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"Mari?" The girl lifted her head up at the sound of her name, squinting her eyes at the bright light that infiltrated her eyes. She rubbed them in a slow motion, trying to regain consciousness of what all that's as going around her. The last thing she remembered was talking to Mingi about something minuscule, though he seemed rather excited about the topic. Had she fallen asleep while he was pouring out his heart about his interest? Now she felt like a bad person. "Mari, can I ask you a question?"
When she had completely opened her eyes, she immediately noticed something was off. She wasn't in the living room of Mingi's house, sitting on his couch and listening to him rant about whatever they were talking about beforehand. Instead, she was in a very small and rectangular room, reminiscent of a classroom even. It was almost completely empty, a few desks and chairs were scattered about the room with no one to fill them. It was just her, alone and sitting in a desk.
"Mari," The voice called her name again, rather soft and gentle compared to the loud and deep booming voice of Mingi. She turned around in the desk to look behind her, finding Yeosang staring at her with narrowed eyes like a cat. He didn't make a single noise when she saw him, even when she jumped at his sudden appearance he sat still in the seat. His hair was covering his eyes, only allowing his stone-cold eyes to shine through his bangs whenever he moved his head from one side to the other. "Can I ask you a question?"
"Sure," she replied almost immediately, no hesitation stopping her from answering him. Why would she hesitate? Yeosang was Mari's friend and soon to be Consigliere, there was no need to question her actions around him. "Hit me with whatever you want."
The boy leaned back in his seat, crossing his arms as he thought about his next words carefully. There was a light jingling noise coming from his neck, catching Mari's attention in a matter of seconds. Her eyes were immediately glued to a shiny piece of jewelry that hung around his neck, a silver lock and key that were connected to each other by a chain. That was new, she had never seen him wear that before. "What do you think of Wooyoung and Hongjoong?" He asked her, a knowing look on his face.
"Wooyoung and Hongjoong?" She questioned him, a confused look on her face. He must have heard his name from the fight Mari and Wooyoung had, they were right in front of him when it happened after all. "They're really... really nice friends of mine. Wooyoung is annoying but he's got a good heart, I promise. He just wants what's best for me. Hongjoong talks like he's got hidden demons but he's practically an open book that just hasn't been touched yet. Why do you ask?"
"I only wish that you watch your next steps with them," he told her, gently taking her hands in his as if she was as fragile as a butterfly wing. "You trust both of them with such open arms and a warm heart, it hurts. You don't know what they're hiding, even those closest to you have secrets they can't tell in fear of your reaction. Even I have things I have sworn to never say. And there are some people who depend heavily on your outlook on them, it would be a shame it shatter all at once."
Mari gave him a confused grin, her eyes staring at him as if he was some mythical being coming from the skies. "I don't... I don't understand what you mean?"
"I know," Yeosang spoke, his voice shrill and small as if he was the size of an ant. Goosebumps ran down her spine at the icky feeling of a liquid slowly running down into her hands, cold and warm at the same time in an odd yet fascinating way. The boy lifted his hands off of hers to reveal crimson blood pouring down from his hands to hers, nearly giving her a heart attack at the sight. Mari immediately shoved herself away from the boy, scrambling away from the sight of the blood on her hands. "I just want you to be wary of your future."
"What did you just do? How did you just—" She cut herself off, frantically trying to wipe the blood off her and onto any surface that wasn't her own body. Mari glanced back towards Yeosang, nearly screaming the loudest she possibly could have at the sight. Yeosang sat at the desk with his bloody hands, a polite look on his face despite the two figures looming over his rather petite looking body.
Wooyoung and Hongjoong stood there behind him with dead expressions in their eyes, as if life had been sucked right out of their bodies. They were like paint splattered statues, yet beaten and bruised with a red liquid oozes from several wounds that were scattered about their bodies. They were like abstract art, yet the only color they were accented with was the crimson red of blood. "If both of them were on death's door, with every horrible secret they kept out, who would you choose to become the savior of? Think carefully, it's only amount of time before you can make your final decision, Mari."
