CHAPTER 23: SETTLING DOWN

After a restless night of sleep that couldn’t be achieved and rolling around the bed, frustrated, waking up had felt horrible. My body had been aching a lot, even the muscles I didn’t know that existed, were hurting. I had been the last one to wake up. Everybody else had already woken up and eaten a very brief breakfast, getting ready to leave. We’d need to make it back to the corporation quickly.

As Myungjun called the chauffeur for us, he asked him to get a car that would fit all nine of us in it – or two cars – in it. Eunwoo was leaning against the living room’s wall, frowning at the older boy.

“Why couldn’t you call the driver last night?” he asked, crossing his arms.

Myungjun sighed at the boy. “Even our chauffeurs have their working hours. They’re free after 10pm.”

Eunwoo rolled his eyes. Bin was there to poke him again, trying to bring some positivity into the grim boy.

“Are you sure your people will let us in without trouble?” Jinwoo asked.

“I wouldn’t worry”, Myungjun stated. “Even your late chief was able to enter.”

Jinwoo coughed awkwardly as Yikyung was mentioned. I knew he wasn’t feeling very well so I stepped next to him and put my hand on his shoulder.

“By the way”, I started. “I was told you were lurking around the corporation’s area some time ago. What for?”

The boy looked down, embarrassed. “It was the day Yikyung informed us about your betrayal. I was angry, I couldn’t believe it. So I wanted to talk to you. I was stupid to come there. But this guy was quick to drive me off”, he said, nodding at Minhyuk who let a smile spread onto his face.

“Minhyuk has been doing a lot of things lately”, Bin chuckled. “He was the first one to rush to the tunnels, he took care of Chanmi the whole time… he even made breakfast for us.”

I glanced at the younger boy who laughed a bit, looking embarrassed. He wasn’t used to this kind of compliments. Then I realized I hadn’t talked to Chanmi since she had fallen asleep last night. I turned around to search for her, and found her sitting on the living room’s sofa.

“Hey”, I said and walked to her. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m better. Food, water and rest make a big difference”, she said, smiling a little bit.

“That’s right”, I nodded. “Have you thanked Minhyuk yet?”

The girl shook her head and tilted her head as she glanced at Minhyuk. She crossed her arms. “Thank you. Even though you seemed to almost drop me a few times.”

I almost facepalmed at my little sister. Now I understood how the others must’ve felt every time I opened my mouth and said something nasty. Chanmi definitely had the same temper as I did. I glanced at Minhyuk apologetically but he just laughed it off.

“Are you always this polite?” the boy asked. “You’re speaking formally. We’re the same age.”

Chanmi’s eyes widened. “Heol. You look a lot older.”

I gently poked at my sister, trying to silence her. She really did sound like me. Maybe I’d tone down my temper a little bit from now on.

After about half an hour, a big van arrived to get us. Myungjun greeted the chauffeur and opened the doors for us. I looked as he and Jinwoo sat to the front seats, they were clearly going to have some sort of a leader conversation. I shook my head, smiling, and jumped to the back seat, next to Chanmi and Sanha. The boy was still very silent and I was pretty sure it would take some time for him to get over it. I remembered the first time I met him. He had seemed so shy and weak I couldn’t believe he was put in our unit. Maybe he wasn’t a fighter, maybe he wasn’t suited to the gang life. But he was a nice young boy who just needed some friends and happiness in his life.

The car ride took almost two hours, and for my surprise the atmosphere in the car was very free. Myungjun and Jinwoo were clearly getting along well, they were very immersed in their conversation and from time to time I heard laughter from the front seat. Eunwoo and Bin were in middle of a silent conversation as well. I felt happy they had been able to sort things out. They weren’t as close as they once were, but they’d eventually get there.

Minhyuk was still trying to get Sanha to cheer up and talked to him, and I was amused at the scene. Minhyuk was always very strong-willed. He’d break Sanha’s shell someday, I knew it already.

Chanmi fell asleep against my shoulder at some point and I just stared at my little sister lovingly. She looked so peaceful, sleeping like this. Now she wouldn’t have to be left alone ever again. I’d take care of her.

