When The Lights Go Out [1/?]
Title: When The Lights Go Out [1/?]
Author: cake_tree
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Angst
Word count: 8,251
Summary: In a world that was dying, they found a family within each other.
Looking out over the city that I once called home, a cold shiver went down my spine. The streets that I grew up on use to be crawling with life at all hours of the day were now bare, and not the average bare, this was the kind of emptiness that made you want to run and hide. Not me though, I wasn’t that weak.
As I walked down a street I saw abandoned cars and buildings, it was not even a few weeks ago that I would travel it daily and my only choice would be to push through the crowd or be pushed down myself. Now I would rather stick to the shadows, the silence of the city now gave me the feeling that more sinister eyes were now watching my every move and if I let my guard down for a second I’d be killed. Though I also knew that if I didn’t move now surely I would die later because even now I could feel it, something was wrong, something that no matter what we did as humans, it would never be fixed.
The sun was dying.
When I first heard the new report as I walked down the streets that were under my control, I paused just long enough outside an electronic store that had their TVs on display through their window. That’s when I heard the news man report on how the scientists of the world had discovered some irregular activity with the sun, to be honest it had caught my attention but when the man on the screen started to spout words that I’m sure not even he knew what he was saying anymore I scoffed and walked away. I had bigger fish to fry and no time to sit around trying to make sense of this scientific mambo jumbo; days went on and it had been about two weeks until the next time I saw anything about it again.
This time I was in a coffee shop and an emergency broad casting clipped on and this time it was a scientist himself, he looked stressed like he hadn’t had anything to eat or slept in days. The look on his face was one of great sorrow when he spoke the words that threw the world into what is referred to as The Great Panic.
“I’m here today to tell the world that after weeks of studying the unusual activity of our own sun that we, a group of the greatest and most qualified scientists gathered by the world’s leaders have made a verdict.”
And that’s where I had lost interest again; he went on beating around the bush with his scientific phrases as I sipped my coffee and gazed out the window to watch people hurry from place to place. Everyone thinking that their life was so much more important than everyone else’s, it sickened me. Turning back to the screen I saw the scientist run a hand over his face and sigh. What he said next had me frozen in my seat.
“To put it simply folks, the sun is dying.”
Everyone in the diner froze too but the difference between them and me is that they just shrugged it off, probably thinking that it was a joke, but for me, this was real. I couldn’t believe that people just brushed this off when the man was sitting there telling the world what was the best thing to do was at this point.
Getting up I walked out of the café and putting on my black beanie I headed down the street to the hangout, the world could be dying but I still had to meet with the guys. The higher ups made it very clear that if I kept missing meetings and distancing myself there would be hell to pay.
“To leave the gang means death GD, are you ready to pay the price?”
I can’t say that I was really willing to pay that, but I also knew that if I stayed there was no way I’d live very long anyway. With all that I heard today my head was swimming as I walked into the abandoned and forgotten warehouse under a rundown bridge that was rarely traveled anymore. When I laid eyes on our leader I paused and straightened my clothing, brushing dirt off my faded dark grey skinny jeans and pulling my white shirt until I was satisfied with my appearance then I headed to join their makeshift circle. As soon as the leader, Yoo Inguk saw me he threw out his arms in a welcoming gesture.
“Oh Jiyong, you came!” He said in a warm voice but I knew better than to let my guard down around him, he was the leader of one of the most feared gangs in this city for a reason. Just as I came close enough he reached out his hand and I handed him what was left of my coffee, knowing better than to question him. “My bad, I mean G-Dragon.” He said giggling. “So how is the southern district?”
I may not be a higher up but Yoo Inguk acknowledged my skills at controlling a group and placed me at the head of the territory he controlled in the south. Much to Jaehwan’s disappointment, I thought with a glance in his direction to be met with a scold that made his barbed wire tattoo that surrounded his left eye even more sinister.
Jaehwan was a couple of inches taller than myself, but he had the muscles packed on. I may be good at fighting, but even I didn’t want to have to go against that unless absolutely necessary. We had already had a shaky work relation even before Yoo Inguk appointed me head of the southern district. To say that we didn’t see eye to eye would be an understatement, but appointing me head of the south had been the last straw for him. His hate for me had reached an all-time high and I can’t say I was very fond the brute either.
Turning my attention back to Yoo Inguk I frowned, “So one has been messing with the supplies.” And I was sure I knew who, chancing a glance back at Jaehwan I saw him smirk.
Yup, that ass hole.
But I was smart, well at least smarter than this asshole; he wanted me to tell Inguk that it was him so that it would come off as me trying to stir up trouble within the gang and if there was anything that Inguk hated more than anything that was it.
Yoo Inguk hummed as he thought, “Any ideas on who this may be?” I looked into his eyes and I could see that he knew that I knew but he also knew that I wasn’t going to say it,
“No idea Sir.”
He frowned even more and patted my shoulder, “You’ll figure it out, there’s a reason I placed you at the top GD.” I nodded and looked back over to Jaehwan to see him looking off the side while clenching his jaw. Inguk followed my gaze and frowned even more when it landed on Jaehwan, but then he emptied the rest of my drink and handed it back to me and patted the dusty crate next to him. “Sit my friend, oh how I’ve missed you at these meetings.” Then he leaned in to whisper just loud enough for everyone to hear. “These fools are so boring; you are the only one that brings life to this place.” Some of the older members closer to Yoo Inguk’s age of twenty four snorted at the childishness of their dear leader but the younger member closer in age with my nineteen shifted in their seats uncomfortably; the idea that they have displeased the feared leader scared them more than fear itself.
Throughout my nineteen years of life I’ve been call crazy my fair share of times but I was only a shadow compared to Yoo Inguk, if insanity had a physical form it would be him. He could change moods faster than a blink of an eye and depending on his mood that day decided your fate, it was best to stay on his good side.
“I’m sorry sir, I’ll keep you boredom in mind when I choose to skip next time.” I told him with a straight face as he turned to look at me. It was a few intense moments before the broke out into laugher and slung his arm around my shoulder and pulled me closer. When the other men had seen this half of them had their mouths hanging opening while Yoo Inguk’s closer members just smirked.
“See Jiyong, this is why I like you. You’re so fearless, never caring what people think of you.” I smiled at the compliment as he continued with the meeting. “Alright, back to business. Is there any news on the streets?”
Turn by turn the higher ups filled him in on the dealing in the streets, the struggles they were having with the rival crews and lastly, the news of the sun. He sat deep in thought and as he stroked my recently dyed yellow-blond shaggy hair looking off into the distance before turning back to us.
“You know Jiyong.” The started and paused until he was sure he had my attention then continued. “I really like your hair, how did you get it like this?” Hearing him say that I shook my head and laughed while the others protested.
“Sir this is important! Were you even listening?!”
When he turned his glare around the room everyone froze. “Of course I was listening, but what does that matter? Can I stop it from dying?” He growled out. When they all shrunk back in their seats he stood up and paced in a mini circle in the center of our seats. He walk around the circle a few times before he stopped and looked at a high window that even through the dirt and grime the sun could still be seen. “Dying huh?”
“Sir, you can’t tell me you seriously believe that!”
We all turned to see Jaehwan halfway out of his seat in protest. Him being out spoken against decision that were made by the higher ups was nothing new but it always confused me as to why Inguk hasn’t had him killed yet. He was so disrespectful that I could almost see the burning desire to silence him for good chores through Yoo Inguk’s frame but something held him back and he just regarded Jaehwan with passive eyes.
“And what if I do?”
Finally stepping up so that he was fully out of his seat Jaehwan stood to talk and tried to put as much confidence into his stance, but his eyes betrayed his nerves.
“Then I would have to say we have a fool for a leader.” After he uttered out that sentence there was a collective silence that fell on our meeting. Many of the older members that had strong alliances to Yoo Inguk had their hands on their weapons, ready to strike at any moment.
Even if I had planned on leaving I would never pull a stunt like this. I respected the man far too much for that, so to see the man that took me in when I was no more than a child being treated as a fool, it’s safe to say that my blood was boiling. Without realizing it my hand had reach down to grasp the hilt of my blade and with each word Jaehwan spoke against Yoo Inguk my grip tightened.
“Who in the right mind would believe a lie like that? The sun is dying?” Jaehwan scoffed at the idea and spat the last bit in our leader’s direction. “Sounds like a story to scare a child to me.”