"Princess?" Hongjoong's whispered, trying to be as gentle as possible. Though despite his attempts she jolted up and awake quickly, her eyes wide and her breathing was fast and heavy. Her gaze darted around the room frantically as she tried to make out where she was. All the lights were cut off except for one, which seemed to be the hallway lights of the upstairs floor. It illuminated the downstairs room just a bit, giving her enough dim light to give her confirmation that she was in the living room of Mingi's house. "Are you okay? Did you have a bad dream or something? You were sleeping on the couch, that might be the reason."
"Hongjoong?" Mari asked as if it wasn't already clear who she was talking to. She turned around almost immediately, only to be greeted by the boy leaning up against the couch armrest next to her. He looked at her with curious eyes, though there was a hint of worry in his eyes at the same time. She let out an awkward laugh, trying to clear up any tension she had accidentally caused. "Ah, I must have fallen asleep while Mingi was talking. That's kind of rude of me I'll go apologize."
"It's two in the morning, princess." Hongjoong clarified, pointing towards the window. Madi cautiously glanced around him, taking note of the night sky that was illuminated by the moonlight outdoors. When she was awake it was still sundown. "Almost three am really. Everyone has been asleep for hours, you knocked out before literally everyone. It's going to be hard trying to apologize to a sleeping body."
She nodded at his words, making a mental note in her head to apologize to the boisterous boy when he wakes up in the morning. "So why are you awake then? It is two am like you said, everyone is supposedly asleep and off in their own little dreamland. You must have a habit of staying up late."
"I wish that was the reason I'm up," Hongjoong complained, a hint of annoyance in his tone. "I got another call from my parents. Thankfully it wasn't my father who called this time, but it didn't mean it wasn't a hassle to deal with. My mother is just a watered down version of her husband, slightly more lenient but a bother nonetheless. They had out of town for a while, that's why I had spent my time here instead of at my actual house. Their flight landed a few minutes ago so I was being warned of impending doom."
"This is new," Mari acknowledged, leaning back on the couch with a surprised look on her face. "You've never been one to dive into your family with me."
"That's because I usually complain to Seonghwa about it," Hongjoong snorted, rolling her eyes at the smug expression. "He's heard all of it, probably more times than any normal person really should. Plus, you've been sharing a lot about your family with me. It's only fair I pay it forward with a little bit of an info dump myself."
"I guess you must be leaving? To go back home that is." She asked, earning a confused expression from him. Mari had noticed he wasn't in any sort of traditional sleepwear, dressed up in the now damaged leather jacket from the day before and a simple shirt and jeans. "You look like you're about to leave, so I assumed you were going home. Unless you go to sleep in jeans, then I'd have to cut off the friendship entirely."
He laughed in response, very light-hearted and endearing compared to the way he talked about his parents. "Yes and no. I'm leaving for a short while, but I'm not going home. You remember that guy I told you about at that playground once, my dad's secretary, or whatever you wanna call him. He usually tries to take me back home when my parents return, and since my usual hiding place is Mingi's house he's probably going to head here next. So I'm making a quick getaway for a few hours to throw him off his game."
"You say that like you've got more places to hide in this city," Mari said, though remember exactly who he was talking about. She hadn't seen his father's so-called secretary, only having heard his voice once. It was cold and unforgiving one as if there was no emotion to be found in their time whatsoever. She wondered if they were like that all the time. Mari wouldn't blame Hongjoong for running from him if he did.
Hongjoong smiled, very enthusiastic about the new topic. "Of course I've got more places to hide. If I didn't, I promise you I'd be dead by now. They're scattered all about the city so that I can have a literal variety in where I spend my hours. I even have them all tagged with my own signature so that I can remember where they are when I come about them."
"It seems like you've got this all figured out. Nice planning, I'm not gonna lie. But I'll have to see it to believe you actually used your brain for once." Mari declared, teasing him further.
