Chapter 13; Jail House Blues

As the trio nears the dingy building that is the military camp’s jail, they become increasingly nervous. What if they’re not allowed to see her? What if they abused her? What if she abused them? “Well,” Kyungsoo starts, reaching his hand out to open the door. “Here goes nothing.” The door opens with a shriek and the three of them pile inside the dusty room.

“Who are you?” a particularly familiar and sharp voice hisses. There’s shuffling, and then a small form comes into view, outfit in midnight blue and black robes. “Kyungsoo? Xiumin?” she asks blankly. The three boys hurry towards the bars of the cell, peering into to look at an angry Su Min, sitting cross-legged on the floor.

“How are you?” Xiumin prods.

Su Min smiles toothily. “Oh, I’m just great! Tae Joon over there is quite the character.” she laughs, her voice full of spite as she gestures towards a rag-covered man. “No, I’m not fine you bozos! Get me out of here!” she growls, her hands gripping the bars, as if she could break them with her own might. Kyungsoo leans against the bars and smiles down at her.

“I don’t know, Su Min, you really fit into this environment.”

“And you’ll fit into a bowl by the time I’m done with you, now, GET ME OUT!” she screams, banging her fists against the hard ground. “The food here , too.” she whines, sounding like a small child for once. Su Min, whose always composed. Su Min, who’s always angry. Su Min, who’s always fear-inducing. To think that the same girl who ravaged Tao and Lieutenant Lee is sitting in a jail cell, whining like a child.

She glances up, her eyes traveling to the new boy in the group. “Is that Zitao? The Chinese kid?” Su Min asks, her voice full of disdain. The two boys nod and smile cheekily. “Why did you bring him? Is he gonna testify against me and get me hung? Or what? Hey, kid, get out of here before I hurt you again.” she warns, causing Tao to take a small step back.

“But, Su Min, you’re in a jail cell.”

Su Min laughs heartily, like a woman who’s gone mad. “You’d be surprised by what I can do from within a jail cell.”

Tao clears his throat slightly, causing them all to look at him. “I’m here to clear up any misunderstandings. I never meant any harm to any of you, I was under orders. There was nothing I could do. I would also like to show my...gratitude. This is the first time that I’ve ever seen anyone stand up to Lieutenant Lee. He visits this camp a lot and he...tortures us.” Pity flashes across Su Min’s face, but she remains rigid.

“And?”

He draws in a ragged breath. “I’d like to take any punishment given to you.”

Kyungsoo and Xiumin stare at the two of them, if only for a moment, but then turn to stare at the man drifting through the doorway. In reality, the action isn’t nearly as elegant. He practically drags himself through the doorway. Lieutenant Lee--bruised, limping, bandaged, and full of spite. “Aww, how sweet. But too bad you won’t be getting the chance.” he says.

“What are you gonna do...Kill him?” Kyungsoo pipes up.

Lieutenant Lee lets out a pained laugh. “Are you crazy? That would mean getting rid of our best warrior at this encampment. No, no. Su Min, as much as I hate to say it, isn’t getting punished. Her father dismissed her. Isn’t it nice to have connections, little nuisance?” He looks from the three males down to the ground where Su Min sits, his gaze full of distaste.

“Oh, screw you.”

“Only if it’s you doing it, sweetheart,” Lieutenant Lee chimes, sending a flirtatious wink. Xiumin takes a threatening step forward, but is held back by Tao. “Now, you, what are you doing here? You should be training.” Tao, obviously not pleased, stands at attention and salutes before Lieutenant Lee. Su Min, who had been pretty quiet other than the small outburst, finally chooses to speak up.

“I won’t allow that,” she announces, standing up as an attendant comes to open the jail cell door. She steps out, the action rather elegant and even, lady-like. “He’ll be...coming with me.”

Tao’s eyes widen as everyone turns to stare at her. “I can hardly see the need for you to bring him along. It’s not like he’s important.” Lieutenant Lee reasons, his voice rising. Su Min steps forward, clucking her tongue and wagging a finger in his face.

“Oh, sure, he’s not a Divine Force. But it’ll be a it hard to protect twelve of them when it’s just me. And I doubt any of them are trained. That being said, I need someone who has my back. Someone who’s trained. I think Zitao fits that description. Of course, I’ll only take him if he wants to come.” she rambles, staring lazily at Lieutenant Lee before letting her gaze travel to Tao. “Do you?”

A glare shoots out of the lieutenant’s eyes, but he’s unable to say a word. “I’d be honored.” Su Min smiles and claps her hands together, turning to look at the three males that stand behind her for turning back to Lieutenant Lee.

“Then it’s settled,” she announces, “Huang Zitao will be coming with me--us.”

- - -

Piss and vinegar, Tao thinks quietly, this girl is made up of 100% of the stuff. Since the trio-turned-quartet had left the dingy military town, all she had done was complain. Complain about Lieutenant Lee. Complain about Kyungsoo. Complain about Xiumin. She hadn’t quite gotten to complaining about him yet, but he was sure that it would come eventually. And when it did, he would be prepared. But, really, who is ever prepared?

“And you,” she spits. “Because of that tussle we got into, my back is killing me. I’m twenty-years-old!” she curses her feet kicking up dirt as she shuffles along the dirt path. Su Min isn’t dumb enough to leave behind four pairs of footprints. By sidling along like this, she upholds the element of surprise. Which is, by the way, the most important thing to have in any situation.

“Girls are weird,” Tao whispers to Xiumin in Chinese. The older boy looks up and smiles, nodding. “Does she always complain this much?” he proceeds. Xiumin ponders the question for a second, as if it’s difficult to answer. Although Kyungsoo and himself do complain much more, Su Min does it as well, even if she doesn’t notice. She complains about them all the time, for one. She complains about her weapons, as well. And no one can forget her constant about the stupidity of this mission.

“Yes, she does.”

Tao smiles and twirls the short nunchuck-like stick in between his fingers. Kyungsoo and Su Min have begun to bicker once again, their feverish insults shooting like arrows towards each other. Neither of them show the tiniest inch of a smile to ensure that they’re kidding, leading young Tao to a simple conclusion: they aren’t. “Nitwit.” she growls before padding ahead.

So this is life on the road.