13: BLOWN BY THE SAME WIND

"Pride and Prejudice," by Zico (feat. Suran)

                Naeil jumped, eyes popping open to see two bent legs just in front of her. She looked up, pulling back at the sight of the face stooping just above hers. Black eyes, hooded by light green hair, squinted down at her

                “S-Sunbae.”

                He looked very confused by her presence on the roof. Naeil was equally confused by his presence on the roof.

                “What the—” she started, ripping her headphones off.

                “I almost thought I imagined someone up here first time I saw it. Turns out it was you.”

                It took her a moment to realize what he was referring to. Naeil felt her cheeks get hot. She never expected him to figure out it had been her up on the roof that day when he walked by.

                Even worse, he had ended up here—on the roof—with her. No one had ever been on the roof with Naeil. No one.

                “How did you find this place?”

                Yoongi shrugged. “I just saw you from outside. Guess you didn’t notice me. I was headed for the piano, but there were a too many ahjummas down there, so I thought I’d check out what you’re doing up here. So what are you doing up here, anyway?”

                When Naeil didn’t respond, Yoongi plopped down next to her, pulling up his knees like her.

                “I didn’t ask you to sit with me,” snapped Naeil.

                Yoongi just smiled a little. Naeil growled lowly, but it did nothing to deter him.

                This was an unfortunate situation.

                Why was he sitting with her? Why did he come up here in the first place? She wanted to tell him to leave, but she stubbornly refused to say anything. In the end, Naeil gave up, and just turned away.

                The two of them sat side by side in silence, just looking out at the city and listening to each other’s breathing, mingled with the sound of the wind rushing over the roof. Naeil resisted the urge to look at his face for a full five minutes. She got too curious. Turning just slightly, she stole a tiny peek at the man sitting next to her.

                His gaze was concentrated somewhere in the distance. He had this look in his eyes, a look that was familiar to her, like he was seeing past all the concrete walls and dusty windows, into the heart of the city. Usually, Naeil was either immediately drawn or repelled by people like this. But when it came to Min Yoongi…she wasn’t sure what to think at all.

                The wind came through and Naeil felt strands of her hair tickling her cheeks, making them tingle. His hair, too, was brushed against his pale forehead, blown by the same wind she felt on her skin. His face glowed with the same pleasure at the chilling rush of that breeze.

                And then, in that quiet moment, Naeil suddenly realized something she didn’t like at all—she was comfortable sitting next to him.

                Comfortable? The realization immediately made her uncomfortable. Then it made her irritated. She bit her lip.

                “I hope you don’t get too cozy there. This is my spot.”

                Yoongi looked over at her, surprised that she had broken the silence. “You sure are territorial.”

                “Don’t care. This is my spot, okay? Got it?”

                “I got it.”

                Apparently, he wasn’t planning on leaving any time soon. That wasn’t good, because Naeil quickly returned to staring at him. Pretty soon she found herself noticing things she didn’t really want to notice. How he slouched in that way, like he didn’t care what others thought about him. How he pursed his lips when thoughts were running through his brain. How his long fingers drummed out rhythms of songs that were still echoing in his ears.

                Naeil snapped out of her reverie again and stood up, feeling more frustrated than she had before.

                “Okay but seriously, why are you here right now?!”

                Yoongi’s eyes widened for a moment when they met Naeil’s. His mouth fell just slightly open and he sat forward, as if he was actually about to answer the question. Then, he slumped back again and shrugged.

                Naeil frowned. She bent down to grab him by the collar of his shirt and looked him straight in the eye.

                “I’m done with this. Tell me. Now.”

                After getting over his initial surprise, Yoongi pursed his lips and looked away, as if considering something. He reached up and pushed Naeil’s hand away, sitting down comfortably again and patting the spot next to him.

                “Sit, first.”

                Naeil sat, cautiously.

                Yoongi looked at her until she met his eyes. He cocked his head in the direction of the street below them.

                “Over there,” he murmured. “Don’t be obvious, okay?”