Yoo Inguk turned fully to face Jaehwan now and regarded him with cold eyes. “A child, huh?” he asked now circling around him. “Are you implying that I am unfit to lead this group?” As Yoo Inguk walked closer to Jaehwan it was easier now to see his façade cracking, the fear was seeping through but he held fast.
“No sir, I was just saying don’t be fooled by the lies of the untrustworthy.”
Yoo Inguk paused in his pacing and looked at Jaehwan with interest. “So are you saying that I must find someone trustworthy?” As Jaehwan stood there words seem to have failed him so he just nodded his answer. “Well then.” Inguk said with a smile. “I know just the person to ask.” He beamed and turned to look me in the eyes. “GD, what are thoughts on this issue?”
Hearing him address me directly with this question shocked me, was I really his most trusted member? He knew full well that I was distancing myself from this scene, not that I would ever betray the gang I just wanted a different life. One that had less of a chance of being stabbed from a day to day bases.
Blinking, I looked him right back in the eyes. “Me, sir? Are you sure?” He smiled a little and told me something I’ve heard him say since I was a child.
“I don’t waste my words, now speak.”
I thought of all that I about all that I had hear today and what I have noticed for myself in the past few weeks then looked back up to him. I saw him watching me then I turned my gaze over to Jaehwan and saw him straighten his back when he locked eyes with me and harden his glare. Looking back to Inguk I schooled my expression to one of indifference and answer him.
“It sounds serious enough to me, I think we should take it into consideration.” It was quiet after I spoke and everyone just stared at me waiting for Inguk’s verdict on the matter. As I stood there I couldn’t help but feel that this wasn’t so much of a test of trust but more a battle of upcoming power between Jaehwan and me. It was oblivious to everyone in the gang that Jaehwan and my way were polar opposites when it came to how we wanting things done. We couldn’t agree on anything and we were always butting heads and on many occasions Inguk had to step in and take a side, and let’s just say that I wasn’t the one suffering because of that.
It wasn’t long until Inguk nodded his head and turned back to everyone else, “I agree with GD, now I want all the available men out doing what they need to do to find out more info on this matter. Now you’re all dismissed.”
The looking on Jaehwan’s face when he stormed out of the warehouse was so priceless that I couldn’t help but smile. I walked over to sit back down as everyone else busied themselves with what they were going to do next, leaning back I pushed my hat over my face and took a deep breathe.
I really needed to get out of here but like Inguk told me last time we had a one on one talk, leaving meant death. I wasn’t conceited enough to think that our relationship was going to save me, just because he saved me when I was younger didn’t mean if I betrayed him and tried to leave he would hesitate to kill me. I’ve see him kill men he called his dear friends, without a second thought when he found them passing information to the rival gangs. I knew if I were to leave and get away with it I needed to leave the city altogether, but I didn’t have the money for that and this is the only place I have ever known. I’m not saying that I couldn’t leave and start anew, just that this is the only way of life I’ve ever known and I didn’t see a new one opening up anytime soon.
Laying back I stretched my limbs until I hear all the familiar pops of my bones and released a satisfied sigh but just as I started to fall into a restful sleep I felt a hand shake my shoulder. Opening one eye I saw Inguk peering down at me with his cat like smile and I groaned. This guy just couldn’t give me a break.
Rolling away I smacked his hand off of me and grumbled about how rude people could be but he just smacked the back of my head.
“Oww, what was that for!?” I sat up and yelled, glad that most of everyone else had left at this point.
“Boy,” he said while pointing a finger in my face. “Don’t yell at me, I am your elder.” I grumbled some more until I noticed the serious look on his face.
“Hey, what’s up Inguk?” I asked putting my hand on his shoulder because even if he was my boss and could scare the crap out of me at times he was still the man that took me in asking nothing in return. He didn’t answer me right away so I waited because like he always said, he wasn’t one to waste words.
“Whatever is going on I have a bad feeling about it, this is serious and I feel like it will change our lives. If this is really how you say it is GD, things are going to go downhill fast and when they do I want you to run. Do you understand me?” I blinked my eyes in confusion, no I didn’t understand. This was a man who was all about sticking together; never leave anyone behind is how he lived his life but now here he was telling me to run? Thing just didn’t add up for me.
“What about the gang?” I asked him thinking that maybe this was a test but he just shook my shoulder and yelled.
“Fuck the gang Jiyong! You’re just a kid for God’s sake, if things go bad you get the fuck out, do you hear me?! You’re like my little brother and I want you to live, okay?” I nodded my head as fast as I could because as his speech wore on he had tightened his grip on my shoulder until it was painful. “Good.” He said and he stood up and walked towards the exit as I rubbed my shoulder just before he reached the door he turned back to me slightly and said. “Oh and by the way, watch out for Jaehwan. He shouldn’t be trusted but I guess you already know that.”
He was right, I thought as I kicked an empty can father down the abandoned street. As soon as things got out of hand and The Great Panic, as I like to call it, happened about a week and a half later Jaehwan grabbed what he could from the gang’s storage and him and his little group booked it. You know, for someone who said that the sun dying was a child’s story he sure got out fast.
Well I mean that was kind of my plan too, to take what I need from the storage but that bastard set fire to everything he didn’t take with him! Oh how I want to ring his neck when I find him again, there were only some many resources in the world and he goes and does that, who does he think he is?
A guy with some back up, that’s what he is and right now he’s a lot better off than me.
With that thought I sighed and moved closer to the side of the buildings on the sidewalk and pulled my beanie down to cover most of my hair, since I didn’t have an extra set of eyes watching my back like I always did I had to be more careful. I walked down the deserted street for a while more until felt a shiver go up my spine. Turning back I looked down the road and saw that the sun was setting and I knew that I needed to get into some sort of shelter before the sun did set because without the sun giving off as much warmth as it used to, things get cold at night.
As the sun descended in the sky I made a quick turn into an alleyway to my right and took off in a sprint, in case anyone really was following me. Just as I was about to take a sharp left and head down another alleyway I heard a noise ahead of me. I stopped dead in my tracks and flattened myself against the wall, hoping that I had stopped quickly enough for whoever it was not to have noticed my presence.
Brushing my faded light blond hair out of my eyes I glanced farther down the alley and spotted someone crouched down, from here it looked to be male. I stopped for a moment and tried to assess what would be my best course of action at this point. On one hand I could just skirt around him and pray to god that I’m not noticed because I really didn’t want to deal with a fight at the moment with the sun going down and the temperature dropping by the minute. Or I could sneak up behind him and take him out and search the body for anything that could aid me later on, both options had they’re ups and downs but it really boiled down to what I was willing to do.
I crept a little closer until I could to see that the man that was crouching down was really just a kid, a ping went through my heart just like it always did when I saw someone so young left behind. This kid couldn’t be more than sixteen and that thought made my heart sink but there wasn’t much to be done about it, this was how the world was now. I looked at him to see him facing the opposite way from me, he seemed to be mumbling something but from my distance I couldn’t hear clearly. It sounded like he was trying to draw something to him, as I watched for a little more I saw a ragged dog make its way out of the shadows with hesitant steps.
The closer the dog got the more encouraging and sweet he made his voice and the only reasoning for him calling the dog that I could come up with is that he was trying to gain it’s trust so that he could kill it, and more than likely, eat it. The idea repulsed me but I knew that this is what needed to be done in order to survive.
Just as the dog got within reach I expected him to grab it but he didn’t, he just brushed his fingers against the dog’s moist nose and smiled. Confused I watched on some more until I saw him take out a little piece of meat and held it out flat on his hand offering it to the stray. Shocked I stood frozen as I watched the dog sniff it but just as the dog put its mouth on the piece of meat I snapped out of my daze.
“Hey!” I yelled at the dog and kid, “What the hell do you think you’re doing?!” I demanded as I ran towards him and the dog. Just as I reached them I pushed the kid out of my way trying to get to the dog but as soon as the dog saw me it high tailed it out of there. Missing the dog by a centimeter I fell to my knees and punched the ground as I saw it run out of the alleyway and down the street, I watched the place the dog just disappeared for a few moments until I rounded on the kid.
“Are you a retard!?” I shouted at him with a glare, I saw him cringe at the volume of my voice and look at the ground. “Do you even know how difficult it is to find any kind of meat now?! And what do you do? You give it to a fucking dog!” with each question I walked closer to him until I had him by the front of his shirt, forcing him to look me in the eye. Shaking him I demanded again, “Do you realize how stupid that was?!”
