Curiosity

     The day was turning into night. Blue skies were slowly overcome by hues of purple, pink and orange as the sun began to set. It was getting later than Yongguk had thought. As he watches the colorful evening glare shining through a palm trees on the street Kai’s house sat on, his hand reaches for the phone in his pocket.

     C.C. was on his mind and he needed to assure them that their leader was fine and on his way back. But before he could even unlock his phone, a voice interrupts him.

     Yongguk looks up to see none other than the china doll whose determination for his enemy gave him the final adrenaline to take down his opponent. Yongguk’s eyes widen for a split second, surprised that she’d had the audacity to even follow him out of the house.

     “I said, stop.” The girl repeats herself, apparently not willing to say it again, the voice of terror Yongguk had imagined from before fade away all at once.

     Yongguk looks in his opposite directions, a gaudy smile creeping up on his expression as he points to himself.

     “Me?” He asks, both eyebrows rising in wonder.

     “Yes, you. The only one out here. Obviously you.” The girl stands steadily, clearly more in infuriation with the boy standing in front of her than fear. “You said back there that Kai wasn’t a vulture. That he wasn’t even the vulture’s meal?”

     Yongguk was silent at her question at first, unmoving, but decided to humor her. His legs relax as his arms drew up, crossing against his chest.

     “Yeah. That’s what I said.” He finally answers.

     “Then what does that make you?”

     Yongguk’s head twists slightly to the side, his eyebrows scrunching slightly in confusion.

     “What do you mean?”

     “I mean,” The girl blew out hot air with her words. “If he’s not even the vulture’s meal, then what are you? Didn’t you just prey on him? If he really wasn’t worth being even the vulture’s meal, then why did you have to beat him so intensely?”

     Yongguk doesn’t answer. He doesn't move from the spot he's in either. It stayes this way for a long moment, both Yongguk and the china doll staring at each other in silence as the sunset washes its colors over the sky. Then Yongguk was finished. As far as he was concerned, this girl had nothing interesting to say and to argue with her would be unnecessary smoke. So instead, he reaches back for his phone, dialing Himchan’s number and hitting send, the girl still not letting his eyes up off of him.

     “Himchan? Yeah, where are you right now? No, I finished what I needed to do. It’s fine. No, I’m fine.” There was a pause, Himchan expressing his concerns for his leader’s safety on the other side of the phone. “I said I’m fine. Don’t worry. I’m about to come back so –“

     “How rude do you have to be to just have a full conversation after I’ve asked you a question?!” Now the girl was shouting while he was on the phone? What was her deal? What kind of questions was she even asking?

     “It’s just some girl.” Yongguk answered Himchan on the phone, staring at the girl in front of him with even more shock than before. “I’ll be there soon.”

     Yongguk hangs up the phone, still in complete silence as the girl continues to stand in front of him, enraged about whatever it was that had gotten her so upset. Yongguk finally starts to smile to himself, his head lowering as he shakes it slightly. Was she upset because he'd beaten up her boyfriend?

     “Fine.” Her stance finally calms down, her expression falling to neutral. “Fine. I’ll answer this one for you. If Kai isn’t the prey, and he’s not the vulture… then what are you?” Her head tilts with her words. “You’re not a vulture either. You’re not a predator. You’re both just playing a game of cat and mouse. It’s pointless. So don’t look at me when you’re having your play date, okay?”

     With that, she finally turns away, still standing in place where she’d been. So that’s what it was about. She didn’t want to be a variable in their gang related violence.

     “And what if I do? Look at you, I mean.”

     Without turning back around, her hands rise to put her hair up into a pony tail. When she's done, she lets out a huge breath she’d been holding in, her shoulders falling as she lets it out, leaving Yongguk with only a one word answer.

     “Don’t.”

     And then she starts to walk away. Yongguk should’ve been more offended. If it were a member of Zaikai, he’d had ripped their legs off if they’d said something like that. But for some reason, he was only amused. Instead of calling out threats to her, he only shook his head with a smile, getting one last look at the girl, her walk strong and powerful as she walks away. She must’ve thought she really fazed him.

     But he didn’t look for too long. Just a glance and then back at his phone, looking at the time. It was almost time for his father to get home from work. Meaning that if he wasn’t home soon, he’d be leaving his crew alone with the likes of that low life.

     He decides to just let the girl go. She was more humor than harm. And so he finally starts to walk home, his pace picking up as he watches the sun set further and further into the horizon.

      “Does this mean we don’t need to watch out for them anymore?”

