This was a random idea of mine, seeing how I've been noticing a lot of Modern Yona of the Dawn AUs lately I wanted to take my own shot at this. I'd say the one that most inspired this is jaygirl987's Modern AU 'Where You Come From' and ViciousVentriloquist's 'There Ain't No Telling Who You Might Meet' go check those out ^^ I'll try to update this as I can, as I'm not sure where exactly I'm going with this, and this will feature my OC Valerie Nightmare that is shown in my Yona/Jae-ha Alternate Chapters Series and Love & War in the Dragon Family.
The rain was as cold as death. Yona lazily watched the water drops fall against the windshield of the car, the wipers clearing them as her brother Hak was driving in silence most of the trip. It was a good 3 or 4-hour drive to his place, but it beat spending the night in that house… As she was still seeing red. All the questions from the police didn't help. She had just witnessed her family murdered right in front of her eyes, and barely got away from the attacker as she was his next target. Lucky for her the police arrived just in time and her father's killer was caught, but she was still shaken up as she called her brother right away who picked her up from the station after they were done questioning her.
"Hey… I'm right here." Hak said, reaching an arm around her small frame to hug her shoulder, letting her lean her head upon his. "You're safe now, it's ok." He didn't know what else to say to her, she'd been crying so much she didn't even have any tears left now and had been shaking in fear most of the night.
"…. I'm sorry to bother you like this…" she choked, just barely getting her words out. "But I couldn't dare stay there after… I mean grandpa offered for me to come stay with him but…"
"It's fine, I called work right away and told Val I had an emergency." Hak replied, smiling briefly at her before turning his attention back on the road. "That's the good thing about dating the owner after all." He tried to joke, but lost the humor in his voice halfway. "It'll be ok. They got the bastard that did this… I'm just glad he didn't get you too… It's a good thing you and I used to spar so much as kids, I never expected you to use those lessons despite the old man's protests…"
Yona sobbed a bit thinking about her kind father, who basically wanted to lock her up and keep her protected. Ever since their mother died in a terrible car accident when they were young, their father was paranoid about his little girl. She was currently 18 and her father wanted her to start college soon, as Hak had done three years earlier when he moved out. She was looking into a college out of state, but her father insisted on her going to a local college to allow her to return home every day after her classes were done, worried about her living all on her own during those college years... They were just talking about possible colleges she might attend when the break-in happened and she barely dialed 911 in time.
The next thing she knew there was a gunshot and she saw crimson all over. Luckily the attacker's gun misfired when he pointed it at her and that was her chance, all her practice with her brother worked as she quickly grabbed the nearest heavy object to smash onto the man's head and got the gun away from him. When she went to check on her father though, she found it was too late and he was already gone. Once the police arrived, they found her clutching his hand and bawling her eyes out. They contacted her grandfather as she called her brother, and both arrived to comfort her during the confusion at the station. She'd have to come back for further questioning but they got the contact information from Hak and he agreed to bring her back tomorrow so they could finish their investigation.
"I'm sorry." Hak's voice pulled her out of her trance. "Maybe had I not moved out this never would have…"
"Don't…" Yona choked, grabbing at his shoulder. "… This isn't your fault or mine just… Why did this have to happen? How could anyone hate father…?"
Hak bit his lip as he twisted his mouth. "The old man made a lot of enemies in the company, especially when Uncle Yu-Hon was passed over as successor. It's why I wanted nothing to do with that when I moved out to live on my own. I imagine Soo-won will end up taking his place."
Yona stiffened a bit thinking of their cousin. He was usually sweet and she even had a slight crush on him when she was younger, but around the time his father died he started to get a bit colder, especially a few years ago when he blatantly rejected her foolish love confession saying he only saw her like a sister… Yeah that was embarrassing. "… Maybe it's for the best…"
Hak didn't reply, as he pulled up to his apartment complex. "Ok here we are. I'll get your things." He got out of the car and pulled out her bags from the trunk, as he had stopped at the house to get a few items for her before they left. They hurried inside since the rain was still coming down hard, and he led her to the second floor where his place was. It was a small apartment with a kitchen and living room, but one bedroom. After all, he was a man living by himself. "You go ahead and take the bed for the night, I'll sleep on the couch."
"Hak, this is your place, I can manage on the sofa…" Yona twisted her mouth at that.
Hak shook his head, closing the door behind him. "Not after the night you had, now just do it."
