CHAPTER 4: Chickenery

The fifteen year-old Jeon Jeongguk heard his father said to him once, "Wait here for a while. I'll come back." Then the old man left him on a bench in a train station, alone and penniless. Somehow trusting his words, Jeongguk waited just like he said.

He waited.

He should've known that while is longer than he thought it would be, then perhaps he couldn't have wasted his time waiting.

"Yah. Why are you still here, kiddo? The train station is closing." A guard approached him, waving his baton. Jeongguk looked so feeble despite his age. "You should leave. Go!"

Later on, Jeongguk found himself wandering the streets.

The thing is Jeongguk knew his way back home. He's old enough to travel too. He had learn to travel all by himself because he doesn't have a mother to teach him. It's just him who refused to. He refused to go home.

Home?

Bullshit.

It's nowhere near to be called a home. It's always been a mess, a den for his drunkard father and his junkie friends. It's suffocating to live there and Jeongguk knows it's not simply because of the cigarettes. He never blamed the cigarettes.

Maybe living outside as a beggar is a lot better, younger Jeon Jeongguk thought. Maybe it's a lot safer too.

If his father hadn't left in the train station earlier, then perhaps he would sell Jeongguk in exchange of money to buy more alcohol and candies. He can use the money for gambling too.

Jeon Jeongguk is nothing but a waste of money.

Thank God. Father was sober for once. There was a sad grin on Jeongguk's face as he let his feet take him to a place he doesn't know. A holdaper can knifepoint him anytime that night, but that didn't bother him, he looked nothing like a rich kid after all. He only had thin clothes on that can be used as a rug if someone pleases to.

You see, he already died at fifteen.

Eight years ago.

That's why when he said there's nothing else to do but to pretend to have amnesia, it means the time is up. It's time to stop pretending to be alive.

Jeon Jeongguk has been a conman for a long time. He knows different tricks to escape. He was only joking about being scared of a sniper for in fact it would rather thrill him.

But again, time's up.

Jeongguk loves his hyungs more than himself, though he never said that out loud. He rather be dead than to betray them. Hence, he didn't cared if Jisun will kill him for being useless– for not being able to tell her about the Esmeralda shit and their hideout. But no kidding, he himself doesn't know what Esmeralda is? Why the fucking anonymous guy calls him for the thing he's clueless about? The hell, how is he supposed to know all the names of the things he stole before?

However, Jisun seemed to be as clueless as him.

"What?" She looks at him like he had told her that the Earth is flat. "Y-you don't remember anything?"

Jeongguk slowly nodded.

Jisun suddenly stood on her feet. Her hand flies to pinch the bridge of her nose while the other one holds her waist. She's flipping out. "I'm going to kill him." Jeongguk heard her swear through her gritted teeth.

Who? Me?

"Kim Taehyung!" Jisun whisper-screamed the name as if she heard Jeongguk's thoughts. He thought she needed to be quiet for the sake of her sleeping grandmother. "How dare he bring a patient to my house? A person with amnesia? This is crazy! Doesn't he know how much it cost to visit a doctor? And there would be follow up checkups too! Bastard!"

Jeongguk feels sorry for a second but ended up laughing mentally. Park Jisun is a great con-artist, isn't she?

But what if . . . what if she's not acting after all?

Jeongguk finds himself sitting up while he stares at Jisun's back. Her long hair covers her side profile as she was facing down. It was harder for him to see her facial expression, but still what if Jeongguk really stumbled to an innocent household and is about to ruin it all?

But he's a conman — a liar — he's not supposed to feel guilty for being dishonest. It's his job to be one.

Few seconds later, Jisun took a deep breath. She then combed her hair back and turned herself around, facing him with another quick change of emotion. She's calm again.

"You really don't remember anything? How about Taehyung hitting you?" She points her head with her index finger. "You don't remember that?" She's staring at him in hopes to see every bit of his reaction – maybe to know if he's lying – but Jeongguk hasn't let his guard down. He can be a greater actor.

Jeongguk still has a little conscience, however. If they turn out to be innocent individuals who got nothing to do with the anonymous guy, then it would be really bad of him to guilt trip that Taehyung guy for the thing he didn't do.

Though it would be fun to watch their dumbasses worry for nothing.

"I remember myself walking." So, Jeongguk lies again. He was narrowing his eyebrows whilst tilting his head. Needless to say but he was pretending to think.

"Maybe it was all a dream but it felt so real. I saw myself walking for so long. I was dying of thirst." He still does by the way but he still has lines to deliver. "I think . . . I think that's when I saw that hut. And then a stick hit my head after that."

Jisun was listening to his every word intently before she hums in understatement. "If you remember those things, then perhaps you already got amnesia before you got hit." The girl mumbles. How does amnesia works? Both of them doesn't really know but Jeongguk is happy that she's buying it. "Maybe you're a lost traveler and you hit your head somewhere else before you met Taetae."

Jeongguk is getting annoyed by Taehyung's nickname. It brings the cuteness out of Jisun as she speaks of it and it's getting hard for him to handle it. Stop getting distracted.

"There." She then points at his leather jacket again. "I saw huge letters imprinted on its back. It reads JK, doesn't that ring a bell?"

That's his English name that Seokjin made up for him.

"No, sorry."

