"oi, pretty boy. c'mere." juro young hissed from where he stood, slightly hidden in the dark corner by his dark, baggy clothing.
ichiro walked slowly over, his stomach in knots as he walked by the rival gang to the leader. he was basically dragging himself over, stumbling over numb, sore feet that he knew made juro young laugh and chuckle. juro grabbed ichiro by the collar and pulled the bruised, battered man out of the room.
"you can't stay in one straight line, can you now, pretty boy?" he'd ask, rather close to the other's face. ichiro opened his mouth for a moment, then closed it, dumbfounded. "hmmm?" juro hummed with an eyebrow raise. the man was growing cocky as he turned suddenly and pinned ichiro to the wall, causing the younger to grunt.
"sir-" ichiro began, overwhelmed by pain and shock- he had a rival boss in front of him for crying out loud!
"shh, shut up, and kiss me." juro young said, a hint of seriousness in his tone. ichiro blinked, before being brought closer.
"i-" he started again.
"shut up and kiss me."
As Claire aims to leave her oppressive stepfamily behind, she befriends Zion. Will he be her ticket to freedom or a distraction in achieving her dreams?
*****
Claire Olsen has had a crush on Zion Petrakis since the first time she laid eyes on him, but he never noticed, instead only having eyes on the school's it girl, Maddie Jennings. Knowing she couldn't compete with Maddie, Claire hid her feelings for Zion, satisfied with admiring him from afar. However, when a series of events led Claire closer to Zion, her feelings for him grew from infatuation to love. And despite fighting hard to keep her feelings contained by distancing herself from Zion, he was determined to show her that he's earned a spot in her life.
[[word count: 100,000-150,000 words]]