Chapter 17

Storm Rising

Jisun followed the man up the sidewalk to her car. He stopped long enough for her to retrieve her purse and lock the doors. Then they set off once more.
A million questions and thoughts ran through her head. Especially on just who this person was and how he knew Yongguk. And how he knew that Yongguk wouldn't remember her.
She eyed him and noticed the metal chain around his neck. "Is it the same as Yongguk?" she questioned. "Your name is both Tatsmato and Kim Himchan?"
The man walking beside her didn't spare her a glance but nodded once. "Call me Himchan."
With the tone of his voice, Jisun could tell that anymore questions she had would have to wait.
They walked for another minute when he turned down a small alleyway between two buildings. She paused and surveyed the dark space instead of following him. He stopped and turned to her but didn't say anything. Taking a deep breath, she pressed her lips together and stepped forward. She followed him as the sound of the busy street behind her faded away.
"This better not be a trap." she thought to herself.
The alleyway opened up in to a larger alley where delivery trucks drove behind the stores when they were delivering their loads. It was completely empty right now except for five people standing around. Jisun gasped lightly when she recognized one of them.
"Noona?" Zelo exclaimed in surprise.
The others turned to them and she saw similar expressions on their faces. Their eyes widened and they glanced between her and Himchan.
"Oh ." uttered a guy who had pink hair too but it was an odd kind of pink and more faded.
With a sigh, Himchan walked towards them and they instantly gathered around in a circle. She watched them as they hurriedly whispered amongst themselves quietly. She slowly moved forward a step discreetly, trying to hear just what they were saying but she couldn't make it out.
Zelo broke away from the circle and approached her. "Noona, what did you mean when you said everyone knew your name?"
She remembered back to the coffee shop and opened but then she stopped herself. Instead, she folded her arms and gave him a pointed look. "You were purposely stopping me from catching Yongguk." It wasn't so much a question as it was an accusation.
Zelo blushed a little. "Uh..." He quickly glanced back at the group.
"Yes." Himchan answered without hesitating.
A small twinge of pain coursed through her chest. She was right. It wasn't just a coincidence.
"I'm sorry noona." Zelo told her as he turned back to her. "But this is really important. Did someone talk to you?"
She examined him closely and saw the guilt in his eyes. Plus how sincere he sounded. "Two guys in the coffee shop. They knew my name." she answered. "They asked about Yongguk. If I knew where he was. And they asked about you."
Zelo looked back towards the group once more and Jisun followed his gaze. It was obvious that what she had said unnerved them.
"Alright then." Himchan stated.
At that, the other pink haired guy took a step forward toward Himchan. He didn't say anything but his body language said plenty. It was a hostile move.
One of the black haired guys grabbed his arm. "We don't exactly have a choice."
The silent man looked at him before rolling his eyes. Then he yanked his arm out of the other's grip and walked away from the group.
Jisun watched his retreating back for a moment before giving Zelo a questioning look.
"Uh... Well..." the boy stammered. "Um... We need you to... come with us."
She raised her eyebrows in surprise. "With you? Where?"
"To our house."
That was even more of a surprise and she took a step back. "Your house? Why?"
"It's were Yongguk-hyung lived too." piped up the only boy that hadn't spoken yet.
Jisun looked at him but he merely smiled at her. That's when she finally realized that he was the other skateboarder that had been with Zelo the first time Zelo had stopped her from reaching Yongguk.
A hand grabbed hers, breaking her out of her thoughts and she turned her attention back to Zelo.
"Please noona." the red haired boy pleaded.
She chewed on her bottom lip at the idea of going to their house. She still had a lot of unanswered questions though and just like the other boy pointed out, she wanted to know more about Yongguk. Needed to know more about him and it was obvious she was only to get answers from these five guys.
"Okay." she relented.
Himchan nodded. "Zelo, ride with her."
Zelo brightened a little and smiled. "Where did you park noona?"
"Back a little ways by the coffee shop." she informed him.
