Park Jakyung was many things.

She was quiet. She was smart. She was kind. She was okay at playing the piano. She was a fan of chocolate ice cream and handmade candy. She was a big advocate for helping those in need. She was even considered pretty by some.

What she was not…

She was not used to the stares. She was not a fan of the silence that followed whenever she entered the room. She was not happy.

No, Jakyung was many things, but she wasn’t happy. Not with her parents, not with the situation they’d put her in, and certainly not with herself for keeping her mouth shut and going along with it all. If she had a choice, she would walk right back out of the classroom and into the car she’d parked in the parking lot. She’d get into that car, gun the engine, and hightail it back to the little house in Anyang where she grew up. She wouldn’t bother stopping by her apartment, she wouldn’t bother letting anyone know. She’d just go and never even look back.

But she didn’t have a choice. She couldn’t remember the last time she did have a choice, to be quite honest. She supposed it began when she was born, as she most definitely didn’t ask for that to happen, but she could think of once or twice when she’d decided she was going to stay up late watching TV instead of studying. This was much different, though, than watching TV instead of doing calculus.

She hated the looks she got when she sat down in her seat. She didn’t choose that seat; it was the only empty one left. She hated the fact that she could practically feel the eyes of her twelve classmates tracking her every movement as she took the calculus textbook from her bag. She didn’t choose this book, either. The school had given it to her because she had started the term so late, and the bookstore was out of stock. She didn’t even choose to take calculus. That was her parent’s idea. She bit back a scowl.

She had already been in Seoul for five days, three of which were spent moving into the apartment her parents had purchased near the school. The fourth day was spent filling out the paperwork her parents left for her at the dean’s office. And here she was on the fifth day, at three minutes until two o’clock, enduring the silence and stares of the students in her advanced calculus class.

“I hope you all did your homework because-” the professor walked into the room and paused abruptly as he spotted Jakyung in the first row of desks. “Well, you’re new.” She could have given him an award for his keen observations skills.

“You must be Park Jakyung. Welcome.” The man didn’t look like he wanted to waste any more time, and Jakyung certainly didn’t want to waste any, so she was grateful that he skipped the “stand up and introduce yourself” routine and went straight into grilling the class about the homework.

As per the suggestion of the secretary, she checked the class website and got the homework assignment from there. She did it last night on the coffee table in the apartment and passed it in along with the rest of the people in her class. The professor seemed a little surprised at seeing a paper with her name on it, but said nothing and gave them the day’s assignment.

By the time the class was over, Jakyung wanted nothing more than to return to her apartment, sprawl out on the bed, and take a nap. But she couldn’t. She had errands to run and a few last things to take care of before she could go home. She had no choice.

She gathered her things at a moderate pace, and once finished slung the bag over her shoulder. A light “Oof!” sounded behind her and she turned to see a guy holding his cheek.

“What do you carry around in that thing? A brick?” His tone was airy and light, despite the little splotch of red where the bag had hit him. She opened her mouth to apologize, but he waved her words away before they even left her lips.

“Don’t worry about it, I’ve experienced worse,” he chuckled and stuck his hand out to her. “Park Jakyung, right? Nice to meet you. I’m Chen.” Jakyung shook his hand tentatively, and was once again about to open her mouth to say something when she was once again interrupted.

“Ay yo, Chennikins! Get your *** out here and help Chanyeol and me with this.” The voice came from a dark-haired boy who had stuck his head in the door and pinpointed his friend. Chen shook his head and gave Jakyung a smile.

“We’ll catch up next time okay?” He said before jogging out of the class. Jakyung just shook her head and slung the bag over her shoulder once more before heading out. Calculus was the second to last class of the day, and she had a few minutes before she needed to be at the locker rooms to change for PE. This time, it wasn’t silence that followed her down the hall, but a wealth of whispers. She supposed it was more bearable than the silence, but she still didn’t like it. Couldn’t they just ignore her?

She changed quickly when she got to the locker rooms. Again, she wasn’t greeted by silence, but whispers between her female classmates. She could care less what they had to say, and just walked out to the gym and took a seat in the bleachers.

She had to admit, the school her parents had enrolled her in was beautiful. The grounds were sprawling and well-tended, the buildings were grand and much too fancy for a high school in her opinion, and the labs and classrooms were always being update with the latest in technology and equipment.

