Almost V

열여섯

We load Eggie in the back of Taehyung's van. Except for the seat lock being popped, she seems to be in one piece. We found my helmet and all my stuff scattered behind the seat of RM's truck. We also found my scooter lock hanging off his tailgate; he'd removed it with industrial bolt cutters.

Turns out that one of the two people sitting with RM when we first walked into the garage was a friend of RM's. Seeing how he was planning on helping RM sell my scooter, I didn't say anything to the guy, but Taehyung told him to drive RM to the hospital. When they left, RM could walk - barely - but he was going to need X-rays. And probably some pain medication, which was just lovely, considering what I now know about RM's history with drugs.

But after all that, RM didn't say one word to me. He wouldn't even look me in the eye or acknowledge I was in the same room. Truth was, I couldn't really face him. It was humiliating for both of us, I guess. And I'm pretty much still in shock over the whole fight that  could barely speak.

When we're ready to leave, Taehyung thanks Jimin, who advises me on a better-quality scooter lock. Turns out that his motorcycle garage isn't a chop shop at all; he was seconds away from kicking RM out before he got the phone call about Taehyung looking for my Vespa. So once again, my assumptions and I are completely off the mark. He says to Taehyung, "Tell your mom next time she wants to sell a bike like that, to come to me first. I'll give her a good deal."

"You got it," Taehyung says. "We owe you big-time. You know anyone that needs a board, come by the shop."

Jimin gives us a wave. We race through the rain and hop inside the van, and then we drive away. The windows are all fogging-up, and I'm trying to help, looking for the switch to turn on the defrost, but my hands are shaking. I'm still freaked out. I can't calm down. "the black button," Taehyung says, and I finally find it. I turn the fan all the way up and try to concentrate on making the windshield clear instead of the fact that he's still bleeding. It works until we come to the end of the dirt road.

"I think we should go see a doctor."

"it's fine."

"You're being ridiculous. Pull over at the first store you see and I'll get something to clean your wound."

He cranes his neck and examines the damage in the rearview mirror. Yep. Listen to the smart person in the car. Instead of turning right on the paved road to head back home, he turns left. Should he be driving? RM did punch him in the head a few times. Or maybe he knows something I don't. Now the road is going uphill. We're winding up some coastal cliffs, and the rain's coming down. And I see a sign that says SCENIS OVERLOOK. He slows the car and turns into one of those pull-over areas for tourists to park. It was a jaw-dropping view of the Pacific, which we might enjoy if it weren't overcast and raining, and he weren't bleeding all over the seat.

"This doesn't look like a store to me," I say anxiously when he opens up his door.

"We don't need a freaking store," he says in a way the character in City Hunter says. The movie I watched with V online a few times. But it makes a little guilty to think about that when I'm here with Taehyung.

Taehyung the animal. I'm still rattled over the insane amount of raw violence I just witnessed. And I'm not sure how I feel about it.

He jumps out, groaning, and heads around the van to a sliding side door, where he gets a small box. Then he comes back and slips into the front seat and opens the box he's collected: a plastic first-aid kit covered in stickers.

"Surfers always carry supplies," he explains, rooting around the box with one finger. "We get banged up all the time."

After several seconds of watching him struggle, I realize his other hand is too busted up to use, and pity overrides whatever lingering shock I'm still experiencing. I took the kit away from him. "Let me see that. You can't nurse yourself, pabo."