Authors Ramblings:

Got two parts done over the last few days, I feel quite proud of myself for that lol

 

BIG WARNING: Gary, the Street Guard turns up in this chapter and he uses language that is not really appropriate for anyone under the age of thirteen. You have been warned well in advance because he swears like a sailor on shore leave and will turn up more than enough times.

 

Plus the two elders have a bit of naughty language use here as well. Don’t flame me for it cause I’ve already warned you. 

 

And as usual: “Underline” speaking English, “Normal” speaking Korean

 

Part II

 

A strange half-whistle, half-hiss caught Jial’s attention as he continued to make his way down the slightly better lit part of the district commonly nicknamed ‘Bummers Grove’ by some of the locals. He knew it was Gary instantly, the other having always made that noise when he wanted someone’s attention as it stood out from the rest of the sounds around him. Coming to a stop, Jial scanned the nearby area and spotted the Street Guard leaning on the edge of a set of garages that no one used anymore. Even in the middle of winter, he was dressed as was his trademark with dark jeans, a leather waistcoat with a white tank top and thick heavy motorbike boots that were scuffed and battered beyond anything. The starkly black tattoo on his left arm stood out against the pale snow and as per usual a cigarette dangled from his mouth. Jial nodded his head towards him before making his way across to him, “Hey Gary.”

 

“What you doing out here, ya stupid get?” straight to the point as always, Gary never put up with pleasantries or dealt in small talk. As far as he was concerned it cost time and in this world time was far to precious to waste. His piercing green eyes raked over Jial, searching for any signs of mistreatment, “You better not be working you stupid ”

 

Jial shook his head towards the other, “No, not tonight. Was visiting.”

 

The Guard blinked before nodding and sending out a plume of smoke, “Any change?”

 

“No, he’s still the same as ever,” Jial cast his eyes down towards the ground, he never liked talking about Tae outside of the hospital as it just made him feel worse about his whole situation. The only reason that Gary really knew about the other was due to him conducting a little investigatory work around the youngster before him when he had first met the other. Jial in one way was thankful to have someone on this godforsaken Earth who cared about him enough to try and find out his situation but in another he always worried what would happen if Dai Suk caught up with him.

 

However, as Gary said many times, if the pimp wanted to cause hassle with him he would be in for a shock. Plus the Street Guards had a deal with virtually all the pimps in the area that they could get involved with certain things if the boys were working on the streets, if they were in the houses then it was out of their hands. Jial had never really questioned much else about the Street Guards job, as the one time he tried he had ended up with a really bad headache because of it. Plus the other had a tendency to overuse a whole lot of swear words so Jial always felt a little out of sorts. He tried not to use foul language out of habit; it was one of the few good traits that his parents had instilled into both himself and his brother when they had actually appeared to care about the pair of them.

 

Gary ruefully patted Jial’s head, ruffling his dark hair, “Don’t give up kid, I’m sure the dozy git will open those baby blues one of these days. You should take advantage of this weather and get some rest; you’re starting to look a little ing too thin for my liking. Did ya get yer coupons for ya grub?”

 

Jial nodded, slowly raising his eyes, “Yeah, I was going to grab something on the way back.”

 

“Well get some proper grub, none of this ing instant . Or try for some take-aways, greasy and and smell worse than dogs piss but you could do with getting some fat on your arse,” Gary’s accent was a little thicker than usual, meaning that he had probably been drinking at some point tonight which usually meant that he had lost someone he was protecting. Though it was always impossible to work out if he were celebrating a successful return or mourning a death. It was the only time that Gary drank and no one could ever get the proper reason out of him. He took another drag on the cigarette, exhaling a plume of smoke into the darkening sky, “You also need sleep, ya little , nowt worse than-” 

 

“Gary hyung,” Jial said gently, not wanting to go into another lecture with the other, “You know I can’t do that.”

 

The Guard looked like he was about to argue but then sighed and leaned back, “No, suppose I can’t with you, can I? Wish you were ing independent, I would have had you out of this ing dump in no time.”

 

Gently Jial blinked, knowing that it was pointless trying to point out that he couldn’t change the past but opted to get out of harms way, “I’m going back now Gary, I’ll get some food and try to get some sleep okay?”

 

“You better do, head,” Gary smiled warmly and reruffled Jial’s hair, “You need that barnet of yours cut as well. Go on, get lost. If I see you operating anytime tonight I’ll kick your arse from here to Timbuktu.”

