~chapter eight~
troubles
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I'll be holding all the tickets
And you'll be owning all the fines

When the red haired appeared in the doors of his office with a bruise on her cheek and a big cut in the corner of her lips, Jinki’s eyes widened and he almost tripped over his foot.

“What the-“ he started, but the girl shot him a look and he shut his mouth immediately. But after that, she sighed with a painful expression and Jinki saw the same girl he had to save thirteen years ago from the bullies. He smiled at her understandingly and scratched the back of his neck while showing her to sit.

Two minutes ago, he was putting a cotton wool soaked with hydrogen peroxide to her cut. She hissed quietly and closed her eyes, but opened them up after a second. Jinki examined her bruise and on his teeth in wonder.

“What happened?” he finally asked.
“Guess” she answered without any malice. Jinki looked her in the eyes, leaning on his own knees.
“I thought that you paid them the full amount for that month” he whispered. The girl nodded hesitantly.  
“But I was too late” she whispered back.
“And?” he asked and went to the big, white cupboards.
“I have a week…” she said, observing his moves.
“For what?” Jinki asked, frowning and pulling some plasters and a compress from the shelf.
“For paying them two times as much” she finished. Jinki dropped the compress and the pack of plasters and turned his head at her. His eyes were wide.
“Two times as much?!” he asked. “In a week?!”
“Shh!” the girl shushed him quickly, getting up and approaching him. She leaned closer to him and shot him a serious look. “No one can know” she said and picked up the plasters. She stretched her hands to give him the things, but Jinki was still staring at her with disbelief.
“Hoya knows?” he asked.
“Of course not. I promised him that I will get rid of the troubles. And I thought that I will really be able to do it, but they got pissed that they had to wait so much. If Hoya would discover, he would call brother. I don’t want him to come here”
“He would help you” Jinki said firmly and took the box from her. “Why can’t you accept his help?”
“He did everything he could. He’s working. I can’t make him my personal bodyguard. And more than that… We are not fully a family” she said, closing her eyes for a second. Jinki waited for her to tell more, but she turned away and sat on the chair again, so he proceeded to take care of her wounds. He stuck the plaster on her lip and opened the compress.
“Did they do anything else to you?” he asked with a caring tone. She shook her head with grateful look.
“But my head hurts” she said.
“You got hit on your head too?”
“Yeah, at the back”

Jinki circled her and pulled her hair up to see her head. He hissed.

“A cut… and a bruise” he said. Anger boiled in him and he pulled away with a growl. “What the hell, what did they do to you even?! Hit you with a baseball bat?!” he said and went to the cupboard again. “That’s too much. You have to do something with this”
“I already told you. There’s nothing to do. I have a debt. They are not a real organization, they can’t take my home or anything from me like the people from banks would do. I can’t go to the police with that because they can’t help me anyway. That’s mine debt, only mine”
“But those guys are running illegal…!”
“So what? They will eventually close their boss in the prison. But don’t you know already, Jinki? If not him, his people will chase me. Nothing can change to the time I will pay off my debt”
“That’s not even your debt” Jinki said with anger, giving her the compress. She put it on her cheek. Jinki took the other one and put it on her head. She squealed from pain.
“Wait, I have to clean this wound too…” he mumbled. “What will you do now? You have four jobs already and you are still late with your payment”
“I have three jobs now” she said.
“Hold it here…” Jinki mumbled again, pulling up her hand. “Three? Someone fired you?”
“No, I had to leve”
“Why?”
“There’s a guy…”
“Whoo-hoo…”
“Jinki!”
“What? Now you are talking informally?” Jinki smiled and took the compress from her head. “Now watch it, it will hurt a bit” he said while spreading something on her wound.
“Will you listen to me?” she said with impatience. He nodded and she took a deep breath. “He helped me out… three times. I don’t know why, but he just did. And then, he wanted to know my name. I didn’t tell him. And then, I met him one day and-“
“Is he handsome?” Jinki asked with a smirk, making her roll her eyes. She made a face.
“And I wanted to pay off the favor, so I helped him out as well. I told him that he shouldn’t know me or tell anybody about our meeting, but the next day came and he suddenly stared spying on me…”
“Oh, and now you have your personal stalker?”
“…with his friend. But I can’t let him know my name or talk to me, because they already know” she whispered the last three words. Jinki frowned his brows and finished with her wound. He took a chair and sat in front of her, lacing his fingers.
“They threatened him?” he asked seriously.
“Not him, but me. They said that I shouldn’t make any new friends”
“It means that they know everything about you” Jinki sad, crossing his arms. Seeing her worried expression, he smiled lightly. “Hey, hey, little doll. There’s no certainty that you will meet that boy ever again. Don’t worry about this. And if you would meet him, just tell him your name. Your real name, I mean”
“I can’t tell him my real name!” she said somehow imploringly. “Only my real friends know my name”
“You want to tell him your false name then? You will never meet again and this will make him less curious about you. Just try it” Jinki finished and leaned closer to her. He put his hand on her shoulder. “And also, about the money. You know that I can lend you some anytime”

