Roxanne [Chapter 4]
Title: Roxanne [Chapter 4]
Pairings: Donghae/Ryeowook, Yesung/Ryeowook, with other pairings to follow
Rating: R [language, sexual situations, elements of drug use]
Summary: Donghae takes his first trip to a strip club and ends up falling for the main dancer. But when he finds out what kind of life she lives, he's determined to save her.
Genre: Genderswitch AU
Disclaimer: Title taken from and story inspired by "Roxanne” by The Police
Hospitals always gave me the creeps. Sitting in a badly lit room, hearing that beeping sound from the life support machine or whatever it was called, I could do without it. I could smell death in every crevice of that room and it made me sick to my stomach.
I stared at Ryeowook’s frail body. She was in a hospital gown, an IV hooked up to her and a respirator on her small face. She was breathing, thank God, but she was not at all well.
It wasn’t just the injury from when Jongwoon hit her that the doctors found. She had cocaine in her system and on her arms were needle marks from all the times she’d been using heroine. The doctor told me that she was lucky she wasn’t dead; I could have punched him in the face for that.
Hospital lights just make everyone look sickly, I have to say. But even when we were out in the parking lot and I was carrying her to my car, she was paler than a ghost.
I couldn’t look at her anymore. I walked over to the window and stood there, facing it but not really looking outside. My mind started to wander and I started to think about my life before I decided to take my first trip to a strip club.
I’d been the kind of guy who would date girls I met in school or I met through friends. Nothing lasted more than a year but at least I wasn’t worrying about getting killed by some maniac club owner whose girlfriend was the lead dancer.
I’d never dated nor been in love with a girl like Ryeowook. I’d recalled the moment I first saw her, and suddenly my anxiety just disappeared in an instance. I turned back around, sat down next to her and held her hand. I waited for another hour for her to wake up.
I had my head down and could feel her hand move in mine, and the bed shift. I quickly looked up and saw her smiling face, her cheeks having a more fleshy tone in them and her hair shining in that drab fluorescent lighting I hated so much. I didn’t expect her to smile and certainly not when she was looking at me. But maybe she remembered what she had said to me before she went unconscious.
I love you.
My heart literally skipped a beat. The words sounded so much sweeter coming out of her mouth. I wish I could relive that moment, so I tried to get her to talk.
“Hey.”
I wasn’t much with words.
She giggled.
“Hey.”
I swear my cheeks felt like they were on fire. How could one girl do this to me even when she had practically just come back from the dead?
“Are you feeling any better?”
She looked down at her arm and saw the IV. She finally noticed where she was and started to freak out. I wasn’t sure if it was some after effects of her drug use or if she was reliving a bad past experience in a hospital. I watched her eyes dilate and her limbs shake as she started to struggle in her bed.
“W-Why am I here? What’s going on?” she stuttered, trying to make her way out of the bed. I had to keep her calm and I had to keep her on her IV.
“R-Ryeowook-Ryeowook, you’re fine. You just got a little sick. Just lay back. Everything’s fine.”
I looked at her eyes. There was fear. She didn’t trust me, I could tell with how badly she was shaking. I started to feel my stomach turn as she started to yell and scream until the doctor and nurse came in and sedated her.
I didn’t do a damn thing. I just stared at her unconscious body, as she lay limp on her bed, her arms so thin and punctured with needles marks. I couldn’t move, seeing her like this. I didn’t and couldn’t do anything without thinking about that look in her eyes. It was probably just the drugs wearing off or something but to me, it was something inside of her that made her look so distrusting.
I heard a noise and looked up at the television. I walked over and turned up the volume, staring, open-mouthed at what I saw in front of me. There was Jongwoon and he was standing next to the police chief, shaking his hand and smiling victoriously. I read the caption: “POLICE CHIEF BAILS CLUB OWNER OUT OF JAIL.”
That same sick feeling I kept getting came back, this time enough to make me actually throw up. I ran to the washroom and vomited while the TV played in the background. The nurse asked me if I was okay but I didn’t say a thing. I just ran back into the room, looked at Ryeowook as she lay sedated and unconscious and said, “I’ve got to get her out of here.”