"You make it sound like I never use my brain," Hongjoong laughed, his light-hearted giggles filling the most silent living room. She was getting a bit more comfortable than she'd like with his constant feathery laughter. "I've got a few gears turning in here when I need them to, I promise. My head especially starts working when I need to avoid my parents, it's like a secondary fight or flight method at this point."
Mari snorted, resting her head in her palms as she spoke to him. "Instead of fight or flight, it's head full or head empty. Honestly, sometimes I think you act on just emotions alone, are you sure you're telling the truth when you say you're thinking sometimes?"
"You have no right to talk, princess!" Hongjoong argued, pouting at the girl teasing. "Who was the one who downed an entire alcoholic drink without even asking what it was? You're lucky I was such a nice person to you even though we barely knew each other, you would have made a complete fool of yourself had I not stepped in."
The girl groaned, the memory of completely destroying the drink Jaerin gave her still awfully fresh in her head. "God, don't remind me. You got me there, I definitely wasn't using my head in that situation. You can't blame me though, I had never been to a party before. At least, I've never been to one that's not formal. I was just trying to prove a point to Jaerin that her words have no power over me."
"And you almost screwed yourself over in the process." Hongjoong pointed out, a smug smile growing on his face when Mari shot him an annoyed glare. "But hey! Fool you once, shame on you right? Now you've got the common sense to not trust a single word or gift that comes from Jaerin. Congratulations, welcome to the Jaerin is a snake and screws everyone she comes into contact with over club."
"Is there a way out of this club? I don't remember signing up to be on Jaerin's blacklist." Mari joked, though earning a very distressed expression from Hongjoong. "I'll take that as a no then, never mind."
Hongjoong went silent for a moment, thinking deeply about his next words before speaking again. "Do you wanna come with me?" He asked her, gesturing towards the garage door where his motorcycle was located. "I leave off on these mini-adventures a lot, and usually have someone come with me but everyone else is asleep. Sitting and waiting for hours can get lonely so company is greatly appreciated."
"Oh?" Mari replied, a very interested spark in her eyes. "Just us alone? Wow, just say you're asking me out on a date and go, you coward." The girl dramatically covered her face with her hands as she started teasing him again.
Hongjoong rolled his eyes at her, pushing himself off the arm of the couch with a huff. "I'm not the one who immediately assumed this was going to be a date. But if that's what you want it to be, then sure." He mocked, a little more childish in tone yet mocking her all the same.
Mari's eyes widened at his words, slowly processing in her head what just happened. Before she knew it he was nonchalantly walking towards the door and her face was beginning to develop a pink hue. "That's...," She began, barely finding the right words to say. "That's not what I meant. Wait a second, Hongjoong, what do you mean. I need you to run that by me one more time because that's not exactly what I meant. It was just a joke I promise. Hongjoong, wait!"
"This is where you hang out when your parents come back to town?" Mari questioned, digging her hands into the extra and thankfully unused denim jacket she was wearing. She had put on whatever she saw first in the closet of the guest room she was using, which caused her to have a very mismatched outfit: a denim jacket, grey sweatpants she had borrowed from Mingi, and the graphic tee she had been wearing to sleep. She definitely looked very appealing next to Hongjoong, who looked like the human embodiment of the ideal 1950's greaser, just modernized.
It was still rather dark outside, seeing as they were still in the night time hours of five am. The ride to this rather new area was quick thanks to Hongjoong's constant rushing to get out of the house and the natural speed of his motorcycle. She reckoned that if they waited a little longer, they might even be able to catch the sunrise. "This is definitely the place," Hongjoong answered, a proud grin on his face as tapped the wall of the alley. "My tag is here and everything, I just have to figure out how to exactly get where we actually need to be."
"So we're here, but we aren't here at the same time?" Mari asked, approaching him to catch a glimpse of whatever this tag of his what. On the wall where Hongjoong stood was just a small piece of artwork, most likely graffiti due to the spray paint-like texture it had. It was a signature colored with red and yellow spray paint, the handwriting very swift and quick yet somehow rather simple and clean at the same time. It definitely radiated Hongjoong's vibe.
