"Hwoarang? Come on Hwoa, wake up!"
He awoke to the sound of Baek frantically shouting his name and slapping his face. His head hurt like a bitch. Hwoarang groaned and sat up, his head spinning.
"Welcome back." Baek said, and looked around the room "What the fuck happened here?"
Hwoarang followed Baek's gaze and looked around the sitting room. It was a mess. Every drawer had been emptied on the floor as though someone had searched them, and items usually found in the bedroom had found their way here too. Even the kitchen was in a state that looked like a bomb had hit it. Baek supported him and lifted him to his feet.
"Come on Hwoa, get it together," he said. Hwoarang slumped onto the couch and leaned over the side. Baek noticed his hair was matted with blood and moved it to check the wound. The feeling of the movement combined with the throbbing headache and dizziness made Hwoarang feel nauseous. His mouth watered, the he threw up on the carpet and fell back into the couch.
"Shit..." Baek muttered "Don't fall asleep Hwoa, you're concussed." He fetched a cloth and cleaned up the vomit, then helped Hwoarang to the bathroom and positioned him over the toilet, into which he threw up again. Baek took the flannel from the sink and began to clean up the bloody congealed mess in Hwoarang's hair.
"Kazuya..." Hwoarang muttered, "Where is he?"
"Who's Kazuya?" Baek asked. Gently cleaning the wound with antiseptic wipes he found by chance the medicine cupboard.
"Jin... I have to tell him... I've got to find Jin..."
"Ohh hold on, you're not going anywhere." Baek instructed, "You're in no state to go running off after people. Who's Kazuya anyway?"
Hwoarang sat against the wall.
"Jin's father. He's a fucking psychopath. He's not human. He was here, and he's after Jin now..."
"He did this to you?"
Hwoarang looked down at the tiled floor, biting back the anger and embarrassment. He felt sick again.
"Yeah." he mumbled "Yeah, he did. Not such a good student after all am I?"
Baek smiled.
"No, a bad student would have totally given in on himself. You on the other hand want to go after Jin and warn him, don't you?"
Hwoarang nodded in agreement. The sickness had gone now.
"And you probably want to give Kazuya back as good as he gave you because that's just how you are, and I'm not going to bother trying to advise you otherwise because it's just going to go in one ear and out the other."
Hwoarang had to agree with that. It wasn't in his nature to let people get away with things like this. He stood up, and waited to regain his balance. He had a quick drink of water and went to get changed. He put on his leather jeans and his favourite top, the purple one with the rams head on the back. If he was going to kick some ass, he may as well look the part. He picked up his keys and leather bike gloves, and dug out his cyber-esq. eye goggles that served no other purpose than to keep his hair back, he didn't approve of looking like a fly. He still felt slightly groggy, but he wasn't about to let that stop him now. Baek accompanied him down to the parking lot. Hwoarang swung his leg over the saddle of his bike and started it up. He sat back to pull the wrist straps of his gloves tighter.
"Don't you ever wear a helmet?" Baek asked.
"No" came the answer "they give me hat-hair." He grinned at Baek who ruffled his hair playfully.
"Wouldn't matter, it's always a mess" he said, "Now, get lost. And good luck."
Hwoarang kicked his heel up, dislodged the bikes stand and put his feet on the rests. The bike rolled slowly forward a bit before he gave it more gas and it shot like a bat out of hell out of the parking lot and through the streets.
Hwoarang wasn't paying attention to the direction in which he was going. He knew that if Jin was still in the town, or anywhere near it, he would find him regardless. He ignored the traffic lights and road signs, gave no leeway when he should have and totally forgot that pedestrians have right of way on pelican crossings. Some inconsiderate prick decided at one point to get out of his car and give Hwoaang a piece of his mind. The driver was short and fat, reminding Hwoarang of Bernie, although this guy was cleanly shaven and wearing a business suit. He slammed the door of his Jag and stalked towards Hwoarang.
"What in the name of Hell are you playing at?!" he spat, his face turning scarlet. Hwoarang didn't even bother to look at him.
"Piss off buddy" he growled, "I'm in no mood for bullshit."
"How dare you speak to me like that? You youngsters have no respect for your elders!" the driver continued. Hwoarang looked up and glared evilly at him, then a bitter smile crossed his lips.
"If you don't fuck off and mind your own business, then I don't know what I'm going to do. I'm feeling pretty unstable right now, so it'll probably involve snapping your neck. So go forth and multiply, okay?"
"I've a good mind to call the police!"
Hwoarang grinned sadistically and reached into the man's breast pocket, took his cell-phone out and handed it to him.
