Hunted

It was disheartening to make such a phone call. Luo felt responsible for someone else's plots - when they were explained, he understood why it was likely to work, but it was something different to be the one to carry it out. The Korean hoped his nervous laugh didn't clue Ramesh in on his insecurity on such a task... this was a bad time to show weakness.

However, it was what Zach had asked for, and at least this way, they repaid the man somehow. The main goal behind giving Ramesh something to do was so that he'd be less inclined to watch his back later. As long as the guy thought he was useful, that'd instill a feeling of safety in him. Whereas Choi seemed to have made his mind up that the large brute was going to die, Luo had a mind to try to capture the guy, and then take it from there. Probably wishful thinking that it would lead to something else, but he couldn't bear thinking differently.

The spiky-haired youngster would've been a lot happier if those two schemers could just have done the phone call themselves, but he knew they asked him to do it for his own sake. They knew he wanted to be in charge - and was supposed to be - and in that way, of course he appreciated it. But it was a strain on his conscience, and his gut feeling was in uproar.

A door slammed. Okay, so he expected people to be edgy, but he'd probably do well to figure out who had been fighting now. Luckily, Rick wasn't likely to be involved - he had been in a bit of pain, and had gone to nap in the big bedroom.

Luo and the two others were done with the useful discussions anyway, and he had no desire to listen further to Choi working at convincing him that killing was the way to go. That slam was a nice excuse to leave them and go into the living-room.

~~~~

That had gone too far. Julian felt bad about being too harsh with Nele, but the little redhead pushed him. He hated making scenes. Why was it so difficult just to be part of the group without having to get into a fight with someone? He didn't want to be in the spotlight. He didn't want to make enemies. He just wanted to fit in without having to prove his worth to someone who didn't even like him.

But that was all over. No use dwelling too much. There were so many other things to do, like an evening exercise! Though, that would probably have to be skipped. After seeing what happened to Leandor, he wasn't so sure he wanted to be running around the hallways alone at night. Maybe Takuya would play a game of basketball with him again. Julian was so proud of Takuya – such a great guy. Not only was he solely responsible for saving Leandor, but he also taught him how to make a frog out of paper! That was fun!

Julian was quite busy with that too. He had played with the frog he made for a while, and once he sat down with Kyun again after the little spat, he got some paper to make more frogs of all sizes. A little froggy army. They were being lined up along the cushion, the back of the couch, and Kyun's lap while the Korean watched silently. Some looked a little mangled – he wasn't too good at origami – but he liked them all nonetheless.

It wasn't until Luo came out of the room that Julian stopped his progress of drawing eyes and a uniform on one of the bigger frogs. Luo was a great guy, and he was always happy to see him. That guy made the place feel a little safer, not that he ever had the chance to feel unsafe when his beloved Kyun was around. Though, he was a little surprised to see Leandor greeting Luo with a smile. He wasn't aware those two got along at all. Julian watched with fascination as Luo smiled back and took a seat.

“Any news, cowboy?” Leandor stuck a bookmark in the text he was reading and then gazed back over at Luo.

The Korean paused for a bit, letting his glance wander over the other people present. "I had a quick talk with Ramesh..." he said finally, then looked over at the door he had appeared through. He seemed a bit uneasy about something. "What do you think we should do about him, Leandor?"

“A guy like that? I'm sure you already know his type quite well.” The blond's tone was incredibly casual for the subject, as if he were speaking of something simple like the weather. “I highly doubt we can expect to ever get him off our backs now that we've kidnapped his brother. I think he needs to be put out of the picture one way or another.”

Julian didn't like that subject one bit. They were talking about killing a man. He wished they wouldn't mention that when he was around, but didn't dare say so. That would be asking too much. Trying to block the topic out of his own mind, he leaned against Kyun and went back to drawing the uniform on his current frog soldier.

Breathing unsteadily for a bit, Kyun shifted closer, carefully enough that the frogs remained standing in his lap. He brushed his hand against Julian's side as he rested his head on the shoulder with a little sigh and a frown. Not all too happy with the situation either, it would seem.

After thinking for a bit, Luo leant back. "That's what I was afraid of." He said reluctantly to noone in particular, then turned his head to face the blond. "News on your end, then?"

“Well you've already been told about my run-in with my dear friend, Stefania. She's a doll, isn't she?” Leandor chuckled and glanced over at the pair on the couch. “Other than that, I wonder what the rates are like for frog exterminators. I fear we have been invaded by the buggers.”