“Oh, it’s Jakyung!” A voice snapped her out of her appraisal of the gym facilities, and she spotted the same chisel-cheeked guy who’d she mistakenly hit with her bag walking towards her. What was his name again? Chen?

“You’ve got gym this period too,” Chen said before she could greet him. “What luck that we have two classes together! I’ll have to introduce you to my friends.” Talking and running seemed to be his specialty, and Jakyung shook her head as he jogged over to a group of guys loitering around the entrance to the male locker rooms. He said something she couldn’t quite make out and then turned back to her and waved. She stared at him for a moment before wiggling her fingers back at him. She really didn’t want him to introduce her to his friends. She just wanted to get through the class and go home. The less she had to interact with people, the less reason she had to like this place.

Luck seemed to be on her side as the gym coach waltzed into the room carrying a clipboard. He began calling out names, and when he reached hers, paused in the middle and looked at her.

“New kid, huh? Okay,” he said and moved on. She figured he didn’t need the vocal confirmation that she was there, and frankly, she didn’t mind it too much. She hadn’t spoken a word to anyone but the school secretary, and if she were really lucky, she would never have to.

They were assigned a 12 lap warm up, and Jakyung was grateful that it meant she didn’t have to partner with anyone. She may have been at this school against her wishes, but that didn’t mean she had to make friends or interact with her peers if she didn’t want to.

“Hey, Jakyung! Whoa, you run fast.” Chen jogged up to her, a slight sheen of sweat on his forehead from the first five laps the class had already completed. “Do they have the heat turned up in here, or what? I shouldn’t be sweating after only five laps!” He laughed at his own joke, and Jakyung rolled her eyes. This kid was weird.

“You don’t speak much, do you? That’s alright; I know someone who is the same way,” Chen said, jabbing a finger over his shoulder. “Usually, they’re pretty fast, but you’re smoking them right now. Were you on the track team at your last school or something?”

Jakyung let out a soft snort. Track team? If you wanted to call dodging her parents “babysitters” being on the track team, then sure, she was on the track team.

“Speaking of which, you transferred in pretty late, didn’t you? I mean the first semester is almost half over. Why did you-” Chen was cut off by a hand reaching out and covering his mouth.

“Give the girl a break, will you Chen? She looks like she wants to run even faster away from you.” Jakyung was of an average height for a female her age at around 5’4. Chen had to be a few inches taller than her; 5’8 maybe. But this guy? He was a giant. He was at least 6 foot tall, and if it weren’t for the fact that they were running in gym class, Jakyung would have been terrified of seeing him run towards her.

Chen knocked his friend’s hand away and grinned cheekily at Jakyung. “She would have said something if she wanted me to go away, right?” Well, he certainly got her there. She did want him to go away, but she had a feeling that if she opened her mouth even to do that, it would only spur him to talk to her more in some twisted way. Instead, she rolled her eyes, gave a little huff of annoyance, and sprinted the rest of the lap.

She ended up in between a few girls finishing the lap she’d just finished, and far ahead of Chen and his too tall friend. She could tell that they were attempting to catch up, but she was a master at ducking and dodging, and stayed out of their reach for the remainder of the warm up. The rest of the class was spent split up, females in the weight room, males playing basketball on the indoor court. Jakyung did her exercises dutifully. She quite liked exercising. At first, it had been a way to improve her stamina for running away from her overbearing parent’s guards for hire. A year after she started working out though, she found it gave her a needed break from anything she was struggling with, be it her family, homework, or just regular teenage stress.

“You’re really strong!”

Jakyung could barely hear the girl standing in front of her, waiting for her turn on the rowing machine. Why was it that no one wanted to make a sound when she walked through the halls or into a classroom, but as soon as she was alone, doing her own thing, they wanted to speak with her as if they were old friends? It was annoying.

Jakyung popped one ear bud out and looked at the girl with a bored expression. The girl just smiled and repeated her earlier statement.

“You’re really strong! Class is almost over, but can you show me how to do this one next time?” The girl looked so hopeful, and Jakyung wanted to say no, but she found herself nodding her agreement. She finished the set she was working on as the girl stood by, a stupid grin on her face.

“I knew you were cool,” the girl chattered as Jakyung finished up. “Everyone was saying that the new girl was an ice princess, but I knew better than to believe that nonsense. I mean, you’re really pretty, but you’re nice, too.” Jakyung hopped off the machine and began her walk to the locker rooms, the girl trailing behind her and chattering on and on.

