Eleven

Chapter Eleven

She without a thought ran over to him while quickly assessing his appearance. His handsome face was adorned with darkening bruises and he had a spilt lip. She didn’t see any other damage done to his body beside the huge oozing wound on his side. He refused to look at her.

“Take your shirt off.” She demanded in a sharp tone. His gaze immediately found hers, shock showing through his pain, “I said take it off or else I’ll rip it off myself.” He straightened up and winced when he tried to take off his shirt. She felt her heart ache. She quickly helped him with taking the shirt off, and she leaned closer to the wound.

“Did you get stabbed?” She asked, tearing off her hoodie and pressing it against the wound firmly. He groaned at the contact. He nodded to the question and turned to face the wall. She let out a staggering breathe. “Where’s your first aid kit? Bathroom?” She asked. When he nodded, she took his hand and had it press against the hoodie. She ran off to the bathroom, tore the place apart until she found the kit and ran back.

She sat down next to him and opened the kit. She took the hoodie away from the wound and dabbed at the wound. In times like these, she went into auto pilot. Whenever someone was hurt, she usually didn’t process any thoughts and just leap into action.

She looked over the kit and she grew frustrated. There were some things in the kit she knew, like gauze and bandages but all the cleaning solutions and ointments were different. She took a bottle and showed it to Sehun.

“Can I use this to clean the wound?” She asked. Sehun nodded. She took some gauze and dampened it with the solution and cleaned the wound. With all the excess blood gone, she could see the injury much more clearly. She never knew what a stab wound looked like before, but she knew that she never wanted to see one again. She bit her lip. “I think this needs to be stitched up…”

Sehun shook his head and grabbed something from the kit. He handed it to her and then slumped back in his original position. She looked down at the tube in her hand and tried to process what it was for. She sampled it on the back of her hand and poked at the substance. She was surprised by its stickiness. It became stickier and stickier until she had to fight to remove her finger from her hand. That’s when it clicked.

She applied the super glue-like substance to the wound and held the injury together. She waited a few seconds before letting go and let out a sigh of relief when it remained closed. She put the tube away and grabbed some more gauze to stick on the wound. She retrieved a roll of bandage from the kit as well.

“I need to wrap this around you, so can you to sit up?” She softly said. Sehun slowly sat up as she commanded. She felt her tight heart loosened when he appeared to be in less pain. She unrolled the bandaged and wrapped it around his torso a few times. She pinned it tightly and looked over the kit once more until she found some tablets. “Painkillers?” Sehun nodded. She stood back up and ran to the kitchen, grabbing a bottle of water out of the fridge before returning. She took a tablet and pushed it into Sehun’s mouth. She tipped the water bottle and made sure Sehun was able to swallow it. She placed the bottle onto the table before slumping back onto the couch. She let out a shuddering breath as she looked over her work.

“I think that will do until you get better.” She nodded. When she felt a tear go down her face, she knew that’s when her auto-pilot turned off. She was not used to this. Coming home to a friend bleeding from a stab wound was not in her normal evening routine. Complete guilt and frustration washed over her. She was supposed to stay in the shop. She could have helped him earlier if she didn’t leave. How long was he on that couch? How long did he suffer while she was out in Sector M, having “fun”? Sehun noticed her tears and raised a shaky hand to remove them.

“Thanks, you did great.” Sehun voiced in a raspy deep voice. She felt her vision blur as she stared at the wound. She sniffed, trying to clear her senses. She stared at Sehun who was continuing to wipe away any tear that left her eyes. “Don’t cry. I’ll be okay tomorrow.” Sehun reassured her. She bit her lip and gripped the hand that was resting on her face.

“And that’s when I expect an explanation, okay?” She managed to firmly state. Sehun nodded as his eyes slowly blinked. She sighed and stood up. “Come on, I’ll help you to bed.” She threw his arm around her shoulder and managed to drag him up from the couch. They slowly staggered their way down the hallway. Sehun motioned to the last door and she guided him there.

She opened the door and peered inside. It was a dark room, with posters of the sun, the moon, star configurations and charts. She found the bed resting in the middle of the room, messily undone. They made their way over to it and she slowly let Sehun down. She pulled up the covers and laid them on top of him. She looked over his expression and sighed. “Just sleep.” She whispered, moving his hair out of his place. His eyes stared into hers once more before shutting them. She took a step back before fully exiting the room and closing the door behind her. She walked back over to the living room and grimaced at the sight of the blood stains covering the couch and the floor.

