The Extraordinaries
2. Watched
Yunho was turning 22 in three days, but he felt like he was turning 33 instead. At his age, he should be attending college and group dates, not lifting boxes and pulling levers at the dock. He has been working as a rough worker for more than a year now, since it’s the only job he could afford with a high school diploma that didn’t have much of a score. He was working two jobs as of now. From dawn to mid day, he was working on a bread company, and from there until noon, sometimes even midnight, he’s working at the dock. He was lucky his boss let him do two jobs at a time or else he wouldn’t know how to keep food on their table everyday while making sure that Changmin’s school fee was paid on time. Jaejoong kept telling him that he wanted to work as well as soon as he graduated highschool but Yunho forced him to attend college first with the money that their parents left them. He got into a cheap cooking school downtown, but only lasted a year. He’s working in a famous café downtown now as a chef.
“I heard that the boss will be making cuts this week…” A voice woke him up from his reverie. As he turned around, he saw his co-worker, Lee Hyukjae. They were the same age, but Hyukjae was a college drop-out and his parents kicked him out of the house because of that. He lived in the same cheap apartment building with him.
“Making cuts on what?” He asked back, though he already has a pretty good idea what the answer will be.
“Us, workers. Word have been going around that the income the company has been making can barely covered all the expenses, so some things need to go. Those things just happen to be US,” Hyukjae answered with a bitter tone as Yunho let out a huge sigh.
Before he could say anything else, the bell rang, indicating the end of their shift. A collective sigh and a couple of happy shouts can be heard from all over the docks.
“The prices have been going up again. I don’t even know how we’re supposed to pay for all the bills plus Changmin’s school fee this month,” Yunho said as he changed his clothes and throw his working boots and jacket into his locker.
“You’ll get there. You always said these kinds of things at the end of the month but you always come around. Why don’t you worry less and try to enjoy some things a bit? I’m going drinking tonight with a couple of the guys. You want to come?” Asked Hyukjae with the unusual cheer-y tone of his.
“Nah. I’ll skip for tonight. I think I’m just gonna sleep all of these worries off. See you tomorrow, then,” He rejected.
“You don’t know what you’ll miss. There’ll be girls there,” Hyukjae said as he walked away with a smirk. “See ya’,”
Yunho let out another long sigh and closed his locker.
* * *
As he stands in front of his house, Yunho cannot shake the feeling that someone has been watching him all the way from the docks. He stopped a couple of times on the road, even make a U-turn just to make sure nobody was following him, but he still felt that someone has been watching him closely. He has been feeling ever since he started working at the dock, but he hasn’t been able to notice anybody who could possibly be stalking him. Why would anybody wanted to, anyway? It wasn’t like he got much to offer.
He took out the keys from his pocket and opened the door, greeted by the smell of food. Just then he realized that he hasn’t eat anything for dinner, and it’s almost midnight.
“Oh, hyung, you’re home,” Jaejoong’s voice called from the kitchen. “I was just re-heating the curry we had for dinner. Do you want some?”
“I’d love some. I’m starving,”
Jaejoong chuckled and came out with a plate of curry and rice.
“It’s just vegetables, there’s no meat to put in,” He explained as Yunho started to eat.
“When do we ever have meat to put into anything?”
“Well, you got a point…” Jaejoong answered as he sat across Yunho. “Rough day?”
“Nothing new. I might be losing my job…” Yunho tried to keep his voice normal but Jaejoong still caught a hint or worry in his voice.
“No worries. I could work double shift. The girls kept coming to my place because they love my cookings,” He joked as he let out a calming smile.
“They love you, not your cooking. Haven’t you notice how the college girls that live two floors above kept stopping at our floor just to walked down stairs behind you?” Yunho kept emphasizing at ‘you’. Jaejoong laugh.
“It’s not my fault that I’m good looking…”
It was silence after that. As Yunho finished eating, Jaejoong went to wash the dishes as Yunho laid down on the couch that has been his bed since the first time they moved in because the only room there was could only fit two people. Then he noticed the all the bandages and antiseptic on the floor.
“Changmin got into a fight again?” Yunho said loud enough to made Jaejoong almost dropped the plate he was holding. He cursed himself for not cleaning up the mess before Yunho could notice.
“He said he was beaten up. And judging by the way he looked, I don’t think he lied,” Jaejoong carefully choose the words he said.
“I swear that kid never listen to us. We worked our ass off just so he could sit down in class and listen to lectures, apparently he found that boring so he had to fight other kids just for the fun of it,” Yunho said with a tired voice.
Jaejoong’s showed up from the kitchen. ”Hyung, you’re not going to scold him, aren’t you?”
“Why? Did he make you promise not to tell?”
“Well, that, and I think he had enough for a day. We all do,” He said again carefully. Changmin looked bad enough when he got to him that afternoon he didn’t have a heart to even nag at him. As Changmin told him about how those guys just started beating him up just because he was looking at them, he just calmly attend to his wounds and when he put Changmin to bed and he made him promise not to tell Yunho, he couldn’t say no. To be fair, he could almost never say no to Changmin. The kid got some tricks up his sleeves.
“I’m too tired to even clean myself so I guess he’s lucky tonight. It’ll be a different story if a see him tomorrow morning,” Yunho answered as he lied down on the couch. But that was enough for Jaejoong, at least he could make sure Changmin could sleep soundly tonight.
The night advances and soon all the lights in the small house was off. It was a quiet night without even a single cricket dare to sound. Just then, out of everybody’s sight and notice, a figure appeared out of nowhere just in front of the worn down apartment building. It was a man in long black trench coat and the man just stand there in the dark until the ray of sunlight started to show up on the horizon and the area started to wake up. He has been standing there every night for almost two years, watching the three boys that are unaware of his existence.
