Dark Innocence

Seungjun had always regretted the way things had ended between them. While he had vehemently rejected many memories of his youth, he couldn’t quite shake the winter bite and the way her eyes had welled with sadness. The young lovers hadn’t separated out of a loss of feeling or an intrusive third wheel, but rather as the necessity of a dying boy. He wasn’t quite a boy any longer, and he wasn’t always dying, but he still had never called to apologize. For all his ex-girlfriend knew, he was dead and he preferred to keep it that way. However, he didn’t pay her the same courtesy. After all, he was some what of a king (or a serpent, depending on who you asked) in the information business — it was difficult not to know where she was, what she was doing; but maybe, just maybe, he was sure to expend a bit more effort to keep tabs on the young woman that he considered far too precious for the dirty streets of Seoul. It was a Saturday night when that effort paid off.

Seungjun had just finished a deal and had walked away millions of won richer, but that was not out of the ordinary. The slender man was long since used to handling such exchanges, and he actually had another to attend immediately after. He assumed it was that client who had called him so late at night, but in fact, it was a debtor finally paying off the mess he had brought on himself. “What is it?” he had hissed, only to be told of some man trailing the little white mouse he had been watching over for a few years now. All he needed was a street name and he, the snake in the grass, was gone to her side.

Admittedly, Seungjun hadn’t really thought of what he would say once they saw each other face to face for the first time, or how he’d explain how he managed to resurface just in time, but his mind was focused on other things. Fingers tight around the steering wheel, he wove through the late night traffic, following the Korean tendency of not following the traffic laws.There was nary an officer that he hadn’t had a run in with in the areas he frequented so he wasn’t worried. And thus, nearly as swiftly as he had heard, he was there, skidding to a stop beside the sidewalk just in time to catch a fleeing criminal around the midsection and send him toppling down to the ground. Prying a purse from a shocked hand, he dug his boots deep into the ridges of the man’s ribs twice — and then once more for good measure. Eyes narrow and filled with an intimidating glint as they so often were, he wasn’t scared of the man fighting back. If he wasn’t known on sight by his tattoos, the thief certainly would find out after the fact, and proper revenge would come in time.

The streets were all but empty, with only a few pedestrians walking about. Chohee let out a small sigh as it reminded her just how dangerous the streets of seoul had become. With the Origami killer still on the loose and the increased crime rates, night-time in seoul had become quite dangerous. One had to always be on the look out to avoid being robbed or attacked. It was times like these that Chohee was thankful for her rebellious teenage years where she'd picked up not only various street skills, but also enrolled in various self defense classes, varying from american style boxing to martial arts. Though, if one were to look at Chohee, they wouldn't expect such a fragile looking girl to be so versed in the darker entities of life.

Chohee was just about to put in her earphones when she felt a sudden emptiness in her hands. Looking down, sneaky fingers pulled at her purse, before footsteps quickened to escape. "YaH! Hey!" Chohee called after the thief, chasing after him. However, running in heels had never been her forte. By the time she'd kicked off her shoes, the thief had already gained a considerable distance between the two. Of all days. of ally days. Chohee mused angrily to herself as she ran after him, picking up her speed as she slowly closed in. She would be sure to kick the man with her heels when he caught him.

Her eye caught the jacket of the thief disappearing behind a corner, and Chohee followed. "Hey - Stop right there!" she continued to shout, but as she rounded the corner, she fell into abrupt silence. Her cheeks flushed from running, hands awkwardly holding the hanging heels in her fingers, she stared at the ghost like back of her ex. You're kidding me. 

Sketched lines and dirty fingerprints on dirty, carbon filled paper; That was what his mornings usually smelled like, looked like and literally were like. Olivier sat back as his eyes scanned the lines he had traced with such ease. He licked his lips, slowly, stopping right to press his lip against his bottom lip and got up, figuring he had finished for the morning and grabbed a wet cloth he kept next to him when working.

