We Are Bulletproof

Once again, Jung Su's bike came to a rolling halt in front of a now-familiar house. He sat there for a moment with his helmet on, letting the engine die while he gazed off at the house. Underneath the black glossy visor of the helmet, he was frowning. Honestly he probably shouldn't be here but... he sort of felt as though he needed to set matters straight.

And he had to get his jacket back!

Jung Su wasn't as obsessive about his stuff as a certain other little person around town but that didn't mean he was throwing his things away randomly, either. That jacket was sort of important to him, too—it was the first one he ever bought with his own money, so it had a meaningful impact. And it looked good, he couldn't deny that.

But he hesitated in front of that house because he knew that a really nice, caring girl lived inside. A girl who seemed to like him, and a girl he liked back. It was just... he didn't know if he should continue down this path. He didn't want to lead her on, or promise more than he was capable of giving. It was kind of presumptuous at this stage, but he imagined that if she said yes to going on dates with him...

Well. Nothing to do but find out, he supposed. Jung Su never shrank from what needed to be done, even unpleasant tasks. So he pulled off his helmet, shook out his hair and slipped off the bike. He strode to the door with a purpose and knocked on the door lightly.

@MinSquishy~  @Min Kyunsoo

Shit.

He couldn't stop smiling.

Jung Su actually stopped by the side of the road, with the bus in sight, and took a couple minutes to calm the fuck down. Wipe the grin off his face. Stop it. His cheeks hurt a little. Fucking stop it.

It was only. Three words.

Most of it was relief, if he had to be honest. (Jung Su was more sentimental than most people took him to be.) After tearing around town trying to find Devlin, finally somebody put him on the right track—that Nahuel guy—and he was able to get his ass out to where the bus had stopped without wiping out. He had a few close calls but since everyone was driving so cautiously, he was able to swerve on his more agile bike. (His baby, by the way, which he never let anyone else touch.)

And now he was here, looking at the glowing red tail lights of the big bus that took people out of town. Once he got himself under control, he rode up to it and then slid off his bike. Jung Su pulled off his helmet before going up to the door and knocking hard on it. The driver seemed shocked to see him but opened the door after a momentary pause. With a whoosh and a clank, the doors yielded for him and he strode up the narrow steps.

"Looking for somebody," he said to the driver, who looked expectantly at him like he was waiting for Jung Su to pay. Ignoring him, Jung Su marched up to the one familiar face there and stood over him, glaring at his creepy ass pedo 'new friend.' "C'mon Dev, let's go home." He put out a hand and laid it on Devlin's shoulder. "And you stay the fuck away from my little brother from now on, you fucking creep."

There was a lot of shit he wanted to say and do. Like apologize. Like punch that asshole trying to lure Devlin out to some seedy club in Washington. Like grab Devlin and hug him tight and never, ever let go. But he wasn't gonna get all mushy with all those people looking at him, the random intruder who just barged onto the bus.

But he was still pretty damn pissed that some rapist-to-be nearly got his filthy hands on his little bro so maybe that punch wasn't out of the question just yet.

@Devlin Quayle

Hey I found the guy's house

You'll never guess what happened next

@MinSquishy~ @Min Kyunsoo

Hey
You okay?

@Devlin Quayle

Anybody know where my little brother Devlin is? Lemme know if you've seen him, I need to find him before this fog gets any worse.

Thanks
Jung

Well shit.

Jung Su flipped his phone onto his bed before slamming himself onto the mattress, face-down. That kid. Was way too sensitive. About everything. Couldn't even take a joke, shit. It seemed like fun and games when Devlin had the upper hand but the second Jung Su turned it around, he got super serious. It wasn't like he didn't know Jung Su was joking—he'd threatened 'the stash' since they were little and he hadn't done anything to it yet. And anybody who did threaten it—well they had to go through Jung Su first. Nobody fucked with Devlin except him.

He knew how attached Devlin got to his things. Even if he threatened to throw things away. But that was a joke. He didn't mean it—he didn't mean half the stupid things he said. It was just some dumb part of his brain that couldn't stand to lose, even to the people he loved the most. There weren't a ton of people in his life that went into that category either—just two.

One of whom was mad at him and ignoring his texts.

