Hunted

Home wasn't even an option. There was no way Ramesh could go back home alone without his brother. He had never been in that building without Jyotis and wasn't about to try it. The assholes didn't deny this was all Rick's doing. That blond racist bitch was going to die the next chance he got.

Were they even feeding Jyotis? They didn't know about his allergies. Maybe it was better that way. He wouldn't put it beyond those jerks to force-feed the guy something that could kill him. Jyotis was in dangerous hands and something had to be done about it. No. Doing something would be too risky. One wrong move and off with his head. The only thing that could be done was meet their demands until they were satisfied.

Ramesh sat in his rental truck a little over four blocks away from the enemy's apartment. There was food all over the passenger seat. He had bought extra for Jyotis out of habit and had pretty much lost his own appetite, so after a couple bites he couldn't eat anymore. Luckily he figured he'd have other things to keep him occupied when the cell started ringing. He looked at it for a moment, reluctantly picking it up and holding it to his ear.

“Good evening, kidnappers.”

There was a sigh and a pause. "Good evening, arsonist." A voice finally answered; not the same one he had been talking to earlier. "Where are you now?"

It was probably best not to point out that Jyotis was the one who burnt down their apartment. Ramesh didn't even like playing with fire. “I'm nearby. It's a beautiful night, isn't it? What can I do for you? Swear another oath? Shine your shoes?”

"No." It seemed the jokes weren't particularly well received; the voice sounded anything but amused. "If I wanted shoe-shining, I'd have called a shoe-shiner." Where was the guy going with that? At least he wasn't demoted that far, apparently. "I called an arsonist because I want something burnt."

Great. Just great. It was bound to end on a bad note – he didn't understand fire as well as his brother. Well, these were just a bunch of punks. It was probably big and stupid. He didn't expect them to have any concept of what was appropriate. Precautions needed to be taken, and sometimes that took hours, sometimes days, sometimes months. “I'm not an arsonist, but fine. What do you want me to burn?”

"Oh, nothing big." A light voice, as if trying to reassure him. "Just some documents... which would be in a wall safe at the moment. When I explain the details, you should probably take notes. Do you have pen and paper?"

“Yeah, okay. I'll write it down. Go ahead.” He glanced at the glove department where he kept a pad of paper, but didn't bother going for it. Instead he just snatched a pen to write any address or codes on his hand. Didn't like writing down anything that could incriminate him.

"Fair enough. There's a large building at the western end of Pinewood Park. You'll find it, it's the only one with security guards." The guy had spoken slowly, but still paused for a bit before continuing at the same pace. "You'll be looking for an office on the seventh floor. Mr. James Cameron... attorney."

Mental notes. 7th floor. Cameron. Okay it was all in there. He sneered and put the truck into drive, heading toward Pinewood. He hated attorneys, so burning some documents in an attorney's office wouldn't be too bad, he hoped. “Okay, so how do I get into the vault? You've gotta have more details than that.”

"According to my information, he'll still be there for at least another hour. I'd think he knows the code for his own safe, don't you?" The voice laughed lightly, then added, "burn everything. I don't want anything singled out. Got it?"

“Oh so I'm supposed to rough him up? Alright, I got it.” He cringed, knowing that meant leaving a witness. He could wear a mask and an eye-witness could still screw him over. Not many people walking around with his size. “Once it's done, what do you want me to do? Kill him?”

