Chapter 28: Work where?
Chapter 28: Work where?
“Flint?” Jin stood up from the couch, and approached the figure before him, “What are you doing here?”
There was a lingering portal behind this callous being; spiraling and spanning across the room. Striking fear into both Dobby and Ashton’s hearts.
“Why are you here?”
A smirk materialized on Flint’s elegant countenance, “What else?” He put his hands on his waists; his nose looking down at Jin callously.
Jin stopped in front of him, “Seriously, why are you here?”
He inched closer to Jin, “I’m here for you…the newest member of our Gang…” in a tone that made Jin know he was being serious.
Dobby stood, and ambled up to Jin, cowardly standing behind him, “Jin,” he whispered, “A gang!? You’re in a gang!?”
Jin looked over his shoulder at him, “No, Dobby, I’m not in a gang.” He looked straight ahead at Flint again; his brows faintly furrowed.
Ashton also stood behind him, “G-guys…there’s a portal behind him…can we trust him? Is he another Ability Runner?”
“Guys, Guys,” Jin drawled, “Calm down, he’s just like Baron—he won’t hurt you…”
Dobby scoffed, “Tsk. Who said I was scared of him?” He took a step forward, standing beside Jin as opposed to behind.
Flint, eyes slit, raised a brow at Dobby, and cooed, “Hey, Elf. You’re a friend of Jin’s?”
“Yeah,” Dobby knotted his brows, “I’m a friend of Jin’s—we’re his first friends, and we surely haven’t met him just a day or two ago like you did!”
“Yeah,” Ashton used a finger to push his glasses higher up his nose bridge, “It’s a bit dangerous for you Ability Runners to be around Jin. If the cops catch you, and Jin’s present, he’ll get in trouble as well. We can’t allow that to happen to him—we’re his friends.”
Flint drew closer to Ashton, standing tall and looking down at him. Slowly, he bent his back remotely, and carried his head closer to Ashton’s. Then, a smirk manifested on his face, “You smell like innocent flowers…” his face a hair’s breadth away from the terrified figure before him.
Ashton was mildly shaking; and his face started to redden.
Flint simply grinned, and walked away from him. He focused on Dobby now, approaching him with a deliberate gait, “And you,” he inched his face closer to Dobby’s, “You smell like you’re a talker.”
“T-talker,” Dobby averted his eyes, “Whaddya mean talker?”
“Forget it,” Flint tittered, “You guys are some good friends. I’m so glad Jin had you guys before we came,” he grinned; edging away from Dobby.
He turned to Jin, “Can I speak to you for a minute, Jin,” Flint snapped his fingers and the portal disappeared, “I wanna talk to you … alone. I’ll be on the front porch waiting.” With that said, he walked out of the house and stood outside.
Jin contemplated the looks on his friends’ faces, “What? What’s with those looks?”
“Flint, huh?” Dobby’s face soured.
Ashton wiped the sweat from his forehead, “I don’t trust him…”
Jin grimaced at them, “You two are something else. I’m gonna go see what Flint wants; I’ll be back in a minute. Okay?”
Jin walked outside; and closed the front door. He stood on the porch alongside Flint.
Flint was simply standing with his hands in his pockets, peering up at the grey sky. Then, a smile appeared on his face. “You’ve got some good friends. If I stayed a minute longer in there, they might have attacked my ass…”
Jin chuckled, “No, they won’t do anything like that…I think…”
Flint continued to peer up at the sky. “They’re some good friends. But apparently they don’t like me so much.”
Jin folded his arms, and glanced at him, “What were you going to tell me?”
He then slowly turned to face Jin, “Got anything planned to do today?”
“Yeah, I’m gonna start looking for a job. My grandma’s sick, and we’re out of cash so…”
“I would give you some cash, but I’m broke right now. Actually, I’m broker than broke since I’m indebted to Aileen. I think she made replicas of over three hundred jugs of beer!”
Jin raised his brows, “Waw…”
“Since I’m broke; I was gonna continue working today. You seem to be broke too; so I think you should come work with me. You’ll get paid handsomely.”
“Work where?”
“It’s a little secret,” he placed an index finger on his lips, “I can’t tell you…you’re gonna have to figure it out yourself.” he winked.
“Then I’m not coming…” Jin pouted.
“What?”
He furrowed his eyebrows, “I need to take this Job thing seriously. I can’t slack off like yesterday, Flint. Someone I care about could die.”