Okay so the thing about the rape was out of line. A joke to Jung Su but... eh. He was harder than Devlin; he'd grown up that way, desensitizing himself to other people's words and jibes. He was used to a rougher crowd, he supposed. Devlin was softer, more sheltered. Not to say that he hadn't seen some shit but he didn't hang with the crowd that Jung Su did. Part of him was still kinda innocent, and Jung Su wanted to protect it, but...

Shit, who knew he needed to protect it from himself?

Sometimes he forgot how harsh he could be. And sometimes he took it for granted that his words would slide off, because he grew complacent in the knowledge that their bond was strong. Or so he thought—so he believed, because he would never let Devlin go out of his life. Not without a fight..

He sighed into the mattress. Maybe he overreacted. Okay, definitely overreacted. The chatterpage post was a jerk move—he thought it'd flush Devlin out. Maybe if he got mad enough he'd respond to it and Jung Su could somehow smooth things over. He wasn't good with the word 'sorry' but for Devlin he might've tried. But nothing. No word, no response. Dumb kid, he wouldn't really leave everyone behind. Even if he was mad at Jung Su, their mom was here. Jung Su turned over—hard to breathe into a mattress—and ran a hand over his face.

"Shit," he said to the ceiling, hating the feeling of guilt. No matter how old he got, every time Devlin got upset (because Jung Su acted like a dumbass) he felt bad. Funny because he could blackmail their neighbor without batting an eyelash but the second Devlin's lip so much as wibbled, he turned to mush. Was that normal? Having that big of a soft spot for somebody? Jung Su tried to be tough and acted like he didn't need anybody but secretly, he held on pretty tight. Sure he was guarded against Devlin when they first met but then he warmed to the idea of having someone in his life who would stick around.

"Dumb kid, you better not do anything dumb!"

He grabbed his phone. Nothing. Blowing up Devlin's phone wouldn't do him any good if he was just going to ignore it all!

Jung Su tried to wait it out. Play it cool. An hour passed. He prowled the apartment like a caged tiger, passing Devlin's room at least a billion times. Two hours passed. Where was mom? Oh yeah—she was out at the Hazletons' mansion, consulting with them about some potion or other. Three hours and it got dark suddenly. The wind picked up and Jung Su heard thunder rumbling off in the distance. Where the fuck was Devlin? He'd usually be home by now, or if he wasn't, Jung Su knew where he was. He checked. He checked in, checked up on Devlin in case he needed a ride home on Jung Su's bike. Even if he didn't, Jung Su showed up anyway and glared at people who looked close to Devlin.

Just being a good big brother though. Nothing... nothing wrong with that was there? Just making sure he wasn't hanging out with the wrong type of people. (Like people who might have a crush on him.) Nothing suspicious about that. Lots of big brothers acted like that. They weren't related, but people called them brothers so. Just big brother things.

Three hours. Now he wasn't even trying to deny that he was—annoyed. (Sorry.) Angry. (Sorry.) Guilty. (Sorry.) Freaking out. (Sorry.) What if Devlin got caught in the storm? Jung Su still didn't think what he said warranted Devlin actually running away because hey—brothers giving each other a hard time and all—but he didn't want Devlin getting soaked and getting sick or something. Then it'd be HIS fault that Devlin got sick because he made him stay out in a storm and if he thought this guilt was bad. Ooh boy. 

Jung Su cursed under his breath as he grabbed a jacket and hastily slid it on. He wrote their mom a note telling her where he'd gone—she worried too, because she was just as big of a softy at heart as Devlin was—and then he bolted out the door. Hopped on his bike, revved up the engine to cover up another slew of curses, then rode off. Devlin had a couple of places around town that he frequented; Jung Su could hit those up first. Shit, the town was only so big, where could a kid like that hide anyway? As he rode on, raindrops spattered heavily onto his dark helmet. Thunder and lightning, violent winds, the whole works, huh? It was like the heavens opened up and dumped a year's worth of rain onto sleepy little Hazleton. Jung Su took one hand off the handlebars to wipe at his helmet. Riding fast through the rain was rough but... also kind of a thrill, if he had to be honest. But he couldn't enjoy the sensation with anxiety pinching at the back of his mind.

And what about movie night? What about curling up on the couch to watch a cool action flick? What about Jung Su pretending he was tired from 'working' and leaning all up on Devlin, running a hand through his hair while teasing him about looking like a human mop? (What about him trying so hard not to make his actions look suspicious?)

