Devouring the savory pork belly, accompanied with a side of rice and kimchi with my hands, I began to lick my fingers hungrily, looking around frantically, as I pulled the bowl closer to myself as I felt stares and gapes.
"Don't worry, it's not running away." An orange haired boy who looked around my age said, with a sense of amusement and a brown haired boy slapped him against his chest.
"Shut up, Jimin." He hissed at the orange haired boy as I chugged down a glass of ice cold grape juice, burping loudly before I continued to feast on the meat, the juices splashing on my face uncontrollably as I chewed, clenching my fists in satisfaction. "Boss won't be able to get her to speak if you're making fun of her."
"You know what I think? I think she may be some sort of crackhead or tramp that stumbled into here, accidentally." A guy with mint green hair explained. I could hear them blatantly talking about me in the background but I was too focused on the succulent meat to respond.
Shoving some rice into my mouth, I choked a little as the food travelled down the wrong pipe.
"Easy." The brown haired boy from before said to me in concern but I ignored him.
"Well clearly shes a crackhead who can fight because she just beat up our star kick boxer." The older man amongst the bunch scoffed.
"She didn't beat me up." I heard the gravelly voice of a man. I looked up whilst continuing to chew as I recognised the man speaking as my opponent. His jaw was clenched as he stared at me, holding a pack of ice peas in his free hand whilst nursing his wounds.
"JK... I hate to be the bearer of bad news but she quite literally fucked you up—" the orange hair guy who I have identified as Jimin snorted and the said-JK scoffed.
"Fuck you, Jimin—"
"But did he lie, Jungkook?" The older man asked seriously. "I've noticed you've been regressing for the past few weeks but to get beaten up by a little girl? That's a new all time low. Even for you." The older man spat at my opponent, slamming his fist against the bench.
"She's not some ordinary little girl. She's inhumanly strong and skilled. But I would've handled her properly any other normal day. I heard noises downstairs and I just took my sleeping pills so of course I'm not gonna be at my best, boss. Why the fuck are all of you badgering me when we have the fucking she-hulk in our midst?" This Jungkook guy snapped, defensively, kissing his teeth as he tried to deflect the negative attention.
"Jungkook's just mad he got fucked up by a girl." Someone sneered.
"I'll fuck you up next if you don't watch your mouth, Hoseok. Don't play with me." Jungkook snapped at the boy with platinum blond hair, he was leant on the bench, his legs kicked on the so-called-Jimin guy, smirking mischievously as he got a reaction out of Jungkook.
"Lady. It's time you start answering some questions. We gave you some food, some dressing for your wounds, now it's time for you to pay us back with some information." The older man who everyone referred to as boss deadpanned staring at me directly. I didn't respond. Trust nobody was my life motto. And I didn't trust them.
"She's not gonna budge, sajangnim." Another guy with pink hair shrugged. "She's been munching on that pork belly silently ever since Jin whipped it up for her. She's not gonna budge."
"Yeah? Well I'll make her budge." The boss snatched the now empty bowl of rice and pork belly from me as I began to lick the plate hungrily. Once he snatched it from me, I looked up at him in betrayal, a frown distorting my face. "We will get you more of that if you give us some information. Anything."
I remained quiet, staring through him. I had eaten, my wounds were dressed, I sat down and rest for a little, therefore, I no longer needed anything from these people or this place. I could be on my way.
"What's your name?" The guy with the brown hair questioned me.
I remained silent, before standing up from my seat on the bench and making my way towards the exit but I felt a hand around mine, and again, I put my guard up and quickly turn around, fight or flight activated as I stared into the eyes of Jimin. His hand was over mine, trying to restrain me from leaving but I watched as his eyes wandered down to my wrist where 'IV' was branded.
"I...V..." Jimin trailed off, eyebrows knitted together, a small pour on his face as he tried to decipher what it meant. Clenching my jaw, I snatched my hand away from him, defensively. "Is that your name? IV? Like Ivy?"
Pursing my lips, I stared at him emptily.
