Chapter Text
“I’ll see you tomorrow, then. Bye, Seohee!!”
“Bye, Beomgyu!”
You bid your friend goodbye after hugging him. You had never had a friend as close to you as Beomgyu was. The two of you had been friends since middle school, you being the first to initiate the friendship.
You had brought chocolate milk and cookies on the first day of school and Beomgyu had nothing. He was bullied by a few boys in the class who had taken his lunch box. So you shared yours with him and made sure that he stood up to the bullies the next time they troubled him. But it didn’t end well. Beomgyu ended up with several bruises and cuts but that was all that was needed for the school to suspend the boys who harassed your friend. Since then, the two of you have protected each other and promised that you would never leave each other's side. But as high school started and at the age of 16-17, friendship turned to liking. But that’s what you, hormonal teenagers, thought. You tried dating each other and were very awkward at first. You would hug him all the time and always hold his hands when the two of you were friends, but the dating created a sense of uneasiness and you drifted apart. So you decided that it was not something you never wanted to try again. Despite that, you still stayed friends because of all the years you had spent together and all the secrets you had shared.
Coming to present, Beomgyu and you decided to meet each other tomorrow at the library for duo study as your grades in Chemistry and his in History were decreasing.
When you reached home, you hugged your mom and dad and sat down on the couch. “How was school, Seohee?” Your dad asked you, eyes not leaving the newspaper he was reading.
It was good! They’re giving us a month’s holiday for decorating the school for the seniors’ farewell party.” You removed a pack of red ginseng from your bag and sipped on it.
“Yes, I know. I got the email from school.” Your dad smiled at you.
“Seohee, go freshen up. Dinner will be ready in some time!”
You nodded and went into your room. After you had a bath, you went down for dinner and talked to your parents about your day. Post dinner, you got a call from Beomgyu.
“Hey, loser.”
“Gyu, I will hang up the phone right this moment.”
“You’re coming tomorrow, right?”
“Yes, I am. Did you call me just for that?”
“No, I wanted to annoy you.”
“Goodnight, Beomgyu.”
“Ok, wait! Please...take care...?”
"Is this Choi Beomgyu telling me to take care?"
"Noo? Pfft...Anyways, goodnight, duffer."
"Goodnight bitch!"
It was 1 in the morning but you couldn’t sleep. You checked through your phone and through your timetable and books to see if any unconscious reminder of some homework not being done was keeping you awake. But all your assignments were submitted and done. You felt as if you probably had too much ginseng and forced yourself to go to sleep. You even counted till 300 but it was of no use. You got up and decided to go for a walk as it always helped you with sleeping. You wore an oversized black hoodie and black ripped jeans. Pairing it along with your white shoes, you closed the entrance door behind you and walked along the roads of the convenience store that you always buy from.
The streets were well-lit and people and cars still zoomed by, even in the dead of the night. Guess that’s an advantage of living in one of Seoul’s busiest cities. But the store that you walked to, was one of the places in the city where crime ran rampant. But you didn’t care about being robbed, murdered or abducted as your small height and clothes that made you almost invisible, helping you hide from even the most terrifying criminals.
You were careful to not attract any kind of attention when you entered the store, the familiar smell of milk and strawberries surrounding you as the little bell over the door rang. You headed to the bakery section and the back of the store and stared at it for some time, before making up your mind to buy some cake and chocolates. You walked to the store’s refrigerator and that’s when the inevitable took place. You were looking at the different types of milk and there was a sudden sound of gunshot followed by the scattered screams of the person on the counter and the few people who were midnight-shopping. You dropped everything that was in your hand and froze for a moment.
“Peter! You fucking bastard! I know you’re here!” A male voice shouted loudly.
You looked over to see that seven men with carbines were standing near the entrance, one of them signalling the cashier to empty all the money at the counter.
You ran behind the nearest lane in the back, the toy lane until one more gunshot was heard and louder screams followed. You ran again behind the next lane, trying to hide yourself the best so that you wouldn’t get into any trouble.
Is this how life is supposed to end?! No! I don’t want to leave my Mom and Dad. FUCK!
You crawled on the ground to run again behind the next lane but you bumped into a man. His eyes were wide open, his mouth agape. He looked as if all the blood from his body was drained and as if he was ready to be killed.
“Please. Please...save me!” He whisper shouted at you, his voice cracking as he was on the edge of breaking down right there. He held your shoulders and shook you, asking you desperately to save him constantly. Another gunshot was heard. “Check in those back alleys. That rat must be hiding there.”
One more gunshot.
“PETER! IT’S FUN PLAYING HIDE AND SEEK BUT IF YOU DON’T COME OUT IN FIVE SECONDS, I WILL HAVE TO KILL YOU!”
The man in front of you, who you decoded was Peter, started crying silently, fist in his mouth as he tried his best to not make any sobbing sound.
You have to protect yourself, Seohee.
You got up to run into the store room before the man grabbed your wrist and pulled you down, vigorously shaking his head. “Please, don’t go!”
“Peter, I don’t want to die!”
“Lady, me neither!”
You tried pushing him off of you but it was of no use. You didn’t want to be found dead in a convenience store just because a man didn’t ‘man up’ and clung to you. You finally kicked his inner thigh and he groaned loudly, gaining loads of attention. “Shit.” You muttered to yourself and speed-crawled near the store room door, hiding behind the sweets lane. At the exact moment, three tall men came running towards the direction where Peter was on the floor, holding his thing as he continued groaning in pain. You secured yourself within the shelves in the lane which was near the end of the shop.
Your heart started beating rapidly and adrenaline started rushing everywhere in your body as beads of sweat formed on your head and dropped on your neck and clothes. You were scared to death. If you made any move, you’d be dead. You couldn’t even go into the store room as it was exactly in front of the men who were currently holding Peter by the collar and dragging him.
"I’ve been waiting for you, you rascal.” A loud noise of bones cracking was heard. You flinched and almost yelped but you held your breath and put both your hands on your mouth. The noise of the men hitting Peter continued until some time later when the sound of the little doorbell indicated that the people had possibly exited.
All sounds died and it was so silent, you could hear a pin drop. You decided to move, scared to stay there any longer. You carefully walked towards the beginning of the sweets lane but you regretted your decision in that instant moment. The men were right in the next lane and you heard one of the boys with purple hair say, “There’s no one else in the store. Guess we’re good to go with this scoundrel.”
You crouched down immediately and swore to God to save you today.
Please, God. I will do all my Math work on my own, I will not cheat on my test papers. I swear to you, I will even eat broccoli if I have to but please save me today!
There goes the doorbell sound again. You sighed in relief. You stayed there for a moment, trying to regain stability and your breath. But just as you were about to get up, a hand covered your mouth and a cold voice near your ear said, “Where do you think you’re going, honey?”
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