Chapter 9

The next day, Elise and Kate arrived at the orphanage after work, and after saying goodbye to her friend, Elise made her way to the boys' apartment. With her tight, black pencil skirt, her hair pulled into a neat bun, and her heels making sharp clicks against the tiled hallway floor, she looked pristine and sharp, a slight contrast to her usually dressing in dress pants and wearing her hair down. After taking her sunglasses off and putting them away in her purse, Elise knocked on the door. “Guys?”

Jongdae opened the door. “Hi Elise! Ooh, what’s up with you?” he asked, intrigued with her way of dress.

Elise shook her head. “Had a meeting with a CEO today. Can I come in?”

“Yup,” he moved away from the door, and let Elise in.

Elise scanned the entrance while taking her heels off. “I see you guys kept this area clean.”

“Well,” Jongdae scratched his neck, “we can’t have you trippin’ all over us. Yeah?”

Baekhyun and Kyungsoo then appeared from the kitchen. “Elise! You’re here! Thank you so much for the notebooks and pens! They look so pretty,” Baekhyun sighed dreamily as he the notebook in his hand.

“Yeah, thanks so much! I also cooked some omelettes! Want one?” Kyungsoo asked.

Elise almost chuckled at their hyper selves. “Sure, I’ll have an omelette. But, Baekhyun, they’re plain, not pretty.”

The cheery boy shook his head. “Doesn’t matter. It’s better than anything we’ve ever had before.”

“You were just like me a few years ago,” Elise thought as she made her way to the kitchen, Jongdae following her. “Good. Glad you like it.”

“You’re going to teach us more today?” Jongdae asked as he sat next to Elise at the table.

“Yup. Where’s everyone else though?”

“Kris is out with errands, Yixing and Luhan are out finding a job for Sehun, Sehun’s at the bar, and Joonmyun took Jongin, Tao, Chanyeol, and Minseok to the hospital,” Kyungsoo answered as he paced a large omelette in front of Elise.

“Hospital?” she asked.

“They got into another fight, Jongin and Chanyeol,” Baekhyun sighed, running his hands through his air as he plopped in front of Elise. “Minseok got a bloody nose from it, and Tao couldn’t stop crying, so Joonmyun brought those two along as well even though they aren’t really injured.”

“And those two?”

“Probably black eyes and bloody lips or something,” Jongdae answered.

Elise shook her head. “May I ask why?”

“It might be better if you ask them yourself,” Jongdae said.

She nodded. “I might just do that.”

~~~~~~

Two hours later, Elise and the boys sat in a circle. All twelve were silent as Elise met eyes with each one of them. “Can someone tell me what happened earlier today?” she asked calmly.

“Nothing,” Jongin blurted.

“Of course somethin’ happened, you ,” Chanyeol muttered.

“Stop callin’ me that you little f-“

“ENOUGH,” Elise yelled. Yixing and Luhan, both of whom sat next to her, flinched at her volume. “No one is calling names at each other. I simply asked a question,” she started, and took a breath. “Now, may I ask again? What happened earlier today?”

“Nothing,” Jongin muttered again.

“Can I ask you something then, Jongin?” she asked softly.

“Mm.”

“If nothing happened, why do you have a black eye? Why does Minseok have a cast on his nose? Why does Chanyeol have thread to sew his split lip?”

Jongin clenched his fists in anger. “If you want to call me out for this bull, just say it.”

Elise shook her head. “I’m not here to blame this on anyone. I want you guys to talk it out. Why did you guys fight?”

“There’s nothing to talk about.”

“Of course there is! We landed in the hospital because of you!” Chanyeol shouted.

“Me? ME?! Hah, what am I thinking, of course it’s me. ALL THIS IS ALWAYS BECAUSE OF ME!” Jongin raged, as he stood up and glared at Chanyeol.

“If you can’t get your temper together, of course this would happen!” The taller boy shouted as well.

Kris and Joonmyun both grabbed their hair in frustration, Baekhyun was comforting a crying Tao, and the other sat in silence, completely avoiding the scene. Elise stood up, and took Jongin and Chanyeol by the arms. “Both of you, come with me. The rest of you, sit there and don’t move. I don’t want a word out of you all for the moment.”

She pulled both boys with a fierce grip into the large bedroom. After placing them next to each other on the bed closest to the door, she closed the door, locked it, pulled a chair in front of them, and sat down. “Now, if you don’t want to talk about what happened, I won’t make you tell me. However, I am wondering about what made you two like this at each other.”

Neither boy made a sound. Jongin gripped the blankets with his hands, and Chanyeol took deep breaths. Elise sighed and stared at the ground for a moment, before turning to the two again. “Can I tell you something about myself?”

Seeing that neither boy looked at her, she decided to continue. “I lived out of a box for five years. From when I was nine to when I was fourteen. During those times, I had the temper of a madwoman. I bared my teeth at anyone who tried to approach me. I even bit a kind, old gentleman who tried to give me some food. I wouldn’t let anyone near me, not after my parents died and my relatives threw me out the door.”

Jongin relaxed his hold on the blanket. “I didn’t know of hope, or of kindness. I thought all acts were out of pity. I thought of myself as an animal. To be frank, I acted like one too,” she continued.

“But one day, I saw these young men picking on a teenage girl in the alley I hid in. The girl was scared, but she didn’t do anything. I thought, I couldn’t just stand there, and I was so angry… so I beat them all up. They were probably unconscious for a while.”

“I thought the girl would thank me, but you know what she did?” Elise paused. Jongin was looking at her, anger erased from his facial features, and Chanyeol nodded for her to continue. “She spat at me, calling me a piece of who didn’t deserve to live in this world. She called me a wild animal who should be reported to the police. That was the night I ran away from the box that I called my home in those years.”

“Thankfully, that was the night I met Ed, the security guard who guards the front door of the small complex I live in. He is a physically gruff man, but his eyes saw past the physical dirtiness that made up… me. He let me into the office, let me have a bath and the first full meal I had in years, and let me sleep on his office bed for the night. The next day, he arranged for me to have a room in the complex, as long as I found any random job and worked full time. He is truly a kind man. But, aside from all these acts of kindness, you know what was the most important thing he taught me? He taught me control, rationality, logic in my thoughts. He taught me kindness, faith, and how to believe. It’s why I am who I am today.” Elise concluded, taking a deep breath.

She observed each boy. Jongin fumbled his fingers together, deep in thought. Chanyeol looked like he was spaced out. Elise took a breath. “You know, I’m not asking for sympathy about my past. I just hope you’ll get something from this. You may not tell me about yourself, and that’s okay. But I hope you realize that only when you learn to control yourselves and see the good in others can you build a better relationship.”

Chanyeol nodded, his eyes b with tears. “Sorry…”

Elise nodded. “I hope you two will not fight each other, but if you have disagreements, talk it out. It'll take time, but both of you can try, right?”

Both gave a brief nod. Satisfied, she stood up and unlocked the door. “Let’s go get the other guys then. I’m sure they’re worried.”

