Beyond This Fucked Up World [choi yeonjun]

Chapter Six - The Boy Who Bargains

Kai and I sat on a curb, his legs stretched out long and mine cross-legged. I looked at my hands, which were full of abrasions and cuts. The blood that was on my hands before was now found on Kai's apron. I tried to move my hands as little as possible, as these wounds made me panic easily. Kai looked up at the sky and had his eyes closed, waiting for me to finally slay him with questions.

"So, you've already met Taehyun and Yeonjun, yeah?" He said, tilting his head forward.

"That's what I said."

"And they didn't give you any relevant information?"

"I mentioned that, yes."

"Hm."

"What 'hm'?"

"Ask me your questions." I pondered for a moment. This is the first time someone hasn't turned me down.

"Did you know what he was up to?"

"No."

"Could you think of any reason why he might have wanted to run away?" Kai pondered at that.

"I don't think he had any real reason. He just wanted to go where he could be happy."

"Do you think, when he got the chance to leave here, that he thought of saying goodbye?" I whispered, eyeing my hand. Kai inhaled sharply and rubbed his hands together as he hunched his shoulders.

"I think- I think he wanted to say goodbye but was afraid of saying goodbye."

The sun hung high in the sky and shone directly on my head. My eyes gazed riveted on my hands and I had already counted the cuts on them seven times.

"How long did you know each other?"

"The boys and I were friends from a young age. Then in high school we met Sunoo." He answered and went quiet.

I hoped he would answer my questions even if I didn't ask them because I preferred to just sit and listen. I had been trying to open my eyelids for several minutes, which took longer and longer to open after each blink. The sun was making my head spin and it seemed like it was burning through my head.

"The last time I saw him was six months ago. When we had a fight." I heard Kai say before my head landed on his shoulder.

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"Hey, sleepyhead." Someone said.

I resisted waking up, because it seemed I had slept too little and also because the sun was shining directly on my face. Then, as I felt a shadow looming over me, I dared to open my eyes slightly.

Very slowly, a figure formed before me, kneeling in front of me. The person had tilted his head a little to protect my face from the sun and he looked at me with big, surprised and also curious eyes.

I blinked a few times and got a better picture of what was happening in front of me. Yeonjun was the person who had stood in front of me and called me 'sleepyhead'. At that moment I remembered that I had fallen asleep. And now I remembered when I had fallen asleep.

I lifted my head and looked to my left where Kai was still sitting in the same place before I fell asleep on his shoulder. I looked around in confusion, wondering what Yeonjun was doing here.

"What are you doing here, Yeonjun?"

"Saving Kai." He explained flatly. Kai laughed softly, he must have found this joke funny.

"I called him so he could take you home. After all, he has a car and knows where you live."

"How long was I asleep?"

"About two hours."

"Two hours!? And you lasted that long?"

"Well you said you didn't sleep last night, so I thought you could use it." He's trying to compensate for something with his niceness after all.

Yeonjun, meanwhile, picked himself up and spoke to Kai, "You'll have sat through a lot, my friend." and held out his hand.

Hueningkai took it and was pulled up from his uncomfortable position.

"Ow, that hurts like a son of a bitch." He groaned to himself, rubbing his bottom.

I stood up as well and propped myself up with my hands to help me get more momentum, which I should rather not have done. I hissed softly and quickly looked down at my hands only to quickly shake them off and hide them slightly.

"You can get in the car if you want, it's back there." Yeonjun said, pointing to his car, which was also the only one visible in the parking lot. My eyes wandered from Yeonjun's car to Kai, looking at him somewhat apologetically.

"Don't make a big deal about it, my ass will survive." He laughed.

"Why are you all so modest?" I whispered to myself and walked in the direction where the gray car was parked.

I opened the car door and got in. I looked over at the two boys and watched them still talking to each other. After a while they said goodbye with a handshake and Yeonjun jogged over to his car. He started the engine and drove out of the parking lot and onto the main road.

"You didn't have to take me home." He said.

"You fell asleep during a conversation, you would never have made it home on your own."

I propped my arm against the car door and used it as a pillow substitute for my head. The silence was getting louder and louder and I didn't know if I found it pleasant or the opposite.

"You could have said you wanted to go home last night."

"I wanted to stay with you though."

In the corner of my eye I saw him look over at me. He only had one hand on the wheel, the other was propped against the car door. The whole drive was silent and it didn't bother me. It felt like it was silent for the first time in a while.

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Yeonjun parked on the side of the road in front of my flat and turned off the engine of his car. We both got out and Yeonjun walked over to the boot of his car and opened it. I slowly walked over to him to see what he was doing.

He took out a small white box, opened it and rummaged around in it. He took a bandage in his hand and grabbed one of my hands. I made no effort to resist and let him do what he wanted to do. With a serious face and completely absorbed in his action, he bandaged my right hand. His movements were gentle and easy as if he had done it many times before.

"At least the car has a first aid kit." I tried to break the silence.

"Has been expired for three years." He said intently. I started to laugh. He looked up from his work and looked at me with widened eyes.

"Do you actually find everything funny?"

"I was just trying to talk up your car." I laughed. He grinned and turned back to his activity.

After bandaging my other hand as well, he put the rest of the bandage back in the first aid kit and closed the boot. He propped himself up against the car and crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"Found out anything new?" He asked me.

"Not much."

He narrowed his eyes. I looked down at my bandaged hands.

"Thanks."

"You're welcome." I don't think it can get any weirder than that.

"Well, I'll see you then." I said, walking to my front door.

"Yeah. See you."