It's Not What It Looks Like
"Now remember, if anything happens to the girls, anything at all, I'm going to-."
"You're going to what? Kick my ass? The usual?" Jin smirked as he held Hwoarang's only pair of pants that Julia had forced Jin to lend to Hwoarang after their recovery, proudly flashing them to Hwoarang as his trophy prize.
Hwoarang growled and with a giant huff, brushed past Jin only to cast him one final glare for making him carry out his humiliating punishment, only made worse by Jin's gloating, something that Jin doesn't do often. But even this was too good for Jin to not poke fun at. "Hell, if we ever get off the island, I wouldn't mind using this against Doo San every now and then when he bugs the crap out of me," Jin thought delightedly to himself.
Jin watched as Hwoarang's back grew more distant until it was out of sight from the jungle foliage. Crouching behind several large bushes, he parted its leaves and began his lookout for the two girls who were busy at work, Xiaoyu gathering sticks and leaves while Julia used a large leaf to scoop up mud.
"Those girls are a lot more innovative than Doo San and I," Jin sighed to himself. Bored and feeling slightly useless, Jin sat behind the bushes, uninterested in the beautiful flowers and plants that lay around him and slightly irritated at the girls's constant high pitched giggling. Occasionally, he would peek through to see the shelter's progress which was coming along really well. It was still day time even though he could not tell the time of the day, the sun shined brightly through the tall trees, casting shadows against the trees and shrubs.
"I wonder what harm would it do if I were just to move a little closer to the girls," Jin was getting bored of sitting in one spot and besides, he wanted to get within a better hearing range of Xiaoyu who was chattering as loud as it could get, now that she thought that the guys were out of sight.
"And I swear, when we get off this island, even though I would be a little sad to part with it just because it's so pretty-."
"Get to the point!"
"I'm going to make him my boyfriend!"
"This really isn't the best time to be thinking about relationships, especially when we're pretty much stranded with those two."
"Don't tell me you're still making him your sworn enemy! If I didn't know, I would think that you two had some good chemistry going on right there!"
Jin crept closer to the girls, crawling on his hands and knees as he crouched and paused every now and then to catch a word and not make too much noise with all the rustling. Slowly, he made his way closer and closer until he was barely seven feet away the girls. He tried to keep his breathing to a steady pace and held back any urges to cough, sneeze or clear his throat.
"Hey, hey! Let's not even go there! Why would I even give the time of the day to such an obnoxious jerk who thinks about nothing besides his damn motorcycle and picking fights with anyone who pays attention to him?"
"Well, maybe you're right. After all, he'll never be as brave and as strong and excellent of a fighter as my-."
Julia shot up from bunching the large sticks together and stood rigidly still. Holding up her hand to shush Xiaoyu, she stepped towards Jin's direction, gazing suspiciously into the dark bushes as her eyes searched through the foliage. Xiaoyu, standing behind Julia, grabbed Julia's arm and held her back as she quietly shook her head. Giving Xiaoyu a look of reassurance, Julia gently pulled her arm away and with a forceful and sudden jerk of her arm, grabbed a hunk of black hair which was followed by a low yelp. Stumbling out from the bushes and then nearly falling flat on his face was Jin who was now kneeling on the ground.
Slowly, he raised his eyes up to meet the eyes of a glaring Julia whose arms were crossed sternly and a confused Xiaoyu whose was gazing at him quizzically.
"So did Hwoarang and you plot together for you to eavesdrop on us while we were talking?" Julia growled through gritted teeth.
Jin, trying to give them an innocent grin which was only met with Julia's furrowed eyebrows, slowly raised himself to his feet and brushed off his pants but noticing that he was still holding Hwoarang's pants quickly held them behind his back before any of the girls could see.
"Well, too bad for him because his plan isn't going to work. You better get back to hunting with him and bring back something for us all to eat. Xiaoyu and I are going to start a fire later. Get going now!" Julia pointed her finger towards the forest and bushes.
"But Doo San-," Jin tried to protest.
"Now!"
Jin cast one more glance at Xiaoyu who looked a little sad to see him go as she mouthed the words, "bye" to him. Jin turned around towards the jungle, clutching Hwoarang's pants in his hands and a spear that Julia had tossed to him and grumbling to himself. He stopped midway through the bushes and plants only to be met with Julia's obnoxious screech of "Now!"