He wiped his hands clean, grabbing his phone as he threw the towel onto the laundry basket and looked at his planner to not forget what was coming next. He read his tasks for the day before turning off his phone screen, looking at the seemingly expressionless face he had on him  from the reflection of the phone screen and took a deep breath and shoved the phone in his pocket before putting on some shoes and departing.

'News of the origami killer, who's still at large and may be looking for his next—’ was what he caught out of the television from the coffee shop he passed by. He sighed at the sound of the word ‘killer’, he should be stressed about it, but there are killers everywhere, or so he thought about it, he didn’t know anything about this certain killer, maybe he was underestimating.

The owner was out searching for new objects again - business trips, that's what she'd called it. That left Chohee to mann the shop by herself. Chohee quite enjoyed the afternoons and mornings she spent in the shop. Dusting off a glass table lamp, she recalled the first time she stumbled into the mystic wonderland. She'd been exploring the streets of seoul when the slightly worn out sign caught her eye. It had seemed like the perfect place to gather inspiration for her many art projects, and so, she'd stepped in. The shop soon became a regular hang out place, especially since the owner, the nice ahjumma, was especially good at cooking.

It had started out as simply volunteering while she sketched the many antique objects within the shop. No sooner though, she'd been offered a job position. It was quite ideal for Chohee, as, it allowed her to both work on things for her art class while manning the shop since the store was never especially busy.

Mark looked at Chohee and shook his head. “I’m not as completely immoral as you think I am.” Mark sighed a little. He wasn’t really good at sticking to one person and the girl that they both knew had been an unfortunate victim. There were people he could imagine being with and never ever thinking of another person. It hurt him to think that he had dated someone and not felt that. “I take school seriously”, he wanted to show his parents that he was able to get a good job, a good degree, without needing them. 

Mark let out a breath. “I’m not a prostitute.” Mark looked at her, he hated how his reputation proceeded him. He slept around and he wasn’t exactly proud of it, it was just how he was. Mark looked at the girl and shrugged. “Not all of us have daddy to help us.” he then shrugged. “I’m a mixologist, I work from around 6pm to 5/6am most weeknights and longer on weekends.” 

The entire morning seemed to bring Chohee's mood down. It had been such a nice day too. Letting out a sigh, Chohee wanted desperately to block out the annoying voice of Mark. It only aggravated her more when he seemed to be completely oblivious to what he'd done wrong.

"oh - you aren't? That's right, you're not getting paid to sleep with people. I guess that makes you manwhore then." She sarcastically retorted, not even bothering to look at Mark as she spoke. Although her hands flipped through the pages of the handout, she only pretended to be actually reading through it. Rather, her eyes glazed over the pages, her irritation slowly growing. In reality, the entire incident had already blown over. It was a few years back when she'd caught mark cheating on her friend. Though it'd taken her friend a while to get over him and trust issues she'd developed, now, her friend was doing quite well. In a loving relationship with a much better man.

"What-." Chohee's shot daggers at mark, her voice growing more poisonous by the moment. "Are you implying something?" Her eyes narrowed. "Just because I don't go around yelling ' I HAVE A JOB TO DO AND I'M TIRED AS SHIT SO CUT ME SLACK' doesn't mean I don't work. Don't go around finding useless excuses" she scoffed. "Now isn't that a surprise. you taking something seriously." She shook her head to taunt him.

Woohyun sat watching his daughter who was in the bed, still connected to the heart monitor. He smiled at the small beep, that showed her heart was normal. The ward was always quite noisy as there were quite a few kids in here, and their families. Woohyun wondered what was wrong with the other kids, he wondered if they were worse than Jisun or if they were healthier. He wondered if she was the only one with a heart condition and if she was the only one who was in here a lot of the year. Woohyun smiled as Jisun wriggled. “Jisun, be careful.” he smiled, she was waking up and she was a little disorientated.

