III  MEET YOU NOW

I’m going to meet you now
Let’s meet again now
If we meet again, I’ll be really happy
If you’re not here, I can’t do anything
I’m going to meet you again now

“I swear someone has been following me these past few days.”

Rolling onto his back, Seokmin tore his glasses from his face, cocking an eyebrow at his clearly distressed brother. “Are you sure-” he paused, forehead now creasing, “-that it’s not a secret admirer or something?”

And the next thing Seokmin saw was a caseless pillow flying at him, hitting him squarely in the face.

“Mind you, this is not a fairytale,” Jihoon muttered, smirking at his still wincing brother. Rising to hit feet, the older of two strode to the kitchen, hoping to find one decent packet of ramyun that’d be sufficient for dinner. His stomach had been grumbling and Jihoon was sure he heard his brother’s too, but of course that little brat just kept it to himself – like he always would.

It pained him whenever Seokmin felt the need to hide his hunger, yet he chose to overlook it because he knew the reason all too well.

“It’s not bad, you know.”

Despite hushed, Seokmin’s small voice was as clear as a bell to Jihoon’s ears. With his slender fingers still hovering the knob of second drawer from left, he found asking himself what the other precisely meant by ‘not bad’. The shortage of food? Their small house or rather room? Or their life as Indigents? Or perhaps--

“What do you mean?” he decided to prod further, now leaned forward against the counter, entire weight shifted to his left foot. In all honesty, he expected a silly counter – a loud ringing laughter even. Contrariwise, his stepbrother’s reply almost knocked him over.

“To fall in love.”

Almost mechanically, Jihoon felt his body went rigid.

Throughout his 19 years of living, he had never once believed in this thing called ‘love’. From all the talks of skipping of heart down to the fluttering butterflies in one’s stomach, they only led him to one conclusion: bull.

Tons. Of. Crap.

To him, love was a nightmare disguised as a blessing. It would create mayhem and bedlam in one’s life, to the point Jihoon himself saw how others broke down and crumbled by mere ‘love’.  Love was never meant to be eternal. People who fell in love could fall out of love. People who claimed themselves to be loyal could end up being the merciless cheaters on earth. So why should he, a struggling Indigent spend his precious energy on the overly sugarcoated figment called love?

Besides, love was the most fragile form of hope for those who were thirsting for one and perchance, an excuse whenever they needed any.

Work didn’t go well? Blame it on love.

Unable to focus? Blame it on love.

Had stream of bad lucks? Well, just ing blame it on love.

Jihoon upheld his outlook on said matter; no matter what, love would forever be a nuisance to him and he did not want such trivial concern to ing distract him from his main objective. Above and beyond, it was more than enough to see Seokmin happily growing by his side. Jihoon did not need love.

He needed to survive.

Swallowing hard, instead answering the boy, Jihoon cracked the loose drawer open. Eyes landed on a packet of ramyun which had expired more than a week ago -- though pretty much still edible to him -- he turned around and forced a small smile.

“I guess we’ll be having ramyun for dinner.”

- - - - - - - - - - -

Shedding his black hat and coat from his sore limbs, Seungcheol trudged into the living room, his dark sunglasses still hung low on the bridge of his nose. With a flop onto the leather couch, he let out a heavy sigh and sluggishly, he took off the last piece of accessory, his hair very much damped from the sweat he had accumulated from entire day out.

Jeonghan, who came in from the kitchen - just finished cooking judging from the folded apron in his hand - could only widen his eyes at the sight. He silently sent signals to Jisoo who was on the other side of the room, whose expression already mirroring the blonde’s. Ostensibly understood, Jisoo took an empty spot on the left side of the couch, clearing his throat as he did so.

 “You went there again?” Jisoo asked, arm concurrently draped around Jeonghan’s waist seconds after the latter took a seat on the armrest beside him. Consumed by fatigue, Seungcheol only gave a small nod, his eyes shut as he leaned further into the couch. Of course, that was never enough for Jeonghan.

“Yah,” Jeonghan intoned, the end of his lips arched downwards. “Snap out of it. Why do you even go there like every single day anyway?”

“I have to.”

And the male with long hair could not help but heave out another heavy, but thicker sigh. It was exasperating to see Seungcheol in such manner; in fact, Jeonghan barely stopped himself from smacking his friend across his stubborn head if not for Jisoo’s firm grip.

Seungcheol had finally lost his ing mind.

Ever since the day Jeonghan and Jisoo conversed about their happenstance with a certain pink boy at one part of Indigent borough, Seungcheol’s ears perked up at the reference, which did not go unnoticed by the two friends. And from that day onwards, the raven had been making rounds there. He would always go out at wee hour in the morning, dressed from head to toe in an all-black get up – he reasoned out that he could not afford being seen by the boy if they were to cross paths – only to return when the sun had wholly set.

In all honesty, both Jeonghan and Jihan, even Wonwoo and Hansol who were caught up with school were incalculably worried of him.

