The Hunted 7
The Hunted
I continued to stare at our new company, who managed to keep a completely uninterested expression, out of the corner of my eye. He does however have a continuous habit of glaring heatedly at the still surprisingly cheery Ricky. His fingers haven't left his gun as he stares at Ricky's arm laced into L Joe's.
I wasn't as uncomfortable as I thought I'd be. At least not as long as I kept my focus on the mysterious boy beside me. He had all the answers to my questions. I knew he did and it is only a matter of time till I get them. He doesn't seem hesitant to answer anything I ask, he's just very quiet.
Aside from that, he has no reason to be here except to warn us. He was not trying to be our friend or join our family. He wanted us to believe him and then he can move on but I felt so much relief when he actually agreed to stay a while longer.
I felt like I wasn't entirely insane as long as he keeps that scowl on his face, my being suspicious of the precious Ricky wasn't the most understandable feeling in the world, no matter how much Changjo seems to agree and I was so incredibly relieved in his presence, I almost want to thank him but he seems too much of a loner for such things, he wouldn't care for my thanks or friendship. He just wants Ricky gone and because of that...I felt like I was safe again.
"You're alone?" I mumble to myself, mentally unprepared to make small talk with the intimidating boy but Changjo turns at my voice and a brow at the words while I keep my eyes locked on his, despite a nervous pulse and sweating palms.
"Alone?" He questions and I nod.
"We were all alone and now that you found us...I want you to stay." I keep mumbling, attempting to get no attention from the boys ahead of us.
"You have L Joe, he seems fond of you." Maybe I'm imagining the teasing in his voice but it still makes me frown at his name but I still dismiss the observation.
"How did you escape?" I whisper and Changjo stiffens. "You got out of one of those horrible places...how?" He makes no sound, only places a wary hand on my shoulder and even though it's stiff and cold, it's somehow comforting.
"You...are from a reservation?" His voice is strained, like he wants to scream, like he wants to run, like he's terrified.
"No. I've just...seen things." I whisper, letting my eyes fall on Ricky. Changjo relaxes suddenly and sighs too loudly, getting Ricky's attention but his menacing glare returns and Ricky turns away with a pout.
"What kind of things?" He hums thoughtfully.
"I was alone for a year before L Joe found me." I pause but he's silent, so I continue. "I spent some time searching for my lost parents and observing the behaviors of people and...things." Changjo hums in agreement.
"You don't seem all to prepared to face that sort of evil." He doesn't so much as look at me when he says that, as if he's already decided I'm in no way a formidable opponent.
"I wasn't. I had no weapon." He stiffens and nearly glares at me in disapproval.
"You fallowed those things around without protection." He speaks far too loudly, gripping my shoulders in horror and drawling L Joe and Ricky's attention immediately. Hopefully he wasn't loud enough to call anything else that was unwanted. Regardless, L Joe stomped over to us, throwing the taller man's hands off my shoulder and trying to tug me away but Changjo grips my wrist just as quickly.
"You. Are. Dangerous." L Joe bites, making me cringe but Changjo looks ready to laugh. "You think it's funny trying to lure in innocent boys like Chunji and manipulate his overly cautious tenancies? Chunji, for whatever reason, trust you but I won't hesitate to leave your behind." Changjo grinds his teeth at L Joe's chastising and narrows his eyes but L Joe, impressively, holds his ground at the wicked stare.
"Chunji, you'd fallow me, wouldn't you? You feel more safe with me than with lover boy?" I remain quiet while L Joe becomes stiff, his eyes completely livid. I'm not sure of Changjo's goal with those words but if they were to piss the boy off, he was doing a hell of a job.
"Don't trust him, Chunji. Trust me, please." He begs, all signs of anger fading when he turns to me and I bite at my lip in anguish. I no more than nod dismissively and turn back to Changjo.
"I did. It's the only way to stay alive in this God forsaken world. I had to know what I was up against." Changjo lets L Joe's behavior be forgotten while the boy is, again, fuming beside us. I turn to him and offer a small smile. "Thank you for caring...really." I mumble, getting little more than a grunt from the blond and take a step closer.
"Do you hate me? Do you hate Ricky? Why are you-" I wrap my arms around him in a comforting hug, not allowing his words to go on.
"Don't talk like that. You know I don't hate you and if we're going to make it out of this alive, we have to stick together. You and me." I whisper against his shoulder, while he remains unresponsive.
"We...have Ricky now Chunji." He whines and I smile.
