"What the fuck do you think you're doing to her?" the girl behind me freezes and then drops her hand. I rub the back of my head to ease the pain as much as I can.
"Who the hell are you?" one of the guys steps in front of me but the girl pulls on his hand.
"Yah, come back. He is the older brother" she whispers, her voice laced with panic.
"What? What are you talking about?" he challenges.
"He is Yeonjun. Yeonjun Choi. He is the older brother" I see the boy's face slowly pale as some sort of realization hits him. If this were a cartoon, I swear he would have broken out in visible cold sweats.
"I- I" the boy stutters but the boy in front of me with pink hair stops him with a wave of a dismissive hand and a deep frown.
"Save the apology and ass-kissing for someone who cares. Get out of here while I am feeling generous. Might not let you off the hook if I change my mind" Yeonjun threatens and the group exchange glances as if weighing their options before finally deciding the best option is to leave.
I can finally breathe a lung full of air when they leave.
I look up to see Yeonjun frowning at me.
Before I can open my mouth to thank him he cuts me off.
"What the hell were you thinking? And why are you here alone? In the dark might I add?" he scolds.
I am a little taken aback. Does he sound concerned? I must have read it wrong. Cause I cannot picture Choi Yeonjun being concerned for me in any possible universe.
"Do you always have a knack for being in the wrong place? Or are you just plain dumb?" His sentence brings me out of my inner monologue and I instantly get defensive.
"Ah, there you go again. I was just about to say thank you but of course, you have to prove you're an ass" I argue and his eyes widen a bit, as if he was not expecting this response from me.
I don't even know where the sentence came from. Maybe my body is still running on adrenaline my body released during the recent encounters with that group.
"You are dumb, aren't you? I regret saving you"
"Huh? Who said I needed saving?" I argue. I did need help but I am not going to admit it because he is so conceited it irks me to no extent. I want to get under his skin as much as he does to me.
Although I am not even sure why.
"Yeah yeah. It definitely looked like you did not need any help. You guys were enjoying yourself so much, that if I had not intervened, I am sure you guys would be holding hands and running around in circles laughing. Don't tell me you didn't plan your weekends with them?" he feigns a gasp and I want to sucker punch him.
"What are you doing here anyway?" I sigh.
Why do I keep running into him? And that too in the most unfortunate circumstances? Why does the Universe always do this to me?
"What am I doing here? Have you been here before?" he scoffs and I look around my surroundings.
Now that I think about it, I have never been to this part of the school. This area was behind the student activity center and a few feet away was the boundary wall.
I look at Yeonjun and he is standing in front of me tapping his foot impatiently waiting for my answer.
"No, I have not" I admit in a small voice.
I don't know why I felt like I had done something wrong. It wasn't like I was standing near a dingy corner or something. This area was well lit and everything seemed fine.
"Do you know what this is called?" He asked again and by what seemed like a pattern between us, I shook my head in a 'no'.
He scoffed as if he expected this answer. I glared at him.
"It's called the lover's point. Do you know why?" my eyes widened at his sentence. I looked around but I couldn't understand what he meant by that. Maybe he was messing with me. I returned my stare at him and there was amusement in his eyes.
"You're messing with me. I'm leaving" I say and step to the side but he mimics my movement stopping me from going.
"I am not. Do you see any CCTV cameras pointing in this direction? Do you see the tall trees lining the walls? What do you think? Surely you're not naive enough to not put two and two together? Or do you want me to spell it out for you?" he speaks in a condescending tone.
I look around again and yes, he is correct. There are many CCTV cameras around her but the point we are standing on and beyond will not be captured in any of the cameras.
I would have paled in worry thinking how casually I took those bullies' words because I had assumed they would have been captured in the cameras and a security guard would have checked up on me if they thought something bad could have happened.
I would have paled.
Instead, I was blushing.
I was blushing because of the images I got in my head about what Yeonjun suggested.
"So you're not that dumb. Given how pink your face is, I guess you have put it together" He snickers. I want to bite back.
"Well at least I am still less pink than your hair" I retort and he is back to frowning and his eyes are back to foxy slits.
"What are you doing here anyway? If what you say is true, I can't see anyone with you. Or were you planning for some alone time? Hope I did not ruin your night" I ask and he snickers.
"Wouldn't be the first time you ruined it" He shrugs and I ball my hands into fists. There is no winning with him.
"Just let me go" I take another step to the side and he mimics again. I cannot stop the audible groan that escapes me. I throw my head back and groan again.
"Why do you annoy me so much?" I ask exasperated by his behavior.
"What do you mean? And shouldn't this be my line?" He cocks his head to the side and feigns innocence. The urge to sucker punch him returns.
"Do you smoke?" he asks randomly and I am taken aback.
