Chapter 5: Don't Leave

[Normal POV]

L. Joe woke up and walked down the hall, expecting it to be quiet and his apartment full of the warm feeling of something he couldn't fully place his finger on, but as he made his way down the hall, it WAS quiet, but that one feeling he got since Kristine lived there was gone.

That warm feeling that made his insides tingle, the one that made him excited and nervous at the same time, was gone, all at once. Not there, not a glimpse. Not a speck.

L. Joe walked into the room that Kristine had lived in for the past couple of days to find it... empty.

Empty with no trace of her things, as if she was never there, as if meeting her had never happened, as if she was just a dream.

L. Joe sat on the end of the bed, almost falling into the trap of the thought that it was a dream, but his eye caught sight of something small laying on the floor. L.Joe bent down to find a small charm of a bear and he knew where it had come from. He could remember distinctly that the charm was connected to Kristine's luggage on one of the zippers.

L. Joe could feel himself have the want to cry at the sight of seeing the small little piece of nothing resemble reality to him.

He had pretty much chased Kristine into Jeongmin's arms without even trying, just because he wanted to play a trick and see her reaction if she was to not have him around for a single moment.

Putting it like that, yeah, it sounded harsh, but who would've thought that she'd overreact and just pick up and leave him without a place to go. She supposedly had Jeongmin to watch out for her, but that wasn't enough to convince him of her safety and security as a home.

A hand went through his hair as L.Joe sat in frustration, worry and saddness. He had just grown accustomed, well, not really. He had fairly liked the idea of having a roommate, so he had been fancy with the idea since the beginning. He had grown an obvious liking to the girl, but couldn't admit what it was that attracted him to her.

But whatever that feeling was, it was strong enough to pull him out of his apartment, searching and screaming endlessly for Kristine through streets and corners in Seoul.  

Rain began to pour down on the young man who wondered into a park, but he payed no attention to the building up storm. All he had his mind on was one thing, and one thing only: Kristine.

He ran a hand through his now drenched hair, holding in a sneeze, most likely gaining a cold from running around in the rain, and sat at the bench where he and Kristine first agreed to have her live with him while beginning her stay in Seoul. He dug his head into his hands, sighing out in frustration, "Kristine! Where the hell are you?!"

"L...Joe?" The man on the bench looked up slowly, forgotten tears already rolling down his cheeks as he looked up in response, his mouth going dry as he saw the girl he'd been looking for, hastily rubbing away his tears.

L. Joe stood up from his position, hugging the shocked girl suddenly , wrapping his arms tightly around her small body, a hand pressing behind her head, making her dig her head softly into his shoulder, making her smell the faint intoxicating scent of his cologne.

"L. Joe? What's wrong? Why were you crying?" Kristine asked worriedly, standing still in his warm arms, unaware that she was the cause of the tears that had previously been flowing down the older man's face. "I was looking for you, I had just returned from the market to find you gone..."

L.Joe restrained from laughing, but couldn't help as a chuckle escaped his lips, feeling idiotic like he had overreacted (which he clearly did), but tightened his hold on the girl, "Just.. let me know before you go out again, I thought you were really going to leave me alone again... please, Kristine... don't leave me alone again..."

Kristine stood in L. Joe's protective and strong arms in awe, not knowing how to respond to the man's tenderness and almost pleads to not leave his side, forgetting all about Jeongmin from the day before at the market, but all of a sudden remembering.

She instinctly burried her head into the taller man's shoulder, a few tears escaping her hold as she whispered, "I'd never leave you alone, L. Joe, I promise. "

L. Joe's grip on her head tighten a little before going loose and filing his fingers through her hair, making her feel automatically comforted and relaxed with the sense of home and safety, the heat of the hug blocking her from the cool winds that blew through the park, noticing L. Joe wasn't wearing a jacket in the rain.

She removed her jacket from her shoulders and draped the material over L.Joe's slumped shoulders, grabbing the man's hand and guiding him back their apartment.

"Yah, what're you doing? It's too cold for you to give me your jacket..." Complained L.Joe in a stuffy voice as he was being dragged back to the familiar streets the symboled the way to his apartment.

Kristine didn't speak, but continued to drag the semi-ill man. L.Joe blinked as he saw his hand intertwined with Kristine's, a warmth taking over inside him as he eyed the connecting limbs, expecting some kind of burst of sunlight to come from their hands from the heat he felt at his cheeks. "At least share," L.Joe considered to get himself from thinking about the heat radiating from their hands.

He pulled the girl back a little, making her trip backwards, but caught her against his strong chest. He pulled the jacket over his head, leaning forward so that he was covering Kristine from the rain drops dropping endlessly. He held her close to his chest as he guided them to the saftey and warmth of their home again.

Kristine blushed as her back came in contact with L.Joe's strong chest, but followed his guidance up the stairs to the apartments as she eyed his face, admiring his features for the first time really at such a close distance. His lightly chubby cheeks gave him the look of innocence, but his eyes showing he actually was a strong man, his blonde hair stuck to his face from the rain, his smooth face concentrating on going up the last few steps.

Kristine forced herself to stop staring at the attractive man, biting her lip softly as her cheeks flushed a light pink.

She had, obviously, known he was a good looking man the moment they met, but she never really got a good view to see details in his beautiful face.

"We're finally back home..." L.Joe stretched, releasing Kristine from his arms, the warmness that was inside Kristine the whole time they were together, disappeared within moments, making her do an inner pout.

"Yeah, we're back... I put all my stuff away and such, I hope you don't mind too much," Kristine spoke softly, knowing that the events from the day before shoulld've driven her away, but only made her feel closer to the older man.

"Of course, it is your room now," L.Joe paused and closely looked at the girl, making sure she showed no signs of leaving.

Kristine felt the look, turning to him and smiling sweetly, "L. Joe, I will not leave you alone..." L.Joe sighed a sigh of release.

'I will never leave you alone, Oppa... ' She thought inwardly. She had caught on to a couple of popular words and phrases, but still had an accent.

"In fact, you'll probably get sich of me for the amount of me not leaving you alone..." L.Joe just chuckled in response.

But little did he know how well those words really fit well for him and how he felt about her later on....

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Author's Note:

I know it's been awhile, please don't hate me!! D:

I've had writer's block on almost ALL my stories and haven't had time to work on writing ;-;

I hope you continue to support this fic though :3

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Thank you!

XOXO Monique XOXO