Chapter five: Thank You
There was a routine that was established each day for the next week. Yona and the others, with the added addition of Tian, would wake early, and get things in the camp started up. Yun begrudgingly accepted Tian's help with cooking after Hak would set up the fire. Shin-Ah would gather the kindling with Kija. Yona and Jae-Ha would clean up the camp site.
After everything was settled, Tian would head into town for her various odd jobs. She had been taking more job offerings from BaaBaa, although the raven haired girl suspected this was more due to Min-Soo. Afterwards, she would do various jobs from the bakery to the fish market. Although, lately, she had been enjoying the job more so than before. Perhaps because she was bringing the left overs from work to Yun and the others. A sort of way of proving herself way more valuable than a mere calibrators.
Although it still annoyed her that she couldn't pinpoint her exact reasoning for want them to accept her. She hated to admit that Jae-Ha wasn't kidding when he said to her they were infectious. Although, it seemed to be Yona that held the entire group together. It was strange, but she never questioned the reason. At least, not out loud anyways.
What miffed her even more was that the one person she tried to avoid most seemed to follow her around the most. What irritated her more than the fact that Jae-Ha followed her around was the fact that she was slowly growing accustomed to it, and even enjoying his presence. He felt comforting when he wasn't being a pervert. He was also charming, and funny in his own way. She found the way Jae-Ha seemed to care deeply for the others of his group incredibly sweet. He seemed to be the big brother of the group, and whatever initial thoughts she had of him were almost instantly melted away. A part of her shied away from the feelings in her. She convinced herself that those were something she was perfectly happy living without, and in a way it fueled her annoyance towards him just a bit more.
However, as much as things seemed to be changing for Tian personally, the same couldn't be said for the town. It had been awfully peaceful. None of the gangs seemed to be terrorizing the town. While it was a nice reprieve for the town, the people themselves felt on edge. Something was coming. Something not good. Tian could especially feel it, and left her on edge more so than usual. She felt like she was walking on pins and needles. Even if she hid it, she was almost certain that it was palpable in the air around her. She just didn't feel right about the sudden calm...
"It's been rather quiet the last few days." Jae-Ha mentioned in an off hand manner as him and Tian were casually walking through the town. Tian glanced at him, and then quickly looked away.
"Yeah. Well, whatever is keeping those men from doing what they usually do better keep up." It was silent again for a few moments. The green dragon glanced over at her with a curious expression for a second, and then grinned.
"If you wanted to keep me around longer, you should have just said so~" He teased her playfully, draping an arm around her shoulders blushed, quickly moving out of his arms.
"Whatever. Like I'd want to keep an annoying pervert around."
"You say that, but I have trouble believing you." Tian rolled her eyes, not bothering to reply.
"Why do you keep following me around anyways?" She questioned, glancing over at him with a slight scowl.
"You seem to run into trouble. It's a general principal of mine that as long as I'm around, no woman is going to be harmed. Especially the beautiful ones such as yourself." He answered, glancing at her with a playful grin. Tian blushed again, staring at him for a moment, and then shook her head.
"I have some jobs to do for Ae-Cha. Why don't you go do something else other?" She questioned, sighing.
"Would you allow me to walk you there?" He questioned, glancing at her through the corner of his eyes. She then looked forward after a moment.
"I don't care." She answered. Jae-Ha grinned, easily keeping pace with the dark haired girl.
The silence that followed was both a bit comforting and a little bit uneasy. Mostly coz Tian still felt strange being accompanied by Jae-Ha, but also because she never liked silence. Silence was never good in her experience. However it was also comforting in a way. It was peaceful, and neither one had to say anything to keep it going before it eventually fell into annoyance. Well, annoyance on her part when he'd eventually say something to annoy her. Tian sometimes wondered if he did that on purpose. Just to get a reaction. She wasn't sure what to think of that sudden thought.
"Well, this is where we part for now." Tian blinked. They had come up to the bakery much faster than she had anticipated. She turned to look at the door, but glanced back at the green haired man. He had already turned his back, walking away. For a moment, Tian considered saying something, but changed her mind, and walked inside the bakery with a full smile.
It was a busy day. Tian was in full mode. She was helping Ae-Cha with delivery orders, or helping Ha-Seon with the baking, since he seemed a bit overwhelmed with all the sudden work.
"It sure is busy today." Tian commented, glancing at her friend as she helped put some finishing touches on a cake.
"Yeah. The town is about to celebrate it's one hundred year since being founded. Everyone is in high spirits."
"So I can tell." She added on, smiling as they finished the last bit of it all. Tian stepped back with a proud grin on her face, glancing at her friend who seemed a little less than happy. She frowned, glancing at the cake, and then back at Ha-Seon. "What's wrong? It looks perfect." He shook his head, smiling in embarrassment as he rubbed the back of his neck.
