Lines Crossed - Volume 1 Chapter 28 28
“Come on, I will buy you something to eat and you can tell me all about it. Deal?” I stated.
The kid whose face had gone from scared, shocked, and nervous too doubtful and confused finally settled on a hopeful mistrust.
He nodded, without a word, but gave the signal that we had a deal.
“Okay, let’s get out now, and you can’t run? If you run all deals are off the table. I won’t feed you and listen to your story and my offer of immunity will be off the table, okay?”
He nodded agreement again.
I opened the door and got out and he did the same. I waited for him on the sidewalk, hands resting on my h.i.p.s. He walked towards me sulking and looking very guilt-ridden, but didn’t run. His eyes only glanced at Jaemin then back to me once.
He came to a stop beside me obediently, with his head hung in shame.
I didn’t know what he was expecting me to do, but for some reason I immediately had the urge to tease him mercilessly.
I closed the distance between us, then wrapped my arms around his shoulders, surprising him before steering him into Club 51. He stared at me as if he were a wounded deer and his attacker.
An actual server led us into a VIP sitting room on the top floor; I didn’t want to tell the kid; it was my room, that I had purchased because I didn’t think he was aware of just who he had tried to steal from and I didn’t want to scare him that much just yet.
And I had a feeling that news would make a kid like him bolt.
I ordered a few dishes for him since he wouldn’t speak and we both waited in a sort of pleasantly awkward silence until the food came. While we waited a texted Jaemin a plethora of instructions. Which Jaemin agreed to do without a single question or concern very used to my random orders by now.
After the beautiful waitress who took our order brought our food out, set it up, then left I peered at him without actually seeming to be, while he was much less used to subterfuge and gawked openly. The kid, who hadn’t even stopped to check out the girl continued watching me text without a word, despite the server having looked very close in age to him. I jabbed him with my elbow and motioned for him to eat.
“You’re hungry, right?” I stated the obvious. ” Eat I bought it for you and I promise I poison nothing, ever.”
He dug into it slowly at first, but then once realizing the food here was mouth-wateringly delicious he ate with a fervor and despite how hungry I knew he must be he ate with amazing etiquette and table manners.
And although he was using all his manners, he still filled his cheeks with the juicy steak meat faster than he could chew it. And ended up looking very much like a chipmunk getting ready for winter.
I chuckled under my breath.
“Slow down, kid. This isn’t your last meal like this.” I chided in good spirit, satisfied that he would not grab and dash.
He looked at me, swallowed carefully, then scoffed. “It’s not the last time?”
“No, it’s not,” I said cheerfully.
“Do you think I can afford food, let alone food like this at all in my life if I” He gulped, paused then looked around making sure no one would enter the room.
“If I was about to steal your car.” He finished, finally admitting the words aloud, albeit quietly.
I leaned in towards him. “Do you think I will feed you once out of pity then drop you off in front of a police station?” I whispered back.
He stopped eating his eyes big saucers of disbelief; he nodded carefully; surprised because I had said the exact thing he had been thinking.
“I am not.” I stated gently, earnestly.
“What are you going to do with me then?” He asked me carefully.
I smiled up at him, hardly able to contain my excitement.
“I am adopting you, Mr. Lee Chang Wook. You will be my little brother, starting today,” I stated happily.
He dropped his chopsticks in shock.
“HOW DID YOU FIND OUT MY NAME!” He said jumping up, his entire body straightening out.
I actually laughed aloud, fully amused because of all the things I had said that he could have exclaimed about, that’s what he had picked.
“Not surprised I am ‘THE’ Mark Wang of all the tabloids? Not surprised I want to adopt a fully grown human being? None of that surprises you, but my pulling strings and finding out your name did.” I chided happily.
He scratched his neck and sat back down before finally deflating and then smiling tentatively back at me.
Slowly, sure, but it was genuine, and I was feeling very pleased that Chang Wook had finally relaxed completely with me.
“Well, I recognized you from all the billboards as soon as you stepped out of your car and I think it’s strange, very strange you want to adopt me, and makes me wonder what you want to do with me.” He glanced at me awkwardly.