After the ride arrived, I felt strangely at ease. When I saw the familiar skyscraper rising to the heights in front of me, I thought this place had really become the one home for me. I smiled as we got out of the van and I could just see Jinwoo and the others looking around with plate-size eyes. They had never seen such a building; all they knew was the underground. It amused me. I had been just like them when I first came here. I was shocked, amazed and scared. Everything seemed so luxurious and big. Now I had actually gotten used to it, which kind of scared me.

“I knew your father owned a corporation”, Jinwoo said, awed. “But I couldn’t imagine you’d be this rich.”

Myungjun looked down, a bit ashamed. “Don’t say it like that.”

Miyeon chuckled as she listened the boys talk. “Myungjun. You’re going to make him your right hand from now on, right? Can I just leave and go abroad?”

The boy turned to look at his friend. “What are you talking about? Have you gone crazy? You’ll be my slave until death!”

I laughed at their little quarrel. It was nice to see these people getting along with each other. Such a relief.

We were walking towards the CEO’s hallway and as we stopped behind the door of his office, Myungjun and I got startled as he already opened the door. The man had probably heard from secretaries or seen from the security cameras, that a big bunch of young people had arrived.

“Morning, dad”, Myungjun greeted his father.

“Good morning”, I greeted her as well. Then I gently pulled Chanmi next to me. “We succeeded. Meet my sister, Lim Chanmi.”

The man stared at us, looking overwhelmed, for a moment, but then a wide smile spread on his face. He let out a deep laughter and spread his arms. “Congratulations! I’m very pleased to meet you, Chanmi. Welcome home.”

Chanmi looked very confused but managed to bow and greet the man.

“And they are my previous unit”, I said and nodded at my friends. “The police emptied the tunnels last night. They have nowhere to go.”

For a short moment, the man eyed the boys standing behind us, but then motioned everybody to come into the office. “Come in, let’s talk about this.”

All nine of us fit into the office, some sitting down to the sofa and the chairs, some standing up nervously. I understood them. Jinwoo, Eunwoo, Sanha, they didn’t know what would happen. They were probably afraid, what if they’d be kicked out? What if they had to sleep on the streets and enemies that knew their faces would kill them?

“Yikyung is dead”, Myungjun stated. “She committed suicide. The police arrested the rest of their gang, only we managed to escape. They have nothing on them. I’d suggest that they’ll stay here for now, until we come up with something.”

Mr. Kim glanced at my friends with narrowed eyes. The look in his eyes changed from suspicious to understanding and then slightly sad. I realized I was biting my lips as I was expecting him to say something, to tell what his decision was.

“I once said to Aeri, that she is nothing but a victim of her chief’s”, the man said. “And that I enjoy saving people that are still saveable. My daughter-in-law is one of the purest people I have ever met. If she trusts these young men, so do I.”

I could see relief spreading in the room. Jinwoo looked at me and flashed me a small smile. I nodded at him, responding to his smile. Yes, this was exactly how the things were supposed to go.

“There are empty rooms in your apartment, right?” Mr. Kim asked from Myungjun.

The boy nodded. “The one Aeri used at first.”

“Good”, the man said.

Jinwoo got up from the sofa and bowed deeply. “We’re very thankful.”

The man chuckled. “I’m not a criminal. I couldn’t leave you freezing to the streets. Now go, wash up and eat something delicious.”

With those words been said, we all bowed and thanked the man once more before exiting the office. Myungjun led the way, heading to the elevator and then to the apartment. I carefully examined my friends’ faces, how their expressions varied from shock and amaze to awe and huge smiles. They probably were too amazed by their new surroundings to even think about the problems they had coming ahead – unlike the youngsters in this corporation, they hadn’t been educated since middle school. Jinwoo and Eunwoo were already at the age of being in university but they couldn’t apply before graduating from high school. Sanha, anyhow, was just the right age to enroll in high school, he’d probably get in easily.

“Chanmi”, Myungjun started. “You can share your room with Miyeon. Jinwoo can have Aeri’s old room. I believe Bin and Eunwoo can share a room. And Minhyuk… you should take Sanha in.”

I nodded as he was talking. He thought rationally. Jinwoo was the leader so he kind of deserved his own room. Chanmi and Miyeon were the only girls besides me, and it would be just good for Eunwoo to spend more time with his long lost friend. Sanha, then again, seriously needed some socialization. Minhyuk would be just the right person to work on that. They were just one year apart anyway.