--
No point in trying to stick around. Jin made his way further down, keeping a cautious eye out for anything that might try to attack him. After all, sun set was starting and there was no sign of Doo San anywhere. "Hope he isn't stupid enough to go wandering somewhere where he won't know how to get back," Jin muttered himself. "Then again, he is that stupid," he added with a chuckle.
A slight rustle in the leaves made Jin pause. What was that sound, the sound of thudding footsteps running across the jungle seemed to be getting closer and closer? Jin stepped behind a tree and raised his spear defensively, ready and on guard to take on the monstrous footsteps that seemed to be accompanied with softer footsteps.
All of a sudden, with lightning speed, a large brown blob burst from the bushes, uttering loud squeals of terror and protest, followed by a human figure dashing furiously behind it. And there he was, in all his naked glory, was Hwoarang Doo San, mud splattered across his face and body, bruises covering his back and his knees, chasing the wild boar with a loud savage yowl and his spear raised up, ready to throw.
"YAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!" Hwoarang dashed through the bushes, kicking up leaves and branches everywhere while leaping over the many vines and logs that lay across the hard dirt floor. It was this very moment when he felt most like a warrior; no longer did the civilization of gas stations and motorcycles litter the way towards becoming a great fighter; no longer did other wannabe suburban assholes brandishing swiss army knives hinder him from the feeling of real accomplishment; yes, it was this moment when Hwoarang Doo San was the great hunter and no one, no one would get in his way.
Well, no one except for Jin Kazama who seemed to appear out of no where as Hwoarang found his rival running at the same rapid speed next to him.
"Kazama! What the hell are you doing here?!"
"You were making so much noise; there was no way I wouldn't find you!"
"You were supposed to be watching the girls!"
"They kicked me out from my post and sent me to find you!"
"And you listened to them?! The mighty Kazama taking orders from girls, this is rich!" Hwoarang leapt over a bush and continued to cackle.
"Why don't you focus more on getting that boar instead of egging me on like you always do?!"
"Oh yeah! This is my hunt! I saw it by myself and I'm going to be the one to kill it by myself!"
"You idiot! You're not going to be able to get that thing even by yourself!"
"Just watch me! Hah!" Hwoarang raised his spear above his head and tossed it directly at the squealing boar. The spear flew at a quick speed and hit the tree, missing the boar's head by a mere couple of inches.
"Damn!" Hwoarang cursed as he made no hesitation to pick up the spear that was stuck to the tree. He glanced backwards and saw Jin who was not far behind him, clutching a pair of dirty, faded pants. Hwoarang made off at a faster pace, obviously trying to outrun Jin who although possessed brute strength, did not possess the same agility as Hwoarang who was trained to utilize his agility into his special kicking techniques.
"So he's trying to outrun me, eh?" Jin smirked to himself, as he picked up his pace until he felt the cold sting of the evening breeze against his cheeks. Gritting his teeth, Jin dashed against the branches that slapped across his face as he ignored the soreness that was arising from his feet pounding against the hard dirt floor. Up ahead, he heard the angry roar of the boar and a loud yowl of pain. Jin ran faster but upon doing so, felt the snap of fabric ripping against the sharp branches the protruded from a tree and the snagging of the other pants that he held in his hands. The cold sting of the evening wind slapped against Jin's now bare chest and legs and no longer did he hold in his hands those extra pants.
Jin growled angrily, "Could this be any worse of a time for this?" He reluctantly turned backwards to see the damage, which was obviously very dire because of what remained on the snagged branches were the pants ripped right down the leg area so that it was virtually not wearable. But he had to turn his attention back to the direction of Hwoarang's pained scream.
Coming closer to the sight, Jin saw Hwoarang leaning against the wall, one hand clutching his spear and the other hand clutching his side which had been punctured with the boar's gleaming, sharp white tusk. With a loud groan, Hwoarang pulled himself to his feet and with great struggle raised his spear. The boar lowered itself to the ground, ready to charge towards Hwoarang who had no where else left to run. Jin ran to the side and began flailing his arms around, while waving his spear towards the boar.
"What the fuck are you doing, Kazama?! I'm almost finished with this!" Hwoarang bellowed angrily, waving his spear at Jin. "Let me-," he flinched as he grabbed his side which was flowing with blood at a slow but steady speed.
