And so she hauled herself up, before tossing herself over into the room. It was lit only by the sunlight peering in from the window, and Jin looked around cautiously for any signs of life – or death – as she pulled her necklace of kunais back up to her.

It appeared to be an apartment of a kind, with its wall painted a refreshing green. It was roomy, in fact it was clean, as though someone swept the floor every day. A study table, now converted to a display table stood beside her, tucked into the corner, and trinkets of all kinds littered its surface. They were dusty, so the person who swept the floor must be a lazy one. Jin scoffed. A corridor stretched out at the back of the room, but it was too dark to look inside. To Jin’s left was a plasma television, faced by a faded grey sofa, and hanging on the wall behind it, a large family photo.

She wandered up to inspect it. The family was seated in the same grey couch in front of the TV, only it was brighter with a newness that it had now shed. The parents were in their early thirties, and the mother was dressed in a pale green hanbok, with a pink sash winding around her. Her hair was gathered up into a little bun at the back, and she was smiling. A child with two yellow ribbons by the sides of her head squirmed restlessly on her lap. The father was probably Korean too, and a little boy sat obediently on his lap. He looked so adorable that a smile peeped out between Jin’s lips as she bent down to observe him. He was perhaps four, or five, had long limbs, thick black bangs, and large, staring eyes with lashes longer than Jin’s own. Unconsciously, Jin’s hands travelled over towards the boy.

“Yah!”

Jin spun. A teenage boy stood in front of her, his hands already travelling over to the baton he kept by his waist. He glowered at her through dark bangs, and suddenly she recognized him as the boy in the picture.

Jin raised her hands. “Relax.” She told him calmly. “I’m just seeking refuge here.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Uh-huh. You’re armed. All over.” He tossed his fringe out of his eyes.

“They’re for self-defense,” clarified Jin. He eyed her suspiciously, before his gaze dropped down to assess her. As he looked her all over, she decided to scan him too. He was skinny, of a medium height, and dressed in a white shirt with a dirt stain at the side of his abdomen. The shirt was small –purposely made small, guessed Jin. It hugged every inch of him like cling wrap and heaved, Jin noticed, as he breathed. A pair of fashionable, black skinnies completed his flamboyant look, while the handle of the baton stuck out from a back pocket.

Suddenly he turned, and Jin looked over his shoulder to see a girl approaching them. With her head tilted to one side, she weighed Jin with eyes that shone a soft, calm grayish-blue beneath her side-swept fringe. A grey boyfriend tank complemented the darkness of her brown layered hair, and she wore a baggy pair of denim jeans which was probably the teenage boy’s. The curls in her hair bounced as she swung her head back to the boy.

“Jaehyo, who is this?”

“I don’t know. I found her snooping around.” They both cast wary looks at the bulky guns by Jin’s waist.

Jin scowled. “God damned it… I don’t mean any harm! Really, I don’t.”

“Jaehyo” scoffed, and he moved to draw out his baton. The girl laid her hand on his arm, and they locked gazes. She shook her head, and he grudgingly let go of the baton. The girl faced Jin once more.

“What’s your name?” She inquired.

“… Jin.”

“Just Jin?” questioned the boy skeptically. “What kind of a name is that?”

Jin ignored him and motioned at the girl. “You? What’s yours?”

“Alythea. Alythea Noire.”

Alythea was petite, standing only just under the chin of the boy. She had the skin of an Asian’s, maybe Chinese, and the well-rounded cheeks of a Japanese, but Jin thought she saw something in the serious features of her face that looked French. From the way the boy had trained his eyes on her earlier, Jin figured that they weren’t just friends. She felt like gagging.

“And what are you doing here?” probed Alythea.

“Hiding. From one of them.”

Their eyes widened.

“Where is it?”

“Down the road. I had to run. It probably didn’t see me, but I ran anyway.”

Jin felt that it was safe to lower her arms by now. It was weird being so friendly with someone. Not her style. Still, she’d rather play shy then offend them.

Alythea was leaning out of the window. They waited expectantly.

“It’s nowhere in sight.”

“Good,” concluded Jaehyo. He swiveled around to face Jin. “Now get out of here.”

Jin stood dumbstruck. Did this guy have something against her? He gazed levelly at her.

His girlfriend was scowling. “What the hell? Why so hostile?”

“We’ve only got enough for ourselves. We’re not adopting any kid sisters.”

