Forced walks weren't the best. You haven't been out for three whole weeks. It's unhealthy. Go out and don't come back for an hour, it's good for you. I'll even take you to where you need. That was a rough draft of the words her mom told her.
But, still, Lotus Gyeon found herself on her way to nowhere listening to music with her left earbud out to distract her but also so that she could still hear those around her while the other side of her split-screen was a game so she didn't have to pay attention to the faces of the public and feel worse. Her head was angled where she could have her phone and the scenery in front of her in view. Multitasking wasn't so hard as long as she didn't get fully immersed into whatever she was playing.
Raindrops made it onto her screen every now and then, but she had wiped them off. The rain had started minutes ago, not being hard enough to entirely soak her and her electronic. Not many other people minded it either. Only a few carried umbrellas and opened them to shield themselves from the crying sky.
Lotus jumped as thunder clapped in the atmosphere, she looked up with wide eyes. Thunder came with lightning and she didn't want to be outside with that. All she could think of was taking shelter inside a store and waiting a while to text her mom to come to pick her up if it didn't finish storming. She looked forwards as she took a step but halted as she almost ran into a businesswoman.
The woman glared towards her, muttering about her and her behaviour as she walked off. While the woman would have probably forgotten about this in a few minutes, Lotus felt a curdling in her stomach. As always, going outside just ruined her day. She always did something dumb. Even if it's as small as irritating someone on accident.
Looking around to see if anyone saw, she couldn't help but feel antsy and desperate to go back home. But she just couldn't do that until the time was up. Biting her cheek, she shoved her left earbud in and scurried to the usually silent road of apartment buildings. With her head down, she switched the song that was on 'Rebirth' to the next song so she didn't get more nervous, especially with it being such an emotion-filled song.
'I can't wait. My heart is already, danger.' The song began to play, filling her senses with an upbeat song that sounded like it could be played a lot in a club.
Her pink painted nails tapped away at the screen, allowing her to become fully immersed in playing unlike what she was doing before. The day was so stressful and taking a little break on her phone was nothing. It caused her to forget the thundering depth of grey above her that began to light up with strikes of electricity.
The rain came down harder, luckily her face was angled down at her phone that she clutched close to herself. Unfortunately, though, it also meant her hair blocked her vision and she couldn't catch any movement that would keep her on alert. It was too bad that she wasn't paying attention.
A heavy force collided with her legs causing her to fall back despite trying with all her might to stay standing. Her back bounced slightly as it hit the ground, her neck tensed so that her head was saved from the same fate. During her fall her phone fell from her hands, disconnecting her earbuds.
The phone pulling away that hard caused the buds in her ears to pull down sharply creating a dull, stinging pain that was buried by the bruises her back now probably had forming. Not to mention the ache her neck would get after her energy wore off. Tears bubbled in her eyes at the pain of her back despite her mind being completely against them.
From on top of her legs, some boy groaned in pain, not making an effort to get up until she panicked and yanked her legs from underneath his body. With fear, she watched as he finally got up to continue to taunt the person who had shoved him into her.
The boy was promptly kicked into the wall, causing him to stay down as another boy attacked his attacker. Lotus sat up, with quivering hands, feeling as if it was hard to move. With her back and her fear that reduced her into a shaking little leaf, it was hard to even prop herself up. Oh, what she would do to be in her bed, being able to lay down and let the pain ease until she could move.
Every time she went outside, it seemed nothing good happened to her. Everything went wrong in some way. If it wasn't straight away, she would get a little bit of hope but then it would be destroyed. This time she had stumbled across a fight. Not just any fight where the participants were pathetic to watch. No, the blonde guy was so scary looking with all the tattoos he had. He looked like he could be in her nightmares.
Not to mention how utterly chilling and ruthless he was taking on three other kids and was beating their asses with little injury to himself. The kid he already shoved into her was down, and the last two were getting there. Sweat gathered on her face as her heart raced even more.