Julian snickered at that, and Luo turned to let his eyes wander over them. "They look fit for fight. Maybe we can send them on patrol to defend us. You know, if you can't beat them, join them." The spiky-haired Korean smirked lightly as his attention drifted on to Kyun.

“Speaking of defense, you wouldn't happen to have an old shirt or something I could borrow? Something not... orange? I'm currently all out, and Nele's clothes don't fit me.” The blond put the book down on the coffee table, still curiously eyeing the frogs.

Scratching his chin in thought for a bit, Luo eventually turned to face Leandor with a light smile. "All my old clothes went up in smoke, but I'm sure I could spare a shirt. Unfortunately, I strongly doubt my clothing would live up to your standards."

Leandor assessed Luo's body with exaggerated care. “Depends on which standards. You are complete eye candy from head to toe and your style compliments that. I simply cannot pull it off the way you can. Being that my only other choices are half-naked or orange - neither of which is anything the public should be exposed to - I'm hardly in a position to be picky until I go shopping tomorrow.”

Once a place was found on Kyun's lap for the last frog, Julian grinned up at the other two guys. Everyone had been so frazzled lately from what had been happening that it was a great surprise to find those two being so smiley and civil. He looked up at Kyun curiously. “When did they start getting along? I must have missed something; I was sure they weren't very fond of each other.”

Kyun shrugged lightly. "Got to know each other better?" He suggested tentatively with a smile, then placed a soft kiss on the purple-haired guy's neck.

Gazing down over his leather outfit, Luo gave a smirk over at the blond. "Well, my wardrobe inventory, then. I've got what I'm wearing, plus martial arts outfits and colourful Korean t-shirts with slogans." He sighed lightly, then leant back comfortably in the chair. "If you want to have a look, that's fine. I think Kiyoshi have more proper white shirts than he needs, so that might be an option as well."

“Yes well...” Leandor trailed off, gazing over to the window as if he were trying to think of an excuse. He absently ran his fingers through his golden hair and gave up on thinking with a light sigh. “Borrowing clothes when they're in such short supply already is quite the inconvenience. Perhaps I should just ask bible boy to lend me a shirt. Isn't that what Christians... or Shintoists... or Catholics are for? What is he, again?”

“He's religious? Wait, who's the bible boy?” Julian frowned, trying to figure out who they were talking about. Kiyoshi? No, Kiyoshi wasn't a bible boy as far as he knew. He started taking the frogs off Kyun's lap and putting them in a pile next to him.

The two Koreans were gazing confusedly at each other for a while, and Luo eventually turned to the blond again. "No need to worry about the inconvenience. If you find something that meets your standards, I don't mind. Although if you're going for a dobuk, I'd like for you to pick the new one. It looks better too."

Leandor quirked a brow and returned his attention to Luo. He rested his book against his bare stomach as he leaned forward to give the guy an inquisitive tilt of the head. “Dobuk, you say? Isn't that a Tae Kwon Do uniform? I suppose I should have clued in when you said martial arts, but I had no idea you did that. Impressive... How many years?”

Quirking a surprised brow, the spiky-haired Korean smirked amicably. "Seventeen. I've had little teaching since I left Korea three years ago, though, so I guess you could say fourteen."

“You've got to be quite dedicated to be doing something like that for so long. Honestly, it's not something you find often in this city. Such fickle people everywhere.” Leandor flashed a friendly smile and leaned back again. “Perhaps one day you could show me a little.”

That sounded like a great idea. Julian perked up at the idea of a show, even if that suggestion didn't sound all too committed. He hopped up to his feet and rushed over to look out the window to the courtyard. Empty, though that wasn't surprising at that time of night. “Luo, you should do a demonstration in the yard! That would be so cool! We don't have anything else to do at the moment, right?”

At first, the spiky-haired Korean seemed rather indifferent to the idea, but after looking over at Kyun, he smiled and got to his feet. Julian followed the guy's gaze and saw Kyun's excited grin, and he concluded that his companion was eager to show off as well. "We'd better put on something more suitable," Luo told Kyun with a smirk, "maybe a look at your glorious body would give Rick better ideas than picking on you."

The other Korean looked insulted for a bit, but lightened up considerably after a glance over at Julian. "I'll use the bathroom." He muttered, before heading off into the big bedroom.

For a short while, his mind went off to the wanton ideas of helping Kyun change, but he managed to control himself and stay put. Julian wandered around the room to find a spare blanket he could use for audience seating down there. “I've never seen a real martial arts demonstration in real life before. Closest thing to that would be the daily brawls breaking out at the car repair shop.”

~~~~~

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