Jin flared up, but before she could loose off a string of profanities, Alythea intercepted. She stepped in between the both of them, causing Jaehyo’s gaze to snap down at her.

“She’s won’t be counted as adopted! She’s human, and that automatically makes her family.”

In response, her boyfriend’s eyes narrowed. “Can we not go philosophical at this point of time?” He hissed.

Alythea remained unfazed. “Besides, we don’t have to feed her our food. She can go look for it herself. But she can stay here if she likes.”

“I say no and I mean no,” insisted Jaehyo firmly, planting his hands on his hips in a move to intimidate. Alythea merely imitated him, sticking her chin up stubbornly at him.

“Well I say yes!” She stomped her foot as if to accentuate her point.

His shoulders slumped, and his hands fell limply to his sides. “Honey, stop it. You’re embarrassing me.”

He was relenting, noted Jin.

“If this is embarrassing, wait till I start whining,” threatened his girlfriend.

Jaehyun made a comical noise of disbelief. “What? Seriously, you’re way too stubborn sometimes,” lectured the boy to an unmoving Alythea, gesturing all the while. “And you always use the same old trick! I gave in to you last time, but this time, don’t expect me to-”

“Oppa!” Alythea suddenly burst out, to the shock of Jaehyo and Jin.

“Oh hell no,” groaned Jaehyo.

“Oppa~” Whining and wriggling, and clearly enjoying herself, she pestered him, raising her pouty lips to his face all the while as he went red and tried to swat her away.

“Alythea!” He yelled back, exasperated.

“Oppa!” answered Alythea childishly. “Oppa, you’re so mean! Oppa why won’t you let me do anything? Don’t you love me, oppa? Hmm?”

“But I…”

“Oppa~” Now she was rubbing her head against his arm like a kitten. He squirmed uncomfortably, but she clung on, occasionally nuzzling her nose against his skin. “Oppa, come on please please please? Please oppa please, oppa please please, please please oppa…”

“Argh! Screw this!” He attempted to wring his arm away. “Alright, alright, I give in!”

“Yay!” squealed Alythea, letting go of him. He rubbed his palm agitatedly over his arm to calm the rising goosebumps as Alythea hopped like a hyperactive bunny.

“Aish…” muttered the boy resignedly. “This girl of mine.”

At that, Alythea smacked him lightly on the chest. “I’m not yours,” she reprimanded, though her eyes twinkled. His eyes did too, and his lips spread in adoration.

Jin felt compelled to clear . “Erm, excuse me, but I’m still here.”

“You were?” Jaehyun instantly shot back. “We didn’t notice.”

Crabby old man. “Well guess what I am. And I’m sort of thankful that you accept me in, but honestly speaking I prefer to work alone.”

“And so…?”

“And so thanks for the trouble but no thanks. I’ll be going off now.”

“No way!” proclaimed Alythea with a wave of her hands. “Do as I say, and stay for a day.”

“Yeah… besides who said we’d be working with you? We’re just lending you shelter. No chance of food,” supported Jaehyun. “She doesn’t share, and I don’t, too.”

“Maybe, but I don’t borrow from strangers. Not even from friends, or acquaintances, either. I’m a strictly independent person, you hear?” Shucks. Now she rhymed, too. Jin shook her head to try and reset herself. The others laughed.

“Look, just stay, alright? Don’t bother arguing with this girl,” Jaehyun stuck his thumb out at Alythea, whom simply nodded.

“That’s right. I don’t change my mind. Nope!” She interrupted Jin just as the girl opened to protest. “Really, don’t bother.” Alythea dusted down her jeans, straightened, smiled, and then gestured towards their dining table. “Have a seat. I’ll go get you something decent to eat.”

Jin stayed where she was even after Alythea had disappeared, shuffling into the kitchen. Jaehyo smirked.

“Reserved, aren’t you?” He tossed his fringe back once more.

“Not reserved,” corrected Jin indignantly. “I’m just…”

“Incapable of social interaction?”

“I don’t have a need for social interaction any longer.”

Jaehyo nodded thoughtfully as he proceeded to sit down at the table. “I guess there’s no need anymore, huh?” His eyes lowered themselves, before they moved towards the sofa.

He was looking at his family photo. His eyes wavered as they ran over the familiar faces. Jin fidgeted.

Jaehyo blinked away his emotions, and smiled kindly at her. “I’ll go help Alythea. Okay?”

Jin nodded meekly. It was only after Jaehyo was out of sight then did she dare to sit down.