"Well, it's just that-"
"Aaaah!" Tian and Ha-Seon both froze at the loud scream that was let out not too far from their business. Tian frowned, jaw set hard.
"Tian, just leave it alone." He whispered, grabbing her shoulders to stop her from doing whatever impulsive action she was about to do.
"Stop! I haven't done anything!" Tian gave a pointed expression to Ha-Seon as the person called out.
"Tian, there's...there's nothing that we can do." He whispered. Tian shook her head, jerking his hand off her shoulder.
"Watch me." She replied, walking outside to see what was happening.
Tian wound up walking twenty feet, into the alleyway. There, she saw two officers cornering a young girl. Younger than herself by at least two years. She had brown hair that was braided over one shoulder. She had on a creamy white dress with a red sash and white pants. Her feet were bare. Her tanned skin was marred with dirt. Her eyes were closed tightly,head turned to her shoulder. Her shoulders were tensed up in defense. Tian frowned, taking a step forward.
"How old are you anyways?" One of the officers asked, grabbing the woman's chin, and forcing her to look at him. Her brown eyes looked at him in shock, trying to get away, but another just came behind her, smirking slightly as he grabbed her shoulders.
"What's going on here? It's scaring away customers." The only who seemed to pay attention to Tian was the woman, who looked at her in a clear expression that yelled out for help.
"What are you looking at girly?" The officer asked in a sneering type of voice. He roughly released her chin, and then turned to look at Tian.
Tian would be lying to herself if she didn't admit to herself the way the man's grey eyes looked over her body from head to toe. Like she was some sort of toy a kid wanted. It set a nasty feeling in her gut which she tried to ignore as she kept as serious expression.
"Well, isn't this more interesting? I think I've seen you around here before, haven't I?" He questioned, taking a step towards her. Tian took in a sharp breath, and then released it.
"You might recognize me from the bakery. I work there, but your harrasing of this woman is scaring away customers. Can you leave her alone?" The officer gave an uninterested expression to the girl, and then a leering smirk over to Tian.
"Why would we do that? Us officers work all day for little payment. I think we deserve a good time to relax, don't you agree?" He then boldly gripped Tian's chin, tilting her head. She groaned, her thin hands coming up round his wrist. He just chuckled slightly." Unless you can guarantee us a better time?" He whispered, again sending chills down Tian's back. She scowled as he came uncomfortably close to her face. His breath reeked of alcohol. With her free hand, she used her strength to effectively punch him. It took the trained shoulder off guard as he fell to the ground.
He then became angry, as did the other one, who roughly shoved aside the woman. He rushed to the aid of his fellow officer, who was bleeding. As soon as the saw that, they both turned towards her with a venomous expression.
"Nobody draws blood from Isang, and especially not some cheeky bitch!" He called out, rushing towards her so fast she had no time to react as she was quickly tackled to the ground.
Tian grunted as the others large hands were wrapped around her throat. Her hands came up, using all her might to get his hands off her throat. When that didn't work, she raised her legs the best she could, and kicked him.
This worked as he momentarily let go of her of her throat long enough for her to grab his arms, and throw him to the side. Just enough distance that she was able to stand up, getting into a stance. The officer stood up, looking at her with a now angry expression.
"You little bitch. You're too wild for your own good. You should have just minded your own business." He said in a low tone.
The other officer had suddenly come up behind her, roughly grabbing her arms, and holding them behind her. She grunted in pain, trying to sway away, but it didn't work. She closed her eyes for a split second, both trying to control the pain she felt as well as think of something to do to get out of this situation.
Before she can think of anything she heard a sound. She couldn't place it, but it surprised her enough that she looked up. Sure enough, Jae-Ha was there. Apparently having already knocked out the guy who was attacking Tian. She frowned, hating having to be saved by him a second time. Using all her might, she moved her head upwards, straight into the other guy holding her nose. Her grunted, immediately stepping back, as he gripped his nose. He glared at her, holding his nose. She can see the blood dripping between his fingers.
"I suggest unless you want to end up like your friend here, that you leave." Tian had never heard the green haired man sound like this before. His tone was absolutely flat, briefly reminding her of the times Ha-Seon would sound when he got protective. Was that it? He was... Being protective? She wasn't sure how to feel about that.
The man took a look at the officer, who at this point was standing up in a wobbly fashion. He smirked, and looked at them. Jae-Ha sighed heavily, shaking his head.
Jae-Ha quickly grabbed Tian, ducking them both as the officer threw a weak punch towards them. The man let out as frustrated groan as his hand hit the air, and tried again. Jae-Ha was easily able to dodge.
