Of Storms and Stories

Misun smiled at the memory. That was the day, two weeks ago, they created the gang MYNAME, a gang intended to protect those who couldn't protect themselves. Although, most of the time, they found themselves protecting the youngest, Chaejin. The girl smacked Gunwoo in the arm.

“Yah, stop fidgeting and let me finish,” she said, trying to get the cut on his face to stop bleeding.

“Aish, yes mother,” the older boy muttered, earning another smack in the arm.

“Don't be stupid,” she muttered in response.

“You're right, my mother is prettier,” he said with a short lived smirk. That comment earned him a fist to the kidney. He grunted in surprise and pain while she just went back to tending the injury on his face. “I swear you hit me more than anyone else ever has,” he said, raising an eyebrow at her.

“Well, if you'd stop saying stupid things, I wouldn't hit you as often,” she said with a shrug.

“Right, mom,” he said, putting emphasis on the word. She stood up and tossed the towel onto his face.

“Bleed to death, idiot,” she said, turning to walk away. He grabbed her by the arm and pulled her back down, giving her the weirdest puppy eyes she'd ever seen.

“I'm sorry, forgive me?” he said softly. She stared at him for a moment then sighed, snatching the towel back and resuming her attempt to get the cut to stop bleeding.

“Idiot,” she muttered. He smiled at her, and she found herself smiling back despite herself. The door opened and the rest of the boys spilled in, full of smiles and jokes. Insoo threw his arm around Gunwoo's shoulders.

“Hurt again? Sometimes I think you do it on purpose,” the oldest boy said with a laugh. Gunwoo sent a well mannered glare his way. Sunny grinned and winked at Insoo.

“If that's the case, I might have to stop taking care of him, huh?” she said. The look Gunwoo gave her was much like a child having his candy taken away. That initial shock before the tantrum.

“You guys are horrible,” the leader said, sticking out his bottom lip in such a way that looked unnatural on his face. Sunny rolled her eyes at him and poked him in the uninjured side of his face.

“Stop pouting, it doesn't suit you,” she said. His face broke out into a smile that lit up the room as she returned to treating his injury. “As if I could ever not take care of you guys,” she muttered. Seyong brushed a knuckle lightly across her cheek affectionately.

“We're really grateful, Sunny,” he said. She looked over at him and raised an eyebrow. “We're grateful that you chose to come into our lives, that even though you could have left us to die, you did everything you could to change fate.” The soft smile he sent her had her cheeks turning red. She bowed her head so that her bangs would cover her face.

“I-I just... I couldn't let it happen. I don't get audio very often with my visions, but this time, it did. And what I heard broke my heart. I just couldn't let it happen. I'd have been haunted by that plea every day until I died if I let it happen,” she said softly. Gunwoo glanced at Chaejin, knowing what she meant. She hadn't shared the vision with everyone, yet. She told Seyong, but Gunwoo was the only one that had seen it. He didn't think he could have let that kind of scenario happen, either, if he knew ahead of time and could prevent it. Sunny looked around and frowned slightly. Someone was missing.

“Where's JunQ?” she asked with a tilt of her head.

“I don't know. He sent me a text and told me to go on without him,” Chaejin said. Sunny glanced out the windows, noting the dark clouds that were forming.

“Ask him where he is,” she said, feeling a knot form in the pit of her stomach for two reasons. Her worry for JunQ was the primary reason, though. Chaejin showed her his phone to let her know he sent the message. And then they waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Too much time had passed with no answer. Sunny stood up and went for the door. Just as she was about to open the door to go out and look for him, it swung open. She smiled in relief and threw her arms around the dirty blond. He didn't return the affection, however. Instead, he shrugged her off and walked over to sit down on the floor, running a hand over his face. Sunny frowned and went over to crouch next to him.

“You okay, Junnie?” she asked. “We were worried about you. I was just about to go looking for-”

“Why didn't you say anything?” he snapped, glaring at her. She blinked in surprise, taken aback by his harsh tone. He never used a harsh tone with her.

“Say anything about what?” she asked, genuinely confused.

“Aren't you supposed to see the future? Why didn't you do anything?!” he yelled.

“What happened?” she asked softly. He looked away from her with a harsh exhalation of breath.

“One of my classmates was in an accident. He was one of the few people I talked to at school,” JunQ said softly, running a hand over his face again. Her eyes widened as her knees hit the floor.

“I'm so sorry. Is...is he okay?” she asked, reaching out to put her hand on his shoulder, but stopping just before she touched him. She could tell he was angry. He looked at her, the edge in his eyes fading a little.

“You didn't see it?” he asked hesitantly. She shook her head.

“I can't control my visions. I honestly haven't had one since the day I met you guys,” she said. He scoffed and looked out the window in front of him.