The nurse didn’t know what I was talking about and I didn’t explain. I just kept saying “I’ve got to get her out of here” while attempting to remove her IV and get her out of the bed. The nurse called for help and two orderlies came and pulled me away from Ryeowook’s bedside.
“HE’S GONNA COME BACK FOR HER. I CAN’T LET HIM GET HER. LET ME GO,” I screamed, kicking and struggling but their grip only tightened. They sat me down and tried to calm me down, threatening to call the police if I didn’t stop yelling. I didn’t want to get the police involved, not if they were under Jongwoon’s control.
I whispered, “He’s going to find her and he’s going to kill her.”
“Kill who?”
“ROXANNE-RYEOWOOK-HER!” I said, pointing to the sleeping girl in the bed 10 feet away from me.
They started talking to each other, coming to the conclusion that I was on drugs as well. A doctor suggested that I might be suffering from paranoid schizophrenia. At the time, their whispers just sounded like gibberish to me. I kept saying in a hushed voice, “I’ve got to get her out of here.”
Before I knew it, night came and visiting hours were over. They were keeping Ryeowook overnight for examination and I couldn’t stay with her. No matter how hard I begged.
Someone called Hyukjae and he came to pick me up. I didn’t tell him anything about what happened, even if he knew, I didn’t care. I couldn’t talk about Ryeowook like she was mine. If I couldn’t protect her from Jongwoon, I wasn’t fit to call her my girl. I stared out the window on the drive home.
The rain poured harder than I’d ever seen it.
I came back the next day, right before visiting hours started, and I waited outside until the clock struck 9AM. When it did, I ran inside, went up the stairs and down the hall to Ryeowook’s room. I stopped short when I saw two familiar faces standing outside her door. I remembered who they were.
They were two of the security guards from the club and two of the meanest ones, at that. I knew if they were there, it meant Jongwoon must’ve been there as well.
“S-Shit,” I whispered before hiding in a doorway so the two brutes didn’t see me. I closed my eyes and caught my breath before jumping at the feel of a hand on my shoulder.
“Shhh! You’re in a hospital, honey.”
I turned around, relieved to see that it was only Sungmin, the makeup artist from the club. He didn’t look too happy so I asked him why he was there.
“Why do you think? I came to visit my friend in the hospital,” he said in a tone that made me think this guy didn’t like me very much. But then he let me in on a little secret, as if I was trustworthy enough to know.
“Actually Jongwoon brought me here. He thought it would be less suspicious if one of Ryeowook’s friends came to visit her. I don’t know why he brought the damn bodyguards with him. I guess, he knew you’d come looking for him,” he explained, smiling despite the uneasy feeling his words were giving me.
“Jongwoon?! He’s here?!” the words sounding choked as they left my mouth.
My face must’ve looked really odd because Sungmin chuckled a little. He then put his hand on my shoulder and tried to reassure me that nothing bad would happen, not as long as he was there.
“But he’s going to hurt her again-I know he will,” I could feel tears well up in my eyes as I imagined the horrible things that could happen if Jongwoon got a hold of Ryeowook.
“Honey,” he said in maternal tone that strangely enough made me feel at ease, “he’s fully aware of what could happen if he tried to hurt her again. The police chief already bailed him out once; if something happens again, the city officials would get wise to them and he and the police chief would get thrown in prison for a long time.”
“How can you say these things so calmly? Even if he can work his way around an arrest, I still don’t trust him. He’s got pure evil written all over him.”
Sungmin smiled at me, his eyes showing that he was amazed at just how bold I was.
“We barely know each other but you should trust that I will make sure he doesn’t lay a hand on her. And even if he does, I have my ways of making him pay.”
I’d seen that look before; Kibum had it on his face whenever he was about to do something reckless. It was scary but thrilling at the same time. No matter what would happen, I’m glad I had both of them on my side.
