CHAPTER 10: Rolex and Chanel

After eight years of hassle life, few hours after Jeongguk turned 23 years old, Namjoon suddenly rewarded him with a very expensive watch after they stole the Esmeralda shit. It was the thickest Rolex that Jeongguk got to wear.

"Keep this on all the time unless I gave you permission not to, or else I will chop off your wrist and I'll keep it on it myself." Namjoon threatened him at the same time, ironically his dimple is showing while he smiles.

While the sudden gesture is questionable, Jeongguk was still thankful. What makes it expensive is not the price, but the time and effort they all put into it to afford something like it. Every mission is done between life and death, and even now, they are breathing because of teamwork. Namjoon told him to cherish the watch. Jeongguk would, if only he's not stuck in a motherfucking province and now he's about to sell it for—

"Thirty thousand... won?" Twenty-three year-old Jeongguk deadpans, incredulously staring at the pawnbroker. "You're buying a Rolex for thirty thousand won?"

The pawnbroker plays with his mustache as he takes a look closely at the silver watch again. "Thirty five thousand."

"Won?"

"Won."

Jeongguk scoffs. He's speechless. He converted it in his mind, and it's just 24 US dollars. 24?! With the current inflation rate, that money will only last him for two days. He looks at Jisun for help, but the said lady who is standing beside him looks as clueless as the mustached man.

"Err... Are you going to take it or not?" Asked the prawnbroker with a raspy voice. He looks at Jeongguk, then at Jisun, back and forth with boredom in his eyes. "I don't have a whole day to negotiate with you."

"Yes, we will—"

"No, we will not." Jeongguk immediately interrupted Jisun as he turned his gaze to her, comically enlarging his eyes at the word 'not'. She did not just agreed to such price. Ridiculous!

"Why not?" Jisun queried, genuinely confused. "Thirty five thousand won is enough to pay the half month rent. Then you'll just have to find another means to pay full rent next month."

"Thirty five? Then... only seventy for a whole month? How big is the room?"

"It's like my brother's room but a bit bigger, you'll be using the bathroom downstairs, and probably wash your clothes at the nearby riverbank."

"So... you mean..." Jeongguk nudges his nose, licks his lips, and chuckles in disbelief. "I'm about to lose my watch for a small room."

"Isn't this your idea?" Jisun shrugged, looking down at the metal thing that is sitting still at the countertop. "It's just a watch." She then adds.

It's a Rolex! A motherfucking Rolex!

"Hey, hey... I don't get paid enough shit to listen to your bickering." The mustached man slides the watch forward to Jeongguk's, "If you're not willing to take thirty five, then go."

Jeongguk scratches his nape as he looks back at the pawnbroker. "Can you make it higher?" Because this costs more than a million, thank you very much.

"No, because who would buy a watch that looks like its past owner got into a motorcycle accident and rolled off a hill? Look at those scratches!" The mustached man raised his voice. "And Rolex? This is just a grade B counterfeit, who are you trying to fool?"

Now, Jeongguk knows what's happening.

"Grade B?"

"Y-yeah! Grade B! Counterfeit!"

The mustached man couldn't look straight at Jeongguk's eyes. Jeongguk scoffs once again. A pawnbroker did not just tried to fool a conman. Mr. Mustache obviously knows that this is a real thing, but Jeongguk who apparently has an amnesia can't retort because JK supposedly doesn't know what model the watch is and how much it cost.

"Are you going to sell this or what?"

Why is he selling this again?

Ah.

To rent a room so that he could have peaceful hiding place, away from affections and attachments that could slow him down in the future.

Letting go of the watch is the best thing to do for now.

Jeongguk can do it.

Jeongguk can't do it.

"I thought you're really going to sell it." Jisun said as Jeongguk hopped in the taxi next to her at the backseat. He closed the door and instantly looked outside the window, thinking.

Jeongguk wants to laugh.