       “My ! If we hide out for even a day, they’ll take advantage, I bet my right and left hand on it.”

     Himchan and Daehyun were in their usual argument of who was right and who was wrong; an argument that never seemed to end with those two.

     “I think if they were going to attack, they’d be here now. Look, Carnage even said he beat him unconscious, remember? Unconscious. You don’t think that counts for something?”

     Himchan nods towards his leader, Daehyun quiet for a moment before waving his hand at Himchan in dismissal, sitting back against the couch next to Youngjae, giving up his argument in defeat.

     Yongguk hadn’t even had a part in the conversation since he came home and let everyone know what had happened. His head was too filled with confusion. He had thoughts of C.C.’s next job, thoughts of his father’s business, thoughts of Zaikai’s possible attack and thoughts of smaller gangs trying something while things were quiet… and yet… while all of these do or die situations spun through his head, the same image of the girl who had sent him away so fearlessly continued to rattle in the front of it all. Because, after all, he hadn’t seen someone stand up to him besides his father in so long.

     “If it were up to me, I’d ride in there right now and knock them all down to size.” Zelo insists.

     “Hey, did I not just say it was fine?” Himchan’s expression becomes annoyed at the way s were acting. No matter what Himchan said, they were stuck on attacking.

     “He’s right.” Yongguk says, unmoving from the couch he was on. When he feels everyone’s eyes on him, he finally shifts his gaze, seeing the worried looks on his crew’s faces. Yongguk takes a long breath before easing up his posture, taking his hands from under his chin and sitting back against the couch.

     “It’s like Himchan says, I knocked him down already. Zelo, what have I taught you? I’ve been telling you all the same thing for so long. Since the beginning.”

     Zelo sighs at his leader before reciting the words he wanted to hear. “I know, I know. If the leader falls, so does the gang.”

     “If the leader goes down, s go down with him.” Jongup adds after being mostly quiet at Zelo’s side until now.

     “That’s right,” Yongguk stresses, his fist hitting the palm of his other hand in enthusiasm. “If Kai is knocked down, the rest of his crew is bound to crumble behind him. That’s the plan. When I was at his house, his face looked humiliated. Do you think he’d recover from that? It’s fine. He’ll be mad, but he won’t have his head on straight. I already know. So let it go. Alright?”

     Yongguk’s voice is etched with sincere concern for Clear Carnage’s well being. As he scans the room, everyone nods in agreement with him.

     “To be completely honest,” Jongup says, moving from the couch he sat with Zelo to move to the one Yongguk was on, sitting next to him and wrapping his arm around his shoulder. “I’m just glad you’re okay.” A smile spreads across Jongup’s face, Yongguk almost mirroring it completely.

     “Make that second for me!” Himchan says, joining in with his arm around Yongguk’s neck, holding him in a headlock as he laughed and struggled to get away.

     Zelo and Daehyun both laugh at their member’s display, watching as their leader is tortured with affection, begging them to help him escape.

     “What? The great leader, Carnage, can’t even escape from that?” Daehyun laughs, Zelo right along in unison.

     “Youngjae, you too!? You’re just gonna watch!?”

     Youngjae smiles and gives a quiet nod in Yongguk’s direction.

     “Wow, what a day to get betrayed by my own gang.”

     “Hey, it’s love. Love! You should accept it.” Youngjae finally speaks up, a bit of a laugh sprinkled in his words. “Besides, I’m just happy you’re okay, too. It’s best to let it go.”

     “If this is about your petty schoolyard fights, you have bigger things to worry about.” Everyone stops what they’re doing, smiles all fading at the sudden interruption. It was the one person that struck more fear into this town than any of their members.

     “Dad, it wasn’t about—“

     Yongguk’s dad shakes his head as one of his servants shuts the door behind him. “It doesn’t matter. Just do the ing jobs. And tell your sister to get her damn grades the hell up. What use is she in this house if she’s not even going to do that?”

     Yongguk’s younger sister, Julie, stood next to their father. Her head hung low as if she was ashamed just to be standing next to him, her backpack still on her back and her hello kitty lunchbox in her hand.

     Himchan hints for the rest of them to get going, nodding at Yongguk so he wouldn’t have to say anything out loud.

     “We’ll do the jobs well, sir.” Himchan says, putting his head down to Yongguk’s dad as he walks towards the front door after the rest of the members.

     “You better put your life on it.” Yongguk’s dad doesn’t bother to look back as he walks up the stairs, disappearing into another part of the house.