He pulled her along and lead her back to the small alleyway. She turned back to see the others leaving as well, walking in the same direction that the one boy had gone. Then the wall cut off her view and she turned back around to pay attention to where she was walking.
Once they made it to her car, she unlocked the doors and Zelo climbed in to the passenger seat. She put the key in the ignition but paused. She turned to him and eyed him curiously. "Can I see it?" she asked and indicated his chest.
He blinked at her before widening his eyes. "Oh! Yeah. Sure." he agreed. He grabbed the chain and pulled it out of his shirt. Then he held the dog tags out for her. "See."
She leaned over and saw the familiar bunny icon. "Choi Jun Hong. Totomato." she read off. "Do all of you have tags like this?"
"Yeah." he answered and slipped the dog tags back in his shirt.
"What does Totomato mean?" she questioned.
He opened his mouth but hesitated for a bit until saying, "It's not safe to talk here. Let's just get to the house."
"Not safe?" She stared at him in surprise but he pressed his lips tightly together, not saying anything else. So she sighed and started the car. She backed out and drove while listening to Zelo's directions.

Jisun one of the many roads that lead out of town and in to the mountains. It wasn't exactly close to her house though but she knew the area a bit. Not many people lived by her but even fewer people lived on this side of the mountain range.
She hesitated when Zelo directed her to a road that was closed off. A large metal gate with a 'road closed' sign blocked it but she drove around it like he told her to. The road was smooth enough for her car even though it showed signs of not being used often. Then she turned in to a small driveway and drove further in to the woods. The trees gave way to a large open expanse and in the center was a two story house.
"Here's home." Zelo commented.
There were two other cars parked by the house and she pulled up by them. When she got out of the car, she noticed Himchan standing on the porch.
"Anyone follow you?" he questioned.
Zelo bounded up the porch steps. "Nope." Then he disappeared into the house
Jisun raised an eyebrow curiously as she stood on the ground. She surveyed the house and chewed on her lip. "Just what am I getting myself in to?"
"Come on."
She turned to see Himchan still on the porch and watching her. Taking a deep breath, she stepped up the stairs and went inside the house.
The living room was empty but plenty of noise was coming from the kitchen. She followed Himchan and found the rest of the boys milling about.
"Okay, you know Zelo." Himchan stated and dismissively waved towards the fridge.
The red hair boy found what he was digging around for and straightened. He smiled at her while he popped a cherry tomato in to his mouth and kicked the fridge closed. Then he leaned against it, happily munching on his food.
"Jongup." continued Himchan and pointed at the black haired boy sitting on the counter by the sink. He smiled and waved before pulling another chip out of the bag he was holding.
"Youngjae." The other black haired boy was sitting at an island in the center of the kitchen. He twisted on the stool and politely bowed at her. "Pleased to meet you." Then he turned his attention back to the laptop.
"And Daehyun." On the far side of the kitchen, away from the others, the pink haired boy sat on the counter. At the sound of his name, he narrowed his eyes a little at Himchan before looking away.
"And I guess all of you already know my name." Jisun commented suspiciously. Himchan had said it earlier today after all when he was stopping her from reaching Yongguk.
"Yes we know who you are." Himchan declared. Then he indicated the stool next to Youngjae.
She hesitated a bit before making her way over to it and sitting down.
"The two guys who talked to you, what did you say to them?" inquired Himchan.
She looked at him before glancing at Zelo. He blinked at her for a bit before nodding his head. Then she her lips and answered, "I had a bad feeling about them so I kind of lied to them. I said I didn't know where Yongguk was and that I was only looking for him cause he stole my grandfather's pocket watch. When they asked about Zelo, I started making a scene in the shop about them following me so they left."
"If you saw them again, would you be able to recognize them?" Youngjae asked as he glanced over at her.
"I... I think so." she replied.
The boy thoughtfully nodded and then he suddenly gasped. "Wait, there's something else I wanted to ask you." he quickly stated and grabbed a notebook. He swiveled on the stool to face her with a pencil in hand, ready take notes. "How did you feel in the morning?"
"Uh... excuse me?" She furrowed her eyebrows at him in confusion.