"We have Changjo too...right?" I beg and the blond sighs, nodding reluctantly with a last look toward Ricky.
"So...you were watching society corrupt itself. What exactly did that entail?" Changjo mutters, interrupting my moment with 'lover boy'.
"I was almost murdered." I manage to shrug and stare at the floor but L Joe's breath hitches and I can't help but offer a sorry smile.
"By something alive or dead?" Changjo smirks and I don't fight rolling my eyes.
"Being chased by something dead isn't exactly shocking but being hunted down by a group of insane leaches, to be thrown out to the monsters in their courtyard wasn't my idea of a good week."
"Week?" L Joe squeaks and I bite my lip at the memory.
Being stalked from city to city wasn't easy, avoiding all of my death threats without a single weapon or supply was the darkest point of my life. To the point I wanted to die in order to end the torment of never being safe. I couldn't sleep, could barely eat, and definitely couldn't relax. I had to run till they wouldn't run anymore.
"It's horrific isn't it? They want to stop at nothing. I admire that you made it out of that death trap alive." Changjo hums in approval, ruffling my hair like I was a well behaved child.
"You never told m-" I shake my head at L Joe.
"It's not something I like to think about." I mumble and his face contorts in discomfort.
"That's why you don't trust Ricky or his parents?" He whispers as if thoughtful, when suddenly Changjo wraps a protective arm around my shoulder.
"You are the only person on this damn planet smart enough to survive. I would very much like to stay in your company, Chunji." I stare up at the taller boy, cocking my head in confusion but I soon smile in acceptance of both his compliment and his proposal.
"Thank you." I sigh. "You make me feel like I've kept my humanity. I very much appreciate that, Changjo." L Joe huffs at my words and I smile softly at him till Changjo decides to speak up.
"I'd like to speak to you alone Chunji." Changjo hums, obviously leaving me the option to decline, which makes L Joe, immediately, go stiff and want to except the later but I simply nod and step back a few feet to quiet our suddenly private conversation.
"What is it?" I basically whisper, while Changjo keeps a cautious eye in front of us.
"You seem to be a smart boy but you have reasons to distrust me...am I right?" I bite my cheek and nod to myself, afraid to admit how little I really know while willing to trust him so completely. "I want to...I suppose befriend you, is the right term." I gape at the boy in surprise.
He's horribly closed off, most likely for good reason but I make a few good judgments and he's suddenly willing to spill his guts? No. That doesn't make any sense. He's going to be very careful with what he reveals. I'm sure of it. I should be just as cautious as with Ricky.
"Go on." I mumble and Changjo chuckles, then becomes solemn.
“You’re one of the first people that’s ever believed-” He paused. “About Ricky.” His voice was slightly strained. That alone told me how many people dismissed his warnings, dying at the hands of Ricky after a completely suffice warning.
“You obviously don’t judge people by outward appearance. In my eyes that make you sane, more sane than anybody I've met in a very long time.” He finished. I took my time absorbing his words.
It’s clear he understands exactly how he's perceived. He looks far from friendly. Intimidating even. It seems like his exclusivity was half forced but the other half seems to come so naturally. After a moment our eyes meet and I nodded in understanding.
"I grew up just north of here in a small city and was dragged down here by my idiotic parents that decided a ing crowded city would be the best safe haven. I ditched them halfway, however, getting out of the camp was the easy part. Steal a few weapons, dodge a few bullets before they up your brain then I headed back..." He pauses for a long second and I stare, feeling the impact of whatever he's about to say. "for my girlfriend." I gasp quietly at his shaky voice.
He's never sounded so...emotional. He appears constantly in control and cold hearted but when he mentioned this girl, his whole demeanor shifted. The most important thing to take away from his statement was that...his girlfriend wasn't with him.
.
"I'm so, horribly, sorry." I wasn't entirely sure what I'm apologizing for but I can guess. I have no clue what else to do but my hand outstretches subconsciously to grip his, to which, he hums in thanks.
"Anyway, she's obviously not here. So, with nothing more to do with myself, I chose between death and something of a hermit. In the end, I found that." He scowls at Ricky again and I nod. "He was at the end of his little safari and brought the unaware group of women into those gates, only to be thrown out hours later into a heap of nearly dead bodies; they didn't even have the damn decency to put them out of their misery. Those beasts came and tore them to pieces, while Ricky sat inside those walls, not batting a lash at the blood curdling screams." He nearly shutters at his own memories. "You're too smart to let you and lover boy end up in that position, Chunji." But I knew, Smart or not L Joe is unmatched in stubbornness. We're ed.