Pulling back a little I was able to take in his medium length wavy black hair and the dark circles under his widened eyes. He could’ve been considered cute but right now I was too busy thinking that the dumbest person in what was left of the world was just dropped into my lap. If God really does exist then this is just going on my ongoing list of reasons why I would hate the bastard.
When it didn’t seem like he was going to answer I shook him again. “I asked you something idiot, now answer me!” Looking down again I saw him swallow then he lifted his eyes to mine and the determination I saw in them shocked me a little.
“Well if I didn’t help him then who would’ve?” We sat there staring into each other’s until my brain processed what he just said.
“You’ve got to be kidding me, right?” I said as I pulled back even more to take in his whole appearance. He looked like he was in the awkward stage of growth, the one where your limbs seem to be growing too fast for your muscles to catch up to them. So he was somewhat lanky but not in an unattractive way, just that he hadn’t grown into his body yet. Then I took a look at the clothing he was wearing and I cringed inwardly, how the hell was this kid able to stay warm at night wearing that? All he had on was a pair of skinny jeans with an average looking white V-neck shirt and a thin jacket on, while here I was with at least three layers of shirts and a coat on top of a jacket. My heart dropped at the sight but I pushed it away, no need to get all sympathetic over every kid I saw.
“Dog isn’t going to last one more week, all you did was shorten your own life.” I told him sternly and pushed him away from me. I watched him stumbled from the push and fall on the ground while I shook my head.
That’s about how much time I give this kid too, it’s a wonder that he lasted this long anyway.
He clenched his fists as he stared at the ground before he looked back into my eyes with his hard set glare.
“Don’t say that, you don’t know that for sure so don’t go deciding its fate. You’re not God.”
After hearing him say that I laughed and turned away. “God? Don’t make me laugh. If that guy even exists I’d like to have a one on one with him so that I could give him a piece of my mind.” I turned back to see him staring at me with confused eyes. Seeing him on the dirty floor with dirt smeared across his face and his innocent eyes staring up at me I sighed. It hurt me to see something so pure die in such an unfair way but there was no way I was taking him with me, a kid like him would only get me killed. “Well see yah kid, this is where we part ways.” Turning back to the alleyway entrance I started to walk away until I heard him call out.
“Hey! Wait up.” I paused just long enough for him to catch up then started walking again without looking at him.
“What do you want?” I asked harshly.
He was quiet for a few moments until a cold breeze blew by causing him to shiver and pull his jacket tighter around him. “I was just wondering if-” He started but I cut him off.
“No.”
He frowned at my answer before mumbling out, “You didn’t even know what I was going to ask.”
Rounding on him I grounded out between clenched teeth. “You wanted to know if you could follow me.” A blush tinted his cheeks but he nodded his head anyway.
I started at him for a moment before turning on my heel and answering again with a firm, “No.”
After walking away for a bit I couldn’t help but glance back over my shoulder and what I saw was him staring at the ground while he tightened his slightly raised fist. I felt kind of guilty because I felt like I was leaving him to die but I knew that he would only cause problems if I brought him with me. Yes, he would be an extra set of eyes but poorly trained eyes that wouldn’t know what the hell he was looking at.
And with that I turned back around and set off down the road, I’d wasted enough time messing with this kid already and now I barely have enough to get back to building I’ve been staying in. Normally I took detour paths to get there so that if I was being followed then I would lose the pursuers along the way but with time running short I had no choice but to cut this detour in half. Luckily I knew this city inside and out so finding a new but equally hard path would be easy.
Not five minutes into walking I noticed that someone was tailing me. I tried not to draw attention to the fact that I knew they were there because I didn’t want them to rush at me, but I did speed up the pace quite a bit. Glancing back over my shoulder I could see the figure speeding up too, just when I reached a bend in the street I took off in a full blown sprint. I may not have the best form when it comes to running but it works for me and I’ve never once had anyone catch me. Well there was Inguk but he’s another story, I don’t really count him as a human being.
As I ran I leaned forward so that I could pass under smaller spaces easier and jumped over broken down chain-link fences. Finally I managed to climb up a rickety fire escape on a side of a building and I stopped and listened, I couldn’t hear the footsteps of my pursuer anymore. Standing up, I stretched my back and arms until I heard them pop and walked to a side of the roof, satisfied with my run and losing my unknown follower. I let a small smile grace my face before turning around to look over the city from the building I was on.
From where I stood I could see all the way down the street in both directions, with the fading light from the sun it gave the place a kind of bitter-sweet beauty. With no people polluting the place it seemed so empty and dead but that’s to be expected, if there were people still in this place; they went into hiding long ago.
But not that stupid kid…
Shaking my head I turned around getting ready to go down the other side of the building until I noticed a movement lower down. As I stepped closer to get a better look my eyes widened.
It was the kid from earlier, and he was scaling the fire escape in his best effort to get to the top. I watched with amusement when the guy made it to a landing about half way up and had to stop to breath, it was becoming painfully obvious that this guy wasn’t cut out for physical labor. I chuckled at his efforts thinking that there was no way this kid would make it all the way up, and was about to turn away until I saw him stand up straight and shake out his limbs. He looked like he was trying to talk himself up before he placed his hand back on the latter and started to climb the rest of the way up.
Perching on the edge of the building I watched as the ladder shook and slipped, when this happened the boy tightened his grip and closed his eyes. Seeing this, I knew that in no time at all he would turn around and head down where he knew it’s safe. That’s the problem with kids- they never take risks.
I was turning away again but to my surprise the boy clenched his jaw and continued up. He wasn’t looking up or down, he just kept his eyes on the ladder in front of his face. My guess was that he didn’t want to psych himself out.
Walking over to the edge where the latter ends I stood there and waited, a few moments later I see the kid pull himself over the ledge and lay on his back taking deep breaths. Nudging his side with my foot I see his eyes fly open and he scrambles to get to his feet.
Standing there panting I see a blush tint his cheeks before he looks me in the eyes and says, “I’m not dead weight, please let me come with you.”
I looked him in the eyes and sighed. “You’re not going to give up are you?” Before I even finished my question he was already shaking his head no.
Sighing again I looked the kid up and down and asked, “First off, what is your name and how old are you?”
Without hesitation his eyes lit up and he answered. “My name is Seungri and I’m fifteen.”
Oh God, he really is a child…
Pinching the bridge of my nose and exhaling I asked again just to make sure I hadn’t heard wrong. “You’re fifteen years old?” Looking up I see him nod his head eagerly and I continue with my questioning. “And that’s the only clothes you have?”
At that question he looked down and grabbed his jacket and pulled it away from his body some then looked back up to me blinking. “Well… yeah.”
A stupid child, I thought, correcting my last statement. I mean the idiot didn’t even see what’s wrong with this picture.
“God, don’t you get cold at night?” I asked him while shaking my head and he just scratched the back of his head and looked off to the side.
“A little, but I can handle it.”
Agreeing to take this kid under my care, may have just killed me.
I could’ve stayed there for hours pointing out how incredibly stupid he was in basically everything he had done up until now, but now wasn’t the time. In the few short moments I had been talking to him the sun already descended immensely in the sky.
We need to get moving… now.
With that thought I grabbed Seungri by the elbow and pulled him to the other side of the building. He looked confused but followed along anyway. When we reached the other side I pulled him to a stop and stared down the ladder thinking.
In my head I debated the pros and cons of letting Seungri lead the way down; for one he doesn’t know to look for trouble and even if I told him he wouldn’t know what to look for. On the other hand if I left him up here by himself he could get attacked or… could trip and fall off the side of the building. To me, those both seemed like very real situations. Cutting my eyes to Seungri on my left I saw him fidget with his jacket while he gazed down the ladder.
“Going down is easier, you know.” I told him; he glanced at me and gave me an embarrassed smile, but I just frowned and continued. “So stop looking like a weakling, that just makes you an easy target for attackers.” With that he lowered his head and nodded.
Letting go of his elbow I decided that it would be smarter if I went first, I didn’t really feel comfortable sending him off to do anything by himself, let alone scout for other people. Sitting down on the ledge I waited until I felt my feet land on a solid bar of the ladder before turning around and climbing down. Pausing so that only my head was above the ledge I looked up at a nervous Seungri.
“Okay look,” I told him. “I’m going down now so just wait until I call you then you can come down too.” He looked at me funny, kind of like he was worried so I reassured him. “It’ll be fine, just follow my instructions.”
“But can’t we go down at the same time?” He asked me with pleading eyes.
“No.” I told him firmly. “Didn’t you feel how unsteady the other side was? This one is just as bad, if not worse.”