"You wanna get yourself killed over this?!" Jin answered back, still waving his spear. "Just let the animal go! It's not worth getting killed for this!"
"Damn it, Kazama! You just want to ruin this for me!"
"You'll ruin it for yourself if you don't stop the bleeding!"
"I don't need you to tell me what to do!"
"Then what are you going to do if Julia finds out that you're dead?!"
Upon hearing this, Hwoarang shut up and slumped to the ground, trying to stop the blood from flowing out. Jin growled at the beast and with a final toss of the spear, wounded the animal in the side. The boar took off in the other direction at rapid speed and dashed into the jungle foliage, never to venture towards the two men again.
"Okay, we gotta get to a safe spot," Jin heaved Hwoarang over one shoulder, making an effort to hide his discomfort on the fact that a naked man was leaning on him while he himself was not exactly clothed.
Hwoarang, on the other hand, made no attempt to hide his disgust, complaining the entire way. "I bet you lost your pants to huh? This is sick, Kazama. I swear, if word ever gets out that I had to touch you when you were naked, I'm gonna make sure you don't ever want to get naked in front of anyone ever again."
Jin sighed and did his best to ignore him as they made their way towards a small cave that was able to fit two people. By the time they got there, it was already nightfall and the two men were exhausted that Jin, whether on purpose or not, dumped Hwoarang onto the floor where Hwoarang landed with a loud thud.
Jin began to gather long leaves around him while Hwoarang propped himself up on his elbows. "Okay, let's just get this over with and then head back."
"Well that's pretty stupid. We're going to get lost in the night time. We'll go back looking for the camp in the morning where we can see better. The girls will be fine without us, they can take care of themselves."
"Then am I supposed to spend the night here with you?! In this cramped up cave?! With no fucking clothes on?!" Hwoarang sat up and threw his arms into the air, now hysterical and nearly hyperventilating.
"You talk too much. This really isn't something I'd rather be doing right now. To you, with that," Jin knelt down and wrapped the leaves around Hwoarang's side and tied the two ends tightly.
Hwoarang, who had been watching with quiet disgust the whole time, huffed when Jin was done and turned over onto his other side, with his back facing Jin. "This does not get out to anyone. Nothing about you helping me and nothing about us spending the night together in this tiny shithole you call a cave."
"Hey, I won't want to be talking about this either," Jin turned his back to Hwoarang and faced the other direction. Closing his eyes, he let the cool night breeze guide him into a deep slumber that he had not felt for so many nights.
--
"There. Mission accomplished," Xiaoyu, with her hands on her hips, gazed proudly at the shack that Julia and her were able to construct within that period of time that Jin and Hwoarang had been gone.
Julia wiped the sweat off of her brow and grinned. The work had been laborious and her hands were sore and scratched from gathering all the wood and leaves together, the mud had been her only soothing remedy. Along with helping to construct the shack, the girls had decided to use the remaining leaves to create two mats each large enough for two people. Xiaoyu had been a little reluctant to make two mats in hopes of perhaps sleeping and snuggling up next to Jin but was shot down immediately by Julia who had proclaimed her refusal to sleep next to a "perverted oogling buffoon".
"Hey, it's getting kind of late," Xiaoyu glanced up at the sky which was already dark and littered with stars twinkling against a dark blue background. "Shouldn't the guys have been back by now?"
"Yeah, they shouldn't have been gone so long. If they indeed had found something, they would've been back by now and if not, they should've returned anyway," Julia speculated nervously.
The two girls stood there glancing at one another, each with questions that plagued their minds.
"I bet my poor Jin got attacked by a jaguar and has no one to nurse his wounds," Xiaoyu thought to herself, her eyes welling up with tears.
"That stupid ass Hwoarang probably got himself into trouble and fell off a cliff," Julia said to herself and rolled her eyes.
Julia crawled inside the shack and lay down on the leaf mattress. "We'll go look for them when the sky gets lighter. It's too dangerous right now with no light and no way of tracking them."
Xiaoyu nodded and joined Julia on the other leaf mattress. The two girls tried to nod off to sleep but neither could swallow up the feeling of doubt and fear that sat like a rock in their stomachs.
--
Hwoarang's eyelids fluttered against the soft feeling of tiny legs dotting across his forehead. It was a pleasant, ticking feeling that gave him relief against the stinging pain in his side as he involuntarily grinned. Reaching up to touch what was giving him such a delight, he was rudely awoken when the thing that had been crawling across his forehead snapped its tiny jaws onto his left index fingers and he awakened with a loud curse, "SHIT!"
