Chapter 5. You Are Dead To Me !

( Attention, there is some violent parts...to me that is )

The rain stopped few hours later. The sky was clear and light rays passed through the gap of the cupboard. Jongin slowly pushed himself up from Kibum's body. The light rays shining on Kibum's face, giving Jongin a clear look of him. Kibum was awake, but his eyes were red and swollen with tears still flowing down from them. It was obvious that he did not sleep at all. Kibum was staring blindly into nothingness.

Jongin streched out his arm slowly to touch Kibum's face while calling out softly.

"Umma..."

Kibum turned his gaze to Jongin's innocent looking eyes. Jongin's hand warmed his face a little. He looked at him for a while, gently pulled him into a hug and shut his eyes. Jongin's voice became shakly.

"Shhh..." hushed Kibum. "Appa will be fine." though he doubed that.

After beingin that hugging position for a while, making sure it was clear and save, they got out of that cupboard. Once Kibum opened the door, the bright sunlight shone into the room. He took his first step out of the door, followed by Jongin. Kibum looked left and right. He sighed heavily, which made Jongin look at him.

Minho was not there.

Kibum held Jongin's hand and walked towards the direction they were supposed to head to before.

XXXXXX

It was a long walk and throughout the long journey, there was no one, no food and no water. Kibum fell a few times as his energy had been wasted during the run, and also during that pathetic cry of his. In the end, they had to stop often before continuing their journey. Instead of protecting Jongin, Jongin was the one who took care of Kibum. Though it would be a different story if Minho was there. Minho would carry him if he was tired, protect them and take good care of him and Jongin like before. Each and every time he thought about it, Kibum would sob and Jongin had to hug him to calm him down. Jongin was so much like Minho in Kibum's mind.

Soon, it was night. They were in the middle of nowhere. There were neither houses nor trees to stop for the night. Kibum could not stand it any longer and finally fainted to the ground. Jongin knelt down, wanting to wake Kibum up, but he was too exhausted to do so. He too, fell onto Kibum and both of them dozed off under the moonlight, in the middle of nowhere.

The sun shone brightly into their faces the next morning. Jongin was the first awakened by it. Then, he called Kibum. Kibum crack opened his eyes. He tried hard to push himself up. With Jongin's support, he managed to stand and walked slowly towards the town.

It was noon when they finally reached the next town. There were many stalls outside the houses. There were some houses which were made into shops too. Kibum and Jongin walked towards one of the stalls and asked for some leftovers. Most of them shoved them away; some threw even rotten vegetables towards them. Only one or two would give them proper food like rice cake and water. During the night, they would sleep in a small alley surrounded with rubbish dumps, cats and rats.

For the next few weeks, Kibum would do the same thing, going around pleading for food and water but no one of the people were friendly enough to help him. After the failure to obtain food, he would go back to that dark alley and rest, and hoped Minho would pop out from somewher and bring them food, or rather save them from that misery.

While sitting there, Jongin would run back from his food hunt and returned with a few fruits.

"Umma! Food ! I have food!" Jongin shouted happily; Kibum would kiss his cheek and smile as they started eating. Though, Kibum would always eat a small portion for Jongin to have most of the food, so obliged him the motherly instinct he gained from Jongin calling him umma all the time.

Again and again, they split up in search for food. Kibum would be back with no result and sometimes a few blue-backs on his body. He would be kicked by the legs and came back limpng. As for Jongin, he would easily get food. Maybe, it was because of his innocent look and people would pity him and gave him some food. Kibum did not ask and Jongin did not tell.

One day, Kibum fell ill and could not go for his food hunt. He lied there limply and shut his eyes to rest. It was around evening when he realized that Jongin was a bit late from his food gathering. Kibum was worried and went out to look for him. He turned to a few alleys and saw there people running here and there and shouting.

"It's the thief again!"

"He's there! I haerd an elder caught him red-handed."

"I'm gonna make him pay"

Kibum almost freaked out. He quickly followed the crowd and reached the place immediately. Jongin was lying on the ground, protecting his head with his arms and crying in fear. Many people were scolding him, naugthy children started to throw pebbles at him. Thank God it seemed like no body beat him or something. Kibum quickly squeezed through the crowd, hugged Jongin and knelt over him to protect him.

Jongin saw Kibum shielding him from above and cried out,

"Umma!"

Kibum hushed him with a smile, " Shh... you'll be fine. Umma will protect you."

Then, the elder shouted, "So, it was the beggars after all!"

