When Jisung exited through the main entrance of the Lee villa, a black
limousine was already waiting infront of him. The boy could see his reflection in the black windows when the driver told him to take his seat at the front. The two Lee brothers were sitting at the back not even looking up when Jisung got inside while they were deeply engulfed in a talk about their halloween party.
Minding his own business Jisung stared out the window at the moving scenery. It wasn't like yesterday when the trees bathed in sunlight colored everything in a warm vibe... today everything seemed grey. The clowded sky, the asphalt, all the buildings, even the people on the streets were grey like ghosts.
"Jisung?! Are you numb too? I told you to get out of the car." Jisung was suddenly pulled out of his thoughts by the angry remark of Minho standing in front of his opened door.
'Oh... we are already there' Jisung noticed how time passed by quickly.
Bowing in apology the boy quickly stumbled out of the car almost tripping in the process.
"Wow, watch where you are going, you're gonna hurt yourself." Felix worried and grabbed his arm to help him keeping his balance.
Minho on the other hand only rolled his eyes and headed for his first destination, his brown coat flying in the wind.
"I told you not to be nice to him. He might not be able to talk but he still manages to piss me of." Minho glared at his little brother who gave him an annoyed stare.
The older seemed to be in a bad mood today...
"Whatever, come on Jisung or you'll freeze to death at the spot." The freckled boy cheered and waved Jisung to walk with them.
Felix was right, because of the wind it seemed even colder than it was. Jisung could already feel his hands freezing.
In the next 2 hours the three of them were passing by different expensive looking shops to look for decoration and catering that was fitting their expectations so they could order it.
Jisung just dragged along quietly, not making a noise and trying to get warm in his thin coat that was definitely not supposed to be worn at cold days like these.
However, luckily Jisung didn't have to carry anything until now regarding the fact that the brother's ordered everything directly to their home.
Right now they were walking down a large street that would usually be crowded with people but because of the weather there weren't that many.
"Jisung hurry up, you're slower than a disabled turtle." Minho yelled at the boy who nodded and tried staying directly behind them.
"It's fun, going out shopping, isn't it?" Felix asked not expecting an answer while Jisung didn't even pay attention to him but kept walking while his teeth were clapping.
'Why can't they just ignore me?'
Suddenly he bumped into a person, recognizing it was Minho who stared at him in annoyance.
"You can't speak, you can't listen when I say something, you can't even pay attention to your surroundings. At least try to make an efford. I don't even need to do something to make you struggle. Something like you shouldn't be paid." He spat and pushed a card into Jisung's hands.
"Here, take this and go to the shop that I told you about earlier. They finished my costume and you're gonna get it from there and meet us at the Café over there afterward. Understood?" He asked again and Jisung nodded.
Minho was right, he didn't focus although he wanted to try to make an efford to start a friendship with people. Maybe this was the best way he could show them that he was trustworthy. Jisung had to do this correctly, it wasn't difficult after all... he even knew the shop.
But then, the boy felt the first raindrop on his face and in the next moment it rained like waterfalls coming from the sky. Under normal circumstances Jisung would have searched for a dry place to wait until it's over but Minho was depending on him so he couldn't dissapoint him.
With quick steps he ran through the blocks, his clothes already soaked in rain, but the cold let him focus on his task and not dive into other thoughts. Even the few people carrying umbrellas and staring at Jisung like he was a maniac didn't matter to him at the moment. Just this once... just this once he could do something right.
There it was, accross the street, the designer shop Minho had told him to go to.
From inside the shop a warm yellow light shone on the pedestrian path and through the glass door Jisung could see a young woman behind the counter fixing a jacket that was placed on the table.
'I can do this.'
Inhaling deeply, Jisung walked over to the entrance and slowly pushed open the entrance door, creating the sound of a bell.
The woman turned her head and stared at the boy infront of her like he was some kind of ghost. There was no sound in the room but the drops of water falling from Jisung's coat.
"Gosh, you look like you fell down the niagara falls. Who walks around outside when the weather is like this?" She put her hands on her sides and eyed Jisung up and down.
Noticing how he must look like Jisung began to feel awkward and quickly wanted to change the subject.
So he took out his phone that was gladly water proof.
'I'm here to get Lee Minho's costume. I'm sorry but I can't speak at the moment because my throat is hurting.'
Jisung came up with a small lie to not cause confusion.
The woman looked at what he wrote down and nodded with understanding, her hair that was tied up swinging from one side to the other.
"Minho, that little brat sent out someone in this weather. This is typical." She mumbled in annoyance and went behind the counter again to grab a bag.
"My name is Jessi by the way." She smiled while Jisung tried to grab the bag.
"No no no, you're not going out like this again. First, the costume will get wet and second, you'll catch a cold if you haven't already." She pointed at Jisung with her artisticly painted nails.
"So... What's your name, honey?"
