Guardian Devil [Sunsun FF]

14.

Sunoo pov:

After I said goodbye to Sunghoon I quickly ran after the person I saw from before.
"Where're you going?", I asked and tapped his shoulder as he had ear buds in. Riki took one off and looked at me.
"None of your business", he mumbled, while avoiding eye contact. I looked at him closely and noticed he had new bruises in his face. Did those guys come back?... He started walking faster. I decided to follow him to make sure he was safe.

"Can you stop following me?", he finally looked at me, pulling his hood up to hide his face more. I followed him all the way to a weird park I've never been to. There was no one besides us two. After saying that sentence he quickly looked down.
"Are those thugs after you again?", I asked him, ignoring his request. He just kept silent for a moment.
"No", he mumbled, not really convincing.
"You don't sound convincing at all", I crossed my arms.
"There he is!", I heard someone calling from behind us. I looked behind Riki to see the same guys from last time walking in our direction.
"Just go home, please", Riki pleaded, but it was already too late as they already stood next to us.
"If that isn't the snitch from last time", one of them said.
"Look he even brought his friend", another commented. Without Sunghoon by my side I felt the feeling of a protector missing. The anxiety rushing in faster as I thought I froze on my spot, even though I tried to play it over.
"Let's get to the point: Where's the stuff?", the seeming leader of the gang spoke up.
"I don't have it", Riki, replied. What are they talking about? Don't tell me it's about drugs?
"Gosh, I thought you received enough beating already, but here you are ready to receive more", the leader sighed.
"Hey, how about we let it out on his friend this time? I'm still angry about last time", one of them said and suddenly approached me, when Riki reacted fast and quickly pushed him away, making him tumble over himself and finally fall.
"He's got nothing to do with it", Riki said with a confident voice and moved right in front of me, protecting me from the others. Surprised I stared at Riki, but this didn't last long as another one lunged at him, punching him right across the face. Instead of being taken aback Riki faught right back and kicked this dude in the stomach. "Run!", he turned to me. I was still frozen, when he suddenly pushed me, making me realize that I should listen to him. As I didn't want to leave him alone again, I grabbed his arm and pulled him with me. The guys stayed close to us quickly following us through the park. I slowly felt exhausted from running, when a clever idea hit me. Close to the entrance were sticks that had fallen down from the tree. I grabbed one and threw it at one of the guys, aiming for their feet, but accidentally hitting one of them at the head. That guy fell over making the others fall over him like domino pieces. For a moment I stood there shocked, but Riki quickly got a hold of myself and forced me out the park.

When we reached the busy area, we finally stopped running. Riki threw himself on a bench nearby, groaning loudly, while plumping down. I followed his movements and also sat down, still breathing heavily. It stayed quiet for a while, until both of us could finally catch a breath.
"Why didn't you run away when I told you so?", Riki mumbled.
"And leave you alone with those thugs that ganged up on you the other day?", I exclaimed and turned to him, but he had his head low. I sighed. "Why do you keep meeting them, when you know that this is the outcome?", I questioned back with a calmer voice. Riki was fumbling with his fingers, probably thinking whether he should tell me or not.
"It's a long story", he just said.
"Wanna talk about it?", I asked and leaned back. He glimpsed at me, but quickly looked back at his hands.
"These guys are actually my business partners you could say. I'm the carrier of the team. I get the stuff and distribute it to the others", Riki explained, still avoiding eye contact.
"You're a drug dealer?", I questioned loudly. He anxiously grabbed me, signaling me to be quieter, so I quickly calmed down.
"Technically, but I really want to stop! I tried explaining it to them, but they want me to continue as I'm the bridge", he sighed stressed.
"Is that the reason they keep beating you up?", I asked.
"Well, kinda", he just uttered.
"Can't you just get the police involved?", I turned to him.
"It's not that easy. Also I don't want the uppermen to get involved in this. Otherwise it would be a lot worse instead of just a few beatings", he explained. I just nodded, not understanding much from illegal business.
"How did you even get involved in it? It doesn't sound like you wanted to be part of it in the getgo...", I inquired.
"I was in need of money and an old friend of mine told me about this 'job'. Little did I know I would get stuck in this", he looked down on his hands. "I don't even know why I'm telling you all this", he said and put his hand in his pockets. He suddenly got up and walked away first.
"Where are you going?", I asked and also got up.
"You should go home. And don't follow me around next time!", he exclaimed from a distance. I just stared at his back getting further and further away, while furrowing my eyebrows.

Back at home I went into my room and did my homework. I thought about the encounter with Riki. He doesn't seem like a bad guy. I wish I could help him in some way... After finishing my homework I went to sleep, which felt awkward as my sleep routine has shifted to a later time thanks to Sunghoon.