she felt her heart threatening to explode at every beat. "Jeongin! Jeongin what was this?" She whispered, hurriedly tapping on his chest. 

"Shh." With his eyes very still closed, Jeongin softly pulled her back to his embrace, whispering against the smooth strands of her hair while tracing his fingers through the length of them. "It's okay, Jeongmin, it's okay."

Compared to her, Jeongin looked just like a Buda in the middle of his longest meditation.

"It sounded like a gunshot, didn't it?" She gulped, and he slowly moved his fingers to the skin of her cotton-like cheek, caressing it with his thumb.

"Fireworks, Jeongmin, it's not here. It's okay."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"But it really looked like-" Jeongin brought his sister's eyelids down the moment she tried to look at the window, silencing her. "O-Okay." A tear rolled down the bridge of her nose and, forcing her mind to think of the great moments she had had with Bangchan earlier, she shrank her body into a ball and hugged Jeongin until no air could fill the spaces between them.

Is he really sure?

"You're safe. I'm here. Shh."

Despite the panic inside her ribcage, Jeongmin managed to fall asleep under the gentle loving touch of her brother, who, on the other hand, opened his eyes the moment she closed hers, staying like that for the rest of the night.

Just like always, Jeongin calmed his younger sister, took her into his comforting warmth and drew on her skin simple smooth shapes with the tip of his fingers. He made sure her heart came back to normal, but who made sure his heart did?

Under the thin tissue of his white shirt, Jeongin's skin suffocated in cold sweats.

Jeongin knew the sound of a gunshot. He knew it to the point he could hear it whenever he wanted - and did not want - inside his analytical mind. 

Jeongin knew the sound of a gunshot when he heard one, and that bang? That bang was a gunshot way too close for him to be able to sleep, and that delighted Felix in a way only he knew.

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"He wants you to bring him a doctor's note," Hyunjin told Jeongmin, who easily tied her apron into a perfect knot on her back. "I didn't really know what to say-"

"Yeah, sure, I can take care of that." She said, closing her locker before making her way to leave the breakroom. On the other hand, Hyunjin stayed still, only moving his eyes to follow Jeongmin's shapes. 

She hadn't mentioned a single thing about her encounter with Felix, yet he knew she was mad at him, very mad. After all, Hyunjin had led her right into a bee nest, and she wasn't stupid.

"Hey, ahm..." Hyunjin called and Jeongmin stopped, looking back at him.

"What do you want?"

"I know you're mad at me."

She chuckled, raising her eyebrows in surprise.

"Don't do that, Jeongmin, I've seen you lying to our boss and clients a million times, I know when you're forcing a smile."

"I'm not smiling." She said, ironically.

The truth was that she was so exhausted of boys, that she didn't even try to hide her disappointment and frustration - and Jeongmin didn't want to talk about it, at all. 

She was no longer interested in sharing her lunch with Hyunjin - let alone chatting and venting for hours - but, at the same time, she didn't want to ruin the remaining good memories she had with him. 

Jeongmin preferred not to know details so that they would stay untouched. That was probably why she rolled her eyes and just opened the door, easily ignoring Hyunjin's act.

"Hey, look,  you have all the reasons in the world to be mad at me." Furrowing his eyebrows, Hyunjin took a deep breath before telling her what he knew he wasn't supposed to: he had to gain her attention in some way. "I know about the watch."

Of course, she looked back and shut the door the moment she heard those five short words.

"What?"

"I know about Changbin, Felix and the three days he gave you to pay him all that money." He took a step forward, slightly pointing at her. "I know that, but I also know you."

"Sure, darling, and so what?" She chuckled, locking her worry and anxiety together inside her ribcage. "Are you going to blackmail me now too? Just go ahead! I'm f.cking all ears!" There was no point in pretending now. They had got her between a rock and a hard space, and Jeongmin hadn't learnt how to fly yet. 

However, to her surprise, Hyunjin denied with his head and, approaching her, landed both his hands on each forearm of hers.

"When I said I'd give you a hand whenever you needed it, I meant it, Jeongmin."

"If I knew the hand would be like this, I would have spat on it." She looked deeply into the core of his brown eyes, turning her hands into tight fists. "F.cking twice."

"I had no choice!" His eyebrows couldn't furrow more and, noticing the worry and gleam coming to the corners of his humid eyes, Jeongmin sighed. She was about to speak when he restarted. "But, look, I want to help you now. No matter what might happen later, I've promised you a hand, and I'll give it to you."

"And how am I supposed to trust you now?" 

"I'll tell you everything I know."

"About Felix?"

"All of them." Hyunjin looked deadly serious, and Jeongmin couldn't simply believe a part of her chose to trust the words he said. She was getting convinced, which she had never enjoyed.

Jeongmin was about to smile when her anxiety escaped her ribcage through her lungs, moving freely through her throat, stomach, liver and kidneys. All her body turned on the alarm button and, before she knew it, her body was already hurrying to the bathroom, bending over the toilet to throw up a yellowish liquid.

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