A glint of anger appeared in her eyes.

“Don’t joke with me like this. I have debts already, I don’t want to fall even deeper” she said.
“But I’m your friend. I won’t ever hit you because you are late with the money. This is really too much. If they will do anything more, I swear, I will call the police and I don’t care…”
“Oppa” she stopped him with pleading voice. “They can’t do anything more than scratching me for a bit. They know well that they can’t hurt me, because they would be in the bigger trouble that I am”
“It doesn’t mean that they won’t ever touch you again. I don’t want to find you with a…”
“Oppa”

Jinki shut his mouth. He we one of the people the girl really respected and he was also her closest friend. He became a doctor two years ago and she was really proud of him.

“About your job…” he said suddenly. “ Do you like kids?”

The girl beamed immediately.

~*~

Kai heard the crack of the doors and raised his head. He got up from his desk and went to the kitchen. Taemin came back from the training. He was sniffling lightly because of the cold.

“Hey” Kai said, making him jump.
“Ohh. Hey” Taemin said, smiling and leaving his huge bag at the chair in the living room. He stretched his sore limbs and yawned widely. Kai chuckled.
“Tired?” he asked.
“Very. And hungry. Is there something to eat?”
“Suho didn’t come back yet” Kai answered. Taemin glanced at the clock and frowned. Then he turned his attention at his dongsaeng.
“But it’s past nine already” he noticed. Kai shrugged.
“He’s working more now, you know”
“We should do something for him” Taemin said and sat on the chair. Kai sat on the couch, since the dining table was in the living room. Also, the kitchen was connected with it. “But it’s really hard to earn any money. Everything goes for bills and food. Last time I bought something for myself was… two months ago”

Kai hummed, understanding. He was only buying himself food.

“How long are you planning on training?” he asked Taemin. His hyung shrugged.
“As long as it takes for them to notice me” Taemin answered with sadness in his voice.
“I’m surprised that they didn’t let you perform yet” Kai said. “I don’t know about all those trainees things and the rest, but…”
“Let’s not talk about that. Better tell me who were we spying on last time” Taemin said, nodding at him and waiting for an answer.
“That’s no one. She’s just mysterious and doesn’t want me to know her name. And also…” he stopped suddenly. Something told him that he shouldn’t let Taemin know about the men who were chasing her and about her scars and wounds. It felt… weird. He grunted quietly. “She’s nice, that’s why I wanted to know more about her”
“Yep, she really is nice” Taemin nodded energetically. “And quite smart too. She looks like a smart girl who loves other people, you know? And she’s smiling almost all the time. Where did you meet her even?”
“I don’t remember already” he said, but eventually remembered about the bridge and chuckled.
“Kai?” Taemin’s voice got serious all of a sudden and Kai raised his stare at him.
“Hm?”
“Did you thought about finding a girlfriend again?” he asked. Kai laughed and shook his head.
“I don’t believe in love anymore, Taemin” he answered and got up from the couch.