"The morning after we took Yongguk-hyung." he elaborated. "How did you feel?"
"Uh... I..." She inhaled sharply as she realized what he said. Then she got to her feet so fast, the stool fell to the floor behind her. "You took him?!"
Youngjae's eyes widened as he quickly leaned back away from her. Zelo and Jongup froze as well as they stared at her
"Youngjae, back away slowly." Jongup instructed.
With a scoff, Jisun turned and made her way to the doorway. Himchan was still standing there though and quickly put his arm out to block her.
"Move." she hissed.
"We had to." he told her without getting out of her way.
Before he could react, Jisun ducked under his arm and stormed across the living room for the front door.
"We had our reasons." Himchan declared, following her.
Just as she grabbed the door knob and yanked the door open, it was slammed shut by Himchan's hand as he leaned against it.
"We saw you that night. With him." he whispered.
She gasped, remembering the kiss they had shared and her eyes watered. A perfect moment that was shattered with reality in the morning. "And you still took him." she quietly said with venom in her voice.
"He needed help. Help you couldn't give him." the guy argued.
She turned and glared hard at him. "I was going to take him to the hospital."
Himchan shook his head. "They wouldn't have been able to help."
She stopped glaring as her head jerked back "Why wouldn't they?" she questioned in confusion.
He opened his mouth but hesitated. Then he said, "You'll just have to trust us."
"Suyun is helping him."
She glanced over and saw Zelo standing in the living room. Next to him was Jongup and Youngjae.
"Suyun? Is that the girl from earlier?" she inquired "His sister?" Then she watched all three boys shift nervously as they didn't answer her.
"Okay that question didn't require that much hesitation." she declared. "So she's not really his sister."
Himchan let out a frustrated sigh. "No she isn't but she is his best hope."
"Why say she's his sister when she really isn't?" she pressed.
At that, Himchan merely looked away as he let out another sigh. It was obvious that he didn't want to answer the question.
"So you want me to trust you even though you won't answer my questions or at most give me vague answers?" Jisun demanded.
"As if we trust you."
The voice startled her and she looked towards the kitchen. The three boys who had been standing there had moved out of the way to reveal Daehyun in the doorway. He was leaning against the door frame with his arms folded. He looked up to meet her gaze for only a second but she could see the hostility in his eyes. Then he turned, going back into the kitchen and a few moments later the back door could be heard slamming shut.
Another frustrated sigh escaped Himchan as he took his hand off the door to run it through his hair. Then he leaned his back against the door before looking at her once more. "Fine, we have to earn your trust. But yes, you have to earn ours too."
Jisun wanted to argue about that except she couldn't think of a good arguement. She didn't know why they didn't trust her but the way Daehyun acted was enough. If they had to earn her trust, then she would have to be content with earning theirs.
"I felt horrible. That morning." she stated. "I had the worse headache and my arms and legs felt heavy. It was hard to walk even."
Zelo turned Youngjae and pouted at him. "I told you even a lower dosage wouldn't be good for her."
She raised an eyebrow at that. Dosage? "They took him." she suddenly thought. They took him out of the house even though they were in bed together.
"You drugged me?!" she shrieked.
All three boys jumped and stared wide eyed at her.
"Not only did you take him from me but you drugged me as well!" she spat at them as she stormed across the living room towards them. The boys quickly backed up, stumbling on each other as they attempted to stay away from her.
"We drugged him too."
She stopped her advance and turned back to Himchan. "You drugged him too?"
The guy nodded his head. "Yes. We didn't think he would leave willingly."
A stabbing pain pierced her chest. This whole time she had thought he had left her when the truth was, he didn't have a say in the matter. She felt her eyes watering once more and she quickly glanced away, not wanting anyone to see.
"Sorry noona." Zelo mumbled.
She lifted her head to look at him and saw guilt written all over his face. It was the same for Jongup and Youngjae as well who avoided her gaze as they stared at the floor. She blinked her eyes rapidly and took a shaky breath to help stead herself.
"There's something else we need to discuss. Something more urgent." Himchan proclaimed. He pushed off from the door and closed the distance to her. "We need you to stay here."
