A/N: A really really HUGE thanx to everyone who has encouraged me to
continue this story (esp. Lia!). I suffered a bad case of writer's block
for quite a long period of time and I was given many ideas by lots of
helpful people. Well, this is a longer chapter than the last and it is more
in depth and centres more on Hwoarang and Julia.
If people don't like the way I've portrayed Ling Xiaoyu - that's fine -
just don't read the story! Anyway, this is an AU so I think I'm well in my
right to write my fanfic the way I want.
So thanks again everyone and also to Nathalie (Kikuyo Okiura) for putting
up this story!
Hope you enjoy the rest of the story and I look forward to seeing you in
reviews, ~Hwoarang_4eva~ (karma_chick14@hotmail.com) xxx
After refusing to obey several different rules, whilst breaking most of them and turning up late for classes in his normal street punk attire, Hwoarang had found school to be a breeze. Julia sighed as he strolled in yet again twenty-five minutes late for Trigonometry. He smiled charmingly at Julia whilst sweeping back his coppery locks with one hand and taking his place next to her. "Thank you for gracing us with your presence, Mr. Doo San," the Trigonometry teacher, Mr Mizunai, said shooting a stern glance back to the new student, before turning to the board and adding some equations in white chalk. "I was as of yet familiarising myself with the school grounds," Hwoarang shot back, looking nonchalant. Why should he have to be on time for something that just wasn't important to him? Rules were there to be broken; Hwoarang had always lived his life by that carefree philosophy. "Where were you anyway?" Julia asked, and then she shook her head already guessing the answer, "Never mind." "You know me too well," he grinned. Julia allowed herself a small grin at the Korean's jest. Her smile dissolved as she locked stares with Jin, who was staring at her dolefully. He immediately scowled and turned his head away angrily. 'Fine. Let him be like that,' she thought to herself hotly. At least one good thing of the day had been discovered; Julia and Hwoarang had been pleased to hear that Ling had gone missing or was simply refusing to attend school. Either way, it made life much easier for the both of them. After the shrieking of the bell had signalled the end of lessons for the day, Julia paused with Hwoarang at the stone steps to the entrance of Mishima Industrial High. "Trust me yet?" she asked hopefully. "Try again later," he laughed, shaking his head and walking away. "I will find out, Hwoarang! Mark my words!" Julia called after him. All she received was a dismissive wave of his hand and another laugh. Julia sighed, clutching her books tightly to her chest, she made her way down the stairs and immediately wished she hadn't, as she came face to face with Jin. "Um, hi Jin," she stammered. He nodded icily in response. Before either could say or glare anything else, a group of giggling girls interrupted them. "So, like, Julia, that cute new guy with the red hair - the one you hung out with today, you aren't, like, dating are you?" Hikaru, a bimbo in her own right, asked - setting a chorus of giggles around her group at the mention of the 'cute new guy with the red hair'. Jin bristled at the mention of his arch rival and spun around, walking briskly in the opposite direction. "Oh, Jin - wait," Julia called desperately, angry that the annoying interruption had to have occurred at that very moment. "So, Julia, about that guy - if you aren't dating, would you mind setting me up with him?" Hikaru asked again, with a flip of glossy hair, totally ignorant of the friction she had just caused. "I'll get you his autograph," Julia snapped sarcastically as she turned on her heel. She had positively had enough of school for one day.
Jin felt such a fool. His heart seemed as though it had been torn to shreds, which had only succeeded to trigger the anger inside him to double its potency. And it had infuriated him further to find out that he would now have to see Hwoarang's gloating face everyday at school. How he despised that Korean piece of trash, and seeing Julia with him was . . . unbearable. Even if she wasn't seeing Hwoarang, it still hurt as much to watch her befriend him. His entire school life had consisted of endless rows of screeching girls with nothing better to do than gossip, and finally he had found someone who had genuinely loved him but now he wasn't so sure. Jin had actually declared his love in return for another - the ONLY person besides his mother - and how had she repaid him after he had told her the truth? Julia had STILL run off after the Korean. 'I'll never forgive her,' he vowed to himself.