"Knock yourself out," he said, then kicked the bike back into action and took off down the road out into the surrounding countryside.
As it turned out, Mr Jag-driver was as good as his word, and it wasn't long before Hwoarang heard the overly familiar sound of sirens somewhere back down the narrow country lane. He groaned inwardly. It would be easy to loose them out here though; the area was one big thicket of trees and not to many open spaces. He gave the bike a little more gas and followed the twisting road blindly. For all he knew, he could be totally lost within the next hour with no hope of finding his way home, but best not to think of that now.
'Just follow your instincts, Hwoa' he told himself 'you'll find him. Everything will be fine.'
It was getting dark now, and rain was falling making his grip on the handlebars slippery. His fingers felt slightly numb with the cold and he found himself wishing he had picked up his jacket. The rain lashed at his face and wet tendrils of hair whipped in his eyes. He rode until he reached a split in the road. He took one look and took the left one. The road sloped down here into a valley, and a farmhouse was nestled just out of sight of the road. Hwoarang turned into the gravel drive and rode up to the house. The rain was beating down hard, and he hugged himself for warmth. The house looked old and deserted...wait. No, not deserted. Someone was in there. He pushed the bike into the bushes at the side of the house so it was totally out of site, and then opened the houses' front door. It squeaked on its old, rusted hinges and Hwoarang listened in case he had disturbed whoever it was that was in here. He held back a sneeze as he stepped in; the place was as dusty as his vinyl collection. The floorboards creaked eerily. He stopped and looked into the uninviting darkness ahead of him. Something in the shadows moved.
'A cat' he reasoned 'a bloody big one though. Okay, a dog then, maybe a fucking wolf or a bear.' He argued with himself in his head, then was distracted when he heard the rustle of wings. Big wings.
'An owl, a falcon, an eagle...' he thought, panicking. He didn't like this one bit. Whatever was making the noise took form suddenly and stood up. The figure of a person appeared in the shadows. Whoever it was, they made Hwoarang feel pretty damn petrified. He started to step back slowly so as not to draw attention to himself. A loose floorboard creaked loudly under his feet and he froze. The figure turned and Hwoarang got the feeling it was staring right at him.
"Um, hi err... sorry if I'm intruding, I'll just go okay?" he stammered, backing up faster now.
"Hwoarang?"
"Jin?"
Jin stepped out of the shadows. He looked tired, run down and had the tell tale look of a man who had gone without sleep for longer then was probably appropriate. He smiled weakly and sank back to the floor. Hwoarang hurried over and kneeled down next to him.
"Christ you're in a right state" he muttered. Jin drew his knees up and leaned with his back to the wall behind him.
"So are you" Jin replied. He reached a hand up and gently ran his fingers over a gash just above Hwoarang's eyebrow. "What have you been getting yourself into?"
"That's what I need to tell you actually" Hwoarang started "I had a bit of an encounter with your dad."
"What? With my father?" Jin said. Hwoarang nodded.
"Yeah. He was looking for you and when I told him I didn't know where you where, he just kind of went ape-shit on me. The bastard K.O'ed me, ransacked my apartment then left me there to bleed to death."
Jin looked furious. "That bastard. This is all my fault Hwoa, if I hadn't left this wouldn't have happened!"
"No Jin, if you hadn't left he would have found you and done god-knows-what to you. I'd rather you were relatively safe."
Jin smiled and Hwoarang hugged him as tightly as he could without hurting himself anymore. He knelt in front of Jin so he could face him properly.
"Speaking of finding me" Jin said, "how did you manage that exactly?"
"I guess I just kind of followed my heart" Hwoarang replied, and grinned at how cheesy he sounded. Jin laughed at him and stood up.
"Come on" he said, holding out a hand o pull the redhead up too "we should get going if Kazuya is still looking for me, it wont take him long to find me here."
"You're right, it didn't take long."
Jin turned to the door, startled. Hwoarang yelped and jumped back. Kazuya loomed in the darkness before them. No one made a move, least of all Hwoarang who wasn't up for another round with Kazuya. After the initial shock, it was Jin who spoke first.
"What do you want?" he questioned, somehow managing to keep his cool. Kazuya made a step forwards and Jin retreated slightly. Kazuya let his defences down.
"Look," he said, "I'm not here to fight you or anything of the sort, I came to warn you Jin."
"Warn me? And in the process you had to assault Hwoarang who was just trying to help me?"
Kazuya glared at the Korean who was taking refuge behind his son. Hwoarang smiled weakly.