“I’m Han Chomin, but everyone just calls me Chom. I think we have the same history class in the morning with Professor Song. Do you like history? I don’t, it’s very boring to be honest.” Jakyung suppressed a groan; this girl was worse than Chen. The barrage of small talk and chatter only stopped when they slipped into separate booths to change. Jakyung took her time, hoping that if she loitered long enough, she wouldn’t have to deal with the Chom girl again.

As luck would have it, the locker room was completely empty by the time she left. Most of the students had gone home or somewhere else to study, and so she was able to walk through the halls without feeling like some escaped science experiment for people to stare at and whisper about. She had even made it about two-thirds of the way to her car before she heard a voice call her name.

“Oh hey, it’s Jakyung!”

She picked up her speed, and kept her head down. She did not want any more people to talk to her. She just wanted to do her errands, go home and think of a way to get through this next year without skipping town.

“Hey Jakyung, wait up!”

There it was, her sleek, nightfall grey 2017 Camaro, front lights blinking as she pressed the remote car-starter on her key chain. She could hear the footsteps getting closer, and she could tell there was more than one person. She really didn’t want to deal with this.

“She’s definitely running away from you,” she could hear someone laugh. Of course she was running away. The door to the car opened up easily and she slid in, tossed her bag in the passenger seat and closed the door all in one fluid motion. She risked a glance out the window and saw that the people trying to catch up to her had stopped and was staring at the car in awe. She gunned the engine, backed out of the spot and sped out of the parking lot, leaving them standing like statues in her dust.

++++++

A/N: I'm trying to go through the original transcript to edit this fanfic. It's been a while since I originally wrote it, and I know there are tons of plot holes and loose ends. I'll do my best to make it better.

“I need a job,” Jakyung told the man sitting behind the desk. He blinked at her, once, twice, three times. A wry laugh escaped his throat as he tapped the cigarette against the side of the ashtray.

“A doll like you, working in a place like this,” he rasped. “Wouldn’t mommy and daddy be proud of that?” He shook his head and picked up the paper Jakyung had placed in front of him.

“What my mother and father don’t know won’t hurt them,” she deadpanned. They had sent her here to finish up her schooling, but they never were clear about what she was to do in her free time. The man arched an eyebrow at her. “I’m a quick study, and I have a bit of experience behind the bar.”

“You? No kidding.” He scanned the basic CV he held in his hands and sighed. “Look kid, you’re only what? 20? That’s barely legal. You’ve got quite the rap sheet for someone so young, but do you really think that this is the place for a girl like you?”

“And what kind of girl would that be?” Jakyung shot back. She didn’t have time for this. If this man wasn’t going to give her a job, she’d just have to look someplace else. “If you’re going to give me a lecture, save it; that’s what school’s for.” She stood and headed for the door. Before she could twist the doorknob, however, he called out to her.

“Jakyung, was it? Fine. I’ll give you a chance,” he sighed. “You’re feisty, I’ll give you that. You’ve got a week. Make it through the week and I’ll hire you on permanently.” The corner of Jakyung’s lips twitched up into a smirk.

“When do I start?”

+++++++

The twelve men waltzed into the club like they owned the place. On a technicality they did, but that was of little consequence. For a Friday night at 9PM, the club was already packed. Bodies moving in time with the music, drinks being passed out at the bar in quick succession; things were just how they liked them.

The group headed towards their usual booth, off to the right of the dance floor, but in clear view of all the action. Within only a few minutes, girls started to stop by, some familiar, some new. It didn’t matter to them – it never did. They were here on business, like usual.

“You would think that if they wanted this alliance, they would at least show up to the meeting on time,” Suho murmured into his drink. Luhan shrugged.

“It’s their loss, not ours.” He scanned their surroundings, trying to find someone to bring them more drinks. Finally, he spotted a girl headed towards the bar, balancing trays of empty glasses on either hand. He nudged Xiumin who looked up from his conversation with Kyungsoo.

“Looks like Yungmin decided to hire someone new finally,” he said. Kyungsoo glanced at the girl and furrowed his brows.

“She looks familiar, doesn’t she?” He asked, trying to peer around the trays to see her face. He grabbed the arm of the nearest club goer and shoved a $50 into his hand. “Tell that bartender to come over here.” The man scurried off and found the requested woman, who barely glanced over her shoulder, but nodded her understanding.

