The bell rings, welcoming Jungkyu's arrival in his brown long coat. He walked in without hesitation while patting his clothes to remove the snow stuck there.
"Jungkyu!"
Feeling his name being called, Jungkyu turned his body to the source of the sound. His smile rose when he saw four of his friends were sitting in a circle at one of the tables in the corner of the cafe. One of them—who had called out—signed Jungkyu to come closer. Without further ado, Jungkyu rushed over to the table, then joined them.
"Why are you taking so long? Just so you know, I've been hungry for a long time, but Namchul won't let me order anything until you come."
"Poor you," Jungkyu sneered at him.
The person named Yeonjin Ahn immediately looked at him in annoyance. He was about to grumble, but stopped when someone beside him suddenly stood up from his seat. "I will order. What would you like?"
Yeonjin's eyes lit up. "Wow, Haru! You're the best." He gave a thumbs up, then mentioned a series of snacks he wanted.
Haru blinked a few times. It was obvious that he had a hard time remembering Yeonjin's order with all the requests he had.
Jungkyu glanced at Haru, feeling pity, but he had no choice but to pretend he didn't hear anything. He doesn't want to end up hearing Yeonjin's nagging all day long, as well as being errand boy to replace Haru. He had heard enough nagging in his house. So he didn't want to make his ears suffer even more by making trouble with Yeonjin.
He finally decided to turn his gaze to the person beside him—someone who was laying his head on his two folded hands on the table. "Taekwang Hyung? Are you sleeping?"
Taekwang tilted his head slightly. He looked at Jungkyu with a pair of red eyes, typical of someone who just woke up. "Ah, Jungkyu." He stretched his body, then continued, "Yeah. Hoahm ... I'm so sleepy. I just came here right after the shoot. My body feels like it's crushed."
Jungkyu nodded in understanding.
He more than understands Taekwang's condition. Considering Taekwang who works as a model, actor, and singer, of course his schedule is very tight. But what makes Jungkyu respect is that no matter how busy his schedule is, Taekwang definitely makes time to hang out with his friends.
As they are doing right now. Despite complaining about a lot of work, a busy schedule, a crushed body, sprained legs, broken bones, rheumatism, and so on, in the end Taekwang will still come. Stubborn, but he really can't rule out his friends.
After all, if Taekwang didn't come, it must have felt weird because the five of them were used to doing anything. As a result, if there is one person who is not present, his presence seems to remain among them. For example, when they should order food for four people, they order for five people. It was only when the order arrived that they realized something was missing between them. They often experience this when one of them is absent. Perhaps it was because of the close kinship, that no matter how many times they experienced it, such things would still be repeated in the future.
"You didn't order?"
Namchul's rebuke made Jungkyu turn quickly. He just realized Haru was still standing where he was, waiting for him and Taekwang to mention their order.
Jungkyu opened his mouth to answer, but was preceded by Taekwang, "Strawberry milkshake." After saying that, Taekwang turned his head back on the table.
"I want a banana milkshake," said Jungkyu. He is no longer traumatized by banana milk. His love for banana milk overcame his trauma. After all, it had been a month since the 'traumatic incident' happened. So he had forgotten about it.
"Okay." Haru then walked away to the ordering counter.
There were only four of them at the table. Jungkyu looked around. The atmosphere was very quiet because the cafe was already booked by the five of them. He leaned his back against the sofa. An exhalation of breath that implied tiredness was heard soon after.
"What's wrong? You've been quiet all this time, not as usual." Namchul looked at him with a worried expression.
Jungkyu smiled. "It's okay. Just a little tired."
"Work problems?"
"No."
"Then?"
Jungkyu was silent. He wanted to pour out his grievances for the past month. Starting from problems at the apartment—such as arguing with Hyunji every day—to other problems that have been bothering him lately. He couldn't possibly tell them about Hyunji's case, because they might slash him if he was caught bringing a woman with unknown background to his apartment. So he decided to tell them something else, something that haunted his mind almost every night. "To be honest, lately, I've been feeling like someone's following me."
Taekwang who originally didn't move at all from his position, now looked up with a curious face. "Have you seen his face?"
Jungkyu shrugged his shoulders. "No, because I still can't tell if I'm being followed or not."
"That's right."
The answer made the four of them look up. Staring at Haru's presence who was moving dessert plates and glasses filled with various drinks onto the table. Their gazes didn't move even though the one they were staring at was already sitting nicely on his seat.
