dicey ↬ nomin

Ch.4

Heeoh was one of the young girls in the home, having been orphaned at age five when her parents were involved in a boating accident. She was a strong-willed eight year old now, with a talent for self defence arts including karate and taekwondo. She was one of the only kids who had after school activities since the orphanage wasn't the most financially stable.

"Hey, princess!" Donghyuck called and waved over the crowd of parents waiting for their kids. The small children swamped in white karate suits were filing out of the dojo, wide-eyed and looking around for their mums and dads. Heeoh came out with a big grin on her face, waving frantically to Donghyuck and Jeno whom she could spot amongst the older people. Jeno recognised some of the parents from his weekly collect-Heeoh-from-karate day, so a few gave him wide smiles and waves.

"Hyucky!" She jumped into his arms, being lifted up since she was a small eight year old. She looked over at Jeno and grinned widely. "Jeno, I asked if you could start attending the dojo with me and sensei said yes!"

"Ah, thank god. I've wanted to learn karate since I was little," he smiled, having absolutely no intention of joining the girl and all the other children in a weekly class. The sensei was probably just humouring her anyway. "Let's get you home; Yuna misses you. She's really lonely now."

"Oh, I guess I'll have to give her a big hug then," she smiled and wriggled around in Donghyuck's grip to signal him to move. So they did; they legged it home before it got any darker. It was practically pitch black by the time they arrived and the child was asleep.

"I'll bring her up to her room," Jeno whispered since she stayed upstairs with him and Chenle. He went into her room, which she shared with two other girls. Yuna, a seven year old, was asleep under the covers already on the top bunk, allowing Jeno to place Heeoh on the bottom bunk. The other roommate was seven too, but she wasn't in her single bed.

Jeno snuck out of the room to look for her, only to spot her on Chenle's back as he carried her up the stairs. She was giddily laughing and waving her arms around, making the Chinese boy's life difficult. "Hey, you're back early. I'm guessing the karate finished early?"

"Yup," Jeno nodded and removed the girl from Chenle's back, relieving him of the weight. He carried her under his arm and she just kept laughing until she turned bright red. "Into bed, Hyora." After tucking her in and hushing her, he left the room to reunite with his friend. "Even for Hyora, she was acting really hyper."

"It's no wonder," Chenle laughed and pointed down the stairs. "I found her eating her way through a packet of starbursts. They were a surprise for them to share, but there's only a few left."

"She'll be sick tonight," he sighed in exasperation, but also in fondness since she was like a sister to him. All the children here were his siblings in name.

"Let's finish up with the tucking in and then chat about what happened earlier."

"Okay," Jeno said faintly and followed his friend into the boys' room, where two boys were sitting on their beds while engaged in a pillow fight. Their names were Taewon and Dongwoo.

"Put the weapons away," Chenle called and they saluted him, having been on the receiving end of his impatience before. "It's bedtime and the girls are trying to sleep."

"Sorry guys," they said and crawled under the covers with their eyes peeping over the top. "Goodnight."

"Night night," Jeno mumbled and tucked them both in, ruffling their hair before leaving and knowing full well that they would be fighting again in a few minutes.

They went downstairs to whisper a hasty 'goodnight' to Ms. Kim and to quickly get something to eat before bounding up the stairs into their own room. Jeno and Chenle got dressed, silently pleading for the other to start the conversation, and by the time they were in bed, it was so quiet they could hear each other's breathing. Jeno was lying on his back, looking blankly up into the darkness which was supposed the be the ceiling. He shifted until he lay facing Chenle's bed and blinked a few stray tears out of his eyes.

"Jeno, what happed when Jaewoo took you into his room?"

It was silent for another few moments, just dark and quiet as Jeno felt the stab of fear and pain from the choking all over again. The constriction in his chest, the wheezing pain and sudden numbness when he could breathe again, and the raking nails over his neck. He could still feel Jaewoo's hands there, bruising the skin and causing it to bleed.

The faintness that never quite left him and the light-headedness, almost as though he was walking a around in someone else's body. His own limbs didn't feel like they were his, like he had always used them. Most of all, he was reduced to a shaking mess and felt as though he was so small that he could just get walked all over.

"Jeno? Are you alright?"

Jeno perked up and sniffed. "He, uh, he....H-he choked me," he began and lifted his covers up over his shoulders.

"Again? He did it again?" Chenle's voice raised from a whisper as he got angrier. "Did he go too far this time too?"

"N-no," Jeno murmured. "I was conscious the whole time. It's okay, Chenle, I can handle myself."

The Chinese boy went silent, but it was a familiar silence signalling calm rage. "I need to land a punch on him."

"No, if he finds out that you know, then he'll do it to you as well," Jeno whispered and sniffed again. "He'll find a way to have me kicked out of the orphanage too."

"He can't actually do that, Jeno."

"That's what we said about him hurting me, and look now. Just keep it up for another year and then we'll be gone. We'll never have to see him again." His heart beat steadied as he breathed deeply to fill his lungs. After last week's escape stunt, Jeno's spirit had nearly been broken. But not broken enough to keep him from trying. "Chenle, I think I can pull off my next escape plan."

"That's what you said last time..." he trailed off until the boy's even breaths were heard, lulling him to sleep.