“How useless...” he muttered.

Just then, lightning flashed, immediately followed by a loud clap of thunder. Sunny flinched, stopping herself halfway to covering her ears, hoping no one had noticed. But she was shaking uncontrollably. There was no hiding it. She stared wide-eyed out the window, and the act of breathing suddenly became more difficult. Even though it was evening, the clouds were so intense that it looked to be much later. Rain began falling in sheets. The wind blew branches haphazardly across the window. JunQ glanced over and noticed the sudden change in her composure.

“Sunny...?” he started.

The power went off at the same time as another flash of lightning and clap of thunder. She yelped and clamped her hands over her ears, screwing her eyes shut. Her breathing bordered on hyperventilation. She had tried so hard, she really had, but she couldn't control her reaction. She used to love storms. But now she was terrified of them. Seyong and Gunwoo rushed to either side of her, worry in their eyes. Insoo was a little slower, but he was behind her soon after, his hand resting carefully on her shoulder. Another rumble of thunder echoed in the dark room. Tears slid down her face as she shook. Gunwoo pulled his phone out of his pocket and his headphones from around his neck, turning on some music as loud as he dared, slipping the headphones over her ears. With shaking hands, she held them to her ears.

A flash of lightning lit up her tear stained face, causing her to flinch. Seyong turned her so that her face was buried in his chest. Chaejin and JunQ scooted as close as they could with the other three boys crowding her. Insoo traced circles in her shoulders to try to relax her. Gunwoo held her hand in his, brushing his thumb across the top of her hand in a comforting manner.

And so they went about comforting the small, shaking girl. The girl who had shown no fear when putting herself against two gangs to save their leader. The girl who had acted quickly enough to save them all. This was the first time they had seen this side of her. And it made them realize that she, too, was human, with human fears, and human tears. She may have the ability to see the future, but she was human, just like the rest of them.

JunQ found himself feeling lower than dirt for blaming his classmate's accident on her, for blaming her for not being able to prevent it. He knew she couldn't help it. He knew she couldn't control her gift. What gave him the right to blame her?

An hour passed and the storm faded to nothing more than a light rain. The power eventually came back on, shining on the peaceful, sleeping face of the girl in Seyong's arms. The boys glanced around at each other. Gunwoo pushed her hair out of her face, noticing a spot on her face where her makeup came off from the tears. He frowned and wiped away more of the heavy makeup, revealing a light purple bruise under her eye. He placed his hand carefully on her shoulder and shook her lightly to wake her. Her eyes opened slightly, her vision coming into focus a bit slower than normal. Gunwoo frowned again, wondering if she had been getting enough sleep at night. She sat up and rubbed at her eyes.

“Sorry, didn't mean to fall asleep on you guys,” she muttered.

“Haven't you been sleeping well at night?” Seyong asked, voicing the concern that Gunwoo had been thinking. She glanced over at Seyong before ducking her head.

“A-ah, I mean...” she stammered.

“It's been storming these past few nights, hasn't it?” Insoo pointed out. She nodded sheepishly. Insoo ruffled her hair affectionately. She smiled softly and smoothed her hair back down.

“Yeah... Sorry again,” she murmured, handing the phone and headphones back to Gunwoo. “And... Thanks.” Gunwoo took the items and raised an eyebrow at her. She drew her knees up and looked up at him. “You look like you have something to say.” He scoffed at how blunt she was.

“I have a few things, but they can wait until another time,” he said. She frowned at him.

“Now is as good a time as any,” she said pointedly. He glanced around at the rest of the boys before allowing his eyes to land on the bruise on her face. He reached out and tapped it lightly.

“This. Explain it,” he said. She leaned back slightly in surprise, not realizing that he could see the blemish until then. She ducked her head, letting her hair cover her face slightly.

“It's nothing,” she said, hoping to avoid the topic.

“You said it was as good a time as any. Don't try to wriggle out of this now. Explain,” he said, crossing his arms in front of his chest. She sighed, fiddling with a string on her worn out pants.

“Some guy thought he could get the best of me, but nothing else happened, I swear,” she said, biting her lip slightly without realizing it.

“Some guy? Did you see what he looked like?” Seyong asked, his hands clenching into fists. She contemplated telling them that it was the gang member that escaped that day, but instead she shook her head in response. She looked up at Gunwoo.

“Next question?”

“Another explanation.”

“About what just happened?”

Gunwoo nodded. She sighed again and rested her cheek against her drawn up knees.

“I used to love storms. They were...calming. But two years ago...” Her voice trailed off as she bit her lip again. She took a deep breath before continuing. “I thought they were dreams, at the time. Horrible nightmares. My visions, I mean. If I had realized what they were, I could have saved my mom and dad...” She pressed her eyes to her knees as the tears threatened to fall.