Some other people shouted too.

"Beggars are never good people!"

"They teach children how to steal!"

"Punish them!"

"Yeah, Punish them!"

Then, everyone started to throw pebbles, rotten vegetables, leftovers and even their pee was poured over them. When the case became worse, some even brought sticks and hit Kibum, punched him and kicked him. But no matter what they did, Kibum just would not stop protecting Jongin, making sure they didn't hit him too. He tought of Minho, if Minho was here, he would do the same too. And of his mother, who died to protect him. He had to protect Jongin, the only family he had left now that Minho was nowhere to be found. He had to protect Jongin, the child that depended on him and treated him like his own mother. He had to be strong for once in his life, for Jongin!

Kibum had started to bleed. Blood was even dripping down from his lips. Jongin looked at him with his wet eyes. He cried out his name and held Kibum's clothes tightly. Kibum still smiled and told him almost breathlessly, "You'll be fine baby. I won't let them hurt you; Never !"

Among those shouts, a female voice suddenly screamed throught.

"STOP THIS AT ONCE!" everyone stopped immediately and turned towards the scream. They started to mumble.

"It's Jung Krystal. The Sijang's daugther!"

Kibum was glad the hitting stopped, he smiled in relief and fell beside Jongin. Jongin shouted and everyone turned their gaze back to them.

"Is he dead?"

"I don't know."

"He's bleeding a lot."

"Well, he deserves it!"

"Who deserves that ?!" shouted Krystal, the long raven haired fair beauty walked through the crowd. She saw Kibum lying motionless on the ground and Jongin shaking Kibum while crying. She turned back to the cruel crowd and shouted furiously.

"Who did this?!" no body answered. "I said. WHO DID THIS ?!"

Then, almost half of the crowd put their hands. Krystal could not believe her eyes.

Then, someone shouted, "He stole food!"

"The beggar is trying to teach children to steal!"

"It was his idea all the stealing!"

"Prove it!" Krystal fumed up. No body dared to say a word.

Then the elder said, "Is there a need to prove it ? He takes without permission! That's stealing!"

"Oh really?" everyone looked at her. No one had dared to oppose the elder before.

"Then, if your grandchildren gets hungry and takes food from the kitchen without your permission, you call that stealing?" asked Krystal.

"This is different !"

"What's so different? A child who is desperately in need of food would take food without permission. For example, this child here is really desperate. But you people, you selfish people, did not even want to help them. If you think I would call this stealing, then you're wrong!"

All the villagers there mumbled and looked at each other. The elder was fuming in anger.

"I've been observing for a long time, since the day this man and his child first stepped into this selfish town. This man here was searching for food not only for himself, but for his child. Some kind housewives gave him some leftovers and he gratefully thanked them and even bowed. Then, everyday, I would give this little boy here a pack of fruits. He was so happy, he thanked me and shouted 'Umma!Food!' all the way back to that rubbish dumps. And for your information..."

she paused. Everyone looked at her.

She continued, "All of you here, almost all of you here, standing in front of me, are the same as him, a war victim!" Most of the crowd had put away their weapons and few of them had left.

"If it hadn't been my father Sijang-nim, if it hadn't been some rich man's friends of yours, would you be alive here with a peaceful life, while others are still suffering in the war outside there ?" she stopped a while and continued. "No! You wouldn't! You would end up like him beaten up so badly just for the shake of surviving and protecting his child. In fact, I'm wrong. None of you are like him at all. He's tough, brave and protective, and yet all of you are selfish, thick-headed, unkind and worse, irresponsable!"

She looked a boy who hide behind his mother.

"Little boy, come here!" she said gently. The boy was recluant at first, but did what he was told.

Krystal bent down a little and smiled when she asked him, "You're a good boy and a good boy doesn't lie. I know you're the one who taught that crying boy there how to steal. But tell me, you didn't learn this on your own right?" the boy shook his head. "Good boy, so who taught you?" the boy turned back and pointed at a young man directly behind his mother. His mother was shocked. Her housband actually taught their son such thing! The man apologized to his wife. She did not forgive him, but instead, forced him to apologize to Kibum. He recluantly walked towards Kibum, bowed a little and said "Sorry!". Then, he turned to his wife in embarrassement. She, too, apologized and went back with her family.

Soon, the crowd went away after apologizing, leaving there only Krystal, Kibum and Jongin. Jongin, still sobbing, was hugging Kibum and kept telling him, " Let's go home...go home...go home..." but Kibum only lied there, motionless.