Fuck! He skidded dangerously around a corner and narrowly missed getting side-swiped by a bus headed out of town. The bus driver honked long and hard at him as he suddenly braked and Jung Su yelled some pretty rude ass things back that were probably lost to the wind. Heart pounding in his throat, he screeched to a halt too. Goddamn, that was too fucking close for comfort!

Couldn't say sorry if he was dead right?

Well... he couldn't say sorry if Devlin wasn't here to hear it either!

Dumb kid.

Hey dummy

You still there?

So proud

Little bro finally leaving home and striking out on his own!

☺

"The fuck you say?!" Jung Su kicked aside the upturned bucket that served as a footstool. It clattered noisily away into a corner of the hideout as the others leaned forward with varying degrees of interest, thinking that a fight was imminent. If it involved Jung Su, usually a fight did break out.

"What?" Brick's dumbfounded expression would've been laughable on any normal day. Today, right now, it pissed Jung Su off. He stepped forward aggressively and while Brick didn't back off, he did look uncomfortable. "Just asked if... I can get a loan off your little bro too," he muttered defensively as he finally looked off to the side, signaling that he didn't want a fight.

"Shut your fucking mouth, dumb fuck," Jung Su hissed. Everybody knew not to talk about Devlin around him. Everybody knew to stay away from him, to keep his name out of their mouths. Whatever they did, whatever rackets they ran, all of that stayed separate. As far as Devlin or anybody else knew, Jung Su was out all day doing odd jobs. He brought back just enough money to make that seem plausible--not too much, not too little. 

But Brick thought he was being funny. Or clever. Or... was there something else? Even the stray thought made that nasty, sweeping heat pool in his gut. Jung Su stepped right up to Brick and grabbed a fistful of his shirt, hauling on it hard. He was skinny but that didn't mean shit. He was still strong, he was wiry and tough and fierce. Nobody contested that; those who did probably didn't want to live a good life by getting on his bad side. "You stay the fuck away from him. You don't talk about him. You don't talk to him. Get me?"

"Hey, hey man. Chill out." Levi's lazy drawl sounded amused. He reached out a long, lanky arm and laid a gentle hand on Jung Su's shoulder. "Brick was just joking around. Weren't ya, fella? He's sorry, look, he's sorry. No need to fight with your own gang member, ey?"

Jung Su scowled and shook off the hand of their leader. He let go of Brick's shirt and stepped away, snorting through his nose at the idea of Brick telling jokes. Like there were enough brains in there to even begin thinking of one. Knock knock jokes left Brick baffled, shit. Jung Su flung himself back onto the stack of crates that formed his makeshift seat and glared hotly at Brick, who was muttering something to Thatch seated next to him. Thatch's expression didn't change but when he caught Jung Su's eye, he tilted his head off to one side slightly.

The fuck did that mean? Jung Su snorted again and studied a hangnail on his index finger.

"So!" Levi's voice was chipper now as he slid between Jung Su and Brick, effectively blocking the latter from sight. "You got the stuff from Portland right?"

"Yeah." Jung Su's reply was surly, low. "Hid it at my house. I can get it any time."

"Nobody else knows? Not even--er." Levi's sunny smile made Jung Su want to kick his teeth in. "You know."

"No. Nobody knows about the prystal so you can get off my ass about it already. I'll get the money too. Soon."

"Excellent!" Levi clapped his hands together. "I'll get in touch with our distributors. Folks are mighty keen to get their hands on a fresh batch."

Jung Su shrugged. As long as the money came in, he didn't care if 'folks' were 'mighty keen' or not. Fucking druggies disgusted him to the core. Imagine getting hooked on that shit and losing control of your life. Pathetic. Jung Su wouldn't ever fall into that trap. The only vice he had was smoking but that wasn't nearly as habit-forming as the drug that those witches cooked up.

Viciously he ripped off the hangnail, barely flinching as a stab of pain shot up his hand. Blood oozed out from the side of his torn skin and he squeezed it, letting it slide and pool against his finger.

*using an old flip phone*

Hey Devvy

I need some cash
Can you look in the cookie jar in the cupboard, see what's in there?

@Devlin Quayle