I is for Innocence

SLAM.

Kae jumped at the stack of papers thrown onto her desk right on top of her homework that she decided to get a jumpstart on before she was rudely interrupted. YoungJae was talking to their teacher, so Kae was waiting patiently on the side until YoungJae was done before they went to go get lunch with the two magnae puppies.

She peered up in curiosity to find a girl with long hair tied up high and make-up caked heavily on her face. The girl smirked at Kae and informed, “Kim KaeYeon-sshi~ the teacher asked if you could be so kind as to bring this to the teacher’s office because the teacher has a meeting she has to go to right after she goes over YoungJae’s test with him.”

With a of her head, Kae responded with an innocent smile, “Why would the teacher ask you to hand me something instead of just asking me directly?”

The girl was shocked by the fact that Kae actually talked back to her.

Kae pouted at the girl, “You wouldn’t happen to be using me to do your work for you because I’m new around here, would you?” She smiled brightly before continuing, “I’m sure you wouldn’t since you seem like a nice person!”

The long-haired female was flabbergasted at Kae’s comeback.

‘Since when did this girl get a backbone?!’ the girl screamed in her head as she bit her lip. Just the thought went through her head, YoungJae passed by her to Kae.

“Thanks for waiting. Ready to go?” he asked with a smile, looking down at the giant stack of papers with a raised eyebrow. “What’s all this?”

“A-Ah…” stuttered the other girl in hopes of saving face in front of YoungJae.

“Ah! It’s nothing! Our classmate just asked since I’m about to go to the cafeteria to drop this off at the teacher’s office,” Kae informed truthfully.

“W-Well…YoungJae-sshi…”

“Is that so?” YoungJae turned his eyes to the girl. Her previous haughty attitude disappearing in front of the taller male. Kae smiled, pulling on YoungJae’s sleeve.

“She seems busy. Why don’t we just stop by before going to lunch? It’s on the way anyways,” Kae suggested. YoungJae turned to Kae with a sigh.

“Are you sure?”

Kae nodded, picked up the stack of papers and handing it to YoungJae so she could grab her homework from under the pile and put it in her backpack. She took half the stack back from him before the two of them walked out.

The haughty girl was absolutely speechless and utterly confused as to what just happened.

~

“Kae…you know if someone picks on you, you can always tell and I’ll tell them off,” YoungJae informed after they left the teacher’s office. Kae smiled at YoungJae.

“I know, but Jae has more important things to worry about. Besides, HeeHee has been teaching me all sorts of tricks to prevent bullying!” Kae proudly announced. “She didn’t pick on me! I just got really happy I thought I would just do her errand for her anyways!”

With a chuckle, YoungJae ruffled her hair, “You silly girl. You’re supposed to teach her a lesson and not do her errand for her!”

“Ah…was I? I’m still not very good at this…maybe I should ask HeeHee for more advice…and practice more,” Kae mumbled with a pondering pout. YoungJae’s eyes lingered on her for a few moments as she became immersed in her thoughts. An endearing smile slowly appeared on his face. When she turned to him, he jumped in surprise and turned his head away with a slight blush on his face.

“What’s wrong? Is there something on my face?” Kae asked as she began to rub her face to get whatever it was off.

YoungJae laughed as he shook his head, “Come on, JongUppie and JunHongie are waiting and probably starving.”

A comfortable silence fell over the two of them before Kae broke it by calling YoungJae’s name.

“Jae?”

“Hm?”

“Jae will…always be with me…right?”

He stared at her in confusion before nodding and smiling in reassurance, “Of course. Why would you ask such a silly question?”

“Then…am I…your girlfriend?”

Time seemed to have frozen for the two of them as Kae gazed into YoungJae’s eyes with a pleading look.

“Do…do you even know what being a girlfriend means?” YoungJae stuttered as he felt the blush return on his face.

Kae looked down in shame at her ignorance before shaking her head.

“Truthfully…no…but…I asked Channie-oppa…and…I just…want to always be with Jae…” she answered honestly. “…and…I just…feel nervous…that…Jae might leave me…”

YoungJae smiled as he pulled Kae into a warm embrace.

“Where did you get a silly idea like that? Do me a favor and never speak with HimChan-hyung about these matters again. I promise I’ll always be with Kae…and you don’t need to be my girlfriend for that to be true,” he reassured with a sigh.

She pulled back and asked, “Do you want Kae to be your girlfriend?”

He stiffened at her unexpected question.

“W-Well…I…I’m not…I’m not sure…it’s…it’s a little weird…to just suddenly…” YoungJae stuttered out, not sure what exactly was coming out of his mouth anywhere. Kae cocked her head adorably in confusion. He closed his eyes with a deep sigh to try and calm down before answering again.

“To be honest, it would be a little weird for me right now if we decided to go out especially when you don’t even know what it means to be someone’s girlfriend. I like how things are now. Let’s just…take it slowly, okay?” YoungJae coherently answered this time.