Jakyung was in her element. While she wasn’t happy to have been forced to come to Seoul, she was at least a little pleased that she could find an outlet for the free time she had when not in classes. She had worked in bars before back in Anyang; not legally of course, but it gave her the chops she needed to handle all sorts of rowdy folk. She had a couple hundred cocktails memorized, and despite being underage, she could hold her liquor with the best of them.

Since Yungmin had told her three hours before, that she was on a weeklong probation, she got right to work. Of course the club wasn’t busy at 5 in the afternoon, but by the time 9 rolled around, it was packed, and she was kept on her toes. The money didn’t hurt either. She had already racked up about two hundred dollars in tips, and that wasn’t counting the pay check Yungmin had promised her at the end of the probation period.

“Hey lady.” She felt a tap on her shoulder, and suddenly the face of a man who had clearly had his fair share of booze was shoved into her line of sight. She raised an eyebrow at him and he continued. “A guy at that fancy table in the back wants you to go over there. He gave me $50 bucks just to get you, so it must be important.”

Jakyung rolled her eyes, but nodded anyway. Of course, in a place like this, there would be people throwing their money around like it was nothing. Hell, she’d be doing the same thing if it wasn’t playing into the hands of the people she wasn’t too happy with right now. She set one of the trays down on the bar and tucked the other under her arm, before weaving through the crowd to the table that had requested her. As she drew closer, her breath hitched in her chest, and she let out a groan.

“Well, well, well,” Kris said. He grinned at the look on her face. “If it isn’t Park Jakyung. Fancy meeting you here.” At hearing her name, the rest of the table’s conversations stopped and the remaining 11 faces fixed her with looks ranging from surprise to curiosity.

“You work here?” Chen asked stupidly. Jakyung glanced at him before removing the notepad from the back pocket of her shorts and taking the pen from behind her ear.

“You gonna order or what?” She asked. They stared at her for a moment, and she stared right back.

“You know, I almost thought you were mute,” Xiumin said. “I’ve got four classes with you, and you didn’t say a peep all day.”

“I didn’t have anything to say,” she responded, a bored look on her face. She scanned the table and the various states of the drinks present. “Four whiskey sours, a Jameson on the rocks, two vodka cranberries, three yorsch’s and, what’s that? Three Jaeger and coke. Is that all?”

“Well, I’ll be damned. The little girl knows what she’s talking about,” Luhan scoffed, downing the rest of his Jameson. “How’d you end up in a place like this?” Jakyung ignored him and gathered the empty glasses onto the tray.

“He asked you a question,” Baekhyun said, grabbing her wrist as she went to reach for his glass. She fixed him with a cold glare and then turned her gaze to Luhan.

“That’s really none of your business,” she told him, and twisted her arm out of Baekhyun’s hand. He seemed a bit surprised, leaving her a chance to gather the rest of the glasses. “Aecha will be over in a minute or two to bring you your drinks.”

“Hey wait, don’t mind them.” Chen seemed to have regained his voice and flashed a charming smile. “They really aren’t the best conversationalists.”

“Yeah, well, neither am I,” she said and turned on her heel back to the bar. As soon as she was out of earshot, Kris let out a loud laugh.

“Well isn’t she just a field of daisies,” he said through his laughter. “Drives a Camaro, works at a nightclub, talks smack to Lulu. This girl just keeps getting more and more interesting.”

“She’s rude,” Baekhyun grumbled, not pleased that she hadn’t given him the reaction she wanted. “And she isn’t as pretty as you said, Kai.”

Kai shrugged. “I have thing for girls who can appreciate a nice car.”

“Oh, look. I guess they decided to show up after all,” Kyungsoo pointed out the group of six men headed towards them. They looked cocky, as if they owned the place, though it was clear to anyone who cared to pay attention that their bravado was going to be short lived.

“Look who decided to show their stupid faces,” Xiumin drawled from his position at the end of the booth. “Pull up some chairs, gentlemen. Relax, get comfortable. Drinks are on us tonight.”

The leader of the new group of men noted the glint of challenge in the eyes of the one who’d spoken, and motioned for one of his own to get some chairs. He took his seat first and the others followed suit. It was a stare-down between the two groups of men by the time Jakyung returned to the table, reluctantly bearing the drinks Aecha couldn’t leave the bar to deliver.

