I opened my eyes and saw Takeo, Tao, Frankenstein, Rai, and Gray.
"How did I get here?"
"Sunny, were you hit by gas too?"
"No." I looked down at my hand, and I had a cast. "I was out with my friends, and there was this man. Yuri. After a huge bang, he broke my hand while trying to pull me away. What did he do to me?" I started crying. Gray started moving towards me. "Don't even think about it. You're nothing more than a work colleague." I told him tearfully. I turned around and covered myself. I felt someone sit on my bed.
"Sunny. I don't think he did anything other than breaking your hand. You'll be okay." Shin-Woo sympathetically stated.
"When can we leave?"
"Someone found you outside where you were. They brought you in. You have to stay one more night for observation since it looks like you hit your head." Mr. Frankenstein said.
"Thank you," I told him. I felt nauseated and ran from my bed to the bathroom to throw up. I flushed then started washing my face. I heard the door close. Gray was standing there behind me. "What do you want?" I started sobbing.
"I just came to check on you. I'm sorry for disappearing and for what I said that day."
"I know he was sick, and you were close to him, but why would you do that? You just tossed me aside like I didn't matter at all."
"I didn't want you involved in that part of my life. I wasn't supposed to have been found, but he just happened to find me. I didn't know if he was sent for me or not. I was happy that he was back, but my instincts told me not to fully trust him."
"You could have told one of them to tell me. Instead, you didn't say anything at all. And you had the two of them avoid me. How would you feel if I did the same thing to you? Just disappear without saying anything. You were still talking to them, right?"
"I don't know what else to say. I feel very terrible about this whole thing. Because of me, you got hurt. I'm so sorry, Mi-Sun. I just hope you can forgive me someday."
"What? Your friend left so suddenly I matter again?"
"He didn't leave. He was actually here for the three of us. There's a chance all this was them trying to use you and the kids to get to us."
"Yeah, right. That's so convenient."
"Yuri. He was blonde, about the same shade as you. Was wearing glasses and a business suit." I looked at him and started crying again.
"What did he do to me?"
"He might have given you something to keep you unconscious. If they left you behind, then something must have happened to ruin his plans, and he had to drop you."
"And the others?"
"They were poisoned."
"Oh my god!" I cried out louder.
"You can't let any of them know that. Everything has to be normal for them."
"Did they do something to Rai too?"
"Why?"
"He seems a lot more tired lately. Was he poisoned too?"
"No. His is separate. He's just been under the weather lately."
"This is all just so much. So will you be leaving?"
"No. I have to stay here and make sure you and the kids are safe. It doesn't matter where I go. As long as they know I have you, they can always use you to lure me out. I'm staying so I can stop something like this from happening again. I'm really sorry for pulling you into my complicated life and for everything else." He clenched his jaw and teared up. He sat down while leaning against the door. I went to him and kneeled next to him.
"Do you regret meeting me?"
"No. I regret that my life was this shitty when I met you, and now, you're entangled in it."
"I knew you didn't have a normal life when I started talking to you. This is your normal life. I guess I'm just part of your normal instead of the other way around."
"Unfortunately, my normal puts you in danger."
"Then I guess you're stuck with me now." He pulled me to him and hugged me. I pushed him off and ran back to the toilet. "You pulled me too fast."
"Sorry. Just how much did you drink?"
"I don't remember. Did you find my phone? There was a huge boom, and Haru was missing. He broke my hand because I was trying to go look for her. I need to call her."
"It's by your bed. She called, and I think Shin-Woo answered."
"Is she okay?"
"She is."
"I got it!" I exclaimed.
"What did you get?"
"Your last name."
"What do you mean?"
"Since my parents are coming in for my graduation, I'm sure they'll want to know your full name."
"And what name did you come up with?"
"Hairo."
"That's a first name."
"Yes. But you're Japanese, right? The formal way to say your name would be Gray Hairo. But everywhere else, you'd be Hairo Gray. And you can say that you go with Gray because that's what you were used to."
"Gray Gray?"
"Hey! I spent a lot of brain hours on this ingenious idea. How about you toss some suggestions my way."
"I've never really thought about last names."
"You still want to find your real name, right?"
"Yes. How is your work coming along?"
"My portfolio?"
"Mhmm…"
'Pretty great, actually. I almost have everything I need to finish up. After that's done, I can say goodbye to homework forever. I'm also excited that you'll be meeting my parents pretty soon too!"
"That makes me a bit nervous."
"Really?"
"Tao mentioned that I'm supposed to make a good impression. What if I say the wrong thing?"
"I highly doubt you should worry about saying the wrong thing. My parents are more likely to say the wrong thing than you are. Also, I'd like to apologize beforehand. You will be around more than three Hans, so you're going to face the most unique experience in your life."
"What does that mean?"
"My dad likes to make inappropriate jokes, and my mom piles on. They're like a terrible comedic duo."
"What does that mean?"