She had finally looked away in search of her phone. Screw the pain, she was going to run away. There was no way she wanted to be around for the end of the fight and if she needed to call the police, she would! Fighting always made her feel sick.
There was a glimmer of hope in her eyes as she spotted it just a few feet away, the case on the back was like comfort to her. The song that played held even more comfort knowing that her phone still worked. Her hand reached out as her knees dug into the gritty, wet ground.
"Ah," One of the boys hissed and cradled his nose as he fell back, stumbling over her hand and finally falling onto his bottom.
Lotus muffled a pain cry by biting her tongue. 'Dang, that hurts so much!' She sobbed in her mind, 'What kind of shoes does that kid wear?!'
She sat back up to cradle her hand, glancing behind her to see the boy was busy crying over his broken nose as the kid who was knocked into the wall was dragging his other friend away. She could now care less about them finally scramming as she whimpered.
Lotus Gyeon was a sensitive, meek little thing. Her dislikes showed that. One of her dislikes was fighting. Verbal fights would put her into tears and physical fights she tried to avoid like the plague. So she would never jump into one and she didn't even do that this time! But somehow her terrible luck just had to make her injured because of one— That she wasn't even in!
Tears of frustration and pain leaked out as she clenched her jaw and wagged her hand left-and-right in an effort to cool down the throbbing. In all honesty, this wouldn't have happened if her mom hadn't forced her out of the house. She would've lived another day without fresh air or whatever, sure, but then she wouldn't have been hurt.
Her attention was caught once her phone was dangled in front of her. Through the shattered screen she could see her exhausted face. She wanted to weep more about her life when she saw that screen. Yeah, the music was blaring still, but the screen was beyond repair. She had thought it was all fine because of the damn music because alas, she was wrong. That's what false hope gave her.
Staring up had to have been another mistake. That blonde boy was staring down at her, watching in amusement at her pitiful form. What could make her even more embarrassed and self-conscious other than some cold-hearted boy waving her phone in front of her as if he was mocking her? No, he was mocking her.
'I'm going to sweat. Then let me wipe it. Come over, baby'
Of course, that song had to be on. Fucking 'Knock'... Why? Lotus hurriedly grabbed it and began slamming down the volume buttons in a blind effort to silence the song.
The blonde boy only condescendingly chuckled and turned his back on her, walking away like he didn't just beat the shit out of three kids. At least he was leaving and hopefully, he would stay away. She never wanted to see his face again, but she knew it would appear in her night terrors from now on.
With all of the strange boys gone, she could finally relax in the slightest. Even with being relaxed, her mind was still racing. This time, it was because of the phone.
Her finger gently brushed the top of the screen only for a piece of the screen to chip off and almost pierce her finger. The rain began to come down harder as if reflecting her inner self. Those droplets made their way between the cracks, possibly ruining the phone more.
"Mom's going to kill me," She whispered to herself.
It felt as if she could just lay on the concrete right there and now, letting the elements break down her body until she was all gone and didn't have to face anyone. She slid to the side of the walkway of the street and slumped. She would just stay there for as long as she can before going back home. Hopefully, no one came by.
She had counted out the minimum of thirty minutes as best she could before almost running back home with her broken phone in hand and unconnected earbuds hanging from her ears. As she passed people, she just hoped they didn't mind it enough to remember it. But could they really have seen her if her hair was in her face, sticking like glue because of the rain?
Almost hyperventilating, she made it to the front door of her home, patting herself in a panic. She quickly found her key and forced the door opened. Just as quickly as it was pushed open, she slid in and slammed it shut.
"Don't slam that door!" Her mom yapped from one of the rooms.
Lotus didn't say anything back, she only slid onto the floor and leaned her head against the door. With squeezed shut eyes, she tried to get herself together. She was finally home and in the safety of her room she could figure out a way to tell her parents about her phone.
