Faded // Bang Chan

Chapter 5 - The plan

"What if I really did kill my best friend?"

Na Ri's world seemed to come to a stand still. It was if time froze and in that moment she felt all the air leave her lungs. She let out a gasp as she processed his words. Chan stood up with a satisfied expression on his face before taking two steps backwards to admire her shocked appearance. He loved knowing his words had made an impact on someone, it'd been a while since anyone listened intently to what he had to say.

He looked up at the sky for a moment before throwing his arms out to either side of his body. "Crazy, right?" He yelled up to the clouds, snapping Na Ri back to reality. She watched him as he let out a small laugh then flopped himself down on the floor and sat cross-legged in front of her. She couldn't help but notice how attractive he looked when he laughed. It was a much more pleasing sight then his usual scowl.

"Normally, this is where you take the hint that I'm not someone you wanna hang with." Chan stated matter of factly, as though it was obvious all along. "Then I guess I'm bad at taking hints." Na Ri replied nonchalantly. Chan tried to keep a poker face but her comment had surprised him. He figured she'd treat him the same as everyone else did. Her reply made it difficult for him to fight a smile and he hated that. It had been so long since anyone his age had even held a conversation with him let alone made him smile. Na Ri sighed as she looked down at her hands resting on her lap. "Do you ever just wanna fade away?" She asked quietly but it grabbed Chan's attention. He watched as she swung her feet back and forth, making her seem young and innocent. "What makes you ask that?" He pondered. She shrugged her shoulders with a small smile before replying. "Aren't you gonna answer?"

"Sometimes." Chan responded, his eyes meeting hers. Neither spoke for a moment, finding the silence comfortable. They were interrupted by the bell ringing, signalling the start of classes. Chan groaned before getting up from the floor and leaving without saying another word. Na Ri watched his figure disappear as the door closed behind him, blocking her view of the blonde boy. "Bye." She whispered.

Na Ri took a deep breath, mentally preparing herself for the rest of the school day. She left the rooftop and made her way through the crowded hallways. She kept her head down trying her hardest to avoid gaining anymore unwanted attention. She knew she was purely stared at for being the "new girl" which was to be expected but it was beginning to get annoying.

"Hey! Na Ri!" A male voiced yelled over the sounds of chatting students. She glanced around her before spotting Jungsoo jogging over to her from the other side of the large hallway. She noticed his group of friends watching intently from the locker area, making her feel nervous. She didn't enjoy attention, especially not from a group of popular teenage boys.

"Hi." She greeted the floppy haired boy who grinned. "I was wondering if you need a maths tutor since exams are a few months away and I overheard you saying you don't understand it and I'm decent at maths." Jungsoo offered as he awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck. "Oh." Na Ri began, not knowing exactly what to say. The truth is, she really felt clueless in maths class but she didn't want to spend any alone time with Jungsoo. He seemed nice but she didn't trust him and the smirking faces of his watching friends wasn't helping his case.

"You don't have to answer right now. Take your time thinking about it. You have my number anyway if you ever need me." Jungsoo added. "I gotta go before I'm late." Na Ri stated, suddenly feeling desperate to escape his friends constant gaze. She stalked off, not even giving the confused boy a chance to reply.

She entered her English class feeling anxious to see Chan again only to be faced with his empty chair. Na Ri was totally baffled as to his whereabouts. She may not have known him well but she knew he was always first to class. She must've been awkwardly standing at the doorway for an alarming amount of time as she'd earned weird looks from multiple people who were already seated.

"If you think you're lost, you're not." A girl with glasses called from the front of the class, pulling Na Ri from her inner thoughts. "You have English in this class now." The girl giggled as she continued once seeing Na Ri's puzzled expression.

"Thanks." She replied despite the girl misunderstanding the current situation. Na Ri made her way to her usual seat in front of Chan but his absence was all she could think about for the next hour.

"Aren't you supposed to be at school now?" Sungjin questioned as Chan approached the group. "Woah-who did you piss off?" Kang Dae said amidst his laughter at the sight of Chan's bloody face. Chan rolled his eyes, not feeling in the mood to explain the last fifteen minutes of his school day. The rest of the group stared at Chan's bloodied face and cut fists. "I hope he looks more fucked than you!" Minjae remarks whilst motioning to Chan's face.

Chan just slid his back down the wall of the convenience store and sat on the cold ground with his head in his hands. He hated that in his time of need he ran to these boys but right now he knew being alone with his thoughts was a bad idea and he couldn't go home or back to school considering the state of his face.

The five boys watched Chan, not sure if they should act as though he weren't there or to try to figure out what was up. Truth be told, these boys cared about him, they viewed him as a little brother that they'd do anything for...except for one member.

Thoughts raced through Chan's mind at a million miles an hour. "Why am I only finding out now?" He whispered. The disturbing truth of the past was beginning to unveil to Chan and it was much worse than he ever imagined. How was Chan supposed to live with himself now that he wasn't in the dark anymore. "Channie? Are you crying?" Jaeyoung crouched down beside Chan on the ground. The boys had never seen Chan cry before, not even as Chan had leaned over his best friend's dead body. Chan immediately wiped away the hot tears that were dribbling down his bloody cheeks.

"Oh god, you are and all!" Jaeyoung couldn't hide the concern in his voice. He liked to tease the younger boy a lot but now that he seemed vulnerable Jaeyoung wasn't sure how to react. Chan wiped away his remaining tears using his school shirt before standing up and putting on a brave face. "Let's go out tonight! I want to let loose for a while." Chan proposed much to the five boy's dismay. This couldn't have been further from the truth but Chan had an alternative motive. "You want to hang out...with us?" Kang Dae raised an eyebrow at the unusual request of the younger boy whilst the remaining boys shot each other looks of surprise.

"Sure, why not!" Chan shrugged and forced a smile. "All right then. I know just the place to go." Kang Dae announced to the group. Chan felt content with himself. His plan had worked and now he was one step closer to finding out the whole truth surrounding the death of his best friend.

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Thank you so much for 200 reads. It really means a lot to me.