She took a deep breath and nodded. She looked around for cleaning supplies and managed to find them. She succeeded in taking out the majority of the stain from the couch. She continued to clean up the mess she made earlier with the broken vase and wiped the drops of blood off the floor. She cleaned any spot of red she saw furiously not wanting to see anymore. She figured something went wrong at the meeting Sehun went to, something terribly wrong.

She stood up and was satisfied with her cleaning skills. However, it seemed that her clothes took a toll and were now marked with blood stains here and there. She sighed and decided she was too tired to worry about it. She’d find new ones tomorrow. She threw the rag she was cleaning with into the sink and walked over to the couch. She plopped down onto the couch, pulling a blanket hanging off the couch’s side over her. She fidgeted until she found a comfortable position and closed her eyes. It didn’t take much for her fall asleep.

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She opened her eyes and was greeted by the familiar sight of darkness. She groaned as she wiggled around on the ground, childishly showing her displeasure. She just wanted to rest for a little, was that too much? Apparently it was because she was in the same old black room that she visited twice before.

She sat up and shrieked loudly at the sight before her. In a white screen in front of her, was Kris changing with his to her. He jumped and turned around at the noise and she quickly covered her eyes.

“I’m sorry!” She shouted and wiggled herself around so her back was to the white screen, “I just woke up and you were there! I am not a peeping tom!” She didn’t hear anything in reply, so she slowly looked over her shoulder. Kris’ head was down; traces of a smile were visible on his face. His still bare shoulders were trembling. He then broke into laughter. She opened and closed , speechless.

“S-Stop it! It’s not funny. Think of my eyes! ...AND PUT A SHIRT ON ALREADY!” She shouted, pointing at him before quickly turning back around. The laughter died down slowly. But she refused to turn around.

“You may look now.” Kris said with his tone threaded with mockery. She turned around and stood up, dusting herself off. Kris was wearing a simple long sleeve shirt and baggy pants.

“What happened to your old clothes?” He asked. His gaze seemed more penetrating than before. Then again, she figured it was because she was a little more cleaned up than last time. Her hair was still in a braid and her (although slightly bloodied) new clothing showed off her figure enough.

“Don’t like my new clothes?” She countered. He turned his penetrating gaze to her eyes, which made her insides jump.

“No, of course not.” The smirk he shot her was handsome but it ticked her off a little. He squinted his eyes and took a step closer to the screen. “Are those…blood stains? Are you all right?” His smirk flattened to a grim line instantly. She looked down at herself and grimaced.

“Uh, yeah. I’m fine. My roommate cut themself while cooking and got blood all over our apartment. So when I was cleaning it, I got a little dirty in the process.” She applauded her quick thinking skills. Kris nodded, accepting the lie. He lifted his chin up and looked down at her, curiously.

“Who are you?” He asked. She raised an eyebrow.

“Really? I thought we went over this.”

“I looked up your name in the ID directory and your name didn’t show up.” Kris countered, his upper lip raising and his gaze showing coldness. Think fast Ileana!

“You have access to the ID directory?” She attempted to change the topic.

“I know a few people. Why are you not in the ID directory?” Kris was growing more impatient and harsh as she tried to stall.

“Who said my ID was under my name?” She shot back. This caught his attention.

“Oh?”

“Yeah. I have two names. My ID has one while I go by the second.” She explained. She thanked the few friends she knew who went by their middle names instead of their first names.

“What’s your ID name then?” Kris asked, raising a daring eyebrow. She glared back.

“Why should I tell you? What are you going to do once you find out?”

“Nothing, I am just curious where you were from.” Kris crossed his arms arrogantly.

“And simply asking me wouldn’t have gotten your answer?” She replied sharply. He went silent for a bit, not meeting her eyes.

“I didn’t think I’d see you again.” He mumbled. She felt the glare in her eyes soften.

“Okay. I get that. But doing secret background checks invades on privacy a little, don’t you think?”

“I told you I had no ill intentions!” He snapped back, his temper showing its ugly head.

“Okay! I get it. Sheesh…” She mumbled, crossing her arms. “ Oh, and I’m from the City.” She added in with a small sneer. Kris eyed her.