"You got caught up in the rain?" A boyish voice asked.
Her eyes snapped open and stared at her brother. It was only Jin and not Chance that made her not as embarrassed as she would feel, but there was still some shame flurrying in her. She bit the inside of her cheek as she stood up, kicked her shoes off, and pressed the screen of her phone into the damp fabric of her clothing.
"Yes," She quickly muttered and raced into her room to hide behind her closed door without anyone else to see her.
Her earbuds and phone were thrown onto her bed haphazardly, not needing gentle treatment as it was already broken. There she sat on the small chest the sat at the end of her bed.
"What do I even say?" She moped, looking towards the plushes scattered all over, "That I got too close to a fight and my phone ended up breaking? How about I just tripped and it fell?"
She paused before groaning, "That's worse. What if I say someone tried to mug me of my phone and couldn't because it dropped and someone tried to stop them?... Eh, that's even more unrealistic sounding than me coming across a fight. I should just say I was clumsy with it."
Another groan left her as she fell back onto her bed, not caring if her wet clothes soiled the covers. Her ceiling was very tempting to just look at and lose time, and that's what she did. How could anyone get up there to paint it white? She knew she'd pee herself if she had to be on an unstable latter just to work on the ceiling. It was good work though.
'What were they even doing fighting anyway?' She huffed as she thought, mind going back to the incident, 'Over something stupid, I guess. There's just no good reason for that to happen.'
Flipping over, her cheeks puffed out in frustration, 'Now that I think of rowdy boys, where is Chance?'
Not that she wasn't happy he wasn't there to add insult to injury similar to how Jin did. He just never missed a chance to be an asshole when it came to her. The last time she checked, he said he was going to be staying in when their mother suggested he go take a walk while he was laughing at Lotus being dragged outside by her. Which meant he would be in the living room, but only Jin was.
She hesitantly stood up and shuffled to her door. There was a faint sound of laughter. Chance didn't laugh much, if at all. Her good hand rested against the knob as her body tensed up at the aching from her back, neck, and hand.
Curiosity took over, leading her out of her safe place and into the living room which stood right outside of her room. She stood in the doorway with a face of regret as she saw not only Chance standing by the entrance looking as if he just arrived, but three more guys.
She didn't hate Chance, but she was obviously not his favourite person in the world. He was mean, always teasing her and getting her in trouble. All she could thank him for was not being enough of an asshole to lay a hand on her.
Before she could reenter her room, he had already taken note of her shoes and then her. A shiver ran down her spine as they looked at each other. She was not in the mood to get even more embarrassed in front of other people and if he called out to her, she'd probably finally cry again.
Chance was, even more, mean-looking than that other kid. He wasn't small, for sure, and he had a well-toned build. His body paired with his tattoos and the few piercings in his ear told only bad news. Not to mention, even with no tattoos and piercings his face was naturally rough-looking and he always shaved his head.
"What happened to you? Did you end up in the fucking storm drain?" He questioned with a little chuckle "You look like shit."
Before she could even take a step back?! Dang, it. Being the little crybaby she was, she could already feel herself getting ready to cry.
The other three looked over, causing her to flush. 'I made the wrong choice.' She cried to herself.
"I ran into a fight," Her voice quivered, "You're so mean. I got hurt!"
One of the boys who were snickering at his comment stopped and shoved him to the side. "You made her cry, you dick."
He looked offended as he glanced between the boy and the now crying Lotus. "Me? All I did was ask why she looked bad!" He snapped at the boy, pushing him back.
All protection of repute was thrown out by her as she broke down. There are times when people get too overwhelmed and just break. This was one of those times.
What happened to her may have been nothing, but to her, that was the most staggering thing she had dealt with on top of being forced to go out when she very much did not want to.
"Go calm her down before your mom hears," The other one added.
"Hell no."
They began bickering, almost forgetting that the person they were bickering about was right in front of them. The only one who wasn't fighting heaved a sigh. They were idiots.
