《Frenemies》Chapter 26: The Date
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"Where's your sister at? I haven't seen her for over a year."
Jae blocked out almost everything being spoken to him. Still in complete awe over who he was talking to, Jae's complex mind took forever to register the sight internally. It took a while but eventually, the limiting space within his own apartment helped with his mind relaxing. Soon after, no one else was left inside the apartment apart from Helic and his partner, Vee, and Jae.
"I-I don't understand," Vee said for a deep-in-thought Jae, "How are you alive?"
Helic's head tilted in the slyest way. Eyeing Vee down with his eyes, he found it amusing to see her incredibly uncomfortable immediately.
"Didn't catch your name sweetheart."
"I'm—"
"It doesn't matter," Jae popped, interjecting before Vee revealed too much about herself. "If anything, I should be asking this question."
"Aw, come on now Jae," Helic sang out, moving through the empty apartment and over all the spots where people were once standing at. The man Helic brought with him seemed to be following every step Helic made. "It's not that big of a catch. I mean...your sister was in that car with me but she's been working alongside you for years. It's no shocker that I'm alive as well."
"I'm so confused," Jae said, still trying to process what he was witnessing before him.
All these years. All these years Jae went through watching you cry and ache over your brother's death. All these years went by of Jae trying to teach himself how to feel sympathy...all these years and Helic wasn't dead to begin with? Tajh said she was the only one who made it alive, why would she lie?
"Again," Helic piped, eyes narrowing a bit before glancing over at Vee again. He inappropriately gawked over at the woman who grew tense. "Where is your sister at? I've flew in for this business project so might as well greet her as well."
"Why not greet your own sister?" Jae snapped under his breath, unable to control the slight anger that raged within him when everything finally clicked. It took an hour or so, but everything eventually clicked into place mentally.
Helic is alive and breathing.
Helic's the big brains behind all operations taken by Jae and his team...?
The man's lips pursed a little at what Jae said. Eyes moving away from Vee and over to the ground a little, Helic tilted his head again before allowing the bracelets on his wrists showcase his right arm. Pulling up his sleeve, Helic slowly moved towards Jae who stood silent in the middle of the room.
"Helic's dead," Helic said, eyes harsh as he moved his arm out for Jae to see. There were severe gashes all along his arm that cut deep. They were all healed however, it looked like an aftermath from a great accident. "Helic will always be dead."
Jae's eyes were just as cold when staring straight into the man before him.
"I will always be dead," Helic breathed out, eyes narrowing. "So, I'd like it if you kept it that way. Especially now that you know I'm alive."
"I'm not going to lie to Y/N," Jae said through his teeth, angry at this new information.
Helic grinned. "You're going to have to buddy," the man said, the slit of hair falling into his eyes again, "Just pretend you're oblivious of my existence and none of it will bother ya. Plus...I'm your boss, you've got no other choice but to lie."
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Jae's anger became visible to Helic through his face.
"Helic, how are you alive?" Vee repeated, breaking the staring contest Jae and Helic seemed to have.
Helic's gaze fell towards Vee again. Smiling over at the beautiful woman, Helic slowly moved away from Jae. His feet were teasing as he slowly ushered his movements towards Vee. He watched her grow uncomfortable again and grinned larger. He stopped right in front of her, seeing as her chest was out and back was straight while standing before him.
"I'm not going to question why you know of me in the first place," Helic popped out, teeth white, "...mostly because I've never been against beautiful woman saying my name."
Vee was weirdly charmed by the man before her. But she contained herself when seeing the glare Jae was shooting the both from where he stood.
"But to answer your question hun," Helic mumbled, moving dangerously close to Vee, "It's the matter of faking your death. That's how I'm alive...should I go into detail? Probably. Will I go into detail? Nope, not going to do that."
Vee's brows furrowed at that. Her heart sank a little though, her mind thinking about you instantly and all the times you used to bring out pictures of what you thought of as your dead brother.