"… Alright." Yona had no strength to argue with him, heading into the bedroom and just dropping onto the mattress, gripping at the sheets as she started crying again. It was already almost 4am as she had been at the police station for hours. She didn't even bother trying to change her clothes, her eyelids were so heavy they closed right away and she drifted off to sleep after having protested passing out the whole way there… As each time she closed her eyes she'd see the dead body of her father over and over again. She woke up at least three times screaming from nightmares, each time Hak rushed in to comfort her until she'd pass out again. They both got hardly any sleep from the remaining morning.
Yona eventually woke up to the sound of her brother on the phone, her head a bit dizzy and still questioning if everything that happened was just a bad dream. But it was real as it all came back to her, she had cried so much last night her eyes ached terribly. She peered out the bedroom door as she saw Hak pacing in the front room on his cell.
"Yeah I've got to take her back to the police station today… No, I didn't get much sleep." Hak sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "They have to take another statement and gramps is coming over to help figure out what we'll do with the house. I also need to get the rest of her stuff. Sorry to do this to you Val, I'll make it up to you I promise." He cleared his throat after hearing whatever her response was. "Make Droopy Eyes work for a change, he owes me for covering that week and a half for him that time he… You know." He grumbled slightly. "He's your brother, you can usually make him do what you want." There was another pause. "… I'm fine, really. You worry too much, you know that? Alright I'll call you when I get everything sorted out… Love you too Val." He then sighed and just stared at his cell when he finished the call, then blinked when he noticed the door slightly open and Yona poking her head out. "… Hey, have another nightmare?"
The redhead shook her head, slowly stepping out. "… No. I'm sorry if I'm causing trouble for your job this way Hak…" she whimpered. It was currently the summer so at least Hak didn't have his college classes that he would have had to skip just to help her with this, as her brother usually spent the summer at his job instead.
Hak shook his head, coming over to pet her on the head. "Hey, it's my job as your big brother to protect you, right?" he smiled softly at her. "Don't worry about it. Val herself has four brothers, three of them are younger than her so she understands. In fact she's worried about you too."
Yona smiled a bit at that, she had met Valerie a few times when Hak brought her over when he would visit. The two had been dating for about a year now and their father had been curious if Hak was planning to marry Valerie anytime soon. And Yona liked Valerie, she was an interesting woman and Yona could talk to her about anything. Yona always wanted to meet Valerie's brothers as she often spoke of them, perhaps now she'd be able to, once they got everything sorted out.
"Why don't you go ahead and get a shower before we leave?" Hak offered as he poured himself a cup of coffee. When they had stopped at the house to get a few things he was able to get Yona to change out of her blood-stained clothes, but she didn't really freshen up. And since they got home so late last night he didn't even think of mentioning for her to bathe.
Yona nodded, grabbing the bag with some of her clothes and heading into the bathroom. She sat down for a moment, holding her legs as she silently sobbed a bit more, not looking forward to having to talk some more about last night, but it had to be done. After she freshened up, they were on the road back to the police station and the house from there, meeting up with their grandfather and agreeing it would be best to just sell the house at this point. After that it was a meeting with their father's lawyer who went over the will and life insurance, but their father was in immense debt. He had basically run the company into the ground, making deals of all kinds just to keep it going rather than file for bankruptcy. Sadly it didn't leave much of a trust fund for Hak and Yona, and the house would have to be sold just to cover the rest of his debt. As Hak figured, their cousin Soo-won would be the one to take over the company, as neither he nor Yona wanted anything to do with it, if it was even worth saving by this point.
Their cousin was yet to arrive, as he lived in another state and was on his way over. So they stayed at their grandfather's place until then and finished sorting everything out. Once they got everything set up and packed all of Yona's things into Hak's car, they headed back to Hak's apartment. Their grandfather, Mundok, had offered again for Yona to live with him for a while until she could find a place of her own, but Hak insisted he was fine with sharing with his little sister until she could get back up on her feet. They had a few stocks in the company that they got from their father they sold immediately for some cash along with a small trust fund left behind, so once they got back the next day Hak bought a new bed for Yona and had it placed in the bedroom, by the window across from his bed.
"Hope you don't mind sharing a room for a little while with me." Hak shrugged as they were unpacking. "Maybe once the rest of the money from the old man's insurance kicks in we can find a new apartment so you can have your own bedroom."
"…. It's ok, I don't mind sharing with you." Yona smiled softly. "It's like when I used to have nightmares as a kid and I'd come into your room to sleep by your side." She then frowned. "I'm just worried about taking away from your funds to finish college now."
"Eh, college isn't a big deal if I don't finish, you should go though." Hak shrugged his shoulders. "I mean my job pays rent and I get plenty of free food from there, so it's no big deal if I don't get a degree or anything like that."