With a pout, Kae nodded in understanding before wrapping her arms around his waist with a smile.

“If that makes Jae happy, Kae happily agrees!”

YoungJae smiled, patting her on the head, as they finally made it to the cafeteria.

~

In the next few days, the girl that tried to make herself known began to try even harder to come between the JK couple. They learned (more like drilled into their heads) that the girl’s name was Lee MinJi, the secretary of the Student Council. MinJi was a spoiled brat, raised in a fairly well-off family and basically got whatever she wanted ever since she was a child. And apparently, she wanted YoungJae to be her boyfriend. Despite making himself very clear that he was not interested at all, she wasn’t deterred (and possibly even more motivated).

She tried every trick in the book. “Tripping” in the hall to force him to catch her, “accidentally” bumping into him because she wasn’t looking, asking the teacher if she could be paired with him for projects…the hardheaded girl was relentless.

Kae decided she didn’t like this girl.

It confused her. She really couldn’t figure out why she didn’t like this girl. Other than her annoyingly persistent attitude, Kae thought she seemed like a pretty friendly girl (perhaps a bit too friendly in her opinion). Yet MinJi’s presence made Kae’s insides boil whenever she saw her. She really couldn’t figure out why. But she didn’t like how friendly she was being with YoungJae. She tried to reason maybe it was because MinJi might that YoungJae from her. But YoungJae had been very clear that he had no interest in even being friends with the girl.

Kae sighed. This was beyond her. It didn’t help that due to MinJi’s persistence she actually ended up partners with YoungJae (who adamantly disagreed with the teacher’s choice of arrangement but was shot down immediately). While Kae and her partner quickly finished their project, YoungJae and MinJi seemed to be having trouble cooperating on…well…everything about the project. Kae usually never thought badly of people, but she had a feeling that MinJi was arguing with YoungJae on purpose so they could spend more time together. Kae’s partner bid her farewell once they were done and Kae was left sitting and waiting for YoungJae and MinJi to finish before she could go home with YoungJae.

Her insides were boiling again when MinJi grabbed YoungJae’s hand forcefully off the paper to “correct” something before he “ruined” the poster. Regardless, she sat quietly as the two of them continued working. She got satisfaction from the fact that YoungJae looked like he was about to punch the girl in the face. She secretly hoped he would but knew YoungJae would never do something like that in school. …she also knew it was bad to hope bad things on other people.

While MinJi was busy writing something on the poster, YoungJae sneakily threw an apologetic look back at Kae, who just shook her head in understanding and smiled at him. He turned back to MinJi when she started talking to him, not noticing the pout on Kae’s face as he turned away.

“How long does it take to make a poster?” Kae whined internally as she took out her cell phone to see where the two puppies were off to (since classes ended a while ago). As she waited, she learned that JongUp and JunHong were outside playing basketball with some friends. Should she go out and play with them while she waited? It sounded stupid…but she didn’t trust MinJi…to be alone with YoungJae. She was starting to get a headache from the whole thing.

The two of them were arguing or something again. She was beginning to become bored of MinJi’s antics and was about to go back to her cell phone when YoungJae’s screaming came to an abrupt, unnatural halt.

Kae’s eyes widened as her phone dropped on the desk in shock at the sight of MinJi stealing a kiss from YoungJae’s lips.

Something in her snapped.

Kae out.

~

YoungJae was about to push MinJi off to tell her off and possibly punch her in the face, not caring about consequences at this point, because his patience was wearing thin when suddenly a scream rang out from MinJi as she was pulled back by her hair by Kae.

“Get your disgusting claws off my man, you two-cent ,” Kae growled viciously with a sickeningly sweet smile on her face as she maneuvered MinJi’s head to face her directly, nose-to-nose, while glaring at her right in the eyes.

“W-Wha-” was all MinJi got out before she passed out from the tranquilizer YoungJae shot at her. He turned calmly to Kae and stared at her as she turned her attention to him and smiled coyly.

“You don’t seem the least bit surprised. I suppose you’re used to this, huh?” Kae chuckled as she boldly sat on YoungJae’s lap and wrapped an arm around his neck, playing with his collar with her other hand. “That’s why I like you~”

“Although you look the absolute cutest when you’re all flustered~” she teasingly whispered in his ear, hoping to get a response out of him. She frowned in disapproval when the only response she got was a sideways glance up at her face.

“Who are you?” YoungJae asked bluntly, figuring that was probably the best way to deal with this side of Kae that he has never met before.

“Oh~ what an authoritative aura~ I like it~” she purred before answering, “I suppose you can call me Vix, short for Vixen. I think it’s quite fitting, don’t you, Pretty Boy?”

“How old are you?” he continued, earning a finger waggle.