A few days passed uneventfully at Mishima Industrial High, much to Hwoarang's content and Julia's dismay. He was showing no signs in trusting her enough yet. But that wasn't the only thing eating Julia from inside. She sighed as she watched the handsome Japanese youth from a distance. Heart aching, she knew she still loved him. So much it hurt, in fact. 'This has gone on for long enough,' Julia thought, determined, 'I will see to it that Jin and I are at least back to being friends before this day is out.' Apart from missing Jin terribly, there was also the small but nagging matter of Ling Xiaoyu's absence. A shadow of suspicion had begun to grow in her mind; what was Ling planning to do? Another twisted little revenge plot no doubt. A swift dig to her ribs woke her from her train of thought. She looked up into the mischievous face of Hwoarang. "I had to do something - you looked like you were ready to grab a 2x4 and seriously punish someone," he grinned, "What was with the evil eye?" "I was thinking about stuff," said Julia airily, "Nothing important." "Hmmmm," Hwoarang wasn't convinced, he pushed across his bowl of ice cream, "Sugar is a good cure." "Cure?" "To whatever's bugging you," Hwoarang winked, "A hyper Julia is the best kind of Julia!" "Hwoarang!" Julia couldn't resist laughing. She was glad Hwoarang was here - she hadn't laughed in ages. Suddenly, Jin walked past the table they were sat at, immediately killing Julia's laughter. He glared coldly as he passed, especially fixing his narrowed eyes on Hwoarang. "You've got a bit of a squint there. Something wrong with your eyes, Kazama?" Hwoarang couldn't help saying; his picking-a-fight-with-anyone street punk attitude was on display. "Yes, they are unfortunate enough to be looking upon a face as ugly as yours. It's sickening," Jin spat, not bothering to turn round, blood boiling. "You ain't no basket of fruit yourself, Jinny-boy," Hwoarang stood up in challenge, fists clenched tightly at his sides, "I guess that's why you need to slather your hair in half a tub of gel every day so it holds in that freaky-ass style." "Why don't you come here and say that," Jin turned to face him, his voice in low deadly tones. "Stop!" Julia cried in disbelief at the increasing testosterone levels in the room, "Are you 19 or 9 yrs old?" She stood in-between the glaring youths, crossing her arms; she threw a look at Hwoarang. He gave a frustrated sigh. "Ah, you aren't worth my time anyway," he glared again at Jin and stood down. "Get out of my way, Julia," Jin growled. "No. Not until you stop acting like a spoilt child," Julia shot at him. He looked at her fiercely and walked away. So much for her plan to get him back on speaking terms with her again. But Julia wasn't giving up so easily. "Jin, you can't keep walking away from me. This needs to be sorted out," she stood in front of him. He pushed past her and entered an empty classroom. Sighing, she followed. "I don't know how this got to be so out of hand but can't we just forgive and forget?" Julia asked, her eyes pleading with him. "What's there to forgive?" Jin frowned at her, "Oh, only the fact that you're degrading yourself to a life form lower than a rock by hanging around that Korean." Julia felt a twinge of annoyance. "Jealous, are we?" she crossed her arms. Maybe talking would not to be able to solve things after all. "Things as they stand now look pretty bad on your part," she continued, "The only person you seem to give a damn about is yourself. Hwoarang may have his faults, but he's a good friend whilst you on the other hand don't seem to have many of those - I won't let you take his name in vain like that again in front of me." She looked him right in the eye to show that she meant exactly what she said. To Julia's surprise, he lunged at her, pinning her back against the wall in a tight vice-like grip. "And how exactly will you make sure I don't take his name in vain?" he hissed, eyes flashing dangerously, "An idiot like that is not worth protecting." He added, in nothing short of pure rage and jealousy. "Hwoarang is worth ten of you," she said defensively, whilst trying not to tremble under his violent grip, "He's been there for me, these past few days, when I've needed someone to talk to the most. Granted, he may not listen half the time but he's probably one of the closest friends I have right now." "Then you are a fool as well," Jin saw red, an anger he'd never felt before started to bubble and rise. In his fury, he crushed Julia's arms under his grasp. Julia gave a cry of pain and shock, as she saw a demon red consuming Jin's normally beautiful dark eyes. "Please, Jin, don't -" she uttered another scream of mercy when he did not reduce his grip on her. The next thing she knew, Julia had collapsed to the floor and could just make out Hwoarang's form throwing Jin back into the far wall; his attempt of trying to calm the crazed Japanese boy down. It worked. Jin immediately seemed to get a grip on reality as he shakily stood up and gazed down in