The meal ended simply and honestly, they never planned to meet each other again on friendly terms. Xiumin was simply left wondering if she was real, though he knew she was. He didn't know why but her slight sarcasm and quick wit had actually made him want to more. It didn't matter if he got on her bad side or not. Maybe because he knew he wouldn't. She seemed too patient of a person for that. That night he went back to the same house he'd been living in since the group split. It was far off in the country, and no one had owned it. Most people going by (if there were any at all) probably thought he was a farmer by the amount of plants that he kept. Of course, they were for...trafficking reasons.  After the usual routine of shower, hygeine, and cosmetics, he was finally able to sleep, Eunji still fresh on his mind. 

"I feel...sick." Eunji muttered. It had been nearly a year and she was yet again in her father's home, but he was sober this time. Sober and worried. He felt her hands which were nearly ice cold. Ever since the rainy season had set in, she'd been getting worse, but she refused a doctor. Her father could only sit and watch as he knew the reason why she rejected medical help. They'd ask for parental information, and she couldn't let them know. He was most ashamed of this himself. It was his fault she led a life like she did, but at the same, he couldn't have been happier to have a daughter like her--kind, intelligent, and caring. She was willing to do anything to keep him safe, and often times he would count on her for it. She'd never been sick before, and he couldn't understand why now. Afraid of what would happen, he brought his daughter into the car and drove.

ring. Ring. RING. RING! RING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Xiumin flew straight up glaring at the entire world because of his door bell. He glanced at the dim light of the clock which seemed too bright for his unadjusted eyes. It was nearly four in the morning. He didn't care how much money he'd make, he was tired. He lifted his phone, flipping it open and wincing at the attacking bright seeping into his pupils. He'd missed nearly thirty calls in the past few hours. Sitting up, he rubbed his eyes and slumped to his front door, throwing it open and ready to kill someone.

"What?!"

"M-Minseok. Something happened to Eunji! Please, I can't take her to the hospital! Can't you at least give her something??" Xiumin let his eyes wander over the girl in the old man's arms and had to stop himself from spacing out once more. Even as ill as she was, she remained the absolute spectacle of beauty. He traced her body with his eyes, before taking her into his arms and setting her on the floor.

"What happened?"

"I...I don't know. She was having such a good time earlier, but she just started to feel sick. I think it's the we--"

"What did you say?"

"She was h--" 

"Shut up." Xiumin cursed in his head. She must have gotten a hold of the Nitromia sometime that day, accident or not. He began to remove the excess clothing she had on but continued speaking as he did so. "How long ago did she pass out?"

"She passed out about 10 minutes before we got here... What's going on?" Xiumin shook his head.

"Nitromia. Leave her here. She'll be fine. I need you to leave." President Nam was taken back. What did he just say?

"She's my daughter!" Xiumin glared at him.

"And I'm her only hope. So leave." He stood up, and filling his tub with water, while retrieving an IV he kept for drug testing, and slung it into the bathroom, Eunji in his arms. He set her in the water, hoping that osmosis would be of some help as he attached the IV to her body. He had less that 40 minutes to get her awake. Desperately, he pulled out the cup he used when brushing his teeth and filled it with water, ready to make her drink as much of it as she could. What in the world had she been thinking by taking Nitromia?!

He pressed a hand to the back of her neck, tilting her head back gently, and pouring the water down . If she didn't drink she'd die. The situation was dire. It was so dire that...he found time to admire her. Her skin was soft and moisturized. Her hair still had the same shine it did all that time ago when he'd gotten lucky enough to share dinner with her. He chuckled bitterly. It was an awkward dinner. They barely spoke the each other, but at the same time he enjoyed it, though he was unsure of her thoughts. He also had thought that that would be the last time they met. 

"But fate brings us here..." He whispered. He checked his watch noticing that he was now down to 25 minutes. He barely knew her but he wanted her to wake up. Needed her to. "Eunji.." He shook her slightly, his eyes focused on her emotionless face. He shook her again, noticing barely a twitch in her hand. She was close. He smiled and continued to shake her, calling her name constantly. Time was running and so was her life.  "EUNJI!"

The girl took a sharp inhale, spitting out water right after. Her eyes opened and look around her. Eunji and Xiumin, in a bathroom...with an IV in her hand...while she was soaked in bathtub water.

"What in the world is going on?" She spat her eyes gleaming with anger, causing Xiumin to drop the cup of water and move back slightly.

"You almost died that's what! You're going to be staying here for a couple days actually. I need to get you stabilized. Why would you even think of taking Nitromia?" Caught in the act Eunji looked away. She didn't think it was that bad. She had simply wanted to try it. That is, until she was nearly going through a heart attack from laughing so much. Not long after that she'd felt nausea and was out. Then up and awake in Xiumin's restroom. 