“I thought you said Aecha would deliver the drinks,” Chen smiled at her, noticing her look of displeasure. Jakyung merely glanced at him before distributing the drinks amongst the twelve she’d taken the orders for. She turned her blank stare to the newcomers and took out the notepad and pen.

“Are you drinking anything tonight?” she asked, as the men eyed her up and down. The leader grinned and reached out a hand to run a finger down her arm.

“I’ll take a tall glass of you, sweetness,” he said in what Jakyung assumed was supposed to be a sexy voice. She brushed away his hand and met his eyes with her own.

“Fresh out, I’m afraid. I recommend the Bitch Beer; seems a bit fitting with your personality,” she retorted. Kai slapped a hand over his mouth to prevent his drink from spewing out, and the rest hid their smiles and snickers behind their hands. Even the friends of the man she had spoken to looked pretty amused.

“You’d better watch your pretty little mouth, or you might find it doing unpleasant things, you stupid woman,” The man growled at her. Jakyung raised one eyebrow at him and scribbled something down on the notepad before turning away and heading back to the bar.

“A round of Bitch Beers for the wannabe boy band. Got it,” she called over her shoulder. The man started out of his seat, but one of his friends pulled him back into the chair.

“Fellas, fellas, it’s just a waitress,” Kris said, folding his hands on the table and leaning forward. “Given your tardiness to this meeting, I’d say she was in the clear with the insult, don’t you think?” That shut up the grumbling of the leader, who glared at Kris.

“We don’t want to do this anymore than you do,” another of the newcomers spoke. “But we’re in a tight spot, and you’re the only ones with enough influence to get us what we want.”

Suho swirled the ice in his glass before looking at the six men. “The compliment is well appreciated, gentlemen. However, this isn’t a matter of what we can do for you. It’s a matter of what you can do for us. So enlighten me, Shim Doohyun. How does EXO benefit from an alliance with the Firestarter gang?”

Jakyung surveyed the group of men from the bar as she mixed the drinks. She was very tempted to pull several hard lemonades (or Bitch Beer, as she liked to call it) and hand them over, but she wasn’t in the mood to start a fight on her first day. She could clearly see the faces of her classmates from this vantage point. Why they were in the club was none of her business, though she was admittedly as curious about their reasons as they were about hers.

She knew it was going to be next to impossible to avoid them now that they shared both classes and after-hours activities. She didn’t know many teenagers who had guts enough to waltz into a nightclub and drop the cash for a VIP table at a place a popular as this, so she knew that they were either rich or into some shady business. Judging by the company they kept, she had a feeling it was a bit of both.

As she put the finish touches on the drinks, she looked up and caught the eye of the one who had grabber her hand before. She didn’t know his name, but the smoldering glare he gave her before, and the one he was giving her now made her want to laugh. They may have been in there to conduct some risky business, but to her, they just looked like a bunch of kids trying too hard. She cut her eyes at him before loading up the drinks on a tray and navigating the crowd back to the table.

“Two pink ladies, an apple-tini, two vodka with lime, and a Unicorn,” she listed off as she set the tray down. “I’d hand them out, but I wouldn’t want to offend your delicate egos.”

“I think I liked it better when you didn’t talk,” Baekhyun sneered. Jakyung ignored him and cleared some of the now empty glasses.

“Oh no, I find her highly amusing,” Chanyeol laughed. He flashed Jakyung a smile, and she let a glimmer of amusement show on her face before she schooled it back to a neutral expression.

“Gentlemen,” she said to EXO before heading back to the bar. Several of them shook their heads while Doohyun and his group eyed the drinks. After a moment of silence, one guy grabbed the drink nearest to him, a pink lady, and took a tentative sip.

“It’s not bad, actually.”

Doohyun had half a mind to shoot him.

++++++++

Jakyung’s shift was over at 1AM. She was glad for the weekend, and she didn’t have to be back at the bar until 7PM. That left her more than enough time to sleep, eat and finish up the little bit of homework she’d been assigned.

“Do you need a ride home?” Aecha asked her as they finished wiping down the counters.

“I drove here, so I’ll be good,” Jakyung told her. Aecha was a 26 year old grad student who was working in the bar to help fund some of her education. She was nice enough, and didn’t talk much to Jakyung, which she liked.

After they were done and Aecha had locked the staff door, they headed to their respective cars. Jakyung wasn’t surprised to find a group of guys loitering around her Camaro, clearly waiting for her to get finished.

