Forever

Chapter Two; Better Weather

(Just a quick note before you read this chapter; these first few chapters are meant to be more informational, so they might not be that interesting. I just wanted to show the readers what's going on with Alex's life and help them get to know the characters better. I hope you can still enjoy it, though!)

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I awoke the next afternoon. My whole body was sore and my eyes hurt from crying, but I was finally thinking clearly and whoever took me in the night before had cleaned me up and tended to my injuries. I was wearing clean clothes; an old t-shirt and sweatpants. Both were a little big on me.

Sunlight poured in through the open window and I heard birds chirping outside. I sat up and took in my surroundings.

I was in a small room with whitewashed walls and dark wood floors. The walls were bare and the only furniture in the room was the bed; a dresser; a nightstand with a lamp and a Bible; and an old armchair in the corner. I heard people talking somewhere in the house.

The door opened and an older Korean woman walked in. She said something to me in Korean and walked out, returning a few minutes later with a tray of food. She set it beside me and left again without saying a word.

I had no idea what I was eating, but right then, it was the best thing in the world. I had barely eaten anything in the past five or six days. Soon after I finished, she returned and took the tray.

A few minutes later, the door opened again. The guy from last night walked in an sat cross-legged on the bed facing me. "How are you feeling?"

"Better. Thank you for doing this."

"Don't worry about it." He smiled warmly and I briefly forgot about the horrid experience I'd had the day before. "How old are you, anyway, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Seventeen as of a few weeks ago. You?"

"Nineteen, as of nine months ago. My name is Shin Gunhyuck, by the way."

"Alex Davis."

He showed me around the house and introduced me to his parents. I learned that their house was in the middle of a forest in North Spring, Virginia and that they had moved here from Ichon-dong in South Korea only a two weeks before. His father worked for a large company and had accepted a big promotion that required the family's relocation.

Gunhyuck told me that he would be living on his own as soon as his parents were settled in and he'd actually be moving close to Boone so he could do his last year of high school there. He had skipped his last year when they were in Korea so he could get a full-time job and help prepare for the move.

Since he'd be going to the same school as me, I offered to help him to settle in and get used to the culture. His family hadn't done much sightseeing since they arrived, but what they had seen was pretty different from their old life. I was happy to help where I could.

I later found out that Gunhyuck had told me his Korean age, so he was actually eighteen. I was a little surprised at him being so young because he looked more like he was in his early twenties. I also learned that Shin was his last name, not his first. They put the family name first over there.

Gunhyuck and Mr. Shin were both fairly fluent in English, but Mrs. Shin only knew a few words and phrases. They would translate for her. She offered to let me stay another night before going home and I accepted. I was dreading my return. It's sad that I felt more at home with a foreign family I barely knew than I did with those I did know in the town I had grown up in.

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That evening after dinner, I retired to the guest bedroom with Gunhyuck. He shut the door and sat on the bed facing me and he became serious.

"Ok," he sighed heavily. "What happened to you last night?"

I looked down at the bed and didn't answer. I had just forgotten about all of that and was a little annoyed that he reminded me of it. I didn't know the particulars of it and I just wanted to forget.

"I can tell this is a touchy subject for you, but that's why you need to tell me. If something is wrong, you can't keep it to yourself. It's dangerous."

"I don't understand you even care. You don't even know me."

"I don't understand how someone would not care. I've had friends get into a lot of trouble because they kept quiet. One of my closest friends was killed. All he had to do was tell somebody what was going on, but he thought the people he was involved with would hurt him. Being silent about something - or someone - is never the safer option."

I remained silent and continued to stare at the bed. "Alex," he said softly. "Who's Jase? What did he do?"

"It's a long story."

"I've got all night."

I took a deep breath. "Jase is a guy at my school. He has this gang that does whatever he tells them to and they just go around bullying people with little to no consequences. No one ever reports them because they're afraid of what will happen to them if they do. One girl eventually turned them in for stealing and she didn't come back to school. She's ok, though. She was homeschooled for about five months and then I think her mom got a job in Georgia, so they moved.

"Most of the stuff they do isn't really as bad as you would think. They've made themselves a reputation for being tyrants, but they mostly just steal stuff now and then and insult people. Sometimes they'll make others get things for them."

"What did they do to you?" He asked again.

"To be perfectly honest, I'm not really sure. They've beaten me up a few times, but this was different. I blacked out for most of it, but I don't know why. That's never happened before."

"Do you know why they did it?"

"Yeah," I said. "They gave me a list of stuff they wanted me to do for them. It wasn't much, just things like running messages between this gang and that, or dropping a package off at the post office and paying for it myself. It wasn't out of the ordinary. I think I'm Jase's favorite or something — I overheard them one day but I couldn't really understand what they were saying."

"So, what did you do to make them angry?"

"The only thing I can think of they shouldn't have even found out about." I was silent for a minute, wondering if I should go on. I regretted saying what I had, but I was at the same time relieved that someone finally knew what was going on. I barely knew this guy, yet I was telling him what everyone and myself had always been too afraid to even hint at. I didn't know if I could trust him.

As if reading my thoughts, he said, "If you're worried that'll I'll get you in trouble, you can forget about that. I only want to help you. I won't even tell my parents, so you don't have to worry about them saying anything."

"It's just too big of a risk. I shouldn't even have told you what I already did."

"You don't have to." I looked up at him and he met my gaze. "I feel like it's important that you tell someone, and you can trust me, but if you need more time, I can wait."

"Thank you," I said, relieved.

"But you know I'm going be keeping an eye on you. I'll be seeing you at school." We both laughed.

I was glad to finally have someone I could call a friend. As we continued to talk we found that despite the fact that we were from two totally different countries, we actually had a lot in common. We lost track of time and eventually, Gunhyuck's mom came in, said something angrily in Korean, and we said goodnight.

I was able to fall asleep peacefully for the first time in several weeks. Thanks to the Shin family, as I ley in bed that night I completely forgot about Jase, school, stress, and the absolute hell I'd be returning to the next day.

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Photo:

This photo was taken by someone else for a listing on realtor.com.