Art of Fighting

Chapter 10 - Muses

By Prosopopeia


Hwoarang kissed me.

I stared at the ceiling. What was wrong with this picture? Hwoarang kissed me… He fucking kissed me! I shut my eyes and turned away from my ceiling. It seemed…unreal. That event had only transpired a few nights ago and I was still recovering from the shock of it all. First of all, I had no idea why I felt so compelled to tell Hwoarang about my "tragic past" and second of all, when the hell did he get so compassionate? It was his birthday and somehow I managed to end up being the center of attention.

I don't know whether to be pleased or not.

And then there was the whole deal with after the kiss. What did I do when Hwoarang pulled away? Why, I stepped back very slowly with what I imagined to be a very shocked expression on my face and ran. Now I couldn't stop berating myself for such a cowardly act. It wasn't out of fear that I ran, but out of confusion—confusion with Hwoarang for kissing me, for me even kissing him back, and for me actually liking it. I don't know how Hwoarang took my departure—most likely he thought that I was disgusted with him.

God, I sincerely hope he doesn't think that.

"JIN!"

My eyes flew open with a start and I looked around warily. Who in the world—?

"It's Steve, man! Open up!"

Ah, Steve, I should have known. I was beginning to wonder when he would show up. Whether or not he was here for Hwoarang was something I didn't know. Hell, it could have been possible that he didn't even know about the kiss.

"Hello," I greeted as soon as I opened the door.

Steve didn't even bother with a greeting as he rushed into my apartment. With record timing he took off his shoes and settled down on my couch before looking at me seriously.

"All right, what happened?" he demanded.

I closed the door slowly and walked over to him. "What do you mean?" I asked cautiously. From what I could see Steve didn't know. That proved interesting considering he and Hwoarang were close.

"On Hwoarang's birthday, man! He hadn't been the same since then! All he does now is mull around the flat like a zombie. Okay, okay, I'm exaggerating, he isn't that bad, but he has been a lot quieter and that worries the fuck out of me!" exclaimed Steve.

Obviously this must have affected Steve a lot more than I thought since I had never seen the blond look so stressed. I debated his words carefully and sighed, taking a seat across from him.

"Well, then why are you here?"

Steve threw me a look that clearly said, "Do you think I'm an idiot?" I frowned slightly and crossed my arms contemplatively.

"He kissed me," I finally said.

"And…?"

"…I ran."

Smacking his head, Steve fell back before launching a murderous glare on me. "Are you absolutely crazy, mate? Why did you go ahead and do that for?" he cried out.

I sighed and shook my head. "I don't know," I murmured.

Steve stared at me for a long moment before shaking his head. "You're not mad with him are you? 'Cause you know Hwoarang… He's insane but I'm sure he never meant it to offend you or anything," he explained, staring at the floor while doing so.

I smiled slightly. "I know that, Steve. It's just that it…surprised me. But now that I think back on it, I don't think I should have been so shocked. It was typical of Hwoarang," I remarked, amused by the thought.

"Then go and talk to him! He's been moping around forever and trust me, a moping Hwoarang is not a pretty sight," exclaimed Steve as he dragged me to my feet.

I looked at him. "Now? But I haven't even—"

"Hey, he came to help you out before didn't he? Consider it a payback for all the things he's done!" interrupted Steve, winking.

He dragged me into the hallway and pulled out my coat from the closet before tossing it over to me. I just stared at him.

"Steve…I don't know what to say to him," I confessed when he gave me that look that said, "If you don't put that coat on, I will have to force it on myself."

The British man rolled his eyes and plopped down onto the floor, staring up at me helplessly. "You really are hopeless aren't you?" he inquired.

I arched my eyebrow but didn't say anything. Steve sighed and looked contemplative for a moment before looking at me sternly.

"You're not mad with him for kissing you. You're surprised. Are you disgusted?" he queried.

The way Steve looked at me astonished me. It was as if he was just waiting for me to turn and bolt out of the apartment, screaming in fear. I narrowed me eyes. Why would I be disgusted? Because Hwoarang kissed me? Okay, some people might consider this appalling—especially if they were male, but for some odd reason that didn't bother me.

"I'm not disgusted, Steve. I just want to know what possessed him to kiss me of all people," I replied quietly.

Steve blinked before suddenly jumping up. "Is that all, man?" he asked, gripping my shoulders tightly.

I nodded unsurely, a bit startled by Steve's sudden change in attitude. And I thought Hwoarang was fickle…

Steve beamed at me before smacking me in my arm. "And you had me all worried! If that was all you wanted to know, you should have said something sooner instead of making me believe you were some sort of homophobic or shit," he scolded.

I glared at Steve. "Well, Steve, I would have thought you'd know me by now to know that I'm not," I stated placidly.

The blond arched an eyebrow. "Hey, you never mentioned anything about having a girlfriend or boyfriend. Hell, you've never even mentioned anything about relationships, period. How do you expect me to get a clue off of that? For all I knew, you could have been in love with yourself!" he remarked smartly.

I sighed and shook my head. There was no point in debating with Steve. It normally resulted in me with my tail between my legs. The blond must have taken some pointers from Hwoarang.

"Now come on, mate! If you want the answer to your question then you have to talk to Hwoarang about it. But in all honesty, I can't believe you haven't figured it out for yourself. I mean, Hwoarang hasn't been that subtle and I didn't think you were that thick," drawled Steve as he forced me into my coat and shoes.

I looked at Steve in confusion. What in the world was he going on about? Me being thick? About what? If I couldn't get it now maybe he was right. I watched as Steve took my keys and locked the door for me since I was still lost in my own thoughts. He knew my apartment well enough to know which keys went in each lock.

"Enlighten me, Steve, because I can't figure out what the hell you're talking about," I said finally as he ventured into the elevator.

Steve shook his head before smirking at me. "What, and ruin in the surprise? I'm sure you'll figure it out eventually, mate. And if you don't…well…Hwoarang will have quite a bit to explain to you later," he replied, chuckling lightly. He then muttered something in English that I didn't understand but I got the faint idea it had something to do with birds in spring, whatever that meant.

 

Okay, short chapter, I know. And I'm very sorry I haven't updated in a million years but voila! The next part is the last and final piece. Surprised? Don't be! This epic is soon to be over and the reason why this part was so short is because it literally leads right into the last scene, which I can tell you now is very long. So please be patient, folks. It's almost done!


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