I want to say so much to him. Beg help. Ask more about Ricky. Ask about his family, or girlfriend, or if he's willing to stay with me.
"Thank you." Is all I can breathe out in the end. His eyebrow and he releases my hand but I regrip his fingers and scoot closer.
"You're welcome?" He says quietly, staring down at our intertwined hands. As we stood there in silence, watching Changjo eye Ricky up and down, up and down. A thought hit me, he said I was the first to believe him, I assume he’s confronted others, like he has us. I surprise him when I grip his hand too tightly and grip his bicep with the other, leaning in like a child with a secret.
“Ricky knows you.” I whisper but it escapes as a growled statement, knowing this is exactly the case. A surprisingly charming smirk crosses his face and he quirks his brow like he surprised it took me so long.
“Of course. You don’t want to know how many times I've been this close-” He motions with his fingers. “To putting a bullet between his eyes.” His words came out in a growl and he glances over to Ricky once more. I followed his gaze, all too curious as to why the hell he doesn't just end the game of cat and mouse but too soon we drew L Joe’s attention. He stops turning to stomp toward us, he's agitated, that much is clear. He surprises me by reaching between us and prying my hand out of Changjo's.
“We should find shelter. It's getting late.” He left no room for argument and dragged me back toward Ricky to form a group of three, once again secluting the misunderstood Changjo.
After Chunji went off to talk to Changjo, Ricky kept my attention as much as he could. Distract me as best he could. It worked for a while but I happened to look back at the overly friendly boys, noticing Chunji’s fingers laced with that 's.
I've had enough. I my heel and snatched Chunji away, Changjo immediately began to chuckle, finding the audacity to even smirk at me. God I hate him.
He probably thought I was jealous. Jealously has nothing to do with this. I felt like I was being plotted against. Betrayed. I was finally going to have a family again but then he shows up to with our heads, taking the last bit of trust Chunji had in Ricky and turning it to dust. Ricky just wants to see his family again and I'll be damned if I don't get him there.
“Chunji?” I mumble settling next to him in the dark room we found for the night. He looked over to me and hummed in response. “If he leaves...you would leave with him wouldn't you?” I question softly, praying desperately that his answer isn't what I think it is. He stayed quiet for far too long, so I take that as his answer and sighed, beginning to get up, when he grabs my arm and pulled me down.
“I made a promise, did I not? Stop asking, I’m won't leave you.” He reassures me, or rather tries to. He might have forgotten how he almost left only this morning but I haven’t, and it’s not the only thing eating away at me.
Hearing about Chunji being hunted down like some sort of wild animal...I hadn't expected anything like that. It's unsettling. I know it’s not an easy thing to share but I had told him about my family. I admitted to murder. How does he think I fell sharing that information with him when we first met? Like a ing hero?
All of the sudden, Changjo shows up and he confesses it all. What the did Changjo care? He doesn't care about Chunji. He doesn't care about me. And he sure as wanted to ruin Ricky.
“L Joe, go to sleep. Changjo said he would take watch.” Chunji hums, breaking me out of my thoughts. I watch as he settling down near Ricky and surprisingly not next to his new boy toy. I opened my mouth to protest sleep but the look on Chunji’s face silences me. I sigh and agree.
After a few minutes of tossing I could hear light snores. I looked to the other side of the room where Changjo was stationed on the floor, looking sufficiently bored. Our eyes meet and I grind my teeth, while he remains unresponsive, ignoring my glare and focusing his stare on the two boys in my company. There was no way, no ing way I was about to fall asleep with him on guard.
He’d kill us all.
I'm sorry it took so long to update!!!
The angst was so draining!
I ended up getting a lot of help from kaseyslove to finish the chapter.
For you! ^-^
So, we learned so much more about the mysterious Changjo.
*cough* Y *cough*
I hope you guys will be patient with me. I'm working really hard! Can you tell?
Hahaha
I hope you enjoyed the chapter even though there is like NO CHUNJOE
>.<
Anyone watch SHINee-Why So Serious?
It was good right? I didn't expect it to be a good MV, not with Jjong gone...
Still...YESH haha Taemin rapping made me all confused!
In a good way :) Hahah
Yeah, I spammed you with SHINee even though this is a Teen Top story, we're in good company.
Tell me your thoughts on the MV, on my chapter, maybe even tell me what you think is gonna happen with the plot?
Talk to me Dots, I've missed you, did you miss me? I know you did~
See you soon, okay! I love you!!
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