Jisung was left speechless for a second. It wasn't like he was able to say anything anyways but the kindness that Jessi gave him scared the boy a little.
'Han Jisung' he showed Jessi his name.
"Jisung.. and you are working for Minho?" she asked and Jisung nodded.
"Huh, that brat really treats everyone like shit." she sighed before she gave her full attention to Jisung again.
"You know what? A cute boy like you shouldn't be looking like that. How about I give you some dry clothes and a make-over so Minho will see that a gorgeous young man like Han Jisung shouldn't be treated like this." Jessi's eyes started sparkling as she walked across the room toward a collection of clothes.
Jisung couldn't hold eye contact with such a strong personality for long before feeling anxiety so he just stared after the woman in confusion.
'I don't even have money!' he showed her the words but she simply shrugged before a smirk formed on her face.
"Let's just pretend Master Lee's costume is a little more expensive that expected. He should be responsible for casualities of his assistant, shouldn't he?" she innocently grinned.
'This woman is crazy.' Jisung thought and saw a hill of clothing comming at him.
'Holy Jesus...'
...
Meanwhile Felix and Minho had already ordered an americano and a vanilla latté at the Café where they'd meet up with Jisung.
"You shouldn't have sent him alone in this rain. He doesn't even have an umbrella!" Felix complained and pushed his brother's shoulder slightly who sat there with crossed arms.
"He's not a child, he can be responsible for himself." Minho snapped back and slurped his americano very very slowly, making the atmosphere even more tense.
"Seriously, what do you have against him. I think he is-"
"It's simple." Minho interrupted his brother. "Something about him just seems suspicious to me. He is probably not after my money, nor after my position in the company. He denied that he likes me."
"So?"
"I'm just wondering about a few things. If someone loses their voice because of a surgery or whatever, why would they decide to work in an household where it is basically necessary that one can communicate. He doesn't even seem to like his work, so he must be planing something." Minho thought intensively for a few seconds.
"But why-" Felix tried answering again but his brother gave him no chance to do so.
"Or maybe he only pretends that he can't speak as a faked weakness!"
Minho was sure that there was something off with this dude.
"I appreciate you as my brother but sometimes you are kinda scary..."
Felix told his brother with a weirded out look which the other ignored.
"Whatever, we'll find out sooner or later who Han Jisung really is." The older ended the topic and waited for Felix to give his usuall sarcastic remark when there was silence.
Irritated Minho looked at Felix but the younger was staring at something behind him with parted lips and fixated eyes.
"What the-?" The brunette turned around to see what Felix was looking at when the words got stuck in throat.
A boy was approaching their table with small steps, an umbrella in his left hand and a big bag in his other hand. The baby pink oversited sweater he was wearing hid his hands and let him look extra tiny. His wide jeans almost reached the floor and his fluffy brown hair was almost covering his sparkling eyes that were trained on the floor.
All in all he looked really insecure letting him look even cuter.
"J- Jisung?" Minho wanted to make sure he wasn't dreaming when the said boy stopped in front of their table while other custumers started whispering. Feeling like he'd faint any second Jisung handed Minho the bag with his costume which the other took not letting his eyes off him.
"I see... Jessie found another victim..." Minho broke the silence, his expression staying unreadable making it hard for Jisung to understand in what mood the other was right now.
Actually, Jisung had tried to fight to keep his own clothes on but Jessie simply had a stronger will and probably even stronger physic than him.
"She always makes a masterpiece tho." Felix stared at the other in appreciation.
"He looks cute, right Minho?" he then added to what his brother only shrugged his shoulders and averted his eyes. It didn't matter what Jisung looked like, to Minho he stayed suspicious.
"He looks like the bottom character in a yaoi that gets in bed with everyone."
"Bro, stfu" Felix hit his shoulder and pretended that he didn't just say that.
"How about you sit down, Jisung?" Felix offered Jisung the seat next to Minho on the bench while he sat across both of them.
With a careful glance the squirrel boy noticed that Minho wasn't looking at him.
'Am I really looking that bad? Is it okay if I sit down?' He kept asking himself but before he could make a decision Felix had already pulled his arm slightly and pushed him down on the seat. In the process Jisung bumped into Minho but quickly caught himself and sat straight staring at his hands.
"Yeah, whatever I'm gonna go get you an iced americano, Jisung. Is that alright or would you like something else." Felix pushed himself up with a questioning face toward Jisung who quickly nodded being satisfied with anything.
But as soon as Felix was gone the other two sat at the table in silence.
The younger had a feeling that it was his fault for Minho's bad mood so he quickly typed something in his phone and tapped the other boy's shoulder.
'I'm sorry for not listening and bumping into you earlier.'
The older stared at the text and then directly at Jisung's eyes. He wanted to look away but Minho wouldn't let him.
"I told you to look me in the eye when I talk to you, didn't I?"
