Sides

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?”

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