I nodded and stared at the opening door, unaware that I was being watched in return. The bodyguards saw me but didn’t do anything; it wasn’t like I was trespassing on their property. But when Jongwoon walked out and the two giants pointed towards me, I knew I was dead. I wanted to run but that wouldn’t do me any good; they’d catch me and probably beat me half to death. My best hope was to stay in a public area, with plenty of witnesses. I looked around, seeing a couple of nurses standing not too far from me and sighed with relief.
“If it isn’t the little troublemaker,” Jongwoon sneered as he walked down the hallway, truly looking like the villian from some cheesy Hollywood film. Times like then I wished I had a weapon of some kind, or at least the skills to take out all three of those jerks.
“Watch it, Jongwoon, you’re in a hospital. There are-other-people,” Sungmin scowled, somehow managing to get Jongwoon to back down despite his height and feminine appearance. Like I said, I was glad to have him on my side.
“Whatever, all that matters is I’m a free man and Roxanne is getting discharged tonight which means I can have her onstage at 10 like I planned.”
There was no one more despicable than this guy. Ryeowook didn’t deserve any of the crap he was put through with this guy. I still didn’t get what she saw in him.
“Are you insane?! She just came out of a coma. She had drugs in her system-drugs that you gave her! I could-I could wring your neck,” I even gestured to show just how serious I was. I wanted to lunge out and attack him but Sungmin caught me before I did.
I stood back, pressed my back against the wall and tried my best to keep my composure. Unlucky for me, I didn’t have some police chief on my side so if I attacked him, I would get sent to jail and stay there. Meanwhile, Ryeowook ended up dead ‘cause that guy didn’t care enough to keep her healthy and alive.
“You’re adorable, you know that?” he smiled at me with that seedy smile, “To think you can do anything to stop me from running my business-well-it’s really adorable. I could just wrap you in a bow and send you back to whatever hicktown it was that you came from.”
“I could punch my fist into your face and see what happens,” I muttered. The bodyguards had murderous gleams in their eyes but Jongwoon stopped them from doing anything to me-thankfully.
“You can’t do shit, son. You’re powerless-poor-and without a girl. Roxanne is coming back with me-she agreed to go on if I got her discharged. She said hospitals freaked her out or something. Plus, she’s hooked and she can only get her fix from me. Hell if I promised her a ton of coke, she’d suck my dick for me.”
“SHUT UP!”
“SHHHH!” a nearby nurse called out to us. I closed my mouth, biting my tongue until it felt like blood was trickling out.
Jongwoon just laughed at me, that disgusting face of his made me sick. He left followed by those two galoots while Sungmin and I just stared at them as they disappeared. I clenched my fists and sighed loudly.
“Don’t let him get to you. Come on, let’s go see Ryeowook.”
I’d wanted to stay until Ryeowook’s discharge time came but I was told to leave the hospital. Visiting hours were over and I wasn’t her emergency contact, Jongwoon was. Sungmin called Hyukjae for me and once again, I was sitting in the passenger’s seat unable to tell my own best friend about the dramatic change my life had taken.
“You know, Donghae,” he said without provocation, “I remember something someone said to me when I was younger.”
This guy, he was lamer than I was.
“When you really want something, you should go for it, even if there’re obstacles along the way. Sometimes the thing that’s hardest to get is the thing that’s most worth fighting for.”
I stared at him from my seat, examining him and the stupid smile he had on his face. I rolled my eyes and spat back at him, “You’ve been watching too many chick flicks, man.”
Normally, that would have pissed him off but I guess, in his own weird way, he knew that I not only appreciated the advice but that I appreciated the fact that he knew I needed it. I watched him as he laughed like I’d told him the funniest joke in the world.
I was almost ashamed to call him my best friend-almost.
It was a few days before I could get back to the club to see Ryeowook. Luckily I’d been keeping in contact with Sungmin who assured me she was alright, albeit still a little weak and restless. I sighed into the phone as he described her physical state, making her sound more like a walking zombie and less like the girl I loved.