“Don’t you have anything better to do than bug me?” She asked as she pressed the button on the remote car starter. The engine roared to life, startling some of the men, but they quickly recovered.

“Nope,” Chen grinned. “It’s the weekend. No one ever has anything better to do.”

“I could think of a few things,” Baekhyun muttered, shoving his hands in his pockets. Jakyung cut her eyes at him before attempting to push aside Chen to get to the door of her car.

“Not so fast, Jakyung,” he said, refusing to move. “My feelings are hurt. I’ve been trying to talk to you all day and you just keep ignoring me.” The pout on his face was almost enough to make her laugh.

“Is that the face you give every girl that won’t give you the time of day, Chen? Has it worked yet?”

“See, I told you she was running away from you earlier,” Kai piped up, earning a shove from Luhan to shut up. Jakyung finally succeeded in pushing Chen out of the way to get to the door, and leaned her back against it, facing the twelve guys.

“Tell me, gentlemen,” she drawled, crossing her arms over her chest. “Don’t you think it’s a little maudlin to wait in a dark parking lot for a woman to walk out to her car?”

“That’s one way of putting it,” Suho said. He had taken a liking to this girl who wanted nothing to do with him or his friends. It was refreshing. “In reality, we just wanted to see if you were interested in coming to a party tomorrow. You know, as a way of saying welcome to Seoul.” Jakyung didn’t miss the look of confusion that passed between the rest of them.

“Just for little ol’ me? How sweet,” she deadpanned. “Thanks, but no thanks. I’ve got things to do.” She began to turn around to open the car door when a hand reached out and grabbed her wrist for the second time that night. She immediately twisted her arm and smacked the hand away, much to the surprise of Suho who had grabbed her. She glared at him before getting in the car and slamming the door shut. There was a pause before she lowered the window just enough so that they could hear her speak.

“Don’t ever touch me again.” She slammed her foot down on the gas and tore out of the parking lot, leaving them staring after her for the second time.

“Well that went about as well as expected.”

Park Jakyung was many things.

Right now, she was tired, and the insistent knocking on her did not help her go back to sleep. She risked a glance at the clock on the night stand and groaned. She rolled out of bed, tossed on an oversize jumper and shuffled to the door. She peeked through the viewer on the front of the door and let out a noise of annoyance. Several seconds later, she had the door unlocked and a man was waltzing into the apartment as if he hadn’t a care in the world.

“I guess no one told you that house calls at 7 in the morning are usually unappreciated,” she grumbled, watching as the man draped himself over the furniture.

“Is that how you greet you favorite brother?” He asked, feigning hurt. She rolled her eyes at him and pushed his feet off of the coffee table.

“You’re my only brother,” she told him. Park Taekyung took in her unkempt hair and hastily thrown on clothes.

“You don’t have a man over, do you?” He eyed her suspiciously. Jakyung scoffed and crossed her arms over her chest.

“Yah, don’t you have work or something?” She muttered, heading towards the kitchen. He popped up and followed her.

“I think I can spare a few ours to visit my little sister,” he said, suddenly growing serious. “How are you doing? I know this isn’t what you wanted-”

“It never is, Tae,” Jakyung told him. Taekyung had been her biggest advocate to try and keep her in Anyang, but her parents were having none of it. That’s when Jakyung knew she didn’t have a choice in the matter; if they wouldn’t listen to their favorite child, they certainly weren’t going to listen to her.

“I should have done more. There’s got to be a way,” Taekyung sighed. Jakyung shook her head and began removing things from the fridge and cabinets.

“Maybe this is good,” she said, cracking a few eggs into a bowl. “I mean, this will help me to get over things, right? I can star fresh.” The lies rolled off her tongue so easily, Jakyung felt her skin crawling. She shouldn’t have to convince herself that this was for her own good.

“Mother and Father wouldn’t know what’s best for you,” Taekyung scoffed. “They’re barely around to know anything. They tried to set you up in a big mansion you know. They would have done it too if I hadn’t convinced them that you would be less likely to run away if you had something smaller and more like Nana’s place.”

Jakyung gave her brother a rare smile. “I appreciate it. Have you eaten?” She was busy chopping up ham and a brick of cheddar cheese for omelets. Taekyung smiled sadly at his younger sister. He could tell she was trying her hardest to seem like she could get through this without breaking down. Nana’s death had been hardest on her.

“You always did know the way to a man’s heart.”