concern at the beautiful Native American that he had just malevolently assaulted. Sharp pangs of remorse and guilt crept over him, almost until he was to the point of blindness. He stared at the girl he loved and choked out, "Julia - I'm so sorry. I-I don't know what came over me." Julia turned her gaze away; still too hurt both mentally and physically to say anything more to him. "Just leave," she murmured quietly. "Julia, please, just listen-" Jin started to advance towards her, when he was blocked by Hwoarang. "You heard what she heard," he snarled, as he yanked Jin to the door and roughly shoved him out, "Come near her again and I'll have you, Kazama." He glared threateningly before slamming the classroom door shut on the shamed Japanese youth. Hwoarang then knelt beside Julia. "Are you able to stand?" he asked, looking at her, whilst hidden concern flickered in his eyes. She nodded weakly and holding onto the redheaded Korean for support, Julia found she could stand again without sickening dizziness invading her head. Wincing, she traced the reddened skin on her arms. Julia was sure horrible purple bruises would soon pop up to gloat. "Erm, I heard everything. Thanks for defending me - you didn't need to," Hwoarang coughed out his words whilst avoiding her gaze. He wasn't good at moments like this. Julia shrugged. She had only been standing up for a friend, no big deal. "I think I've realised I can finally trust you," he said, at last looking back at her. Julia just stared wide-eyed at him. He sure took his sweet time to determine whether he was friends with someone or not! "Anyway, meet me at the Coffee Bar tonight at seven. If you still want to know everything then turn up," he murmured, hoping to God that he was doing the right thing. With one last glance in Julia's direction, he turned and left but not before he called back to her, "Am I only worth TEN of Jin? I think it could've been a bit more than that!" Causing Julia to smile for a second.
After refusing to obey several different rules, whilst breaking most of them and turning up late for classes in his normal street punk attire, Hwoarang had found school to be a breeze. Julia sighed as he strolled in yet again twenty-five minutes late for Trigonometry. He smiled charmingly at Julia whilst sweeping back his coppery locks with one hand and taking his place next to her. "Thank you for gracing us with your presence, Mr. Doo San," the Trigonometry teacher, Mr Mizunai, said shooting a stern glance back to the new student, before turning to the board and adding some equations in white chalk. "I was as of yet familiarising myself with the school grounds," Hwoarang shot back, looking nonchalant. Why should he have to be on time for something that just wasn't important to him? Rules were there to be broken; Hwoarang had always lived his life by that carefree philosophy. "Where were you anyway?" Julia asked, and then she shook her head already guessing the answer, "Never mind." "You know me too well," he grinned. Julia allowed herself a small grin at the Korean's jest. Her smile dissolved as she locked stares with Jin, who was staring at her dolefully. He immediately scowled and turned his head away angrily. 'Fine. Let him be like that,' she thought to herself hotly. At least one good thing of the day had been discovered; Julia and Hwoarang had been pleased to hear that Ling had gone missing or was simply refusing to attend school. Either way, it made life much easier for the both of them. After the shrieking of the bell had signalled the end of lessons for the day, Julia paused with Hwoarang at the stone steps to the entrance of Mishima Industrial High. "Trust me yet?" she asked hopefully. "Try again later," he laughed, shaking his head and walking away. "I will find out, Hwoarang! Mark my words!" Julia called after him. All she received was a dismissive wave of his hand and another laugh. Julia sighed, clutching her books tightly to her chest, she made her way down the stairs and immediately wished she hadn't, as she came face to face with Jin. "Um, hi Jin," she stammered. He nodded icily in response. Before either could say or glare anything else, a group of giggling girls interrupted them. "So, like, Julia, that cute new guy with the red hair - the one you hung out with today, you aren't, like, dating are you?" Hikaru, a bimbo in her own right, asked - setting a chorus of giggles around her group at the mention of the 'cute new guy with the red hair'. Jin bristled at the mention of his arch rival and spun around, walking briskly in the opposite direction. "Oh, Jin - wait," Julia called desperately, angry that the annoying interruption had to have occurred at that very moment. "So, Julia, about that guy - if you aren't dating, would you mind setting me up with him?" Hikaru asked again, with a flip of glossy hair, totally ignorant of the friction she had just caused. "I'll get you his autograph," Julia snapped sarcastically as she turned on her heel. She had positively had enough of school for one day.