 

Taking it as his cue to leave, Jial moved off quickly into the growing snow, smiling gently but sadly. Whilst the Guard was as crude as a sailor on ship leave, he couldn’t help but like him a great deal. Vaguely he wondered if he could ask the other to kidnap him and get him out of this crappy life of his, but he couldn’t leave Tae in the hands of that madman. Gently he exhaled and shivered again, pulling his jacket closer and continued on.

 

Gary stared at his hands uselessly, sighing as he shook his head, “ sakes, why can’t I help him?”

 

“Leave him Gary,” a second voice spoke from the shadows, calmer and deeper than Gary’s, “We will get a chance sometime soon but not right now.”

 

“Don’t go sneaking around you Motherer!” Gary snapped to the shadow, swatting at the figure, “Nearly gave me a ing heart attack you !”

 

Dae, the second in command to Gary, just smiled completely unaffected by the other’s outburst as he was far too used to it, “That’ll be the day, Gary.”

 

Gary glared, “What you doing here, face?”

 

“Dixon wants you,” Dae said, shrugging a little, “Says it’s pretty important.”

 

The guard sighed, knowing that if Dixon was after him it meant that something huge was about to go down. “God Damn and I was just starting to have a ing good time too!”

 

Without even pausing to roll his eyes, Dae grabbed hold of Gary and hauled him off into the shadows, the two guards disappearing as if they had never been there in the first place.