     Himchan and the others watch as Yongguk jumps off of the couch as soon as his father’s out of sight, appearing in front of Julie on his knees to match her height. He brushes her hair out of her little face and asks if she’s alright. Julie nods and Yongguk picks her up in his arm, carrying her backpack and lunchbox in his other.

     “I’ll see you guys tomorrow morning, alright?” Yongguk says, watching as Himchan is finally shutting the door.

     “Oooooh, Carnage is actually going to school in the morning? Graves will open up!”

     Yongguk hollers a “shut up!” at Daehyun’s snarky comment before the door completely shuts. Looking back at Julie, he brushes her hair away from her face one more time.

     “Let’s get you ready for bed, okay?” Yongguk smiles a toothy, gummy smile at her as he walks her up the stairs in the opposite direction their wicked father and his servant had headed, ready to help his baby sister get ready for the night before he could go to his room and plan out his hit for tomorrow.

     Before the sun rises, in one of the largest houses in Clearwater, a small pastel pink colored parakeet sings. Rosie had been Hana’s alarm for the past five years and she’d never failed to wake her up at exactly five in the morning. Every morning.

     Hana roles out of her bed, stretching her arms up straight above her head, swaying them with her body side to side before she looks over to her little love of a bird, smiling at her presence. It was the perfect wake up call.

     “Good morning, Rosie.” Hana spoke in barely a whisper but the bird calls back with a series of beautiful perky chirps. Hana stands up from her bed and opens the curtains in her room, catching a glimpse of the moon giving the starry sky it's glow.

     Her fingers glide across the window, following the star that her father had told her was hers. Did he buy it for her? No. Was it named after her? No. In fact, that star probably legally belonged to someone else. But when Hana saw it, it now belonged to her and her father. The only person in the world who seemed to have cared to be by her side. So every morning when she woke up to the sound of Rosie, she found that star. And when she finds it, just like to Rosie, she whispers a “good morning, dad.” Because that was as close as she could get for now.

     Her phone was on silent through the night as it always was. It went off so constantly with orders from her mother and orders from Kai that Hana just didn’t have the energy to get them so immediately. When she looked at her phone, sure enough, four messages from Kai, ten from her mother.

     All of Hana’s mother’s messages were the same. “Don’t be so ungrateful. Do better in school. Give up on your dreams and do what’s rightfully owed to your mother.”

     Typical. What was rightfully owed to her mother? Hana always shook it off but truth be told, her mother clung to the dark corners of her mind like a parasite, eating away day by day in attempts to make Hana empty. But she was stronger than that.

     But Kai’s were always childish. “Bring me a soda when you come in for school. You better not forget my homework. Stay by my side at school no matter what.” He was a kid. But Hana always did whatever Kai said as long as it was in reason. There wasn’t much time left in their agreement, and once Hana paid him back for what he’d done for her, then she would be free of him.

     As soon as Hana was dressed for the day, with a sigh, she reached the same fingers that had found her father’s star up to temple of her head, pressing firmly against it as she grimaced. As if the more stress she was under, the more her problems she would have. But today, everything was normal. So she grabs her bottle of pills, tips it over and with the kerplunk of the bottle, she takes her daily dosage before heading out the door with her backpack and all of her books, thankfully avoiding anyone in the house who could possibly be awake.

     Yongguk yawns, his hand covering his mouth as he walks through the halls. Everyone else with their uniforms spic and span, while Yongguk’s was barely even buttoned.

     “Carnage actually makes it to school in the morning. I’m shocked.” Jongup stands in front of his leader, handing him a coffee with a warm smile as soon as he gets close enough.

     “The walking dead is amongst us! Run for the hills!” Himchan and the rest of the members laugh at Daehyun as they lean against the wall in front of their homeroom, savoring every last moment before that dreaded bell rings their heads off.

     “And this is why I don’t come in the morning.” Yongguk elbows Daehyun in the ribs, Daehyun wincing with a hint of a laugh all at the same time.

     Zelo nudges Yongguk. “Zaikai, nine-o-clock.”

     Yongguk’s head snaps up to find four of Zaikai’s members walking their way, Kai leading them along.

     “Well… I guess these little kittens of yours managed to drag you in after all, huh, Kai?” Yongguk grinned, coaxing his rival as he walked closer and closer.

     That typical Kai-esque smirk spread like wildfire. “You just wait your turn, Carnage. If you mess with family long enough... you might just start a war.”