"Completely up to you. I want his papers burnt. Whether you kill him, rob him, dance with him or buy him flowers, I don't really care, as long as you don't give him any information."

~~~~

“Hey, Julian. Can I talk to you?”

It was time. Time to apologise. Pride be damned, being with Kiyoshi was the most important thing. Milking forgiveness would normally be difficult after everything he said to Kyun, but Nele knew he could take a shortcut. Julian was bound to be an easy all-access pass to his goal. Get that and he'd get Kyun. Maybe even Luo would be nicer.

The confusion in the look he received was almost cute. Julian had been playing with an origami frog on the floor that Takuya helped him make; pressed its back down to make it spring into the air. It was amazing how little it took to amuse that guy. Probably would have kept doing it for the next week if nobody interrupted. Nele couldn't help but wonder what would happen if someone bought the guy a hamster wheel.

Had to be careful, though. Kyun was right there, doing push-ups with his feet on the couch. Show off. Making the apology there probably wouldn't be a good idea. Those two were always together; they were due for a break anyway.

Julian didn't stop playing with the frog. He offered a friendly smile and shrugged. “Sure! It's nothing serious, I hope. Gave me a bit of a surprise saying that out of the blue, though. Must be the first time I heard you call me by my real name, though I do appreciate it.” He paused and looked back down at his paper toy. “If it is serious, you wouldn't be coming to me, would you?”

Really, did that guy ever shut up? Nele cleared his throat and stuffed his hands into his jeans pockets. “I guess it's kinda serious. I just want to make a bit of an apology, but... Can we talk alone?”

“No, that doesn't sound like a good idea at all.” The friendly smile had vanished, only to replaced by what looked like irritation. Julian abandoned the frog and got to his feet to face the redhead. “I won't accept your apology, but thanks anyway.”

“Wha...” Nele stared at the mouse, completely baffled. Was it some kind of joke? The rodent liked everyone and everything. Like a big three-year-old! It had to be some sort of bad humour. “What the fuck do you mean you won't accept it?"

Julian paused and looked over at the balcony while Leandor stepped inside. Maybe it was a welcomed distraction, but he eventually responded regardless. “Getting into it now would just get one or both of us upset and we don't need that. If you really can't get over it, we'll talk about it once this is all over.”

“No fucking way! You've got some kinda problem with me, and I wanna know about it now! People don't just refuse to accept apologies and not even give a reason.” Nele glared at the rat, having absolutely no clue why he was shot down like that so quickly. He didn't even get to say what he was apologising for!

For a moment it almost seemed like the rodent was going to walk away. He didn't even seem to notice when Kyun stopped exercising and watched the scene attentively. Apparently the purple-haired guy came to another decision and stepped forward, standing his ground. “Truth is, I do think you're a good person, Nele. I know you genuinely care for your friends and your boyfriend, but you're a tad hard-headed. The only reason you wanted to talk to me alone is because you don't want the humiliation of people witnessing you falsely apologising to a spineless germ.”

“What the fuck is wrong with you? Would you get over it already?” Nele threw his hands up, frustrated. “Fine, I'll say it out here. I'm sorry I called you names, I'm sorry I ignored you and treated you like crap. There, I said it, are you happy now?”

“And now you're full of shit. I don't mean to be rude, but I never asked you to apologise. I couldn't care less if you never said another word to me in my entire life. I'm well over it, but that doesn't mean I will forgive you.” Julian crossed his arms, his impatience showing through as his eyes went over to Kyun.

The Korean blinked slowly and pushed to his feet. With a vague smile in the purple-haired youngster's direction, he walked over to stand behind him. Gently wrapping his arms around to the torso under the arms, he rested his cheek against the guy's hair. He closed his eyes for a bit, and as he reopened them, Kyun glared at Nele through narrowed eyes.

That stuck-up little brat. Nele growled, tempted to wail on the bitch if Kyun wasn't right there. No. That couldn't help his case at all. Nice to see that his perverted friend had found a seat and was enjoying the scene. Half expected Leandor to go fetch some popcorn to eat while he watched. “You don't make any sense! If you're over it then why the fuck won't you accept a goddamn apology? What does a guy have to do to get you to forgive?”

“Well for starters, not saying sorry and expecting immediate results. When someone is really sorry, the smart thing to do would be to prove it. Unfortunately, you think so little of me that you assumed I'd be a doormat. When you develop some respect, then we'll talk.” He ran a hand idly over the Korean's arm as he added, “Now can we please drop the subject?”

The Korean had the nerve to smile contently at Julian's statement, and then turned his head to place a quick kiss on the guy's ear. It was disgusting that the brat had bewitched such a cool guy and now had dug Nele's grave of guilt deeper. How would he ever get Kyun's support after that?

The redhead turned to glare at his blond friend. “What kind of friend are you? Shouldn't you be, you know, having my fucking back, you fairy dickwad?”

“Fear not, my boy. I am being a great friend to you, can't you tell? I'm doing you a favour by not encouraging your more idiotic decisions. It weighs so heavily on my heart to support you in such a passive way, but alas, it must be done.” Leandor gave a sorrowful sigh and covered his eyes with his hand. That drama queen.

Those bastards were all amused, apparently. Great to know he was such good entertainment. The purple-haired youngster was stifling a snicker, and Kyun had moved his hands down to Julian's sides, gently rubbing them.

Nele contemplated stomping on that paper frog, just out of spite, but he spun around and headed back to the room he shared with the only one he didn't want to injure in that building instead. “Kiyoshi, I hate your friends!”

~~~~~

This is a collab, written together with Chlover. You can find her author profile here: http://original.adult-fanfiction.org/authors.php?no=26260