I couldn’t take it anymore. I had to see her. I wasn’t about to just give up because Jongwoon had the law on his side and all I had was a self-proclaimed mercenary and a hairdresser with possible underground connections. It wasn’t worth it.
Something inside me had changed. I wasn’t the scared little boy anxious to visit his first strip club; I was a man, with a woman I was in love with and with whom I was indebted to. For what? Well, if it wasn’t for her, I wouldn’t have had the balls-yes, balls-to do something I’d never done before.
I called Heechul-hyung.
Let me phrase that a little better. I called Heechul-hyung for help.
I know you’re probably wondering why I didn’t do it earlier. Or better yet, you’re wondering who Heechul-hyung was.
He wasn’t a Kibum or a Sungmin. He was someone with whom I had a hard time staying in contact with; not because he was hard to track down but because, he wasn’t too fond of me.
You see, Heechul-hyung was my half-brother, a product of a loveless marriage whereas I was the product of an affair our mom had with my dad. For some reason, Heechul-hyung always blamed me for what had happened even though I was just a kid when my parents got together and our mom left his dad. A year later his dad died and he was left virtually alone.
He somehow managed to land a modeling job in the city and was richer than anyone else I’d met. I think it’s probably clearer as to why I thought calling him was a good idea.
If Kibum was my manpower, then Heechul-hyung was my financial support. Or at least, I was hoping he would be.
“Hello?”
“Heechul-hyung!”
Dial tone. He hung up on me-again.
I sighed, frustrated. I knew this wasn’t going to be easy.
I dialed again.
“Hello?”
“DON’T HANG UP!”
“WHAT THE HELL DO YOU WANT?”
“Heechul-hyung-hi! It’s me, your little brother, Donghae.”
“You’re not my brother, goddammit. You’re the son of two whorish people with no regard for the lives of innocent children!”
“Don’t talk about our mother like that, hyung. She wouldn’t want to hear you calling a whore.”
I could hear Hyung grumble through the receiver, the sound reminding me of my childhood. Ah, sweet memories.
“Listen, hyung. I know the last time I talked to you, you-well-threw me out of your fancy apartment and forced me to live on the streets until a friend finally decided to take me in.”
“Yes-”
“I-I just called to say I forgive you and that I need your help!”
“Oh hell no. First of all, I have nothing to apologize for! You’re a goddamn mooch who sucked me dry until I finally had the nerve to throw you out on your ass! And second of all, I’m not helping you again after what happened last time, you soul-sucking leech!”
I winced. If there was one thing I didn’t miss about Hyung, it was his shrieking voice when he was mad.
“Hyung,” I said in my most pathetic voice, “I don’t think you understand. This is a matter of life or death!”
He scoffed, “Oh really? You said that last time. And then I stupidly gave you money only to have you blow it on a guitar and amp only to justify the purchase as being a ‘necessary completion to your drab little life’.”
“Now, I don’t remember saying those words exactly-”
“I was paraphrasing.”
I lowered my head. This guy was my brother, I reminded myself, even if he certainly didn’t act like it.
“Hyung-please. There’s-there’s someone who needs my help and I can’t help her unless-”
“Oh, it’s a girl? I should’ve known. I knew eventually you’d move to bigger brighter things,” the sarcasm in his voice was enough to get me to bite my tongue to keep from yelling back at him.
“Hyung, just hear me out. She’s a dancer at this club-”
“A stripper, Donghae?! Are you insane?!”
“HYUNG! LISTEN TO ME! She’s a dancer at a club where this guy Kim Jongwoon is overworking her and abusing her and he’s got her hooked on drugs and-”
“Hold on-did you say Kim Jongwoon?”
“Uh-yes?”
There was silence. I was afraid I’d lost the call or worse yet, that Hyung had hung up on me without giving me a definite answer. I frantically checked to see if he was still there. That’s when I heard breathing and a soft voice reply.
“Where are you, Donghae? I’ll meet you in an hour.”
I knew I could count on Hyung.