     “Isn’t that sweet? The kittens think they’ve got their own little army.” Youngjae teases at the gang without even moving from the wall, still straight faced and sipping on his iced latte.

      Clear Carnage is laughs all around, watching the looks on Zaikai’s faces turn sour. Himchan noticing a particularly irritated mug amongst Luhan’s pretty little face.

     “You wanna be like the big tigers when you’re all grown up, huh?” Himchan teases but Luhan isn't having any of it. Luhan grabs at Himchan’s hand the second it begins to ruffle his hair, an even meaner scowl replacing his look.

     “Move your hand before you ing lose it, you bastard.”

     All of Zaikai “oooooo” at Luhan, not taking him seriously at all. The oddball out of the small group, Yixing, places his hands around Luhan’s shoulders, pulling him back a bit and whispering something into his ear that seems to calm him down.

     “It’s fine, Luhan.” Kai adds. “Besides, they’ll find where their place is. As soon as…”

     “Kai!” The small feminine figure that is Hana calls out from around the corner, interrupting the moment as she walks in a fast pace with a soda in hand. “The vending machine was out of pineapple, but they had strawberry. It’s all I could get.”

     Everyone becomes quiet, Tao, Yixing and Luhan giving each other a look as Hana walks over their way. She always seemed to be interrupting something.

     Yongguk’s eyes widen and he calls out a “hey” in Hana’s direction.

     “Aren’t you that little china doll from the party last night?” Yongguk asks but Hana only glares in his direction in silence before extending the soda she’d bought for Kai to him, hitting him in the stomach with a “here.”

     Kai flinches at the cold beverage suddenly in contact with his warm body, but doesn’t say anything.

     “I’m sure it’s you.” Yongguk continues. “But what’s with the uniform? I’ve never seen you around here before.”

     The four members of Zaikai seem to have gone silent at Hana’s presence, only quietly watching as her eyes peer at Yongguk.

     “Are you serious?” Hana stands up straight, as if waiting for the next stupid thing to come out of Yongguk’s mouth so she can call him out on it.

     “What? Did you transfer here?” Yongguk’s eyes glance over to Kai, still stuck with a more intimidating look than the rest of the four members on his side, and then back to Hana. “You must belong to this little kitten of pack leader, here.”

     Kai’s grimace deepens in Yongguk’s direction, countering his grin. Hana’s teeth press together as she takes a deep breath, closing her eyes before she can stand to look at Yongguk again.

     “First of all… I don’t ‘belong’ to anybody.” She says with conviction. “And second…” She sighs, taking a beat from the moment as her shoulders fall before continuing. “We’ve been in the same homeroom since freshman year.”

     Yongguk’s eyebrow rises, his eyes shifting from Kai and back to Hana. His obvious assumption causing the right corner of Kai’s lips to inch up, clearly not helping the situation.

     “It’s just favors okay. I owe him because…” She cuts herself off, another deep breath coming from her. “Look, it’s none of your business okay.” Hana turns to Kai, telling him that she’ll see him later if he needed her and without any of them able to say a word, she walks into her homeroom class, the same one all of C.C. should be headed to.

     As the boys watch her walk in, Zelo chuckles to himself. “I’d make her mine if she’s got no one claiming her yet.”

     “Back off while I have the patience to tell you with words.” Kai says, completely calm for once.

     Zelo doesn’t say anything back, choosing his battles as Kai finally starts to walk away, Luhan immediately following them as the calmest looking, Yixing, switches his attention from Tao to Kai and Luhan before finally deciding to follow his leader, picking up his pace to catch up to his side.

     Tao stays behind for a moment, his gaze piercing into the members of Clear Carnage for a few moments longer before walking to catch up with the rest of his Zaikai members, leaving the rest of the boys to their class.

     As Yongguk sits in his class, the teacher goes over their last English lesson. He watches the china doll of a girl who was only a row and a couple seats over from him. How he missed her before, he’ll never know. He watches as she concentrates harder than anyone else in the class, her pencil never ceasing to write for even a few seconds.

     Yongguk wondered what the hell someone like her could be doing with Kai’s crew. She was powerful, yeah, but not in the killer way. He knew Zaikai’s history and she just didn’t seem to fit into it. As he watched her eyes glance up to the board as the teacher spoke and wrote, and then back to her paper, he just couldn’t see anything but a girl with purpose to do something. He didn’t know what that something was, but in that moment, he was so curious.

     He smiled to himself, making a mental note that he needed to find exactly what it was that she had going on with them. He’d make sure of it.