"Why wou—"
"Now, I'd stay for a longer chat but..." Helic looked over at Jae who was still frozen in a death glare. Gazing back at Vee who stood before him, Helic allowed his fingers to move and pat loosely at Vee's shoulders as he finished, "I don't want to."
Vee's lips parted when the man leaned in to kiss either side of her cheek. It was slow and made her grow a little red. The fact that he smiled in her direction didn't help either. Seeing as he slowly moved away from her, Helic sang out, "And that's how you greet people in France. When I'm done here and going back...come by and maybe I'll take you with me."
Helic winked.
Vee normally would've scoffed or tossed out a shot to show that she wasn't interested. But for some reason, in this moment of shock over seeing your older brother, she didn't say a word.
"After this you're going back to France?" Jae asked, feeling the need to throw up as he spoke to a body he thought was no longer existing. That's where he's been hiding out?
"Yup," Helic mumbled, grabbing over at his jacket from his follower as he pulled it on. "Can't pull off the image of being dead here if I stay for too long."
Vee swallowed, watching as Helic moved towards the door that his helper opened for him. She debated on whether she should speak, but she couldn't help it. She spoke. Vee spoke for the sake of you...
"Will you be visiting your family?" Vee asked, voice high, "They deserve to know you're alive...t-this isn't fair to them."
Helic froze a little at that. His face was tense as those words rolled within him. It irritated him that he even stopped for such a ridiculous suggestion... He forced himself not to think about you, as all he saw were flashes of his father beating him while his mother watched silent. His upper lip twitched a little as he rolled his shoulders back and cracked at his neck. Helic moved his foot out, ready to leave the place.
"Well, my family was never fair to me," Helic murmured out, moving the face mask back onto his mouth, "So I could care less."
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-
I could care less about the stupid arcade, you texted back, chuckling a little to yourself as your back leaned against the railing.
Out here standing for more than an hour, Jungkook and had gone in and out of contacting you the entire time. He was clearly busy while you...well, you were stuck outside in the same spot as before. You were waiting and doing weird things to the railing in hopes to pass time. How many times must I practice stripper moves on each pole here? Vee! You whined internally, not knowing how else to pass time.
Sighing when the maknae finally managed to come back with his smug responses, you smiled sweetly before reading them, laughing, and then replying. You went from prancing around, spinning on poles, replying to Jungkook, to fixing your blue hat onto your head. It was a constant zone of repetition.
Your attention was suddenly brought away from your phone when you heard familiar boots moving to cross you standing in the outdoor hallway. The wood below his feet granted his presence to your instantly irritated form. One, the shoes were loud, and two, it was the masked man from before.
Barely giving him a glance as he walked by you, murmuring over to the man that had accompanied him, you scoffed.
"Bitch-ass," you mumbled to yourself, making it an almost ritual to have him leave the same way he had made his appearance. After you said it, you moved the hat on your head further down to your brows, wanting to block any sort of negativity while talking to Jungkook.
You found your eyes to lazily meet your phone screen again. Typing away, it took you a moment to notice the sudden silence rage from the wood below your own feet. Allowing your gaze to move towards the man that now stood frozen, your eyes narrowed a little when spotting him tensely standing with his back to you.
"What?" you piped, creeped out by both men standing still with their back to you. "Forget how to walk?"
It was silent for a while. Slowly putting your phone down, you straightened your back up while leaned against the railing.
You found yourself to grin a little, remembering the time the man had bumped into you from earlier and what he had said. Mimicking him, you mocked, "We're given two legs and feet for a reason. Use them."
Helic's brows furrowed a little at the person's voice from behind him. Grinning a little at the smugness that came from the individual he casually passed earlier and now, he grew slightly intrigued and amused over how familiar the voice and tone seemed to be.
Turning around, the man glanced over at the person who was smugly looking over in his direction. His smile fell instantly when seeing you wiggle over at your eye brows before going to glance lazily at your phone again.
Helic's whole world fell in that moment.
"Sir, we should leave."
Helic swallowed hard, his eyes on you and nothing but you. It had been years since he had seen your face. Feeling his stomach sink to his guts, he felt at lost for words.
