Accidents

Pictures flooded his phone one by one. For a second he thought he should put it on mute but the next he couldn't stop himself from gazing at them mindlessly, as if something was gluing him to the screen. His eyes alternated between the laptop and the phone, sighing in between. 

'I think that's enough for the day.' Leo at last sent a text to Ryu's phone, the man smirking under his mask as he saw Darah Chen stepping out of the Cafe. Luca had arrived in time to pick her up but just before Jake was insisting on dropping her home again. 

"Wonder what's the big deal about her." Leo muttered to himself, looking at the young lady head to toe from a distance. His boss wasn't interested in women at all as far as he knew. And a task as simple as this for him? Why should he be guarding a young lady he barely knew when he was assigned to kill people instead just until a few days before?

Ryu was working on his laptop and once again found himself getting distracted by the phone. He smirked to himself realising his restlessness and took it to his hands. Looking through the pictures, his eyebrow rose in mild irritation. The more he looked the more he found himself getting absorbed into it. He looked at every detail, her smiling at him, his hands over her shoulders, everything. But they were just friends, weren't they? He gave an empty look at it and placed it on the table. 

"You're having dinner from home aren't you?" Luca looked beside him and smiled. Darah nodded in response and smiled back while she took her phone out of her purse. 

It mildly saddened her how there was not even a single message from a certain person. She figured it was probably because she annoyed him earlier with her grumpy attitude. She sighed to herself and kept looking at the phone. It was almost 10 when she reached home but to her surprise it look dead than usual. Just utter silence.

Gladly, Mrs. Ruo had already prepared dinner over the table. Darah got in as Luca stood out. She walked slowly looking around, wondering where he was but it was obvious he was not downstairs. 

"You're late. Have it before it goes cold." The old lady smiled as she set the plates. Surprisingly the food was still hot. 

"Thank you…" Darah bowed and sat down, her eyes still wandering towards the direction upstairs. 

"Did you see him?" Darah said in a very low voice, feeling embarrassed for asking as she kept her gaze on the floor. 

"Oh yes I did. He's been shut inside his room for quite a long while. Didn't even have dinner when I called for him. Must be busy with work" Mrs. Ruo sighed, shaking her head as she moved the dishes near Darah's plate. He hadn't ate? She felt her lips drop as she looked upstairs. Whatever important work it was, it still wasn't right to starve oneself until it was done. At least Darah didn't want to ignore that. An idea popped up as she began eating. 

______

"Lang Han was there and you didn't let me know!? Why!?" The voice roared on the other side. Ryu had kept his phone inches away from his ear just in case but as expected, the old man's voice was booming in intensity. 

"And on top of that he danced with my little girl! I didn't expect this with you being there beside her Ryu! How irresponsible can you be!" Ryu was silent at Aldric's outrage, leaning against the wall with a blank expression. 

"She's not little anymore. She knows how to deal with her own problems." Ryu muttered casually, at the same time swiping through the new pictures he'd received. 

"I wouldn't have called you up if she knew how to handle her own shit, Ryu Sheng! Understand your job and stop slacking! This isn't child's play!" 

"My question is, what makes you so afraid of him? What is this secret feud that you have with the Williams family, father?" Ryu's question immediately silenced Aldric but not in a good way. He could hear heavy breaths of anger fuming from the old man's part in the following seconds. 

"There are things that you needn't know, Ryu Sheng. Just do what you're told to. Is that clear?" Aldric stressed his name angrily, putting his fist over the table with a thud sound. For the first time in years, Ryu felt his respect for the old man slowly turn into resentment. 

Hope he will listen to me, Darah thought as she slipped upstairs right outside Ryu's room with a hotpot in her hands. She had enough with her attitude. At least she could get him to eat and that might solve the issue. 

"Because I'm just a lost cause aren't I? Because I'm family but I'm still not, aren't I!?" Ryu's voice turned firm and filled with rage, so much that Aldric's blood boiled at the sudden change of his demeanor. Darah was puzzled at the voices coming from inside but gathered the courage to slowly open the door. 

"Stay in your lane young man! You're crossing your limits!" Aldric's hands were shaking, partly in anger and partly in guilt because he didn't know how to handle the situation. 

"What limits!? The limits that your daughter can cross but not me!?" Ryu replied in an equally demanding voice which sent Aldric on the edge of his patience. He didn't realise how much his anger had worked him up to the point where the veins on the sides of his forehead were now visible. He felt a tight grip over his shoulder, ticking him off the very second he felt it. 

"Do not disturb me!" He turned around in sudden rage, swatting the hand away and as the realisation dawned upon him, it was too late. Darah was standing there in complete shock as the hot liquid from the broth splattered across her chest and hand, turning the skin over it red. Ryu's death glare softened at the mess he had made out of her and immediately dropped his hand weakly to both sides. Aldric's voice could be heard muffled from the phone but Ryu's attention was far gone.

"Darah…" His voice called out apologetically, shaking his head as he took a step towards her. Her brown eyes were covered partly by her short hair but when it came to his full view, it was already filled with tears and hatred. 

"Enjoy your peace then! I'm out!" She screamed along with the stinging pain the burn of the soup had left on her skin. Aldric was puzzled on the other side, hearing the unknown voice. Ryu only realised when his phone kept making weird sounds. He immediately cut the call and chased after a fuming Darah only to get his fingers smashed lightly when she shut the door straight on his face. He hissed and opened the door again, following her angry little self. 

"Darah! Wait!" He ordered in full concern but she rolled her eyes, tears blocking her view. Here she thought she was being nice but who got fooled instead!? 

"I'm done!" She yelled, going into her room and shutting the door on his face, once again. Without any second thoughts she quickly locked the door and stood behind it, sniffling angrily. 

"Darah Chen! Open the Goddamn door!" Ryu yelled from outside but got no reply. In a fit of rage he punched the door with his bare hands, feeling angry at himself not knowing how it made Darah jump frantically out of fear of him breaking inside. She decided to run to her bed before he'd turn into hulk. 

Outside, he took a deep breath and leaned his head over the door in silence while keeping a hand over the wooden surface. He very clearly recalled how her eyes welled up immediately as he did that… It didn't seem like the memory would let him sleep tonight. 

"I'm sorry." 

Darah heard it quite clearly as she walked back to her bed. But her anger didn't let her turn behind.