43. a gangster

Was I invading in on your secrets
Was I too close for comfort
You're pushing me out
When I'm wanting in

The week of the final exams came just as fast as it went by. Although what was clearly worrisome for Han Seojun wasn't the fact that he could actually answer the papers, it was the missing Saebom High Princess.

The centre for their exams were just different classes, mixed with the other third grade classes. So at first, Seojun didn't notice Soojin's absence because he assumed she was writing her finals with the class assigned with Lee Suho. That and she probably didn't want any sort of distractions.

Hence, Seojun waited until he handed the final paper on the last day and scrambled his stuff to visit Soojin in the adjacent class. He wanted to ask her out, he wanted to officially ask her out and pretend no more.

If only he was a bit early.

"Lee Su?" Seojun looked around the withering crowd. "Where's Soojin?"

Suho looked at Seojun with the same expressions he did when Seojun had confronted him about Seyeon. The sad eyes, the very heartbroken sigh and the pitiful gulp.

"Lee Suho? Where's Kang Soojin?"

"She's gone."

Seojun's heartbeats dropped instantly. At first he felt a surreal amount of darkness envelope his senses and a second later, he could feel the cold anxious shivers engulf him. Words seemed distant for the boy who looked lost, confused and a bit enraged.

"Wh-what? What?" Seojun closed the distance between the duo, afraid of the answers his questions might fetch him. "What the fuck are you saying?"

Suho, for the first time, seemed just as disappointed and defeated as his friend. The only response Seojun got from Suho was a small little pat on his shoulder.

"She's gone for real. She left." Suho's words were echoing in Seojun's mind, each word engraving in his bleeding heart. "The day before the exams..."

The crashing of the glass caught Suho's attention immediately. Normally, he was never the one to interfere or take interest in anyone's life, especially Soojin's since she had specifically told him not to. But the loud screaming and the noises was too much for him to ignore.

His hands reached out to the doorbell, ringing it continuously and was entertained by one of the helpers.

"I want to talk to Kang Soojin, right now!" He demanded, his hands fisted and his scary cold gaze was enough to intimidate the woman who opened the door. "Now."

"Suho, yedra," Soojin's mother took over, a small, nervous smile covering her scared expressions. "What's wrong?"

"I want to talk to Soojin, it's urgent."

"Soojinnie is asleep." Suho could tell she was lying, with the sweat buds rolling over her forehead and the shivering of her hands. "We were about to hit the bed too. Maybe tomorrow?"

Suho got a slammed door and utter silence as response to his concerns. So he waited outside, waited until he was completely sure Soojin was fine.

And a text message assured him.

Soojin
(one unread message)
I need your help.

"That night I helped her escape her house." Suho said, unable to meet Seojun's red eyes, "she was..." Suho held his anger back and let out a sigh instead. "She was covered in bruises. Her father had gotten out of hand and..."

Seojun's fist tightened, his knuckles were turning whiter by the second and all he wanted to do was beat Dr. Kang in a pulp.

"She had everything planned already." Suho narrated the rest of the story, "she was planning to run away from a long-time."

Seojun's hands loosened at that revelation. He furrowed his eyebrows, "what?"

"She saved enough to last her for a year or two, she's going somewhere she'll be safe and she's got some leverage against her parents so they cannot find her again." Suho looked up at the frustrated and confused Seojun. "She was planning this since the time she bullied... I mean the video incident."

Seojun couldn't believe any of this. He really couldn't get his head wrapped around the fact that Soojin was planning to leave, to run away since so long. Basically from the time he planned to toy with her, she had planned to leave and all this while, she was toying with him.

All of this for a game of deceit.

"She told me to to inform you after the exams or el-"

But Seojun had ran off from the class, before Suho could even call out to the angry boy, he was gone.

At first Seojun rode the bike towards Soojin's lane, but then he remembered that it was of no use considering Soojin wasn't at home. So he drove to the next best location to release his anger.

_

"Exams are over, why are you so tensed?" Jugyeong asked Suho who was zoned out the entire time they were chilling in the cafe. Suah and the others had insisted on a fun night and while Suho tagged along, he only kept checking his mobile for any replies of the text he sent Seojun. "What's wrong? You're scaring me..."

Jugyeong's concern caught the rest of the squad's attention, especially Suah who edged closer to the former.

"Soojin," Suho muttered, crestfallen and sad. "Soojin left, and Seojun is gone MIA..."

"What are you even saying?" Suah beat Jugyeong to question Suho, "Kang Su? Left? What do you mean?"

It took another two minutes to explain to the surprised clan that Kang Soojin had for real left the school, didn't give any of the finals and ran away from a hostile situation at home. Suho spared the details of the misery she was in, but summed it up by saying that she was physically abused at home and couldn't take it anymore.

Suah couldn't help but shed a tear at the thought of her friend gone. Sure she absolutely despised Soojin for throwing away their friendship and resort to bullying, but Soojin was her only friend and vice-versa.

And why did she hide such a thing from her?

Jugyeong on the other hand was lost for words. She couldn't help but worry and pray for the girl's safety, wondering if things would have changed if she'd done something about her father when she first knew about it. Guilt and pity followed her chain of thoughts and her heartbeats accelerated in pure anxiety.