"Sir—"
You obliviously looked up, brows furrowing at the fact that the two men were still standing in the same spot.
"Your creepy asses can leave now...?" you popped out, confused over why they were still frozen. And if you could make it out right, from where you stood, it looked as if the masked man was staring right at you.
Helic forced his shocked eyes away, blinking fast in attempts to hold back instant tears. Jaw clenching, he nodded over for his partner to head towards the stairs. "I'll follow you, start the car."
"Yes, sir."
The man left, strolling causally down the stairs.
Helic moved slowly towards the stairs himself. Hand moving lightly over the railing, his gaze naturally drifted towards you again. He was trying so hard to maintain himself and remain fixed on leaving but he couldn't. In that moment, this wasn't Helic seeing you after years...this was an older brother seeing his sibling after years.
You slowly lifted your gaze to the masked man that had his eyes bent on you. Deeply allowing your forehead to crinkle in, you made sure to have your phone out just in case things got overly weird.
"Can I help you?" you shot out, slightly annoyed.
"You happy?"
Your brows furrowed at the soft tone come from the man that stood far from you.
"Excuse me?" you asked, suddenly and incredibly confused.
"I asked if you're happy," Helic spoke out, a little louder now so that you could hear from where you stood.
Your face was gone into full creeped and shocked mode. "Why are you—"
"Just answer the question."
"Yes?" you called out, ending it with uncertainty as you were a little alarmed over this sudden situation.
Helic's eyes softened further at that as he nodded. "That's good to hear."
"Okay?" you sassily let out, making it clear to the man that you were uncomfortable and wanting him to leave.
Helic stared over at the blue hat that was on your head. Tilting his head a little, he found his lips to curve a gentle smile underneath the mask he had on. Slowly letting his gaze fall away from you, he moved his head to face forward. Forcing himself to leave towards the steps, he did, grabbing up his composure again as he tried his hardest not to rip away his mask and face you.
"Nice hat," Helic yelled out breathily as he hoped down the stairs with his loud boots.
"Thanks," you whispered out, more to yourself than to the man that instantly made you more alert.
You didn't know what to be...scared? Confused? Both? All you knew was that the way he moved, his voice, and the way his eyes seemed to look while staring at you in the distance...all of it made your stomach knot up.
You didn't know why the entire combination of things gave you the creeps—there was something about this interaction that didn't sit right with you.
-
The interaction didn't sit right with Jungkook.
"So... you going to pick one?" The old man said breathily to Jungkook who seemed to have his nose scrunch.
Jungkook was a mess. Staring down at all the hats that he had made the elderly man pull out to view, here the maknae was second guessing his decision to pick anything.
"I can't choose."
"Jungkook hurry," Hoseok said, sighing as he glanced at the hat he had already bought and put on by this time. "...if you can't choose just text Y/N and ask, you've been texting back and forth anyway."
"I want it to be a surprise," Jungkook said slowly, pouting a little as the nervousness and confusion raged more and more within him.
Hoseok smiled a little at that. Brows linking in, the doubts over what the maknae had planned for today screamed the answer to what Hoseok was going to ask. Even though he knew the answer, Hoseok asked anyway. "So, you ready to admit that you have feelings for Y/N?"
Jungkook was taken aback instantly by the sudden blurting of question. Forcing his gawking eyes to remain on the hats and nothing more, Jungkook focused on the elderly man who simply waited. Instantly picking over at one of the red hats in the top right corner of all selections, Jungkook smiled politely before moving to securely hold the chosen hat.
Hoseok grinned further when realizing he had been ignored.
"Everyone keeps calling this a date when it's not," Jungkook said softly, "I just wanted to do something special for a friend I've treated so poo—"
"Save it Jungkook-ah," Hoseok mumbled, trying not to laugh into the maknae's ear as he moved around him to cash out. "Everything you've planned for Y/N isn't just for a 'friend'... we all know that, hopefully you'll man up and realize it for yourself tonight."
Hoseok snorted a little when seeing Jungkook scurry off and move to explore more of the store. Great, I've been ignored once again, the man thought to himself, laughing a little before following Jungkook.
