The nights had somehow grown cold and sleepless, and Sooyeon found herself in the spot as ever during this time year-round. As winter drew near, her shop would draw to a slow. After all, flowers were most abundant in the warm, loving climates of the winter and summer.  While a few flowers would fight on to bloom throughout the icy winter, the most she could do was import flowers and hope that they lasted the trip until they arrived at her shop. It often left her at a guessing game as to how much profit would be made and how much would be lost in the trade of bad or bruised flowers. In essence, this left business slow and turtle-like while her profits compared to the speed of a turtle. In good news though, winter had yet to hit. Fall wasn’t much better, but it was better and better was something.    

“Don’t have a place to stay?” She blinked  tiredly, attempting to tune out the conversation that was taking place outside her shop. Eavesdropping was a big no to many, and while sometimes it couldn’t be helped, she could at least say she tried. She didn’t enjoy gossip, and rarely cared about what other people were up to, as they were far from her priority. With that much in mind, she turned her back to the window and made her way to the other end of the shop to water the remaining plants. The poor things had yet to receive any water recently, so not only was it cold, but the lack of moisture only made it harder for the greenery to continue living. There was no doubt that they gave a strong endeavor to live, continuing to grow millimeter by millimeter while their leaves browned.

“I can give you a place, if you need. You’ll have to pay  back though.  You’ve got quite the face, it shouldn’t be too hard.” Sooyeon let out a light and frustrated sigh as the same voice she’d heard previously continued on, this time a bit louder than it had been before. With a roll of her eyes, she turned to step onto the very tips of her toes, trying to figure out what exactly was going on outside her poor shop. She wasn’t very tall--in fact she worked with plants much taller than she--and peeking over her plants was actually a bit of a feat. Though only her eyes towered over their tops, she stared out into the darkened alleyway nearby.

In the narrow space between the two buildings, she spotted a male, ushering a female who looked as if she wasn’t interested, but at the same time had no choice. She didn’t want to admit it, but Sooyeon was actually curious as to what was taking place in the moment, and while it could have gotten her in all the more trouble, she merely ignored the threat and stared on. When she took the moment to size up both parties, the male was not too much taller than she. He sported a rather  young-looking face with  boyish features, and she was sure he had to be younger than herself.  The female on the other hand was definitely older and definitely shorter. She was well endowed both in beau ty and physicality. Her chest was noticeable even from Sooyeon’s distance.

“Come on! It’s not a hard job!” Their voices grew louder, and t he female’s eyes could only widen as she shook her head. Sooyeon could have sworn that she had seen tears b on the edge of her eyes as the girl backed herself into a wall, frantically and desperately shaking her head. The male however, seemed to be losing patience minute by minute. He neared her with rather frustrated and annoyed eyes, but Sooyeon knew that look. She knew that look to be the glare that prey would send toward others when they’d had no other choice but to fight. It left her only to wonder what exactly had he gone through to get to this point? Her lips tugged down into a frown deeper than the one she hadn’t realized she’d been wearing. It was like the countless times before--she needed to help. Not only  the woman, but the male seemed that he could use a pick  up as well.

She’d been used to that. As a kindred spirit, she rarely ever came off as nice, but when it came to those who needed something, anything--a new place to start, food, shelter--she was there to help them. In her mind, everyone deserved an opportunity, despite whether they were give one or not. Second chances may be hard to come by, but as long as they had stopped by her home, She believed they had come by the right place. At the same time though, she wasn’t a complete charity home. Having taught in China previously, she was a well known instructor and was paid beautifully for her skills. China, however, became a place she refused to return to, and soon she found shelter in Korea. She lived off the money she’d made, and she didn’t mind putting it back into the economy. That’s how it was meant to work, right?

Confidence in her veins, she was making her way toward the door when the tricolor, bright lights began flashing throughout the other end of the alleyway. Her eyes found their way to the male’s, and the familiar doe-eyed expression held true as he backed away from his victim,  searching around frantically for some place any place to run to. In the meantime, the flashes were only drawing closer, and  Sooyeon refused to be a bystander to any arrest tonight, especially for someone who didn’t deserve it. She  quickly ran to the front of her shot, and pushed the door open. “In he--” At that same moment, it was as if she hadn’t had to tell him anything. T he moment her doors had opened, the male came running toward her direction, slipping past her and under a table that had been well  hidden by the greenery  around the shop.

She allowed the door to close without  a word, and she grabbed her water  bucket, continuing to finish up the job she’d stared in silence. The police seemed to have found the action suspicious, nearing her door with flashlights shining bright in her eyes, no longer giving her time to adjust to their intensity.

“Ma’am?” She blinked, looking up at the shorter, fatter one. ( They must come in pairs, she supposed.)