They spent the rest of the morning catching up with each other. Taekyung told her about all the blind dates their parents had been setting him up on, and Jakyung filled him in on her school and her first night at the bar.

“Elysia? I know the owner, Yungmin,” Taekyung said, to Jakyung’s surprise. At her look of confusion, he explained. “I used to go there with Jaeseok and the other guys. It’s a pretty popular place. Guess all those years helping out in Nana’s lounge did you some good.”

Jakyung smiled at the memory of their late grandmother. “Yeah, she even took me to some of the other bars in Anyang to give me some experience.” She could feel the emotion rising up in her chest and tried to school her expression into one of indifference. Taekyung saw right through it.

He scooted closer to her on the couch and gathered her in his arms. “You don’t have to pretend like everything is okay,” he whispered, stroking her hair. “You’re hurting, Jaji, and you need to let it out.” The tears were starting to form and burn so bad from being unshed.

“God, I miss her so much.” A sob wracked her body as she buried her face into Taekyung’s shoulder and let out all the emotion she’d been holding back.

++++++++++

Xiumin blinked as the sunlight suddenly assaulted his eyelids.

“What the hell,” he grumbled. A soft moaning sound from next to him brought his attention to the girl half ***** under the blankets. “Oh god.”

“Good morning!” Kai was standing at the foot of his bed, a smirk already on his face. He let his eyes drag over the body of the girl lying next Xiumin and his smirk grew. “I see you had some fun last night.” The girl in question moaned again and stretched, groping for Xiumin’s arm and the lost warmth.

“If I could remember what we did after leaving Elysia, I’d probably agree,” Xiumin snorted. He tugged his arm away from the girl who was slowly blinking into consciousness. At least she was kind of cute. She looked startled for a moment, as if she couldn’t remember where she was, so when it all came flooding back and she noticed Kai smirking at her, she swiped the remainder of her clothes off the floor and nearly sprinted out of the room.

“Charming,” Kai chirped, hands on his hips. “Come on, Hyung. Time for breakfast.” Xiumin let out another groan and lifted the blankets to see what sort of state he was in.

“Out Kai. I have to get some clothes on,” the elder boy shooed Kai away, who playfully teased him about his overnight activities.

The other members of the household got the same treatment more or less. Xiumin and Baekhyun were the only two who’d had their night’s conquest still in the bed when Kai dropped by to wake them. By the time everyone had gathered in the kitchen, Kai was still the most energetic.

“No one should be as energetic as you before noon,” Suho grumbled as he nursed a glass of orange juice. The others were filling their plates with different foods and trying to eat the hangovers away, to varying degrees of success.

This was normal for them. Besides their sprawling mansion, Elysia nightclub was one of their bases of operations. It where they conducted their business meetings and most other “public” activities they dealt with as a gang. It was easy for them. Their lives as students and their lives as gang members hardly ever mixed, and that’s the way they liked it. Oh people knew they were in a gang, but no one dared mentioned it with them in earshot, not unless they wanted to be on the business end of a well-placed fist to the face.

“I’m going out,” Sehun unceremoniously announced after finishing his food. Unlike the others, he’d actually gotten ready for his day before coming down to breakfast. He grabbed his keys from the bard hanging near the exit to the garage and left without so much as a backwards glance to his friends.

He eased the matte black Nissan GT-R out of its spot in the garage and made his way downtown. The others liked to tease him that he was too quiet, but he didn’t care. They listened when he did talk and that mattered more. He supposed that’s why he understood Jakyung a little more than the others. They had teased her too, for not saying much, but when she did talk, boy did they listen. The girl had a voice that was a cool as ice and just as refreshing. She didn’t say nice things to them, nor was he expecting her to, but it did make for an amusing few minutes.

He pushed her out of his mind though, as he neared his destination. He could already see the kids playing in the yard of the run down building, and a small smile started to show. He pulled into the driveway and watched as the kids excitedly ran up to his car. When he stepped out of the vehicle, he picked up the first little girl in arms reach.

“You came back!” She squealed, clapping her hands together in joy. Sehun ruffled her already windblown hair and chuckled softly.

“You say that every week,” he told her. The other kids followed him, chattering loudly as he headed towards the building and the little old lady waiting in the doorway.

