After a bout of silence, Jun stretched out his legs and leaned against the inside of the truck.
“How did you get that scar?” Jun asked. Kai instinctively fixed his hair to cover some of it.
“You don’t have to pretend like you care, or want to know. Clearly you don’t, given you dismissed information I was actually voluntarily trying to show you.” Kai had finished putting his things back in his bag and zipped it up. Before he put the painkillers away, he opened up the bottle to take some.
“No, I don’t know if you actually have painkillers in there or something else.” Jun grabbed Kai’s wrist.
“Look,” Kai sighed, “How would I have gotten drugs? I was lucky enough to get this. Plus, I’m taking them because of you. Remember when you beat the shit out of me, or do I need to show you?”
“Actually, I do want you to show me. Don’t be a smartass.” Jun let go of Kai’s wrist.
“If this is a way to try and get me naked, you’re doing a really bad job at foreplay.” Kai set down the painkillers.
“Yeah, right. You wish.” Jun rolled his eyes. “Just do as I say.”
“Whatever.” Kai lifted up his shirt enough to show where he had the stab wound covered with gauze. He didn’t have to show too much skin to prove that Jun really hurt him, given his abdomen was littered with splotchy purple spots. “Need me to prove my point more, or are we good?”
“We’re good.” Jun waved Kai away. “Just take the damn pills.”
“Like I was going to? Thank you for your permission, your highness.” Kai tried to sit comfortably, but it was obviously in immense pain.
“You are so fucking annoying. You know I can still turn you in, right? Jun said.
“We made a promise. You’ll get a chance to kill me, just like you wanted. Don’t worry.” Kai responded. It upset him to remember that he was going to die. “My days are numbered, anyway.”
“You said your phone was in the hotel room? You realize there’s no way that it will still be there, right?” Jun said matter-of-factly.
“I still want to check.” Kai responded. “If it’s truly not there, then so be it.”
“I gave it to the general and he destroyed it.” Jun shrugged. “You pissed me off when you ran off. What else did you expect me to do?”
“So, you lied.” Kai shot daggers at Jun. “You did know where my phone was. And now I’ll never be able to call my brother and hear his voice before I die. Thanks for that.”
“Shit,” Jun mumbled under his breath. He felt bad, but he didn’t want Kai to know, “You should have kept a better eye on it.”
“Are you kidding?” Kai stood up, only to have Jun shove him back down. The pain in his body was exacerbated by the fall. “You were the one that told me to empty my bag.”
“No shit, I did. I have a criminal with me. You don’t think I wouldn’t try to be safe?” Jun raised his voice slightly.
“Oh my God, drop it. Seriously.” Kai also raised his voice. “How many times do you have to get it through your thick skull that the west isn’t the problem? You guys are the criminals, killing innocent people.”
Jun grabbed Kai by the collar of his shift and balled up his fist.
“Go ahead, hit me. It wouldn’t be the first time.” Kai had a bored expression on his face. “That seems to be how you like to get your point across.”
“You know what, you claim I have to help you because of the promise we made. Did your parents promise to take care of you when you were young? How did that work out? People break promises, get over it.” Jun shoved Kai back, still holding onto the collar of his shirt. “It’s no wonder your parents left you. Maybe your brother will be better off without you. I mean, I would be better off if I had never met you. All you are is an inconvenience with a disgusting scar on your face that makes you look even less appealing.” He didn’t mean to explode, but no one had ever talked to Jun the way Kai did. No one ever challenged him. No one ever stood up to him.
Jun could see the hurt in Kai’s eyes. He let go of Kai’s collar and Kai brought his knees to his chest and crossed his arms over them.
“Wow.” Kai rested his forehead on his forearms. “Can I just walk out there for a bit? I’ll come back. Look, I’ll even leave my things.” He got up before consulting with Jun and exited the vehicle.
Kai made his way back into the park and leaned against the railing of a lake that looked beautiful even at night. His head drooped low. He couldn’t believe someone from the east could get to him, but Jun managed to do just that. Kai’s fear was that he wasn’t good enough and that was why his parents left him. His fear was that he somehow did something to make Asa sicker. Kai blamed himself for everything.
Kai wanted to punch Jun. No, he wanted to do more. Kai wanted to beat the shit out of Jun. He wanted to run away, but there was no way to survive without Jun, much to Kai’s chagrin. The soldiers of the east would surely get to him before he even got in the vicinity of Chi.
“Hey.” Kai heard from behind him. It was the last person he wanted near him. Jun. “Come back.” His tone was gentle as he spoke. “I’ll read up on the west tonight and tomorrow.”
“Whatever.” Kai mumbled and turned to go back to the van. He sat in the back and stared blankly at the ground while Jun drove them somewhere. Kai didn’t even know where he was going, but he was too upset to even think about anything else.
Luckily, Kai managed to doze off.
.
Kai’s eyes barely opened as he forced himself to wake up. Once he blinked away the sleep, he shot up and panicked. He forgot where he was.
Kai checked his watch and saw that it was almost nine in the morning. He felt for his bag and, instead, touched a soft blanket. If it was Jun’s way of apologizing, he did a really bad job of showing remorse.
As Kai was assessing everything, the front door of the van opened. It was Jun. His hair was slightly damp and he had on a different uniform.
“Uh,” Jun looked shocked to see Kai awake. He could tell that Kai was suffering from the injuries Jun caused, “Here.”
Jun threw a plastic bag to Kai that had packaged food and water in it.
Once Jun closed the door to the van and cautiously made his way to the back, he held up a book Kai didn’t see he had.
“It was hard to find, but I got a book about the Great Separation.” Jun held up a hardcover book with a purple booksleeve on it. “And I did some research on my own computer.” He reached back to grab something from the passenger seat. There were multiple papers that looked like he had printed them and clipped them together. “I’ve been reading it since last night.”
“And?” Kai raised his brow.
“Look.” Jun began to make his way over to Kai but stopped.
“It’s fine.” Kai said, as if he read Jun’s mind.
“Okay.” Jun sat next to Kai and put the printed papers on their thighs. “There are a few articles from people who managed to leave the west and wrote about their experience. They said that it was hard to leave their home, but living in the west was impossible. They even had photos.” Jun flipped to the next page. “I didn’t know it was like that. You were right about the east using the west as some sort of dumping grounds. You were also telling the truth when you said that the east stopped helping the west long ago. I haven’t seen anything about the criminal stuff thus far, but this is crazy.” Jun picked up the book he had brought. “I’m almost done with this, too.”
“I wouldn’t lie about that. I don’t need sympathy points. I already told you what I’m trying to do here. That’s it. I’m not asking to live here. All I need is Chi.” Kai’s eyes glossed over another page that Jun had printed.
“I’ll keep my promise.” Jun said. “But we have a deal and you know that. Also, I can’t go anywhere with you. If I’m seen with you, I’ll get in a lot of trouble. I already had to make up an excuse as to why I didn’t go back to the barracks last night.”
“Where did you drive to, then?” Kai asked.
“My parents live around here. I’m just going to stay with them until we get all of this done. It shouldn’t be long, anyway. I told the general that I would be here, so I can look for you. Hence why I cannot be seen with you.” Jun responded.
“So I take it that I am basically prisoner to this van?” Kai patted the ground. “Home sweet home.”
“For now. I don’t really know what else I can do.” Jun shrugged. “I don’t know. This is a lot.” He paused and picked up the bag. “Anyway, eat something.”
Kai opened the bag and took out some buns that were in there. He handed one to Jun.
“I feel awkward eating on my own.” Kai looked at Jun.
“Thanks.” Jun took the bun. He was starting to feel worse and worse about how he treated Kai, but he couldn’t rule out that he was a criminal.
After a long bout of silence, Jun spoke up.
“Uh,” He crumpled the plastic from the bun in his palm, “I didn’t mean it about your scar, by the way. I was just angry and wanted to hurt you. Also about everything else I said. I didn’t mean it.”
When Kai didn’t respond, Jun sighed. He was sure that the words still stung.
“Look,” Jun set down the plastic and lifted up his shirt. He showed Kai a large burn scar that covered most of the middle of Jun’s back, “I’m insecure about this and I took it out on you.”
“What happened?” Kai turned to get a better look.
“My dad is an angry person when he drinks. When I was younger, he got really drunk while my mom and I were cooking dinner together. I mentioned the fact that he was drunk and went off about how him being an alcoholic was ruining our home life and he didn’t like that. He shoved me, not once, but four times into the gas stove. After that, he realized what he did and was apologetic. But, yeah, it’s really unattractive and I was being stupid taking it out on you.”
“It’s not unattractive. It made you the person you are today. Just like mine did for me.” Jun was baffled at how Kai treated him. Maybe it was because Jun understood a little more about the gravity of the situation in the west. “If someone told you it was unappealing, they were just trying to get you where it hurt. You must date some shitty people.”
“Well, you’re not wrong about the shitty people.” Jun almost smiled. “There weren’t many, but those exes definitely sucked.”
“I bet they did.” Kai smirked and Jun lightly shoved him.
“Shut up.” Jun couldn’t help but laugh lightly.
“Kidding, kidding.” Kai said. “But, I think your words hurt because they’re true. I’m sure I’m the reason why my parents left and there had to have been some way I could have protected Asa better, or prevented his illness from getting worse.” He tried to blink away the tears that were forming along his waterline.
“No, that’s not true. I was out of line saying that.” Jun responded. “Look, this conversation does not make us on friendly terms by any means and I still have many suspicions about you, but I will formally apologize for…everything. So, I’m sorry.”
Kai shrugged. “It already happened and you already said those things, so it doesn’t matter. Apologizing doesn’t suddenly make it go away.” He paused. “But I appreciate it.”
“Yeah.” Jun got up and headed towards the driver’s seat. “I don’t know where to find Chi, now that it’s been taken off the shelves, but we can start looking in some pharmacies. Maybe they have them in the back.” He started the van. “As I said, I cannot help you and I will abandon you if I see any other soldiers, so be careful.”
“That’s fine.” Kai held onto the side of the van when Jun began to drive. “I wouldn’t expect you to do anything else.”
“How about this,” Jun drove the van, “I’ll drop you off somewhere and you come find me after?”
It was a stupid idea. A really stupid idea, but it gave Kai the chance to do what he needed to do.
“Alright.” Kai shrugged.
“If you even think about running,” Jun motioned to the gun on his hip, “I’ll shoot.”
“Didn’t I already make a promise with you? I don’t break promises.” Kai was annoyed by Jun.
“Did you make a promise with your brother that you’d be back?” Jun raised his brow. “Might break your streak of never breaking promises.”
Kai didn’t respond, and opted for waiting patiently in the back of the van. Jun treated him as an inconvenience, yet he refused to let Kai go.
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