Jilin woke up, feeling relaxed and refreshed. She sat up and stretched her arms out, smiling while doing so. She crawled to the edge of the bed and saw Zelo still sleeping. Her lips curled into a smile at the sight of his bed head. He looked so peaceful, other than when he was awake. She’d often notice his brows knitted together, bottom lip raw and red from biting it, wrinkles across his frown lines and bloodshot eyes.

Now, while he was sleeping, he was relaxed and calm and…she liked this much better than him at school. She also noticed that his calmer state was when he was at the SAK meeting Monday. She got out of bed and looked through her bag, pulling out a fresh outfit. Hey, she always came prepared. Her fingers ravished through her own hair and she muttered, “Gotta take a shower.” Hopefully Zelo wouldn’t mind. Girls had to stay clean.

She smiled and stepped into the bathroom, closing the door and locking it. She stripped out of her old clothes and set them aside near the sink. The tiled floors felt cold against her bare feet and she shivered, her legs tingling as she scurried towards the shower. She the water and warmed it up before stepping inside and closing the shower door. The hot water relaxed her muscles, and made her sigh. God would she love to do this every morning. Instantly, she paused. Waking up in Zelo’s bed and taking a shower in his bathroom-is that how she really wanted to wake up every morning? Apparently so. She hadn’t given the thought more than a second.

-----

Zelo sighed, waking up and hearing the sound of running water in his bathroom. He sat up and looked around, his bed was messed up and Jilin wasn’t in it. Was she taking a shower? He shrugged, and stood, fixing his bed. He placed his pillow and blanket in their original spots and knocked on his bathroom door, “Yah! How long have you been in there?!”

The running water stopped and there were sounds of her running across the tile. The door opened a crack and she popped her head out. Her dark hair framed her face which was still wet and she hugged a towel around her body grinning, “Relax. Not long, you still have hot water left.” His eyes wandered and she closed the door more, “Yah. Don’t stare!” She reached out and slapped his head.

He cringed, “Ow that hurt.” Looking up he thought her cheeks were red, and then remembered she had just taken a shower in hot water. The steam was starting to pour out of the bathroom and fog his vision, but he blinked it away.

“Don’t give me that look then.” She started closing the door, “Now I need to change.” With a smirk, she closed the door and locked it, her feet scurrying across the floor again. Zelo snorted and went over to his closet, picking out clothes he’d wear for the day. Jilin wasn’t the only one who needed a shower. After a minute or two she came back out, her hair still damp and wetting the back of her short sleeve shirt. Her clothes looked a little big, that gray shirt of hers was well at her waist but slipped off one shoulder, and her ‘made-for-track’ sweats hung loosely at her thighs and slimmed down towards her calves. Shaking her head lightly, she stuffed her previous clothes back into her bag, “Nice shampoo you have. Smells good.” Her smile said she was serious.

Zelo grinned, “Uh thanks.” He scratched his nape, “Those clothes look pretty big on you…” He didn’t know why he brought it up, but he felt like he needed to.

She grabbed her collar and puffed out the soft looking material, “Yea. Zico bought these a little big for me so I could grow into it and,” she shook her legs, “these are Zico’s too. But I got them because they didn’t fit him either.” Setting her clothes into her bag, Jilin stood up and slipped her backpack over her shoulders, “I should get going. I’ll see you tomorrow at the meeting.” But he didn’t want her to leave. Not yet.

But Zelo nodded and smiled anyway, “Yea. I’ll be fighting tomorrow too.”

“Cool. I’m gonna kick your .”

He whistled, “Can’t wait.” She laughed at his bland tone and waved, jumping from his bedroom window and onto the tree. Her fingers slid down a branch and she ran off in the broad daylight. He gave a small wave to her back and went into the shower. The hot water felt like a dream, he leaned against the wall and sighed, scrubbing away his frustrations and questions. Afterwards, he exited his bathroom and sighed. Zelo made his way to his desk and picked up the small ring. He twirled it in the sunlight and it looked almost a dark green, “She forgot her ring.” He muttered. Shrugging, he slipped it on. Her fingers were small and delicate looking so he didn’t think that her ring would fit on his much larger hands. It didn’t. But it fit well on his pinky. Chuckling, he took off the ring and placed it on his desk again. He’d just have to give it to her the next day.

