The morning after the concert, Conan packed up the boys' things into the bus. Jansin was feeling better, he had been chatting eagerly with the rest of the guys all morning. It turned out that he was a very interesting person, he was into music and dancing much to the Backstreet Boys' surprise. But every time his parents were mentioned he gave them a blank look and sighed. He and Kevin had gotten pretty close, especially after the show, which Jansin saw despite his fever. Jansin couldn't believe how good they were.
After they had packed their stuff onto the bus, they switched buses and joined the band. AJ dubbed that it "the fun bus." Jansin was introduced to Tommy Smith, who shook his hand heartily.
"Nice to me you," he smiled, "you wouldn't be trying to take my job would you? Not everyone takes house calls like you do." turning away from Jansin he declared, " I must warn you, we're overdo for a full fledged, out of control, FOOD FIGHT!" He grabbed a bun from the table and whipped it at Jansin. Jansin ducked and the bun hit an unsuspecting Brian on the nose.
Soon after that, everyone was grabbing food and throwing it menacingly at each other. Ten minutes later, the band surrendered, using a white undershirt on a stick. Tommy had pie dripping off his face and hair.
Everyone was totally dirty. The Backstreet Boys and Jansin did a little victory dance and slapped high fives. The winners didn't have to clean up the mess.
Later on in the day, Denise approached him about his parents again.
"Jansin we need to know more about your parents. You can't stay here forever."
"I told you, they're dead."
"Somehow I don't believe that."
"Why? What's there not to believe? I'm an orphan, I'm always moving from one place to another, and I don't remember people like I should. Especially not my parents. Just a few more months and I can live on my own. I won't be goin' back to that place."
"Don't you have any friends there?"
"Hell no, ma'am, uh, Denise. I get beat up all the time. I really don't believe in fighting back. There's no point if you can just take it. Besides, you're the one who gets it in the end."
"But what are we supposed to do? We can't just leave you in a hospital, like we were going to. That's just insane, we really like you. But I'm still really starting to believe that you're hiding something." She scrutinized him.
"What could I be hiding something? I told you all that you wanted to know. I'm not some crazed killer bound to seek revenge on the Backstreet Boys. I know now how huge they really are, and they really touched my sis. I loved that gal." He looked sad, then looked down at his feet. Denise felt sympathy for him again, he really didn't have anyone, and she knew what that felt like, especially after Bob left her with a four year old AJ to raise. But then again, she still had her mom and dad to help out. Jansin had no one, except for them now. She sighed, she had no idea what to do.
Suddenly, the bus stopped with a jerk, throwing everyone who was standing to the ground. A lamp's light bulb shattered as it hit the floor, and plenty of packages of underwear that Brian was hiding in the storage compartment above tumbled out.
"What's that happy crack that Conan's on and does he have any left?" AJ croaked, getting up from the ground. Denise hopped out of the band bus with Mindi to see what was going on. The rest of the band members and the boys where still pulling themselves off the ground. Charnie and Dakshana looked at each other in bewilderment.
Mindi re-entered the bus. "Conan was trying not to crush another frog."
The guys groaned. "I'm joking. Some crazy guy ahead of us didn't see the road block ahead and stopped too suddenly. So it's okay. We won't be delayed long. Is everyone okay?" There were a few mumbled "yes,"and "fine, fine" responses, and Mindi nodded, satisfied.
Jansin's eyes were wild, and his breathing unsteady. He had to blow this joint, and quickly. Frantically, he packed a tiny bag with clothes, while the guys looked on questioningly. When he darted out the door, the guys shouted after him, then put on their shoes and prepared to dash after him.
Jansin ran into the woods, dodging a fallen tree in his new sneakers, curtesy of Nick, and ran about a hundred metres when a line of police began to chase him. Most of them looked like they had one too many doughnuts and would have preferred to chase him in their cars, but Jansin had chosen to take the woods for that exact reason.
Jansin could the numbness creep up into his feet and legs once he reached the end of the woods. He paused for a minute, knowing that the police would never be able to match his stamina. Jansin rolled up a pant leg and saw that he was starting to bruise. The spots had grown bigger, because he was starting to bleed heavier internally. He took off again, afraid that the police would suddenly get smart and corner him.
Running used to be a joy of his, he would practise whenever he could, and now he needed it to save him.
He darted across the field, not stopping to scratch his legs where the long grass tickled him. At one point the grass got so high that he crawled forward through the grass. But he wouldn't risk hiding there.
At the end of the field was a residential area, and Jansin ran onto the sidewalk and down the street. At this point was when he heard someone chasing him. He turned to his left, but the path there turned out to be a dead end. Jansin wanted to turn around, but there was no way out this time.
The person who was following him stopped at the entrance of the dead end. Jansin turned to face this person. "Are you okay?" the person called out, and now Jansin knew that it was a she. She walked closer to him and he nodded.
"My name is Ash." She held out her hand. Jansin took it and Ash squeezed it menacingly. She wrenched the hand behind him as he squirmed and shreeked. Ash cuffed both of his hands together. "You've just been busted, curtisy of the government."
Jansin's knees wobbled and he knelt in exhaustion. Ash kicked him violently, yelling "Get up!" in his ear. He obeyed, but the world still looked like it was spinning in a whirl of colors and lights. Looking down, he saw her shoes. She had caught him wearing high heels. He groaned as the sick feeling in his stomache thickened and grew. Jansin turned his head so that he could throw up.
Ash dragged Jansin to the back of her police car, trying not to make a scene. Onlookers gaped at who they thought was a desperate criminal, and one woman clutched her little baby tightly in her arms. Sirens screamed in the distance, and patrol cars headed out of the small town.
Chapter 7
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