First of all, a mustachio tried to steal millions of won from him and how can a town only have one pawnshop that happens to be a scammer too? Second of all, the room for rent is not worth it. No wonder the eldest child moved out. Third of all, he's Jeon Jeongguk.

There's no way he would get attached to a girl like Jisun.

He was just carried away by his emotion earlier.

"I'll just work at the wet market again." Distraction. That's what he need. "Then pay you rent for lending me your brother's room."

The taxi came to a halt as the traffic light turned red.

This town is obviously bigger than Jisun's hometown, which also explains why it got more cars that cause slight traffic. Jeongguk saw a seven storey building earlier, probably a condominium. There were a lot of commercial stalls on their way too, telling Jeongguk that he's not really trapped in nowhere— that he could just flee anytime and hide here. It just sucks that Jisun had to travel thirty minutes before reaching the hospital in this town.

(Government sucks.)

A sigh escaped his lips as he found himself enjoying the view outside the taxi's window. Jeongguk wonders how his life would be if he lives in this town, not that small like Jisun's, but not too busy like Seoul.

Then there he sees a small white car next to them, probably a Toyota Wigo. Jeongguk is usually not a curious type of person, but as of the moment, his eyes doesn't know where to land but at the driver of the white car. The driver's window is down, and she's wearing a huge sunglasses. There's a bit of grey hair on her temple, showing her age.

Jeongguk swears that he had never been in this town before, and probably would've not visit it if it wasn't for Jisun getting him checked up.

But strangely enough, he thinks that he had seen the woman somewhere before.

Jeongguk squints in an attempt to see the face more clearly. His fingers wrapped around the door handle, gripping on edge.

But then the traffic lights went green, and Wigo runs faster than the taxi.

Strangely . . . Jeongguk felt a pang in his chest, but of course, he treated it as nothing.

It should be nothing.

One thing that Jeongguk hates the most is overthinking.

For the past several years, he is used to being told what to do. He follows all of his hyungs' instructions precisely (well, maybe except for Yoongi since the older is stuck with his computers and is also being told of what to hack). They'll tell Jeongguk what to say and how to act during missions. If things went south, they'll tell Jeongguk how to retreat. He doesn't have any say to it since he's not as intelligent and collected as Namjoon, and not as quick thinker and imaginative as Seokjin. That's what he tells himself.

But he doesn't complain because life's been easy since then.

Jeongguk doesn't have to worry about making friends. Embarrassing himself in front of other people hasn't been an issue because they don't know it's him. Who they do know is Roberto or Lee Suho or many other names he had used. They don't know Jeon Jeongguk.

Everything's planned out. All he have to do is to give it a move. He doesn't have to tire himself thinking. Then at the end of the day, he would be wearing a luxurious silk bathrobe, sitting on a fluffy cushion beside their complex apartment's large aluminum glass window while drinking red wine, La Vie En Rose spinning on a record player. Towering buildings in Seoul would give colorful lights to his eyes, but it won't be as canny as his smirk. Does he even need to mention the amount of money he has earned, piled in the background?

Perhaps that the reason why he didn't much complain about his hyungs telling him to say hidden for four months because he knows that's a part of their another clever scheme. They instructed him to stay alive, so he will.

Jeongguk trusts them.

However, ever since he came to this place, all he did was to think.

Jeongguk doesn't have his earpiece — it won't work due to their distance anyway — and he doesn't have a phone too, apparently. Basically, his survival for four months is all up to him.

Few days have passed after their hospital visit, and this has been the most embarrassing situation he has ever had.

Jeongguk is just being around here doing nothing except sell fish and farm. Something inside him tells him that he has to do more, that he has been being useless!

He's thinking again. Should he leave Jisun's house and find another hiding spot? Like jump from one spot to another kind of thing? But he doesn't have any money. Yet how could Jeongguk save money when all the income he gets from selling fish and faming goes to Jisun? Not that Jisun is scamming him or anything bad, it's true that Jisun feeds him and give him place to sleep everyday, but does that mean he's stuck here?