Zelo was alone, in this house; he started having regrets of kicking his friends out. But it disappeared quickly. Instead, he went downstairs and pondered on what to eat for breakfast.

The day went by faster than he thought. After that morning, it was his usual Saturday. He ate; he studied and made up with his friends about the most recent incident that occurred. They couldn’t stay mad at each other, it just wouldn’t feel right. Zelo was ok either way, but he couldn’t let the guys know about that. So he apologized-not first of course-and they went out for lunch, to the skate-park and he studied some more before sleeping. That night, he missed the knowing of Jilin in his bed or next to him taking a nap. But the weekend was major training times for her family, he knew. Zico would often complain about the workout he’d have previously or how long neither he nor his sister could get the correct angle in their kicks…

Zelo hadn’t paid much attention to Zico’s whining before, but now his memory became extremely accurate. Now that Jilin had come into his life, he had suddenly become more attentive to details. The way wind felt against his face, how the temperature would drop or rise to the smallest degree, if someone was walking towards or away from him, if something was falling. All the small details had suddenly taken place in his life and he admired each one.

How he had missed them, he didn’t know…maybe because he’s been so caught up in everything, he hasn’t had time to look at the tiny things. But Zelo found himself sitting at the counter, on a beautiful Sunday evening, finished with his homework. The meeting wouldn’t start for another hour and a half, might as well get there early enough. He slapped on his weapons to his jacket and fixed his hair in the mirror before walking outside. The wind was brisk, the sun nearly set, the sky with streaks of pink, purple and orange. He could smell the fresh air much better today, making his mood rise to an even better level. Why he was so happy today, he didn’t know. He didn’t know a lot about his own self, but chose to never really think about it. Overthinking was too much for him-just go with the flow was his way. This time, he made no hurry to get there. Sticking his hands in his back pocket, he lowly whistled and looked around.

Stores looked brighter and livelier with cherry blossoms hanging their low branches at the roofs and doorways. The street was clear, no cars to beware of or exhaust to breathe. His slow steps brought a somehow new atmosphere to the neighborhood. He shoved on sunglasses and pulled up his hood though, not forgetting his usual precautions. “Zelo?” He turned and smiled.

“Hey, Jilin.” She stepped out of the shadows in the alleyway and he frowned. Behind her were a group of older teens/young adult males. He didn’t recognize any. They whispered and one took a hold of her arm. Her glare turned to him and she whispered back, still inaudible to Zelo then pulled away and went up to him, grinning. He bent down, “What’s going on?”

She looked back and waved her arm, “Oh. That’s nothing, really. Just something Zico wanted me to do.” He raised a brow as she dug her hands to her pockets, “What? It’s nothing, really.” She insisted, “What are you doing out here? Meeting doesn’t start for a while.”

“I thought I’d go for a walk, maybe unwind a bit.” He still looked suspiciously at the group. A few of them took out cigarettes and lit them up, taking a long drag, “Ok, I need an answer on this, Jilin.”

She frowned and he missed her smile already, “Zelo, I told you it’s nothing.” She hissed.

He nodded, not yet completely satisfied with her answer though, “Oh,” He handed her the ring, “you left this at my place.” He whispered. She nodded.

“Thanks. This’ll come in handy.” Her joking smile was back, “Hey, uh, I’m almost done here. Wait up for me and we can go to the Warehouse together?”

Zelo smiled and nodded, “Yea. I’d like that.”

“Cool. Give me a minute.” She went back to the group and smacked a male who was smoking. He scowled at her and threw his cigarette to the ground, stomping it to dust. She continued talking and held her hand out to a man. He looked young, but Zelo wasn’t exactly sure how old he really was. The man smirked and shook her hand tightly, but she was unfazed, which made him frown. Jilin left and went back to Zelo, “Let’s go.” Zelo gave the group one last look, and the man who shook Jilin’s hand smirked and nodded. Zelo couldn’t help but nod gently back. Then he turned and quickly caught up with his friend. She didn’t seem to notice his absence anyway.