"I'll let that be a surprise." He chuckled. "But they'll probably love you. First off, you have that badass scar meaning you can fight. Say you can outfight Shin, and you'll be golden in my dad's eyes. And I can outtalk you, meaning my mom will like you. She said I should always try to find a listener."
"Why would your dad like the fighting thing?"
"Him and Shin's dad have a little rivalry going on in terms of who can fight better. Obviously, Shin has the upper hand right now. But if I put you in the equation, then the two of us can take him down, meaning better fighters on this side of the family. If you ever wonder why I know how to fight…that's why. My skills were a product of a sibling rivalry."
"That's interesting. And the listener thing?"
"Oh. It's not exactly the listening part. It's that you don't talk too much. She said she'd hate for me to add someone else who talks too much." I got off the desk and went to sit on his lap. "And I like you, so they better like you too. The whole point of what they were trying to say is that I should find someone who listens and protects me. That's you."
"I like to listen because there's a lot that you teach me. And since it's usually stuff you are interested in, then it helps me understand you better. Plus, I like hearing your voice."
"Is that why you always let me keep talking all the time? You never really say anything when I keep blabbering on about stuff that doesn't make a lot of sense to you."
"Most of the time, I do know what you are saying. But mostly, I just like the sound of your voice."
"Thanks for saying that."
"I'm not just flattering you. It's the truth."
"Hello. Where might your destination be today?" The blonde guy at the gate cheerfully said to me.
"Someone new and enthusiastic about the job. Nice!"
"As one should be in such a position. As the first face representing this establishment, I must maintain a positive demeanor to ensure a pleasant visit for all guests."
"Okay. You're my kind of person. Mi-Sun Han. The English tutor."
"Karias. It's a pleasure to meet such a lovely lady such as yourself."
"I like you, Karias! You keep having a pleasant day." I told him and left him with a smile on my face. When I stepped into the building, I met the other three. "I see you all put the best man in charge of the gate."
"Of course, you'd like him," Tao said.
"He's chipper! Ready to take on the day!"
"Uh-huh…"
"Someone could take a few pointers." I teased Gray as I nudged him with my shoulders.
"No."
"That's not a positive attitude I hear from you, Mr.!" I giggled. He looked at me and shook his head. "I will see you all later. I've got young minds to enrich."
After the tutoring session, I met them again. This time, they were outside the building with Karias.
"I won't be able to come over today. We have to go to an appointment that might go late." Gray informed me.
"It's okay. I might be busy for a while. I still have some work to do on the remaining part of my portfolio. Just stop by whenever you're free. But don't leave me alone too long."
"Okay." I kissed him goodbye and noticed Karias looking at us adoringly.
"Ah…young love. It's quite fascinating to witness close hand. Is she your wife? Mate? Companion?"
"Okay…you're a little weird. I'm gonna go now."
I spent a few days working and was finally close to finishing the last bit of schoolwork I will have to do. I hadn't seen Gray in those days, so I decided to go to his place for a visit. I walked into a full house.
"Whoa. I didn't know it was a full house here." I knew everyone in the kitchen and dining area but not the living room. There was a girl with dark black hair and red eyes, just like Rai's. "Hello, Rai! You're looking much better! Feeling much better, I hope?" He nodded. I looked at the new girl. "Hello. I'm Mi-Sun." I gave her a friendly smile. She had that same calm, elegant demeanor that Rai had, and she nodded at me. "Okay. Another shy one. Nice to meet you, regardless." I then turned to Regis' grandfather. "Hello, Mr. Regis' grandfather. Nice to see you again, sir." I smiled at him, and he nodded. I started walking back to the dining room.
"She is not like the others. I do not sense anything unusual about her." The new girl said.
"She is a friend of Frankenstein's and related to one of the children." Regis' grandfather responded.
"Also, a lot of the others here," I added. I walked to the kitchen to greet the others. "Karias. Nice to see you again. And…You're new. Are you a student too?" I said to the other blonde. He looked to be the same age as the high school kids.
"You would dare to address me?!" He said in a bratty tone.
"Rael. She is a friend to HIM."
"You mean…"
"Yes."
"Okay…You know. You're a bit too old to be throwing tantrums at strangers."
"How dare you…."
"Wait! I have just the right thing!" I jovially said to him. I dug around my backpack and found a lollipop. "Here you go."
"What is this?"
"Oh. It's a lollipop. Whenever my mother was looking for a bit of peace and quiet, she would give me one of these. I hope it helps you out." I grinned at him and walked to Gray's room. I found a pair of sweatpants and changed into them, then started working on my laptop. I ended up falling asleep in the middle of the work I was doing.
"Mi-Sun?" I heard Gray call me. "Mi-Sun?" He gently shook me.
"Hmmm?" I slowly opened my eyes. "Hey," I whispered to him.
"I heard you were here. Did you need something to eat? You must have been tired."
"Yeah. I worked through the past two nights. I'm so close to being done. I was just resting my eyes."
"You haven't slept in two nights?!"
"I'll sleep once I'm done."