Jin felt such a fool. His heart seemed as though it had been torn to shreds, which had only succeeded to trigger the anger inside him to double its potency. And it had infuriated him further to find out that he would now have to see Hwoarang's gloating face everyday at school. How he despised that Korean piece of trash, and seeing Julia with him was . . . unbearable. Even if she wasn't seeing Hwoarang, it still hurt as much to watch her befriend him. His entire school life had consisted of endless rows of screeching girls with nothing better to do than gossip, and finally he had found someone who had genuinely loved him but now he wasn't so sure. Jin had actually declared his love in return for another - the ONLY person besides his mother - and how had she repaid him after he had told her the truth? Julia had STILL run off after the Korean. 'I'll never forgive her,' he vowed to himself.
A few days passed uneventfully at Mishima Industrial High, much to Hwoarang's content and Julia's dismay. He was showing no signs in trusting her enough yet. But that wasn't the only thing eating Julia from inside. She sighed as she watched the handsome Japanese youth from a distance. Heart aching, she knew she still loved him. So much it hurt, in fact. 'This has gone on for long enough,' Julia thought, determined, 'I will see to it that Jin and I are at least back to being friends before this day is out.' Apart from missing Jin terribly, there was also the small but nagging matter of Ling Xiaoyu's absence. A shadow of suspicion had begun to grow in her mind; what was Ling planning to do? Another twisted little revenge plot no doubt. A swift dig to her ribs woke her from her train of thought. She looked up into the mischievous face of Hwoarang. "I had to do something - you looked like you were ready to grab a 2x4 and seriously punish someone," he grinned, "What was with the evil eye?" "I was thinking about stuff," said Julia airily, "Nothing important." "Hmmmm," Hwoarang wasn't convinced, he pushed across his bowl of ice cream, "Sugar is a good cure." "Cure?" "To whatever's bugging you," Hwoarang winked, "A hyper Julia is the best kind of Julia!" "Hwoarang!" Julia couldn't resist laughing. She was glad Hwoarang was here - she hadn't laughed in ages. Suddenly, Jin walked past the table they were sat at, immediately killing Julia's laughter. He glared coldly as he passed, especially fixing his narrowed eyes on Hwoarang. "You've got a bit of a squint there. Something wrong with your eyes, Kazama?" Hwoarang couldn't help saying; his picking-a-fight-with-anyone street punk attitude was on display. "Yes, they are unfortunate enough to be looking upon a face as ugly as yours. It's sickening," Jin spat, not bothering to turn round, blood boiling. "You ain't no basket of fruit yourself, Jinny-boy," Hwoarang stood up in challenge, fists clenched tightly at his sides, "I guess that's why you need to slather your hair in half a tub of gel every day so it holds in that freaky-ass style." "Why don't you come here and say that," Jin turned to face him, his voice in low deadly tones. "Stop!" Julia cried in disbelief at the increasing testosterone levels in the room, "Are you 19 or 9 yrs old?" She stood in-between the glaring youths, crossing her arms; she threw a look at Hwoarang. He gave a frustrated sigh. "Ah, you aren't worth my time anyway," he glared again at Jin and stood down. "Get out of my way, Julia," Jin growled. "No. Not until you stop acting like a spoilt child," Julia shot at him. He looked at her fiercely and walked away. So much for her plan to get him back on speaking terms with her again. But Julia wasn't giving up so easily. "Jin, you can't keep walking away from me. This needs to be sorted out," she stood in front of him. He pushed past her and entered an empty classroom. Sighing, she followed. "I don't know how this got to be so out of hand but can't we just forgive and forget?" Julia asked, her eyes