12 Odd

The weeks have passed yet Youngjae is nowhere to be found. He just disappears like thin air and doesn't warn me. I don't even have contact with him and ask him. 

 'What happened to you Youngjae?' I thought of myself. I wander to the aisle and take some food. 

My eyes gaze to a familiar face at the cashier stand. I step on the stand and place all my stuff. I glance at the man and my mood brightens on what I saw, it's Youngjae.

"Youngjae!" I exclaim. 

He peeks and smiles. 

"Minsoo, what are you doing here?" He utters as he scans all my foods. 

"Buy some food for me and my brother," I mumble.

 He hums and continues scanning my food.

"That would be $20.57." I nod and pay off. 

"Where have you been? I didn't see you in the past weeks." I mutter as I help him place the food inside my bag.

"I...I visited my relatives in Korea."

"Unexpectedly? Why didn't you tell me?" I ask?

"When you were unconscious. My aunt called that she needed us and we flew to Korea to do stuff." He explains.

"What kind of stuff?" I curiously ask. 

He grins at me and shakes his head.

"It's a secret Minsoo." I frown at him but it's too personal to ask. Before I walk out, he grabs my wrist to stop me.

"Wait for me outside so we could get some lunch." I grin and nod. 

I step on the parking lot and clasp the car handle to place all groceries inside the compartment. I lean on the car as I wait for him. 

After 30 minutes or so, Youngjae walks out of the grocery store to meet me. He gives me a smile and hugs me. 

I blink multiple times, confused.

"Are you okay Youngjae?" He hums and nods. I pat his back and cheer him up. 

He loosens the embrace and takes the car key before strolls inside the car. 

"I'm driving." He smiles. I nod and step inside the car. 

He starts the engine and drives to the nearest restaurant. I observe the place and it's different from the place we visit. He parks the car in front of the restaurant, called 'Twilight'. 

'Don't go there! It's dangerous.' A familiar voice whispers into my ears. I choose to ignore the voice. 'It's all in my head.' I convince myself. 

I glance at Youngjae, who's smiling at me, and his smile freaks me out. 

"Youngjae, maybe we should go somewhere else, " I carefully choose a word that couldn't offend him. 

He shakes his head and grins. 

"They have delicious food so it's a bummer if you shouldn't try." He says. 

My teeth clasp my inner cheek, hesitates to accept his offer. 

"It's just a restaurant so no need to worry about." He said as he winks at me. He clasps his palm around my wrist and pulls inside the restaurant. 

 As we get inside, there are some people eating and talking to each other but what's odd for me is the aura of the restaurant. 

There's something wrong with this restaurant. 

We sit down and get the menu. Within a minute, he calls the waiter and mutters his order. 

 "Youngjae, I'm not done searching for my food, " I say, stopping him to order. He smiles and takes the menu out of my hand.

"I got this." 

"Okay, but I'll be the one who will pay for our meal," I explain. 

"Of course. We have an agreement, remember?" I nod. 

My eyes wander the restaurant and it's an ancient style with native figurines that hangs on the walls and one of the figurines is from Mixtec culture. One figurine that catches my attention, the fallen angel. 

"What are you looking at?" He asks. My finger points the figurine at the wall. 

"The 'fallen angel'. Interesting." He murmurs with a smirk. I don't infer why he needs to emphasize the word 'fallen angel.' 

"Why is it interesting? Do you believe in fallen angels?" I laugh at him. 

'Fallen angels are not true.' I mutter to myself as I shake my head, eradicating all my distracting thoughts. 

"Yes. Don't you?" He asks. I tilt my head, confused.

"They aren't real Youngjae," I assert.

He just shrugs his shoulder. 

The waiter comes to our diner table to serve some water and appetizers. 

I smile and thank him. 

"Maybe you met them before." He mutters, out of the blue. 

"Me? No! I would be dead if I met one."

"You are interesting." He murmurs.

My eyes glance at him, confused about his words.

"What is wrong with you?" I implore. 

"Nothing. The food is ready." I look at the waiter, who's holding our meal. He places down our orders and wine. 

I strive to focus but I feel an intense gaze coming from him. I look at him and smile before eating my food. 

Suddenly, I grab my glass and it tumbles by itself that freaks me out. My gaze goes to Youngjae, checking if he notices it, luckily, he's busy eating his food.

I release a deep sigh, thinking that it slides to my hand. The waiter wanders towards me and cleans the broken glass.

He peeks at me and smirks. 

'Something's odd about this restaurant.' I think to myself. 