Tian got herself out of his grip, seeing a kick towards the man she had given a bloody nose to, but he was able to quickly grab her leg, knocking her off balance. She let out a small, pained groan and her shoulder and hip hit the ground hard. The man then threw her leg down, stepping on it. Tian again let out a pained gasp, but was able to raise her other leg, kicking him off of her leg. She felt pain shoot up her body, but she dealt with it as she stood up.
The man she was fighting didn't take kindly to this, shoving her back until she fell onto her butt on top of some knocked over barrels. Tian groaned, closing her eyes for a split second, but was still able to manage to block a attempted punch to her face. She tightly gripped his arm, opening her eyes she gave him a steely expression before using her good leg to kick him the gut. He bent over in pain for a moment. He then looked up at the girl in anger.
However there was a loud crash, causing both Tian and the officers she was fighting to look over. Only to see that Jae-Ha had knocked the other out with a swift kick. Jae-Ha paused for a moment, and then turned to the other man. Tian had to admit to herself she liked the hard expression his green eyes held in that very moment. As much as it scared her, she was also excited to see it.
"I suggest you run away while you still can. I'm not one to hold back when you've hurt someone I like." The green haired man said in a steely tone, causing both a small blush to appear on Tian's face, and her heart to speed up just a bit. The officer looked between the two, and then at the other officer. He scowled, throwing a expression towards Jae-Ha as if the wanted to kill him, but quickly turned on his heel, and ran off.
There was tense silence for a moment. Jae-Ha was calming himself down while Tian stood up with a slight wince. Her shoulder and leg both hurt like hell.
"You're not too hurt... Are you?" Jae-Ha questioned, stepping closer to Tian. She glanced at him, gripping her shoulder.
"I could have handled them." She answered in a snippy tone, scowling. The green haired man ignored her as he stepped closer to her.
"Let's get you to Yun. He can heal you right up." Although she mostly felt an intense pain that didn't allow her to move her arm, she was also starting to feel pain in other areas. Her ribs hurt, and her leg that had been stepped on also hurt, making it difficult to stand up, but she didn't want to rely on them anymore than she had.
"I'm fine. Besides I have work to do." She answered, looking away.
"If you're fine, them let go of your shoulder, and raise your arm up." It was a simple trick. Something her mother used to do to her all the time when she denied her pains.
Tian looked at the other as if he were crazy, but he was staring at her with an expression that was hard to place. She sighed, dropping her hand from her shoulder, but she couldn't go through with raising her arm wit noticeably flinching.
"See? You're not fine." He answered. He then surprised her by scooping her up in his arms.
"What are you doing? Put me down!" She called out, scowling at him. He just smirked down at her.
"I noticed you had trouble standing. Just hang on, and I'll get you back the camp faster than you know." Without saying anything further, Tian was surprised by listening to him. Sure enough, he began a quick sprint back to the camp. Tian held on tightly.
"It's enough I have to heal these beasts whenever they fight and cause a scene, now you?" Yun was later chastising Tian as he patched up her leg with bandages.
He had already done her arm, and Yona wrapped up her ribs. I am had some minor bruising to her ribs, bit Yun wanted to keep an eye on them just in case it was something worse. Her shoulder had been dislocated, but had it back in place within an hour. Her ankle was also spraned, but otherwise there was nothing wrong.
"I don't mean to cause trouble. Those officers were harassing some girl outside the shop. Couldn't sit back and do nothing." There was silence for a split second. Tian felt stupid for feeling like a child being reprimanded by a parent, but this young boy just gave off that air sometimes.
"Ah, don't worry about it. You just stay put until that ankle is healed up, and don't get so hurt next time. Tian sighed, nodding as she looked off. Yun quickly left the tent, stating he had to go get some fresh water for the stew he was making for dinner.
"Is it alright to come in?" Jae-Ha asked, looking in with a slight grin as he waited at the entrance. Tian looked at him, and shrugged.
"I don't mind." She answered, looking away with a scowl. He laughed slightly, coming inside the tent.
He sat next to her, but didn't say anything. Tian was thankful for the silence. Suddenly, she felt the need to do something she hadn't really done before,at least when it came to him,but she felt it was warranted.
"Thank you." She whispered, surprising him. He looked at her with a curious expression. She didn't look at him, but continued to speak."I probably would have come out alot worse had you not stepped in. So, thank you." Jae-Ha smirked slightly, leaning back on his hands.
"No problem. Like I said, it's a general principal of mine to help ladies when they need it." Tian smiled slightly, shaking her head.
"Well, thanks." She replied, glancing at him. Before anything else could be said, the flap was opened, and Hak peeped his head in.
"Not interrupting anything, am I Droopy Eyes?" He teased. Jae-Ha smirked, shaking his head."Good. Yun said to get out so Tian can rest peacefully." Tian laughed slightly, shaking her head.
"Better go. I'll see you around." Tian nodded, looking as Jae-Ha left the tent. She sighed heavily, leaning back onto the ground.