~*Chapter Nine *~

You closed your eyes, waiting for the impact of the hard jungle floor beneath you but it never came. You wondered if you had already died, maybe it was instantaneous, maybe this was the afterlife. You opened one eye and those thoughts were dismissed immediately when you were still surrounded by trees. You looked around you for the boy who had cut you down and noticed that you were hovering a couple of centimetres above the ground like a robber being lowered down from the ceiling to steal a precious gem.

Suddenly, like a light switch being snapped off, you fell the remaining centimetres to the ground, face first. You groaned in to the floor, pushing yourself up, shaking your head before wiping the dirt off of your face and spitting out a mouthful of leaves.

“Are you OK?” the familiar voice chuckled; you were suddenly helped up to your feet by the boy who had cut you down and you dusted off your clothes, “Yes, thank you,” you sighed in relief, “I thought I was going to starve to death up there.”

“Oh, are you hungry?” he asked.

You weren’t going to lie, your stomach had been growling at you for ages. “Starving,” you admitted, rubbing the back of your neck.

“Come with me,” he smiled sweetly; he reminded you a bit of Baekhyun back in the asylum and you doubted yourself, should you trust him? You had told yourself that you wouldn’t trust anyone ever again and when he held out his hand for you to take, you shook your head. He wasn’t bothered though; he simply shrugged and led the way through the trees and bushes, holding the branches back for you to walk through so they didn’t smack you in the face like they had done earlier.

“So what’s your name?” he asked, breaking the silence that had fallen over the two of you.

“Semmi.”

“That’s a nice name,” he turned back and gave you a smile that you returned with a quiet thanks. “My name is Jin.”

You couldn’t stop staring at his green orbs; they held small flecks of brown and yellow and a permanent sparkle that drew you in. You nodded to distract yourself from them, feeling creepy for having stared at him for so long, and he turned back around, continuing to lead you on your trek through the jungle again.

After another long walk that left your legs aching and your feet screaming for a rest, you were getting fed up. You were actually just about to ask how much further you were going to have to walk when he stopped abruptly and you almost fell over him. He pushed back a branch from a bush and revealed a huge clearing with a small, wooden house next to a beautiful, glistening lake. Flowers were abundant and it was like you had just stepped out from your personal hell in to heaven. Small birds chirped in the distance; singing different songs but creating a perfect harmony. As soon as your eyes set upon this haven, all anger, annoyance and irritation flowed out of you and you felt peaceful and completely in awe.

“Baekhyun never told me about this place…” you whispered to yourself, your eyes still scanning the area, taking in each and every inch of beauty.

“What was that?” Jin asked.

“Oh, nothing,” you dismissed, shaking your head.

“Come inside,” he smiled leading the way towards the house.  When you approached it, he opened the door and it was just as beautiful as the outside. You stepped inside in to what you assumed was the living room; there was a huge, cream, shaggy rug filling most of the floor and two thatched sofas with the same fluffy pillows as Baekhyun’s place. There was a large window behind one of the sofas that looked out over the lake and a wooden table that had a bowl of exotic looking fruit placed on top of it.

“Wow,” you said out loud, spinning around slowly, your mouth hanging open.

“You’re the first visitor I’ve ever had here,” Jin smiled.

“Really? Why? This place is amazing!”

“As you can tell, there aren’t many people really here in Neverland,” he spoke cautiously, making his way in to the kitchen. You followed him and he motioned to a tall stool for you to sit on whilst he prepared some food.

“But who were those guys?” you asked,  swinging your suspended feet back and forth in the air as you watched Jin chop some vegetables you had never seen before.

“Which guys?” he asked, putting the knife he was holding down to roll up his black shirted sleeves.

“The ones going through the jungle earlier, one was called Kris, I think.”

“Ah, those guys,” Jin chuckled to himself, keeping his eyes on the task in front of him, “They’re pirates.”

“Pirates?”

He hummed in response, “Kris is the captain of the ship The Black Pearl, if you go down to the beach, you’ll see it docked up, it never leaves the port. Him and his crew, EXO-M, are all cursed to stay in Neverland forever.”

“Cursed? How?”

“They can’t feel love or compassion. They only feel hatred and anger, they’ve been stripped of all of their memories and they constantly roam around in search of a wizard called The Crocodile to undo the curse. They’ve been trying for thirteen years now but they’ve never found him. Apparently, Kris also searches for his lost love that was taken away from him when the curse struck. Nobody knows why he searches for her when he can’t even love her, but nobody questions him. I mean,” he turned to look at you, “Would you?”

“No, definitely not,” you shook your head. He looked scary, especially with those blades he carried around with him. You sat in silence for a little while, watching Jin’s hands work quickly to prepare some sort of soup. You thought about what he had said about Kris and his crew; being stripped of their memories. Maybe you could try and find The Crocodile too and have him take away your memories, it was what you came for, after all.

“Jin,” you spoke up, maybe he knew more.

“Hm?”

“Could The Crocodile take away my memories?”

He put down his knife and turned around to face you, leaning against the wooden counter, crossing his arms over his chest. He looked at you quizzically, “Now why would you want that?”

