Trouble

Clean

I dragged my palm down my face as I looked at Yoongi from between my fingers. He is chewing on the inside of his cheek, looking directly away from both Taehyung and me. Taehyung was in shock and had not moved from his position after he sat down next to Yoongi on the dinner table. He was looking at him with wide eyes and an open mouth.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, from my position near the refrigerator, away from him. He looked at me with steely eyes. He blinked.

"I didn't have anywhere to go." He said, looking back down at the wooden table. Taehyung gasped, bringing his fingers up to his lips, and kept looking back and forth between us. He then let out a dry laugh.

"You're dating?" He asked, a huge smile on his lips as he pointed a finger at me. I pursed my lips and said, "No."

Yoongi looked at me with a shameful face.

"I don't have anything to clean you up with," I said, pushing away from the fridge and coming to stand at the table. I lean forward, placing my palms on the table and talk in a strict business tone.

"I got some," He brings a white, plastic bag from inside his coat and places it on the table. I look at it with disbelief. Taehyung picks it and places it near my hands. He, for some reason, had a pleading look in his eyes.

"You can go to sleep Taehyung," I said, narrowing my eyes and asking him to move, hoping that he would understand. His smile crumbles, and he shoots me a glare.

"It was great to meet you, Agust D Hyung." He said, bowing his head again and again as he walked to his bed. I realized then that Yoongi was a popular person and that people would know him. All this time I had completely glazed over this fact. Taehyung shoots me one last glare as he gets into his bed, which I dutifully ignore.

"I didn't know you had a brother," Yoongi says, finally looking at me. One of his eyes looks smaller than the other surrounded by so much blood. Someone had punched him, quite hard. my heart breaks a little, but I still maintain a cold demeanor.

"I'm not her brother, Hyung." I hear Taehyung shout from the living room. I slam the kitchen door shut and turn toward Yoongi.

"He's my father's first recruit," I say, sitting beside him on the table. I fold my hands and look at the plastic bag. I sigh, pull it toward me, and begin to work on the travesty that was his face. I turn my body so that I was facing him. I slowly make him move and make him face me.

"Sorry," He says, as I pour the same antiseptic onto a piece of cotton. I was glad that his previous wound had at least completely healed. I started with his cheek, wiping away the blood, slowly. He hissed once or twice as I kept thinking about what he had said.

"I'm sorry about Taehyung too," I joked instead.

"You know that's not what I mean," He said, cringing one last time, as I completely cleaned his wound. It was just a scratch but it just wouldn't stop bleeding. I put some pressure on it as he closed his eyes.

"What do you mean?" I asked, resting my elbow on the table, as I held the cotton in place with my other hand.

"The first time I touched the ivory keys of a piano, I knew that's all I wanted. It filled me up with something magical...I felt nice. My parents bought me a brown piano that I used every day. Everyone thought it was a phase that I would eventually grow out of, even me. But the moment I stopped playing the piano was the moment I lost motivation for life. Music...and that brown piano...they're everything to me." I listened patiently as I took his knuckle in my hand. This was probably the worst wound ever. I steeled my nerves and set to cleaning it. I clenched my teeth every time he hissed.

"It didn't come as a surprise that I eventually ran away from home when my parents wouldn't let me pursue my dream of playing the piano. I shouldn't have done that...I came to Seoul to chase after the same brown piano. But it's hard...so hard." His eyes were still closed, but an eery smile took a place onto his face. I moved my thumb across his hand, calming him down. Why? Why did I do that? I looked at the bloody knuckle in my hand and I didn't have an answer.

"I'm in debt and I owe some very scary people a lot of money. This," He pauses and opens his eyes, "is because of them." I don't look at him, but I feel his gaze directed toward me.

"How much money?" I asked in a small voice. He laughed.

"I'm not taking money from you," He said, still managing to smile with a busted lip. I looked away, towards the small window in the kitchen.

"I asked, how much money?" I repeated with a frosty edge to my tone.

"This is my problem. There is a reason why I want you to stay away from me." He said, tugging on my other arm with his free hand, forcing me to look at him.

"I...I should be more open with my feelings, I know. But I'm not that kind of a person. I speak more with actions than I ever will with words. It's too much to ask from you, Eun In, but please try and understand me." His mouth was downturned, and his eyes had a pleading look in them. For a moment he looked like Dubu pleading for a dog biscuit.

"I understand you, Yoongi. But if you're going to keep pushing me away, eventually, I will let you." I said, beginning to clean his knuckle again.

"I'm working hard for a reason, you know. I want to pay them back as soon as I can, so that...so that I can finally tell you how I feel. Because I don't want you to see me going through this...it's messy as is." He said, closing his eyes again, moving away from reality.

"You're just in debt," I said, rolling my eyes at his dramatic dialogue. "Stop talking like you're dying," He scowled at my ignorance.

"Why do you make it sound so complicated?" I asked again, realizing I was done with his knuckles. The only thing that was left to clean up were his lips...

I took some antiseptic and began to clean the area around them.

"I hope the other guys look much worse than you do," I kept talking, not knowing how to make him feel better about the situation.

"I'm sorry." He said again.

"Stop apologizing," I smacked his shoulder with a fist as I released my anger.

"What are you sorry about?" I asked louder.

"I...I want to date you, Eun In." He said, looking away from me and a red blush covering his face.

I felt heat spreading over my neck as well.

"Is this because I'm cleaning your lips and you're a pervert, or...?" I asked, smiling slightly, and finally wiping off all the blood.

"It's definetly the first one," He said, his lips itching to grin.

"I knew you were a pervert," I said, sighing over dramatically, and placing a palm on my head as if in deep regret.

"I should have told you long ago, but I am telling you now. Sorry," He said. I threw the antiseptic cotton onto his chest, dismissing him for apologizing again.

"Go, I need to study for my exam now...I'll call you tomorrow, okay?" I said, picking up all the dirt, placing it in the garbage, and looking at him from the counter. He gets up slowly.

"You're still hurt," I realized. He nodded and then collapsed onto the floor.