END CHAPTER 4
Pairings: Donghae/Ryeowook, Yesung/Ryeowook, with other pairings to follow
Rating: R [language, sexual situations, elements of drug use]
Summary: Donghae takes his first trip to a strip club and ends up falling for the main dancer. But when he finds out what kind of life she lives, he's determined to save her.
Genre: Genderswitch AU
Disclaimer: Title taken from and story inspired by "Roxanne” by The Police
Hospitals always gave me the creeps. Sitting in a badly lit room, hearing that beeping sound from the life support machine or whatever it was called, I could do without it. I could smell death in every crevice of that room and it made me sick to my stomach.
I stared at Ryeowook’s frail body. She was in a hospital gown, an IV hooked up to her and a respirator on her small face. She was breathing, thank God, but she was not at all well.
It wasn’t just the injury from when Jongwoon hit her that the doctors found. She had cocaine in her system and on her arms were needle marks from all the times she’d been using heroine. The doctor told me that she was lucky she wasn’t dead; I could have punched him in the face for that.
Hospital lights just make everyone look sickly, I have to say. But even when we were out in the parking lot and I was carrying her to my car, she was paler than a ghost.
I couldn’t look at her anymore. I walked over to the window and stood there, facing it but not really looking outside. My mind started to wander and I started to think about my life before I decided to take my first trip to a strip club.
I’d been the kind of guy who would date girls I met in school or I met through friends. Nothing lasted more than a year but at least I wasn’t worrying about getting killed by some maniac club owner whose girlfriend was the lead dancer.
I’d never dated nor been in love with a girl like Ryeowook. I’d recalled the moment I first saw her, and suddenly my anxiety just disappeared in an instance. I turned back around, sat down next to her and held her hand. I waited for another hour for her to wake up.
I had my head down and could feel her hand move in mine, and the bed shift. I quickly looked up and saw her smiling face, her cheeks having a more fleshy tone in them and her hair shining in that drab fluorescent lighting I hated so much. I didn’t expect her to smile and certainly not when she was looking at me. But maybe she remembered what she had said to me before she went unconscious.
I love you.
My heart literally skipped a beat. The words sounded so much sweeter coming out of her mouth. I wish I could relive that moment, so I tried to get her to talk.
“Hey.”
I wasn’t much with words.
She giggled.
“Hey.”
I swear my cheeks felt like they were on fire. How could one girl do this to me even when she had practically just come back from the dead?
“Are you feeling any better?”
She looked down at her arm and saw the IV. She finally noticed where she was and started to freak out. I wasn’t sure if it was some after effects of her drug use or if she was reliving a bad past experience in a hospital. I watched her eyes dilate and her limbs shake as she started to struggle in her bed.
“W-Why am I here? What’s going on?” she stuttered, trying to make her way out of the bed. I had to keep her calm and I had to keep her on her IV.
“R-Ryeowook-Ryeowook, you’re fine. You just got a little sick. Just lay back. Everything’s fine.”
I looked at her eyes. There was fear. She didn’t trust me, I could tell with how badly she was shaking. I started to feel my stomach turn as she started to yell and scream until the doctor and nurse came in and sedated her.
I didn’t do a damn thing. I just stared at her unconscious body, as she lay limp on her bed, her arms so thin and punctured with needles marks. I couldn’t move, seeing her like this. I didn’t and couldn’t do anything without thinking about that look in her eyes. It was probably just the drugs wearing off or something but to me, it was something inside of her that made her look so distrusting.
I heard a noise and looked up at the television. I walked over and turned up the volume, staring, open-mouthed at what I saw in front of me. There was Jongwoon and he was standing next to the police chief, shaking his hand and smiling victoriously. I read the caption: “POLICE CHIEF BAILS CLUB OWNER OUT OF JAIL.”
That same sick feeling I kept getting came back, this time enough to make me actually throw up. I ran to the washroom and vomited while the TV played in the background. The nurse asked me if I was okay but I didn’t say a thing. I just ran back into the room, looked at Ryeowook as she lay sedated and unconscious and said, “I’ve got to get her out of here.”