Hongjoong took a few steps back from where he was standing, trying to put together the pieces in his head. "The last time I came here there was a ladder that I used to get up onto the rooftop. But it doesn't seem to be here anymore. But I bet if we go a little farther down the alley we'll find the fire escape ladder."
"I feel like I'm going to die if I go farther down there," Mari cautioned, her eyes trailing down the alleyway with uncertainty. It was already rather dark outside as is and the sun wasn't going to peak over the horizon to provide them with any natural sunlight any time soon. It only made the alley even darker, giving it a rather eerie and dangerous ambiance.
"You won't die, princess, don't worry," He reassured her, taking his phone to shine his flashlight. At least one of them had some form of a light source on them. "I've come down this alley a couple of times myself. The biggest injuries I've ever gotten here was a bruise from tripping over a broken glass bottle." Hongjoong began leading her down the alleyway with a lot more confidence than she has expected, but there was a little hesitation in his steps at the same time. It seemed as though those couple of times he walked down the alleyway wasn't as much as he made it out to be.
"Ah yes, I totally and completely trust you with my entire life." Mari rolled her eyes, sarcasm dripping off her tongue as they carefully made their way through the dark alleyway. "I mean, I have no choice but to. You're my only ride to get back to Mingi's house anyways."
"I can't let you die no matter how much you're annoying me right," Hongjoong commented, an aggravated smile on his face as the light from his phone illuminated the fire escape. He suddenly turned around when Mari was right on his heels, forcing him to be uncomfortably close to each other. "It's not very kind nor hospitable for me to just let my date die in an alleyway away from her house, isn't it?"
Mari immediately retaliated by shoving him away from her, using a large portion of her strength to make sure he was either lengths away from her or laying in the garbage pile that was left in the alleyway. "Will you quit it already!? How many times do I have to tell you? That's not what I meant, this is not a date! This is not a date and will not be a date."
Hongjoong laughed as he caught his balance, shining his light on her face to bother her. "I'm not the one who thought that's what I was alluding to though. You think it's a date and I'm just complying with what the princess thinks." He assured her, scrambling up the fire escape when Mari lunged towards him. "It's not very nice to attack the person you're on a date with you know! Now hurry up, I heard that there might be shooting stars tonight and if I miss them I will be throwing you off the side of the building."
"I'm going to rock his shit so hard, I swear I'm going to do it," Mari mumbled as she watched Hongjoong climbed the fire escape to the rooftop. It took all of her willpower not the shake the ladder to scare him, knowing that he would do some equally as frightening to her as payback. Plus that was rather petty for her to do anyways over just some playful teasing, but Mari was one to stoop that low if she really wanted to.
After a few moments of constant teasing and bickering between the two, Mari had finally climbed up on the fire escape with him. She nearly slipped from how fast she was forcing herself to go, but she knew there was no good to staying alone in an alleyway and longer than she already was. The girl lifted herself on top of the rooftop with ease, quickly adjusting her balance so that she could tread more carefully yet easily on the slightly slanted rooftop.
"Welcome to one of many getaways, princess. But this time it's rooftop addition," Hongjoong introduced, sitting on the roof with his legs crossed like a child. Mari immediately caught notice of the countless amounts of artwork that was drawn on the building, nearly covering up the entire surface with its creativity. Everything about the graffiti screamed Hongjoong aura, his entire mind being poured out into the artwork that no one else had the chance to see. Perhaps this is why Hongjoong doesn't think before he speaks sometimes because his mind is saving up for the hidden graffiti work he hides around the city.
"I almost don't want to sit down," Mari commented, carefully trying not to step on any of the art around her. It was quite literally everywhere, no matter where her eyes turned there was always some sort of splash of color that brought the roof to life. "Walking around all this makes me anxious, I don't want to ruin what you made. Though of all places you just had to pick a rooftop where no one could see?"