Feeling frustrated, Jisoo decided to take the baton and tried to talk some sense into Seungcheol, “Can’t you hire a detective? It’s easier and I’m sure they’d do a better job at observing him.” But of course, the said male shot it down with a short ‘no’.

“Then let my parents know I’m stalking an Indigent? Yeah sure, if you want me dead that is,” Seungcheol grumbled. He lifted his head as he ran his fingers through his bangs, trying to get the irritating strands out of his still flushed face. “Besides -” he hesitated, sparing a look at his friends, “- I need to make sure of it. On my own.”

With that, Jisoo and Jeonghan could only stare at each other, apparently gave in, exhaling a chorused sigh. Uncurling his lower lip from the teeth he had been gnawing with, along with his arms crossed in front of his chest, Jeonghan decided to crack a smile. “So, mind telling us what’s so special about this pink-hair boy then?”

“Jihoon.”

“Ji-what?”

“Jihoon. His name is Jihoon. I just found out today.”

Staring at the now mute being, Jeonghan swore it was the first time he saw such smile on Seungcheol and somehow, from the look of Jisoo’s face, he seemed to notice the same too.

- - - - - - - - - - -

It had been two fruitful weeks since Seungcheol started inspecting (or you could say stalking) on this alleged ‘Jihoon’ and frankly, he did not realize that. Not even when he drove his way to one of Jihoon’s many workplaces this morning. Somehow, days went by so fast that Seungcheol had lost track of time. Maybe it’s because he never bothered to check the date in the first place.

Or maybe it could be due to the fact that a certain boy kept raiding his personal thoughts.

He didn’t want to admit so, but naturally, Seungcheol still found himself hiding behind a lamp post outside of a small convenience store, trying to make occasional glimpses at a familiar man behind the counter inside.

It was Monday and it was known to him that the boy’s shift would end rather late that night.

Seungcheol was well-versed of Jihoon’s daily schedules that he scared himself every so often. As to why he went to such degree was indistinguishable to him, but on every occasion his eyes landed on Jihoon’s small face, his thoughts were washed away like the sand near to the shore. Metaphorically, Jihoon was the waves that kept dissipating his sanity away, even though the boy may not even realize the effect he had on Seungcheol.

And in that very moment, he could care less despite the disapproving looks thrown at him by the bystanders, perhaps weirded out by both his wardrobe and dubious action.

Still, Seungcheol was too happy to notice even. He had come a long way and finally, he reached to a decision. To gather up every piece of his audacity and talk with Jihoon for the first time that night.

Nonetheless, he did technically talk to Jihoon before, when he first found Jihoon and another friend (was it Soyoung? Soonyong? Sonnyoung? Seungcheol couldn’t remember) struggling in front of a vending machine. He recalled how a blonde, perhaps of Jihoon’s age were kicking and punching the machine for his food, stuck in the middle of the crank.

- - - - - - - - - - -

Soonyoung gave the machine a kick, his face contorted whenever he was focusing. Not giving it a , Jihoon just let him did whatever he felt necessary – kicking, smashing, or whatever he was even doing in the first place as he threw his 'best-friend' a stink eye.

“You’ll break it.”

“I won’t.”

“You will.”

“But I can’t let it go to waste, Jihoon!” and the instant Soonyoung gave it a last whirl, the vending machine made a creaking sound, startling the boy as he cried for his kimbap which was evidently stuck further, its light went out. What an irony.

"Told you."

As Seungcheol was about to run into the scene and play his role as a knight in shining armor, Jihoon already beat him to it. Heaving out an accumulated sigh, Jihoon pushed Soonyoung aside, then gave the machine a couple tap. Almost too magical in Soonyoung’s eyes, his kimbap finally travelled downwards to the slot, into his already waiting hands.

- - - - - - - - - - -

On that night, Seungcheol established that Jihoon, being shorter than he was might survive the wild better than he personally would. Though the boy may be a little too hostile for Seungcheol to plunge further into Jihoon's life. Especially the night he saved Jihoon from being ran over. Instead of a thank you, what he got was completely baffling.

- - - - - - - - - - -

Glancing at his own watch, Seungcheol noticed that Jihoon ended his shift later than he usually would. On a regular basis, Seungcheol would promptly leave after Jihoon had finished locking up the store. However, noticing the drained look on his face, he was too worried to leave. The thought of leaving Jihoon alone made him scrunched up his face, not the least entertained by the thought. In the end, Seungcheol followed him to his house, threading slowly and almost stealthily just several meters behind Jihoon, on tenterhooks wishing that the other would not notice.

As they walked down a familiar road, Seungcheol sustained a bigger distance as Jihoon waited for the light to turn green. With a ding and change of green light, the raven could make out a speeding car heading towards Jihoon, who was oblivious to his surrounding as he walked forward, hands in both pocket. Panicked, Seungcheol immediately lurched forward, grabbing Jihoon by his wrist, tugging him backwards just in time before the black car drove past.