I waved his concern off. “Think nothing more than I had a hard time at your age too, and don’t enjoy seeing anyone alone and struggling.”
“But my name we have only been here an hour, isn’t there limits to what even guys like you can do?”
“An hour is plenty of time,” I stated, holding up my phone and scrolling through the few pages of info on him.
He stared at my phone screen slightly horrified and intrigued at the power that I held. “The rich can do anything, can’t they.” He said nodding his head and dug back into his food.
“Yes, most of the time we really can so how about it. Chang Wook? Will you come live at my house with me? bodyguard and friend already lives with me there. If you say yes, you can get to know both of us better soon enough, and if you really hate it, of course you can leave. A word of caution long term life on the streets is hard and being alone through every walk of life is even harder.” The melancholy of today pulled at my heart and I tried not to push the feelings down and away.
“Anyway, Jae has already gone to get everything you could ever need. I only have three conditions.” I stated the last part sharply as a warning.
The kid swallowed, then carefully after a moment of thinking asked. “What are they?”
‘He didn’t just agree immediately like a child without a brain. I was right this kid is smart.’
“You can steal nothing ever again, anything you need just ask, and I will get it for you. Okay?”
He nodded his agreement quickly. I knew that one wouldn’t be a problem.
“What’s the other two?” He asked when I didn’t continue on immediately.
‘Chang Wook, I can already tell your future is dazzling.’ I thought.
repeated in my head. ‘Left at an orphanage age 2 days old, never adopted, aged out at sixteen. Has been working odd jobs the three years since then. Two months after leaving the orphanage moved to the city and an old lady has been giving him room and board in exchange for chores and housework. In the span of this past month he lost his job and then the woman had died.’
But Jae had gotten info even Chang Wook didn’t know.
‘The most important thing that had almost sealed the deal for me, when I read it was that the woman had helped Changwook apply to a school in Canada called Julliard because of Changwook’s raw talent, and unsurprisingly, he had got in before his luck had changed, the woman had died and the entire world had gone south for him. That kid is a talent. He is a musical prodigy with a beautiful voice, the words that had given me hope when reading his file.’
“You must play piano for me whenever I have nightmares,” I stated carefully.
He looked really upset by this one. And I knew why.
I couldn’t just let this kid feel the same way I had. He was only nineteen and had already lived such a hard life. I couldn’t let someone with such a kind soul become ruined by the decrepit world out there.
He finally nodded, very slowly.
“Just when you have nightmares.” He started. “I don’t like to.”
“I know, they don’t happen often, the nightmares. When they do… They” I stopped the silence filling the air between us as we both grimaced at our own pain while simultaneously not wanting to talk about it.
He seemed to sense my tense hesitation.
“What’s the, the very last condition?” I smirked, unable to help myself despite the sudden tension.
“That one shouldn’t be too hard, in fact I saved the easiest for last,” I stated with a smile.
“You just have to drop the formalities and call me Hyung.”
Changwook stared at me in disbelief.
“I CAN’T DO THAT! HOW CAN I DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT!” he asked surprised.
“Okay, I will call the police then,” I said and dialed one, one nine and held up the phone for him to see. His mouth dropped, and he looked wounded. My finger tip crept forward, ready to hit connect.
He threw out his hand, stopping me.
“HYUNG!… He squeaked loudly. Then froze, I could see how awkward he felt to call someone he just met without proper formalities “Uuuuhhh, This food is delicious” he finished shyly as I turned my phone off and set it gently on the table.
I chuckled, then leaned over and ruffled his hair. He smiled slowly warming up to the first show of kindness he had in a month.
I take it we have a deal. I grinned.
He nodded.
“Eat we have so much to do today,” I said..
“Like what?” he asked.
“Oh, all fun stuff, we need to go shopping.” I stated calmly.
Then I grabbed my espresso and sipped it slowly. Feeling much happier than I had when I had first started the day they had abandoned me on, so many years before.