Krystal felt a stab in her heart. She regretted not taking him in from the first day. Feeling that she was no better than those other villagers.

She patted Jongin's head and told him, " Let's bring your app...umma to the doctor, ok?" Jongin stared at her for a moment before nodding. He stood up while Krystal held Kibum's arm over her shoulder and put her other free arm around his waist for support. Jongin walked beside them while holding Kubum's hand. Kibum thanked Krystal silently and smiled with great effort towards Jongin.

XXXXXX

"So how is he?" asked Krystal.

"Don't worry, Krystal. He's fine. I treated his injuries and luckily none of them need to go through intensive surgeries." replied a long haired lady, who was the doctor. "By the way, I washed him up already, so no need to worry about the smell too."

"I'm not worried about that, Luna seonsaengnim. Anyway, thanks for the clothes too."

"Your're welcome."

"Luna seonsaengnim, how long is he going to stay here?"

"Three days. I just need to make sure his fever has gone down."

Krystal sighed, "I really shouldn't have cared about appa sijangnim and just took them in."

"Sijangnim Jung didn't want you to be in trouble. So, it isn't wrong to do so."

"But he suffered! You should have seen the tragedy just now!"

"There is no need for me to see it. You've tole me, remember?"

"I know." Krystal sighed. She was silent for a moment before continuing, " Luna seonsaengnim, mind if I stay here with him and the boy ?"

Luna finally looked up from her documents with slanted eyes, " I don't mind but don't you need to ask Sijangnim first?"

"He won't let me if I ask."

"He's your father. You must ask permission first." she passed Krystal the telphone. "Call him. Tell him you wanted to accompany the patient. I know your father has a soft heart for you and he'll agree to anything coming from you."

Krystal looked at the phone, but she did not want to call. Luna had to push it very near in front of her to make her do it. Finally, she did.

"Sijangnim...I know. I'm sorry for just running away like that. I promise I won't do that again. Yes, he's fine. But, can I stay the night to accompany him? He is so weak and there is a little boy with him. I can't just let them like that. Sijangnim, please...Only three days. I'll come home next morning. Yes, sijangnim. Thank you. Sranghaeyo, SIJANGNIM !" she shut the phone and smiled towards Luna who was writing a report.

"I told you, didn't I?"

"Luna seonsaengnim, you're so smart! You know my appa well."

"He's my regular patient anyway." Krystal laughed.

Luna continued, "So, what are we waiting for?"

"Oh, right!" Krystal jupmed from her seat and went to the next room. Luna shook her head as she looked at Krystal running towards the door.

The patent's room was not too small but quiet comfortable. There was a bed, a chair beside it and a small cupboard on the other side. Krystal was suprised that Jongin was on the bed with Kibum. Jongin was sleeping but Kibum was wide awake. Krystal walked towards them and sat on the chair. Kibum saw her coming and tried to sit up but she stopped him.

"No, no. It's alright." she said softly. She looked at Jongin sleeping beside Kibum while hugging Kyungsoo's dog doll, Monggeu. She smiled, " He is cute!"

Kibum only smiled. She continued, "So, how do you feel? Better?"

Kibum nodded, "Yes; and thanks to you for helping us."

"It's nothing. I only regretted not taking you in on the first day I saw you. My appa just wouldn't let me."

"Oh my gosh! What's your name? I don't think it's umma, right? Sorry to say this, but last time I checked, 'umma' are female nor male hahaha.

Kibum chuckled, "Umma is Jongin's calling. He doesn't speak that much and is still learning how to do so. My name must be difficult to him. I'm Kibum."

"Oh, I see! How cute of him. I'm Krystal, the daugther of the sijang of this town. Nice to meet you!"

Oppa, I'm just going to call you Oppa since you look older than me. Can you tell me the days you've passed during your journey here?" Kibum nodded and started telling her the whole story.

After some time, the story finally ended. Krystal put on a sad smile and said, "I'm sorry to hear that. But if he's still alive, he'd be in this town. Don't worry Kibum hyung. I'll find him for you! My life has become so interesting now !"

Kibum smiled. "I guess so..."

"Oh! And ...." A knock came from the door just then. Luna popped her head into the room.

"Krystal, it's late. The patient needs to sleep."

"I know, just a few more minutes." Luna nodded and waited for her outside.

"Where was I? Right, I'll find you a job and a place to stay too. So, don't worry about starving."

Luna knocked again, giving Krystal the message. Kibum thanked her before t