Merry Christmas everyone! I got an Ipod, and so, yeah I've been pretty distracted with it. But here we are, another chapter, shiny and new, and shiny! And new! But anyway, HERE IT ISS, BRAND NEW CHAPTER, EVERY-BODY'S HAVING FUN...

--------------------------------------------

"Minaaaaaa!!!!!"

Yunsung charged towards the north gate of Ayutthaya, pulling an outrageous face and clawing the air like a monster upon sight of his half-friend half-nuisance Mina. She didn't look quite herself- he could see that she was holding herself differently, bent over slightly as if downhearted. Nevertheless, she gave a small smile as he administered a crushing hug to her spine.

"Get...off...me...you...ass!"she breathed, finally breaking out of his hug.

"Mina!" Yunsung shouted gleefully again.

"S'm'name." she said uneventfully, "You look happy!"

"What 'choo doin' here?" he asked, and poked her lightly on the nose, "And you don't look happy!".

"I'm not."

"Why? Why so sad?"he laughed, clipping her chin softly with his knuckle.

"My boyfriend hit me, if you must know." she said very quickly. As Yunsung stared at her, registering it as the truth, and she shrugged like she did if she had failed a meaningless test way back at school. "Oh." Yunsung said blankly, thinking hard.

She sighed again and began to wander, swinging a small leather bag she had in her hand to and fro, staring at the ground for some kind of sympathy. "It's OK, though. I think he realized his mistake once his arm wasn't working any more..." she still looked quite sad. Yunsung, who was never good with feelings, wasn't sure how to react or what to say. It was more difficult with Mina, who was very good at snappy retorts, and might respond wrongly to whatever he tried to convey. He could always match her though, and with that in mind, he slung his arm across Mina's shoulders, which were level with his.

Fortunately, yet unexpectedly, she stepped a little closer to him. She took hold of his hand on her shoulder, and pulled it down her chest so she could hold it. She made a comforted noise which Yunsung had never heard before. It also made her seem more girl-y than he had ever seen her.

"Ah, dear, how interesting." he said monotonically, "Who's a little baby now...?"

"Shut up, Yunn." she said, a croak appearing in her voice, "Can't you see? I'm not in the mood."

"Sure, he hit you, but you tore his arm up." he said earnestly, "He got his comeuppance. You don't have to care about him anymore."

He heard her sniff, "I didn't want to cut his arm up..."And he knew he'd taken things a bit too far.

Yunsung pulled her around into his shoulder and put his arms around her, something he'd rarely done except if he was teasing her, and something she would have usually tried with him, for to only get shoved away. She was unusually accepting, pulling her bag around his back with her arms, so they were in their first true, meaningful hug in the whole of their fifteen-year friendship. Yunsung, who was feeling a tad uncomfortable, heard her mutter, "I love you, Yunsung. I love you loads"

"Eugh." he laughed quietly, but not letting her go.

"Yunsung, you ever thought of loving me?" she asked, looking up at him and grinning softly.

He thought briefly, "Yes. Once." he declared, "I promptly threw up."

"Ha! Good stuff!" she punched his chest and he let go. She kissed him on the cheek roughly, and he with one sharp swipe wiped it with his hand. "So, what are you doing here?"

"Oh, well, just had nothing to do I guess, and I couldn't live at home any more, so I came here to look for a nice guy. Hmm..." she was staring over at a group of boys.

Yunsung was very glad Mina wasn't looking so downhearted and was already moving on. It really wasn't like her to be so emotional- it was usually him throwing over chairs and upturning tables when he was upset, and usually her who came to try and calm him down.

As they walked side by side, Mina glancing over at the group of boys and winking each time one of them caught her eye, Yunsung caught an eye as well. A large, brown, reddened eye.

"I've got to go sort something here." he said hurriedly to Mina.

"Mm? Oh ok!" She said distractedly, delivering another wink.

Yunsung walked briskly towards Talim, and, surprisingly to him at least, she ran away from him, darting through the crowds filling the streets that morning. He charged after her, "Scuse me, sorry, coming through..." She reached the end of the crowd and went around the side of a building. However, her graceful but quick pace didn't show that day, and she ran awkwardly, so Yunsung could grab her arm and pull her, pressing her into the stone wall of the building.

"No! No, let me go!" she cried, struggling ineffectively.

