It Began With a Text

Changbin's Story

     Changbin hadn't been in the wrong place, at the wrong time. He had been with the wrong people.

     If he looked back on how he acted just the year before, he would have burst out laughing. He had changed, that was for sure.

     He had never really expected to become a troublemaker in high school. He simply hung around the same people he had known since elementary school. When they decided to become troublemakers, Changbin really had no choice but to follow along.

     It hurt to admit, but Changbin had kind of enjoyed those days. They were the "it" group. Nobody ever bothered them, heck, even teachers stopped caring. They could skip class, jam to rap music, loiter around the store entrances, hoping someone accidentally dropped a dollar or two, and they never got in trouble.

     For Changbin, it had been his free pass to a carefree life. Gosh, he had been so childish back then.

     "Ok, so guess what's happening this weekend?" one of his friends said excitedly, at their cafeteria table that nobody dared to occupy. 

     "Hopefully not something stupid," Changbin said. Sure, he was part of this gang, but honestly, without Changbin there to put a limit to their antics, his friends would have gotten themselves killed a long time ago.

     "As if." Instead, his friend held out his phone. "Concert! Right here in Seoul!"

     That got everyone's attention. They all huddled around the phone. "Seriously!?"

     "Yeah, and the good seats are actually not hundreds of dollars!" his friend said.

     "Actually... if you do basic math and need good seats for all of us, we're going over a hundred dollars," Changbin pointed out.

     His friends scoffed. "Who do you have to be such a killjoy?"

     Changbin shrugged. "Hey man, it's not a problem if we have the money."

     "But..." his other friend chimed in. "We're broke."

    "Exactly," Changbin said.

     That put everyone in a silent dilemma. Everyone really wanted to go; Changbin could almost visualize the concert in his head and hear the music.

     "Idea!" another friend said. "We steal money!"

     Silence. Some of them were actually considering it.

     "Where do you plan to steal this much money?" someone finally asked.

     "Seoul Convenience!"

     Changbin scoffed. "So you guys want to break into the biggest chain convenience store in Seoul? Good luck with THAT!"

     "Oh come on, that company's loaded. Taking a few hundred dollars will be like charity," another boy said.

     "Yeah, except this act of "charity" might just get us arrested," Changbin said.

     "Come on, we can pull it off," his friend assured. "We just need a proper plan!"

     "Ok, then it's settled," the boys decided. "Let's meet Friday afternoon for this heist."

     Throughout the days, the entire heist plan never really bothered Changbin. He had gotten this ignorant idea in his head that his group of friends were unstoppable. They could pull off anything, why not this? Sure, he had objected, but that didn't stop him from coming along with everyone that Friday afternoon.