Flint placed a hand on his shoulder. “Jin, you need to trust me on this one. If you work a day with us; y’won’t have to work for months to come…”
Jin heaved, “I don’t know, man…” He gazed down at the floor.
“Trust me, Jin. Aren’t I your friend now? Friends trust each other y’know. We care about you now, so trust us. You really should.”
“It’s not that I don’t trust you,” Jin looked up at him, “It’s just that I don’t wanna slack off like what I did at the Bar yesterday. Look, you didn’t even have to tell me what kind of job it is. I can’t go playing around like that again…” he snapped.
“Jin, you’re overthinking things. Just trust us. We all like you a lot,” he smiled, “Baron’s gone crazy over you. Alura’s no different from him at all. We all want you by our side.”
“I’m sorry. But I can’t just leave my friends here, and go to who knows where with you guys. Their parents are worried sick about them not being home for a day. They spent a day at my place, taking care of my grandma. Where was I!?”
“Jin! c’mon, man, stop babying out on me!” He placed both his hands on Jin’s face, and inched his face closer to his, “Jin,” he smiled faintly, “You can trust me. We’ll get your grandma back on her feet again…”
He smiled with his mouth partially opened; his cold breath smelt like mint to Jin as he cooed. His eyes were dark yet they made him look even more attractive. He was indeed elegant, and there was no neglecting this fact.
“Trust me, Jin…”
His dangerously lingering charisma was at the cusps of overpowering. Jin felt like he could only yield to the charm given off by it. He felt like he had to listen to him now—and relent if he so thought otherwise.
Flint’s curly, long bangs of his jet black hair that rested on his face blew from the subtly calming gusts of wind. A gentle smile remained on his face that withered away all the vexation; and replaced it with serenity.
Jin simply exhaled, and replied, “Alright, I’ll listen to you…I just hope that the job you’re talking about is legit…”
Flint grinned, and looked away, “It is. You might even have a good time on the job. And you know, having fun working isn’t all that common in this world.”
“The job,” Jin gazed over at his neighbor’s house, “Will Alura be there?”
Flint started looking at him in quietude. Does he seriously like Alura in such a short space of time? It couldn’t be right?
“Will she be there?”
‘If she’s there I think I’ll not be able to look her in the face. Not after what happened on that day—not after the kind of dream I had after that day!’ he shook his head at the thought.
“Yeah, both Sylvia and Alura will be there as well. Say,” a smug painted on Flint’s face, “Which one of them do you like the most? Is it Sylvia or Alura?”
Jin blushed and averted his eyes, “I uh …”
Silence.
“I like them both…?”
“Easy does it, Jin!”
He shifted on his toes, “I like Alura a lot. But initially, I fell in love with Sylvia at first glance. And after I saw her eyes,” he blushed, “It was like I fell in love all over again.” In truth, he knew it wasn’t any love.
“Really?”
“Yeah. Then, I ended up dancing with Alura,” his face crimsoned again, “and then we kissed. When that happened, I fell in love with her as well. I honestly don’t even know who I would prefer.” He knew it wasn’t love. But what could it be?
“Who’s more attractive to ya’?”
“Sylvia,” he blurted, “Hands down, it’s Sylvia. If I was braver, she would’ve been the woman to give me my first kiss … not Alura.”
Let’s not forget that Jin’s still a Virgin; do not be fooled because of a simple kiss!
“Sylvia…”
Flint’s look became a glare, “You know that’s my sister you’re hitting on, right?” his tone serious.
Jin looked at him with widened eyes, “What!? Who’s your sister!?”
He smirked, turning his head, “Sylvia. She’s my sister.”
“You’re bullshitting me!”
“I shit you not, Jin,” he chuckled, “Sylvia’s my sister.”
Jin snapped. “No way, man. You don’t even have her eyes…”
“She got that from mom…”
Jin knotted his brows, “Why didn’t you tell me earlier!?”
“I didn’t have to tell you that. Besides, she doesn’t like it when I go around telling people I’m her brother anyway.”
“You still should’ve told me! Give me one reason not to be punch you right now!”
Flint chuckled.
It was quiet for a while until Flint decided to say, “I’m heading off now. Get fit and ready for the job tomorrow,” he looked at him, “Trust me, you’ll have fun…”
Jin looked at him as he headed off.
‘SYLVIA’S REALLY HIS SISTER!?’