The Crown | myg

eight

"Is everything okay?" Chanyeol asks as he jumps into the car and puts on his seatbelt. "What's wrong, Hyuntae?"

"Everything's fine," I say as I shove the key into the ignition.

"Everything doesn't look fine," Chanyeol remarks.

"There are some things you're better off not knowing," I respond in a cocky tone as I pull out of the parking lot as fast as possible, giving the boys in the tattoo shop no time to chase after me.

"You're gonna tell me eventually," he smirks, his body leaning back into the passenger seat, his arms crossing. "I know you will."

"Yeah, Chanyeol, I know the fuck I will," I raise my voice, my body flushing with anger as I drive down the usually busy streets. "Now isn't the time, nor is it the topic to bring up without a proper introduction."

There is an awkward silence that falls upon us, and I swear I see Chanyeol sink into his seat as if he's scared. I let out a deep sigh before pulling into an alleyway on the side of the street we're on.

"You deserve to know," I say in a soft tone as I turn to him, my eyes searching over his pained posture. "I've been hiding this from you nearly our entire friendship, you should know by now. But, promise me, you won't tell anyone. If people find out about this, I'll get in a lot of trouble."

Chanyeol turns to me and his scared expression quickly becomes nothing but serious. Though I understand just by his expression that he won't tell anyone, he simply nods, assuring me with a simple gesture that he understands what I'm asking of him.

Before speaking, before saying anything to him, I turn around and look at all of the area surrounding us to make sure no one can hear the huge secret I'm about to tell him. 

When I know for sure that the coast is clear, I turn to Chanyeol and drop my voice down to a whisper.

"Chanyeol," I whisper, my voice both gentle and stern. My body unconsciously moves closer to him, leaving only a small amount of space between us. "I'm-"

There is a loud knock on the window coming from someone outside. Chanyeol jumps slightly and I let out a loud huff before pushing open my door and stepping out of the car and into the alleyway.

With hawkeyes, I look through the alley in search of the person who knocked on my window while I was in the middle of my conversation. To my surprise, I see someone standing beside the dumpster a few yards away from where my car is parked and I waste no time in walking over to them.

"Can I help you?" I ask in an unimpressed tone, my eyes looking over the person standing in front of me, their back facing me.

The person is tall and is wearing a black hoodie with the hood pulled over their head for a reason I assume to be hiding their identity from me. The figure tilts their head down slightly before turning to me, their face hidden by the dark fabric of the hood.

"Hyuntae," the voice is breathy yet deep. "I need to make a dinner reservation."

Shit. Not now, not here. Dinner reservations are not something one should be excited for. Of course, in the world of a normal person, a dinner reservation is something sweet and harmless. In my world, however, a dinner reservation means there is something that needs to be taken care of, something only certain people can do properly.

"How did you find me?" I lower my voice, not wanting to draw attention to myself and the male standing in the alleyway in broad daylight.

To people passing by, peering down the alleyway at the two people dressed in dark clothes, one hooded, the other not, it would look like we were having a cheeky drug deal in broad daylight. What is really happening, however, is something much worse than a simple drug deal. There aren't even any illegal substances involved, but laws have been broken.

"How I found you isn't the concern right now, Hyuntae," he says in a stern tone.

"How much?"

"Twenty thousand," he fishes through his pocket and hands me a thick envelope with my name written on it. "This is a down payment. You get the other half when you finish the job."

"Where are we going for dinner?" I ask with a strong gaze.

"My house," He looks up at me and shows his face, I know this man very well. I have done many dinner reservations with him. He steps into the alley a little, moving away from the dumpster. "Come as soon as you can."

With those final words, he turns away from me and walks down the alleyway without a single other word spoken.

I turn back toward my car and walk to it, getting back into it without saying a single word to Chanyeol who has been sitting in the silence by himself for the past few minutes.

"Who was that?" Chanyeol mumbles.

"No one," I respond as I throw the envelope into the glovebox placed in front of him.

"Is that an envelope of money?" I don't respond. "Where did you get that?"

"None of your concern," I nearly growl as I restart the car and pull out of the alley, Chanyeol falling silent and slouching down into his seat.

Basking in the silence of the vehicle, the faint sound of the radio playing in the distance, I take a deep sigh and turn the volume on the radio up slightly, allowing the music to play at a more audible volume.

"I have to drop you off, Chan," I say with a calm voice as I turn into the street where he lives.

"Why? We have plans today, remember?" He sounds confused, but he also sounds hurt that I would cancel plans with him at such a last minute.

"I'm sorry, but it's urgent," I say with a slight strength to my tone, trying to tell him by the way I'm speaking that I don't have time to put up with his bitching and complaining. "I really need to hurry up, okay. I'll make it up to you another time."

Without saying another word, I pull into his driveway and he gets out of the car, none of us saying goodbye to the other. Usually, I would wait for him to have already made it to his front door before leaving his driveway, but this time I leave the moment he has stepped out of the car. He may be mad at me now, but I would rather him be mad at me then pass up an opportunity like this.