Street Cred

Chapter 35

SO SORRY FOR NOT POSTING LIKE NORMAL, LIFE HAS JUST BEEN SHIT AND I'M NOT IN A GOOD PLACE MENTALLY, BUT WRITING ACTUALLY HELPED SO I'LL SHOULD BE WRITING MORE. LOVE YA'LL!!!!!

The next few weeks went by, and nothing had happened. The group had fallen into a routine of 'protecting' Byeol. At school, someone was always with her, Jeongin walked her to and from school and even stayed at her house after school. During the weekends, their friend group would hang out together and go to the races. It was sort of a routine that everyone had fallen into.

Throughout the weeks, Seungmin had actually begun dating Jinhye from the diner. She was around a lot, and though she didn't know the reason behind everyone being so protective of Byeol, she went along with it and also protected her as though she were a sister. Jinhye grew close with Minki, Jae, and Byeol and the four of them would often have a girls night out together.

Like tonight. It was a Saturday night so there was a race happening, but the girls decided to go to the mall and hang out instead. After Jae parked, they all walked in and immediately went to their favorite place. The food court.

There were so many different options for them to choose from, so they each went to a different place and ordered enough to share. When they reached their table, they divided the food into four portions and shared with each other. After some lively conversation and ranting about school, the girls threw away their trash and started walking around to the different stores.

It had been about two hours since they started walking around and Byeol was starting to get tired.

"Hey guys? Um, my feet are really starting to hurt, and I really have to pee, so I'm gonna go to the bathroom then just find somewhere to wait until you guys are done. Is that okay?" Byeol got her friends' attention.

"Someone should go with you, it's not safe since you-know-who is after you." Minki nodded as Jae spoke.

"Guys, it's not like he'd do something in such a public place. There are too many people, he knows I'd cause a scene. I know you guys are worried about me, but I'll be fine. I have my phone and I'll check in." Byeol tried to convince her friends. But when that didn't work, she rolled her eyes. "Look. I love you guys, and I love hanging out with you, but I have not had any time by myself in weeks, and it's starting to get suffocating. I just need some space. Just tonight. The rest of our time here. Please."

Byeol almost had tears in her eyes as she begged her friends. Minki and Jae shared a concerned look and Jinhye just stood on the side not knowing what to do.

Jae let out a deep sigh before turning back to Byeol. "Listen, You can go, but please let us know if you decide to go anywhere else, but please just try and stay in the same area. If anything happens to you, Jeongin will literally kill us."

A grin spread across Byeol's face as she jumped and hugged her friends. "Oh thank you thank you thank you! I gotta go, I'm about to pee myself!" Byeol took off running towards the bathrooms.

"I'm still uneasy about this, but we just won't take a long time. Come on, let's go!" Jae grabbed Minki's and Jinhye's hands and started walking into a nearby shoe store.

Meanwhile, Byeol had just finished in the bathroom and was headed to get a coffee from the coffee shop in the food court. After placing her order and sitting down to wait, she sent a text to Jae, Minki, and Jinhye letting them know she was at the coffee shop. After a few minutes, the barista called out Byeol's name and she smiled while grabbing her drink and walking out to find a more comfortable place to wait. She found a lounge area with some comfy chairs and took over one of the couches. She sipped her lavender vanilla latte as she pulled up a 'Taekook' fanfic on wattpad and turned off her notifications so her reading wouldn't be interrupted.