And that’s the only reason I use it, because I know no one bigger than me or Seungri can follow me up.
“I did but…” He started to say but trailed off and looked at his feet.
Impatiently I urged him on, “But?” He still refused to meet my eyes and chose just to look off to the side. “Look, I don’t have all day and this thing sure as hell doesn’t either.”
Taking a deep breath he finally turned back to me and said, “Once you get down there you’re not going to leave me right? I mean you will wait for me to come down too… right?” I stared at him and saw him turn a darker shade of red as he tried to look anywhere but me.
You know, I never even thought of that… Looking back up at Seungri I sighed. He really is just a kid; he’s lost in this dying world with no one to turn too. How can I not take him with me, just to walk away knowing that without me he will surely die? I wonder if this is how Inguk felt when he saw me all those years ago.
“Seungri, I’m not going to leave you.” I told him and saw him look at me with hopeful eyes.
“You promise?” he asked while kneeling down so that he was at eye level with me.
As I looked at him again I noticed how young and innocent he really looked, with his round light brown eyes and the dark bags under them.
“I promise, kid.” As soon as I said that he grinned from ear to ear and patted my head.
“I’ll hold you to that.” I smacked his hand from my hat and started to head down. All the way down the fire escape I mumbled about useless little kids and the troubles they cause. Once I reached the bottom I took a quick look around then called up for Seungri.
“It’s clear so you can come down now.” "I ordered in a hushed voice, hoping that only he could hear. But as an afterthought I added, “Just try to be quiet.”
“Alright!” he yelled back down and I cringed at the volume of it.
As he made his way down I hoped that there really was no one around near us because for all the noise he managed to make, they would be on us like bees to honey. When he finally made his way all the way down I let out a sigh of relief. As soon as he landed on the ground he turned around and grinned at me like he did something right.
“How was that? Quiet, huh?”
Glaring at him I said, “If you think that was quiet then I’m going to have to rethink my decision to keep you around. You’ll definitely be the death of me.” At that he lowered his head and mumbled out a “sorry” and shuffled his feet. Looking out towards the street I saw how much the shadows had grown and I groaned. “Come on, we got to get moving now if we even hope to get there before the sun goes down.”
With that I grabbed the sleeve of his jacket and made him move forward again. I didn’t want to have to run, running caused too much noise, but we definitely had to power walk. At the moment I didn’t care if anyone saw us; we needed to get to my little hide out before it got dark so that I could get it ready for the night to come.
Luckily, we managed to get there with some time to spare, and I went straight to gathering the supplies we needed for tonight. This task was a very slow process, and it didn’t help that Seungri didn’t stop asking questions the moment we walked through the doors. Not even important questions like “How do you plan on surviving?” or “What are we going to eat tonight and how much?” just a bunch of pointless crap.
“How did you get your hair like that?” But that one was the last straw.
“Could you just shut up for five freaking minutes!?” I hissed at him and he cringed back a bit, but still followed me down the stairs to the lower floor because he was in charge of holding the light. Turning around the corner I walked back to a heavy door and pushed my weight against it. After countless tries, it finally gave way, and I took the light from Seungri and made my way into the dark room with him following tight on my heels.
“Wow, what is this place?” he asked as we walked farther into the room. We passed by all kinds of machinery that were locked up behind metal fencing. When I glanced back at him and he met my eyes, his own eyes widened, and he covered his mouth.
I looked at him for a little before I finally decided to ask, “What are you doing?” Lowering his hand I saw, even with the faint light throwing shadows across his face, that he was pouting.
“Well, you told me to be quiet.” Glaring at him again I told him to shut up and started moving forward again.
As I made my way to the middle of the room I shone the light on a big iron stove. Bending down I grabbed some pieces of wood that was stacked there. Opening the door I threw some in, and grabbed some newspapers that Seungri and I brought down and started to tear it into long strips.
“What are you doing?” Seungri asked leaning over my left shoulder which caused me to shudder at his closeness.
I replied in short with, “What does it look like I’m doing?” Shrugging his shoulders, he leaned even closer over my shoulder to see.
Pausing I look over at him and he smiled. “Ummm, a little space here? Unless you want your eyebrows burned off.” With that he pulled back but kept his eyes on me the whole time.
It was a little weird to have someone watch me like that; I was never really one for having people around me. I tried to brush it off and focus on what’s important, like getting this fire started and keeping our asses warm tonight. After a few failed starts I finally had the stupid thing burning at a steady flame.
Standing up I stretched my back and held the lamp out to Seungri. Jumping up from his spot on the floor, he bounced over to me and took the light right out of my hand.
“Good, can we leave now?” he asked practically running to the door beating me there.
“Yeah, but why?” I asked confused as to why he was in such a hurry to get away from the warmth.
Pausing at the door and waiting for me to catch he said, “Because it’s so dark and creepy down here, I want to go back upstairs.”
“It going to be just as dark upstairs you know.” I told him when I reached the door too but he didn’t seem to be listening as he ran down the hallway to the staircase waving me over.
“Quick, you’ve got to run!” He yelled at me.
“Why?” I asked as I reached the bottom step but he just took off upstairs.
Even though I could hear him running through the hallways I could still hear his faint answer.
“Because I’m tired and hungry!”
Shaking my head I thought, what have I done to deserve this?
After I had him fed and gave him a coat I found in one of rooms we were finally settling in, I was so tired but it seemed like Seungri had energy to spare.
“So why are we sleeping in this room? I mean, there are so many other rooms, why’d it have to be this one?” he asked from his bed on the other side of the small room. With his question I was reminded of how earlier when I was showing him around he had jumped on the bed of one of the rooms and said he claimed that one. To which I told him no, and that I already had the room we were going to use. I sighed and rolled over to face him, all we had was a weak flashlight to illuminate the room, so I could only see a faint outline of his features.
“Because heat rises and in this room we’re right above the stove.” I watched as he nodded along and I rolled my eyes. “You’re so stupid Seungri; you didn’t know that at all did you.”
I saw how he rolled over and drew his eyebrow together in a scold as he glared at the ceiling. “I’m not stupid…” He paused then rolled back on to his side and looked at me. “I don’t think you ever told me your name.”
Thinking back I realized I really hadn’t. I’m so used to people knowing me around the city since I had made a name for myself that it didn’t even come to my attention that he may not have heard about me. G-Dragon was the name to be exact, but that was in the past and I didn’t really like that name anyway. So I just decided to tell him my real name.
“It’s Kwon Jiyong.” After that he hummed in approval and started saying it under his breath. It was a whole minute before I finally stopped him. “Would you cut that out? It’s annoying.” To which he just chuckled.
“Sorry, I was just testing it out. So how old are you, Jiyong?” he asked me as he buried himself deeper into his coat and blankets.
“I’m nineteen,” I said then looked at him and saw that he had his eyes closed. “And you’re falling asleep,” I stated in irritation. “Don’t start conversations that you’re going to fall asleep in,” I said scolding him while huffing out a sigh.
“No, no.” he said with his eyes blinking open, while trying to suppress a yawn. “I’m not falling asleep, I swear I’ll stay awake.”
“Uh huh, I’m sure.” I said rolling my eyes; I give him seven minutes at most.
“It’s just that I haven’t been able to lie in a bed for the longest time,” He said while stretching, and I felt my heart sink. A kid shouldn’t have to go through all of this, but the world isn’t going to pick and choose who gets effected by the sun’s death. It pretty much sucks for everyone.
“Hey Ji?” I heard him mumble out, probably falling asleep at this very moment.
“What do you want?” I asked a little harshly but it didn’t seem to faze him. I looked over at him to see a sleepy grin spread across his face.
“I just wanted to say goodnight.” I looked at him with an expression somewhere in between confused and annoyed.
“Just go to sleep, you idiot.” With the smile never leaving his face he mumbled out an “okay” before digging deeper into his blankets and finally going to sleep.
I watched his face relax into a peaceful smile and his breath evened out telling me he was asleep before I turned my gaze towards the ceiling. There were so many things we needed to get tomorrow so I tried my best to make a mental list of it. It was basically everything I normally got but then times it by two; not that it was a difficult task but now I was more worried about whether or not, if the time came to it, we could run with all that stuff.
I looked at Seungri again and sighed.
I really hope this doesn’t screw me over in the end because I just couldn’t leave him there by himself. With no way he could protect himself and no one to turn to he was as good as dead, and now it would be on my conscience. I stared at him and I could only imagine how lonely it must be to die alone.