He looked over at the other kids, not one of them was connected the way Jisun was to a machine, one was on oxygen, and some were on IV’s but Jisun was the only one having her heart watched so intensely. He smiled when she tried to take the monitor off. “Nam Jisun, how many times do we do this?” Jisun stopped and looked at him. “You’ve had this done before, so don’t fuss please.” he was happy because Jisun had finally got over her grogginess after the surgery. Jisun looked at her dad and smiled. “What’s that smile for?” he laughed. 

He loved how Jisun had such a bright personality despite everything that was going on. “Feel good princess?” Jisun nodded and then kicked off her blankets. He didn’t know who Jisun took after, he knew she looked most like him, when they were together there was no doubting that he was her father. Personality wise Jisun was a weird mix, she had the qualities of her mother that Woohyun had fallen in love with, and some of his traits, along with some completely unique ones. It made him angry that her mother didn’t see these things. Jisun saw her mom on her birthday and on christmas, if Woohyun took her over. 

But Jisun had great women in her life, women that Woohyun were glad to say influenced his daughter. He smiled when Jisun reached for him. “I can’t hold you Jisun,” he said before handing her a colouring book and some pencils. “Hey Jisun.” he leant close to his daughter. “Why don’t you colour really really well. Chohee is going to come to see you” Jisun looked at her daddy and bounced a little, going back to colouring, poking her tongue out a little as she concentrated. 

Quickly changing out of her paint smock and into something more presentable, Chohee left the house with her bag, running down to the bakery downstreet to grab a quick gift. Jisun was in the hospital again. Ji Sun's heart was being monitored again. At times, it pained Chohee for a child as bright at Ji Sun to be plagued with hospital visits throughout her childhood. She knew those thoughts were useless, that there she didn't have the ability to turn back time and change the strings of fate. Thus, she made it a point to visit Ji Sun often, bringing small gifts each time ranging from coloring books to snacks that were seen as a delicacy by Ji Sun. 

Stepping out of the bakery, Chohee began picking up her pace as she hailed a taxi for the hospital. She didn't want to be late. Chohee always enjoyed watching JiSun wake up. The way the room would transform to life as the young girl's soft eyes blinked open, vitality filling the room even though wires poked from beneath her blankets. Just as the Taxi came to as stop in front of the hospital, her phone buzzed signalling a text. Quickly reading it, Chohee quickly paid the driver before sprinting up the steps, replying quickly that she was already here.

After lingering a few moments to find the right door, Chohee pushed it open, a wide smile on her face as she saw Ji Sun coloring. "Hey" She whispered to Woohyun, burying a chuckle as she noticed how concentrated Ji Sun seemed to be. Placing the bag gently on a table, she enveloped her in a hug. "Jii Sun!" She exclaimed brightly in a sing-song voice as she slightly nuzzled her cheeks, being aware to not put pressure on the wires before she let go. "Did you miss me?" she asked, giving the other a small side glance before she praised her coloring skills. "I see you've been practicing, there's nothing outside the lines this time! see, I told you you could do it"

Much like rain, life was unpredictable as well and even a forecast of his life couldn’t prepare him for the storm that was coming. And the new things that would ensue.

It had been a small encounter at first, something Isaiah merely brushed off and dismissed as nothing at all. Nothing out of the ordinary. A small bump in his daily routine that he didn’t expect would come back into his life. Then, as they did, the frequency of the disruptions became more apparent – from bumping into this stranger to being subconsciously aware of the eyes on him every time he ventured into the park. Isaiah ignored it, as he did with most things that were neither here nor there and truthfully, Isaiah’s ignorance may have prolonged the situation from coming to fruition, if not for the fact the stranger broke the carefully constructed silence between them first.