~*~

“You are missing the lectures” the teacher said. Suho bowed slightly, but her stare was still very strong and angry. “I haven’t see you for a few days. If this will continue, I will have to…”
“I’m very sorry, teacher” Suho bowed deeply and the looked at her. “I have some family troubles. I know that I shouldn’t miss any lessons, but right now it’s a bit crucial time for me…”
“I know very well that you are very reliable. And I know that in most of the colleges teachers can’t extract their students after a few days of absence. But you know well that you are a student who got here almost accidentally, and more than that, this direction in studying is ordered…” she stopped, tired of explaining this again. She sighed. “Please, Suho, work harder. You are one of our best students, you can’t miss any lectures”

Suho nodded. The woman was eyeing him for a few seconds.

“I can give you a free week. Try to solve your family troubles and then come back here. What do you think?” she asked. Suho’s eyes widened and he smiled widely with grateful.

~*~

Kai wanted to be alone. He tried to sleep, but his insomnia didn’t let him to. After half an hour rolling in the bed and thinking about nothing else that Sang Hee, he finally got up and sneaked outside. The weather wasn’t really cold, even though it was the middle of the winter. He let his legs guide him.

He opened his eyes, feeling all warm and fuzzy inside. He mumbled something under his breath. He felt the scent of fresh fruits and filled his lungs with it, smiling. For a minute he forgot about everything what happened and only knew that he’s hugging Sang Hee.

He could feel her soft hair under his right hand and her waist under his left. She was breathing calmly into his chest. Her hair were tangled and tickled his nose, but still, he liked this feeling. His heart was crazy as always beside her. But then, the reality hit him and he closed his eyes, as something was about to really hit him.

She was here, with him. He was touching her again. And after one year, nothing changed.

He looked at her head and realized that he still loves her.

Kai shook his head. His heart was beating rapidly and he couldn’t breathe properly.

How would he react now? If she would came back?

What would he do if she would want to be with him again? He imagined that moment. He saw her mentally. Saying that she loved him. Just like some time ago, but this time for real.

He hit something with his knee and hissed. The pain made him came back to reality and he jumped in the place, rubbing his knee. He glanced at the back to see that he just hit the trash bin. He made a face.

He realized that he’s by the river. He went to the edge and sat on the snow. He could see the bridge from here and he remembered about the red haired. She wasn’t working in the café already. Another waitress told him when he asked. He got used to not seeing her and his curiosity something dropped. Now he was listening to his senses and they were telling him that it was better this way. The girl said herself that it’s dangerous for him to be with her. Maybe she was right. And he wasn’t a policeman or a bodyguard to save her every time.  

Still, something bugged him.

He made a snowball and threw it into the river. It was frozen on the sides, but still flowing in the middle, where water was the roughest. The snowball fell with a plop. He started making more snowballs. He was throwing some of them into the water or after aiming at something, a tree, a lamp, a trash bin. He even made a small snowman, but he didn’t have any rocks or sticks to make him eyes or anything and pouted when he realized that.

He stared in air for a long time. He decided to go when his jeans were already all wet and he got really cold. He got up and stopped suddenly, like a deer when he hears a sound. Kai started at the front, at the bloody red stain of hair walking on the street. It was so visible when snow was the background, that he couldn’t misunderstand with anyone else. A smile appeared on his face and he jumped in the place, raising his hands.

“Hey!” he shouted as loud as he could. The girl twitched suddenly and he could see it clearly. But she didn’t turn to face him – she started walking faster. Kai picked two snowballs from the ground and threw one of them. He aimed wrongly and didn’t put much strength into the throw, so the snowball hit the tree. He took the second one and aimed. He was staring at the flying snowball. The ball hit the ground right beside girl’s feet and she jumped in place, surprised. She turned her head and Kai saw her face. He laughed.

“Hey!” he shouted again. The girl looked at him with surprise and her eyes widened. Suddenly, she started running.

Kai frowned, but his legs reacted by themselves and he started running. He crossed the bridge and ran through the trees. He could still see her, but soon, she disappeared somewhere. He started running faster, some weird power was telling him to. He wanted to see the girl once again and he didn’t even knew why – he wasn’t thinking at that time. His breath became rapid, legs became to hurt, his condition wasn’t good. But soon he saw her red hair. She was running down the hill, to the most frequented part of the city he knew. But he got closer to her.

