Blood, Sweat And Tears

Part Twenty - Four

          Someone sat next to him that starry night in the rose garden.
           Hyunjin opened his eyes and through half lidded vision saw Yiren, her long hair blending in with the night sky, beside him. She wore a long white silk shirt and black leggings. Her small, pale feet were bare.
            Her head was lowered, her thick hair forming a dark curtain to obstruct most of her face. She toyed with the grass they both sat on and was surprisingly close to him. Their bodies were almost touching.
           " I'm sorry," she said softly, breaking the silence but still not looking up.
           That was sudden. "Why? You didn't do anything worth apologizing for."
          She pulled her slender legs up to her chin, still playing with the grass. The moonlight that poured down onto her made her hair look like a banner of silver against a jet black field. "No, when I returned your laptop . . . I was rude. You . . . You were trying to be nice and I repaid it by being . . .rude."
             "It's fine." Almost absentmindedly he reached over and gently pushed the hair from her face, making her lift her head up.
              In this starry night, the gold shavings in her eyes didn't look like suns as they did in the morning, but rather stars. The moonlight cast shadows that perfectly highlighted her face. A wind had started to blow,making her hair billow softly in the breeze.
              Yiren  was beautiful. Hyunjin  known that ever since he saw her, but never really realized how beautiful.  Until now.
             " Was something bothering you earlier?"
             " Nothing. I was just being silly and overreacting, " Yiren mumbled as she tilted her head away, letting her hair fall back down to cover her face again. The tips of her ears were pink, and her heart was beating erratically. She remembered what Tzuyu had said to her in their very brief time in Korea.
              Do you fancy Hwang Hyunjin?
             Maybe she did. But it was just a maybe, though. She had no idea what her feelings for him were.
             "I don't think it is. Tell me,please. I want to help if I can," Hyunjin said pleadingly as he looked down on her, due to their big height difference.
              Yiren looked impossibly small and delicate as she curled up into a ball. Her legs were tucked up to her chin and her slim but muscled arms wrapped around them. "It seems trivial, but I was just upset I didn't . . . I didn't get to tell my parents I loved them. It sounds stupid, but-"
             Hyunjin stopped her by touching her wrist gently. Her skin felt icy cold beneath his fingertips. It was like she'd just emerged from a freezer. "It isn't. It's better to tell them before it's too late. I mean, I was too late to tell my parents."
               Yiren closed her fingers around his with a feather light touch. Her hair grazed his skin, setting it on fire. "It's not really that. I've . . .just never said that to my fathers seriously before. I don't want to die not being able to say that sincerely to them in the flesh." Her voice was barely above a whisper, and her eyes were glistening with hidden, unshed tears.
          "I'll make sure you can get the chance to do so," Hyunjin promised softly. He brushed Yiren's hair from her face and looked straight into her eyes. "I promise you."
______________________________
               Taehyung has a brother? Jungkook thought before mentally slapping himself. Of course he did. Taehyung's father, Kim Minseok , had two sons. Taehyung and Namjoon. How could he have been so dumb as to forget that ?
               "Oh, I - I didn't know that, " Jungkook stuttered, awkwardly rubbing his arms. " I - I had the impression Taehyung was an only child. "
             Namjoon only laughed good naturedly. "It's fine. Please sit. I presume that you have some things you wanted to clarify with my brother?"
            "Yes, but . . ."
             "You can tell me. Taehyung will be gone for the rest of the week."
             "Why?" Jungkook asked, leaning forward on his seat.
             "He's away on a business trip. Anyway, what do you have to ask?"
             "Why . . . Why am I not allowed to return to Park Jimin if he's my brother? " Jungkook said hesitantly as he fiddled with his fingers.
                 A look of weariness replaced Namjoon's cheerful expression. He sighed. "Jungkook. The Russian and Chinese cartels are at war, and the Busan Cartel is heavily interlinked with the key players of the Chinese cartels. The Daegu Cartel isn't. You're safer here. Also . . ."  A dark look crossed Namjoon's face.
              " Park Jihyo, Park Jimin's sister, was strangled to death by her own brother. And he loved her. Very much."
               Jungkook was speechless. What sort of brother strangled their sister, especially ones they loved? The monstrous sort like Park Jimin, apparently. Suddenly he felt scared.
               "Do you see now, Jungkook? You're much safer here."
               " . . . Yes. I see now."