"No, I do not. Why are you even asking me that?" I asked. The corners of his lips turned up and he would have looked beautiful if it were not for the dangerous glint in his eyes.
"Great. More for me" he shrugged and pulled out what looked like a cigarette from his pocket.
"What? Why do you have a cigarette with you? What if the camera catches you?" I panicked. I was with him and if he got caught, they would consider me an accomplice.
"Did you forget what I just told you a few minutes ago? This is a blind spot. People come here to smoke or grope. Keep up" he snapped and shook his head like it was an inconvenience to explain to me the basics.
"And this is not a cigarette. This is a joint. Weed. Marijuana. Mary jane. Whatever you want to call it" He shrugged and admired the thing in his hand with a smile. He pulled out a lighter from his other pocket.
"What is wrong with you?" I shrieked. Not only this was illegal on many grounds, but I was with him and I was afraid I'd get caught with him. Given my shit luck, the chances of that happening were really high.
"Stop screaming. You'll attract attention" he shushed.
"And smoking a joint won't?" I countered and he had that grimace back on his face.
"You know what. I did not see anything. I did not hear anything. I don't know what is going on here. Just let me go. San is probably waiting for me. I will not tell anyone and you can continue doing... whatever you want to. Without my involvement" I suggested but he shook his head.
"Oh, I know you won't tell anyone. You know the repercussions of doing that" He shrugged, an unsaid threat looming over me.
"I thought we called it a truce" I reminded him on the night at Hive. Something fleeted over his face, something vulnerable but it was as quickly as it came.
"Yeah. On conditions. This is one of them." as if that should have been an explanation enough.
I just stared at him with an incredulous look.
He sighed irritated.
"Basically you have to be my watchdog to keep an eye for any intruders that may come this way so that I can smoke in peace" he explains.
"Did you just call me dog while asking me for a favor?" I cross my arms in front of me, a headache taking form already.
"It is a figure of speech. You get what I mean" he waves his hand dismissively.
"Why would I help you? You are consistently rude to me and you never help me" I argue and he raises an eyebrow in a silent question.
"You do remember I just saved you from those bullies, right?" he challenges and I grumble under my breath. There is no winning with him.
I look around and finally sigh.
"Fine. But I am telling you, if you get into trouble for this, I am ditching you and running away. Unlike you, I am on a scholarship here. I can't mess it up or get into trouble" I warn and again something vulnerable passes through his eyes but it is gone in a flash.
"Got it. Now stand here and let me know if you see anyone coming in this direction" he passes by me and soon disappears into the shadows between the trees.
I sent a quick message to San and told him that I would meet him up at the hill directly. He agreed and told me that he would also bring Woojin.
I wanted to hang out with my friends but here I was stuck, looking out for Yeonjun.
Why was I here? I could easily leave. He wouldn't know.
I look around the area to make sure nobody is walking in this direction.
In the distance, I see more and more students filtering out of the activity center, forming their groups, and leaving. There are a few buses as well for the students from different schools.
I could leave.
I take little steps in the direction of the gates, looking back after every few steps to make sure Yeonjun is not following me out of the blue - I wouldn't put it past him.
I am halfway to the activity center when I look back to see a security guard patrolling and sure enough, he is moving towards the area Yeonjun is.
Shit.
I scramble from one foot to the other, contemplating which way I should go. I am halfway out. Even if the security catches Yeonjun, I will be considered an accomplice. He will probably get off the hook. He is one of the Royals after all.
Then why the hell do my feet take a U-turn and start jogging toward the back area?
Why was I so dumb?
When had my brain stopped functioning?
"Yeonjun? Yeonjun?" I whisper yell in the dark, trying to understand the shadows to figure out his silhouette.
He takes another drag and puts his head back, leaning on one of the trees. He tilts his head up before releasing the smoke through his nose, his jaw working overtime to look sharp.
His pale skin and pink hair are a contrast to the darkness around us and the smoke enveloping him makes him look like a character from a YA fantasy novel.
I shake my head to clear my head.
Get a grip, Yuri.
"What are you doing here? Didn't I tell you to stand there to keep watch?" he coughs out some smoke and I scrunch up my nose.
I don't like the smell.
It is different than the normal cigarettes.
"A guard is coming this way!" I don't know why I am whispering or yelling. He turns to me and raises an eyebrow.
We both hear the scrunch of leaves and the sounds of feet tapping towards us.
Our head turns in the direction, eyes wide and then we both look at each other.
"Hey, is there anyone there?" We hear a loud voice announce.
I should have left when I had the chance.
It all happens very fast.
One moment Yeonjun is staring at me and the next moment he is grabbing my hand and tugging me.
"Run!" he whisper yells.