"I'm going. I'm fine now. Water, right? Gotcha." She stood up, wringing her clothes of the saturated liquid, but Xiumin shut the door and stood in front.

"No. You're going to get sick again if I don't treat this right.  Can't you just listen? Stop trying to put others before yourself for once! I'm not going to kill you, and I'm not going do tests on you. I'm not bothered by you staying here either, so just shut up and stay with me. Sorry if my presence is intolerable, it's only for a couple of days." He'd hissed. Was he just angry? He was never angry. He looked away, avoiding her eyes which were glued to him in shock. Xiumin never got angry. Even when he was angry. Nor did he look like the angry type. Maybe he'd just yelled at her, but he felt as if he should apologize. 

"So--"

"It's fine. I'll stay...but only for a couple of days." He nodded leaving the room.

Day 1

Xiumin handed her another gallon of water as he removed yet another empty one away from her. He wanted to flush any and all of the Nitromia from her body. He was almost sure that her school had drug tests and she needed to at least show no obvious signs of being drugged. She did, like he'd promised, have black urine, but thankfully it only lasted through the first half of the day. Even Eunji seemed down in spirits as she simply lounged on the sofa in the living room. She hadn't been allowed to eat at all or get up. He was oddly keen regarding her health. 

Something he wasn't familiar with; however, he was thankful that she was the obedient type. He'd told her to stay and she had. She didn't even try to move herself an inch off the mattress, and that kept him from having to keep putting her back on it. Momentarily, he had just finished combining a few herbs and other essentials to get rid of any nauseous side effects. She was a rather good patient and recovered fast. 

He pushed the bowl out in front of her.

"Is this finally food?" She questioned excitedly and Xiumin could only shake his head.

"No, but you need it.  Two more days with only this and you should be good to go."

"No food?" She slumped and he nodded with an affected grin. Without a thought, he reached out to her, pressing a hand to her head and ruffling her head. She laughed and began to open the container before she froze, causing him to freeze. Had she just? She looked up at him and he looked down at her until both looked away, refusing to make eye contact. She wasn't okay with this. It was nice of him to help but she'd gotten far too close with him. Xiumin on the other hand was simply gloating mentally about the fact that a woman as pretty as her had actually laughed at something he'd done. 

Not wanting to admit it, each slept happy that night.

Day 2

Xiumin woke early, actually planning to make her breakfast. He'd taken a blood sample from her to find that she had completely recovered in an actual day. Now that was unusual, but she was well off enough to eat and he knew how much she probably wanted to. If she wanted, she could even go back today.

"What are you doing?" He wasn't at all surprised by her presence. He knew she'd be there before he finished. He'd known the moment she'd gotten out of bed. So all in all, he decided not to reply and instead pass a plate to her. Eunji stared down at the food unbelieving.

"I can eat this?" He nodded, concentrating on her voice. She sounded rather cute this early in the morning. He tried to memorize the way she spoke. Her voice was rather soft, but definitely now light. Quietly bold. That was the way to put it, he nodded absentmindedly. He'd heard her get loud before, but it was barely an octave higher. Just by her manners he could tell she was the patient sort and rarely did she ever get thrown out of line. Except by him. He smiled remembering the way she'd laughed only a day before then freezing up like a child who'd been caught stealing something like candy. 

He shook his head taking a seat across from her, not wanting to look up. As he sat, she could hear the pause in her actions. She was staring him and thinking something along the lines of 'Who said you could sit there?’ He smiled and continued eating.

"Oh. I took a blood sample this morning. You'll be perfectly fine by tomorrow. You can leave then." He lied straight through his teeth. He just wanted company, was that so bad? Ever since they'd broken up, he hadn't been able to see any of them. He even worried for Tao, who, though was the strongest, was also the childish youngest. Xiumin found it hard to get used to that there was not a kid around for him to pester or take care of. Tao was often his partner during operations. As a dealer it only made sense that he get the worst situations.

Pulled out of his thought, he watched as she grabbed another gallon of water and made her way to lie on the sofa one day more. Shrugging he listened to the sound of the television she'd so quickly . It was 'Gag Concert'. He liked that show. Even while working on a drug he'd have it on, laughing as he was busy creating something that could destroy human life. 

He turned to look at her and thought about himself. He had been smiling quite a lot recently.

Xiumin spared her a glance.

He liked her. Xiumin--Kim Minseok--liked her. 

That night Eunji couldn't help but wonder why she was still there. Xiumin kept insisting that she needed to stay a bit longer, but she felt wonderful, fantastic, and fine. Now she had already packed her things and no matter what he said, she was leaving. She missed her dorm, her friends, and her father. 