The nurse didn’t know what I was talking about and I didn’t explain. I just kept saying “I’ve got to get her out of here” while attempting to remove her IV and get her out of the bed. The nurse called for help and two orderlies came and pulled me away from Ryeowook’s bedside.
“HE’S GONNA COME BACK FOR HER. I CAN’T LET HIM GET HER. LET ME GO,” I screamed, kicking and struggling but their grip only tightened. They sat me down and tried to calm me down, threatening to call the police if I didn’t stop yelling. I didn’t want to get the police involved, not if they were under Jongwoon’s control.
I whispered, “He’s going to find her and he’s going to kill her.”
“Kill who?”
“ROXANNE-RYEOWOOK-HER!” I said, pointing to the sleeping girl in the bed 10 feet away from me.
They started talking to each other, coming to the conclusion that I was on drugs as well. A doctor suggested that I might be suffering from paranoid schizophrenia. At the time, their whispers just sounded like gibberish to me. I kept saying in a hushed voice, “I’ve got to get her out of here.”
Before I knew it, night came and visiting hours were over. They were keeping Ryeowook overnight for examination and I couldn’t stay with her. No matter how hard I begged.
Someone called Hyukjae and he came to pick me up. I didn’t tell him anything about what happened, even if he knew, I didn’t care. I couldn’t talk about Ryeowook like she was mine. If I couldn’t protect her from Jongwoon, I wasn’t fit to call her my girl. I stared out the window on the drive home.
The rain poured harder than I’d ever seen it.
I came back the next day, right before visiting hours started, and I waited outside until the clock struck 9AM. When it did, I ran inside, went up the stairs and down the hall to Ryeowook’s room. I stopped short when I saw two familiar faces standing outside her door. I remembered who they were.
They were two of the security guards from the club and two of the meanest ones, at that. I knew if they were there, it meant Jongwoon must’ve been there as well.
“S-Shit,” I whispered before hiding in a doorway so the two brutes didn’t see me. I closed my eyes and caught my breath before jumping at the feel of a hand on my shoulder.
“Shhh! You’re in a hospital, honey.”
I turned around, relieved to see that it was only Sungmin, the makeup artist from the club. He didn’t look too happy so I asked him why he was there.
“Why do you think? I came to visit my friend in the hospital,” he said in a tone that made me think this guy didn’t like me very much. But then he let me in on a little secret, as if I was trustworthy enough to know.
“Actually Jongwoon brought me here. He thought it would be less suspicious if one of Ryeowook’s friends came to visit her. I don’t know why he brought the damn bodyguards with him. I guess, he knew you’d come looking for him,” he explained, smiling despite the uneasy feeling his words were giving me.
“Jongwoon?! He’s here?!” the words sounding choked as they left my mouth.
My face must’ve looked really odd because Sungmin chuckled a little. He then put his hand on my shoulder and tried to reassure me that nothing bad would happen, not as long as he was there.
“But he’s going to hurt her again-I know he will,” I could feel tears well up in my eyes as I imagined the horrible things that could happen if Jongwoon got a hold of Ryeowook.
“Honey,” he said in maternal tone that strangely enough made me feel at ease, “he’s fully aware of what could happen if he tried to hurt her again. The police chief already bailed him out once; if something happens again, the city officials would get wise to them and he and the police chief would get thrown in prison for a long time.”
“How can you say these things so calmly? Even if he can work his way around an arrest, I still don’t trust him. He’s got pure evil written all over him.”
Sungmin smiled at me, his eyes showing that he was amazed at just how bold I was.
“We barely know each other but you should trust that I will make sure he doesn’t lay a hand on her. And even if he does, I have my ways of making him pay.”
I’d seen that look before; Kibum had it on his face whenever he was about to do something reckless. It was scary but thrilling at the same time. No matter what would happen, I’m glad I had both of them on my side.