 

~~~

 

Bradley sneezed for the third time in a row, cursing quietly under his breath and so thankful that his scarf was covering his mouth, “Drat it, I’m going to murder that little brat when I get my hands on him.”

 

“No you’re not,” Jongki said with a touch of humour in his voice, “You’re going to smother him in hugs and kisses and then I’ll murder the little brat.”

 

A grin crossed Bradley’s face for a second but it faded when he found himself automatically casting his eyes over the rapidly darkening area to see if he could spot their blond little maknae. They had walked down past the school, around the gym and swimming facilities, had glanced briefly at the small park but opted against it as the gate had been firmly closed and they both doubted that Kiyeol would be desperate enough to try and clamber over it at the best of times and were currently checking around the small shopping area where there were a few little cafe’s and restaurants. Mama Bear got the distinct impression that if Kiyeol was there then they would have found him by now as virtually everyone was being sensible and staying indoors. He sighed, “Jongki, I think we’re barking up the wrong tree.”

 

“Stop speaking to me in English, my head can’t take it right now,” Jongki relied sounding stretched out and shaking his head, “But where could he have gone otherwise? He wouldn’t head to the Dorms or anything like that cause he doesn’t know anyone else and the main buildings are all closed up with the weather...” suddenly the leader blinked, “Coffee.”

 

Bradley, momentarily distracted by a display in one of the small shops nearby, frowned and turned his attention to Jongki, “What?”

 

“Coffee, Kiyeol likes coffee.”

 

Looking at the other like he had flipped his lid, the groups eldest was about to question what he was on about when suddenly he blinked, “Oh of course, that bloody coffee shop of his. But he can’t have gone there, it’s way too far.”

 

“But this is an upset Kiyeol we’re dealing with here,” Jongki said, turning to head back, “He may have not gone back to that one but what if he’s found another?”

 

Letting out a sigh, Bradley turned and followed suit, “Then that means he’s outside of the campus, cause otherwise we would have come across him already. This is going to turn into a real headache.”

 

“If he’s walking he can’t go far in this weather,” Jongki said, wondering if it would be better for them to head back to the house and take the car or just walk it, “It’s not like he grabbed much of his winter stuff.”

 

Bradley paused for a second, thinking the scenario through and looking a bit like an owl as he tilted his head to the side. Jongki wondered what he was thinking and was about to call him out on such a strange thing when the elder came to his senses, “We need to go to the main gate.”

 

“Why?” Jongki frowned, “Well I mean, duh, of course we do.”

 

“There’s a bus stop just around the corner,” Bradley said, “Me and Saki use it to get to part of the way to school.”

 

The bottom fell out of Jongki’s stomach, if Kiyeol had gotten on that bus then who knew where he could be, “How many buses go past that stop?”

 

“Only two,” Bradley sighed, “But one’s the school bus, so that won’t be running at this time of night.”

 

“Thank god,” Jongki nearly passed out with relief, “Come on, if he has gotten on that then at least we can figure out where he went.”

 

Bradley sighed, catching up to Jongki, “Let’s just hope he got off at the terminus and didn’t get spooked by anything otherwise.”

 

They were half-way back across campus when a car beeped at them as it slowly pulled to a stop. “Can I ask what you two are up to right now?” it was Kuso, their manager who frowned lightly at the pair but was more curious as to what they were doing, “It’s absolutely horrible out here.”

 

“Kiyeol’s done a runner on us,” Jongki filled in with a sigh, “We were hoping that he had remained on campus but there’s no sign of him.”

 

Bradley stifled yet another sneeze, “We’re guessing that he’s got the bus out so we’re going to head to town and see if we can find him.”

 

Kuso sighed, annoyed by the news but clearly worried, “Get in the car; I can give you a lift. Much safer than trying to get the bus. Any idea what caused this?” Kuso had been told about Kiyeol’s habit of running off by Bradley whilst he had been waiting for the others to turn up at H/UN and had taken it as a defensive reaction rather than a bratty attempt to get more attention. Kuso seemed to understand everyone in the group really well and was just as concerned as the two elders over the younger.

 

“Call from his family,” Jongki replied, clambering into the back as he didn’t want to try and shift the seat belts that were meant to hold a carry cot in the front seat, “He left his phone at the house so we were able to check.”

 

Kuso shook his head, “That bloody stuck up woman. Anyone else would be immensely proud of their son but that...” he paused, clearly trying to think of an appropriate term for the woman.

 

“,” supplied Bradley followed quickly by Jongki’s, “Cow,” which had the manager laughing a little.

 

“I was trying to be tactful,” Kuso said, carefully pulling off and indicating that he wanted to turn right, “But I supposed they’re more than appropriate words.”

 

“Trust me,” Jongki said slowly, “there is no point in being tactful with that woman. I’ve only had the misfortune to meet her once and I never want to go through that experience ever again.” Gently he shook his head, before glancing at Bradley, “Wasn’t your Mum looking at adopting him or something?”

 

Bradley grimaced a little, “More like she was trying to work out how to kidnap him at that Christmas thing, had to tell her off more times than enough cause Kiyeol wouldn’t have it.”

 

“Why though? I mean he loves your Mum, okay so everyone loves your Mum, but she fusses over him more than you which was quite funny to see,” Jongki said in response, taking the opportunity to glance out of the windows to see if he could spot the maknae anywhere.

 

“Kiyeol wouldn’t have it, she offered him a place to stay and everything,” Bradley shook his head, “But he won’t leave his brother. Even though Mum said that she would quite happily adopt him too.”

 

Kuso shook his head, “You’re Mum would adopt anyone by the sounds of things Bradley.”

 

“Oh no,” Bradley shook his head, “Not just anyone. You have to be something really special to get adopted by my Mum.”

 

“I guess that’s why we all got invited to the Christmas thing?” Jongki asked, with a grin.

 

“No, that was me,” Bradley grinned and stuck his tongue out at the other, “Though now that she’s met virtually all of you, you’re pretty much adopted into the family.”

 

Jongki frowned, “Virtually?”

 

“She hasn’t met Kyo/Sora yet,” Bradley said with a sigh, “Though apparently they’re coming up in a few weeks.”

 

Jongki frowned, “Why?”

 

“Wouldn’t say, it’s not mine or Saki’s birthday so that can be discounted straight away,” Bradley said, shifting a little as they made their way out of the main campus.

 

“Do your parents need an excuse to come and visit you and their sonnyeo Bradley?” Kuso asked, taking it nice and easy around the corner.

 

Jongki however was the one who replied, “No but they have a really hectic schedule most of the time so it’s highly odd for them to come down without a reason. Wonder why they’re coming.”

 

Bradley shrugged, “That is something we can safely work out another time. Right now, we should focus on finding Ducky.”

 

The car lapsed into silence and they each took a window, keeping an eye out for their wayward maknae.

 

~~~

 

Jial knew that curiosity always killed the cat and that saying applied to this area more so than most but he couldn’t help but notice the trail of blood that started in reasonably small droplets but slowly got bigger as the trail got closer to his door. The shopping bags he had were already digging into his fingers but he completely ignored it and continued to step carefully towards the source. His heart started beating rapidly in his chest because he really didn’t want to find a body right outside his front door because even though he wasn’t exactly of reputable occupation he would still have to call in someone to deal with it.

 

For a second thought that maybe it was a good idea to back track and call in Gary but then his eyes fell on a bright red jacket that was lying off to the side, caught roughly on the edge of a pillar which had a nail sticking out. Instinctively he moved towards it, pulling it loose to stare at it. It’s size suggested that it belonged to someone younger than him, and it was quite an expensive label as well, but it had been viciously torn several times over and there was more blood on the sleeve. “What the hell?” he whispered to himself before nearly jumping when there came a sound of scraping metal and he turned around, expecting to find one of the thug gangs standing ready to punch his lights out.