Part 2
Author: cake_tree
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Angst
Word count: 8,251
Summary: In a world that was dying, they found a family within each other.
Looking out over the city that I once called home, a cold shiver went down my spine. The streets that I grew up on use to be crawling with life at all hours of the day were now bare, and not the average bare, this was the kind of emptiness that made you want to run and hide. Not me though, I wasn’t that weak.
As I walked down a street I saw abandoned cars and buildings, it was not even a few weeks ago that I would travel it daily and my only choice would be to push through the crowd or be pushed down myself. Now I would rather stick to the shadows, the silence of the city now gave me the feeling that more sinister eyes were now watching my every move and if I let my guard down for a second I’d be killed. Though I also knew that if I didn’t move now surely I would die later because even now I could feel it, something was wrong, something that no matter what we did as humans, it would never be fixed.
The sun was dying.
When I first heard the new report as I walked down the streets that were under my control, I paused just long enough outside an electronic store that had their TVs on display through their window. That’s when I heard the news man report on how the scientists of the world had discovered some irregular activity with the sun, to be honest it had caught my attention but when the man on the screen started to spout words that I’m sure not even he knew what he was saying anymore I scoffed and walked away. I had bigger fish to fry and no time to sit around trying to make sense of this scientific mambo jumbo; days went on and it had been about two weeks until the next time I saw anything about it again.
This time I was in a coffee shop and an emergency broad casting clipped on and this time it was a scientist himself, he looked stressed like he hadn’t had anything to eat or slept in days. The look on his face was one of great sorrow when he spoke the words that threw the world into what is referred to as The Great Panic.
“I’m here today to tell the world that after weeks of studying the unusual activity of our own sun that we, a group of the greatest and most qualified scientists gathered by the world’s leaders have made a verdict.”
And that’s where I had lost interest again; he went on beating around the bush with his scientific phrases as I sipped my coffee and gazed out the window to watch people hurry from place to place. Everyone thinking that their life was so much more important than everyone else’s, it sickened me. Turning back to the screen I saw the scientist run a hand over his face and sigh. What he said next had me frozen in my seat.
“To put it simply folks, the sun is dying.”
Everyone in the diner froze too but the difference between them and me is that they just shrugged it off, probably thinking that it was a joke, but for me, this was real. I couldn’t believe that people just brushed this off when the man was sitting there telling the world what was the best thing to do was at this point.
Getting up I walked out of the café and putting on my black beanie I headed down the street to the hangout, the world could be dying but I still had to meet with the guys. The higher ups made it very clear that if I kept missing meetings and distancing myself there would be hell to pay.
“To leave the gang means death GD, are you ready to pay the price?”
I can’t say that I was really willing to pay that, but I also knew that if I stayed there was no way I’d live very long anyway. With all that I heard today my head was swimming as I walked into the abandoned and forgotten warehouse under a rundown bridge that was rarely traveled anymore. When I laid eyes on our leader I paused and straightened my clothing, brushing dirt off my faded dark grey skinny jeans and pulling my white shirt until I was satisfied with my appearance then I headed to join their makeshift circle. As soon as the leader, Yoo Inguk saw me he threw out his arms in a welcoming gesture.
“Oh Jiyong, you came!” He said in a warm voice but I knew better than to let my guard down around him, he was the leader of one of the most feared gangs in this city for a reason. Just as I came close enough he reached out his hand and I handed him what was left of my coffee, knowing better than to question him. “My bad, I mean G-Dragon.” He said giggling. “So how is the southern district?”
I may not be a higher up but Yoo Inguk acknowledged my skills at controlling a group and placed me at the head of the territory he controlled in the south. Much to Jaehwan’s disappointment, I thought with a glance in his direction to be met with a scold that made his barbed wire tattoo that surrounded his left eye even more sinister.
Jaehwan was a couple of inches taller than myself, but he had the muscles packed on. I may be good at fighting, but even I didn’t want to have to go against that unless absolutely necessary. We had already had a shaky work relation even before Yoo Inguk appointed me head of the southern district. To say that we didn’t see eye to eye would be an understatement, but appointing me head of the south had been the last straw for him. His hate for me had reached an all-time high and I can’t say I was very fond the brute either.
Turning my attention back to Yoo Inguk I frowned, “So one has been messing with the supplies.” And I was sure I knew who, chancing a glance back at Jaehwan I saw him smirk.
Yup, that ass hole.
But I was smart, well at least smarter than this asshole; he wanted me to tell Inguk that it was him so that it would come off as me trying to stir up trouble within the gang and if there was anything that Inguk hated more than anything that was it.
Yoo Inguk hummed as he thought, “Any ideas on who this may be?” I looked into his eyes and I could see that he knew that I knew but he also knew that I wasn’t going to say it,
“No idea Sir.”
He frowned even more and patted my shoulder, “You’ll figure it out, there’s a reason I placed you at the top GD.” I nodded and looked back over to Jaehwan to see him looking off the side while clenching his jaw. Inguk followed my gaze and frowned even more when it landed on Jaehwan, but then he emptied the rest of my drink and handed it back to me and patted the dusty crate next to him. “Sit my friend, oh how I’ve missed you at these meetings.” Then he leaned in to whisper just loud enough for everyone to hear. “These fools are so boring; you are the only one that brings life to this place.” Some of the older members closer to Yoo Inguk’s age of twenty four snorted at the childishness of their dear leader but the younger member closer in age with my nineteen shifted in their seats uncomfortably; the idea that they have displeased the feared leader scared them more than fear itself.
Throughout my nineteen years of life I’ve been call crazy my fair share of times but I was only a shadow compared to Yoo Inguk, if insanity had a physical form it would be him. He could change moods faster than a blink of an eye and depending on his mood that day decided your fate, it was best to stay on his good side.
“I’m sorry sir, I’ll keep you boredom in mind when I choose to skip next time.” I told him with a straight face as he turned to look at me. It was a few intense moments before the broke out into laugher and slung his arm around my shoulder and pulled me closer. When the other men had seen this half of them had their mouths hanging opening while Yoo Inguk’s closer members just smirked.
“See Jiyong, this is why I like you. You’re so fearless, never caring what people think of you.” I smiled at the compliment as he continued with the meeting. “Alright, back to business. Is there any news on the streets?”
Turn by turn the higher ups filled him in on the dealing in the streets, the struggles they were having with the rival crews and lastly, the news of the sun. He sat deep in thought and as he stroked my recently dyed yellow-blond shaggy hair looking off into the distance before turning back to us.
“You know Jiyong.” The started and paused until he was sure he had my attention then continued. “I really like your hair, how did you get it like this?” Hearing him say that I shook my head and laughed while the others protested.
“Sir this is important! Were you even listening?!”
When he turned his glare around the room everyone froze. “Of course I was listening, but what does that matter? Can I stop it from dying?” He growled out. When they all shrunk back in their seats he stood up and paced in a mini circle in the center of our seats. He walk around the circle a few times before he stopped and looked at a high window that even through the dirt and grime the sun could still be seen. “Dying huh?”
“Sir, you can’t tell me you seriously believe that!”
We all turned to see Jaehwan halfway out of his seat in protest. Him being out spoken against decision that were made by the higher ups was nothing new but it always confused me as to why Inguk hasn’t had him killed yet. He was so disrespectful that I could almost see the burning desire to silence him for good chores through Yoo Inguk’s frame but something held him back and he just regarded Jaehwan with passive eyes.
“And what if I do?”
Finally stepping up so that he was fully out of his seat Jaehwan stood to talk and tried to put as much confidence into his stance, but his eyes betrayed his nerves.
“Then I would have to say we have a fool for a leader.” After he uttered out that sentence there was a collective silence that fell on our meeting. Many of the older members that had strong alliances to Yoo Inguk had their hands on their weapons, ready to strike at any moment.
Even if I had planned on leaving I would never pull a stunt like this. I respected the man far too much for that, so to see the man that took me in when I was no more than a child being treated as a fool, it’s safe to say that my blood was boiling. Without realizing it my hand had reach down to grasp the hilt of my blade and with each word Jaehwan spoke against Yoo Inguk my grip tightened.
“Who in the right mind would believe a lie like that? The sun is dying?” Jaehwan scoffed at the idea and spat the last bit in our leader’s direction. “Sounds like a story to scare a child to me.”
