...JIE..
He was fifteen now. A man you could say. He loved reading. Reading was a passion that filled him. He wasn't the only who loved to read. The girl he fell head over heels for had the same interests as him. It was as if he found his ideal girl. He always liked her. From the day he first laid eyes on her, his heart would always skip a beat to the point where he couldn't contain his joy in seeing her. He hadn't seen her in five years. Yeah, it was a little ironic for him to have fallen had over heels for the princess. Not just her looks but the way she presented herself. She wasn't stuck up. She was like any other person. Well, not so much like any other person. He could go on and on.
There was one little problem, her friend Takim and her shared something he couldn't explain. So he pushed his feelings in a place where they wouldn't effect their friendship. He may have not liked the fact but a friendship was better then nothing.
He blew some of his dark strands of hair out of his face. His hair had curled at one point. His eyes were a piercing green. All the girls around him would always stare at him or try to place a move on him. He calmly and cautiously rejected each and every single one. He may have eyes for one girl but in all honesty he thought he was too young to taking into the ideals of being in a romantic relationship. His sister on the other hand was a completely different story.
As he continued walking home, he saw a familiar face.
He narrowed his eyes to make sure it was the right person.
'Is that... Yeah it has to be, that is definitely Jung. I haven't seen him around in ages... Ha... I'm not that old Jie, you could only wish...actually... Err.'
He quickened his stride, just to confirm if he was right or not.
To his astonishment, it was he.
He snorted.
'What's he to my mom? I mean... Yeah, he'd make a cool dad... But he isn't and never will be... She says they are just friends but I believe something different, I've tried to get answers so many times. Nothing. Seems like he grew a beard... Is he a convict now? Is he up to something? Oh spirits... What if...'
He pushed his thoughts away. He continued walking along. It was best to leave him alone. It wasn't his business to stick his nose in what he didn't belong in. There would be a day he, his sister, and mother would know what Jung, Takim, and Rui are always so secretive about. One day, they would know. Again it wasn't his business but they were friends with them right?
He sighed.
He really didn't know. He and his sister met Rui and Takim when they were really young and after that it kind of progressed into a friendship they would tell things to each other but ever since Rui left things were pretty melancholic. He missed seeing her smile at them. The way she would try to explain something to his sister. The way she eloquently spoke to his mother.
'Here we go again Jie, she'd never be interested in being more than friends. We'll always be friends, always and if she isn't the right one then there's plenty more girls out there... Right?'
... MO LI...
She had gotten home long ago. What was taking her brother forever? She tossed the book that she was reading on the other side of the couch.
She had a re-found passion for literature. It was something she shared in common with her brother and Rui. Rui read a lot of books and she had recommended a few to her. No wonder Jie was all goo goo ga ga for her. She was smart, pretty, rich, beyond rich to be exact, and she was down to earth. Everything a boy wanted.
She was still waiting. She didn't want her hormones to be all over the place. If a guy were to come up to her, well she didn't know what to do. She out did most of her male peers. Plus they hadn't really caught her attention. She was older than Jie by a five minutes... Yet she was the immature one.
'You need to have a sense of humour, you can't always be dull and drab.'
She laughed at herself.
'Ah, good one Mo Li. Good one.'
She stretched her legs and arms and yawned.
What was her brother doing? It doesn't take that long to get to they're home. The longest it would take would be thirty minutes.
She fiddled with her hair tying it and untying it. She started to bend a piece of metal that was lying around. She had made it into a butterfly, into a bird, and into a replica of her brother.
"I'm sorry, I'm late..." She imitated Jie's voice which had gotten deep.
"OH, you're sorry? WELL, we'll see how sorry you are. COME HERE!"
"Oh, please, have mercy on me Mo Li. I didn't mean to..." She muffled out his voice.
She broke the piece of metal.
'This is why you never played with dolls. Pfft, I didn't play with dolls because I liked making fun of Jie.'
She laughed again, only for her brother to laugh at her in the distance.
"JIE! How long have you been standing there?" She asked him.
Since they were kids he had a knack of hiding and observing.
"From when you were making me apologize and when you were yelling at me, oh and when you broke me," Jie said.
She threw cushion at him.
"Well, you're lucky I won't actually brake you," she said crossing her arms and narrowing her eyes at him.
"You'll be one good creepy stalker Jie,"
He gave her a smirk but it quickly disappeared.
"Apparently there's an uprising in Republic City. It's pretty bad, Mo Li and knowing mom she won't show up around here for a good bit. I'm kind of worried... Not just for her but..."
She cut him off.
"Jie, we can't do anything. You know mom; she's pure evil when we disobey her. Don't you remember when we were kids and trashed the place? We had to clean! CLEAN!" She said irritated on where Jie was going with this.
"Mo Li, this could be our chance to see her and maybe figure out who our dad is,"
"No, I'm the one who's suppose to be the immature one, the one with a stupid idea to make our mother upset not you..."
Her brother was grinning from ear to ear.
She shook her head.
"We'll go when it's needed. Besides, she's old enough to take care of herself and us... Plus we would need to have back up. Dibs on Rui and Takim. You can have Jung," she said as she got up and walked towards the door.