"Ivy... that's a really pretty name. I'm Park Jimin." Jimin officially introduced himself to me, extending out his arm and I quickly backed away, thinking he was going to attack but he remained calm. "Hey, hey, I'm not gonna hurt you. We all just want to help you, Ivy—"
"Four." I heard the really buff guy say with pink hair. I snapped my head towards him, sweat forming at the back of my neck. "Her name is not Ivy dumbass, it's Four."
I clenched my jaw, staring at him, as I felt uneasy.
"How the fuck do you get the name Four from the letters IV? Who names a kid Four?" The so-called Hoseok guy asked.
"Roman numerals. Your name is Four, right?" Pink hair asked but I remained silent, staring at him indifferently.
"Yeah? Well I like Ivy, so I'm gonna call her Ivy. Can we keep her boss?" Jimin beamed at his boss, excitedly, as he gestured to me.
"Are you crazy? What part of she snuck in here and attacked me, don't you understand?" Jungkook snapped impatiently.
"Well, if we're talking factually, you attacked her first, buddy." A guy with black hair defended me.
"And if we're talking with common sense, we should let her go. She's probably a homeless person who stumbled in here." Jungkook kissed his teeth, clearly opposed with the idea of me being here.
Everyone was talking between themselves, excited at my presence while the boss was consumed deep in thought. I watched as he stroked his chin, eyes fixated on me.
"She's staying for now. I still can't wrap my head around how she beat Jungkook. She could be good for business." The boss smiled, sticking out his finger at me.
There was a mixed reaction from the group, most indifferent, some just wanting to go back to sleep, some cheering, excited by my company and of course, one sour expression.
"But I'm good for the business." Jungkook re-emphasised.
"Yeah? Well, better get your game up, son." The boss responded sarcastically. "Figure amongst yourselves where she'll be staying for the night, I'm going to my room. We'll talk about this situation later on this morning. Practice at 9 as usual." He said before walking away, leaving me alone with the seven boys.
"Dibs on her in my bedroom!" Jimin said quickly once the boss left and the guy with mint green hair slapped his back.
"Have some respect." Mint Green hair drawled, gesturing to the uncomfortable look on my face.
"No, no, no, not like that. I mean you can sleep in my bed, for the time being. Until boss renovates the basement and you get your own room." Jimin said encouragingly. I could hear someone scoff in the background at Jimin's excitement and it's clear who it was, there was only one sour person present. "You're one of us now so don't be scared."
"You're speaking to her like she's a pet, Jimin." Hoseok, I believe he was called, chuckled. "Anyways, I'm slumped. Since we've agreed she'll be staying with Jimin, I'm off to bed. We'll see in the morning."
With that, everyone began to disperse, quiet murmurs of 'good night's exchanged between themselves and some even murmuring it to me, but again, I kept silent.
This is good.
They were offering me accommodation, food, shelter, I could stay here until I got everything figured out and I could find my mom.
"Wait here Ivy, I'm gonna go search for some blankets and pillows for you. Also give me like five to quickly tidy up my room." Jimin said to me as he sprinted away, determined to make my stay here comfy.
As everyone has now dispersed, Jungkook was left alone with me.
His eyes were lowly narrowing at me, his jaw clenched and his aura very ominous. I watched as he took slow strides towards me, finally halting in front of me once he began to tower over me.
Fearlessly, I looked up into his eyes.
"I don't know who you are. I don't care to know who you are. You may have these idiots wrapped around your finger but you don't fool me. I know you'll be gone by tomorrow but the fact that they're even letting you stay here for the night is a joke in and of itself." Jungkook whispered in my ear, leaning in close so I could feel his cold breath fanning my ear. "Better watch your step." He said before reclining away from me, his eyes looking at me up and down.
"JK! Leave Ivy alone!" I heard the familiar voice of Jimin as he finally returned and rushed towards me, grabbing my hand protectively.
"Tell your pet to not get on my bad side then." Jungkook scoffed, pushing past me, in annoyance and leaving Jimin and I alone and I noticed he was still holding my hand.
