For @grxnadxs
A Fate Sealed In Dried Up Paint Pt 2
“You swear you had nothing to do with this?”
“Seulgi, for the last time, I swear on my children’s life that this wasn’t my doing. I have no idea how this got here. Honestly it’s a little concerning.”
The mama bear felt her eyebrows knitting together as she stared from the tiny kpop queen, to the letter in her hands. Along with the letter set a wad of won in the palm of her hand. A thick wad at that. Looking back up to the older woman with an expression of suspicion, she asked just as much,
“And you have no idea when this arrived?”
“No!”
The queen quickly looked over her shoulder to make sure the babies were still playing in their playpen before saying much more quietly,
“No. I was giving them their bath and when I brought them out here to play, the envelope had somehow managed to get stuffed under the door. I even checked the lock to make sure the door hadn’t been picked.”
Taking a deep breath and gently resting both of her hands on the mama bear’s shoulders, she continued much more seriously.
“Look, Seulgi. I know you like it here. You feel proud of this apartment you managed to get for your pack, but this place isn’t safe. It wasn’t safe to begin with but now it definitely isn’t. Someone knows where you live. And they apparently know you need money. What if it’s not money next time? What if it’s drugs or explosives?”
The younger of the two females stared from the beautiful writing on the sheet of paper, up to her unnie. The mixed feelings were swirling in her chocolate orbs. Perhaps her unnie was right. Maybe it was time to move. Come to think of it, she had kind of felt....uneasy lately. On the streets, anyway. She always felt like she was being watched. Perhaps......perhaps she really was in danger. And if she was in danger, then so were her cubs. And that was unacceptable. Not an option. Taking a deep breath, she said in final defeat,
“I’ll start looking for a new place.”
“Seulgi, please. Don’t do this. Just come stay with----”
“Unnie you know I can’t do that.”
“Can’t or won’t?”
“Please.....BoA.......Please don’t make this harder than it already is. I just got a job and----I just need to do this my way. Please understand where I’m coming from.”
“Fine. But I’m at least going to help you look.”
Weeks were passing by and nothing changed. Seulgi still hadn’t found a place and the little bundles of charity were still popping up every once in awhile. More like once a week. She still had the one job but even with the job and the mystery money that she had stumbled upon, it wasn’t going to be enough for a new place to rent. And that was just the cold, hard truth of it all.
Taekyung watched from inside his window seat at a nearby coffee shop. Well....a coffee shop that was near by the bus stop, that is. The coffee wasn’t that great and the finger foods could have been better, but he couldn’t afford to be picky. If he was going to keep an eye on the little dove, as he liked to call her lately, then this shop would have to do.
Right now schedule. She was getting off her night shift. He hated that shift. Why? Because when he followed her, she always reeked of bleach and other cleaning chemicals. Surely she could get a better job than a janitor? That wasn’t even a woman’s job, was it? His heart.....it had ached for her. Ever since that day he ran into her. Well......she ran into him.
It was a shame, really. If it wasn’t for the poor state her hair was in and the heavy bags under her eyes, she would be absolutely gorgeous. Hell, she was gorgeous. Like a living statue sculpted by the gods and goddesses alike. But this statue.....had began to tarnish and deteriorate. However, Taekyung was determined to polish up the statue. Bring it back to life.
As a painter, he had always been more fascinated with painting women. That was where he found most of his muse. Here lately, he was going through what he supposed was a painter’s own personal version of a.....dry spell. Like when a writer gets writer’s block. It was annoying and was starting to drive him up the wall. Spending endless nights painting but coming up short with nothing but what looked like child’s play.
Then she came along and everything changed. He couldn’t get the girl with the tattered sneakers out of his mind. And just like that, he was back to painting again. One night it would be a blushing girl with a shy smile, another night it was just a simple portrait of tattered sneakers; one shoe tied while the other not. She occupied his every thought. But something was nagging at him. For even a blind man would have been able to tell she.....wasn’t as fortunate so to speak. Life had definitely dealt her a crappy hand.
Her hair looked like it had the texture of straw. Eyes that were huge and round, eyes that he could easily get lost in, had bags under them darker than the night sky. The lines of stress had been so obvious in her face that day. It broke his heart. And then he had seen her clothing. Some hung off of her while some parts of her attire appeared too small. Then the shoes. Those poor poor shoes. He could see where she had tried to duct tape parts where the sole was starting to split from the rest of the shoe.
Something had to be done. No woman as beautiful as her should have to live like that. So he sprung his plan into action.
Stalking. That was the down right, ugly truth of it all. He was stalking her. It was a miracle that he managed to find her out on the streets. It started out just making sure she was still alive. Because if he was honest with himself, sculpted by the gods or not, she looked like walking death. Would actually make quite the great portrait if the reality wasn’t so sad and concerning.
But then as the stalking went on, he realized making sure she was alive wasn’t enough. No. Taekyung had to do more. And that was when he started getting on the bus with her. Of course without her knowing. He had to admit, he made a better painter than a stalker but his heart was in the right place.....right? And that was when he eventually learned where she lived......and the story only got more and more depressing.
Shady. There was only one word to describe the part of town she lived in. Shady. Absolutely, positively shady. If it wasn’t for being arrested for kidnapping, he would have swept her off her feet right there at the drop off spot and ran. Ran as far away from this awful block as possible. But alas, he really really didn’t want to get arrested.
He had easily slipped off the bus and appeared as if he were walking down the block but in reality, he was just trying to make sure he was out of her sight before quickly turning on his heel to go into the building and try to follow her. The inside was worse than the outside....if that were possible. Seriously. He was just about ready to risk the whole arrest thing. While he couldn’t figure out where these sudden protective instincts were coming from, he wasn’t about to ignore them either.
Room 215. That was her apartment number. He watched her close the door and set the lock. Walking up to the now locked door, he frowned deeply as he realized how easily it would be for him to bust it down. Anyone could break in. But he couldn’t focus on that for too long. Voices could be heard on the other side of the door. Her voice, it sounded so tired. Then there was another female voice. Knowing he couldn’t stay long, he whispered softly,
“Good night, little dove.”
And now weeks later, he had made it a mission of sorts to keep an eye on her whenever she had to go home. There were some nights he couldn’t make it and that irked him. What if that would be the night she got mugged or raped and he wasn’t there to protect her??? His small hand clenched into a white knuckled fist at the mere thought of anything like that happening to her.
“Stay strong, little dove.”
Over the span of those weeks, it was getting closer and closer to winter season. Normally that wouldn’t have been a big deal to him. But ever since he has met his precious dove, the winter weather made him extremely nervous.
Money. He had given her enough money to buy herself new clothes, heck at least some shampoo. With all the money he had been secretly slipping her, nothing seemed to change. She was still trying to work two jobs and her health looked no better. What could she possibly be spending all his money on? Surely she wasn’t spending it on drugs, right? No. She didn’t look like she used. No.....but if it wasn’t for drugs and it wasn’t for herself......then who?
As he slithered like a snake and stepped right in behind her as she stepped and climbed into the bus to take a seat, he sat in the seat behind her when he made sure she wasn’t looking and thought to himself,
‘There’s still so much I don’t know about you.......even your name....My little dove.’