Without further ado, Haru took out an envelope from his pocket. He opened the envelope and took out all the photos inside. The photos are almost entirely set at night. Some were taken from CCTV footage, some were taken using a phone camera. Different times and places. The similarities are only in the two objects that being the main highlight of the photos—Jungkyu and a strange guy with a black hoodie.
"This is also the reason why I gathered you guys," said Haru.
Jungkyu looked at the photos one by one. "Where did you get these photos from?"
"About two weeks ago, my acquaintance saw you outside the apartment at night. He said, someone was waiting for you outside the apartment building, then followed you. Therefore, with the help of Yeonjin hyung's connections, I sent someone to look for evidence."
Jungkyu tried to digest Haru's words. A second later, he squinted at Yeonjin. "Hyung, you know that I'm being spied on, and the first thing you said to me was 'why are you taking so long'? How heartless."
Yeonjin took a sip of his coffee, then placed the glass on the table in an overly relaxed motion. "There's no point in me asking how you're doing. Even though you're the youngest among us, you're a man now. Your body even bigger than me. What do you think your muscular body is for, huh?"
Jungkyu pouted. What Yeonjin said is true. But still, he was annoyed.
Besides, Haru is still struggling with the photos on the table. Sort it by date. "You said you'd been followed a month ago, didn't you?"
Jungkyu returned his attention to Haru. "Yeah, i think"
Haru pointed to the photo in the first place. The date below it was exactly a month ago. Realizing it made Jungkyu's brow furrow faintly.
Actually, Jungkyu wasn't too surprised to find himself being spied on. Usually, there are only two main motives for stalkers; out of curiosity about his mysterious identity, or because they have the intention to bring down Jungkyu by secretly looking for his weakness. Jungkyu knows clearly that he has many enemies out there. He already has a series of ways to anticipate it, so he can easily detect their actions. Brought them to his knees until they dared not appear in front of him again.
However, for this one, he really didn't know what the motive was behind it. Moreover, lately he doesn't feel like dealing with annoying people, except for Hyunji of course. Because—to be honest—for the past month he's been in apartment more often. He even worked from apartment.
He did this solely to ensure that his apartment remained safe while Hyunji was there. A month living under the same roof, does not mean the two can immediately get along and trust each other. Even though Hyunji hasn't made any suspicious moves so far—apart from stealing his banana milk and snacks in the fridge almost every night—Jungkyu still feels compelled to monitor her.
It's not that he doesn't believe in Hyunji, it's just that there's something odd about her that makes Jungkyu curious.
"What are you going to do after this? Any plans?"
Jungkyu tapped his fingers on the table. A second later, he smiled crookedly. "Catch him of course." His hand grabbed a photo taken from the CCTV footage. He stared intently, then said, "He's not even aware there's CCTV. This guy seems just an amateur. It's not that hard to get rid of a cockroach like him."
"I'm coming with you!" Taekwang raised his hand with a square smile etched on his handsome face. "The ambush is tonight, right? We can get ready at your apartment. Also, I'd like to have a quick nap at your-"
"YOU CAN'T!" shouted Jungkyu spontaneously. It would be a big problem if Taekwang really came to his place and met Hyunji there. All the worst things could happen later. He couldn't even imagine that.
His shout startled the room. They were silent for a moment. Everyone was silent with wide eyes in shock. Leaving Jungkyu who immediately regretted his words. "I mean ... you're busy. Yesterday on the phone, you said you had to shoot a movie tonight. So, let me do it myself."
Haru volunteered. "Then, I'll-"
"No need. You have to prepare a lot of things for the new reality show that will be released next month. I can do it myself," Jungkyu interrupted with emphasis.
Hearing that, Namchul and Yeonjin chose not to say anything. They really understand what kind of person Jungkyu is. Once he said something, it was inviolable. This isn't the first time Jungkyu has been in a situation like this, so they're sure he'll be fine.
"Then, you need to prepare now. Catch that person and get the information from him." Yeonjin glanced at the large window beside him that was directly facing the street. Luckily, the window was made of one-way glass, so he could see outside without anyone out there noticing. "He could be spying on us right now."
His words made Jungkyu stunned.
Jungkyu realized he was too careless. He should have been much more careful when he came here. With a stalker around him, every step he took could have put him in danger. Not only him, his friends will also be threatened. Moreover, they are not ordinary people. Things like this must be dealt with as soon as possible before causing serious cases that could threaten their future plans.
"What are you waiting for? Hurry up!"
Even though Yeonjin's tone sounded annoying, Jungkyu still nodded his head. He grabbed his car keys on the table and hurried out of the cafe.
***
Hyung: a word used by males to address another male older than them who they are close to.