"Take a break and have some dinner. You'll think clearer."
"Okay. Thank you." I walked with him to the kitchen and got myself some food. I was dressed too casually to feel out of place on the dining table, so I went to the living room where Takeo, Tao, Gray, and the brat were eating. The brat was glaring at me. "Hello…" I looked at him, waiting for him to say his name. "What's his name?"
"Rael."
"Hello, Rael. You really shouldn't be that angry at the dinner table. That's how you end up accidentally choking on your food." He furrowed his brows deeper, and I grinned at him yet again.
"Sunny!" Shin-Woo called me from the living room.
"I can hear you just fine. What do you want?"
"I'm hungry!"
"You just ate practically an hour ago. Where the heck happened to all that? And you haven't even gone anywhere."
"I was going to the convenience store. Wanna come?"
"I could use a break. I haven't been out all day. And I am kinda hungry too." We left the apartment and headed to the store.
"Hey! Ye Ran kid!" We both turned around to see who said that. As we turned, one of them took a picture.
"Did you just take a picture?" I asked him.
"Who are you?" Shin-Woo asked.
"You must be from Ye Ran since you turned around." One of the guys said. His friend looked at the phone, then back up at him, and nodded while smiling.
"It's him!"
"Great. That means we won the bet!"
"Do you know what this is about?" I asked Shin.
"Beats me." He turned to look at them. "Why did you stop us? What is this about?" The guys didn't answer. We shrugged and started walking away.
"Hey! You can't just leave! And it's so good that you brought along your pretty little girlfriend."
"Huge fan of compliments but no. We are related, so that's a pretty gross assumption. Anyway, we're leaving."
"We've been wandering the streets looking for you for hours." One of the guys told Shin-Woo.
"We really wanted to see you." His partner said.
"I guess you kids just aren't getting enough homework, are you?"
"Who are you again? I don't know you."
"We don't, but our friends are looking for you. They'll be here soon." Three guys showed up from behind them. One of them had a bandage on his face.
"You got in another fight, Shin?"
"He was grabbing Ik-Han. What else was I supposed to do?"
"Who are they?"
"They lost against us at the PC room. They were mad about it." I let out a huge, exasperated sigh. Several other kids had started showing up.
"You mean to tell me that all these kids are here because you won in a video game."
"Pretty much." Shin-Woo looked at the leader of the group. "I thought we ended this?"
"That's because you caught me by surprise. But now it's different."
"I can't believe I have to beat up a whole bunch of high school kids because of a stupid video game."
"Sorry, Sunny."
"Just be glad I'm not wearing my sandals."
"Hey, guys! What's going on?" Someone called out from the back of the crowd.
"We have something to take care of. Some kid from Ye Ran pissed us off, so we're taking care of it. Looks like he's got his sister with him too. She's a cutie."
"All these guys just to take care of one guy and one girl?" The person talking had rushed to the front of the crowd. As soon as he saw us, his eyes widened with fright. "Hey! That's Shin-Woo Han and his cousin. You need to stop this!" He shouted at them. The boys ignored him and started running at us.
"Fuck them up!" One of the boys shouted. We started taking them down one by one. The scared boy raised his voice louder.
"THAT'S ENOUGH! STOP IT!" He shouted at the boys we hadn't taken down yet.
"Have we met before?" Shin-Woo asked him.
"Long time, no see, Shin-Woo."
"Were you guys looking for me too?"
"No! We just saw the crowd and wanted to see what it was all about,"
"Your friends robbed a bunch of kids from my school. I'd like all their stuff back."
"I'll get the stuff and give it back to you."
"I still can't believe I had to beat up a bunch of high school kids."
"If anyone mentions she was here, we'll be coming back for you! Got it?!" Shin-Woo shouted at all of them.
"I don't think they'll be telling anyone they got beat up by a girl smaller than them." We continued our walk to the store.
"I can't say that wasn't an adventure."
"My parents are coming to town next week! I'm so excited!"
"I don't think I'll have any work so I can meet them."
"Good. I'm also done with my portfolio, so I have nothing else to do. I should get something for Tao. He really helped me out with my site,"
"I think you helped him more. He kept asking me what you did on your computer all the time. At the very least, you helped me."
"You're hilarious." I sassed as I yawned.
"Does this mean you'll start getting more sleep? You have been really tired a lot lately."
"I did beat up a whole bunch of high school kids yesterday."
"Even before that."
"I'm probably just readjusting to a new sleep schedule and playing catch up with my sleep deficit."
"Maybe you can ask the boss to check you out. He usually helps us when we aren't doing too well. Since we can't really go to a regular hospital."
"I'm not drastic yet. Speaking of how's Rai doing? I noticed he's back to looking tired. I thought he was doing better."
"He has some good days and some bad days, but nothing too worrying."
"Just checking," I said in the middle of a yawn. "I'm gonna take a nap. Do you mind coming to get me for dinner?"
"Okay. If you're still like this after a week, then can you at least let the boss check you out?"
"Fine. I will."