Yoo Inguk turned fully to face Jaehwan now and regarded him with cold eyes. “A child, huh?” he asked now circling around him. “Are you implying that I am unfit to lead this group?” As Yoo Inguk walked closer to Jaehwan it was easier now to see his façade cracking, the fear was seeping through but he held fast.
“No sir, I was just saying don’t be fooled by the lies of the untrustworthy.”
Yoo Inguk paused in his pacing and looked at Jaehwan with interest. “So are you saying that I must find someone trustworthy?” As Jaehwan stood there words seem to have failed him so he just nodded his answer. “Well then.” Inguk said with a smile. “I know just the person to ask.” He beamed and turned to look me in the eyes. “GD, what are thoughts on this issue?”
Hearing him address me directly with this question shocked me, was I really his most trusted member? He knew full well that I was distancing myself from this scene, not that I would ever betray the gang I just wanted a different life. One that had less of a chance of being stabbed from a day to day bases.
Blinking, I looked him right back in the eyes. “Me, sir? Are you sure?” He smiled a little and told me something I’ve heard him say since I was a child.
“I don’t waste my words, now speak.”
I thought of all that I about all that I had hear today and what I have noticed for myself in the past few weeks then looked back up to him. I saw him watching me then I turned my gaze over to Jaehwan and saw him straighten his back when he locked eyes with me and harden his glare. Looking back to Inguk I schooled my expression to one of indifference and answer him.
“It sounds serious enough to me, I think we should take it into consideration.” It was quiet after I spoke and everyone just stared at me waiting for Inguk’s verdict on the matter. As I stood there I couldn’t help but feel that this wasn’t so much of a test of trust but more a battle of upcoming power between Jaehwan and me. It was oblivious to everyone in the gang that Jaehwan and my way were polar opposites when it came to how we wanting things done. We couldn’t agree on anything and we were always butting heads and on many occasions Inguk had to step in and take a side, and let’s just say that I wasn’t the one suffering because of that.
It wasn’t long until Inguk nodded his head and turned back to everyone else, “I agree with GD, now I want all the available men out doing what they need to do to find out more info on this matter. Now you’re all dismissed.”
The looking on Jaehwan’s face when he stormed out of the warehouse was so priceless that I couldn’t help but smile. I walked over to sit back down as everyone else busied themselves with what they were going to do next, leaning back I pushed my hat over my face and took a deep breathe.
I really needed to get out of here but like Inguk told me last time we had a one on one talk, leaving meant death. I wasn’t conceited enough to think that our relationship was going to save me, just because he saved me when I was younger didn’t mean if I betrayed him and tried to leave he would hesitate to kill me. I’ve see him kill men he called his dear friends, without a second thought when he found them passing information to the rival gangs. I knew if I were to leave and get away with it I needed to leave the city altogether, but I didn’t have the money for that and this is the only place I have ever known. I’m not saying that I couldn’t leave and start anew, just that this is the only way of life I’ve ever known and I didn’t see a new one opening up anytime soon.
Laying back I stretched my limbs until I hear all the familiar pops of my bones and released a satisfied sigh but just as I started to fall into a restful sleep I felt a hand shake my shoulder. Opening one eye I saw Inguk peering down at me with his cat like smile and I groaned. This guy just couldn’t give me a break.
Rolling away I smacked his hand off of me and grumbled about how rude people could be but he just smacked the back of my head.
“Oww, what was that for!?” I sat up and yelled, glad that most of everyone else had left at this point.
“Boy,” he said while pointing a finger in my face. “Don’t yell at me, I am your elder.” I grumbled some more until I noticed the serious look on his face.
“Hey, what’s up Inguk?” I asked putting my hand on his shoulder because even if he was my boss and could scare the crap out of me at times he was still the man that took me in asking nothing in return. He didn’t answer me right away so I waited because like he always said, he wasn’t one to waste words.
“Whatever is going on I have a bad feeling about it, this is serious and I feel like it will change our lives. If this is really how you say it is GD, things are going to go downhill fast and when they do I want you to run. Do you understand me?” I blinked my eyes in confusion, no I didn’t understand. This was a man who was all about sticking together; never leave anyone behind is how he lived his life but now here he was telling me to run? Thing just didn’t add up for me.
“What about the gang?” I asked him thinking that maybe this was a test but he just shook my shoulder and yelled.
“Fuck the gang Jiyong! You’re just a kid for God’s sake, if things go bad you get the fuck out, do you hear me?! You’re like my little brother and I want you to live, okay?” I nodded my head as fast as I could because as his speech wore on he had tightened his grip on my shoulder until it was painful. “Good.” He said and he stood up and walked towards the exit as I rubbed my shoulder just before he reached the door he turned back to me slightly and said. “Oh and by the way, watch out for Jaehwan. He shouldn’t be trusted but I guess you already know that.”
He was right, I thought as I kicked an empty can father down the abandoned street. As soon as things got out of hand and The Great Panic, as I like to call it, happened about a week and a half later Jaehwan grabbed what he could from the gang’s storage and him and his little group booked it. You know, for someone who said that the sun dying was a child’s story he sure got out fast.
Well I mean that was kind of my plan too, to take what I need from the storage but that bastard set fire to everything he didn’t take with him! Oh how I want to ring his neck when I find him again, there were only some many resources in the world and he goes and does that, who does he think he is?
A guy with some back up, that’s what he is and right now he’s a lot better off than me.
With that thought I sighed and moved closer to the side of the buildings on the sidewalk and pulled my beanie down to cover most of my hair, since I didn’t have an extra set of eyes watching my back like I always did I had to be more careful. I walked down the deserted street for a while more until felt a shiver go up my spine. Turning back I looked down the road and saw that the sun was setting and I knew that I needed to get into some sort of shelter before the sun did set because without the sun giving off as much warmth as it used to, things get cold at night.
As the sun descended in the sky I made a quick turn into an alleyway to my right and took off in a sprint, in case anyone really was following me. Just as I was about to take a sharp left and head down another alleyway I heard a noise ahead of me. I stopped dead in my tracks and flattened myself against the wall, hoping that I had stopped quickly enough for whoever it was not to have noticed my presence.
Brushing my faded light blond hair out of my eyes I glanced farther down the alley and spotted someone crouched down, from here it looked to be male. I stopped for a moment and tried to assess what would be my best course of action at this point. On one hand I could just skirt around him and pray to god that I’m not noticed because I really didn’t want to deal with a fight at the moment with the sun going down and the temperature dropping by the minute. Or I could sneak up behind him and take him out and search the body for anything that could aid me later on, both options had they’re ups and downs but it really boiled down to what I was willing to do.
I crept a little closer until I could to see that the man that was crouching down was really just a kid, a ping went through my heart just like it always did when I saw someone so young left behind. This kid couldn’t be more than sixteen and that thought made my heart sink but there wasn’t much to be done about it, this was how the world was now. I looked at him to see him facing the opposite way from me, he seemed to be mumbling something but from my distance I couldn’t hear clearly. It sounded like he was trying to draw something to him, as I watched for a little more I saw a ragged dog make its way out of the shadows with hesitant steps.
The closer the dog got the more encouraging and sweet he made his voice and the only reasoning for him calling the dog that I could come up with is that he was trying to gain it’s trust so that he could kill it, and more than likely, eat it. The idea repulsed me but I knew that this is what needed to be done in order to survive.
Just as the dog got within reach I expected him to grab it but he didn’t, he just brushed his fingers against the dog’s moist nose and smiled. Confused I watched on some more until I saw him take out a little piece of meat and held it out flat on his hand offering it to the stray. Shocked I stood frozen as I watched the dog sniff it but just as the dog put its mouth on the piece of meat I snapped out of my daze.
“Hey!” I yelled at the dog and kid, “What the hell do you think you’re doing?!” I demanded as I ran towards him and the dog. Just as I reached them I pushed the kid out of my way trying to get to the dog but as soon as the dog saw me it high tailed it out of there. Missing the dog by a centimeter I fell to my knees and punched the ground as I saw it run out of the alleyway and down the street, I watched the place the dog just disappeared for a few moments until I rounded on the kid.
“Are you a retard!?” I shouted at him with a glare, I saw him cringe at the volume of my voice and look at the ground. “Do you even know how difficult it is to find any kind of meat now?! And what do you do? You give it to a fucking dog!” with each question I walked closer to him until I had him by the front of his shirt, forcing him to look me in the eye. Shaking him I demanded again, “Do you realize how stupid that was?!”