“How many guys were in there?”

She gave him a look, “Why are you so caught up with that? It’s nothing, Zelo.” She took a sigh and buried her hands deeper in her pockets.

He placed his hands over his hips, “Well, why can’t you tell me?”

“No one is supposed to know. The leaders asked me to do it in secret. They didn’t think anyone was out here.” She crossed her arms, “Let it go.”

He pouted, “Fine.”

“You know, that face will get you nowhere.”

He smirked, “Yea?”

“Stop that.” She snapped. He frowned and she leaned against the wall, groaning and rubbing her temples. “God my head.”

“Are you ok?” He asked carefully, touching her shoulder.

“You might want to step back.” Zelo did so; unclear of what was going on. Jilin shuffled around in her pockets and pulled out a small box, opening it and pulling out a cigarette. Shocked, he watched her take out a match and light it, taking a drag, “Oh god that feels good.” She turned to him, “You don’t look so hot you know-“

“You smoke?!” He gaped, staring at the cigarette in between her index and middle finger. She nodded and stuck it to her lips again, inhaling and exhaling. let out a soft sigh and he watched the smoke leave her lips.

“Takes my mind off things…I only started this year, I don’t do it so often. But I take it when I need it.” She tapped the of it and sighed, “Zico doesn’t know. So I don’t do it because of that…Appa used to smoke.” Zelo tensed, “Don’t tell anyone. It takes a lot for me to do this in front of someone.”

“Who else knows?”

She her lips, “No one but you.”

He paused, “So it’s only for a close friend?” He winked when she turned his way and smiled.

She did the same and nodded, “Sure. Friends.” After a bit, she threw down the cigarette and crushed it under her foot. “Let’s get going. I gotta air out. Zico would know the smell.” She pulled her hood over her head and breathed in and out through the air, “I would change but…” He looked at her.

“That’s what the extra pair of clothes is for?” Before she answered, he remembered something from the earlier night, “Wait…is that why you opened my window? You were smoking in my room?”

“Yea…I’m sorry.”

“It’s ok. I didn’t even think about that.”

“Ok…” She lazily walked in front of him and strode along, “I leave the pack in the pants’ pocket,” Jilin shuffled her hands in her pants, “So that Zico doesn’t find them.”

“Wouldn’t he just go through your backpack?”

She shrugged, “No. All he thinks is that I just carry school supplies.” She shifted in her big jacket and smiled softly. But he could see it wasn’t her usual smile, “Sometimes I feel guilty about not telling him about it and I stop for a week or two. Then something happens and I pull it out again… I just can’t seem to shake it for more than that.”

Zelo stepped in front of her, “I can help you.”

“Can you?”

“Can’t I?” He stopped and held out his hand without waiting for her reply, “I can and we’re starting now-give me your pack.” She paused, her hand gripping the box, “Give.” He insisted.

“Zelo…” She squeaked and gave him an unsure look. He set his hand over hers in her pocket and nodded.

“Seriously, give it. It’s to start you off on your road to quitting.” Reluctantly, she took out the box and looked at it, “You say you don’t even smoke much. This won’t be any different-“

“No but…I’ve always had it near me and it’s there when I need it. Having it away is a whole different feeling…” She looked up and the light hit her eyes. The dark brown turned brighter than he expected it to ever be. It contrasted with her creamy skin and dark hair, creating a different feeling about her.

“Your eyes…” He blushed and cleared his throat, “Uh-“

She giggled, “It’s ok. My eyes are always lighter in the sun… Lots of people get surprised.”

“Zico’s aren’t that bright are they?” He asked, wondering if he could look closer without being a total creep.

She shook her head, “No. He has our Appa’s eyes…I have Omma’s. She had really pretty eyes on her side of the family.” Zelo nodded and then returned back to their previous conversation.

“Cigarettes please.” She frowned and finally placed it carefully in Zelo’s palm. He smiled and stuck it in his pocket, “Thank you.”

“This better work.” She pouted.

