[M] CH11 (1/2)

[CONTENTID1]Mercury[/CONTENTID1][CONTENTID2]Chapter Eleven[/CONTENTID2][CONTENTID3]WARNING: There is some violence and mention of adult themes towards the end of this chapter.“I’d tell you to drop the damsel act, but it looks like you did that already,” Xiumin said as he got out of his Jaguar. Jakyung was leaning against the side of hers, checking her phone. When she heard his voice, she looked up and smirked.

“Thanks for that,” she replied as he took to leaning on the spot next to her. “You played your part well.”

“And why did I need to play a part in the first place?” the older boy asked, eyeing her carefully.

When he had entered the bookstore, it had been to see if they had a book that he’d been searching for. He had noticed the Camaro parked out front – who wouldn’t? – but when he didn’t see when he first walked in, he assumed she’d parked there but went into a different store. Imagine his surprise to see her sprawled out on the ground, looking like some drama heroine, and spouting nonsense about a break up. He knew right away she was acting; even when he’d seen her drunk at the party she hadn’t been this discomposed, and decided to play along with her little ruse. The man she was with didn’t give him the greatest feeling, and he had a feeling she wouldn’t act so out of character unless it was important.

“Sometimes I don’t want to do things that other people want me to do. I’m sure you know the feeling,” she said casually. “Mark happens to be one of the people trying to make me do things I don’t want to do.”

Xiumin froze as he heard the name. “Mark? As in Mark Tuan?” Jakyung raised one eyebrow at him.

“You know him?”

“Sort of.” When he didn’t elaborate, she shrugged and let it go. It didn’t matter if Xiumin knew him or not, he had already done her a favor by coming to her rescue. This was the second time in less than 24 hours that her father had sent someone after her. He must be getting desperate.

She looked out over the grassy expanse of the park they’d pulled into. It was pretty and calm, and like her lunch with him the day before, Xiumin was mostly silent. Even though she didn’t know him that well, he seemed like someone she could get along with. He wasn’t talkative like Chen, he was way more serious than Kai, and he was less prickly than Baekhyun.

“Remember how I told you your stare was unnerving?” Xiumin said, breaking her from her reverie. “Yeah, it gives me the shivers.” He didn’t tell her they were the good kind of shivers. The kind of shivers that made him want to draw her close and stare right back. Jakyung blinked and looked away; she hadn’t realized she’d been staring.

“Sorry. I didn’t think a stoic guy like you could be unnerved.” There was a hint of playfulness to her voice that Xiumin picked, and it made him smirk. Before he could retort, however, his phone rang.

“Hey Luhan. What? No, I’m with Jakyung. Jumped? Okay, shit. I’ll be there in ten.” He jammed his phone back into his pocket, and grinned at her.

“Duty calls.” He jogged over to his car before she could reply. With a wave and one last dazzling smirk, he sped out of the lot.

Jakyung only heard snippets of the conversation, but she was quick to follow his lead and followed him out. They were halfway across town by the time Xiumin pulled over and exited his car. Curious, Jakyung watched as he disappeared down an alley. Maybe she was too curious for her own good, but she left the car and silently trailed after him.

Xiumin found Baekhyun and Luhan slumped against a wall, each sporting an array of wounds. He jogged up to them quickly and tried to asses as much damage as he could.

“Why’d you call me and not Yixing?” he asked Luhan, who despite not being able to move much, had managed to dial his number in the first place.

“You were the most recent call, so I just dialed. You gonna lecture me right now, Baozi?” Luhan asked with a weak grin. Xiumin shook his head and hoisted the boy to his feet, eliciting a pained hiss from him.

“What the hell happened anyway? Baek is knocked out,” Xiumin questioned, bringing Luhan over to his car and gingerly setting him in the back seat. Luhan sighed as the cool leather touched his skin.