Jisung heard his voice and tried his best maintaining eye contact.
"I don't know if all of this is just an act or if you're just actually lost." The boy said with a cold voice and Jisung quickly typed.
'I don't understand'
"Of course you wouldn't." A satisfied expression was visible on the older's face as he placed his head on his hand that was leaning against the wall.
"You better didn't get the costume wet or..."
The rest of Minho's words were swallowed in the sudden dullness that was in Jisung's mind. Just one second he had averted his eyes when he noticed a black dressed person wearing a mask on the other side of the room who was directly staring at him.
'No way... he is in prison, isn't he? He can't be here.'
Jisung suddenly felt a wave of fear comming at him. It was the first emotion except for panic that he experienced since the incident and it made his body freeze and his breathing stop. The boy couldn't even avert his eyes when flashbacks dared to crush his vision.
That man looked exactly like the psychopath...
In the next second it was like Jisung's vision glitched and he found himself sitting inside the bloodied living room of the house he had lived in the last 4 years.
'No!' the boy shut his eyes tightly grabbing the nearest object he could to confirm that he was still in the Café and that he was safe. Or was he safe?
Jisung was so caught up in panic that he didn't notice that he actually held onto a person's arm... Minho's arm.
The older who was in the middle of explaining how angry he'd be if anything happend to his costume stopped his speech and eyed the younger boy in confusion. He tried to pull his arm away but Jisung's grip was strong.
"Yo squirrel, what do you think you're doing? If this is a confession of love, it's a really ridiculous one." he stated noticing that the other's eyes were tightly shut and his breathing was more like gasping for air.
"Uhm, you're embarassing me. We are in a Café with a lot of people so please refrain from doing weird stuff." Minho tried to sound sassy but he couldn't keep that tone, something was wrong with Jisung...
Meanwhile the younger heard Minho talking to him.
'We're in a café... right.'
At that moment Jisung opened his eyes again to stare at the black clothed man again that had just taken his mask of.
A little weight fell from Jisung's shoulders when he realized that it was a completely different and unfamiliar person.
But he couldn't feel any kind of relieve... the fear was still there and he didn't know what to do with it.
"Han Jisung, if you don't let go of me the next second I'll not only kick you out but make sure your life is dreadful." Minho's words cut through the silence like a knife when Jisung finally realized that he had been holding onto the boy's upper arm the whole time.
Immediately he took his hands off him, with his head kept down and created a little distance between them.
"Seriously, what was this about? If this was some kind of attack I'm calling the cops I swear." the older hissed and held his arm but Jisung couldn't say anything. The mention of cops created more pictures in his head... cold, grey waiting rooms and bandages soaked in blood...
"Not gonna answer? And I told you to look at me when speak." Minho was really annoyed and confused by the other's behaviour by now. He hated being clueless.
To make Jisung listen to him he streched out his arm and reached for Jisung chin to lift his face... but before that could happen his hand was suddenly forcefully slapped away. It actually hurted quiet a bit but it wasn't the pain that ticked Minho of but the lack of respect.
Jisung was his assistant and he had already crossed the line by grabbing Minho's arm like this but slapping him was a whole new level of no gos.
Jisung didn't intend to do it but it was a reflex. He was well aware what would happen if someone touched his face. Wanting to apologize in the same moment he finally looked up feeling totally helpless and overewhelmed.
"Huh.." Minho clenched his jaw.
"So you go as far as hurting me? Do you think I'll let that pass?!" Jisung was near tears as he backed away further but Minho pulled him by his arm so he couldn't escape.
"Whoever raised you did a terrible job in teaching you manners Jisung. Hasn't your mother told you to not use force?"
This comment was enough to send Jisung over the edge. It wasn't his real mother that he imagined but his adoptive mother... her gentle smile and the warmth of her hugs whenever Jisung cried in her arms.
He saw her chocolate brown beautiful eyes infront of him that simple smile of hers.
Then his adoptive father that was next to her... always there to support Jisung even though he made one mistake after another. And finally his little adoptive sister, she had been the most energetic and cutest girl that Jisung had ever seen and she always managed to make him smile.
But...
they were gone...
murdered...
without a reason...
and Jisung couldn't do anything.
Nobody had the right to offend any of them.
Forcefully he pulled his hand out of Minho's grip and ran to the exit.
He knew he'd break down now. It was too late to do anything but he didn't want them to see it... Jisung didn't want to weird out Minho even more.
The older boy sat at the same spot like frozen. The expression on Jisung's face had shocked him... the other days Minho remembered him as rather cold and non caring but what he saw in the younger boy's eyes just now was deep sorrow and pain.
"Han Jisung, what in god's name is going on with you?"
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Where I live there is karneval day today and usually there are parades and everyone dresses up and celebrates with tons of candy and alcohol but because of rona I gotta celebrate with my fam... :')