“Which Sector?”

“I’m not telling.” She stuck out her tongue at him. He leaned back, looking slightly repulsed.

They awkwardly stood there for a while, neither one of them thinking of anything to talk about. She bounced back and forth on her feet.

“How is your foot?” Kris asked, breaking the silence. She looked up and paused. She looked down at her feet and bounced on them again. She didn’t feel anything. She grabbed the foot she injured and looked to the bottom of it. There was only a faint scar.

“Wow, that ointment is magic…” She murmured, rubbing a thumb over the scar. “Oh, um. It’s all better.” She lifted her foot, showing him the scar. He nodded in response.

Silence again.

“So…where are you from?” She blurted out.

“Sector M.” He replied shortly, “Now will you tell me which Sector you’re from?”

“I travel between the two.” She replied, not exactly feeling like she lied. She figured she’d have to travel between the two a lot in the future.

“Why?”

“I know people in both Sectors.” She was so proud of her quick thinking these days on EXO. She really wondered if magical EXO enhanced her lying abilities.

Kris’ face grew dark. She leaned forward and tried to examine his face more closely. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. You should stop going into Sector K.” Kris’ sharp and commanding tone shook her.

“And why’s that?”

Kris shot her a look of disbelief. “Because it’s full of deceiving and power hungry mongrels.” He hissed back. She scoffed him off.

“Funny, I haven’t heard all that nice things about Sector M either.”

“From the deceiving and power hungry mongrels no doubt.” She was getting tired of this.

“Listen, I don’t really know what Sector K has done to-“

“You don’t know?” He asked stepping closer, his glare sharpening with every step. “They destroyed my home Sector. They took the lives of the innocent and they enslaved and targeted anyone they see fit. That’s what Sector K has done. And they have done a lot without consequence.” She pulled her lips back into a grim line.

“I understand. War is terrible. But it’s not one-sided-“

“War? Pledging war against a Sector who doesn’t stand a chance can’t be considered as war. It’s called an inhumane massacre.” Kris’ voice was gaining notches in volume and she found herself inwardly wincing.

“Okay. I get it. I don’t know a lot about the War, okay? All I know is people from both Sector K and M have suffered due to it.”

“No, you don’t get it. Sector K has been living well off while Sector M is still trying to fix what the war has caused. There’s no justice in it.”

She stared into Kris’ passionate stare and realized he was far too in-depth within the issue to listen to any form of criticism. So, she threw her arms into the air signaling her defeat.

“Okay. Enough. Let’s move on okay?”

“Not until you agree to stay away from Sector K.” She blinked up at Kris in disbelief.

“You’re kidding right?” She was given no reply. “Okay, compromise! I will think about it, I will research a little more into both Sectors and decided where I will permanently reside. Good?”

“No-“

“AH.”

“I do-“

“NOPE.”

“Let-“

“SHHT”

“But-“

“ZIP.”

“ILEANA!” Kris roared. “I agree to your compromise, but you must find where you will reside in 10 days’ time.”

“Why’s that?”

“I have my reasoning.”

“Being mysterious doesn’t impress me.” She said with attitude and put her hand onto her waist to add onto the effect, “But I agree to your terms.” She automatically shot out her hand out of impulse and realized something.

“Oops, I forgot about the glass barrier.” Kris stepped up to the glass and pressed his hand against the screen. She looked between his hand and back at him a few times before taking the hint. “OH.” And she ran up to the screen and laid her hand flat where Kris’ hand was.

“This seals the deal.” She smiled up at him, who in turn gave her a small smile of his own.

She moved her hand around and was surprised to feel some warmth coming from the screen “Do you feel that?” She asked Kris, who looked down at her with a confused expression. He moved his hand as well and stopped. He nodded, cracking a small smile. “You do! You feel the warmth right? Ahaha, that’s so weird.”

Suddenly, the hard surface her hand was on disappeared. She looked around frantically. She stopped and patiently waited. Annnnd, wait for it.

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Eyo, how's everyone? Fabulous. I want to sleep. I refused to sleep until I finished this chapter. HOPE YOU'RE HAPPY. Actually, it wasn't all that exciting of a chapter...was it? Oh well. More to come of course, more and more and moree.

Anyways, I was stalking the exo tag on tumblr cause I'm a crazy fangirling maniac and found this: