Jin lay on the couch, watching his sister as she carefully tended to his every need. He was angry at himself for allowing himself to get hurt and even more so at the fact he'd put them in more debt. He'd caused the family more trouble. Trouble they couldn’t afford. He could hardly believe his ears when Ae-Cha told him how much the bill was. 53? Thousand? It took Ae-Cha quite a while to calm her brother down about it so that their mother wouldn’t hear.
"..Thanks, Ae-Cha.", Jin said as she changed his gauze.
He received a gentle smile in return. "It's nothing." Jin stared at her a while before once more speaking up. "You can get angry, ya' know." It wasn’t hard to tell that Ae-Cha was once again trying to stay strong for the family. It bothered him, though. He didn’t want his sister to have to carry that stress around. He was supposed to be the glue, not her. "You can yell, cry.. Stop holding it all in."
Ae-Cha put the used gauze away in the disposable container on the table and looked at her brother. But, before she could make any comment, her younger brother, Seo-jun, barged through the door and into his room, slamming the door behind him. It wasn’t the first time. "Hold on, Jin.", she told her scathed brother. He shook his head, used to their younger brothers temper.
Ae-Cha got up, going the way Seo-jun had gone. When she arrived at the door, she gently knocked before announcing it was her and slowly opening it. "What do you want?", came a harsh tone from her kid brother. He was under the blankets on his bed with his head covered, obviously upset about something that had happened at school. "What happened?", she questioned, but received only silence in return. "Seo-jun.", she tried once more.
"Go away."
Ae-Cha folded her arms. "As soon as you tell me, I'll go."
"…"
"What's wrong?"
"…"
"…"
"…"
"Seo-jun."
A deep sigh was heard before the bundle on the bed began to move. He sat up in the bed, taking the covers off of his head and glared at Ae-Cha. The 15 year old was clearly irritated with his sister's persistence. She didn’t know when to quit.
"It's because we're poor."
Ae-Cha stilled as the words left his mouth. "I'm tired of getting made fun of and pushed around because of it. I want a job!", he yelled before pulling the rest of the covers off of him to stand up.
"Seo-jun.. You can't-", she started, only to be interrupted.
"Why not?!"
His blood was boiling as he thought about all of his bullies at school and how unfair it was that they were fortunate enough to be born into wealthier lifestyles than he. Seo-jun loved his family to the core, but he was tired of the way they lived. Surviving off of what little money his sister and older brother brought to the table, his big brother barely bringing it at all.
His big brother, Jin was always out, sometimes gone for weeks on end. The money he promised to be making out there, they never saw. His sister seemed to be the only one keeping things up and it bothered him to no end. "You can’t do everything by yourself!", he worded his thoughts. "You take on everything by yourself! Mom's sick and it’s only a matter of time before she runs out of medicine! What then?!"
"Seo-jun. Keep your voice down.", Ae-Cha stated.
She knew they needed more money, but she'd be damned if she allowed her youngest brother to get a job right now. It warmed her heart that he wanted to help, but she wanted him to focus on his school work right now and go on to college. She didn’t want him to work himself to death. "That's nothing for you to worry about. Me and Jin are handling things. You just go to school r-"
"Jin?", he spat out as if the name itself was disgusting. "Since when is he useful?"
Ae-Cha and Seo-jun both turned their heads towards the door when it was slammed open. "Jin, you shouldn't be up.", Ae-Cha told him out of concern for his injuries, but Jin didn’t seem to care about them as he glared hate at his younger brother. Seo-jun was taken aback when he took in his brother's appearance. He didn’t know he was home. He didn’t even see him when he walked in.
His brother looked so sick and tired with what looked like healing cuts and bruises littering his face and arms. He could almost swear he was going to pass out. "You need to shut up, right now. Don’t talk on things you know nothing about." The words came out like poison. "You'll go to school and concentrate on your school work. When you come home, you'll respect everyone in this house and appreciate what you've been given. Do I make myself clear?"