Should he steal Jisun's Class A Samsung phone? Or should he save more money to buy his own? You know, hide some money from her. Hell, half of his life he has been a conman and a parttime pickpocket, so why would he feel bad about stealing her android too?

No, no. Seokjin told him once that he should only steal from people who steals, Jisun is innocent, and he doesn't think there are many purse-snatchers in this small village. Should he sneak to their mayor's house? But then he has to study their area first, he doubt that Jisun would not be wary about him lingering around the area. Park Jisun would surely question him.

Park Jisun . . .

She's out again, working. Was it Luv Café? Would it count him being clingy if he joins Jisun there as well? He just wants money, and he would have been able to keep himself busy and not be bored like this, overthinking. Jisun's grandmother must be gardening right now, which is not his forte.

Jeongguk stops what he's doing. He was folding his newly dried leather jacket (he washed it together with his other clothes and shoes yesterday after they went from Taehyung's farm). Sitting on the edge of Park Jimin's bed, his gaze flicks up from his lap to the owner's picture on the study desk. Jeongguk's head tipped sideways in confusion, pondering once again. It's been a while since he came here, but still there's no single trace of the male twin's existence— disregarding Jimin's belongings of course.

Jimin has a pretty smile. He really resembles Jisun that way. She is pretty and Jeongguk would not deny that. How he wish Jisun to smile frequently, not only around his grandmother.

The brunette sighs, setting his clothing on the bed beside him. He knows he shouldn't be as intrigued as he is right now. It's not like he's going to stay here for so long. He shouldn't care about things like this, but fucking curiosity won't leave him alone now.

So, he gets up from the mattress, then walks.

There could be a note on the back or something, Jeongguk thinks. He was aiming for the picture frame again, until his eyes lost its path. His gaze landed on a box under the desk.

It took him some seconds to actually want to check it out. He kneels down and pulls it out towards him. It was a brown box and he is quite sure that there's something inside of it as it weighed his hands. He quickly drew in a deep breath before he blew on its surface. The swirling brown blur of dust disperses in the air, making him instantly turn his face away and choke a cough.

The things he do when Jisun is not at home— her home.

(This could never be his. The only home he belongs to is his hideout with his team, he repeats.)

Jeongguk stills for a moment, contemplating. It wouldn't hurt anyone if he opens it for a brief moment, right? There's no warning on either side of the box.

So, he opens it, slowly. He doesn't suspect it to have something extreme inside, but he still does it with caution nonetheless.

It turns out it's a Chanel classic flap bag.

Jeongguk eyes widens. This is expensive and increases its value overtime. Jisun can sell it and be rich for a while, that is if she can't use money wisely like buying an expensive motorcycle and let it explode.

But as the brunette continuously traces its patterns, he realizes something is wrong.

This is no caviar. He knows what real caviar leather is, he owns few jackets with the said material. Other than that, he used to scam cheating husbands by selling them fake Chanel bags. Of course he should know the difference between a knockoff and an authentic one, or else it would be their team's lost.

Why would Park Jimin own a fake Chanel?

Suddenly, Jeongguk heard's an old woman voice outside the bedroom. "JK, son. Are you done there?" Her voice gets louder in each word, indicating she's sauntering closer to the door.

Jeongguk closes the box and pushes it back to its place in hurry. He gets up almost instantly before greeting the elder at the door. "Ah yes, grandma." He smiles, awkwardly. "May I help you in something?"

"Sure son, help me make kimchi. Then let's prepare for the supper." Jisun's - the twins' - grandmother tells him softly, eyes smiling too. Jeongguk nods and says 'sure thing, grandma', it's all he can do in the house anyway, together with washing the dishes.

The grandmother turns her heels and walks to the kitchen, Jeongguk follows.

Finally, something that will keep him from thinking overly.