“A storm caused it to happen. A really bad storm. We were in the car, driving. Controlling the car was rather...difficult, even for my dad.” She looked up at Gunwoo, unshed tears shimmering in her eyes.

“We were driving on the side of a hill, and the car started spinning out of control. We rolled off the hill. I remember hearing someone screaming, thinking it was me, realizing that it wasn't, and then everything went black. The next thing I remember is the flashing lights. Red. Blue. I couldn't hear anyone talking over the thunder, and then I remember being put in an ambulance. I remember spending the night in the hospital. I remember waking up, and them telling me...that my parents didn't make it.” She blinked, and the tears she had been holding back started falling.

“Every time there is a storm meeting similar conditions, the scene of rolling down the hill replays in my mind. My mother's screams...”

“...I wish I could forget the sound of my mother's screams.”

Gunwoo pulled her into his chest, holding her tightly as she sobbed. The boys exchanged glances, troubled at the revelation. They always thought she went home to her parents at the end of the day. Now they found themselves wondering if she went home alone, or even if she had a home. There were too many questions that they were afraid to ask. They could see the way her small hands clutched at the fabric of Gunwoo's jacket. They could hear the pain in her sobs. This was not the time to ask her anything. She would either tell them on her own, or she wouldn't. Simple as that.

“But what scares me more than storms...is being left alone,” she said so softly that the only one that heard her was the one holding her in his arms. Hearing those words, he made a vow to himself that she would never be left alone. Not if he could help it.

She pulled away from him, wiping her eyes on her sleeve and giving them a weak smile.

“I'm sorry...and thanks,” she muttered. Gunwoo put a hand to her cheek, wiping her tears with his thumb.

“Don't apologize, idiot,” he said. She laughed softly at his choice of words and stood up, stretching her arms above her head to loosen her muscles.

“It's getting late, you guys should head home,” she said. The boys glanced at each other and stood up as well. Seyong grabbed the hem of her shirt softly.

“Do you... Do you mind if I walk you home?” he asked softly. She smiled at him.

“If you really want to. Just... Don't be surprised by anything you may see,” she said.

“We should go together, at least until our stops come up,” Chaejin said with an innocent smile. Sunny reached over and pinched his cheek affectionately.

“Alright, Jinnie. We'll go together,” she said. She threw her arm around his shoulders, despite the height difference, and led him to the door. The others exchanged a look before following.

Chaejin ended up being the first they dropped off. Sunny gave him a hug and kissed him on the forehead before sending him to his door. The young boy turned bright red in embarrassment, but smiled all the same and waved enthusiastically as the rest of them left. The next stop was JunQ. The second youngest shuffled his feet awkwardly as he mumbled an apology to Sunny for being mad at her earlier. She smiled warmly at him and gave him the same treatment she gave Chaejin, ruffling his hair a little as she told him that it was okay. He waved sheepishly from his door as they left him.

Sunny grew more and more quiet as they approached her stop. Gunwoo, who was more perceptive than he let on, noticed the gradual change and matched pace with her. She glanced up and him and smiled, her hands in her pockets. She turned her attention back to the sky.

“The moon came out to say goodnight, look,” she said, pointing up at the nearly full moon that peeked through the clouds before shoving her hand back in her pocket. “Maybe that means it won't storm again tonight after all.”

“If it does, call me and I'll do my best to distract you,” Gunwoo said, nudging her with his elbow.

Insoo and Seyong paused briefly and waited for them to catch up, Insoo throwing his arm around Sunny's shoulders. Gunwoo mimicked the gesture from her other side. She placed her arms around their waists, because that was a comfortable height for her, and hooked her finger through Seyong's belt loop to make sure they were all connected. And there they walked, in one of those obnoxious human lines you see blocking the sidewalk from time to time. But there was no one around to get annoyed with them, so it was fine.

As her house came into view, she shrugged the boys off of her and walked a little ahead. Once she came to the end of the sidewalk leading up to her front door, she turned and smiled at the boys.

“This is my stop. I live with my aunt and uncle, here. Again, don't be surprised by anything you may see,” she said. She turned and started walking to her door when Gunwoo called to her.

“What, so the kids get goodbye hugs?” he said. She looked over her shoulder and saw him grinning at her. She rolled her eyes and smiled, walking back over and giving them all hugs. The door to her house opened, spilling light onto the walkway.

“Uh oh, I better go,” she said, running lightly to the door. The boys could hear the harsh tone of an older male scolding the small girl. They saw the man raise his hand as if to hit her, but they didn't see the look she gave him that caused him to lower his arm. They did, however, notice a look of fear on his face as Sunny brushed past him into the house. 

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So this is the first part. I hope you liked it D: I really really do T^T