What if she did something stupid?

What if Soojin decided to end things like the way she wanted to a year back.

Jugyeong's clenched fists were held by Suho, who softly unclenched them, "don't blame yourself, don't do it." He assured her but they all felt the instant pang in their heart upon the news of their friend gone.

All of it soon rambled into little whispers as the news spread across the cafe, while Suho's cell buzzed with a familiar number. He picked it up, the worst of his fears were now true.

"Suho-ah," Seojun's mother cried over the call, "Seojun-nnie... My Seojun is been held in by the police..." There was distortion over the call, helpless crying and relentless worrying, "he's been arrested for assault..."

_

Seojun was seated in the farthest corner of the empty cell of the nearest police station. His knuckles were bruised with red of all the punches he threw and yet his mind screamed bloody murder. He was punched and bruised by the police and tased to keep calm, and even then, he wanted to murder the man.

Which shitty father would ever raise his hand on their kid?

That was the first time Seojun was thankful his father was dead because he'd rather have a loving memory of a dead father than trauma from a living man.

Seojun was angry after Suho's revelation of the truth but he wasn't angry on Soojin. Rather, he was happy she decided to leave, and sure it sting that she didn't inform him but Sujo, atleast she left the hell hole. He knew she did her best to survive and deserved to live a peaceful life.

What pissed him off was the man who was roaming around freely, being treated as royalty amongst his colleagues and subordinates and was nothing but a piece of shit.

Seojun rushed to the cabin of surgeon Kang and without a second thought, or the patients awaiting their consultation, landed a hard punch on the old man's face. His nose was broken on the second punch and Seojun was stopped by the security guards who entered the cabin after the patient screamed aloud.

It was too late by then, Seojun had landed a good set of punches and blows to the man who whimpered and cried in pain.

"Call the police," Dr. Kang yelled holding his nose, being helped by the hospital staff as two hefty men held Seojun back. "Get this bastard behind bars!"

"You're the fucking miserable bastard who deserves to rot in hell for the rest of your life!" Seojun yelled, even after being hit back to stop squirming. "How dare you raise your hand on your daughter," Seojun cried, more angry tears than anything. "How dare you touch her, you good for nothing shitty human."

Dr. Kang was stunned, the pain from the punches and the words of Seojun were hitting him. More so, the reputation he built was worrying him more because the rest of the staff looked at him with distrust.

"He's lying," Dr. Kang complained, whining about the boy and not minding the blood loss, "I don't even know this hooligan."

Seojun got out of their hold and held Dr. Kang's collar, "be careful you piece of shit, because I'm going to kill you."

The fear in Dr. Kang's eyes vanished when the police got hold of the trembling boy, and the witnesses around were enough to put Seojun behind bars for aggravated assault and death threats. His mother was called once he was taken under since he was still a minor and all that remained was waiting.

But Seojun didn't mind any of this. He couldn't think straight at all. All he could do was worry and think about the girl who ran away without telling him.

"I have a plan, but I don't think you're gonna like it."

Soojin's words ran in his mind like a broken tape, and he rested his head on the wall as he sat across it. He wondered about her plan, and whether or not she even liked him.

Why would she pretend to like him when she knew she was gonna run away?

Would she hurt him the same way he intended to hurt her?

Did she plan to include him only for deceit?

Or did she really like him as she claimed to?

All of the questions and the scenarios were driving Han Seojun crazy. He held his throbbing head and tried calming himself down. His stomach was hurting and he got a lip cut from the punches the policeman threw.

"Han Seojun?"

Suho's voice from afar got his attention, behind him was his father and what looked like a lawyer. Suho headed straight towards the bloodied boy.

"You idiot!" Suho held the bars, seething in anger, "what the fuck is wrong with you?"

Han Seojun stood up and faced the angry boy. One of the policeman let Seojun out once the famous Lee Jooheon worked his charm. Seojun's eyes moistened, his hands trembled as he faced Suho.

"Why did she leave me?" He asked, very near to tears and Suho did not expect him to be vulnerable. He expected an angry or pissed Seojun, an irrational Seojun, anyone but this. "Am I not capable of love? Is it why everyone just leaves?"

Suho had no answer to Seojun's rhetorical question. He only did what he could at the point, which was hug his best friend, and once he did, Seojun rested his head on Suho's shoulder.

Reality hit him hard as he cried.

"Everything hurts," He said, amidst his sniffing, "my stomach, my head, my heart..." Suho rubbed his shoulder, trying to comfort him as much as he could. "I cannot take it anymore."

Suho helped Seojun stand back, "Ya, stop this. It's going to be-"

Seojun wiped his tears, "why did she leave without a goodbye?" Seojun questioned Suho, asking questions no one had answers for. "I wouldn't have stopped her, in fact, I would have helped her run away... Yet, she told you, and not me. How is it that everyone I love leave me behind? Appa, Seyeon, you, Jugyeong and now Soojin... Don't I atleast deserve a fucking goodbye!"

"Yes. Yes you deserve a goodbye."

Seojun's heart did a backflip when he heard that soft voice which once gave him headaches. He blinked his tears away as he saw the familiar looking girl behind Suho.

This was either a dream or he was clinically insane already.

"Ya Han Seojun, are you a gangster?"

_

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