Now eyes wide open, Hwoarang searched frantically around the cave, desperately trying to remember what had happened yesterday. The pain in his side had now reduced to a dull sting which was more like a thorn in his foot than actual mind blowing pain. The only pain that he felt was the pain of realizing that he had slept naked in a cave with another naked man, and although neither had done anything to one another, still felt the feeling of dread for future memories to come. Barely having any room to scoot away from Jin, Hwoarang had no choice but to feel the sticky grime of Jin's dirty back against his own. "Ugh," Hwoarang groaned to himself.
Since the two men were lying on the ground, there was no longer any room to move around so Hwoarang lifted up his head to peer outside the mouth of the cave and was able to see the faint sight of daylight through the green jungle foliage. Eager at the opportunity to get out of this position, Hwoarang turned over his side to face Jin, who was sound asleep, his steady breathing the only sound against Hwoarang's grunts of frustration as he tried to shake Jin awake.
"Kazama! Wake up! It's time to go now!" Hwoarang shook Jin's left shoulder but was met by nothing other than Jin's steady breathing.
"Come on! Quit messing around! Let's get the hell out of here!"
Jin's eyes fluttered slightly and he smacked his lips as he groaned. Hwoarang, thinking that Jin had woken up uttered a loud, "finally!" only to be met with Jin turning face towards Hworang's and continued to sleep.
Hwoarang, already frustrated, contemplated letting Jin have it. "Maybe a punch to the stomach will do the trick," he pulled his fist back and got ready to deliver a swift punch to wake Jin up.
Hwoarang felt his fist up against Jin's rippled stomach but was surprised to be met with Jin awakening with an angry "oof" and then lying on top of him gripping his wrists. Hwoarang kicked and flailed, cursing at the top of his lungs. Both men, confused and dazed from just waking up, rolled around in the small cave both, Hwoarang kicking his legs against the top of the cave while Jin rolled around trying to control the naked man under him as they both hit the walls painfully.
"What the fuck did you do that for, Doo San?!"
"Get the hell off me, you homo!"
"I'm the homo?! You're the one that's always trying to "kick my ass"! If I hadn't known it, I would think that you're just trying to get closer to me!
"Ha! Don't fucking flatter yourself, Kazama! You know just as well as I do that," Hwoarang grunted as he attempted to punch Jin square in the nose only to be met with a jab in his left eye, "I'd rather go down on that piece of wood, Mokujin!"
"So all along this little game you've been playing with Julia was a cover up! I knew it all along!"
"Game?! What the fuck are you talking about?! There is no game!"
"Oh, but there is," Jin snarled, curling his lips backwards to veer a grin that was not so handsome for his features. "And you try so hard not to let it show when really, you're too chicken to do anything about it!"
"I'll kill you whether in the nude or not!"
Now this could not be more of an awkward sight for the two men, who in civilization, would not even be caught dead in this position. But at this point, both men were not thinking rationally, Hwoarang woozy and dazed from the loss of blood and Jin, confused from being awakened so violently. The two men continued to roll around the small cave, dirtying themselves from the dirty floor and receiving angry gashes across their backs and sides from hitting the rocks that lay across the cave.
But "Yougetthefuckoffofme! I'llfuckingkillyou! You'resogonnapayforthisyoushitface!" were all that could audibly be heard roaring from the mouth of the cave.
But all of this came to a sudden halt when two female shrieks were heard above the loud cursing.
And standing over the small mouth of the cave were Julia and Xiaoyu peering into the cave with horrified expressions on their faces.
A/N: Haha, so I've finally updated after a putting this story on such a long hiatus, almost more than a year and a half. I was so busy during junior year that I barely had any time to even touch this fanfic and plus, it was hard to gain any inspiration with so much homework. But now that it's senior year and winter break has come, I decided to give this story another go. Well, what happens next? I'm sure the first thing on everyone's mind is: how are Jin and Hwoarang going to explain their….questionable position? But amidst all the ridiculousness lies something far more serious that awaits the group as they are reunited once again, something that lurks in the shadows, quietly watching and waiting. What will happen to the group as they briefly let their guard down for such a silly and misunderstood situation?