Managing to get the new hat into their presence, it was a struggle to move around the store more. Eventually, it was even harder to escape the premises of the shop since fans were starting to crowd and barricade around. But once both members had successfully escaped, they were left breathless and exhausted in the vehicles scheduled to take them back to the BigHit building.
Moving with difficulty, fans were tapping at the glass of the van, all while somewhat blocking the streets their manager was trying to drive them through. It was a hassle, a hassle formed all because Jungkook wanted to buy a hat for you.
"You do realize that if you choose to walk down the street tonight with Y/N," Hoseok said lightly, a little worried when seeing the waves of fans still following the van, "With masks or not, if someone recognizes you, things could get very terrifying...?"
Jungkook gulped down at his throat. Trying not to remember all the insane spits of fans that were crowding earlier, the maknae only imagined how hard it would be if someone recognized you. You were apart of a huge scandal revolving Jungkook already. There were pictures of the both of you kissing and there was a video of you stripped naked before him. Heck, people couldn't see your face in that video but when they saw the face of 'Bangtan's robber' surface in media, it was obvious that the woman in the video was you as well. The topic of you and the anger from the fans was still not diminished...so yes, it was understandable for Jungkook and the management to be worried for more headlines.
No matter how this night panned out, Jungkook's mission was to stay clear of any attention from anyone that wasn't you. Sure, the two of you couldn't be seen together, but the best he could do before leaving was have some time spent with you in the shadows.
"I won't let anything happen to Y/N."
"I know you won't Jungkook," Hoseok said, smiling a little when seeing the concern in Jungkook's face, "Just be careful...and have your butt back in the dorm by the latest of 12pm tomorrow."
The maknae's eyes innocently narrowed at that. "Why so late? I'll be home by at most 9am tomorrow morning, hyung."
Hoseok tried not to laugh in Jungkook's face. Sitting comfortably in his seat when the van turned at a corner, the fans were cleared and now they were smoothly riding away.
"Just remember, 12pm," Hoseok repeated, ignoring Jungkook's innocent question.
Jungkook's forehead crinkled as he tried to understand what Hoseok was teasing him about. Confused for the longest time, it didn't click until Hoseok mumbled out once last thing...
"...just in case you and Y/N don't get much sleep in her room tonight, I would like for you to sleep in before heading to the dorm."
Jungkook whipped the bag he held in his hand over at Hoseok's thigh as he grew in shock.
"Hyung!"
"What? I know you're innocent but you're still human," Hoseok laughed out, chuckling before moving to pinch Jungkook's cheek.
Jungkook's ears grew red, his whole body rejecting the idea of ever spending a night like that with you. He wasn't experienced in that field of thinking and acting, so it was better for Jungkook to not think of it for a long while. The last thing he wanted was to be in an awkward situation when it came to the subject of you. He didn't want to be awkward around you...not now, not ever.
"Nothing like that will be happening tonight," Jungkook said lowly, "I mean, we're going to play in an arcade most of the night...how could that possibly lead to anything else?"
"You're staying the night there right after your little date," Hoseok said, shrugging, "...a lot can happen."
"Hyung?"
"Ye?" Hoseok mumbled, staring over at Jungkook with the most amused expression ever.
Hoseok laughed at what Jungkook said next.
"Shut up."
"Okay," the older man said, laughing before ruffling over at the maknae's head of hair.
-
"Okay," you said, chuckling a little in confusion when feeling the maknae's sweaty palms cover at your eyes.
"Almost there," Jungkook said, grin huge as he moved closely behind you.
Your hands were out and waving, smiling like a child yourself, you still couldn't help but grow a little worried when stepping by every corner of the mysterious place Jungkook had brought you to. Although you trusted Jungkook, with sudden sharp turns, you feared for your blinded self a bit.
"Is this a part of the arcade? Why would this be surprising?" you chimed out, giggling when the maknae moved his lips towards your ear and shushed you.
You pursed your painted lips, trying so hard not to smile so largely when he whispered kind words of reassurance into your ear while guiding you.
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