As the girl’s voice reached his ears, Isaiah straightened his head upwards from where he’d been leaning it back against the park bench a moment before, eyes closed in relaxation and relative solitude. It was then that Isaiah forced his eyes open, gaze coming to fall on the girl before him with curious interest. That interest however was only momentary before tearing apart and giving way to confusion and shock. Jiyong. The long lost name seemed to cut through him like a knife. He hadn’t heard it in years – so long he’d forgotten that it had once belonged to him. With that name came the whirlwind of confusion and panic that was steadily rising in his chest. No one knew him as Jiyong, especially in Korea. Even a large chunk of his family back in England had no idea, as he’d been forced to drop it in the earlier years of being thrown around in foster home after foster home. Who was this girl?

Isaiah’s gaze narrowed on her, scrutinizing, looking for any degree of familiarity. Some shred of remembrance to grace his suddenly disrupted mind. Instead of an answer however, Isaiah was greeted with nothing. Just the empty space where he swore his mind used to be.

He hadn’t quite realized it, but he’d straightened up on the park bench, body hunched and leaning forwards somewhat while his subconscious battled with the desire to both stay and to run away; fight or flight, though Isaiah wasn’t sure why. It unnerved him for someone to possibly have known him when he was younger, just a mere child. Instead of who he was now, a shadow of his former self; a shadow who saw the world differently. Still, Isaiah remained fixed to the bench, legs suddenly too weak to bend to his desire to move – or maybe it was his need to know who exactly was standing in front of him. He’d lost contact with everyone from his younger years, especially everyone from the orphanges he’d been in. At least as far as Isaiah could recall, he had.

He had no choice, he had to take the safest route.

Yet it was the sudden straightening of his back, the hunch of his shoulders as he seemed lost in thought that erased those worries- Yes. It had to be him. Otherwise, the answer would've left his mouth the moment his eyes opened. Quicky, Casually, so she could be dismissed from his presence. Though she wasn't sure if she'd rather slap him for disappearing without a word or hug him for re-appearing, Chohee couldn't ignore the fact that she missed him. That secretly, she'd never truly forgotten no matter how much she wish she had; that the young boy who slipped into her heart had never quite left.   

Chohee's heart fell as the answer left the man's mouth. 'No.' For a moment, her expression darkened, eyes downcast as her mouth bit her lip subconsciously."Oh." Escaped her lips in a little more than a whisper. She'd been so sure. Of course it's not him. why would he be here. Her eyes fluttered to meet as she attempted to muster a soft smile on her lips. The 'No' temporarily numbed her senses. She didn't see the confusion that swirled in his eyes, the way his muscle seemed to fidget as he struggled to keep his voice calm. She saw the 'No,' heard it, and felt it deep in her soul. 

He was deaf. He was certain about it. His left ear would never be the same anymore. For someone who claimed himself deaf on one ear, he had a maddening grin on his face. ‘Having a good time Jonghyun-ssi?’ Laughing a warm deep rumble he nodded. It was quite obvious that he enjoyed his job in the daycare. All his other co-workers were woman but they never once seemed to feel awkward in his presence. Instead they all seemed to get along. Like right now that the receptionist knew how to read his moods. Something that could be rather hard. If he didn’t smile people tend to misunderstand him. ‘I’m deaf at one ear and my addiction is playing up but that’s all right cause it’s lunch break.’ Indeed his lunch box was filled with good stuff from last night. ‘Oh, Jonghyun-sii. Could you do me a favor? You know that section C is being painted? The girl, hasn’t eaten ever since this morning. Give her this for me, thanks sweetheart.’ With a wink she shoved the box on the bar. ‘Everything for you.’ He joked back with a cheesy wink he walked right back up to section C.

Jonghyun knew that the section was planned to be painted. The kids who normally ruled over that place were now divided between his group and the other sections A and D. He didn’t really mind. In a normal day the older kids liked to bring visits to the other sections now and then. Especially when he was playing guitar and singing like today. He made his own reputation within the daycare. By the stench of fresh paint even a stranger could tell he was walking in the right direction. All the finger paintings and random doodles from the kids were pulled from the wall. Keeping them bare except the occasional drawings on the wall that weren’t supposed to be there.  Grinning by himself his finger trailed the little line of colored crayon. This whole place was like a treasure island. Every now and then knew things would pop up right in front of him. Sometimes it was new and made by the kids. Other times it had been always there but his eyes never noticed the little flowers in the corner of the coffee machine drawn by a girl who used to sit there in the late mid days.

