Chapter Text
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The shadowed figure lurked along a side of a rather traditional looking restaurant, being entirely shut but also you could peek inside if you really tried. It was the dead of night and no one was awake except the occasional middle aged drunkard.
With a knife gripped in one hand, the figure lunged for a child left wandering alone.
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"No, seriously you need to get rid of that hair" The restaurant owner, Hajun, yelled from across the kitchen. "I already told you I can't, this is what my hair color is naturally, have you ever seen any roots on my head?" Hyeok-woo said with frustration, how many times had they gone over this exact thing.
Well, he wasn't really annoyed though, Hajun had helped him so much the least he could do was put up with his questions.
After what happened with his Father, he didn't really have anywhere to go (or anywhere he wanted to) using what money he had been saving up over the years to get a dingy apartment in what was the quietest town in the history of like forever, like seriously, absolutely nothing was going on here. Well, he supposed that's for the better. Less people to recognize whose son he was. Anyway, he had lived places far worse.
When he eventually ran out of what was basically his trust fund, if you could call saved money that. He needed a job and good for him, where he was staying barely had any other people his age (aka less competition), so that's when he met Hajun. He seemed to know who he was but apparently didn't care, which was a huge relief. He owned a restaurant right smack in the middle of town and he needed a waiter or something, but at this point Hyeok-woo felt like he was more the manager than anything, Hajun was very careless with his money.
The restaurant was pretty basic, you know the standard wooden table and chair and dark brown walls, though it had a certain charm to it. Almost nostalgic.
A wail broke his train of thought "Wahhh, Yookie-Ah, aren't you 17? when are you going to start going to school, I know a school, well the ONLY school in this place but I know the Principal. I swear she'll accept you in a heartbeat."
"She'll accept anyone who's willing to give her money and I told you I'm going to start going soon, also don't call me Yookie" 'Yookie-Ah' replied more exasperated than ever.
He did not want to think about school right now. Truthfully, he just couldn't bring himself to go, not after all he had done, what if the people there recognized him, what if- "I know what that face means, stop worrying so much" Hajun spoke once again interrupting the mess of thoughts that were in his head.
The beige door being opened interrupted their conversation, another customer, usually he left it up to Hajun to take care of the more social aspects of this place, he did feel a bit guilty, sure his advertising had helped bring in a few new customers but he wasn't really doing the job he was hired to do.
Hajun was seriously too kind for his own good, he really did not deserve such a person. He had only been here for a couple of months but Hajun had made it seem like they were friends forever, even though he was 19 years older than him.
"Yookie-Ah, do you mind coming out here, someone wants to meet you" Hajun did this a lot, wanting him to be friends with the townsfolk, He didn't really see a point to it, but alas joined the older outside. "You must be Hyeok-woo! Hello!" A well polished woman, who didn't seem too much older than him, greeted him, nothing much out of the ordinary than him having never met her before or she knew who he was, she was going to ridicule him in front of Hajun and the other customers there, everyone would know and he-
"Gosh it's been so long, Do you remember me? We went to the same elementary school ! We even met a few times when you were a middle schooler because our mothers were friends, how small the world is. How are you! I heard from your mother you would be here, and I was actually planning to move here too! How fortunate, maybe we could even be neighbors" The woman continued with a glint.
How had his Mother already figured out where he was? He ditched his phone and everything to make sure she couldn't track him. Whatever, as long as she didn't personally interfere with his life.
"The Lover Girl monster?" I couldn't control myself from letting out a chuckle, no way was she that girl in elementary school who would beat up anyone who made fun of her favourite celebrities. "Hey, those years are far behind me. My name is Minji! But you can call me Noona!" The woman- Minji said. "Yeah right! He doesn't even call me Hyung and we've been friends since forever" Hajun whined.
"Ah, it's a pleasure to meet you." Merely formality, it wasn't so hard to be civil. "Noona." "Hey! Seriously? no fair you only just met her!" The restaurant owner feigned jealousy.
Thus, the conversation between Minji, Hajun and him only seemed to stretch on though it was mostly Minji and Hajun doing the talking and Hyeok-woo affirming with a grunt or a nod occasionally.
Apparently Minji was around 6 years older than him, and she was also looking for a place to settle down away from all the pizzazz that is the rich man's world. The one thing they seemed to have in common.
Eventually it grew closer to the Afternoon, usually around the time they would close.
Hyeok-woo was beyond tired now opting to tell the pair that he was heading home to run some errands, those errands being sleeping. The two also decided to go settle down for the day, not without Hajun offering to employ Minji at the restaurant.
"Bye Yookie-Ah" was said in unison, he had a feeling he would be hearing that more often.
Walking home was nothing special, though it did feel better than having someone drive you around, restricting where you could go. Theoretically, the sky was the limit.
What a weird saying.
His Apartment was as he thought back was very, what's the polite way to say this, ugly. The wallpaper did not match the floor tiles and the window sills were painted a horrid green but somehow it felt right. Much better than the hollow shell of a home his old house was.
As he lied on his stiff bed he pondered,
for some reason he couldn't sleep anymore. He didn't get nightmares or anything but his thoughts kept him well awake causing him to get about 5 hours of sleep on a good day.
Thinking back to all that had happened today,
his mind fought to stay awake, his eyes did the opposite, rocking him into a sleep he hadn't had in a long time.
However though, somehow, he had a gut feeling about something not being entirely right.