“Yes?”

“ There is a young man around here, looks like this.” The one to the left was taller and more built, but seemed extremely tired as is. He pulled out a picture, holding it up to where she was able to identify the shapes and colors on the paper. Needless to say, the same man hiding  in her shop stared out at her in the photo, looking no more harmful than a fly.

“Someone said they saw him here and near your shop.” Sooyeon faked a frowned, and she brought her eyes closer to phot o before following with a short shake of her head.

“I haven’t. I’m sorry. I’m only here to water my plants, then I’ll be going home.”

“It’s awfully late to be watering plants. Do you know that harboring a criminal is like being an accessory to a crime?”

“I do, but  I can’t make someone that’s not here appear out of nowhere.”   She countered.

“Well..if you see him, just give us a call. Thank you for your co-operation.”

“Mhm.”

She smiled lightly, and waved at them as they continued on their way. It wasn’t until they and their vehicles were out of sight that she let out an exasperated sigh, and turned to come face to face with the male. Her eyes widened, and she stumbled back a bit, almost, crashing into the door behind her, but the stranger hand outstretched a hand to catch her at the last moment. Now that she’d gotten the chance to see him up close, she noticed how handsome he actually seemed to be. His chestnut brown locks only intensified the  youth of his features from his bright and warm eyes to the light smile he held on his lips.

“You’re not  bad at lying.” The compliment almst fell unto deaf ears as Sooyeon found herself simply gawking at his features. Needless to say, nothing about him could be counted as average. It was as if he’d come out of a magazine or something.

“I-- What?” He let out a charming laugh and reached over to tuck a  misplaced strand of hair behind her ear.

“ You’re. Not. Bad. At. Lying.” She  was forced to hold back a glare as he reiterated every syllable of the word. She hated being treated as a child. As a teacher, she found that even children hated being treated as such. Sure, she hadn’t  been paying attention, but in a way, that wasn’t quite her fault. So many things were happening at once  she had barely had the time to really let her mind catch up. Still, from the accident, she could practically tell he was Chinese. Luckily, she wasn’t one to  stick to one language, and Chinese was one she hadn’t mastered quite fluently, but enough  to  be considered fluent.

“Thank you.” She muttered in Mandarin, and the male blinked, eyeing her suspiciously as he circled her form.

“You speak Mandarin?”

“Obviously.” He soured a bit at her tone and continued another question.

“Why’d you do it? I’m just like they said. A criminal. A bad person.”   He offered a grin, almost as if he were teasing her with the motion.

“There’s no such thing.” All playfulness left him, and he stared back at her harshly, eyes glaring at her neck. To any normal person, it would have been rather  intimidating. Even in her experience, she could almost see him strangling her in his  deep brown optics. It was a glare that made even her want to step back.

“What if I went to kill you?”

“In this world, there are only people. Not good or bad. Just stories. different stories that coincide, and meet and end. That’s all.” He remained silent, but she knew better than to think that he was impressed with  her words, but rather, he was simply pondering them.  She could tell he didn’t agree though, and her assumption was only further supported as he shook his head, muttering a soft ‘whatever’  under his breath.

And like that, the conversation was over, and they stood there in silence. Him not knowing what to do, and she not knowing if she had the right to ask him any personal question. At the same time, it still didn’t sit right with her to kick him out and back onto the streets where she’d found him in the first place. They’d already gotten this far--which wasn’t very far at all in the span of things--so why stop now?

“Do you have some place to stay?” He turned toward her, sneering at her question .

“Why? Are you going to let me into your lovely little home too?”

“If you needed it.”

“Lady I need a lot of things.”

“I can help.” The male let out a sigh, and she took the chance to grab his arm, pulling him up from his spot. to her surprise, he didn’t fight back as she had expected. In that moment, the headlights from a passing vehicle illuminated his features for what only seemed to be seconds, but she found explained much more. In that moment, she could friend the remains of laugh lines that  could barely be detected in the night. The bags around his eyes only intensified, showing how tired he was. From the looks of it,s he couldn’t hardly tell when the last time he’d gotten a good night’s sleep was. His eyes though, they shined brighter than the stars, and something told here that there was more to him that meets the eyes. “Come on.” She tugged him along with her. “Even if it’s only tonight, you should at least get some rest.” He followed her obediently and silently. Though he couldn’t quite say it aloud, in his mind, he repeated several words of thanks. He wouldn’t stick around long enough for her to hear them anyhow.

 Okay, so this is the next chapter. It's kind of boring, and while I know that I usually update two at a time...ITS MONDAY. And it's late monday. And I'm tired. And I have a Cal test tomorrow. I'll try to get the other one in tomorrow as well as the new storry banner and chapter banner. Thank you for sticking with this story!