Yunho was turning 22 in three days, but he felt like he was turning 33 instead. At his age, he should be attending college and group dates, not lifting boxes and pulling levers at the dock. He has been working as a rough worker for more than a year now, since it’s the only job he could afford with a high school diploma that didn’t have much of a score. He was working two jobs as of now. From dawn to mid day, he was working on a bread company, and from there until noon, sometimes even midnight, he’s working at the dock. He was lucky his boss let him do two jobs at a time or else he wouldn’t know how to keep food on their table everyday while making sure that Changmin’s school fee was paid on time. Jaejoong kept telling him that he wanted to work as well as soon as he graduated highschool but Yunho forced him to attend college first with the money that their parents left them. He got into a cheap cooking school downtown, but only lasted a year. He’s working in a famous café downtown now as a chef.
“I heard that the boss will be making cuts this week…” A voice woke him up from his reverie. As he turned around, he saw his co-worker, Lee Hyukjae. They were the same age, but Hyukjae was a college drop-out and his parents kicked him out of the house because of that. He lived in the same cheap apartment building with him.
“Making cuts on what?” He asked back, though he already has a pretty good idea what the answer will be.
“Us, workers. Word have been going around that the income the company has been making can barely covered all the expenses, so some things need to go. Those things just happen to be US,” Hyukjae answered with a bitter tone as Yunho let out a huge sigh.
Before he could say anything else, the bell rang, indicating the end of their shift. A collective sigh and a couple of happy shouts can be heard from all over the docks.
“The prices have been going up again. I don’t even know how we’re supposed to pay for all the bills plus Changmin’s school fee this month,” Yunho said as he changed his clothes and throw his working boots and jacket into his locker.
“You’ll get there. You always said these kinds of things at the end of the month but you always come around. Why don’t you worry less and try to enjoy some things a bit? I’m going drinking tonight with a couple of the guys. You want to come?” Asked Hyukjae with the unusual cheer-y tone of his.
“Nah. I’ll skip for tonight. I think I’m just gonna sleep all of these worries off. See you tomorrow, then,” He rejected.
“You don’t know what you’ll miss. There’ll be girls there,” Hyukjae said as he walked away with a smirk. “See ya’,”
Yunho let out another long sigh and closed his locker.
* * *
As he stands in front of his house, Yunho cannot shake the feeling that someone has been watching him all the way from the docks. He stopped a couple of times on the road, even make a U-turn just to make sure nobody was following him, but he still felt that someone has been watching him closely. He has been feeling ever since he started working at the dock, but he hasn’t been able to notice anybody who could possibly be stalking him. Why would anybody wanted to, anyway? It wasn’t like he got much to offer.
He took out the keys from his pocket and opened the door, greeted by the smell of food. Just then he realized that he hasn’t eat anything for dinner, and it’s almost midnight.
“Oh, hyung, you’re home,” Jaejoong’s voice called from the kitchen. “I was just re-heating the curry we had for dinner. Do you want some?”
“I’d love some. I’m starving,”
Jaejoong chuckled and came out with a plate of curry and rice.
“It’s just vegetables, there’s no meat to put in,” He explained as Yunho started to eat.
“When do we ever have meat to put into anything?”
“Well, you got a point…” Jaejoong answered as he sat across Yunho. “Rough day?”
“Nothing new. I might be losing my job…” Yunho tried to keep his voice normal but Jaejoong still caught a hint or worry in his voice.
“No worries. I could work double shift. The girls kept coming to my place because they love my cookings,” He joked as he let out a calming smile.
“They love you, not your cooking. Haven’t you notice how the college girls that live two floors above kept stopping at our floor just to walked down stairs behind you?” Yunho kept emphasizing at ‘you’. Jaejoong laugh.
“It’s not my fault that I’m good looking…”
It was silence after that. As Yunho finished eating, Jaejoong went to wash the dishes as Yunho laid down on the couch that has been his bed since the first time they moved in because the only room there was could only fit two people. Then he noticed the all the bandages and antiseptic on the floor.
“Changmin got into a fight again?” Yunho said loud enough to made Jaejoong almost dropped the plate he was holding. He cursed himself for not cleaning up the mess before Yunho could notice.
“He said he was beaten up. And judging by the way he looked, I don’t think he lied,” Jaejoong carefully choose the words he said.
“I swear that kid never listen to us. We worked our ass off just so he could sit down in class and listen to lectures, apparently he found that boring so he had to fight other kids just for the fun of it,” Yunho said with a tired voice.
Jaejoong’s showed up from the kitchen. ”Hyung, you’re not going to scold him, aren’t you?”
“Why? Did he make you promise not to tell?”
“Well, that, and I think he had enough for a day. We all do,” He said again carefully. Changmin looked bad enough when he got to him that afternoon he didn’t have a heart to even nag at him. As Changmin told him about how those guys just started beating him up just because he was looking at them, he just calmly attend to his wounds and when he put Changmin to bed and he made him promise not to tell Yunho, he couldn’t say no. To be fair, he could almost never say no to Changmin. The kid got some tricks up his sleeves.
“I’m too tired to even clean myself so I guess he’s lucky tonight. It’ll be a different story if a see him tomorrow morning,” Yunho answered as he lied down on the couch. But that was enough for Jaejoong, at least he could make sure Changmin could sleep soundly tonight.
The night advances and soon all the lights in the small house was off. It was a quiet night without even a single cricket dare to sound. Just then, out of everybody’s sight and notice, a figure appeared out of nowhere just in front of the worn down apartment building. It was a man in long black trench coat and the man just stand there in the dark until the ray of sunlight started to show up on the horizon and the area started to wake up. He has been standing there every night for almost two years, watching the three boys that are unaware of his existence.