Close To Midnight

Chapter 20

"Wherever you go, we go." Jihyo stated with finality. Chiho and Min-Jun nodded their head in agreement.

Nayeon had never shown concern freely before and that's probably why there was a small smile on her partners' faces which they desperately tried to hide when she uttered the next few words. "This is dangerous. Are you sure?"

Jihyo answered immediately. "Yes."

Nayeon realised with a little shock how true Mina's words were. These people weren't just her partners, they were her friends, her family. And it was up to her to keep them safe. 

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Jung Hoo stared at the four young people standing before him with his hardened, cold eyes. Nayeon straightened her back, met his gaze unflinchingly.

"Seems like you've made your mind." He maneuvered his way through the armed men around him. "Finish the job before you go."

Nayeon nodded. It was a miracle he was even letting them walk away alive. "Consider it done." Her voice steeled, posture becoming rigid as she replied.

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Chiho worked through the rocky road and mint chip ice-cream as they waited before the rehab centre for Mina to finish her shift.

"I can't believe he let us go." Min-Jun commented in a dazed voice. "I can't believe we are going to live like normal people."

"Should we get jobs?" Jihyo leaned against a bike and wondered loudly.

"Who's going to give us jobs?" Chiho spoke through a mouthful of ice-cream. "We're criminals. Nobody would trust us."

"I trust you lot though." Mina's laugh spilled out from the entrance.

Nayeon pushed herself off the bike she was perched on.

"That's because you're like an angel or something." Min-Jun remarked offhandedly like he was talking about an universal fact that nobody could dispute like the sky being blue and the earth being round.

Mina stood now, in front of them, voice teasing as she asked, "So what is this talk about getting jobs I hear?"

Jihyo rushed out to explain. Mina's eyebrows shot up as she listened.

"This is wonderful." She exclaimed, her gaze softening as she made eye contact with Nayeon. Her voice was muffled, but soothing against Nayeon's ears. "I'm so happy for all of you." Her watery smile, sparkling eyes and quivering lips reminded Nayeon of Min-Jun's earlier words. Mina was definitely an angel or something.

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"Welcome to our humble abode." Jihyo guided Mina to their living room. Nayeon watched as various emotions danced across her warm brown eyes, stunned disbelief flashing the most.

Nayeon scanned the room quickly. There were tins of coke thrown everywhere, like an Easter egg hunt, they popped up in all corners of the room. On the sofa, under the lone coffee table, on top of the fridge. It was everywhere.

On the floor of the four airless, cluttered and darkened rooms which had their windows tightly shut, laid unpacked bags of clothes. In the open kitchen adjacent to the living room, bottles of beers and pizza boxes cramped up the counter.

Mina turned to them after a while and announced in an even voice, "You two are going to head out and buy a list of things I tell you." She instructed Nayeon and Jihyo. "Chiho and Min-Jun, you're going to help me clean this mess up."

An hour later, Chiho wanted to retrieve the pizza boxes from the garbage can and shove it down Min-Jun's throat. His constant whining was getting to him.

"Mina, even our boss wasn't this bossy." Minjun moaned, looking at the hoover with a sulky pout twisting his lips.

"Ex boss." She corrected, "You have ten minutes to finish vacuuming." She dismissed him without a backward glance, opening the windows and letting fresh air and light in.

Chiho stumbled throughout all the rooms, picking clothes from the ground and throwing them in the washing basket.

Two hours later, pots of fresh green plants adorned every corner of the living room, paintings and posters hung from the cheaply painted white walls, bright curtains filtered the sunlight and sent warm colour into every single room, beds, blankets and pillows were covered in new sheets, and the carpeted floor had been ridden off all the dirt that previously covered it.

Jihyo watched Nayeon with amusement in her eyes as the older girl sat down on one of the chairs around the kitchen counter. Nayeon had just scrubbed the stove clean. Hands that had been throwing punches, slapping drug lords and henchmen, were now cleaning and scrubbing surfaces. She wondered if Mina practiced sorcery, nothing else would be explanation enough for the miracle she'd just made happen.

"Now the cleaning is done. Let's begin what I've named 'Crash course in job hunting for former thugs and fearmongers.' " Mina declared with a teasing smile.

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"No Jihyo-chan. If someone refuses you a job you can't shove their head up their arse and make a human doughnut out of them. Wrong answer." Mina threw her hands up exasperatedly.

Chiho lifted his hand up. "We punch them in their face, make them cry like a little bitch until they agree to give us the job." He finished with a proud look on his face.

Mina let out a sigh of disbelief. "No. You don't use violence or threats on anyone. Is that clear?"

Jihyo, Chiho and Min-Jun nodded their head reluctantly. Nayeon continued to stare at a spot on the floor wearing a blank expression on her face.

"Try jobs like waiters, shop assistants. They don't require much experience or education." Mina explained, jolting down the points on a white board. "You're going to try every single shop in the high street."

"You think one of them will say yes?" Chiho asked eagerly.

"They're all going to say no." Mina chuckled. "What matters is that you tried. And that's good enough for the first day."