After a moment of silence and a harsh stare down, Seo-jun nodded his head. Jin may have looked weakened at this moment, but his voice however wasn’t. It came out strong and the tone it carried seemed to promise hell if Seo-jun said one word he didn’t agree on. Ae-Cha looked between the two. She could tell Seo-jun wanted to say something else, but was too scared as his brother remained glaring heatedly at him.
A knock at the front door brought an end to their silence. "I'll get it.", Ae-Cha said. She was going to let them talk even if Seo-jun was scared. Jin may have been tough, taking on numbers of people at a time, but he was never one to put his hands on his own family members. Raising of the voice was all they ever received from him in his fits of anger.
When Ae-Cha twisted the door knob, she took an intake of breath. How did he find out where she lived and why was he here? He smiled a cold smile at her before holding up a familiar item in his right hand, letting it dangle by the strap. "You left your purse behind, Cinderella.", he spoke not hiding the play in his voice. She scowled at him before snatching her purse from him. Cinderella? Was he making fun of her for being poor?
"Do not call me that."
She was very amusing to him. She really had a distaste for him, did she not? "Why are you here?", she asked causing Seung to raise a brow at her. "Is it not obvious? You dropped your purse and I felt the need to return it."
"And how exactly did you find out where to return it to? Did you follow me-"
"Hardly anything I would do. I have higher morals than that.", Scott began.
He let his eyes travel up and down her figure, sending chills and anger down her spine. "Your address was on your I.D." Ae-Cha narrowed her eyes at the man. "You went through my things?" Seung let out a sigh. She asked so many questions. "You should be grateful. I’d imagined you were poor, but not this poor.", he said, gesturing to the small house she occupied.
His comment made her blood boil. "The offer still stands.", he continued with an all-knowing smirk apon his lips. How could someone be so arrogant and disgusting? She had to refrain herself from slapping him. Before she could say anything else, she saw the mans eyes travel behind her. When she turned around, she almost screamed. There her big brother stood. She didn’t even hear him come up.
"Is there something I can help you with?"
It bugged Ae-Cha as she looked back to the man, only for him to remain standing tall. Most people flinched away when confronted by her older brother, but yet here he was standing his ground. He didn’t even seem bothered by him. In fact, he looked as though he was irritated at him for interrupting their conversation.
"I only came to drop off her purse."
A look of confusion and anger flashed across Jin's face. "What were you doing with her purse?", he questioned before looking at his younger sister. "Sis. You sleeping with this guy-"
"No! It’s nothing like that!", she quickly got out.
She could just tell the guy at the door was trying to suppress a laugh. Her brother was very protective over her which was one reason all of her relationships never got far. He'd always be there to scare them away, claiming they were never good enough for her. He once beat up an ex of hers for not getting her anything for Valentines day. She understood he just wanted to prevent his sister from ever getting her heart broken, but it still was a bit much.
"I dropped it at the hospital and he was bringing it back. That's it, Jin."
Jin looked back at Seung. He didn’t like the vibe the man gave off. Like he wanted something. The man dressed well. He dressed rich and the air around him spoke of arrogance. Why would a guy like this go out of his way to bring someone back a purse? Someone like him probably had servants doing these little deeds for him. Hell, he probably had servants feeding him grapes and carrying him around in a throne or something.
So, why would he even consider it?
Ae-Cha placed her hand on her brother's arm. "Come on. You need to go rest.", she said, trying to direct him away from the doorway. Jin stared at Seung a little longer before slowly going towards the living room. Ae-Cha turned back to a very amused Seung with a glare before saying, "And I can take care of myself." to where only the two of them could hear and shutting the door in his face.
Seung couldn’t help but let a smirk play apon his lips. This was going to be fun. Just to think he was wishing for something out of the ordinary to entertain him, too. This, he'd have to say, was the perfect entertainment. This girl was very amusing. Amusing indeed.
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