He quickly let's go of it as he realised we were holding hands. "Sorry. That's Jungkook if you haven't gathered. He's kinda like the star of this place. He's a four time winning kick-boxing champion. He's usually not this much of an asshole but he's just been going through a tough time recently..."
"I, uh, if you haven't gathered this is an underground boxing nightclub." Jimin cleared his throat. "People pay to see people like Jungkook and I fight. It's kinda illegal but you illegally broke into here so I guess we'll both keep each other's secrets, right?" Jimin beamed at me and I nodded stiffly. His eyes practically bulge out of his sockets once he managed to get a response out of me, even if it was non-verbal.
After analysing him for the past hour or so, I could sense that he, in particular, was genuine.
Body language, facial expression, the tone in his voice, there really wasn't a bad bone in his body so I let my guard down a little.
Not too much.
Like I said, in life you can never trust anybody other than yourself.
I was always taught keep one eye on your enemies and two eyes on your friends because at least you know your enemies intentions.
Though he was very friendly, this could be a ploy at the end of the day.
"Can I sleep now?" I asked him softly and he gaped at me, like a fish without water, looking around frantically like I was a dog who was speaking English.
Realising he was starting to freak me out, he nodded his head.
"Yeah, yeah, of course, of course. I'm sorry for that huge reaction. I didn't know you spoke English." Jimin scratched the back of his head. I could tell he was burning to ask me more questions but he restrained himself as he guided me up to his bedroom, through some side door by the main entrance.
Climbing up the stairs, we went up a floor where there was a long hallway, with multiple doors. As we faltered through, the dimly lit hallway, we approached a door scribbled with the words 'Jimin' on it.
Opening the door and gesturing for me to go in first, I eyed him suspiciously, ideas bombarding me as why would he open the door first only to let me go in before him?
Was he trying to trap me inside?
Instead of walking in forward, I walked in by turning my body so I slid in facing him, in case he had a cunning ulterior movement.
"Ladies first..." He trailed off awkwardly as he watched me creep in slowly, my eyes fixated on him. As I stepped in, he followed behind me, noticing how on edge I was. "Hey, I'm not gonna hurt you. I'm not a liar." He whispered, reassuringly.
"You're not a liar?" I whispered back.
"Yeah. Liar's are people who don't tell the truth. Friends don't lie." Jimin nodded his head at me and I looked into his eyes for reassurance again.
"Okay."
His bedroom was a standard box room, his bed was a double bed however on the wooden floorboard, by a desk, was a blanket and pillow laid out. His room was plastered with posters and he had a window by his double bed.
"Do you need a change of clothes?" Jimin asked me thoughtfully, noticing my distressed, damp, stained, muddy clothing.
"Yes." I whispered.
Jimin nodded his head before scavenging through his closet for something for me to wear. He ended up finding a black spiderman t-shirt and some boxers. Though he was quite muscular and fit, he was probably the smallest in the crew, but despite this, his clothes looked like it would be oversized on me.
Tasking the clothes from him, I quickly pried off my top and his eyes bulged out of his sockets.
"What the fuck, Ivy?" He whipped around at the speed of light as I stood by his bed topless.
Blinking, unsure why he was yelling, I, nonetheless, wore his t-shirt. "I was just going to ask you if my pyjamas were okay enough for you to wear. Next time give me a heads up before you flash me? So I can actually leave and respect your privacy."
"Privacy?" I murmured, in confusion.
"Yeah. Privacy. Do you know what that is?" Jimin asked me, still faced away from me. I didn't respond, I just took off my leggings and threw them aside. "It's like... giving you your own space."
Staring down at my IV tattoo, I remember being with the others. We never really had much privacy. We were all bathed together. We ate together. We trained together. Everything we did, we did together.
But I pried Jimin's blanket on his double bed and laid down immediately, feeling sleep start to consume me.
"Getting comfy already." Jimin joked as he laid by me on the floor.
But I was already half-asleep by the time my head hit the pillow.
"Goodnight Ivy." Jimin murmured but by that time, soft snores had already escaped my lips.