"Stop wasting your breath!" Yunsung shouted in her face savagely, "Look at you!" he indicated her feeble arms pushing against his hands, "You are weak, Talim!"

"I'm not weak!" she protested, "I'm not!"

"Then stop acting like...like a girl and fight back!"

She stopped struggling, and looked at him for a second, her eyes hawk-like and looking more venomous than he'd ever seen her. Then, he felt a kick in the stomach, enough for him to move backwards slightly, yet enough for her to run her feet up his body, hooking her knees on his shoulders. He let go of her arms in surprise, and she pulled them back, and bunched them, and in a tremendous effort, put her feet under his armpits and lifted both of their bodies completely off the ground. They flipped once in mid air, then Yunsung's entire chest and stomach collided painfully with the pavement, Talim smashing down afterwards on the small of his back.

He literally couldn't get up- he felt like one of his back bones was lodged deep into his pelvis and refused to budge. Even when Talim got up, he could only lie there, aching. She sat down beside his head calmly, and sat herself in such a way as to show she wouldn't be getting up to help him.

"I'm not weak." she repeated quietly.

"I knew that." Yunsung groaned.

Her voice suddenly changed to a more dangerous kind of whisper, "I saw you with her. The brown-haired girl. Holding her. She kissed you too. How many other girls have you been going about with, huh?"

"She's not my girlfriend." Yunsung croaked. He was finding extremely difficult to retort in such a defenseless position.

"Really..." she sighed sarcastically.

"Erm...what's going on?"

Yunsung craned his neck and saw that Mina was peering into the alleyway. He couldn't be sure if she'd been there the whole time or not.

"Mina!" Yunsung gasped, "Back me up here! Tell her you're not my girlfriend!"

She gazed at Talim for a moment, as if wondering what exactly she could say to someone who could leave Yunsung defenseless on the ground. Then she said, still staring, "I'm not his girlfriend."

Yunsung quite expected Talim to stop herself and release him, saying sorry. What he didn't expect was Talim standing up and looking Mina straight in the eye, as if she'd very much like to put her in the same position he was in.

A small, delicate smile formed on Mina's lips. "I say, what's your name, little girl?"

Talim stared up at Mina, who towered over her, "Don't push me."

"Erm, a little help here?" Yunsung called, who was getting quite impatient now. Both the girls turned, and began to walk to his aid, then stopped once they saw each other move.

"I will help him." Talim muttered stiffly.

Mina blinked slowly, "Fine."

Talim walked over and stood on Yunsung's tail bone. He felt something snap into place, and let out of a groan of relief, "Oh, thank God!" He heaved himself to his feet, his muscles numbed slightly. As he adjusted, he came to realize the edgy silence between the girls; they were both watching him, and at the same time watching each other, waiting for him to make the next move.

"Um..." Yunsung scratched the back of his head, feeling awkward., "Umm..." he had to say something to stop them staring. So he spoke exactly what was on his mind.

"O-kay...you're a psycho..."he pointed to Talim, "and you're a cold, hard punk-ass bitch..."he pointed at Mina. They stared at him, and he noticed that their eyebrows raised.

"And, um..." Yunsung added hastily, "Those are two things I really really like in girls..."

In the quiet, Talim and Mina simultaneously exited their tenuous stances and looked anywhere but at Yunsung. Mina began to swing her leather bag again.

"Um...Did I say something wrong?" he asked quietly, getting uncomfortable.

"No!" cried Talim, out of the blue, and ran over to him and threw her arms around his neck, "No! You said it all right!"

Yunsung was surprised and staggered backwards, almost expecting another attack, and was just as surprised when he realized what it actually was. The wisps of Talim's deeply intertwined hair brushed raggedly against his neck as she squeezed him tight. He put his arms around her body cautiously, across the bare, mostly uncovered skin on her back. He only just resisted the urge to rub. Over Talim's shoulder, he saw Mina smile and walk over slowly, and put her hand on his head and through his hair. "I am a punk-ass bitch."

"And I'm a psycho!" Talim said tearfully at his shoulder, and Yunsung felt a wet dab on his neck.

"Good." He said, still quite confused, "That's sorted then."

Talim had to be told to let go of Yunsung's neck. When she did, she poked him in the chest, "Well, you've learned your lesson, haven't you!" Yunsung said yes, he certainly had. He was never going to hug Mina again!