pleading with him. "What's there to forgive?" Jin frowned at her, "Oh, only the fact that you're degrading yourself to a life form lower than a rock by hanging around that Korean." Julia felt a twinge of annoyance. "Jealous, are we?" she crossed her arms. Maybe talking would not to be able to solve things after all. "Things as they stand now look pretty bad on your part," she continued, "The only person you seem to give a damn about is yourself. Hwoarang may have his faults, but he's a good friend whilst you on the other hand don't seem to have many of those - I won't let you take his name in vain like that again in front of me." She looked him right in the eye to show that she meant exactly what she said. To Julia's surprise, he lunged at her, pinning her back against the wall in a tight vice-like grip. "And how exactly will you make sure I don't take his name in vain?" he hissed, eyes flashing dangerously, "An idiot like that is not worth protecting." He added, in nothing short of pure rage and jealousy. "Hwoarang is worth ten of you," she said defensively, whilst trying not to tremble under his violent grip, "He's been there for me, these past few days, when I've needed someone to talk to the most. Granted, he may not listen half the time but he's probably one of the closest friends I have right now." "Then you are a fool as well," Jin saw red, an anger he'd never felt before started to bubble and rise. In his fury, he crushed Julia's arms under his grasp. Julia gave a cry of pain and shock, as she saw a demon red consuming Jin's normally beautiful dark eyes. "Please, Jin, don't -" she uttered another scream of mercy when he did not reduce his grip on her. The next thing she knew, Julia had collapsed to the floor and could just make out Hwoarang's form throwing Jin back into the far wall; his attempt of trying to calm the crazed Japanese boy down. It worked. Jin immediately seemed to get a grip on reality as he shakily stood up and gazed down in concern at the beautiful Native American that he had just malevolently assaulted. Sharp pangs of remorse and guilt crept over him, almost until he was to the point of blindness. He stared at the girl he loved and choked out, "Julia - I'm so sorry. I-I don't know what came over me." Julia turned her gaze away; still too hurt both mentally and physically to say anything more to him. "Just leave," she murmured quietly. "Julia, please, just listen-" Jin started to advance towards her, when he was blocked by Hwoarang. "You heard what she heard," he snarled, as he yanked Jin to the door and roughly shoved him out, "Come near her again and I'll have you, Kazama." He glared threateningly before slamming the classroom door shut on the shamed Japanese youth. Hwoarang then knelt beside Julia. "Are you able to stand?" he asked, looking at her, whilst hidden concern flickered in his eyes. She nodded weakly and holding onto the redheaded Korean for support, Julia found she could stand again without sickening dizziness invading her head. Wincing, she traced the reddened skin on her arms. Julia was sure horrible purple bruises would soon pop up to gloat. "Erm, I heard everything. Thanks for defending me - you didn't need to," Hwoarang coughed out his words whilst avoiding her gaze. He wasn't good at moments like this. Julia shrugged. She had only been standing up for a friend, no big deal. "I think I've realised I can finally trust you," he said, at last looking back at her. Julia just stared wide-eyed at him. He sure took his sweet time to determine whether he was friends with someone or not! "Anyway, meet me at the Coffee Bar tonight at seven. If you still want to know everything then turn up," he murmured, hoping to God that he was doing the right thing. With one last glance in Julia's direction, he turned and left but not before he called back to her, "Am I only worth TEN of Jin? I think it could've been a bit more than that!" Causing Julia to smile for a second.