"Not to mention the fact that if you marry Valerie you'll own part of the business." Yona couldn't help but slightly tease.
Hak blushed at that one. "H-Hey! Have you and the old man been gossiping with Val behind my back or something?!"
"When you brought Valerie over for Christmas and Easter last, father was wondering when you'd announce that you're going to marry her or that you got her pregnant." Yona giggled at the memory, but then tears filled her eyes just thinking about it. "… I miss him so much Hak…" she choked.
"…." Hak walked over and gave her a hug, stroking her long crimson hair. "… I know, me too. We'll get through this, I promise. I took the rest of the week off so we can just work on getting you settled here ok? But I do need to go check on something at work really quick so will you be ok here?"
"…. Can I come with you?" Yona asked, her eyes darting to the side. "… I… I'm scared of being alone right now…"
"… Alright, Val won't mind I'm sure. In fact I bet she'll be happy to see you again and introduce you to her brothers." Hak smiled, and they headed for his car.
They drove down to a restaurant with a large sign that read 'The Dark Dragon's Happy Hungry Bar & Grill' in bright colored letters of green, blue, white and yellow.
"So this is the restaurant Valerie owns?" Yona asked, she'd seen the outside once from pictures that were shown to her, but this was the first time seeing it in person.
"Yeah, she and her brothers built it about four years ago, took every cent they had to pull it off but they've been successful." Hak said with a proud smile. "I met Val for the first time when I tried the place out after my first night out here, and since she was looking for help I took the job right away…. You know the rest." He rubbed his cheek that was slightly red when Yona giggled. Valerie had been flirting with him since the day he started working there, and after two years she finally asked him out and he went for it, so they'd been dating ever since. "Anyway, when I called her this morning that we were back she said there was a staff meeting and hoped I'd drop in for just a moment. After that we can do whatever you want for the day, ok?"
"Alright, and I'd like to meet your co-workers." Yona said with a soft smile as they walked in.
There was a beautiful man with silver hair that rushed to the door when he heard it open. "Hello miss! Welcome! How many of you are in your party today?" he was holding a few menus and was dressed in a white tux with a blue tie. He then blinked when he saw who was behind Yona. "Hak! I didn't think you'd be in today."
"Hey White Snake, where's Val?" Hak waved him off.
The man looked completely irritated at that. "What have I told you about calling me that?! And who is this young lady with you? You better not be cheating on my sister or else I'll-"
"She's my sister, dumbass." Hak growled, rolling his eyes. "And it's not my fault your hairdo looks like a snake is crawling down your back, by the way is that a spider on your shoulder?"
"WHERE?!" the man jumped three feet into the air, slapping down his shoulders as if trying to brush off the imaginary bug.
Yona blinked at this exchange, then huffed and elbowed Hak. "I see you haven't changed one bit, Hak. Teasing people is always your hobby. There's no bug on him."
"Oh thank goodness!" the white haired man exhaled. "I apologize for that…" his cheeks flushed a little.
"It's ok, that was just my stupid brother's fault." Yona extended her hand. "I'm Yona, nice to meet you. You must be one of Valerie's brothers?"
"Yes I am, call me Kija." The man replied, shaking her hand. "I imagine you're here with Hak because he's checking in with Valerie?"
"Yeah basically." Yona replied. "Something about a meeting."
"Basically just going over the new menus." a younger boy stepped up with tan hair in a black shirt and a white apron. "That and I was trying out some new dishes. How are you doing Lightning Beast?"
"Huh?" Yona blinked at the nickname.
"I clean the tables and get the dishes done lightning fast, so Yoon here likes to call me the Thunder or Lightning Beast." Hak chuckled as he explained.
"You must be Hak's sister, Val mentioned he might bring you over." The tan haired boy said. "As your brother said, I'm Yoon, I'm the genius cook here that keeps the people coming back for more."
"Wow, you seem really young to be such a great chef!" Yona gasped. "You don't look a day over 15! Can you even work here? Or are you one of Valerie's brothers?"
"Hey that's just a result of my amazing good looks, I'm actually 17. And no, I'm not related to Valerie, she just hired me because I'm an awesome cook." The boy answered. "Anyway Hak, Val's in the back if you need her."
"Hey is that Hak I hear out there?" a voice came from the bar area. "I knew he couldn't stay away from here for long, and Valerie's been itching to find out when he'd stop by."
"I heard she got the whip out and made you cover for me, Droopy Eyes." Hak sneered as he stepped over.
A handsome man that matched Hak's height stood up from behind the bar's counter, in the middle of cleaning off a few glasses. He had long green hair in a ponytail and just smirked at Hak in response, he was in a navy-blue uniform. "Well Val has her ways of persuading me, she said you'd owe me one."
