Stray Scars (Book 2)

Chapter 14

Pov: Isabelle Snow

I woke up weirdly giddy.

There was finally something to look forward to in my life.

I turned around to see Changbin still sleeping and smiled. He was the only leader I would look up to. Ironic how I was a member of Black Galaxy's unit 2 and a member of Little Haven, but the only leader I wanted to follow was unit 1's.

I skipped to the kitchen while humming to myself with the hugest, most genuine grin on my face. On my way, I snuck a peak into the living room and found Hyunjin still sleeping on the couch.

I woke him up so he'd go back to his bed, but we ended up spending time together in the living room. For once, I felt like I could sit back and relax. I began to have hopes again.

Hopes of living a normal life.

Hopes of becoming an actual member of Little Haven or of unit 1.

Hopes of finally giving my brother a normal life.

I didn't feel guilty while laughing with Hyunjin anymore. I knew that I would eventually be allowed to tell him everything and he'd understand. It didn't feel like I was deceiving him now.

Things were finally looking up after all that suffocation I'd lived through.

I wasn't free yet, but I already felt like it.

Hyunjin finally got to taste my special hot choco. What was so special about it? There were exactly 22 marshmallows in each of our cups.

I didn't tell him, but 4 was my lucky number. 44 had a double effect for days when I felt like I needed extra luck.

My brother and I used to split the number into two and drink it with 22 marshmallows each, calling it the drink of good luck. It was my little way of wishing luck to Changbin and my promised freedom.

I didn't explain any of this to Hyunjin mainly because Koreans had this weird superstition about the number 4 being the number of death. Like, excuse me, that's my favorite number.

He opened up to me about his insecurities that day, and I genuinely could not fathom how someone as gorgeous as this man could have any doubt about himself. We argued until I hoped he understood how precious he was, then took out my sketchbook, wanting a drawing of him.

Ever since I was young, I'd only sketched things I found beautiful.

I was getting too flustered to straight up tell him that I myself found him handsome without doing so in a joking manner, so drawing him was my silent way of letting him know.

He was beautiful.

Minji joined us and she complimented me on my skills. She had become my.. was I allowed to call her.. my friend?

She was my very first female friend.

My very first female and younger friend.

I'd always been around older people who knew nothing but to order me around and judge me. The only younger person was my brother, and I was too busy protecting him to talk to him about my joke of a life. He didn't even know the real story behind our arrival to the orphanage. He believed that we were just left in front of its doors. Only miss Jade and I knew the full thing. She took the secret to her grave, and I'd do the same.

As opposed to my brother, Minji felt like fresh air. I loved teasing her and laughing with her. She gushed to me about her crush on Minho once and it was absolutely adorable. Watching her around him was even more amusing. The girl couldn't stop staring at him when he wasn't looking. One time, our discussion had somehow evolved to a heated debate over who had the superior visuals, Minho or Hyunjin..