"Excuse me??" She eyed him with both confusion and suspicion.
"Those two guys at the coffee shop, they're not with us." he explained. "Trying to find Yongguk has put you at risk and we don't want you to get hurt."
"Hurt?" she questioned.
"They hurt Yongguk-hyung." Jongup piped up.
Jisun's heart skipped a beat and she quickly turned her attention to him. "What?" she uttered, remembering the wounds on Yongguk when she found him in the woods.
"They didn't just hurt him." Youngjae quietly commented as he glanced at Zelo.
She didn't miss that look and looked at Zelo as well. He didn't show any emotion to the other's statement though and just continued to watch at her. She turned back around to face Himchan and asked, "Why?"
Himchan pressed his lips together in thought before saying, "Why do people hurt anyone?" He shrugged his shoulders and lightly shook his head. "Sometimes they just want to."

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solarflare
To clarify: the rabbit is not Daehyun. None of the boys are rabbits. The rabbit is basically a metaphor and a lot of what Jisun says to it is foreshadowing.

Comments

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Chiiyochii #1
Chapter 50: This was to beautiful ???
ChaeSeoul
#2
Chapter 49: Oh man oh man! I don't usually read long stories since they can never keep my interest but THIS WAS A MASTERPIECE. I loved every bit of it and felt so much emotion while reading it! It felt so real I had to stop reading and come back to reality XD I was low-key hoping Jisun would be able to go back to Mato Planet too T-T but I'm sooooo glad they all came back! AMAZING story!
Shawn1231 #3
Chapter 50: Zelo not being zelo... idk fam kinda bumed out. I feel bad for these creatures. They went through a lot.. ): I really hope that no one would have to experience what they went through in this story.. tha ks for writing such awesome stories authornim! (: <3
AlexxxxaRae #4
Chapter 6: So I've been a fan of your stories about 2-3 years now. I can't believe I just stumbled upon this fic just last night! I, too, also pulled an all nighter reading this story and thought it was amazing. You truly are a great writer. Thank you for writing amazing fics about our favorite boys :) I'm still suffering from post concert depression from BAP's Party Baby in NYC, so I've been on a BAP fic binge ever since! This is definitely one of my fav BAP fics thus far. Keep up the great work <3
seraishere
#5
Chapter 50: I stayed up until 4am reading this yesterday and now I just re-read the whole thing. Its an amazing story, thank you for writing it!
aidhwang
#6
Kinda weird since I've been following this story from the start, but I just wanted to comment on how Zelo's death literally affected me in this story. I decided to read a little bit of the last chapters again, and it just hit me how different have the same, yet different "Zelo" is such a big change. Not sure if I should be emotionally attached to any character or anything, but I was literally on the verge of tears thinking: "Wow. Zelo's really gone. These two are two different beings and I don't know how his death didn't impact me like this when I was reading."
I hope it's not too weird that I'm writing this, but you're such an amazing writer, and I've never felt this way about a story before. I'll just thank ya because I actually know how a story could literally be so connected to someone.
xadrimusicx
#7
Chapter 50: Ughh Daehyun and ji sun SOO adorbss lol like they are brother and sister
Neonlights92
#8
Chapter 50: So happy everything worked out for them! I feel alittle sad when Zelo committed suicide... But the new one is so cute as well! And Yongguk is just cute and adorable no matter what he does! I really enjoyed reading this!
daphy1234
#9
Chapter 50: After 3 days, I'm finally finished~
Many feels, the most coming from Zelo's involuntary change, death, then "restoring"... UGH WHY DO YOU HAVE TO LIKE CHOCOLATE ICE-CREAM T.T
Story was great though~ thought I could handle a bit of graphic violence but ended up skimming through it because Zelo doing the deed without being in control it was too much huehue >~<
Jisun is definitely a strong character jeez, so much happened in one day I thought the hysteria and panic attacks weren't even enough... Although I don't know what one would write in place of such symptoms hehe....
Good read~ going to check out your other stories now :3