 

Instead he felt his heart break when he spotted an young boy, possibly no older than his own baby brother, trying to make himself as small as possible which was a little on the tricky side given that his limbs had that slightly gangly look of a still growing child and a crop of honey coloured blond hair. Jial knew that it had to be dyed as no one in Korea naturally had that hair colour but he was more concerned with the fact that there was a lot of blood on the youngster. He looked as though he had been given a thorough going over by one of the gangs and was probably extremely lucky to be left just about conscience. The boy was snuffling, trying to not make a sound and was clearly rather jumpy and scared.

 

Jial couldn’t help but think of him as being like a tiny, mewling kitten that had lost his mummy.

 

Shaking his head, Jial gently placed his shopping outside of his door and pulled off his jacket. Slowly he approached the boy, who must have thought that he had disappeared as he moved a little further forward, exposing his pale skin on his arm where an few slashes with what could only be a knife were bleeding onto the snow. “Hey there,” he said gently, hunkering down onto his haunches, “Shh, it’s okay I’m not going to hurt you.”

 

The boy scuttled backwards, trying to hide further behind the bin but realising that he would soon be hitting the wall and would be trapped. More tears began to flow from Kiyeol’s eyes; he couldn’t remember the last time he had been in so much physical pain. Well he could but he wasn’t about to admit to such things openly.

 

Jial sighed, staring at the other and noting the fact that he was dressed only in a pair of light slacks and a t-shirt which was bloodied and ripped, “Oh what have them monsters done to you?” Jial couldn’t help but feel his heart break just a little more, “Come on, kid, I swear I’m not going to hurt you.”

 

“Go away,” a tiny voice squeaked out, in normal circumstances it would have been drowned out by everything else. 

 

Jial sighed a little deeper, “And leave you all alone? I can’t do that.”

 

“Why?”

 

“Cause you’re hurt,” Jial said, slightly matter of factly but trying to be gentle at the same time, “and I don’t think you like being hurt. I know I don’t like being hurt, it’s rather horrible isn’t it?” he knew that he had to help the other quickly else he would end up in serious trouble but it was going to be tricky to, “Look I swear I’m not going to harm you, I just want to help.”

 

“But it hurts,” Kiyeol managed to stammer out, showing signs of going into shock which wasn’t really surprising with the amount of blood that kid had lost coupled with the weather, “It hurts.” 

 

Jial shuffled a little further forward, “I know, I know. Come on, come here, I promise that I’m not going to hurt you. You’re just outside my door, so I can get you into the warmth,” well some kind of warmth he mentally thought to himself but kept that thought to himself, “I’ll get you cleaned up and then we can find your parents-”

 

Kiyeol physically blanched and burst into more tears, “No! No, please, no! Don’t call them! Please.”

 

“Alright, alright, alright,” Jial felt himself panicking but he was so close to the other now that he could virtually grab him if he needed to, “I won’t call them. We’ll work it out, I promise you.”

 

“I want Mama…” Kiyeol was shivering really badly now, “I want Mama Bear. I don’t feel so good”

 

Jial took the audio cute, “I’ll get Mama Bear for you, but you’re going to have to come inside first to let me sort you out okay? Come on, I’ll find Mama Bear.”

 

The cute brown eyes blinked at him, “You know Mama Bear?” but there was a sudden sway to the boy and Jial shot forward, catching the youngster in his coat and pulling him close. Up close he looked even younger and so frail, clearly shock and a possible slight case of hypothermia was starting to get to him and Jial sighed. “Yeah, I know Mama Bear. I’ll find her for you, after I get you indoors.”

 

“Him,” the boy muttered after a few moments, when Jial had finally managed to hoist him up into his arms, “Mama Bear’s a him.”

 

Jial opted not to reply, wondering if the boy was going through some form of delusion from everything that he had experience. There again in the world he knew he would be overly surprised for such a thing. But as he looked down at the figure who was muttering incoherently to himself, Jial got the suspicion that he really wasn’t from around these parts. Gently he sighed and headed indoors, placing the boy down on the sofa for the time being and simply staring at him just a little longer. “Aww poor baby,” he said the fine hair, “they really have done a number on you haven’t they?”

 

Kiyeol didn’t reply, too caught up in his confused and terrified emotions right now to even think straight. Jial sighed, shook his head and quietly went to turn on his crappy heating and fetch the first aid box and a blanket for the boy, trying desperately not to think of Tae. 

 

 

A.N

Yeol-Baby I am soooo sorry to be doing this to you! I really feel bad and Mama Bear’s half throttling me at the moment but it’s got to happen I’m afraid. Please don’t be mad at me! We’ve already tormented you so much *huggles plushi Kiyeol*

 

Anyway, so this is going to get interesting methinks.