"I apologise for that. It was the devil..."
"Don't give me that 'devil' bullshit!" Jin exploded "I've heard it all before! You just can't take responsibility for your own actions!"
"You know what I mean when I say that devil made me do it." Kazuya said much more calmly that his son "It happens to you too and as much as you want to deny it, the devil is a part of you. You may have managed to contain it better than I up until now because of your mother's blood, but sooner or later you will do something you live to regret and you can't help that!"
Hwoarang had lost track by now. Devil? What did they mean? He thought about, and had a brief flashback.
~*'My head hurts...I think I'm bleeding'
'Where's Kazuya? What are you? You're not human! Get away!'
'He's insane'
'He doesn't realise what he's doing'
'He's a fucking demon!'*~
Everything suddenly made sense. Back at the apartment, Kazuya had seemed like he had no control over his actions, then he was gone and there was...a demon. A huge demon complete with wings, horns and scales. That was him? That thing was Kazuya in his devil form. And that meant that Jin had devil blood too.
"Holy fuck" he muttered. Jin looked back at him.
"What is it Hwoa?"
"You mean to tell me that you become a big, slavering demon thing just like he does??" he screeched, pointing accusingly at Kazuya.
"Slavering? I do not slaver!"
"No, not quite" Jin explained.
"And just when were you planning on telling me this?! After you put me in hospital or something?"
"No Hwoa, I just didn't know how to tell you, it's not something I can just tell anyone you know!"
"Yeah, no shit!"
"Listen Hwoa, I love you and I would never do anything to hurt you!"
"Sure! You wouldn't but what about devil? He'd probably get a kick out of beating me to death with a golf club!"
"You love him?!"
Jin turned to look at Kazuya, who was stood with a bemused expression on his face.
"Yes. I love him, got a problem with that?"
"No, not really" Kazuya said, "It just explains why you never showed any interest in that Xiaoyu girl."
Hwoarang was slowly starting to calm down. Everything was fine for the time being, just probably best not to upset either Jin or his dad.
"So anyway" he interrupted the squabbling pair "what was it that you had to warn Jin about?
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Oh my it's all getting rather dramatic lol. So what does Kazuya have to tell Jin? Does this mean the end between him and Hwoarang? Why can't I get inspiration enough to do my art for school? Answers in the next chapter!!! Kaine xx
He awoke to the sound of Baek frantically shouting his name and slapping his face. His head hurt like a bitch. Hwoarang groaned and sat up, his head spinning.
"Welcome back." Baek said, and looked around the room "What the fuck happened here?"
Hwoarang followed Baek's gaze and looked around the sitting room. It was a mess. Every drawer had been emptied on the floor as though someone had searched them, and items usually found in the bedroom had found their way here too. Even the kitchen was in a state that looked like a bomb had hit it. Baek supported him and lifted him to his feet.
"Come on Hwoa, get it together," he said. Hwoarang slumped onto the couch and leaned over the side. Baek noticed his hair was matted with blood and moved it to check the wound. The feeling of the movement combined with the throbbing headache and dizziness made Hwoarang feel nauseous. His mouth watered, the he threw up on the carpet and fell back into the couch.
"Shit..." Baek muttered "Don't fall asleep Hwoa, you're concussed." He fetched a cloth and cleaned up the vomit, then helped Hwoarang to the bathroom and positioned him over the toilet, into which he threw up again. Baek took the flannel from the sink and began to clean up the bloody congealed mess in Hwoarang's hair.
"Kazuya..." Hwoarang muttered, "Where is he?"
"Who's Kazuya?" Baek asked. Gently cleaning the wound with antiseptic wipes he found by chance the medicine cupboard.
"Jin... I have to tell him... I've got to find Jin..."
"Ohh hold on, you're not going anywhere." Baek instructed, "You're in no state to go running off after people. Who's Kazuya anyway?"
Hwoarang sat against the wall.
"Jin's father. He's a fucking psychopath. He's not human. He was here, and he's after Jin now..."
"He did this to you?"
Hwoarang looked down at the tiled floor, biting back the anger and embarrassment. He felt sick again.
"Yeah." he mumbled "Yeah, he did. Not such a good student after all am I?"
Baek smiled.
"No, a bad student would have totally given in on himself. You on the other hand want to go after Jin and warn him, don't you?"
Hwoarang nodded in agreement. The sickness had gone now.
"And you probably want to give Kazuya back as good as he gave you because that's just how you are, and I'm not going to bother trying to advise you otherwise because it's just going to go in one ear and out the other."