“Uh uh~ a lady doesn’t just reveal her age to just anyone,” she answered mysteriously, so YoungJae assumed she would be around 20 or so. Probably mid-20s since she seemed a bit sensitive about her age.

“I apologize if this seems rude, but I’m slightly concerned about Kae due to your existence.”

At the mention of the reason for her existence, Vix frowned in sadness.

“I can’t say I’m proud of what I was for either,” she whispered as she stared off into space as if playing memories in her head. She got off YoungJae’s lap and looked out the window at the sunset with a smile. “This poor thing…has really gone through a lot, Pretty Boy…are you sure you can fix her?”

YoungJae stayed silent, neither affirming nor denying her question.

“I think it’s pretty obvious why I exist,” she continued when YoungJae didn’t respond. “…do you hate me?”

“No,” YoungJae answered without hesitation this time. “In fact, I’m thankful. I’m aware that each and every single one of you exist to protect Kae. It saddens me that you have to exist to keep memories locked away from Kae. But I appreciate it. She wouldn’t be with me today if it weren’t for all of you.”

YoungJae held Vix’s hand and smiled warmly at her.

“Thank you, Vix.”

Surprised by his compassion for Kae, Vix blushed at the contact as a single tear escaped her, which she brushed away immediately with a laugh.

“You sure have a way with words, Pretty Boy,” she giggled, clenching YoungJae’s hand back with a genuine smile. “This is probably the first time I’ve been treated like a human being since I existed…”

Suddenly, she lunged forward and stole a quick kiss from his lips. As she pulled away, she whispered softly as if afraid someone would hear, “Be careful of the sleeping beast in her. Even you might not be able to stop her if she’s released, Pretty Boy.”

Still stunned from the kiss, YoungJae stood frozen as he tried to process what exactly just happened around him. When he finally snapped out of his trance, he found Kae back asleep on the desk.

“Beast?” he whispered as his fingers unconsciously went to his lips. When he realized what he was doing, he quickly pulled his hand away and cleared his throat. He looked over at MinJi. She would forget what happened with the dart he shot her with.

He smiled as Kae slowly opened her eyes again.

“Jae?”

“I’m right here.”

She rubbed her eyes. “Where’s MinJi-sshi?”

“She fell asleep on me. I can just finish the rest of this at home. She was more of a hindrance than help anyways,” YoungJae chuckled.

“I don’t like it…” Kae suddenly spoke, though a bit timidly. “No…I h-hate it.”

“Hate what?”

“Seeing you with MinJi…I hate it…a lot…it makes…it makes me angry. I don’t know why, but it does,” she said honestly, clearly conflicted by such complicated emotions she has never felt before.

YoungJae stared at Kae in surprise before he finally answered, “Are you…jealous, Kae?”

“I dunno…what’s it like to be jealous?” she asked quietly as if embarrassed that she didn’t know beforehand.

“Being jealous is…when you don’t like seeing two people interacting with each other because you…like one of them a lot.”

“Oh, I see,” Kae got out of her seat and pulled YoungJae away from MinJi. “Then, I was jealous because I like Jae a lot and MinJi is annoying.”

YoungJae couldn’t help but chuckle at the adorably innocent look on her face when she said it. He tucked her hair behind her ear with a smile and confessed, “You’re so cute, Kae…I like you a lot, too.”

“Then…”

At the hopeful look in her eyes, he knew what she was implying and smiled affectionately while asking…

“Would you like to be my girlfriend, Kae?”

“Yes!” she screamed without hesitation and jumped into YoungJae’s arms.

~

File opened.

Name: Unknown
Age: Unknown
Possible purpose: Caretaker of all personalities?

Name: Dee
Age: 3
Possible purpose: Traumatic childhood memories

Name: Vix
Age: Mid-20s
Possible purpose: Seductress ( was probably involved)

File saved.

=====================================================================

 FEJWIOAPJGEPOIWHAFPEPOWIAJFPEFJEWPAIGHEWPAJFEWAJIF;EJA’KFEWJAFEAK

FINALLY UPDATED. /PASSES OUT/

So, I apologize if that seemed a bit rushed, but please understand that the two of them were already pretty much bonded together and the only reason YoungJae hesitated was because the change from friends to a romantic relationship was something he had never considered before and also something he knew was beyond Kae’s comprehension. She still doesn’t quite understand it but YoungJae is also a possessive little bastard and doesn’t want to give her away to anyone. XD

Also, I’ve noticed each of Kae’s personalities calls YoungJae something different. XD

/shakes fist/ YOO YOUNGJAE, YOU WEREN’T SUPPOSED TO BE ALL COOL AND COLLECTED WITH VIX TRIED TO PUT MOVES ON YOU. WHAT IS THIS NONSENSE?!

Huff.

Hate it when my characters have a mind of their own and don't get written the way I wanted them to be.

~Kira :3