If he thought Park Jisun was being talkative at the marketplace a week ago, then her grandmother must be a professional speaker.

From rinsing the cabbage to massaging it with the flavoring, the older woman hasn't stopped talking.

And her topics won't even correlate.

Grandma loves watermelon. Aunt Choi and the twin's mother are childhood friends. They used to be friends with Taehyung's mother too. Grandma is a cat lover, but Jimin had an allergy so they weren't able to adopt, now they're used to not having one. The twin's father was a police officer who died in a task. Grandma thinks Jeongguk resembles a rabbit. The twin's mother died in illness when they were only sixteen, but thankfully she managed to gave them a sturdy home before that. Grandma sometimes think that the Earth is flat. Jimin had a feeble body, hence Jisun was the one who always work part time jobs, and doubles it up when grandma wasn't able to work in the farm anymore. Jisun's work at Luv Cafe starts at eight o'clock in the morning until five in the afternoon, she'll come home now after a few while. Taehyung was closer to Jimin because Grandma had always seen them attached at the hip.

Jeongguk just sighs in hidden.

Well, he prefers listening to her rambling than letting boredom get the hell out of him.

The two of them are sitting on the floor when Jeongguk finally affixes the containers closed, finishing up their work. The room is now filled with scent of spices, it's making him hungry even more. Now they have to wait for the cabbage to be fermented in few days.

He thought completing the prep will also close the conversation, but grandma hasn't stop her chatter, withholding him from getting up.

"JK, do you believe in destiny?"

Jeongguk stills, letting out a chuckle soon after. "Destiny?"

"Considering it's almost Jisun's birthday, it must be fate that you're here." The old woman tells him, unwrapping her hands with the cloves. She placed it aside before she looked up to him, showing another warm smile. "Heavens must brought you here to help her finally celebrate their birthday again."

Jeongguk wanted to lift an eyebrow, but that may come off rude, so he nibbled his lips instead. He is utterly confused right now, and he's trying his best to hide it in his smile.

"And speaking of the twins, I remember back then . . . when they were five . . . my grandson Jimin couldn't walk in the street without having an elderly pinch his chubby cheeks, they all cooed over him. Then when they looked over his back, they would see Jisun following. They sometimes call her 'Park Jimin with long hair'. Isn't that funny?"

Jeongguk's grin falters.

Something seems off with that.

Park Jimin this, Park Jimin that. Jeongguk is starting to be fed up with the guy he hasn't met.

"Grandma, does Jisun like kimchi?" Jeongguk tries to change the topic with something he actually wants to hear about. Jisun would be home in about an hour.

"No." The old woman shook her head as she hadn't stopped smiling, but he could tell the stretch on her lips weakened after she heard his question. "But her brother does."

Jeongguk thinks again.

Why do they keep talking about a person who is not here?

Suddenly, he's not interested where the young guy is anymore. He doesn't want to be like them, only thinking and talking about the latter when Jisun is the one who is by their side.

Everyone has probably fallen asleep by now, especially Jisun who is drained from a day of work. (Jisun only interacted with him earlier just to boss him around. She'd tell him to fix the table, wash the dishes, sweep and wipe the floor and stuffs- like damn, chill for a second, he has only one body! But nonetheless, he can't blame her, she's the breadwinner while he's only a freeloader of this house.)

He should be tired too, he thinks. Yet there he was, wide awake. The darkness of the night surrounds him long time ago, only the moon shines to fill the room with dim light. He's been lying in the bed for hours already, but his eyes seem to be fascinated by the ceiling, refraining his sleepiness from getting him.

He sighs.

"No wonder everyone likes Park Jimin more than you."

"Why won't you act like your cute brother?"

"No. He looks at me like that because of my face. I'm a photocopy of my brother."

"Park Jimin with long hair."

Why do they say that? Jeongguk asks himself, uselessly. Like he can't see anything wrong with Jisun, aside her resting bitch face but hey! She's still cute.