I nodded and stared at the opening door, unaware that I was being watched in return. The bodyguards saw me but didn’t do anything; it wasn’t like I was trespassing on their property. But when Jongwoon walked out and the two giants pointed towards me, I knew I was dead. I wanted to run but that wouldn’t do me any good; they’d catch me and probably beat me half to death. My best hope was to stay in a public area, with plenty of witnesses. I looked around, seeing a couple of nurses standing not too far from me and sighed with relief.
“If it isn’t the little troublemaker,” Jongwoon sneered as he walked down the hallway, truly looking like the villian from some cheesy Hollywood film. Times like then I wished I had a weapon of some kind, or at least the skills to take out all three of those jerks.
“Watch it, Jongwoon, you’re in a hospital. There are-other-people,” Sungmin scowled, somehow managing to get Jongwoon to back down despite his height and feminine appearance. Like I said, I was glad to have him on my side.
“Whatever, all that matters is I’m a free man and Roxanne is getting discharged tonight which means I can have her onstage at 10 like I planned.”
There was no one more despicable than this guy. Ryeowook didn’t deserve any of the crap he was put through with this guy. I still didn’t get what she saw in him.
“Are you insane?! She just came out of a coma. She had drugs in her system-drugs that you gave her! I could-I could wring your neck,” I even gestured to show just how serious I was. I wanted to lunge out and attack him but Sungmin caught me before I did.
I stood back, pressed my back against the wall and tried my best to keep my composure. Unlucky for me, I didn’t have some police chief on my side so if I attacked him, I would get sent to jail and stay there. Meanwhile, Ryeowook ended up dead ‘cause that guy didn’t care enough to keep her healthy and alive.
“You’re adorable, you know that?” he smiled at me with that seedy smile, “To think you can do anything to stop me from running my business-well-it’s really adorable. I could just wrap you in a bow and send you back to whatever hicktown it was that you came from.”
“I could punch my fist into your face and see what happens,” I muttered. The bodyguards had murderous gleams in their eyes but Jongwoon stopped them from doing anything to me-thankfully.
“You can’t do shit, son. You’re powerless-poor-and without a girl. Roxanne is coming back with me-she agreed to go on if I got her discharged. She said hospitals freaked her out or something. Plus, she’s hooked and she can only get her fix from me. Hell if I promised her a ton of coke, she’d suck my dick for me.”
“SHUT UP!”
“SHHHH!” a nearby nurse called out to us. I closed my mouth, biting my tongue until it felt like blood was trickling out.
Jongwoon just laughed at me, that disgusting face of his made me sick. He left followed by those two galoots while Sungmin and I just stared at them as they disappeared. I clenched my fists and sighed loudly.
“Don’t let him get to you. Come on, let’s go see Ryeowook.”
I’d wanted to stay until Ryeowook’s discharge time came but I was told to leave the hospital. Visiting hours were over and I wasn’t her emergency contact, Jongwoon was. Sungmin called Hyukjae for me and once again, I was sitting in the passenger’s seat unable to tell my own best friend about the dramatic change my life had taken.
“You know, Donghae,” he said without provocation, “I remember something someone said to me when I was younger.”
This guy, he was lamer than I was.
“When you really want something, you should go for it, even if there’re obstacles along the way. Sometimes the thing that’s hardest to get is the thing that’s most worth fighting for.”
I stared at him from my seat, examining him and the stupid smile he had on his face. I rolled my eyes and spat back at him, “You’ve been watching too many chick flicks, man.”
Normally, that would have pissed him off but I guess, in his own weird way, he knew that I not only appreciated the advice but that I appreciated the fact that he knew I needed it. I watched him as he laughed like I’d told him the funniest joke in the world.
I was almost ashamed to call him my best friend-almost.
It was a few days before I could get back to the club to see Ryeowook. Luckily I’d been keeping in contact with Sungmin who assured me she was alright, albeit still a little weak and restless. I sighed into the phone as he described her physical state, making her sound more like a walking zombie and less like the girl I loved.