"Okay . . . okay." Jisun got herself thinking. She was biting her nails, then something clicked. The girl suddenly snapped her fingers. Jeongguk could picture a lightbulb on the top of her head. "Maybe you need to eat first. I'll heat up the porridge for you."

Jeongguk had to refrain himself from smile so widely because finally he's about to eat his first meal of the day.

He nodded silently instead, never wanting to look desperate.

"Do you think you can get up? Or would you rather eat in the bed?" She then asks.

"I think I'll manage." There is no way he would let go of his chance to get out of this bedroom, even just for once.

"Okay. I'll call you when the food is ready." She turned her heels and walks, but then she stops at the doorway. "And by the way, I studied Taekwondo back in high school. I think you should know."

Is that a threat? Jeongguk smirks behind her back.

She's really cute.

As soon as she exits the room, Jeongguk waited a minute – to make sure it's okay to make a move – before he gets up. There's no time for him to wince about any pain. He actually feels kind of numb right now because of the sudden rush of adrenaline. The screws in his brain are acting up. He has to act fast.

Quickly, Jeongguk went for his leather jacket, shifting it on its place so the latter would know that it's been move. Then he went for the study desk. He quietly opens the drawers, one after another, as he searched for some things.

A pen and a paper.

Yoongi once told him that when shit happens, call this number.

A phone number that none of them registered in any of their phones. It's to keep their phones from getting traced if it gets stolen or when shit happens. Hence, he memorized it by heart.

Finally, he found a sticky note and a pen in the second to the last drawer. This will do, Jeongguk thinks like who doesn't have a yellow sticky note? Come on, it's pretty common.

He closes the drawer and folds the piece of paper crosswise so that it won't be sticky anymore. Then he wrote the said phone number, nice and neat.

┎┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┒

0XX-XXX-XXXX

┖┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┚

Perfe– oh wait.

He crumpled the paper.

There. Perfect!

Now all he needs to do is to execute the other part of his act properly.

Just after he returned the pen back to its drawer, something on the desk caught his attention. It's a picture with a silver frame. It shouldn't be intriguing, but because of it, Jeongguk recalls what the grandmother has said. Didn't she say nobody owns this bedroom? Since then he thought this is some kind of a guestroom. Then why does it have Park Jisun's picture?

Slowly, Jeongguk reaches for the picture frame, taking a hold of it as he admires. Jisun looks younger in the picture. She looked masculine and her jawline was more prominent, maybe her boy cut in the picture has something to do with it. She still looked good nonetheless. But why do they need to put this in a guestroom though? It's not like Jisun is a goddess, is she?

"That's Park Jimin," Jeongguk almost dropped it when Jisun suddenly speaks behind his back. He put the picture frame back to its place before turning his torso to face her. "my twin brother." She added.

"He owns this room?"

"Yes but don't worry, you can use this room for a while. Come on, your food is ready." She ushers. The tone of her voice tells him that there's something she doesn't want to talk about, otherwise she wouldn't turn her back right away.

"Wait!" Jeongguk says, stopping her on her way. "I . . . I found this in my leather jacket." He showed the yellow paper.

With quirked eyebrows, Jisun walks towards him and snatches it from his grasp. "A phone number?"

"Yeah." Jeongguk nods. "Maybe we should give it a call. The receiver might know who I am. Do you have a phone I can borrow?" He asked with pleading eyes. This always works, he trusts himself. He's ready for the worst anyway.

Jisun examines the paper before looking back at him. She examines him as well. There was amusement in her eyes but her confusion dominates it. "I've checked your belongings earlier, and I had never seen this."

"I found it in the inner pocket, really crumpled. It's tiny, maybe you've missed it."

"You're maybe right . . ." Jisun shrugs. She finally acknowledged it and returns the paper. "I'll get my phone, wait here."

And when she came back, "Call the number on loud speaker." She demands.

Jeongguk smiles sweetly enough to hide its smugness. "Of course."

Then the phone rings. If nobody is home, then it's done. The only home for him right now is their hideout.

Then it stopped.

The receiver finally answered after the third ring.

"Hello. Whose number I'm calling?" Jeongguk voices out hypocritically which actually means 'Hyungs, it's me! I'm alive and please don't say something stupid because I am being watched right now'. Jisun stood firmly beside him, anticipating to hear the whole conversation.

["Hi. You're calling Chickenery, your good chicken restaurant at your service 24/7. How can we help you?"] It's Namjoon and what he said actually translates to 'Boy, I'm surprised that you're still alive. What the hell is happening to you? Shit. We need to talk properly as soon as possible'.

"Oh. I apologize. I got the wrong number. Please don't report me." I'll call you when I get the chance. Please anticipate it hyung, it could be anytime.

["No problem, sir. We'll still answer and deliver chicken. Thanks for calling."] Okay, okay. I got it. Don't be a dumbass and stay alive.

Then the phone call ended.

"Well, that sucks." Jisun says, patting his back. It's obvious that she wanted to laugh. "Of all phone numbers you can keep, it belongs to a chicken restaurant."

"Yeah." Jeongguk sighed in despair, handing the phone back to her. He sighed again as he tore the yellow paper into pieces. "Can I eat the porridge now, please?"

–because Jeon Jeongguk, a slick conman, still have something to do.

A/N I will try to improve my writing style, I promise so please don't leave this book skskksksk

So we got a glimpse of Jeongguk's backstory eyyyy

Any thoughts?

Is Park Jisun innocent or not?