The situation started clearing out and it almost surprised me how relaxed the atmosphere was. Chanmi was talking with Jinwoo, sitting down on the sofa, Minhyuk was busy pestering Sanha. Miyeon had disappeared into her room and Myungjun was standing at the room’s other side, leaning against a wall and looking at the situation with an amused look on his eyes. He probably felt he had accomplished something since the two units got along surprisingly well despite fighting to death – pretty much – just yesterday.

My eyes wandered to Bin and Eunwoo. The younger one was in middle of leading the older one to his room and showing him around. I felt a wrinkle forming between my brows. I really wanted to speak with Eunwoo and sort things out between us as well. He might’ve reunited with Bin but he was clearly still upset with me choosing Myungjun instead of him. I took a step forwards and crossing my arms, walked to the boy.

“Eunwoo”, I called out his name silently. “Can we talk?”

The boy glanced at me over his shoulder, his expression looking extremely blank. “No reason.”

“No reason?” I repeated, raising my eyebrows. “There most definitely is a reason.”

The boy sighed, stopping and turning around to look at me. “You made me the bad guy.”

With those words been said, he followed his friend to the room and slammed the door shut. I stared at the door, frowning, for a moment before sighing and looking down. It would take a long time to reconcile. He wasn’t the only one who was angry. I was still angry at him for jumping into his own conclusions and turning his back on me. At the time he called me a traitor I had no romantic feelings towards Myungjun. And then, after a short while he just expected me to return home with him, like I should just forget how much he had hurt me. But it wasn’t just because of this that I wanted to sort things out. In the end, he was my best friend. The one I had known since we were in diapers. The one I had grown up and gone through puberty with. I didn’t want to lose him completely.

With an another deep sigh, I turned around to walked to me and Myungjun’s room. I had slept approximately 4 hours the night before – I needed a good nap. I didn’t bother changing out of my dirty clothes but just jumped to the soft, luxurious bed and pulled the blanket over me. I’d sleep for an hour or two, then I’d feel like living again. Letting out a big yawn, I drifted off very quickly. A good nap, it anyhow, wasn’t. For the first time in a while I got lost while traveling to the dream land and slid down the muddy path to the world of nightmares.

Suddenly I was a 17-year-old teenager again, standing on the door of my father’s bedroom. I saw a sharp knife flash in the air and felt hot, red liquid spreading to my face and clothes. I felt like I was paralyzed; I couldn’t move at all. I glanced down and saw my feet getting drowned in cement. I looked up again and the figure, who had just killed my father, dropped the man on the floor and proceeded to approach me with the knife pointed at me. I had seen this same nightmare before, but the only difference was that this time I knew who the murdered was. I could see Yikyung’s devilish smirk flashing in the dark. I felt my heart beating so fast I thought I’d get a heart attack. Suddenly the knife reshaped into a lighter and dropped to the floor. A familiar “whoom” sound echoed in the room as the fire spread quickly. I had to close my eyes tightly, I just couldn’t watch the fire engulfing the woman. Her high pitched screaming filled the room and I had to put my hands over my ears to mute the sounds.

With a breathy gasp I woke up, shooting up from the bed, panting like crazy. I was still in the state of shock so I didn’t even notice Myungjun who was lying down next to me. Only when we sat up too and carefully put a hand on my shoulder, I flinched and turned around to stare at him.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, eyes wide.

I tried to slow down my breathing. “I had a nightmare…”

Myungjun let out a sigh and wrapped his arms around me, pulling me into a tight hug and slowly lying me down on the bed. I had to place a hand over my chest and close my eyes. My heart was still beating like it would burst any moment. I had tried to not think about Yikyung or her death. I had tried to ignore the whole thing. But it clearly was still freshly in my memory and even though I tried to ignore it, it bothered me. I took a deep breath and slowly blew the air out. I was starting to calm down a little bit in Myungjun’s hold.

We were just lying down, all cuddled up, for a few minutes. Myungjun was caressing my hair gently, trying to calm me down, whispering sweet nothings into my ear. Slowly I started feeling better. I was about to look at him and thank the boy when suddenly a loud scream, with a very familiar voice, echoed in the apartment. I shoot up from the bed quickly and rushed to the door.

It was Chanmi.