~~~~~~

“Your handwriting is really beautiful, Luhan. Your’s too, Baekhyun.”

“What about mine?”

“You too, Tao.”

“Aish, why can’t I write my full name already?!”

“You’re doing fine, Sehun. Remember what I told you? You know the alphabet already. Just sound it out, and try and put the letters together. I’ll be back guys!”

Elise made her way to the kitchen and poured herself a glass of water. After drinking it all in one go, she pulled out a chair and collapsed into it. Her fingers drummed the edges of the glass, and her eyes wandered into nothingness.

Jongin, who finished practicing for the night, wandered into the kitchen as well. “Elise?” he asked, nervousness lacing his tone.

“Mm?”

“… Are you still angry?”

She shook her head. “No, I’m not. Here, sit with me.”

Jongin sat next to the older girl. Elise focused her attention on the boy. “Jongin?”

He glanced at her in response. “I’m not blaming you for anything, but I have one thing to ask.”

“Yeah?”

“Why are you angry?”

Jongin bit his lip, thinking of how to answer. “I don’t know.”

She nodded. “I understand. I didn’t know before, either. I was angry once too. But, don’t let it hide who you are.”

He tilted his head. “What do you mean?”

“I know you’re a kind boy underneath who cares deeply for those who you’re close with, especially those in the room next to us,” she spoke.

He chuckled in disbelief. “How do you know? How can you know?”

“I don’t,” Elise answered honestly, “but I know that a boy like you can’t be evil at heart.”

“I don’t know about that.”

Elise shook her head. “You are a kind person underneath, Jongin. If I can see that, why can’t you?”

He didn’t answer. She put her hand on his, and he looked up in surprise. “Jongin… don’t let anger ruin relationships for you. Don’t let it take over your life. But before all that, I need you to try and figure out why you’re angry. Can you do that for me?”

Jongin bit his lip again. “I’ll try.”

She nodded, and was about to pull her hand away, when he flipped his own hand over to grasp hers. “But…” he asked, and she stopped breathing from surprise, “will you help me with this?”

Elise grasped his hand with a strength he never felt before. “Of course I will. I’m always here, for you, and for all the other guys. Sound good?”

He broke out into a true smile. “Yeah. Sounds good.”

She nodded. “How about this? Let’s go sit with the guys. Show me your notebook. I want to see your progress.”

~~~~~~

After Elise left, Jongin sat on his bed and opened his notebook. After flipping to an empty sheet of paper, he uncapped his new pen and held it above the notebook.

“Angry. How do I write angry? An-…A. Nnnn is an N…” he thought as he proceeded to write out the word, angry.

After writing the simple word “angry,” Jongin paused. “Why am I angry? Why? Water… starts with a W… so W…” With these thoughts, he wrote out “why,” right next to “angry.”

He furrowed his eyes in concentration, his smooth black hair falling in front of his eyes. “Why am I angry?” he muttered.

He knew the answer. Jongin knew all along. He didn’t know why he didn’t tell Elise. Was it because they only knew each other for a few days? Maybe. But he trusted her, right?

Jongin knew he did. Otherwise he wouldn’t have grabbed her hand and asked for her to help him through fixing his temper.

So why was he angry? After a few more minutes, a new word appeared next to “why.”

.

.

.

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“My family.”

Sorry for the late update, everyone! I got caught up with errands, even halfway across the world >.< Hope you enjoyed this chapter! We get a deeper look into Elise's past and Jongin's mindset. Please subscribe if you like it! Comments are always appreciated :) See you all soon!

shadowonsapphire