So, why do they—

Jeongguk sat up on the bed immediately.

He heard something coming from the kitchen. The chair screeched and there was a thud on the ground. If everyone is asleep except from him, then who was it? Parks' don't have a dog, let alone a cat. Rats can't push a damn chair, unless it's fucking big.

Did Jung Hoseok find him already?

Jeongguk pulls over the duvet off him as his feet quietly touched the coldness of the ground. He won't wear slippers, it would only create a noise. Slowly in silence, he goes to the desk for the second time today and opens the second to the last drawer. He pulls out the same ballpen he used before, checking his back again, before pushing drawer back close. Jisun didn't return his dagger yet, so he will rely on this for now.

At slow pace, he moves his way to the doorway. He planted his back on the wall beside the doorframe, having the kitchen on the other side. He listens.

He tightens his fingers around the pen, preparing himself to stick it in a person's neck.

Jeongguk intently awaits to hear some footsteps, but instead there is whimpering. He quirks his eyebrows. He knows the voice.

He steps out.

He follows the noise, still steady on his feet, walking in caution.

Careful step.

Then another.

"Jisun?"

His shoulder weighs down when he sees a familiar figure on the floor, near the dining table.

"Jisun?" He repeats, furrowing his eyebrows. "What? Why are you here?"

"Can y-you open the light first, please?" There was pain in her voice and with that, he hurriedly went to switch it open. Relieve washes over him when he didn't see blood. It's just Jisun sitting on the floor, her chin propped in her knees while both of her hands hold her left toe. She is squeezing her eyes shut too.

Jeongguk strides to her direction to check on her, but stopped when Jisun lifts a hand. Her eyes are still closed.

"Stop if you're going to make fun of me, wait till you hit your pinky toe on a chair." She hisses then pouts.

Jeongguk stiffles a laugh.

"What are you doing at . . ." Jeongguk glances at his Rolex. He can sell it to a pawn shop later, so he's not flexing, he just can't afford to lose it worthlessly. "midnight? It's already midnight? Why are you hitting your toe at midnight?"

Jisun eyes flicks to him with a sharp glare. "Do I look like I'm wanting this?" She snarls and Jeongguk laughs again. It's actually fun to tease Jisun somehow, he just realized it himself. "I was just trying to get some drink, alright? But this chair was on the way." She huffs out, and then her eyes travel down to Jeongguk's hand. "What? Were you trying to stab with that?"

"Oh. No, no." Jeongguk shook his head, now hiding the pen behind his back. "I thought you were an intruder."

"With a pen." She deadpans. "Really?"

"What?" Jeongguk lets out a breathy laugh, until he realized something. "Does it really hurt? You're in tears."

"No, I'm okay." She blurts out sighing, looking down at her feet again, wiggling its fingers before she propped the heels of her palms on the floor. Jeongguk wanted to give her a hand but she says "I said I'm okay." and pushed herself to get up on her own.

Jeongguk intently watches her round the table and march towards the refrigerator.

And before she opens it, she looks back at him, meeting his curious gaze.

She then asks him.

"Do you get horny when you're drunk?"

A/N okay okay okay

IM NOT OKAY

BECAUSE DYNAMITE IS OUT SKDHGSGASH

IT'S SO GOOD THAT I ALMOST COULDN'T SURVIVE THE WHOLE MV LIKE JUST LOOK AT THEM

AND WE REACHED 101.1M VIEWS IN 24 HOURS! OUR POWER! i would be glad to know that everyone who reads this book helped in streaming, but otherwise, it's still okay, you can still stream now. better late than never ayeee

BTW school is starting so i have to prepare and study stuffs, i might just be able to update twice a week. sorryyy

P.S. 220125 hi in case you are wondering, some of my 'author's note' were written way back in year 2020 hehehe

i also edited a lot, rearrange some course of events, and deleted some characters (though i may have the use of them in the future)

thanks for reading

happy reading!