For most the morning, she'd been tracing out the outline for the mural after deciding on an image with Suhwa. The mural was split into two sections, the middle blending in the two images together. One side was the sea, kids playing on the beach; the other side was a prairie with kids running in the tall long grasses. Suhwa wanted to bring something the day care didn't have into the room - and so they'd settled on nature scenes.

The mural was still far from being finished when there was a knock on the door. Chohee assumed it was Suhwa, and had just been about to ask why she was knocking when she realized it wasn't. Instead, a stranger peeked into the room, bringing with him the savory smell of food. Her stomach growled softly from hunger, and chohee laid  down her brush as she greeted him. "Hello" she said, bowing slightly before straightening up. A chuckle left her lips, " Oh this -I doubt it. Maybe they'll worship my little sister more for helping." she joked, walking closer to the tall man. "Ae rim? Ah! right, Ae Rim, you'll have to tell her thanks for me later."

Mark heard what she said, but chose to ignore it. He closed his eyes and then shrugged. “Because I want to get my degree in politics.” Mark said answering back. He looked at Chohee and shrugged a little, again. “I’m not going to fuck it up, you know.” Mark rolled his eyes and then looked at his phone, his hookup from last night had texted him again. He locked his phone screen, he didn’t want to respond anymore. 

Mark shrugged a little. He sighed, moving to sit up. “Or maybe it’s because I have to work really fucking hard to pay rent.” Mark said before looking over the paper. Admittedly he was tired, because of his hook-up but it was usually work related. He was a hard worker and supporting himself was important. The sleeping around was, his way of feeling like he was appreciated. But he was never going to tell Chohee, there was more to him, than just the slut everyone thought he was. 

"well you sure seem to be fucking everything else up," she retorted sharply, before continuing on "I doubt this would be out of the 'fucking it up zone.' Though, I guess it just requires passing exams, which is fairly easy I guess huh- I mean, I doubt they could tell if you cheated or not." She remarked with a sigh.

"work?" she scoffed in disbelief. "Now is that what you call it?" His explanations did less to quell her irritation than add oil to the burning flame. "Look." She leaned forward, hands hitting the table with a 'smack.' "can you just shut your mouth and quit it with the excuses," she leaned back, eyes widening as her fingers made a swirling motion, "explanation, whatever you call it. I don't give a shit. Everyone works really fucking hard to pay rent. Not just you." The world doesn't just revolve around you. "and how am I suppose to know if it clashes with your job or not?"

  It wasn’t that the temperature was unbearable, but the fact that he didn’t dress accordingly. He should have thought twice before deciding on a black t-shirt, covered by a tank top of an orange-ish color with floral decorations on it, spelling ‘supreme’, leaving the outline of a dragon tattoo along his forearm. Cold as hell, and the cropped pants did not help in the slightest, the constant wind brushing along bare skin, causing unwanted shivers to tingle his spine. Now he could only curse himself for passing by the coffee machine and ignore it completely, when he could have bought one and saved time from all the complaints. A long walk like this stirred a lot of thoughts, like why wasn’t he smart enough to get his driver’s license already; it was obviously a necessity, but he kept delaying it and so — years passed on and on and he was still without a car. The purpose of the rendez-vous itself was strange, never had he thought he would be the one to take responsibility for his little sister’s love life; considering how he would always pick on her when they were like, he perhaps never figured he would find himself in a position where he played the double parenting role at all. 

