I ran.

I ran as fast as I could away from that stinkhole of a house.

I turned into two alleyways, rounded four streets, pushed my way through down a major highway and sprinted all the way downtown. Even so, they kept chasing me.

Turning when I turned, jumping when I jumped, they were inescapable.

I shot a glance at the men in black suits, pursuing my every step. I pushed my failing limbs faster.

I rounded into another alleyway, flying past blurred shapes and colours staring at me and my pursuers. I sprinted to the end, only to halt realising that there was no other street to turn into.

Red brickwork enclosed me into a death trap,

Whipping around, I backed into the wall as the line of black menace closed in on me, denying any escape.

I closed my eyes.

BANG!

The world started ringing in my ears. The sounds of happy laughter and birds rusting in their happy nests seemed to come to the deafening silence with me.

I could still feel the rough brick wall under my palms, and I felt nothing of blood running down me.

Slowly, I opened my eyes.

***

I watched him take the Vaseline out of the cabinet, and I couldn’t restrict the flow of memories into my mind.

The smell of vanilla when you were in his room.

The medicine on your wounds.

How strong his arms looked to you, even when he was resting.

I shook my head vigorously.

He walked over to me, setting the Vaseline aside and rubbing some of the clear white jelly onto my arm, which was now resting in his lap.

I watched silently as he dabbed the cuts on my hands with antiseptic. I winced slightly.

His hand hesitated, hovering over mine like a helicopter about to land. He took his hand away from mine entirely, wiping the excess on a wet towel near his leg.

His sister setting the towels aside on the counter.

I blinked the memories away.

I was still staring at him quietly, but when it came time for him to treat the small scratch on my cheek, I found myself looking away from him. I couldn’t bear looking at those eyes.

He gently caressed my cheek, his mouth way too close to mine for comfort, and smoothed down the antiseptic gel.

It stung a bit, which made me flinch away from his hand.

He sighed, retracting his hand before plastering a Band-Aid on my cheeks.

He cleaned up silently, getting off the bed and walking around the room, putting thing back and generally cleaning up his room.

I stared out the window, my face passive and expressionless.

Birds were doing to their nests pretty much what Joon was doing to his room, singing and happily ruffling their feathers as if nothing bad in the world could touch it.

I felt warmth from a large figure behind me.

“Are you going to tell me who they were?  Or are we going to just stay here in silence?”

I didn’t respond.

He sighed heavily again, sitting on the large bed beside me, his leg nearly touching mine.

My eyes were at my lap now, staring intently on the bandages now wrapped around my palms.

“Jae Hwa-sshi…” he laid his hand on my thigh. I stiffened, but that didn’t stop him.

He redirected his hand so that it lifted up to my chin, then with his strong hand, he swivelled my head to face him.

He was wearing a white wife-beater (A/N: never liked that name, but it looks y on guys :P ps. It’s a singlet) and faded out jeans with his hair falling over his eyes.

I don’t know why, but I felt a strong urge to push all the hair away with my fingers, to look into his eyes and stay like that, unmoving.

But we did stay like that, for quite some time. His hand still on my chin, he started to lean in growing closer and closer until our lips were inches apart.

With my eyes half closed, I looked at his face. His eyes were closed and every fine detail of his skin became clear to me.

I closed my eyes.

His breath tickled my neck, and that’s when I remembered what was going on.

My eyes snapped back open and I pulled away quickly, gently pushing him back with my bandaged palm.

I looked away, eager to find something to break the tension, and I then I also remembered his question.

“They were Appa’s associates,” I said, my voice unfamiliar to me.  It sounded…embarrassed?

He chuckled a bit, disbelief and humour evident on his face. He turned his head mechanically.

“Are you going to tell me more?”

I hugged my knees to my chest, still shaken by what had happened…whatcould have happened. I sighed, trying to hide my discomfort behind blank eyes and long hair.

“Jae Hwa-sshi?”

“It’s a long story” I relented. I knew it wouldn’t put him off hearing the story though.

“I have time,” he replied, faint wisps of warmth from his breath reaching the tip of my ear.