"Xiumin?" She called walking into one of the rooms. It was filled with papers. They were everywhere, taped to furniture, pinned to walls, stuck on computers. She assumed this was his research room--research room that was empty of him. She saw a sheet with bright red marker.

'Systolic Blood Pressure...122 Diastolic Blood Pressure 81,' She knit her eyebrows. These were rather normal readings. Too normal. Didn't he say she needed to recover a day more? she continued to read on. 'Pulse...43'. She was insanely healthy right now. the notebook paper, she stomped out of the room, catching sight of Xiumin stepping inside his garage. Her eyes narrowed, and fist tightened. She followed him, slamming the door open and threw the paper at him.

"What was that? I thought I really still had to recover, but that reads as fine! Why am I still here, Xiumin?"

"Minseok." He muttered.

"What?"

"Minseok. My real name is Kim Minseok." She shook her head, eyes squinted in disbelief.

"Answer me!"

"Company." He said simply, returning to look at the plant sitting on the table in front of him. "I wanted company. It's really lonely out here if you haven't noticed. I've been separated from my closest family for nearly a year. I like you." He whispered the last part, but she'd already heard--and softened. Placing his safety goggles on the table, he turned toward her, taking a step. 

She took two back.

He scoffed and continued walking toward her until he found her back against the wall and his face deathly close to her own. Here she was, face to face with a known drug dealer who probably had contacts to hide her body if he want to. He felt as if she were sinking into the wall under his gaze.

"It's fine. Leave. I need to finish this soon anyway." He backed away and returning to his experiment. She took that chance and left the room.

Eunji couldn’t find the courage to leave after what he'd said to her. She'd always gotten this lonely feeling from him, but there he was, and he admitted it. 'I like you.' The genuine softness of his voice stopped, played, and repeated all in her mind. She didn't like him at all. Lie. She scoffed. Look at this kid, now she couldn't even be honest with herself. She shook her head and waited a little longer, yawning for nearly the hundredth time since she'd left Xiu-- Minseok in his 'lab' alone. Night had fallen a few hours ago, but he was still nowhere to be seen.

'You were a jerk to him and you know it, Eunji. You can do this. You can.' She stood, walking with confidence toward the garage door, but the more she neared the door the less confidence she was capable of, until she was standing face to face with the door. 'Eunji. Just do it. What's the worst he can do? Kick you out? You wanted to leave anyway, so go!' She pulled open the door.

"Minseok, you shoul--" She stopped herself as she saw him sitting against the garage wall, already asleep. She smiled. He looked rather innocent that way. When he slept he didn't sell drugs. He didn't create drugs. He didn't move drugs. Asleep, he was Minseok, and she liked that.  With a smile, she went back to grab a blanket which she placed over his sleeping form. She would be leaving now. She had to. She'd already missed two days of classes. She knelt down and pushed back the hair that shielded his forehead and smiled once more, placing her lips on his skin lightly before breaking away. With that, she turned and left, but she made sure she'd see him again.

Day 3

When Xiumin woke up, he found himself warm and cozy and...in his garage? Blinking he opened his eyes several times, and saw the note that had been stuck to his head.

'See you later.' --Eunji. 

He sighed. He had hoped she'd stay, but of course she wouldn't. He wouldn't have either.

That evening Xiumin heard a knock on his door during his variety time. Had someone actually found his house way out here?

He shrugged and opened the door only to be invaded by a hug. The warm fuzzy feeling inside slightly shocked him, causing him to stumble back. Looking down his eyes widened as he noticed the beautifully shining caramel-mocha strands that dangled against his body.

"Eunji?" She nodded and smiled letting him. 

"I told you I’d be back." She stated, taking a seat. Dumbfounded, he shut the door heading back to his seat, where he stared at the smiling and slightly red Eunji.  He didn't know when or how look it took, but realization set in and leaned forward pressing a light kiss on her cheek.

"Acquaintances?"

"Acquaintances." 

Things continued on like that for a year more. Though Eunji could never actually live with him that never stopped her from visiting every day. They'd spend time together watching TV and sharing slight, innocent kisses. He'd tell her about business, and she'd mention how to get work together. She left each night, but he was assured she'd come back to him the next day, and she was sure he'd be there.

That's actually where she was headed now. It was really late, and she may have planned on spending the night tonight. She stared at the window, smiling at the bright suction of light which she usually never saw. Today must have been a good day... but as she got closer and noticed the direction, she ran forward as far as she could until the 'clouds' had become apparent. No sooner was it that she stood in front of Minseok's home. Or what would be left of it. Flames danced rigorously in front of her as she felt the pain of loss, a familiar pain, in her chest once more. 

"Minseok...where did you go?" She sobbed, dropping to her knees as she watched the beautiful pile of wood turn to ash.

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