“It will.” He reassured and continued walking. Already, he could see her fingers nervously fidgeting in her soft pockets; her hands were obviously lost without her source of comfort. But he wouldn’t give it to her. The items in his hand were able to kill her, maybe at this age too. The walk was long and silent, she was growing impatient.

“Zelo-“

“No.” He snapped and she didn’t protest, which surprised him. He grabbed a hold of the fence in front of them and hauled himself over it, waiting for her to come beside them. Jilin stepped down and smiled again, looking down at the Warehouse. They walked forward again and he opened the door. She walked in, thanking him and flipped on the lights. “You know, there’s roof access.”

She nodded, “Jongup told me last week.” She walked up and carefully stepped onto the rail as Zelo came up. He watched her take a hold of the pole that held the gates together and flip over, kicking the loose piece of metal. It flew open but was still attached to the rest of the building.

“Nice.” He complimented, “Need help?”

“I got it.” She said and hauled herself up. Zelo trailed her and closed the flap a little, “The view up here is great.” She whispered. He turned to her, seeing that she was on the edge, looking over the city. Zelo moved and sat next to her as she adjusted a piece of rope to her waist. Jilin handed him the other side, “Don’t want you falling. Do you?”

“But if I fall, you do too.” He looked at her and she smiled.

“If we fall, I bet one of us would have enough sense to grab a hold of the building or something. Come on.” He took the rope and tied it around his waist, suddenly realizing that they were really close now. Her blue locks blew gently across his shoulder, her hand barely touching his and her swaying legs hitting his. Zelo looked at her and smiled. Those eyes… He thought as she turned to him, “What are you looking at?” She asked, turning around.

Zelo chuckled and turned forward, “Nothing.” He said and leaned against his arms behind him. Jilin stripped off her jacket and set it over her hand, revealing a thin white t-shirt, “No tank top?”

She smacked his stomach, “No. Jeez, I don’t always wear that. It’s just hot-it’s spring. Almost summer…Zico and I are planning on going around somewhere after school ends and it’s gonna be really hot you know.”

“Where you heading?”

“Not sure yet. Zico wants to really think about it. We’ve been under a lot of stress lately so…he wants to make it special this time.”

“What’s the occasion?” He asked, staring down at her head.

She looked up, into his eyes and he felt shivers down his spine, “No occasion really…but he feels like we’re not close enough. Which I think is absurd, we know everything about each other-other than who tutors me. I think he’s just getting second thoughts about our trust.”

He scoffed, “But you’re siblings.”

“Zico has trust issues. Our Omma left us, our Appa stabbed me, we have no family left-I don’t remember the last time Zico has brought a girl home.” She shuffled her feet up and crossed her legs, “Our life has been so distrustful that he even doubts me sometimes. Me-his little sister-the only family he has left.” She scoffed bitterly and tugged her shirt, “I blame the- who started it all.” She grunted and played with her ring, letting out a long sigh.

“You know, if your brother has trust issues, how does he manage to stay in the SAK? It’s all about trust.” She looked at him and he laughed nervously, “Oh…yea, I’m a different case.”

She leaned back, “Zico admits that everyone in the SAK is all good friends. But trusting them takes a lot. He barely trusts his team; it took him a long time to really warm up to everyone. Zico is just like that, we went through tough times and it’s affected us both.”

“How did it affect you?”

Jilin paused and bit her lip, “For one thing-I smoke…I’m only taking a few months of school, I fight, I cuss, I’m not a normal girl, Zelo.”

He shrugged, “Well I don’t like normal girls. I like girls who stand out.” His voice was so soft, she could barely hear him. But she did, making her smile. Zelo poked her cheek, “I like your smile.” He randomly said, instantly feeling regret and heat come to his face. But he relaxed when she laughed.

“Thanks. Yours is cute too.” He warmed at her compliment and stared up at the sky, wondering why he was so happy around her. “You know, Zico-oppa used to tell me that our Appa was looking down at us from Heaven.”

“Do you believe him?” He asked lightly.

“Only sometimes.”

“Why?”

“I believe him when something really good happens to me. When something that can really benefit me and others happens. Then I know he’s watching out for me.” She smiled wider, “But Heaven can’t always make someone happy, you have to find your own happiness by yourself.”