“I just want to forget,” you looked to the ground and kicked your feet awkwardly, embarrassed. “I was told that coming to Neverland was going to make me forget, but it didn’t,” you suddenly went quiet and your throat felt tight as tears built up behind your eyes again.

“Neverland does not take away memories that are meant to stay with you. Certain memories make you who you are and help to make you a better person. Sometimes you may wish that you don’t have them, but ultimately, they pave the road to your future.”

You stood, looking in to his apple green eyes, those mysterious green eyes that seemed to hold so much wisdom. You sighed and you knew he was right. Maybe you were meant to remember your family, but why did it hurt so much?

“Here, eat his,” he placed a bowl the made soup in front of you and gave you a wooden spoon.

“Aren’t you going to have any?” you asked when he just sat down and watched you eat.

“I ate earlier.”

“Oh, then I’m sorry for being a burden,” you looked down again, your hair falling around your face so you couldn’t see his.

“Oh it’s not a problem, not at all. You should really go back to Baekhyun you know, he and his friends will look after you and they’ll open up to you eventually. He may seem annoying at first, but I can assure you he’s great fun once you get to know him, regardless of who he was before at the asylum.”

“I’m not so sur – wait. How do you know about Baekhyun and where I came from? I didn’t tell you about either of them, who are you?” you finished up your soup and pushed it away from you, crossing your arms over your chest, awaiting his answer. You were absolutely sure that you had told him nothing of Baekhyun or the asylum. How did he even know? You stood up, your heart racing. Just who was Jin?

“It doesn’t matter how I know,” he said simply, a small smile spread across his face.

“Yes, it does,” you snapped. You were fed up of this weird place and irritating people who didn’t seem to care how you felt. “What the heck is wrong with this stupid place?” You jumped down from your chair and went for the door.

“Semmi,” he stopped you, grabbing your wrist, turning you around to face him, “Let me take you back to Baekhyun, back to the tree house. It isn’t safe for you to be wandering around the jungle on your own, look what happened last time,” he threw his hand in the air, pointing in a random direction, “you got caught in one of Kris’ traps.”

“I’m not a child; I can find my own way around. I’m not going back to Baekhyun and his weird friends anyway.”

“I’m telling you, Semmi. If Kris and his crew find you wandering around they won’t take it lightly. Anyone who isn’t in their crew or a part of Baekhyun’s is considered a serious threat.”

“So how haven’t they found you?” you snapped, pulling your hand away from him.

“I’m very good at hiding.”

“Yeah, well so am I.”

“No,” he scoffed, “You won’t last a day out there. Just go back, Semmi. They’ll look after you, especially the one who looks like your brother, Chanyeol.”

“Who the hell are you?” you growled

“A friend, who is trying to help you, so listen to me, let me take you back.”

***

It had taken a lot of arguing and fighting, but Jin eventually managed to convince you to let him take you half of the way. You refused to speak to him on the way back; you just let him lead you. You didn’t want to go back, but he had promised that it would get better and he didn’t look like the type of person to lie, not since he already knew so much about you without you even confiding in him. It was like he knew your entire life story just from looking in to your eyes.

“So, just carry on straight down this path,” he said, pointing down a muddy path that led through some trees. You hadn’t remembered it on your way here, but then again, you weren’t really paying attention to anything and this place seemed to have a mind of its own.

“Thanks,” you mumbled, walking ahead of him.

“Oh, and Semmi,” he called after you. You spun back around and looked at him expectantly, “Don’t ever come looking for me again, or the house.”

“Why?”

“Just, don’t.”

You rolled your eyes, tired of arguing and agreed giving him a small wave before you turned to walk down the path without looking back.

Your head was spinning. Not only had he completely confused you with his knowledge of you, but his advice left you more confused than ever. You continued down the path, pushing back through bushed and trees, cursing once again when the branched scratched your already scratch ridden arms. As you walked, you heard the noise of shouting getting louder and louder.

You stopped in your tracks, recognising one of the voices.

“I swear, you little , you’re getting it this time!”

That was definitely Kris.

“I’d really love to see you try, fatty!”

And that was definitely Baekhyun. You held back a laugh and tiptoed forward slightly, trying your best not to make a sound. You finally got close enough to peek through a bush and you could see the scene in front of you. Kris was standing, twin blades in hands ready to lunge at Baekhyun who was hovering in the sky poking his tongue out at him, taunting and torturing him. The Lost Boys stood by, covering their smiles with their hands, holding back laughs and EXO-M were throwing them daggers.

You watched as Kris lunged and swung his blades at Baekhyun who dodged them easily, laughing as he flew around Kris’ head. He lashed about furiously, “Stay still you little bastard!” he growled, swinging the blades for him again.

You let out a small laugh and immediately covered your mouth to stop any more sounds coming out. You didn’t want them to know you were here, you’d have to wait until Kris and his crew left before going to find Kyungsoo and the one you learnt was called Chanyeol. Jin had said that they would be the friendliest and would help you out while Baekhyun sorted himself out; you only went back for them.

“What do we have here?” a voice came from behind you, grabbing the collar of your shirt, pulling you backwards. 

__________________________

Ooooh, cliffhanger????

Please support by upvoting, commenting and subscribing if you can~ it means a lot^^ 

I reached 200 subbies too! Thank you guys so much! SARANGHAEYO♥