Wick | 민윤기

Thirty-one

10 October 2009

The island of Jeju was relatively warm in the fall with a few cold days here and there. At night, a frost would blanket the entire town, only to melt as soon as the first rays of sun hit it the next morning. This resulted in crop failure and small puddles that collected on leaves and the worn cobblestone of the KIS campus.

Victoria stomped through one just for the hell of it as she was walking with Hoseok. The two were strolling, going nowhere in particular. People had stopped staring at them a week or two prior, but the dating rumors continued.

"Dude—" Hoseok exclaimed in annoyance when some of the puddle water splashed onto his pant leg. "Watch it."

She stuck her tongue out mockingly. "Bite me."

He sighed and said no more as they continued to wander aimlessly on that Saturday afternoon, passing by the roundabout that led to the gym and field, the auto-shop building, and the estate that belonged to the Hyun family—the richest family probably on the whole island.

"Heard you punched that Nayeon girl in the face for making fun of Jimin," Hoseok said suddenly, not bothering to look at her as they walked side by side.

Victoria nodded slowly, examining her hand that was still slightly bruised. "Yeah."

"Kang rip your head off?"

"Gave me a warning," she muttered, clutching onto the straps of her backpack while the autumn wind whipped at her face. "But I wish I would have hit the bitch harder."

Hoseok snickered and she looked over to see him smiling. Hoseok never smiled. Her eyes widened as she admired the sight, but it was gone as soon as it appeared. "Don't be a loser like me, noona. Try to stay out of trouble."

"Too late," she said chipperly and flashed him a cheeky smile. "Wanna bet that Jin-oppa and Jiminie are in the game room?"

He smirked, finally looking at her. "You're on."

They circled around to make their way back to the boy's dorm, a comfortable silence between them the whole way. A few boys were hanging outside of the building and gave them weird looks as they passed. Victoria glared back and snarled, her fists balling up as she stopped at the bottom of the small staircase.

"What the hell are you idiots looking at?"

They all perked up, clearly offended. One took a step forward and pointed at her. "You wanna die, slut?"

Hoseok grabbed her arm and pulled her up the stairs with him, keeping his gaze trained on the boys the entire time. "Watch what you say. I'm not afraid to take you assholes down."

"Then why don't you do it right now, horse-boy?"

His grip tightened painfully on her arm as he wrenched his gaze away and pushed through the doors, muttering to himself. Once they were inside, Victoria tore away from him and crossed her arms. "What's wrong with you? We could've ended them!"

"Noona, have you ever been in a fight with a man before?" he asked, leaning in while intensity burned in his haunted eyes. "Because it's not easy. You're a girl—physiologically you're smaller and don't gain muscle as easily." He stood straight and sighed, averting his gaze. "Don't question what I do. Just know that I do it for a reason."

Without giving her a chance to respond, he turned around and walked straight toward the game room. A bit conflicted and downright speechless, she followed at a slow pace. Hoseok never seemed to have intent behind anything, but after what he had said, she began to think that he was a lot smarter than everyone thought he was.

She tilted her head as she went to stand beside him in the dingy light of the game room. The scent of Cheetos and sprite hit her like a ton of bricks, but she held it together because Jin and Jimin were sitting on the couch, heads leaned in as if they were sharing secrets.

"...so it's a good idea, right?" Jin asked with a twisted smirk.

Jimin seemed to think for a moment before he smiled and nodded. "Yeah—yeah, I'll do it."

Jin looked up at the pair and smiled as if he was expecting them to show up. "Hey, guys, what's goin' on?"

"Not much," Hoseok muttered, eyeing him skeptically.

"I was just telling Minnie here about my idea to take over the school." He paused and stood up, gesturing to Victoria and Hoseok. "I mean, my plan for us to take over the school."

She was no doubt wary of whatever Jin's idea was. "What plan?"

"Don't worry, Vic, it's just a little something I came up with." Jin's smile disappeared and he gazed at them with harsh and serious eyes. "It's sink or swim, my friends. And if you're good at swimming—" he paused to chuckle. "You gotta let the losers drown." He let his statement hang for a moment before turning around to pace. "Why don't you guys leave the thinking up to me."

Hoseok took a step forward, his skepticism growing with each word. "What?"

"What?" Jin mocked, facing him. "What, what—duh. Can't you say anything else?" The oldest sighed and sat next to Jimin on the couch. "You know what, Minnie, you were right. Hobi is pretty dumb."

"What'd you say about me?" Hoseok charged Jimin as the shorter male stood. Victoria grabbed his arm but he shook her off violently.

Jimin shook his head vigorously, eyes widening. "Oh, nothing. No, no—I just said you must be—pretty dumb to be kicked out of so many schools...that's all..."

Jin sighed and placed a hand on both of their shoulders as Victoria watched, tense. "Relax, Hoseok. All he said was that you must be dumb. Or maybe you're all messed up cause you came from a broken home..."

"What'd you say about me, dwarf!?" Hoseok shouted, trying to get at her cousin. Jin held him back, but he seemed to be enjoying the entire scene. Victoria stood back, only thinking about what Hoseok said about fighting a man.

"Come on, dude. Chill. There's a lady present." Jin turned his head and winked at her. She felt even more nauseous than before, her full lips turning down into a frown and her hand touching her stomach. What's this feeling?

Jimin only continued to shake his head, looking between the two older males. "No, no. Jin-hyung's taking everything out of context, hyung."

Jin's head practically swung around to look at Jimin, who was staring up at him with doe-eyes. "Whoa, whoa, whoa—don't lie, Minnie. Don't you lie. Because you know what happens to liars?"

"I'm not lying!"

The eldest rammed his foot right between Jimin's legs and laughed. "We kick them in the balls!"

Jimin collapsed with a painful wail and Victoria rushed over to him, kneeling beside his doubled-over body. "Minnie!"

"Come on, Hobi. Let's go see what you can do with this new slingshot I heard you have." Jin led Hoseok out of the room with one arm slung around his shoulder. "Don't worry, friend. Nothing escapes my notice. I hear everything. You and me? We could do things," he said in a low voice as the two walked out.

Victoria watched them go with angry tears brimming her eyes. That was one of the things that she hated. She often cried when she was angry. Jimin knew this and he took a deep breath through his own pain, reaching up to gently wipe her tears away. This turned her attention to him and she sighed sadly.

"I'm sorry, Jimin...I should have—"

"It's okay," he said with a smile, cutting her off. "You're here now and you're not a psycho like those two."

She didn't say anything else, only smiled at her cousin and moved some hair out of his face before helping him to his feet.