Truthfully, Meilin was a bit too chic lately, which had never been the case before; coquettish make-up ( although it tended to get messy, it was still endearing to watch ), messy buns and…overly cutesy clothes. Dresses especially — Meilin had never been feminine enough so it had to be a crush. Sure, the meeting point had been established and he couldn’t help but wonder why a roof top out of all. No knowledge had been shared regarding the girl whatsoever, but surely her tastes were special.

His first reaction had been quite a negative one from an outsider’s point of view, who could blame him, though? His sister showing up in a rather late evening, accompanied by some teenager holding her petite shoulders. No warning whatsoever, the natural elderly brother instinct taking over, a row of English curses slipping past his lips. She had gotten mad at him for the rest of the night, accusing for ruining her idea of ‘perfect.’ For that reason alone, the meeting was a must, having to cross a line between the two of them.

An earbud pressed firmly against his eardrum, the other one curled around his ear, hanging loosely, phone fiddling between slender fingers. The intention was to select a song that had been running through his mind for the day, but instead the only sound he got to hear was a loud sploch, and the next second, a big strain over the side of his pants. Oh boy, what an eventful evening it was going to be. Head thrown back, it was a funny sight he was getting, her figure completely a miniature from where he was standing, her legs perfectly accentuating with the dangling. “No worries!” Voice louder than intended, he was probably considered mental, yelling around at late hours. “Completely fine, yeah,” Mostly mumbled to himself, his gaze fixated on the fading spot over his knee, not having the heart to get upset with the woman. Catching up with her words, he did not waste any sound as he headed towards said stairs, the vibration announcing the entry of new texts, which he opened upon recognizing the screen name. She seemed to be feeling really guilty for some reason.

[text to ➠ Chohee] Uh…told ya it was fine, why’re you still apologizing lol

[text to ➠ Chohee] Aight, aight, gotcha, meet you in a few

The elevator ride was short, and soon he was standing before the blocked door, having to double check the code, before he confirmed it and pressed enter. Pushed open, he was greeted with the wind dust over his skin, a cold which he momentarily forgot about. Approaching her with large steps, he soon joined her, leaning over the railing, arms folded under him. It was nerve wrecking to think of the consequences if on of them slipped. “So uh…yeah,” And I forgot to mention that when it came to opening a conversation, this boy was the epitome of awkward. 

Leaning over the railings to get a better view, she watched as the tall figure disappeared into the building. Head hanging, Chohee bit her nip lip nervously. She wondered just how the meeting would go down. Just how did two people go about talking about their younger siblings and their romantic entanglements?I need another smoke. She mused as her feet landed on the ground, knowing full well the cigarette would be off limits until the meeting was over and she was alone. Sighing, Chohee picked up a unopened can of beer This will have to do - should've brought something stronger. Cracking open the can, she flung the metal ring away with a soft flick of her hand as she waited, flinching from surprise as her phone vibrated in her pockets.

She read the texts with a soft chuckle, before fingers tapped out a quick reply.

[text to ➠ Kris] Just wanted to make sure you heard! - in a way that wouldn't wake the neighbors...

[text to ➠ Kris] but ... I probably already did so....>  < 

As she waited for him, Chohee took another sip of beer as she leaned against the railing, looking out at the city lights. She could feel the awkwardness seeping into her bones even before he'd arrived on the platform. The can rose to her lips again - Jin-hyuk  She shook her head slightly.. .so much trouble..I hope I won't need to do this with Suhwa too...

As she was momentarily lost in her thoughts, the old metal door creaked open, revealing the tall figure behind it. He's here. Chohee thought as she turned her head around slowly, a smile automatically placed on her lips as she watched him walk toward her. "Hey there" She greeted with a wave of her hand, noting goosebumps on his arms that became more apparent the closer he walked. Her eyes lingered on the dragon tattoo, widening in both surprise and admiration as her eyes trailed along his arms."Nice Tat." she commented with a soft nod of her head. She'd always had a liking for tattoos, adorning quite a few herself though in less conspicuous places.