CL's POV

Ouch... My head. I wake up to find myself halfway across town, on a rooftop, to be exact. After checking the place below me, I took the leap of faith. I closed my eyes and listened to the wind rushing past me as I free fall. I did a backflip and now falling face first. I took a deep breath in and relaxed. I flipped around and landed in the trash can that was filled with what seems to be pillows. Lucky me, my mental state didn’t take any damage. I couldn’t say that about my feet. It feels like it was broken. I stayed there for a moment and relaxed. No one was around so I wasn’t worried. I moved my right foot and I heard a crack from it. I moved my left and it wasn’t in pain. I got out and practically fell to the floor. My arm and part of my back seemed to be a bit burned. I wondered what burned me. Fire doesn’t hurt me that much. Oh well, I’ll ask Father about it. I moved down the street with one hand on the wall. I limped my way to the convenience store to pick up a bottle of soju and milk. I didn’t have enough to pay the total amount, so I just handed the cashier what I had.

“Put it on my tab. Lee Chaerin.” He looked up with amazement.

“Your father has helped out with this store so many times. Please take the items. The manager would understand.” I nodded and left with my items. He waved goodbye and I did, too. I walked to the park I would visit everyday when I was a child. I sat on a bench in the park. It was my favorite bench. It was out of sight for the most part and secluded. I opened the bottle of soju and milk. “Bottom’s up.” I chugged the whole bottle of soju and finished it. I looked at the moon and stared in wonder. I started to walk back to my dorm. I slowly drank the milk as I walked. I had taken the long way, passing by another park. I went inside the park and saw the stream. I took some water and put some on my burn. “Ahh...” It felt nice to have the cold water against my burn. The burn became more and more painless. I pulled out a rag that was in my jacket. I dipped it in the water I cleansed my face with the rag. I laid back and relaxed. I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply. As I exhaled slowly, I moved my right foot to see if it had healed.

I was granted the gift of the gods. I could heal within hours of the injury, depending on how serious it was. Of course, I had trained this feature many times. I would break my arm for the fun of it sometimes. I kind of enjoyed the pain. I found out if I drink soju, it would lessen the pain. Milk is good for the bones they say, it really is. I never did anything about burns because I haven’t gotten burned, until today.

I remembered I had to be back home before curfew. I sprang to my feet and ran home, taking as many shortcuts I know. I cut through people’s backyards, jumping fences, running through alleyways, and the most fun of all, jumping from tree to tree. I arrived at the doorstep to the Dormitory a few minutes before curfew. I pat myself to find the keys. I fell into a panic. Those keys were ancient. I couldn’t find them on my body. I ran back to look for my keys. Luckily, they were in the first park I was at. Oh the joy of running. I climbed my way to the roof tops and began to make my way back home with running and jumping. I am so going to get punished for this. It was almost an hour past curfew. I unlocked the door to face someone unexpected.

“You’re home late.” I heard from Jinyoung. I made my way to a chair.

“What’s it to you?” I started to untie my combat boots and quickly stash away my pocket knife in my jacket, just fast enough that Jinyoung didn’t notice. I didn’t notice his half-smile until it was too late. He started to walk towards me.

“Well, we're living together now. I thought I should at least pretend to care about you. Why? You don't like when I worry?” He taunted. I hit the wall and clenched my left shoulder. The burn. It hasn’t fully healed.

“Y-yah, what do you think you're doing? I'll kick your .” I tried to sound intimidating, but failed. I unclenched my shoulder, dropping my right arm where it should belong. I started to feel a bit faint.

“You dare?” He questioned me. He dares question me. He slammed his hands on the door, both very near my face. He was leaning in. I couldn’t stand it. His nose brushed against mine. I was about to go crazy. My heartbeat was loud and clear in my ears. He moved his head down and a stricken shadow fell on him. "How'd that happen?" I looked to the right. I moved my hands behind me.

“That’s none of your business.” I stated. He backed away. I stared at him dead in the eye. My left hand made its way to my jacket pocket where my pocket knife was laying. I could see his right hand, gripping the blade. His knuckles turned white. His face was full of seriousness.

“Lee Chaerin, I'm going to ask you this once and only once.” I can’t believe this guy. I scoffed.

“What?” His stare turned into a glare. A death glare to be exact.

“Where were you tonight?” I almost lost my composure. I had to take him seriously.

“Is that all?” He nodded. “Shall I tell you the long version?” He didn’t seem to lighten up. “I sneaked out to find my child, Require. It’s a motorcycle. I went through alley ways and everything, looking for her. I bumped into a couple gangs. I scared most of them off. All except one. The Black Lotus. They are my archenemy. They know I run this territory, but they have been after it since I was old enough to walk. My father was the gang leader. He left it to me to keep its peace. I didn’t want any ‘friends,’ if you called them that. So, naturally, I went solo. I don’t have a gang, I have enough haters as I have followers. The Black Lotus had me surrounded and I was left with no choice but to beat the crap out of them. Their dirty blood must have gotten on me when I punching them.” He raised his eyebrow at my story. His grip had lightened, only a little. “Any questions?”

“Just one. Where’s your motorcycle now?” I frowned.

“Well, obviously, I found it. It’s parked outside. Would you like to see?” I grabbed the door handle, preparing to shove him outside.

“No thanks.” He released his hands on the blade and headed up the stairs. I picked up my boots and followed him. I looked at the details of the sheath. It was black with drawings in yellow, maybe gold. The yellow part seems to be faded, meaning has been passed down through generations. I continued to follow him until he walked past my door. “Good nights, Chaerin.”

“Good nights, Jinyoung.” I replied. I went inside my room and went to the window. I put down a plastic bag on the floor and placed my boots on top. I grabbed a brush and began to scrape off the mud and tiny rocks that got stuck to my boots outside of the window. Jinyoung had opened his window was watching me clean my boots. “What are you looking at?”

“Why are you cleaning your boots?”

“Why are you so noisy?”

“I’m just asking.”

“Maybe I like to keep my things clean, unlike someone here.” He gasped and put on a shocked face. I continued to clean my boots until he was in my tree. My tree. The one that I planted when I was young. My escape tree. “Get out of my tree.” I was furious.

“Your tree? You own this tree?”

“Yes. I planted it when I was a child.” My ears were becoming red. I could feel it. I left my boots on the window sill and pulled the curtains to close them. I still heard rustling in the tree and a dull thud. I looked through the curtains to see the tree empty. I sighed and went to my closet to find my pajamas. When I found them, I grabbed them and went to the restroom to change. I opened the door and there was Jinyoung, half-. We stared at each other for a moment and I closed the door. I escaped quickly and went back to my room. I locked my room and closed the window. I changed quickly and went to bed, trying to forget that image.

WHY AM I WRITING THIS AT 2AM.

happy new years guise. /totally not posting this at 4 am