He went over and ruffled her hair. "Hey, what's wrong?" He questioned, giving a soft smile.
There was no answer because she did not want to explain what happened to a stranger. He awkwardly chuckled, scratching his cheek.
"Come on," He hummed out and ushered her to follow him.
Anything to get away from Chance whose presence wasn't so good on her at the moment. She stumbled after the orange-haired boy who knew their home way too well. Kenny Ji, a friend of Chance Gyeon... More like Chance's best friend. He was over every other weekend like Chance's other friend, Travis Hak.
Since Lotus always stayed in her room when they were over, she never really got to see him nor talk to him. It was weird considering her parents treated him like he was apart of the family yet he was a stranger to her.
They stopped in the kitchen where he opened the fridge. All she could do was stand there like it wasn't even her own home. She sniffled as she watched him continue searching for something.
"What are you doing?" She asked, rubbing her cheeks of tears.
He turned to her with a pitcher of ginger tea that her mom had brewed the day before. "You'll end up dehydrating yourself," He commented before getting a cup.
"What happened to you?" He questioned, trying his hand again.
"I stumbled across a fight and this boy ran into me and I broke my phone," She finally answered.
She set a hand on the side of her neck. She didn't tell him about what had gotten hurt since it really wasn't his business and she just didn't want to burden him with it. It seemed that was enough for him because he gave a hum and gave her tea before pouring his own cup.
"That's terrible," He commented, "Shouldn't you tell your parents?"
"But, you see," She paused a second to explain but only finished it with, "I can't."
"You probably can. I'm sure you won't get into that much trouble if you tell the truth. It'll probably get worse if they find out themselves," He responded.
She bit the inside of her cheek as she considered his words. Chance popped his head into the kitchen, almost rolling his eyes as he saw her.
"That's what's taking you so long," He grunted as if he answered his unsaid question, "Hurry up, Kenny."
The orange-haired boy laughed, "Right!"
He set his cup down and ruffled Lotus's hair. "Good luck, kid!" He encouraged her before leaving.
He and Chance were very much different. Kenny was still involved in some bad business, but he acted much more brotherly than Chance. While Lotus was grateful for having Chance as her family, she wondered how it would be if he was replaced by Kenny.
But there was no time to think about that. Well, yes, there was but she just wanted to get everything over with so she could sleep soundly. Even if it didn't go too well, crying could still lure her to sleep. Both options were a lose-lose and a win-win.
Chugging down the rest of her tea, she placed it in the sink before sneaking out of the kitchen and past the rowdy boys who were chilling on the couch near the staircase. Luckily for her, they were too busy being nuisances to notice.
As she climbed up the stairs, she took a deep breath to try to calm herself. She could hear the faint sound of music from Chance's, Jeongsoo's, and Jin's room. It wasn't making her any more comforted since she didn't want them to hear her being scolded by their mother.
Begrudgingly, she stopped in the doorway of her parent's room. The door was already opened to reveal her mother at the desk, scrolling on her laptop. It didn't look like she was working so that was a good sign.
Now she just had to tell her. An urge to just go back to her room crawled into her. But, she needed to do this. As Kenny said, it'll be worse if they found out later. Her explanation of what happened should help her, or so she hoped. She took another sharp breath in.
"Mom, my phone's screen shattered," She called out, wincing slightly to prepare for the worst.
Her mom's head whipped over to the doorway. She furrowed her brows, " What?! What happened?!"
Lotus anxiously fiddled with her fingers as she glanced away from her mom's worrying expression. "When I was taking my walk, these boys were fighting and one ran into me so I kind of dropped it..." She trailed off.
Her mom eyed her before sighing and cupping the side of her face. "Oh, Lotus... I'll see if we can repair the screen. But you should be more careful next time! Phones are expensive and we don't have much money," She chided, giving Lotus some ease.
ns 18.68.41.175da2
