NEFARIOUS ○ ZHONG CHENLE

○ 23

Cautiously eyeing past the bedroom door, Eun tak harshly gripped the door handle as she scanned the surroundings before completely shutting it. Snapping her head back she spun on her heels and hurriedly sat on the bed opposite her niece.

Shifting closer she found Deiji staring down at the diary with various thoughts running through her brain. "So it's true" she murmured under her breath. Cross legged, Eun tak rested her chin on her palm and faced Deiji. Tilting her head to the side she nodded softly. "I can't believe she actually wrote it down" she muttered to herself before darting her sight back to the younger girl. "How far are you in?"

Flickering through the pages, Deiji landed on the one where the ribbon divider was. Following each line with her finger she summarised the page. "She just met the criminal she released and they got into her car." clicking her tongue, Deiji groaned out in annoyance. "Does he not have a name or something!"

Gawking at her, Eun tak pressed her lips tightly against each other in order to hold back her chuckle yet she miserably failed. "Why are you laughing?" Deiji coldly asked. Waving her hand, Eun tak ruffled Deiji's hair. "Don't talk about him like that"

"Why?"

Smirking, she licked her bottom lip before biting it. She was finding this extremely amusing. With a small wink Eun tak said: "You'll find out later on"

This just piqued Deiji's curiosity further to the extent that she wanted to skip to the ending. However, she knew that the best thing to do is go through each page. The last thing she wanted was to miss any detailed part.

"Chenle" Eun tak eventually responded.

Chenle - Deiji repeated mentally. Doesn't sound like a Korean name

Reaching her hand out, Eun tak took hold of the hard covered diary. Scanning through it briefly, Eun tak hummed lightly. "Does your mum know you have this?" the older one raised the book. As soon as Deiji's expressed fell into a guilty complexion, Eun tak gritted her teeth and clenched her fist before thrashing the diary onto Deiji's head. Yelping in pain, the younger girl placed both hands on the top of her in a protective manner rubbing at it.

"Stealing is bad" Eun tak scolded her.

Rolling her eyes, Deiji scoffed. "Wait until she finds out" Euk tak tutted her head. Instantly, Deiji's eyes widened as large as saucers. "No, don't tell her!" It was clear that Eun tak wasn't a fan of lying. Grasping her palms, Deiji pouted with pleading eyes. "For your lovely niece"

"Don't threaten me!" she roared. Fearfully backing away, Deiji nodded. She wasn't impressed. She also was against being on the same page as Deiji however, the pleading orbs her niece sent to her slightly melted her heart.

With a regretting grumble, Eun tak scolded herself under her breath before sending a darkened menacing gaze. "Just make sure you return it ok" pressing her lips together, Deiji tried not to smile. She agreed to her aunt's terms but found a loophole. Eun tak never said when she should return it.

"Deiji" she called out in a low voice. "You've always been curious since you were a kid. And you have countless unanswered questions" Deiji didn't know where this conversation was heading, however there was a heavy aura circulating the room. Eun tak's aroma strangely fell serious. "Questions especially about your father"

This perked her ears. Father? Breath stuck at the back of her throat, Deiji wondered whether this diary would hold the answers. Perhaps she was jumping to conclusions and being a bit too optimistic. Nonetheless, she couldn't help but have some sort of hope. Before she could even ask Eun tak, her aunt sent a knowing smile.

"If you even want something to happen, or want to know about something, you should never just rely on it to come to you. Instead trek for the answers and find them yourself"

It felt like deja vu. She swore she heard similar words like this before. There was more meaning behind it though. Eun tak was particularly speaking about something certain and when Deiji understood she let out a chuckle out of disbelief.

The answers laid right in front of her. Written on paper loud and clear.

Reading the address once again she closed the book and turned towards the bedroom window. From up above she watched Sungchan as he continued to help her cousin. Widely grinning, Deiji jumped up onto her two feet and sprinted out of the room and made her way to her best friend down the stairs.

As soon as she spotted the boy a few feet away from her, she closed the gap and grabbed his arm. Halting in place, Sungchan glanced upwards towards Deiji. "You wanted to know what we'll do during the summer right?"

His creased skin above his eyebrows slowly creased away. Lifting himself off the floor, the boy stood up in front of her. Excited, he waited to hear her out

"We're going on a trip"

○

Sitting behind the wheel, Chenle drove down the road. He was heading to a destination. One she doesn't know.

Joo ri did not speak. She quietly sat still scared too. But the truth is Chenle preferred it that way. He began to find a liking for her. Most people would cry, pry and cry again. Some praying, some complaining. But she did not.

As scared and petrified as she was, she remained silent. She knew that complaining won't take her anywhere but just make the situation worse. Instead she accepted her situation and planned to figure out what to do later.

She was different from the rest that he had to deal with and for that reason he gained interest in her.

Eventually, taking a stop at a corner of a street, he parked at the curb. Opening the window wide he stuck his head and observed what was going on. Pulling himself back into the car, the Chinese guy looked over to Joo ri. With a small gesture with a tilt of his head, he threw his thumb to a particular direction. "Go"

"W-what?"

"This was where we had to meet with my Boss but there seems to be a problem. Go check it out and tell me what happened. . .and don't get caught." gulping down her clogged up throat, Joo ri prepared for the worst. She wasn't sure what she was walking into.

Unbuckling her best, she approached the area that the guy pointed over to. The closer she got, she understood what was happening.

A police raid