Hwoarang had to agree with that. It wasn't in his nature to let people get away with things like this. He stood up, and waited to regain his balance. He had a quick drink of water and went to get changed. He put on his leather jeans and his favourite top, the purple one with the rams head on the back. If he was going to kick some ass, he may as well look the part. He picked up his keys and leather bike gloves, and dug out his cyber-esq. eye goggles that served no other purpose than to keep his hair back, he didn't approve of looking like a fly. He still felt slightly groggy, but he wasn't about to let that stop him now. Baek accompanied him down to the parking lot. Hwoarang swung his leg over the saddle of his bike and started it up. He sat back to pull the wrist straps of his gloves tighter.
"Don't you ever wear a helmet?" Baek asked.
"No" came the answer "they give me hat-hair." He grinned at Baek who ruffled his hair playfully.
"Wouldn't matter, it's always a mess" he said, "Now, get lost. And good luck."
Hwoarang kicked his heel up, dislodged the bikes stand and put his feet on the rests. The bike rolled slowly forward a bit before he gave it more gas and it shot like a bat out of hell out of the parking lot and through the streets.
Hwoarang wasn't paying attention to the direction in which he was going. He knew that if Jin was still in the town, or anywhere near it, he would find him regardless. He ignored the traffic lights and road signs, gave no leeway when he should have and totally forgot that pedestrians have right of way on pelican crossings. Some inconsiderate prick decided at one point to get out of his car and give Hwoaang a piece of his mind. The driver was short and fat, reminding Hwoarang of Bernie, although this guy was cleanly shaven and wearing a business suit. He slammed the door of his Jag and stalked towards Hwoarang.
"What in the name of Hell are you playing at?!" he spat, his face turning scarlet. Hwoarang didn't even bother to look at him.
"Piss off buddy" he growled, "I'm in no mood for bullshit."
"How dare you speak to me like that? You youngsters have no respect for your elders!" the driver continued. Hwoarang looked up and glared evilly at him, then a bitter smile crossed his lips.
"If you don't fuck off and mind your own business, then I don't know what I'm going to do. I'm feeling pretty unstable right now, so it'll probably involve snapping your neck. So go forth and multiply, okay?"
"I've a good mind to call the police!"
Hwoarang grinned sadistically and reached into the man's breast pocket, took his cell-phone out and handed it to him.
"Knock yourself out," he said, then kicked the bike back into action and took off down the road out into the surrounding countryside.
As it turned out, Mr Jag-driver was as good as his word, and it wasn't long before Hwoarang heard the overly familiar sound of sirens somewhere back down the narrow country lane. He groaned inwardly. It would be easy to loose them out here though; the area was one big thicket of trees and not to many open spaces. He gave the bike a little more gas and followed the twisting road blindly. For all he knew, he could be totally lost within the next hour with no hope of finding his way home, but best not to think of that now.
'Just follow your instincts, Hwoa' he told himself 'you'll find him. Everything will be fine.'
It was getting dark now, and rain was falling making his grip on the handlebars slippery. His fingers felt slightly numb with the cold and he found himself wishing he had picked up his jacket. The rain lashed at his face and wet tendrils of hair whipped in his eyes. He rode until he reached a split in the road. He took one look and took the left one. The road sloped down here into a valley, and a farmhouse was nestled just out of sight of the road. Hwoarang turned into the gravel drive and rode up to the house. The rain was beating down hard, and he hugged himself for warmth. The house looked old and deserted...wait. No, not deserted. Someone was in there. He pushed the bike into the bushes at the side of the house so it was totally out of site, and then opened the houses' front door. It squeaked on its old, rusted hinges and Hwoarang listened in case he had disturbed whoever it was that was in here. He held back a sneeze as he stepped in; the place was as dusty as his vinyl collection. The floorboards creaked eerily. He stopped and looked into the uninviting darkness ahead of him. Something in the shadows moved.
'A cat' he reasoned 'a bloody big one though. Okay, a dog then, maybe a fucking wolf or a bear.' He argued with himself in his head, then was distracted when he heard the rustle of wings. Big wings.
'An owl, a falcon, an eagle...' he thought, panicking. He didn't like this one bit. Whatever was making the noise took form suddenly and stood up. The figure of a person appeared in the shadows. Whoever it was, they made Hwoarang feel pretty damn petrified. He started to step back slowly so as not to draw attention to himself. A loose floorboard creaked loudly under his feet and he froze. The figure turned and Hwoarang got the feeling it was staring right at him.
"Um, hi err... sorry if I'm intruding, I'll just go okay?" he stammered, backing up faster now.
