Blood, Sweat And Tears

Part Thirty Four

       "Yiren - ssi? Yiren - ssi, please wake up."
        Slowly, Yiren's eyes opened. Someone was shaking her softly by the shoulder, and her long dark hair was pooled around her face.
         A familiar dandy face appeared in front of her. Big dark brown eyes, somewhat scruffy hair of the same colour. Yiren frowned at him for a moment before she re called his name.
           Right. Hyunjin's friend. "Seungmin? "
           Relief crossed his face. He edged away to give her space as she sat up. As she did though, she felt sharp pain stab through her. A cry of pained escaped her lips as she supported herself to sit upright with her palms.
           "Yiren - ssi? Are you alright?" A concerned and alarmed Seungmin asked.
           She breathed heavily and closed her eyes, trying to gather herself. Breathe, she told herself. Breathe. Think of Appa, Papa, Sicheng. . .
             And Hwang Hyunjin. She'd be lying if she said she felt nothing for him. She did feel something for him. It was so strong it . . . broke her. And when he'd kissed her that night, it was like all her walls had been broken, and she'd actually let Hyunjin in where only her fathers and Sicheng have.
           It scared and thrilled her at the same time.
         "I'm fine," she breathed out, more for herself than for Seungmin. "I'm fine, " she repeated, more firmly now, sitting up and pushing her hair away. She winced at the pain that shot through her.
          "Yiren - ssi, I think you might've sprained your ankle, " Seungmin said hesitantly, his big brown eyes glittering with all the innocence of one who knew nothing of the world of drug cartels and mob bosses. She pitied him for that. To know and be experienced in that world would help him in the situation he was in. That innocence might be the literal death of him.
         "I know. It's nothing," she said, choosing to be nice to Seungmin. It wouldn't serve her any good to be cold and cruel to him anyway. He was like a porcelain doll, and needed to be handled with up most care. "You?"
          He seemed startled that she'd asked, but it quickly vanished. He flashed a small smile. "I'm fine."
           She could hear an underlying pain in his voice, but she suspected it was due not to physical pain but mental pain. She could guess what it was from, and she had to admit, she was feeling the same. Well, only part of it. She could tell he hated being separated from Yeji and Hyunjin. She also hated not being with the ones she loved and trusted.
            The loneliness she thought was gone when she started to let Hyunjin into her life now came pummeling back. She felt so overwhelmingly lonely now, without Sicheng or Hyunjin or even Tzuyu. And sad. Sad for . . . everything, she supposed. For everything against her.
            Yiren felt a hand touch her shoulder hesitantly. She looked up into Seungmin's  concerned eyes. He tilted his head to the side, causing his dark brown hair to fall into his eyes. She felt . . . touched at the genuine concern on his face and in his eyes.
             "Are you . . . okay? You were blanking out just now," Seungmin said with the same concern in his voice.
             She nodded and took in their surroundings for the first time. Four heavy metal walls, a metal ceiling and floor, only a single light bulb. She and Seungmin were on a pair of Japanese futons, and there was no exit in sight. She didn't bother asking where they were, she already knew.
             With the Russians. With Icarus.
             "Do you . . . do you perhaps have any idea as to where we are, Yiren - ssi? " Seungmin asked timidly, pulling his legs up so that his chin rested on the tops of his knees. He looked small, alone and vulnerable. She suspected that she did too.
          She decided that now was not the right time to give Seungmin a reply. Instead she gave another question. 
          "How did you end up here?"
          Seungmin looked a little taken aback but he still replied. "I couldn't sleep last night, so I woke up. And I saw Jinnie's bed was empty. I got alarmed and I went to check. I left the room and . . ." Fear entered Seungmin's eyes. "A hand grabbed me and told me to come to the backyard the next morning, or . . ." Seungmin gulped in fear, and Yiren began to regret asking. "Or Jinnie and Yeji would be killed. "
            Seungmin looked up, the fear in his eyes gone, replaced by something she couldn't quite read. "They let me go. When I was making my way back, I . . ." A small smile made the corners of his lips tilt upwards. "I saw you and Jinnie kissing."
             "And are you angry that we did?" Yiren asked. She didn't mind Seungmin seeing her kiss with Hyunjin. In fact, she was . . . glad he did. She and Hyunjin wouldn't be the only ones to know, and that made her feel like a massive weight had been lifted off her shoulders.
       "I'm happy you did.  Jinnie . . . he needs someone to love him. And I can see that you do," Seungmin told her sincerely, his smile growing to cover his whole face.
              Love Hyunjin. That was a strange concept to her, loving someone in a romantic way. She'd only ever known platonic love from Sicheng and paternal love from her fathers. To be able to have romantic love from Hwang Hyunjin . . . she found herself liking it very much. Very, very much.
            "I do," she said, a real smile on her lips as she remembered how Hyunjin's had tasted against them. Like rose water and sweet grapes. "I do love him."