"Stop calling me that." 
"No. I like how it mocks you. Makes it fun to argue. Don't you think?" He snorts, "Well, you do not, otherwise you would be smart enough to get off my property, right?" He leans and whispers, "Are you smart enough?" Then he stands up straight when he knows I won't be answering, "Nope, just pure dumb." There was harshness to his words. Even the simplest of words made it sound so damn demeaning with his thick voice. 
I wonder if I punch him right now, would I get a punch back? Or is he the type to be surprised that I can throw a punch? 
My hands curled at my sides, all the cold needles giving my body hot flashes instead. Just one punch. Just one fucking punch. 
He notices my fist. He finds it amusing, "Go ahead. Do it, but I will pass it along to a certain fifteen-year-old." Biting my anger down, I take a step back, "Rot in hell." 
He turns around and walks back in. 
That was it. He wanted to mock me and make me feel like I didn't have any power over anything. Which was right, but I hate that he was right. I go back to the scooter and stand against it, going back to letting the cold stab me a thousand times as my eyes fill with tears and my throat hurts. 
Rot in hell, Carmelo.
♤
WOO-JIN 
Interesting. 
She acts in defeat but she is stubborn as hell. 
I go up the stairs to that boy's room and he's on the floor, typing away on the laptop I gave him. Slouched. "Sit up straight, boy." He looks up, "At least have the decency to call your prisoner by his name." I scoff, "Prisoner? I don't spend millions on prisoners and they certainly don't have the luxury of a warm room and a comfy bed." I nudge my chin to the double bed behind him. But instead of continuing the argument war, he asks, "How is she?" 
"Do I look like I care to answer?"
"At least let her in for a few minutes. It's freezing outside." 
"Is that your wish?" 
He asked for a wish and I've been trying for a few hours to get it done. That damn wish feels like a weight on my shoulder. I shouldn't be granting him anything but I'm not an unfair man. I believe in doing something nice for once and ask for ten things in return. 
He goes silent, and goes back to typing, "If she can't come inside, can I go meet her?" I'm harsh, "No. Where are you at with the task I gave you two hours ago?" He clears his throat, glancing outside the window as snowflakes started falling, and then looked back at me, "You think it's easy going blind to hack things? You made me do stuff that I do not know. So it's gonna be a while." 
"It's better that you don't know if you don't want trouble." 
"I don't understand why are you making me hack into your security system. It's pointless. It's stronger than anything I've seen." 
"Yes, but can you hack into it?"
"Well," he shrugs, "for me, it's easy-"
"Then it's not strong enough. How many minutes until you hack and shut everything down?"
"Five." 
I raise a brow because he knows better than to lie to me and it works, "Okay, three, if I don't stop for a water break." I crouch to his level, "I want the security system so damn strong that you even will have trouble breaking into it." He sighs frustrated, "Then I need to know who or what I need to make it stronger from."
"Don't test my patience." 
♤
Three more days go by and that woman stands in that same spot, wearing the same clothes. I bet she's tired and hungry. Why won't she just go?