Seungcheol’s heart was beating so loud against his eardrums and before he knew it, he was yelling at the shorter male before him.

“Did you not ing look where you were going?? Thank god you weren’t hurt or anything!”

Seemingly unfazed as well as annoyed, Jihoon twisted his arm and walked away without forgetting to yell back at Seungcheol.

“ing dickhead!”

- - - - - - - - - - -

First he was called a beast, then a dickhead. How great.

That’s why Seungcheol decided to step up his game. With his usual get up, he decided to gather up his courage in talking to Jihoon, even for few seconds – for as long the boy could stand him (if he could recognize Seungcheol underneath all the heavy disguise of course). He was fully aware of the hatred Jihoon harbored on Opulents like himself, especially that one time he overheard the latter’s conversation with that Soonyoung fella. But that would not stop him from advancing because Seungcheol, being a persistent teenager he was, wanted to be friends with said Indigent.

Who cares about rank anyway? that.

He knew how hard life had been, for both Jihoon and his brother. The night shifts, the multiple part-time jobs, the thrift spending – seeing Jihoon working so hard for a loaf of bread pained Seungcheol greatly. He wanted to do anything he could to help the boy, but for starters, he needed to talk to him first.

But the moment Seungcheol crossed the nearest isle to the check-out counter Jihoon was standing, his poise flew out of the window. They were only less than a meter away, yet both of his feet were cemented to the ground, his hands clammed by all the sweat that had built up for the past seconds.

However, knowing that this might be his only opportunity, Seungcheol grabbed the small sack of rice and eventually made his way to the counter after a double check, making sure his cap was pulled forward to hide his face.

“That’ll be 20,000 won ($20) sir.”

Scanning his barcode to the scanner, Seungcheol typed in a big number of 200,000 on the payment screen and before Jihoon could input his change into the system, the older mumbled a short, “I want you to keep the rest” and walked out, leaving  both his purchase and a rather flustered Jihoon, still calling out for him.

Feeling accomplished, Seungcheol felt his lips curved into a wide smile. Walking down the street with the night breeze tickling his cheeks, he hoped that the money and the bag of rice he purposely left behind would help Jihoon and his younger sibling survive – at least for the rest of the week anyway.

- - - - - - - - - - -

“Hyung, wait up.”

Jihoon rolled his eyes, purposely making it obvious as Seokmin finally fell into the same step as his slowed ones. Mingyu dropped by their house earlier that day and the freakishly tall giant had invited the two to come over to his house to meet the two new Bourgeoisies from China. Of course, Seokmin was over the moon.

Hence the reason why they were already on their way to the other side of the region. As Jihoon was walking with Seokmin, already half the journey to Mingyu’s house, he felt a presence following them. Annoyed, thinking that it might be the same odd guy who had been following him for the past weeks, Jihoon spun on his feet and yelled.

However, it wasn’t.

Instead, Jihoon came face to face with a couple Bourgeoisies he didn’t know of, the three strangers emitting a menacing air. Afraid, Seokmin held on his hyung’s forearms, trying to hold him back, yet Jihoon just stood his ground, face not the slightest deterred.

Jihoon knew it was bad. That it was not going to end well, but he knew better than to run away.

One of the guys, with bigger built than Jihoon took a step forward, spitting out few strings of curses. Cackling, he puffed the smoke from the cigarette he had been inhaling into Jihoon’s now disgusted face. Angered by said action, the 19 year old decided to lurch forward when he felt a sharp graze to his cheeks, his body stumbled backward as the sting began making its way to the right side of his face.

“Hyung!”

“Stay back, Seokmin. I can handle this.”

“Well, well, well,” a guy with a skull tatted to his shoulders cut his way through the other two, his cigarette was seen balanced in between his middle and forefinger. “It seems that someone here thinks he’s a total hero.”

And the rest – which Jihoon assumed may be his underlings – let out a chortle, as if belittling him.

Not having any of it, Jihoon curled his fingers into a fist, sending a hurl to knock the goon over when he saw the other two coming forward in a frightening speed. Expecting a hard knock to his face, Jihoon held up his arms, awaiting for the incoming impact, only to hear a set of groans instead. And the supposed aching never arrived. Cracking his eyes open, he was met with a sight that had him left his mouth open.

There, on the ground, were the two hooligans groaning as they curled into a cocoon, clearly in pain as the other already on his knees, begging for mercy. Finally sensing another figure, Jihoon directed his peripheral to his right, realizing that it was the same man who had been following him.

“Don’t ever mess with him again. Or else I’ll ing rip the three of you apart,” Jihoon swore he could hear the venom in the man’s voice and the three Bourgeoisies instantaneously ran off to an opposite direction, entire selves shaking with terror.

Before Jihoon could bark at the man for getting involved, the said gent finally twirled around facing him, his sunglasses already taken off.

“You…”