“My little Sehunnie gets more handsome every week,” the old woman cooed. She was a waif of a woman, at just over 5 foot tall. Her grey hair was cut short and styled in that way grannies liked to style their hair, and she wore a well-loved apron that had “Red Hot Halmeoni” splayed across the front. In one arm, she had a child no older than two with chocolate smeared across his face, and in the other hand she held a chocolate covered wooden spoon. The smell of brownies wafted out fro the slightly open door and Sehun leaned down to kiss the old woman on the cheek.

“You also say that every week,” he told her. The little girl in his arms giggled and squirmed to be let down. She tottered off after some of the other kids as he followed the woman into the kitchen. Several trays of cooling brownies sat on the counter, and she gave him the side eye as she saw his hand inching towards them.

“Oh Sehun, don’t you touch those brownies,” she scolded lovingly. He feigned sheepishness and took a seat in one of the stools. “How are those other rascals doing these days? They haven’t stopped by in a while.”

“They’re doing okay, Halmeoni” Sehun told her, referring to Suho and Tao. They’d come with him a few times before, curious as to where he spirited off to every Saturday morning. The kids liked them, as did Halmeoni, who fussed over them just as much as she fussed over Sehun.

“Oh I remember when you were just a little tater tot,” she sighed affectionately as she stirred the batter for a new batch of brownies. “Waddling around with that bubble tea plushie you loved so much. I still keep a photo of you with that thing in my wallet you know. You’ve grown up so uch since then.” Sehun blushed and hid a smile behind his hand.

From the ages of six to fourteen he had lived with Halmeoni at Two Moons Orphanage. He had been taken there after his aunt, who had been raising him since birth, suddenly decided to get married and didn’t want to bring her dead brother’s child into the marriage. Sehun was too young to remember much about the woman, but he did remember that she wasn’t cruel or unkind. Just indifferent. She saw her chance and took it; he didn’t blame her too much, he was a man of opportunity as well. Besides, Halmeoni made much better baked goods than his aunt did.

Halmeoni, as she was known to the children and to the people in the neighborhood, was a 60 year old widow who had run the place with her husband after their own children had moved out of their big house. The place used to be a well-kept, but in her old age, and after her husband’s death, it was hard for her to keep up the maintenance and watch after 15 children of varying ages. When Sehun still lived there, he helped out as much as he could, and even now stopped by every week to make sure she had anything she needed. Halmeoni was stubborn, and never let him buy her anything directly, so he made small anonymous donations to the Two Moons Foundation every month to help with the bills and repairs.

“Speaking of growing up,” she eyed him across the counter, and he knew what was coming next. “When are you going to find a nice girl to settle down with? I have a few friends with granddaughters and nieces your age.”

“Halmeoni… come on,” Sehun groaned. “I’m just not that into girls like that right now.” Halmeoni gave him a wicked grin.

“I know a few have grandsons too,” she said casually as she poured the batter into a waiting pan. Sehun slapped a hand over his face in embarrassment.

“Halmeoni!”

+++++

Jakyung stood outside of the door to Elysia slightly confused. She was sure that Yungmin had told her to be there at 7, and here she was, dressed in black fleece leggings, an oversized blue flannel and a purple beanie. She had a small gym bag slung over her shoulder with intentions to change once she got inside, but at half past the hour, she wasn’t planning on waiting around any longer.

She checked the time again and just as she was about to turn off the screen, a message popped up from an unknown number.

To: Jakyung

From: 02-312-3456

Sorry for the late notice. Club is closed tonight due to unforeseeable circumstances. Stop by on Monday any time before 7. –Yungmin.

She sighed. While she was looking forward to the newly gained free time, she had no idea how she was going to get home. Taekyung had insisted on driving her since she was in such an “emotional state,” but he was gone now and probably already halfway back to his apartment across town. So she began to walk. There had to be a bus stop nearby with a bus that ran by her apartment.

It only took seven minutes of walking before she noticed the gunmetal gray Dodge Hellcat following slowly behind her.

At first, she thought that maybe it was checking out some of the buildings in the area; she was, after all, in an area packed with night clubs and upscale lounges. Then she noticed that whenever she turned a street, it would follow soon after. It bothered her a bit that she had a tail, but figured it was some still wet behind the ears guard her parents hired, or someone who was about to be sorely mistaken of her identity.

To her surprise, it was neither.

She had paused at the corner to cross when the car pulled right in front of her, blocking the crosswalk. The window rolled down and a familiar face smiled at her from the driver’s seat.

“Need a ride?”