"You owed me one, remember?" Hak replied, leaning his arm over the counter. "Or do I need to remind you of that time those girls got you strung out on-" he was hushed by the green haired man's finger on his lips.
"Now we agreed that never happened, remember?" the bartender clicked his tongue, then smirked when he looked over Hak's shoulder. "Ahhhh so this lovely lady must be Yona, right? Val's told us so much about her but you failed to mention what a beauty she is, Hak."
"Because I know how you are." Hak replied with a grumble. "Yona this is Jae-ha, of all of Valerie's brothers watch out for this idiot."
"Oh Hak that's so harsh, your words wound me." Jae-ha said dramatically, placing a hand over his heart.
"Your reputation with women does merit Hak's concern you know." Kija said with a disapproving face.
"Yes, yes, brother dear." Jae-ha waved him off. "Can I get you something Yona? After all when Val and Hak get into things it can be a while, after all they're dying for contact with each other after a few short days..."
"Don't make it sound lewd like that…" Hak growled.
"Ummm, I'll take a Coke if it's not too much trouble." Yona took a seat on one of the stools. "Go ahead Hak, I can wait right here."
"No trouble at all, for a girl as cute as a button like you." Jae-ha winked, grabbing the soda for her.
"I'll keep an eye on him." Kija said as Hak sighed, heading to the back room with Yoon.
"So how are you doing?" Jae-ha asked, grabbing his towel and resuming cleaning glasses. It was currently empty in the restaurant as they had just finished their lunch rush so it was easy to just relax at the moment.
Kija took a seat next to the redhead. "… Valerie told us what happened and that you're moving in with Hak… I'm so sorry I can't imagine what it would be like to…" he gulped, unable to form the words.
"… I… I think I'm ok." Yona answered, taking a sip of the soda and lowering her head a bit. "It's just… So much happened at once, but I don't want to be a burden on Hak either…"
"Someone as lovely as yourself could hardly be a burden." Jae-ha said with a soft smile. "Hak always spoke fondly of you whenever he did bring you up, and Val said you were the most adorable thing ever, I must say I agree with her, don't you Kija?"
"O-of course!" Kija quickly said, seeming at a loss what to say.
"How old are you Yona? I know Hak just turned 21 a few months ago." Jae-ha asked.
"18, I just finished high school recently." Yona answered.
"Ah, our youngest brother just finished high school this year too." Kija noted.
"You should meet Lily when she's here, she's your age and I'm sure you two would get along great." Jae-ha brought up. "She's a waitress here, but she has the day off today. Actually where is Kaya…?" he blinked when he saw a dirty blonde boy looking under the tables. "… Zeno, what the hell are you doing?"
Yona turned around only to catch the blonde bang his head on one of the tables as he tried to pull back to stand up and answer. "OW! Well brother Shin-ah lost his pet again, Zeno was trying to help find it!"
"Not again…. If Yoon finds out he's going to have a fit." Kija sighed, holding his head. "We've told Shin-ah not to bring Ao in here because of health code reasons."
"Ao?" Yona blinked, a bit confused.
"Our little brother's pet squirrel." Jae-ha explained. "The little gal is totally attached to our youngest brother and follows him everywhere, used to get him in trouble back in high school. But the thing is as you know animals and food places don't mix, Yoon has a heart attack whenever the little dear is here."
"Ah, so is this the little missy?" Zeno strolled over to the bar area. "Zeno is pleased to meet the mister's sister!"
Yona blinked at the blonde's odd way of talking, but smiled. "Yes, my name is Yona, and I take it you're Zeno?"
"Don't mind Zeno, that's just the way he talks." Jae-ha chuckled. "Hey Shin-ah don't be shy, come say hi to Hak's sister!" he called out, and that's when Yona finally noticed a boy with short blue hair and glasses hiding over by the restrooms.
"Oh so that's Shin-ah?" Yona asked. "Hello there, I'm Yona." She waved. "… Is he ok?"
"Shin-ah has a problem speaking to people sometimes." Kija explained. "It's why he mostly cleans tables as the busboy. He's just really shy."
"I guess he opens up more to animals then?" Yona then felt a strange tugging on her foot, she blinked as she saw an adorable orange and white squirrel at her feet. "Oh! What an adorable little squirrel!" she cried, picking up the creature.
"Ah look at that, you found Ao." Jae-ha chuckled.
Shin-ah was suddenly over to Yona, looking at the squirrel in her hands. "…. Ao… Don't run like that again please…"
"Pukkkyyuu?" the squirrel tilted her head, then jumped from Yona's hands and onto the blue haired man's shoulder.