Pulling back a little I was able to take in his medium length wavy black hair and the dark circles under his widened eyes. He could’ve been considered cute but right now I was too busy thinking that the dumbest person in what was left of the world was just dropped into my lap. If God really does exist then this is just going on my ongoing list of reasons why I would hate the bastard.
When it didn’t seem like he was going to answer I shook him again. “I asked you something idiot, now answer me!” Looking down again I saw him swallow then he lifted his eyes to mine and the determination I saw in them shocked me a little.
“Well if I didn’t help him then who would’ve?” We sat there staring into each other’s until my brain processed what he just said.
“You’ve got to be kidding me, right?” I said as I pulled back even more to take in his whole appearance. He looked like he was in the awkward stage of growth, the one where your limbs seem to be growing too fast for your muscles to catch up to them. So he was somewhat lanky but not in an unattractive way, just that he hadn’t grown into his body yet. Then I took a look at the clothing he was wearing and I cringed inwardly, how the hell was this kid able to stay warm at night wearing that? All he had on was a pair of skinny jeans with an average looking white V-neck shirt and a thin jacket on, while here I was with at least three layers of shirts and a coat on top of a jacket. My heart dropped at the sight but I pushed it away, no need to get all sympathetic over every kid I saw.
“Dog isn’t going to last one more week, all you did was shorten your own life.” I told him sternly and pushed him away from me. I watched him stumbled from the push and fall on the ground while I shook my head.
That’s about how much time I give this kid too, it’s a wonder that he lasted this long anyway.
He clenched his fists as he stared at the ground before he looked back into my eyes with his hard set glare.
“Don’t say that, you don’t know that for sure so don’t go deciding its fate. You’re not God.”
After hearing him say that I laughed and turned away. “God? Don’t make me laugh. If that guy even exists I’d like to have a one on one with him so that I could give him a piece of my mind.” I turned back to see him staring at me with confused eyes. Seeing him on the dirty floor with dirt smeared across his face and his innocent eyes staring up at me I sighed. It hurt me to see something so pure die in such an unfair way but there was no way I was taking him with me, a kid like him would only get me killed. “Well see yah kid, this is where we part ways.” Turning back to the alleyway entrance I started to walk away until I heard him call out.
“Hey! Wait up.” I paused just long enough for him to catch up then started walking again without looking at him.
“What do you want?” I asked harshly.
He was quiet for a few moments until a cold breeze blew by causing him to shiver and pull his jacket tighter around him. “I was just wondering if-” He started but I cut him off.
“No.”
He frowned at my answer before mumbling out, “You didn’t even know what I was going to ask.”
Rounding on him I grounded out between clenched teeth. “You wanted to know if you could follow me.” A blush tinted his cheeks but he nodded his head anyway.
I started at him for a moment before turning on my heel and answering again with a firm, “No.”
After walking away for a bit I couldn’t help but glance back over my shoulder and what I saw was him staring at the ground while he tightened his slightly raised fist. I felt kind of guilty because I felt like I was leaving him to die but I knew that he would only cause problems if I brought him with me. Yes, he would be an extra set of eyes but poorly trained eyes that wouldn’t know what the hell he was looking at.
And with that I turned back around and set off down the road, I’d wasted enough time messing with this kid already and now I barely have enough to get back to building I’ve been staying in. Normally I took detour paths to get there so that if I was being followed then I would lose the pursuers along the way but with time running short I had no choice but to cut this detour in half. Luckily I knew this city inside and out so finding a new but equally hard path would be easy.
Not five minutes into walking I noticed that someone was tailing me. I tried not to draw attention to the fact that I knew they were there because I didn’t want them to rush at me, but I did speed up the pace quite a bit. Glancing back over my shoulder I could see the figure speeding up too, just when I reached a bend in the street I took off in a full blown sprint. I may not have the best form when it comes to running but it works for me and I’ve never once had anyone catch me. Well there was Inguk but he’s another story, I don’t really count him as a human being.
As I ran I leaned forward so that I could pass under smaller spaces easier and jumped over broken down chain-link fences. Finally I managed to climb up a rickety fire escape on a side of a building and I stopped and listened, I couldn’t hear the footsteps of my pursuer anymore. Standing up, I stretched my back and arms until I heard them pop and walked to a side of the roof, satisfied with my run and losing my unknown follower. I let a small smile grace my face before turning around to look over the city from the building I was on.
From where I stood I could see all the way down the street in both directions, with the fading light from the sun it gave the place a kind of bitter-sweet beauty. With no people polluting the place it seemed so empty and dead but that’s to be expected, if there were people still in this place; they went into hiding long ago.
But not that stupid kid…
Shaking my head I turned around getting ready to go down the other side of the building until I noticed a movement lower down. As I stepped closer to get a better look my eyes widened.
It was the kid from earlier, and he was scaling the fire escape in his best effort to get to the top. I watched with amusement when the guy made it to a landing about half way up and had to stop to breath, it was becoming painfully obvious that this guy wasn’t cut out for physical labor. I chuckled at his efforts thinking that there was no way this kid would make it all the way up, and was about to turn away until I saw him stand up straight and shake out his limbs. He looked like he was trying to talk himself up before he placed his hand back on the latter and started to climb the rest of the way up.
Perching on the edge of the building I watched as the ladder shook and slipped, when this happened the boy tightened his grip and closed his eyes. Seeing this, I knew that in no time at all he would turn around and head down where he knew it’s safe. That’s the problem with kids- they never take risks.
I was turning away again but to my surprise the boy clenched his jaw and continued up. He wasn’t looking up or down, he just kept his eyes on the ladder in front of his face. My guess was that he didn’t want to psych himself out.
Walking over to the edge where the latter ends I stood there and waited, a few moments later I see the kid pull himself over the ledge and lay on his back taking deep breaths. Nudging his side with my foot I see his eyes fly open and he scrambles to get to his feet.
Standing there panting I see a blush tint his cheeks before he looks me in the eyes and says, “I’m not dead weight, please let me come with you.”
I looked him in the eyes and sighed. “You’re not going to give up are you?” Before I even finished my question he was already shaking his head no.
Sighing again I looked the kid up and down and asked, “First off, what is your name and how old are you?”
Without hesitation his eyes lit up and he answered. “My name is Seungri and I’m fifteen.”
Oh God, he really is a child…
Pinching the bridge of my nose and exhaling I asked again just to make sure I hadn’t heard wrong. “You’re fifteen years old?” Looking up I see him nod his head eagerly and I continue with my questioning. “And that’s the only clothes you have?”
At that question he looked down and grabbed his jacket and pulled it away from his body some then looked back up to me blinking. “Well… yeah.”
A stupid child, I thought, correcting my last statement. I mean the idiot didn’t even see what’s wrong with this picture.
“God, don’t you get cold at night?” I asked him while shaking my head and he just scratched the back of his head and looked off to the side.
“A little, but I can handle it.”
Agreeing to take this kid under my care, may have just killed me.
I could’ve stayed there for hours pointing out how incredibly stupid he was in basically everything he had done up until now, but now wasn’t the time. In the few short moments I had been talking to him the sun already descended immensely in the sky.
We need to get moving… now.
With that thought I grabbed Seungri by the elbow and pulled him to the other side of the building. He looked confused but followed along anyway. When we reached the other side I pulled him to a stop and stared down the ladder thinking.
In my head I debated the pros and cons of letting Seungri lead the way down; for one he doesn’t know to look for trouble and even if I told him he wouldn’t know what to look for. On the other hand if I left him up here by himself he could get attacked or… could trip and fall off the side of the building. To me, those both seemed like very real situations. Cutting my eyes to Seungri on my left I saw him fidget with his jacket while he gazed down the ladder.
“Going down is easier, you know.” I told him; he glanced at me and gave me an embarrassed smile, but I just frowned and continued. “So stop looking like a weakling, that just makes you an easy target for attackers.” With that he lowered his head and nodded.
Letting go of his elbow I decided that it would be smarter if I went first, I didn’t really feel comfortable sending him off to do anything by himself, let alone scout for other people. Sitting down on the ledge I waited until I felt my feet land on a solid bar of the ladder before turning around and climbing down. Pausing so that only my head was above the ledge I looked up at a nervous Seungri.
“Okay look,” I told him. “I’m going down now so just wait until I call you then you can come down too.” He looked at me funny, kind of like he was worried so I reassured him. “It’ll be fine, just follow my instructions.”
“But can’t we go down at the same time?” He asked me with pleading eyes.
“No.” I told him firmly. “Didn’t you feel how unsteady the other side was? This one is just as bad, if not worse.”