I paused again, not because I didn’t want to tell him, but because I couldn’t find the words to.

“I’ll start from when I was 8, I don’t have any memories from before then so I can tell you everything. I was in my room…

*flashback*

I couldn’t help but let the tears flow endlessly down my cheeks.

My cheeks were bruised and my hands were cut, my teeth hurt too.

It’s been a week since they let me go from the hospital, but I don’t remember what was wrong with me. The Doctor said I hit my head on something hard, but I don’t remember at all.

Umma says that I’m bad because I let myself be weak in front of others, so she and appa beat me a lot now.

I can’t say whether she always did it, I can’t remember.

“YAH, you punk! Ileona*!! – Tch, really this child, so incompetent with everything – get up now! I told you already you idiot, get up!” She hit me again every time she said ‘get up’.

(A/N: *Ileona is the Romanization of the hangul for ‘wake up’ or ‘get up’)

I struggled against the windowsill, heaving all my weight on it so I could stand properly. I turned my body towards her, my face hidden in my hair so she couldn’t see my quiet tears.

But they weren’t quiet enough.

She slapped me with all the force she had, stepping on my foot as I fell back onto the windowsill again.

“Yah! Weak, stupid ! Get up!” she hit me again.

I finally stood up on my own, biting my lip so I wouldn’t cry and forcing my tears back with all the willpower I had.

“You! This is what they call weak. You don’t even have enough power in your body to stand up. Children are a nuisance. I don’t know why we decided to have you in the first place! You, foul mouthed and disgracefully weak, if I can help it, you will not take one step out of this house!!!”

*flashback end*

“She stayed true to her word. The next day four black vans arrived at the front of our house, and out they came, the big men in black suits. Appa called them his associates; I started calling them The Force, because they were the only ones in my way of freedom and peace.

“I tried running away several times, thinking to go when I thought they weren’t looking or when I thought they had taken a ‘break’. They always caught me, and I always got beaten by either umma or appa. Sometimes it would be one of the men, but most of the time it was my parents.

“Like the first time, I stumbled a lot and I kept quiet, hiding my face in my hair so that she wouldn’t see my emotions. I kept doing that, no matter how hard she hit me, how much damage they did to me, I never said a word. I found that if I kept silent and just took it, they would stop a bit earlier. But staying still hasn’t saved me, you’ve seen firsthand that it doesn’t.”

I became so wrapped up in my memories that I had forgotten anyone was there at all. I stared at the wall the entire time, seeing nothing, hearing nothing, feeling nothing. I laid no emotion onto my face.

It wasn’t till I felt his arms wrap around my shoulders did I realise the wetness on my cheeks.

Tears stained my face, my clothes, my hair…and the tanned arm that held me tight to a warm chest.

He hugged me silently until I calmed down a bit.

I pulled away, covering my mouth in realisation of all that I had retold.

Nobody can know about the force, yet I let my tongue spill out words like a fountain.

“I should go.” It’s been the most I’ve talked in ages and it drained me. I have to go home, beating or not.

I started towards the door when a hand grabbed at my wrist.

He stood and faced me with solemn eyes, gently pressing me into his chest.

I could feel his face in my hair.

“Stay with me,” he said quietly. (A/N: ‘Oh baby stay with me, la la la, la la la~~’ sorry it came into my head :P)

I went with him as he guided me to the quiet little guest room.

“Stay here, you’ll be safe and they won’t find you,” he said, giving my shoulders one last squeeze and leaving the room, flipping the light on and shutting the door.

Yoseob stood on the branch of the tree, watching the two hug and the tears flow down her cheeks.

He watched Joon, the way he brushed her hair back lovingly and hugged her gently, as if he was going to hurt her.

Tch, Joon-ah, you’ve gotten softer since we last met, he thought. He scoffed.

He watched the two pull away and looked on as Joon led her out of the room.

So this is the that idiot’s been hanging around, no matter, I’ll have her soon enough, he smiled to himself in pleasure.

He jumped down from the tree branch, smirking as he walked.

I will have her soon enough.