I couldn’t take it anymore. I had to see her. I wasn’t about to just give up because Jongwoon had the law on his side and all I had was a self-proclaimed mercenary and a hairdresser with possible underground connections. It wasn’t worth it.
Something inside me had changed. I wasn’t the scared little boy anxious to visit his first strip club; I was a man, with a woman I was in love with and with whom I was indebted to. For what? Well, if it wasn’t for her, I wouldn’t have had the balls-yes, balls-to do something I’d never done before.
I called Heechul-hyung.
Let me phrase that a little better. I called Heechul-hyung for help.
I know you’re probably wondering why I didn’t do it earlier. Or better yet, you’re wondering who Heechul-hyung was.
He wasn’t a Kibum or a Sungmin. He was someone with whom I had a hard time staying in contact with; not because he was hard to track down but because, he wasn’t too fond of me.
You see, Heechul-hyung was my half-brother, a product of a loveless marriage whereas I was the product of an affair our mom had with my dad. For some reason, Heechul-hyung always blamed me for what had happened even though I was just a kid when my parents got together and our mom left his dad. A year later his dad died and he was left virtually alone.
He somehow managed to land a modeling job in the city and was richer than anyone else I’d met. I think it’s probably clearer as to why I thought calling him was a good idea.
If Kibum was my manpower, then Heechul-hyung was my financial support. Or at least, I was hoping he would be.
“Hello?”
“Heechul-hyung!”
Dial tone. He hung up on me-again.
I sighed, frustrated. I knew this wasn’t going to be easy.
I dialed again.
“Hello?”
“DON’T HANG UP!”
“WHAT THE HELL DO YOU WANT?”
“Heechul-hyung-hi! It’s me, your little brother, Donghae.”
“You’re not my brother, goddammit. You’re the son of two whorish people with no regard for the lives of innocent children!”
“Don’t talk about our mother like that, hyung. She wouldn’t want to hear you calling a whore.”
I could hear Hyung grumble through the receiver, the sound reminding me of my childhood. Ah, sweet memories.
“Listen, hyung. I know the last time I talked to you, you-well-threw me out of your fancy apartment and forced me to live on the streets until a friend finally decided to take me in.”
“Yes-”
“I-I just called to say I forgive you and that I need your help!”
“Oh hell no. First of all, I have nothing to apologize for! You’re a goddamn mooch who sucked me dry until I finally had the nerve to throw you out on your ass! And second of all, I’m not helping you again after what happened last time, you soul-sucking leech!”
I winced. If there was one thing I didn’t miss about Hyung, it was his shrieking voice when he was mad.
“Hyung,” I said in my most pathetic voice, “I don’t think you understand. This is a matter of life or death!”
He scoffed, “Oh really? You said that last time. And then I stupidly gave you money only to have you blow it on a guitar and amp only to justify the purchase as being a ‘necessary completion to your drab little life’.”
“Now, I don’t remember saying those words exactly-”
“I was paraphrasing.”
I lowered my head. This guy was my brother, I reminded myself, even if he certainly didn’t act like it.
“Hyung-please. There’s-there’s someone who needs my help and I can’t help her unless-”
“Oh, it’s a girl? I should’ve known. I knew eventually you’d move to bigger brighter things,” the sarcasm in his voice was enough to get me to bite my tongue to keep from yelling back at him.
“Hyung, just hear me out. She’s a dancer at this club-”
“A stripper, Donghae?! Are you insane?!”
“HYUNG! LISTEN TO ME! She’s a dancer at a club where this guy Kim Jongwoon is overworking her and abusing her and he’s got her hooked on drugs and-”
“Hold on-did you say Kim Jongwoon?”
“Uh-yes?”
There was silence. I was afraid I’d lost the call or worse yet, that Hyung had hung up on me without giving me a definite answer. I frantically checked to see if he was still there. That’s when I heard breathing and a soft voice reply.
“Where are you, Donghae? I’ll meet you in an hour.”
I knew I could count on Hyung.
END CHAPTER 4