T W E N T Y F I V E

Journey scoots closer to Jeong, the faint smell of his signature cologne wafting through the air. A geniue smile forms on Jeong's face. "I love you, Ginger." He lets his fingers dance through Journey's bright red locks.

"I know," Journey's soft laughter wraps around the pair. "You tell me every day. I love you, too, Jeong."

Jeong flashes him a smile, admiring the flecks of amber swimming in Journey's blue eyes. "I tell you every day because I don't ever want you to forget it. I love you so fucking much that it scares me. Honestly, love, I've never cared about anyone more than I care about you since my mom died."

"What about Jaehyung?" The red haired boy whispers, his voice blades of grass in the soft, autumn wind.

"I care about Jaehyung. He's my brother, but Jaehyung and I have never seen eye to eye. He was always closer to my father than the rest of my family. I love Jaehyung, baby, but I'm in love with you."

"Can I ask you a question?" His voice was soft and cautious.

"Yeah. Shoot," he gives him a half smile, teeth hidden behind his dark lips.

"What happened to your father? Of course you don't have to answer-"

"He owns a club in Los Angeles. He gets some business, but not enough to flaunt it. My father has always been a modest man. For a while, he spiraled out of control after my mother died, but after Jaehyung had I were sent here, he wanted to get his shit together."

Journey hummed in response. "Do you know how to make any Korean dishes?"

Jeong arched an eyebrow at him. "I know how to make a few. Why do you want to know?"

Journey smiles at him sweetly. In his blue eyes ignites excitement. "I want to try food from your culture. You are Korean, right?"

A light laugh floats through the room. "Yes, I'm Korean. Don't ask me to sing a KPOP song, though. I'm absolute shit at signing. I don't have ingredients to make Korean food. And I doubt the cafeteria has it, either."

Journey's smile falters. "But I want to learn more about your culture. All I know is that your parents are from Seoul."

Jeong plants a soft kiss on his rose colored cheeks, a small smile tugging at his lips. "Okay. I'll teach you some Taekkyeon moves."

Journey blinked at him, a confused look on his face. "Taekkyeon?"

"Yeah," he grinned. "It's Korean martial arts. Anyway, I'll help you learn. You can practice on me."

"What? I don't want to hurt you."

"Trust me, you won't hurt me. My father is a black belt at Taekkyeon. And he taught me some of his best moves," he laughed. "Don't worry, love, I won't use them on you."

"So you'll just take the hits?"

"Nah. I'll try to dodge them. You think I've ever just took a hit? That's not who I am, Ginger. I don't back down and I definitely don't take a hit."

"Okay," he responds sheepishly. "What do I do?"

"Try to swipe your leg across my face."

"W-What?"

"Jump up and kick me in the face." Jeong shrugs nonchalantly like he wasn't about to be kicked in the face.

Slowly, Journey jumps up, but when he attempts to kick Jeong in the face, he falls on his ass. "Ah fuck!"

Jeong laughs.

"Shut up," he pouts. He shoots Jeong his middle finger, but the action only causes him to laugh harder.

"You do it then!" He mumbles. A blush creeps up his neck.

Jeong shrugs. Effortlessly, he jumps up and kicks the wall with the heel of his foot.

"W-Well. That's not fair!"

"I learned how to do that when I was ten, love. It's second nature for me now. You'll get there. Besides, there's plenty of things you can do that I can't," he points out. "Like I didn't even know there was more than one galaxy in the universe. As a kid, I called it the chocolate milk instead of the Milky Way. My mom would cuss in Korean at that. At least, I think she did. I don't know shit in Korean."

Journey laughs. "Well, what can you do, apart from fighting?"

"Um, well, I can dance."

"You can?"

"Yeah. How else you think I ever scored a date to homecoming?"

"You're hot," Journey breathes out.

"At the time, I wore glasses, love. No one at my school thought I was hot."

"Nika wears glasses," Journey hums. "People think he's hot."

"People at my old school were dicks. Besides, I also like to read and let me tell you, no one thought I was hot after that."

Journey's eyes widened. "You like to read? What do you read?"

"Real, authentic literature. None of that bullshit with someone stripping every other, fucking chapter. If I want to see a book or a movie where the plot is sex, I'd watch porn."

Journey's mouth falls open and he stares blankly at Jeong. Jeong, on the other hand, has a smirk imprinted onto his lips.

"Fuck you, Ryleigh!" Zion's brown eyes were narrowed at him. Confused, jaded eyes peered at him.

"What did I do?" Ryleigh stood before him, baffled.

"Leave me alone, Ry!"

"Zion, please tell me what I did."

"Leave me the fucking hell alone, Ryleigh." At Zion's sides his fists are clenched. A murderous look waltzes through his dark eyes, but a sliver of sadness flickers within them, as well. "I don't want to talk to you right now!"

"Zion-"

"Don't make me tell you again, Ry. Just get the hell out."

Wordlessly, Ryleigh shut the door behind him, leaving Zion draped in a blanket of silence and Ryleigh utterly confused. Zion never yelled at him or anyone for that matter. He was a  relatively calm person.

The boy on the other side of the wall slid down the door, his knees pulled to his chest, as strained sobs racked his body. His chocolate skin gleamed underneath the fluorescent light that dangled from the celling. Shattered glass pierced his honey orbs and fell onto his caged arms. He stared at his stomach with a tearful gaze, while his broken sobs were lost in the embrace of silence.