In the waiting room, Jin and Hwoarang stood on opposite sides, giving each other an occasional glare.
Hwoarang watched as Jin shook his head and walked out. He wondered where he was going but had no intention of following him.
Suddenly a doctor came out of the intensive care unit and strode briskly up to Hwoarang, "Julia's doing fine. She can have visitors go in and see her."
Hwoarang hesitated. He had no idea where Jin had stormed off.
"Uh, thanks. I'll go in now," he mumbled quietly.
He walked into the hospital room. He shuddered. He hated hospitals.
Julia turned her head, "Jin?"
Hwoarang shook his head. "I don't know where he is . . . "
Julia's eyes turned stony. "Get out," she growled.
Hwoarang looked at her. "Look, I'm sorry I did this. I had to . . ."
"I don't give a damn - just get the hell out!" Julia yelled.
"Bitchy chick," Hwoarang muttered to himself.
"And can you blame me?" Julia snapped.
"I said I was sorry. You wouldn't understand . . ." Hwoarang started.
Julia sighed in exasperation. "Go to hell. I don't want to hear any pathetic excuses you may have for teaming with Ling and doing this to me."
Hwoarang sighed heavily, mostly out of exasperation, and started to walk out.
Julia stared at him and then cried, "Wait!"
He stopped and looked at her quizzically.
Julia looked away, "I heard you and Ling talking – I was half conscious at the time."
Hwoarang avoided her gaze. "I know it was stupid but I didn't have any other way."
Julia nodded. "I know."
He walked closer to her. "Anyway, how are you?"
"A few bruises and ruptured stuff. Other than that, life's great!" Julia looked at Hwoarang's sorrowful expression and laughed, "I'll be outta here soon – don't worry!"
Hwoarang just nodded.
"Tell me what Ling has over you," Julia looked at him seriously, "What does she know that no one can find out about?"
Hwoarang stopped and stared at her. "I can't tell you," he looked away, "Don't ask why."
"Why?" Julia grinned. Hwoarang looked at her face and laughed.
Suddenly, before Julia could question him further, Jin entered the room.
Julia's heart leapt and her large brown eyes sparkled, "Jin!" she exclaimed happily.
Jin returned her smile and kissed her forehead, "How do you feel?"
Hwoarang smiled farewell to Julia on his way out. She smiled back and turned back to Jin, "Very very bad. I need lots of attention and expensive presents to make me feel better!"
Jin shook his head. "Girls!" then he scowled, "I'll make Hwoarang pay for this."
Julia grabbed his arm. "No, he's genuinely sorry. Ling knows something about him that he doesn't want revealed to anyone." She continued to fill Jin in on all the details.
"Any other person would have done exactly the same thing in his position," Julia reasoned.
Jin frowned. "Yeah but not to MY girlfriend."
"I know," Julia looked at him, "But its Ling I hate. She did this, not him. He was blackmailed."
Jin looked at her thoughtfully and walked out. A scowl formed on his face when he saw Hwoarang talking to two cops.
He saw Hwoarang look away when they asked him if he saw anyone attack Julia.
Jin immediately intervened. "Julia says the people who attacked her were masked and she wouldn't be able to recognise them."
The two cops looked at him and then at each other. "Did YOU see anything?" one asked.
Jin glanced sideways at Hwoarang. "No, I didn't. They had left before I got there."
Hwoarang looked at him in disbelief. Why was he covering for him?
"Fine. We'll question Miss Chang when she's ready," they both walked away.
Hwoarang turned to Jin. "Uh . . . thanks," he said hesitatingly.
Jin shrugged. "Now we're even." And he walked away.
After a week, with much insisting from Julia, she was released from hospital. She just wanted everything to go back to normal.
At school, Ling walked up to her with a smirk. "Why, Julia," she grinned, "Out and about so soon?"
"Sorry to disappoint you," Julia returned her sarcastic smile, then her face furrowed as she looked over Ling's face, "Why, Ling, I think you may have grown some extra pimples!"
A group of girls nearby overheard Julia's comment and burst into laughter.
Ling's face reddened and she immediately flipped out her pocket mirror, frantically looking for the grisly invaders – there were none. Scowling, she looked back up to Julia. She was nowhere to be seen.
As day turned into early evening, Julia waited for Jin on the school steps ready to walk home.
She waited for at least twenty minutes – most of the other students had left.
Just as she was about to give up waiting, Jin came running up to her. "I'm so sorry," he called breathlessly, "Run in with Ling." That explained everything. Julia had been having a lot of run-ins with Ling herself.
They decided to walk out to the park. Letting time slip away, they didn't realise it was so late, as they finally stopped engrossing themselves in kisses.
Ling had been watching them again, storming out of the shadows she shouted, "Fine Julia Chang! You may win this round but you won't be so lucky next time!" she tried not to cry or go hysterical, "I hope your mother's dead!"
Julia looked up in shock, "You bitch!"
"Why don't you ask your boyfriend where she is? It's HIS grandfather who's your mother's enemy!" Ling snarled, wiping her tears, she ran off in the other direction.
Pure horror swept over Julia.
"What?!? Heihachi Mishima is your grandfather?" She turned to Jin.
But she didn't even let him have time to form a sentence, in one strong movement, she forcefully pinned him to a nearby wall by his throat. "What have you done with my mother?" she screamed, trying not to let hysteria show in her voice.
He pushed her back. "I don't know anything about your mother!" he said in an equally emotional tone.
Julia trembled. "You KNEW how much I wanted to find her. I trusted you . . ."
"You still can," Jin broke in.
Julia shook her head. "From the very start you lied and not only that, I believed you. You said you didn't know who he was," she gave a cry of frustration, "Just stay away from me. As far as I'm concerned, as long as my mother hates your family I do too."
"Julia, please listen," Jin said desperately, he grabbed her arm, as she struggled to get away.
"I don't take orders from any members of the Mishima bloodline," her eyes hardened, even though tears were building up.
She turned away. She didn't want Jin to see how upset she was, "Let go of me!" she yelled, as she finally twisted free and broke into a run.
Julia ran blindly, her sobs choking her and her tears obscuring her view, overwhelmed by an immense feeling of sorrow and loss.
She had no idea where she was going, but saw the ship docks up ahead. She headed towards there and ran past a young man. He looked up in surprise, to see such a pretty girl looking so grief-stricken. Hey, she looks familiar . . . he thought.
Following her quietly, he tried to see her face. He could tell she was crying – she was slumped over some railings, her body was trembling as she wept.
"Hey," he said.
Startled, she looked up quickly and wiped her sleeve across her eyes. "Hwoarang!" she exclaimed.
He shrugged. "Who else did you think it was?"
"Well . . . Jin, actually," she admitted.
He laughed. "Nice comparison."
She tried to laugh, but instead burst into tears again.
"What's wrong?"
"It's a long story," Julia told him.
"Oh, I see. Well, if you don't wanna talk about it, that's ok . . ."
"Thanks. I really need to talk," Julia obviously wasn't listening to him.
Hwoarang sighed. "I should've just walked away," he muttered to himself. He wasn't very good at listening but figured he owed it to Julia.