"Authorities would try to find me and sue me property damage if I did this somewhere in public." Hongjoong shrugged, urging her to walk towards him like normal. "And you don't have to be cautious. This is just a bunch of art that I've built up over the years layered on top of it. Nothing up here is new except for Yunho's signature that should be up here somewhere. Mingi and Seonghwa have their own signatures up here as well but I forgot where they ended up putting theirs, I just know they have brighter colors than the rest."
"They have their signatures up here?" Mari asked, taking Hongjoong's word and approaching him without hesitation. She took a few quick glances, finding Yunho's signature rather easily since it was colored with a bright ocean blue. "That's nice of you to do. Now you're obligated to let me put my own signature up here as well. Anything those boys are allowed to do I'm allowed to do but better."
Hongjoong laughed, his smile much more genuine and pleased than the smug one from earlier. "I don't think I have any spray paint cans with me right now, but next time I decide to run I'll make sure to get those and take you with me. Though, I don't think you can beat Seonghwa's signature. He writes neatly and fast so everything looks rather elegant and classy. It's funny because it's the exact opposite of what he actually is."
"You wanna make a bet then?" She asked him, sitting down next to him with a determined look in her eyes. Mari seemed to have caught his interest, an eager expression on his face as she spoke. "If I can make a more elegant and totally godlike signature, you have to do whatever I say for an entire day, but I get to choose whatever day it is. My own servant Hongjoong card that I can only use once."
"And what do I get out of this if you can't?" He asked her, clearly not taking her end of the bet seriously. "I've been thinking of dying my hair to red recently, try out something new since I've done natural colors and blue already. Plus, I think it would be fun to see if I can pull off red better then Mingi, who is basically the red king right now. You'll have to help me with it if you lose, and by helping me with it I mean do everything for me because dying hair is a bit of a long process that I don't feel like doing."
"I've never dyed my hair before though," Mari pointed out, a confused look on her face. "Let alone anyone else's hair. And that's such a weak punishment anyways! Give me something more exciting and challenging than that!"
"Are you sure about that, princess?" Hongjoong questioned, a sly glint in his eyes as he spoke. "I can give you something much more challenging if you're really up for it."
Mari snorted, rolling her eyes at his bluffing. "I'm not a coward you know. You caught me slipping once in the past, but you won't but you won't catch me slipping again. You saw how brave I was those psychos were chasing me. I licked a man's hand to escape getting potentially killed or kidnapped, Hongjoong! I fear nothing at this point, I am basically a god."
"Hush," Hongjoong quieted her, immediately making Mari cease all conversation. She noticed how he was staring up at the sky, his eyes fixed on whatever entity was above them rather than her. "It's a shooting star. Be quiet and make a wish before it goes away."
"Hongjoong that's so child—" Mari tried to argue, though he wasn't paying attention to her anymore. The boy fluttered his eyes closed, keeping them shut tight as he clasped his hands together to make a quick wish before it went away. He almost looked like an innocent child, believing in the well known and constantly told myths of the shooting stars. She rested her head on her knees as she watched him silently, unknowingly smiling at the sight.
"If you don't mind me asking," Mari began, her voice much softer from her loud boasting tone just a few seconds ago. She couldn't lie, she was genuinely curious at what the boy was so eager to wish for that he had completely ignored her to do so. Hongjoong released himself from his wishing stance, glancing towards her with the same childlike wonder he had for the star. "What did... you end up wishing for?"
Hongjoong thought about it for a second, debating on whether or not he wanted to reveal it to her. Though he smiled at her, lifting his hand up to gently run his hands through her hair. "I wished for you to do my part of the bet and dye my hair red for me."
"I'm going to beat you up, I'm so sick of you," Mari replied almost immediately, irritation making itself clear in her tone as she reached for his neck. A string of apologizes and laughter fell out of Hongjoong's mouth, grabbing her wrists to hold her back and keep her hands away from him. "I told you I was going to rock your shit and now seems like the perfect time to do so!"