It was awkward, sitting at the table of someone else. To Jin, each dining table had its own aura, atmospheres and feelings imprinted upon it by the families that dined round it every evening of its life. This one told the story of a small, tight-knit family as Jin lowered herself gingerly onto a chair that was positioned at one end of the table. She felt inclined to fold her hands across her lap, just as the mother of the family would probably have done, her hair still bundled up, though this time she donned the crisp white jacket she loved wearing to work. And at the other end of the tiny table would be her husband, his suit already off him, with that morning’s newspaper folded up beside him. Two chairs stacked upon each other stood at one side of the table, and it was pulled closer to the mother. The face of a young girl suddenly rose above the surface of the table as she clambered up onto the chair with the eagerness of a child, her yellow ribbons slipping free from their knots. She turned to her mother with a cherubic smile, which the mother returned.

Now another child was rushing in – it was a boy. The father pointed at him, and the boy obediently shows a pair of clean palms to his father. He then hoisted himself up onto his usual seat, hence completing the little family ring. He grinned up at his father, at his mother, and tossed his fringe back before he begun to tuck in.

Jin brought her eyes back to the red checkered tablecloth as the clanking noises of dishes and the occasional laughter of the couple in the kitchen continued. Jin found herself wondering which seat Alythea took when the two dined together at night. The chair where Jaehyo sat on stood at an angle where he had left it.

Suddenly, shouting interrupted the peaceful silence, jolting Jin. She gripped her chair. It was the shouting of men, unruly and wild, somewhere outside the door. Jin leapt up from her seat and rushed over. She twisted the knob stupidly just as Jaehyun, followed by a frantic Alythea, ran out.

“How do you lock this damn door?!”

“It’s damaged, you can’t lock it! Now get down!” He ordered, stalking away to pull the blinds of the windows down. The lights flickered off as he flipped down their switches, and Alythea pattered over to a corner of the room before coming back, clasping a handgun. Jaehyo ushered her back. She hissed something in reply, but he would not let her near the door.

Jin was just pulling out her longest kunai when the shouting reached a crescendo, and the door was carelessly kicked open. Jin would have been discovered behind if a shoe cabinet had not been standing beside her in the way of the door. The girl quickly crouched into its cover as someone large looked behind the door to see what was stopping it from being held wide open. Jin held the kunai to her chest and hoped the other two had been able to hide.

The men strolled in, lazy men, dressed in the usual, dirty, black leather jackets of ragamuffin bikers. They were unshaven, burly, and loud as they trekked into the room. One of them leant against the door. Pungent cigarette smoke drifted out towards Jin’s nose.

There was clanking as the men searched through the rooms, accompanied by a few hollers as they one by one found something worth taking away. Then someone must have ventured into the kitchen, because Jin heard him call out, “Hey, there’s still water in the sink!”

In a flash the room was bright once more, and Jin, to her dismay, was hauled out from her hiding spot. How dare they touch her! She thrashed, wrestled her arms free, and aggressively swung her kunai like a baseball bat against a nearby glistening bald head. He fell with a slash to his skull, while his mate flung himself at Jin. The girl simply shoved the man back with a kick up his chin, before thwacking her kunai against the side of another gangster as he tried to catch her from behind. He stumbled, then crashed into someone else, and Jin moved to swipe her kunai against the nearest other person.

“Hold it!”

For some reason, Jin restrained herself. She turned to see Jaehyo, on his front, struggling under the hold of three men, his baton still in his pocket, and Alythea in the arms of two, with one holding a gun to her head. They caught each other’s eyes, and Jin was stunned to see the fear in her grey-blue eyes.

In that instant, Jin found her wrists tugged behind her, and something terribly sharp was held against . She dared not move, only seethe.

Alythea whimpered as the gun was pressed harder against her temple. The man holding it, a man with dirty blonde locks, sneered at Jin.

“You sure can fight, sweetie,” he gave her a greasy grin. “But you can’t escape now.”

He turned to his men. “Lug them off.”

Jaehyo was dragged to his feet, and he panted as they pushed him to the door. Greasy-grin pocketed his gun, and Alythea was moved off.

Jin growled as she found herself forced out as well. Damn. She knew she would have been better off by herself.

Where were they going now?

Writer’s note: Feeling so lazy nowadays. Just came back from a survival training camp and it was so fuuuuuuuuuunnnnnn… yeah as if. My nose is sunburnt and now I’m branded Rudolf, grrr.