"Hwoarang?"
"Jin?"
Jin stepped out of the shadows. He looked tired, run down and had the tell tale look of a man who had gone without sleep for longer then was probably appropriate. He smiled weakly and sank back to the floor. Hwoarang hurried over and kneeled down next to him.
"Christ you're in a right state" he muttered. Jin drew his knees up and leaned with his back to the wall behind him.
"So are you" Jin replied. He reached a hand up and gently ran his fingers over a gash just above Hwoarang's eyebrow. "What have you been getting yourself into?"
"That's what I need to tell you actually" Hwoarang started "I had a bit of an encounter with your dad."
"What? With my father?" Jin said. Hwoarang nodded.
"Yeah. He was looking for you and when I told him I didn't know where you where, he just kind of went ape-shit on me. The bastard K.O'ed me, ransacked my apartment then left me there to bleed to death."
Jin looked furious. "That bastard. This is all my fault Hwoa, if I hadn't left this wouldn't have happened!"
"No Jin, if you hadn't left he would have found you and done god-knows-what to you. I'd rather you were relatively safe."
Jin smiled and Hwoarang hugged him as tightly as he could without hurting himself anymore. He knelt in front of Jin so he could face him properly.
"Speaking of finding me" Jin said, "how did you manage that exactly?"
"I guess I just kind of followed my heart" Hwoarang replied, and grinned at how cheesy he sounded. Jin laughed at him and stood up.
"Come on" he said, holding out a hand o pull the redhead up too "we should get going if Kazuya is still looking for me, it wont take him long to find me here."
"You're right, it didn't take long."
Jin turned to the door, startled. Hwoarang yelped and jumped back. Kazuya loomed in the darkness before them. No one made a move, least of all Hwoarang who wasn't up for another round with Kazuya. After the initial shock, it was Jin who spoke first.
"What do you want?" he questioned, somehow managing to keep his cool. Kazuya made a step forwards and Jin retreated slightly. Kazuya let his defences down.
"Look," he said, "I'm not here to fight you or anything of the sort, I came to warn you Jin."
"Warn me? And in the process you had to assault Hwoarang who was just trying to help me?"
Kazuya glared at the Korean who was taking refuge behind his son. Hwoarang smiled weakly.
"I apologise for that. It was the devil..."
"Don't give me that 'devil' bullshit!" Jin exploded "I've heard it all before! You just can't take responsibility for your own actions!"
"You know what I mean when I say that devil made me do it." Kazuya said much more calmly that his son "It happens to you too and as much as you want to deny it, the devil is a part of you. You may have managed to contain it better than I up until now because of your mother's blood, but sooner or later you will do something you live to regret and you can't help that!"
Hwoarang had lost track by now. Devil? What did they mean? He thought about, and had a brief flashback.
~*'My head hurts...I think I'm bleeding'
'Where's Kazuya? What are you? You're not human! Get away!'
'He's insane'
'He doesn't realise what he's doing'
'He's a fucking demon!'*~
Everything suddenly made sense. Back at the apartment, Kazuya had seemed like he had no control over his actions, then he was gone and there was...a demon. A huge demon complete with wings, horns and scales. That was him? That thing was Kazuya in his devil form. And that meant that Jin had devil blood too.
"Holy fuck" he muttered. Jin looked back at him.
"What is it Hwoa?"
"You mean to tell me that you become a big, slavering demon thing just like he does??" he screeched, pointing accusingly at Kazuya.
"Slavering? I do not slaver!"
"No, not quite" Jin explained.
"And just when were you planning on telling me this?! After you put me in hospital or something?"
"No Hwoa, I just didn't know how to tell you, it's not something I can just tell anyone you know!"
"Yeah, no shit!"
"Listen Hwoa, I love you and I would never do anything to hurt you!"
"Sure! You wouldn't but what about devil? He'd probably get a kick out of beating me to death with a golf club!"
"You love him?!"
Jin turned to look at Kazuya, who was stood with a bemused expression on his face.
"Yes. I love him, got a problem with that?"
"No, not really" Kazuya said, "It just explains why you never showed any interest in that Xiaoyu girl."
Hwoarang was slowly starting to calm down. Everything was fine for the time being, just probably best not to upset either Jin or his dad.
"So anyway" he interrupted the squabbling pair "what was it that you had to warn Jin about?
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Oh my it's all getting rather dramatic lol. So what does Kazuya have to tell Jin? Does this mean the end between him and Hwoarang? Why can't I get inspiration enough to do my art for school? Answers in the next chapter!!! Kaine xx