And that’s the only reason I use it, because I know no one bigger than me or Seungri can follow me up.
“I did but…” He started to say but trailed off and looked at his feet.
Impatiently I urged him on, “But?” He still refused to meet my eyes and chose just to look off to the side. “Look, I don’t have all day and this thing sure as hell doesn’t either.”
Taking a deep breath he finally turned back to me and said, “Once you get down there you’re not going to leave me right? I mean you will wait for me to come down too… right?” I stared at him and saw him turn a darker shade of red as he tried to look anywhere but me.
You know, I never even thought of that… Looking back up at Seungri I sighed. He really is just a kid; he’s lost in this dying world with no one to turn too. How can I not take him with me, just to walk away knowing that without me he will surely die? I wonder if this is how Inguk felt when he saw me all those years ago.
“Seungri, I’m not going to leave you.” I told him and saw him look at me with hopeful eyes.
“You promise?” he asked while kneeling down so that he was at eye level with me.
As I looked at him again I noticed how young and innocent he really looked, with his round light brown eyes and the dark bags under them.
“I promise, kid.” As soon as I said that he grinned from ear to ear and patted my head.
“I’ll hold you to that.” I smacked his hand from my hat and started to head down. All the way down the fire escape I mumbled about useless little kids and the troubles they cause. Once I reached the bottom I took a quick look around then called up for Seungri.
“It’s clear so you can come down now.” "I ordered in a hushed voice, hoping that only he could hear. But as an afterthought I added, “Just try to be quiet.”
“Alright!” he yelled back down and I cringed at the volume of it.
As he made his way down I hoped that there really was no one around near us because for all the noise he managed to make, they would be on us like bees to honey. When he finally made his way all the way down I let out a sigh of relief. As soon as he landed on the ground he turned around and grinned at me like he did something right.
“How was that? Quiet, huh?”
Glaring at him I said, “If you think that was quiet then I’m going to have to rethink my decision to keep you around. You’ll definitely be the death of me.” At that he lowered his head and mumbled out a “sorry” and shuffled his feet. Looking out towards the street I saw how much the shadows had grown and I groaned. “Come on, we got to get moving now if we even hope to get there before the sun goes down.”
With that I grabbed the sleeve of his jacket and made him move forward again. I didn’t want to have to run, running caused too much noise, but we definitely had to power walk. At the moment I didn’t care if anyone saw us; we needed to get to my little hide out before it got dark so that I could get it ready for the night to come.
Luckily, we managed to get there with some time to spare, and I went straight to gathering the supplies we needed for tonight. This task was a very slow process, and it didn’t help that Seungri didn’t stop asking questions the moment we walked through the doors. Not even important questions like “How do you plan on surviving?” or “What are we going to eat tonight and how much?” just a bunch of pointless crap.
“How did you get your hair like that?” But that one was the last straw.
“Could you just shut up for five freaking minutes!?” I hissed at him and he cringed back a bit, but still followed me down the stairs to the lower floor because he was in charge of holding the light. Turning around the corner I walked back to a heavy door and pushed my weight against it. After countless tries, it finally gave way, and I took the light from Seungri and made my way into the dark room with him following tight on my heels.
“Wow, what is this place?” he asked as we walked farther into the room. We passed by all kinds of machinery that were locked up behind metal fencing. When I glanced back at him and he met my eyes, his own eyes widened, and he covered his mouth.
I looked at him for a little before I finally decided to ask, “What are you doing?” Lowering his hand I saw, even with the faint light throwing shadows across his face, that he was pouting.
“Well, you told me to be quiet.” Glaring at him again I told him to shut up and started moving forward again.
As I made my way to the middle of the room I shone the light on a big iron stove. Bending down I grabbed some pieces of wood that was stacked there. Opening the door I threw some in, and grabbed some newspapers that Seungri and I brought down and started to tear it into long strips.
“What are you doing?” Seungri asked leaning over my left shoulder which caused me to shudder at his closeness.
I replied in short with, “What does it look like I’m doing?” Shrugging his shoulders, he leaned even closer over my shoulder to see.
Pausing I look over at him and he smiled. “Ummm, a little space here? Unless you want your eyebrows burned off.” With that he pulled back but kept his eyes on me the whole time.
It was a little weird to have someone watch me like that; I was never really one for having people around me. I tried to brush it off and focus on what’s important, like getting this fire started and keeping our asses warm tonight. After a few failed starts I finally had the stupid thing burning at a steady flame.
Standing up I stretched my back and held the lamp out to Seungri. Jumping up from his spot on the floor, he bounced over to me and took the light right out of my hand.
“Good, can we leave now?” he asked practically running to the door beating me there.
“Yeah, but why?” I asked confused as to why he was in such a hurry to get away from the warmth.
Pausing at the door and waiting for me to catch he said, “Because it’s so dark and creepy down here, I want to go back upstairs.”
“It going to be just as dark upstairs you know.” I told him when I reached the door too but he didn’t seem to be listening as he ran down the hallway to the staircase waving me over.
“Quick, you’ve got to run!” He yelled at me.
“Why?” I asked as I reached the bottom step but he just took off upstairs.
Even though I could hear him running through the hallways I could still hear his faint answer.
“Because I’m tired and hungry!”
Shaking my head I thought, what have I done to deserve this?
After I had him fed and gave him a coat I found in one of rooms we were finally settling in, I was so tired but it seemed like Seungri had energy to spare.
“So why are we sleeping in this room? I mean, there are so many other rooms, why’d it have to be this one?” he asked from his bed on the other side of the small room. With his question I was reminded of how earlier when I was showing him around he had jumped on the bed of one of the rooms and said he claimed that one. To which I told him no, and that I already had the room we were going to use. I sighed and rolled over to face him, all we had was a weak flashlight to illuminate the room, so I could only see a faint outline of his features.
“Because heat rises and in this room we’re right above the stove.” I watched as he nodded along and I rolled my eyes. “You’re so stupid Seungri; you didn’t know that at all did you.”
I saw how he rolled over and drew his eyebrow together in a scold as he glared at the ceiling. “I’m not stupid…” He paused then rolled back on to his side and looked at me. “I don’t think you ever told me your name.”
Thinking back I realized I really hadn’t. I’m so used to people knowing me around the city since I had made a name for myself that it didn’t even come to my attention that he may not have heard about me. G-Dragon was the name to be exact, but that was in the past and I didn’t really like that name anyway. So I just decided to tell him my real name.
“It’s Kwon Jiyong.” After that he hummed in approval and started saying it under his breath. It was a whole minute before I finally stopped him. “Would you cut that out? It’s annoying.” To which he just chuckled.
“Sorry, I was just testing it out. So how old are you, Jiyong?” he asked me as he buried himself deeper into his coat and blankets.
“I’m nineteen,” I said then looked at him and saw that he had his eyes closed. “And you’re falling asleep,” I stated in irritation. “Don’t start conversations that you’re going to fall asleep in,” I said scolding him while huffing out a sigh.
“No, no.” he said with his eyes blinking open, while trying to suppress a yawn. “I’m not falling asleep, I swear I’ll stay awake.”
“Uh huh, I’m sure.” I said rolling my eyes; I give him seven minutes at most.
“It’s just that I haven’t been able to lie in a bed for the longest time,” He said while stretching, and I felt my heart sink. A kid shouldn’t have to go through all of this, but the world isn’t going to pick and choose who gets effected by the sun’s death. It pretty much sucks for everyone.
“Hey Ji?” I heard him mumble out, probably falling asleep at this very moment.
“What do you want?” I asked a little harshly but it didn’t seem to faze him. I looked over at him to see a sleepy grin spread across his face.
“I just wanted to say goodnight.” I looked at him with an expression somewhere in between confused and annoyed.
“Just go to sleep, you idiot.” With the smile never leaving his face he mumbled out an “okay” before digging deeper into his blankets and finally going to sleep.
I watched his face relax into a peaceful smile and his breath evened out telling me he was asleep before I turned my gaze towards the ceiling. There were so many things we needed to get tomorrow so I tried my best to make a mental list of it. It was basically everything I normally got but then times it by two; not that it was a difficult task but now I was more worried about whether or not, if the time came to it, we could run with all that stuff.
I looked at Seungri again and sighed.
I really hope this doesn’t screw me over in the end because I just couldn’t leave him there by himself. With no way he could protect himself and no one to turn to he was as good as dead, and now it would be on my conscience. I stared at him and I could only imagine how lonely it must be to die alone.
Part 2