When I finish my food, I reach my wine, and suddenly, the glass spatters all over my shirt. Luckily, the thin pieces haven't damaged my skin.

I harshly place down the broken glass and walk out of the restaurant. His hand clutches my wrist and pulls me closer to him

"What is wrong with you Youngjae!? Haven't you seen what happened back there?!" I exclaim, attempting to withdraw my wrist.

He just smirks. 

"I...it hurts Y...Youngjae." I mumble. 

He shakes his head and removes his hand to my wrist. I massage my wrist and walk out. 

"Minsoo wait!" He yells and I ignore him. 

I freak out on the incident and his manner. 

"Minsoo I'm sorry if I take you there. That place has delicious food so I decided to take you." He says. 

I turn over and face him.

"That restaurant freaks me out Youngjae and you just didn't do anything! And your action, it frightens me." I exclaim. 

"No Youngjae, leave me alone!" I cry out as I nuzzle my arms around me. 

I snatch my car keys out of his hand and step inside my car but he stops me.  

"Where are you going?" He asks in a low tone. 

"I want to go home,"

"And you just leave me here?" He asks.

"Youngjae, your action scares me. What do you expect?" 

"I'm sorry, it won't happen again. I promise." I sighed and nodded. 

"I'll be driving," I said. 

He responds with a nod and steps inside the passenger seat. 

After half an hour of travel, we both step outside the car.

"Minsoo, I'm sorry about what happened to the restaurant. I didn't know you experienced that." I smile widely and shake my head. 

Before I could say my words, a voice coming from the entrance. 

"What are you doing here?" Taehyung appears behind me. 

"Taehyung, we crashed in the grocery store and he offered me lunch," I explain. 

Jinwoo and Jungmin appear from behind and snatch the groceries to my hands. 

I smile and thank them.

 I glance at Taehyung, who's glaring at Youngjae. 

"You heard her right? I just offered her lunch." He mutters and his lips form a smirk. Taehyung howls as he grasps his collar. 

My eyes wide as I gasp. 

"I know what you do back there!" 

"Ohh really? I didn't do anything." He scoffs. I take a chance to push Taehyung away. 

"I know who you are! Don't ever try to come close again to Minsoo or I will cut your heads off. Do you hear me?!" He threatens Youngjae. 

I notice that Youngjae doesn't change his expression, his smirk never leaves his lips.

"Taehyung, stop! Youngjae, just go home. Thank you for the lunch." I mumble and smile. 

"You're welcome Minsoo. See you later. You too, Mr. Sinner." He says before walking out. 

I turn to look at Taehyung. 

"What do you think you're doing?" I ask him while crossing my arms. 

"What do you think I did? Protecting you from that guy!" He utters—forming a frown on his eyebrows.

I roll my eyes. 

"Wow! You are being a hero. That's great! You pushed my only friend away! He just got back home from Korea and we are just hanging out!" I say, sarcastically. 

"Minsoo, I'm protecting you. You know what happened in the restaurant. He even scares you, yet you defend him!" He yells. 

"H...How did you know that? D...Did you follow me?" 

"No! I didn't follow you!" He says, crossing his arms. 

"If you didn't follow us, how did you know that?" He remains silent.

Tell me?" I beg him to answer.

"My friend saw you with him and he saw you frightened. He just told me."

"So you actually care about me? As far as I know, you didn't consider me as your friend." I explain. His eyes narrow as he glances at me. 

"I thought we're okay now?" He asks. I laugh at him hysterically. 

"Really Taehyung? You avoided me the past weeks and now you said we're okay? I tried to get your attention but you ignored me instead. You even brought that girl of yours at the diner table in the cafeteria and you just tell me, we're okay and protecting me?" I feel tears forming into my eyes and rush down through my cheeks. 

"Minsoo I'm sorry, I did that to protect you." 

"Protecting me from whom? from what? I don't understand why you need to protect me." He remains silent.

I ignore all the tears falling through my cheeks. 

"You are giving me a mixed signal. I don't know what to believe anymore. I was distressed when you ignored me and the time Youngjae disappeared the whole week. That whole week kills me, you know that. If you want to protect me, just do so but hurting me? It's absurd." I say, leaving him behind. 

I ignore Jungmin's voice and go to my room. I throw my body at my bed and cry even more, nearly forget the incident inside the restaurant. 

I can't control my feelings for him.

I'm distress when he ignores me and I feel like dying inside. My heart craves his presence since the first time I lay my eyes on him. It's really mutual.

"Who are you really Taehyung? Why are you giving me a mixed signal? I want to know." I whisper as my hands bury my face and wipe my tears.