                “I…don’t see anything.”

                “What a surprise.”

                “Yah—”

                “Okay, look over at the old ramyeon shop, on the empty floors above it.”

                “Uh-huh…”

                “See the men in those windows? Old suits?”

                Naeil finally spotted the moving forms through the shady windows of the building. Yoongi hadn’t been joking. It made her heart pound faster.

                “What are they…”

                “They’ve been hanging out over there for a few weeks now.”

                Naeil’s jaw dropped.

                “Are you serious?”

                Yoongi shook his head. “Sorry to tell you, but your pastor friend has gotten on the wrong side of some really nasty people.”

                “Pastor Lee? That pastor?”

                “What other—”

                “I DON’T THINK HE’S EVEN SMUSHED AN ANT CRAWLING ON THE FLOOR! HOW IS HE IN TROUBLE WITH BAD PEOPLE?!?”

                “Aish, calm down.”

                “I’m calling the police.”

                Naeil started standing up, reaching for her phone, but Yoongi pulled her back down and snatched the phone from her hands.

                “You—!” started Naeil

                “I knew I shouldn’t have told you,” he muttered.

                “Yah, give me my phone back!”

                “Look. The police couldn’t care less about this whole thing. Don’t bother. They’ll just make it worse.”

                “Get off my roof.”

                “Wow, you really know how to show your thanks—”

                “Off. Now.”

-------------------

                Hoseok had just finished a long and tedious student council meeting and was ready to go home, when he overheard the conversation of two other classmates ahead of him.

                “Have you seen Jimin anywhere?” asked one.

                The question made Hoseok stop where he was.

                “I don’t know,” answered her friend. “He wasn’t in calculus today.”

                I haven’t seen Jimin all day, realized Hoseok. He glanced at his watch. He should have been home thirty minutes ago. The exit was just in front of him. Hoseok swallowed, turned around, and headed in the opposite direction.

                Maybe Jimin really hadn’t come to school. Maybe he was okay. But if he ran into those iljin…

                Hoseok shook the thoughts away and kept on looking. The old storage room was empty, which was a good sign. In fact, the whole school looked empty. Hoseok was about to give up when he realized the one place he hadn’t checked.

                Hoseok headed outside and, sure enough, behind the school there was Taehyung, adding paint to his mural while Jimin sat to the side, watching silently.

                “What is this?” sighed Hoseok, “The outsider club?”

                The two younger ones immediately turned to Hoseok. Jimin looked a little embarrassed.

                “Hyung…”

                “Hyung,” asked Taehyung thoughtfully, “Do you think that squirrels struggle to keep their tails fluffy? Do they take showers?”

                “Taehyung-ah, I’m sorry, but have no idea what you’re talking about. Jimin-ah, what are you doing out here?”

                Jimin stuttered again for a while, trying to get out some excuse but finding nothing. After a painful thirty seconds of this, Hoseok stopped him.

                “Please, just tell me something, Jimin. You haven’t even told anyone why you disappeared.”

                “It…it wasn’t anything. There were some…bullies. I don’t want to talk about it.”

                “Jimin-ah, please don’t do this.”

                “What?” Jimin’s voice was tight. “Do what? What are you talking about?”

                Taehyung tossed a paint can to the ground and said something which neither of the other two boys heard.

                “Yoongi told me where he found you,” said Hoseok.

                Jimin didn’t answer.

                “The man who took you in,” continued Hoseok, “The preacher guy—”

                That made Jimin look up, just for a moment. Hoseok tried to gauge the boy’s expression as he went on.

                “Yoongi us that there’s some people who have been hanging out around that church.”

                Jimin ground his teeth together.

                “Some Sa Hyeo Pa people.”

                Jimin kicked one of Taehyung’s paint cans aside. “I don’t want to talk right now!” he shouted. And then he was gone.

Author’s Note

I feel like I just dumped so much …stuff…on you guys this time. Things are starting to come together a little.

What did you think of the roof scene? I had to edit it a million times.