“Stop! Hey!” he shouted. The girl turned her head and started running faster. She passed the closed shop with ice cream and then a shop with clothes for teenagers. Kai followed her, but she suddenly tuned right, to the alley.

“Stop!” Kai shouted again and cursed when he fell to the puddle. His shoe was completely wet now.

The girl had to stop because of the traffic lights and Kai was already really close to her. She turned her head to see him five meters away from her and she made a miserable face.

“Got you!” Kai shouted with a laugh and stretched his hand to grab her, but he slipped.

The girl was staring at him when he suddenly fell back and hit the ground with a loud thud. It happened so quickly that she was completely dumbfounded. Kai growled loudly and stared at his own feet, like he didn’t even realize when he found himself on the ground.

After that, the red haired started laughing suddenly. Her laugh was so loud and sweet, that Kai looked up. He felt like tinker bells were echoing in his ears. She covered with her hand and knelt down, because she couldn’t hold in her laugh. Kai imagined the whole thing and the way he fell and he burst out laughing as well, still on the ground. People were staring at them with wide eyes.

The red haired’s laugh became chuckles and she had teary eyes. She got closer to Kai, who was leaning on his hands and looking at the sky, laughing.

“You-haah-you okay?” she asked, chuckling. “Oh God, I will get hiccups” she said. This made Kai laugh even more and he looked at her with an adorable eyesmile.
“Okay, I can’t get up” he said, still chuckling. He stretched his hand. The girl stood up and took it. She pulled him up, but he almost slipped again. They laughed. When Kai was finally standing on his own feet, he started rubbing his back with a painful expression.
“Are you okay?” the girl asked.
“Yeah, yeah” Kai answered and took a look at her. His eyes widened and he pointed at her face. “Wait, what…”
“That’s rude, don’t point into other people’s faces” she said and pulled his hand down.
“What happened to you?” he asked, looking at the bruise and the plaster. She opened and tilted her had questioningly, but then realized what was he talking about and gasped quietly.
“Ahh. That’s nothing, don’t worry” she said. “Sorry, I have to go” her expression became questionable again and Kai grabbed her wrist quickly.
“If we met then we can talk for a bit, right?” he said. “I fell because of you, you should be a bit nicer”

She chuckled and remembered the whole scene. She saw Kai, and in the next seconds, only his legs were visible in the air. She snorted and laughed again. Kai smiled suddenly, just seeing her laughing.

“So?” he asked.

The girl looked at her with happy eyes, but after three seconds, her smile disappeared. She swallowed hard, her eyes became wider, because she remembered the men’s words. She sighed.

“No, we can’t” she said. Kai frowned.
“Why?”
“Why are you following me all the time?”
“I’m not following you. I’m bumping into you. I swear”

She eyed him up and down and bit her lip.

“Let’s make a promise” she said. Kai raised his brows.
“I’m listening” he said.
“I will tell you my name. I will let you go with me just for today. You can ask me anything, but I won’t answer for all the questions. But after this night, you will have to pretend that you don’t know me. I will pretend that I don’t know you. And in reality, we really won’t know each other. No one will find out about me. You won’t tell anyone my name. I can only do this much” she finished, looking at him with seriousness. Kai stared at her and examined her. She was pretty, really pretty. He liked her eyes especially. But it was visible that she’s not Korean. He eyed the bruise on her cheek and almost felt as someone is hitting him on his own cheek. Finally, he nodded.

“Okay. I promise” he said. She smiled lightly, and he answered to the smile. 

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Quick author's note: yes, Jinki is our lovely Onew. 
I forgot to tell that the men who were chasing her have weird nicnames lol but I couldn't come with anything better xD Those aren't their names of course (Flash and Laser) even though Flash isn't Korean. 
I hope that no one is pissed because of so many characters from different groups, because I will add many others, not only from SMent, but also from different kpop groups, I'm using the ones who fits :D 

More action is coming but not today, so for now please enjoy the chapter and don't hesitate to comment! 
thank you for reading! ♥