Leaving her brother flabbergasted.
"Now let's go, We have an old friend to meet up with."
She heard him sigh which brought a smile on her face. It's like a little reunion that's going to happen.
...
They weren't the only ones who were anxious to see their friend. Takim had already been at the fountain for a good bit. He was staring off into the distance, deep in thought. Mo Li knew better to disturb someone when they were thinking deeply.
They stood there, waiting.
Mo Li didn't like waiting. She had her mothers no patience policy. While her brother was Mr. Patient.
The fountain had become a place where they had all departed and met up at. It was where most of the time something interesting happened. She smiled just thinking about it.
...JIE...
He was probably smiling like an idiot. Strangely, Takim stayed quiet and emotionless. They were all quiet, waiting. His sister on the other hand was fidgety. The sun was setting along the horizon. The last person to show up was Jung.
"She's not here yet," Jung said with a sigh.
All three of them turned to look at him.
In return he arched an eyebrow at them and looked past them.
"I spoke too soon." Said Jung.
There she was walking at a steady pace, her hair was much longer and it looked a bit darker then it's normal soft brown, soft curls that flowed down to her waist. He hadn't realized it but it should have been much longer. When she was finally facing all of them, her pet was at a lingering distance, watching all of their movements. Swaying it's tail.
"So, no one's going to initiate the first greeting?" Rui said with a melodic and alluring tone that would have hypnotized any boy.
"What do you expect? We haven't seen you for five years, FIVE YEARS!" Mo Li exclaimed.
Rui laughed.
"I always did like that about you, you would state the obvious. It's nice too finally to see you, sorry that I was late, I know how impatient you can be," Rui teased.
Jie had no idea on what to say or do. He was debating if he should hug her or not.
"Jie!" His sister yelled.
"Huh?" He replied.
"Jeez, spacing out already?"
"Oh, uh... I-It's nice seeing you Rui, how was your five year trip?" He asked nervously.
He watched as how she tilted her head to the side and smiled.
"Pretty boring but what can I say, I have to oblige to the royal deeds. Seems like you've grown your hair too. And a little leaner," Rui teased again.
He blushed and ran a hand through his hair.
"Y-yeah..." He sheepishly replied.
He watched how she teased Jung about his new look, and finally looked at Takim. Who was being way too quiet then normal but Rui knew how to open people up. Another trait that Jie liked about her. Too bad he couldn't gather up the courage to ask her to be his girlfriend.
...
They had celebrated her return. He had realized that after they met up, Takim had opened up a bit more. Talking about his internship, asking how we all were. He was the new Mr. Mystery. Well... not that much but he was acting like one.
'Mo Li might like that new nickname... No she won't, she hasn't really made up a nickname in ages...'
He focused his attention back on whatever they were doing. Apparently it was saying goodbye to the trio.
As he waved goodbye, he remembered his conversation with his sister.
"Mo Li are we only going to go if we're need from our mother right?" He asked as they walked home together.
He heard her sigh and annoyed sigh.
"Basically, that's what we have to do. Unless you want to bend the rules of something, and my dibs are still in place," she said with a yawn and a good arm stretch.
"What if something bad is happening right now? Just from listening about the stories of these "Equalists" just... I don't know; it gives me these weird vibes..." He said in an explanatory way.
She yawned again.
"Stop being paranoid, we'll go if she's truly in trouble. Wait what am I saying she'd be furious at us. And I prefer my head on these lovely shoulders. Thank you very much Jie,"
They left that conversation at that. He couldn't help it if he worried over his mother. There was another reason why he wanted to go and he guessed that would have to wait. It was strange how his sister never really talked about their dad. Wasn't she curious?
"Mo Li... Aren't you the least bit curious about how our dad looks like?" He asked her straight forward.
He watched his sister inhale.
"Sometimes... but you know mom. I still remember that time she said 'It didn't matter' and you were all, 'It does matter'... Maybe he's not worth finding out about. He perfectly has a new family apparently..." She reminded him coldly.
"Yeah but he doesn't even know that we exist Mo Li. So technically, we do need to know about him and he has the right to know about us. I know, I'm being a little self-centred but... I'm curious." He exclaimed.
His sister snorted and shook her head.
"That's our mother's job, Jie. I'm curious too but why waste our time on a man we don't even know about and he must of broke mom's heart so bad that maybe that's why she doesn't mention him when we've asked,"
He sighed.
"Can't they let bygone's be bygone's?" He muttered.
"Like hell that I would know. First of all, let's just leave it at this. I mean, really? I feel like punching you square in the face,"
"You're... I'm not even going to finish. Fine, we'll leave it at this..."
He resigned. He gave up in these little arguments with his sister. It was like talking to a rock. Didn't she want to know about their father? It isn't necessary for their mother to keep a low profile and all about the man. A lot of questions popped in his head. What could be the reason? He would never know. Unless he pressured something out of his mother. Then that would be the day he would know something and look into it. For now, making sure things were all right between him, his sister, and his very few friends close to him.