"She seems really attached to you." Yona smiled. "You must take really good care of her."
"…. She… Really likes you… You must be… Nice." Shin-ah nodded, seeming unable to say much more to her.
"So the four of you are all of Valerie's brothers then?" Yona noted, taking in each one with their different hair styles and wondering about them, especially Jae-ha's green hair and Shin-ah's blue, but shrugged it off. She couldn't help but notice how good looking they were, but she recalled how beautiful Valerie was so... "Hak mentioned Valerie had three younger brothers, so does that make you the oldest one?" she turned to Jae-ha.
The bartender laughed at that one. "Of course Val and Hak would call me the younger brother! Sheesh that's so like them, when me and Val are actually twins."
"Huh?" Yona blinked at that. "Wait how would that make you a younger one? I mean you seem like the oldest here of…" she was confused, figuring the reason when Hak said that he meant the other three were young if Jae-ha was the same age as Valerie.
"That's because Zeno is actually the oldest brother." Zeno spoke up.
"WHHHAAAATTT?! I thought for sure you were the same age as me!" Yona gasped.
Zeno chuckled at that. "Zeno just looks very young for his age, Zeno is actually 30. Brother Jae-ha is 25, brother Kija is 22 and brother Shin-ah is 18."
"Zeno! I haven't found her yet-oh!" a young woman stepped out from the back with short brown hair. "Sorry am I interrupting something?"
"Not at all Kaya! This is Hak's sister Yona, we finally get to meet her!" Jae-ha waved for the girl to come closer. "Yona this is Kaya, Zeno's wife and our best waitress ever."
"You're his wife?" Yona gasped. "Wow you both look so young!"
Kaya giggled at that. "Well I was young when we got married, I'm actually 28." She strolled over by her husband.
"How long have you two been married?" Yona asked.
"Zeno and Kaya will be married 10 years next month." Zeno replied.
"It's really nice to meet all of you." Yona smiled, quite enjoying meeting the small family that owned and ran this restaurant. She could see why Hak liked working here.
"My, my, you all got cozy fast." A voice hummed from behind the group. It belonged to a woman with dark red hair, darker than Yona's that smirked and held a hand on her hip. She was only an inch shorter than Hak who stood behind her, she was dressed in dark blue pants and a blue top. "Yona sweetie! It's been too long!"
"Valerie!" Yona brightened seeing the familiar face.
"Wow that was fast, going for a record how quick a welcome can be?" Jae-ha asked with a perverted glint in his eyes.
Hak glared as he tossed a napkin dispenser at the green haired man that he immediately caught before it impacted with his skull. "Not everyone likes to christen the backroom like you do, Droopy Eyes."
"That's because only the most skilled can do it without getting caught." The bartender countered.
Valerie strolled over and gave the young redhead a hug. "I'm so sorry about your father, how are you doing sweetie?"
"… I'm alright… Thanks to Hak." Yona replied, although she felt the urge to cry again at the mere mention of her father. "I'm glad to finally see here and meet your brothers after all this time."
"I wish it could have been under better circumstances…" Valerie sighed and shook her head. She then looked at her brothers with a twisted frown. "Alright you guys, break's over back to work before the dinner rush gets here!"
"I wasn't taking a break!" Kija protested, but then returned to the front when he heard a customer coming in.
"I never left my station." Jae-ha smirked, still cleaning glasses from behind the counter.
"…. Ok." Shin-ah reached for the broom he put aside and went right back to sweeping the floor.
"Oh right!" Kaya and Zeno rushed to the back right away to help Yoon.
"You guys really must get slammed sometimes with only the small amount of you." Yona brought up. "It must have been hard this week without Hak helping."
"Eh it's fine, he had some vacation time built up anyway." Valerie waved her hand off like it was nothing. "But we're always looking for more help that's willing to do the job. Anyway, why don't you two get something to eat here? My treat."
"Thanks Valerie." Yona smiled as Hak took a seat next to her.
"Are you doing ok?" her brother asked, obviously worried she'd break down crying again like she had the past two days.
"I'm fine, really." Yona reassured him as Jae-ha refilled her drink. "… Say Valerie, what kind of help do you need around here…?" she thought that she couldn't just rely on Hak's kindness forever, and perhaps the bit of work might help get her mind off the sadness. After all, her alternative was being alone in Hak's apartment while he went to work each day and she didn't want that. This way she could also pull her own weight and help with the rent. Besides, everyone here seemed pleasant to work with. It couldn't hurt to give it a try, right?