Chapter Text
Sooyoung hated Christmas shopping. She had always been bad at gifts. Luckily, her nieces and nephews had one, very prominent interest - Pokémon. So it was only logical that she found herself in her local shopping centre looking up at the bright, backlit sign of one of the shops that read, 'PokeCentre'. It sounded good enough to her.
Sooyoung entered the store and was immediately bewildered by the sheer array of Pokémon wares available. There were plushies, bags, keyrings, trading cards, cutlery...and so much more. It was dizzying. What was she supposed to pick? It was nearly Christmas too, so the store was bustling. Most of the attendants appeared to be busy.
Then Sooyoung spied a staff member re-folding T-shirts and hanging them back up on the racks. Her brown hair was tied back in a high ponytail. Sooyoung liked that style - it gave her a good view of the woman's pretty face.
Sooyoung blinked. Wait what? Well, the woman was pretty. Anyway. Focus.
She approached the woman and cleared her throat. "Excuse me?" Sooyoung glanced at her badge. "Seulgi?"
The woman's focused frown brightened into a grin that turned her eyes into crescents. "Hello! Yes, that's me. How can I help?"
Sooyoung's heart fluttered. This woman- Seulgi- had no right being this adorable! “I- uh- My name is Sooyoung,“ Sooyoung stuttered, “I need to buy gifts for my nieces and nephews.” She chuckled nervously, then cursed herself internally. Why did she laugh? That wasn't funny!
But Seulgi laughed with her, then said, "I assume they're all Pokémon fans?"
"Yeah, it's all they talk about. Hell, it's all they think about. I'm just not sure what to get. There's so much here!" Sooyoung said.
"That's okay!" Seulgi said. "It's sweet of you to do this for them. How old are they?"
Sweet? Did Seulgi just call her sweet? "Seven to ten years old," Sooyoung replied. "Little gremlins, the lot of them, but I love them anyway."
Seulgi nodded, tapping her chin with a finger for a few moments. "I think the trading cards will be the best present. That way they can play together."
"Sounds good to me," Sooyoung said. She eyed the vast array of decks and booster packs behind the counter. "But, uh...which ones should I get?"
Seulgi turned and made her way behind the counter. Sooyoung followed her, and watched as she ducked under the counter, rummaged for a few moments, then popped back up with a package in her hands.
"What's that?" Sooyoung asked.
"It's a box with a bunch of starter decks, ready-made to go. It's a lot of fun, especially when there's a lot of people you have to buy for!" Seulgi said.
Damn, this Seulgi was good. Sooyoung shrugged. "I'll take it."
"Great!" Seulgi scanned the barcode and bagged the box. After Sooyoung had paid, she handed the bag to her. "Have a great Christmas!" she said.
Sooyoung smiled back. "You too. Try not to suffocate in these crowds."
Seulgi laughed. "I'll try not to."
With that, Sooyoung waved and walked out of the store, bag in hand. It was only after she was sure that Seulgi couldn't see her that she let herself grin. She had to see Seulgi again.
************
Seulgi groaned as she shouldered her bag. What a garbage day. Unrelenting crowds. Entitled parents. Rude managers. As she knelt and locked up the front door of the shop, she reflected on that one clueless customer buying a present for her family.
What was her name? Sooyoung? That was probably it. She had been a breath of fresh air amidst the rude customers. Polite. Shy, even. It would have been nice to talk to her more.
Still, that was a luxury that probably would never happen. Sooyoung didn’t look like she had much of a personal interest in Pokémon. Seulgi would probably never see her again.
She sighed as she set off for the bus stop. Outside was grey and raining, and Seulgi was caught without an umbrella. The forecast hadn’t predicted this. It had been sunny that morning too. But it didn’t bother Seulgi. She just let the rain soak her through to the bones until she finally arrived at the stop and sat down, barely containing her shivers.
As she waited, Seulgi did some mental arithmetic with her finances. Her fortnightly paycheck should come in tomorrow. Rent was due after that. Well, the revised due date - she was technically a week late. She had an extra side gig planned for tonight too. With that, she could make it over the line.
The bus arriving interrupted Seulgi’s thoughts. She got on board and plopped herself down on a window seat. Resting her head against the window, she gazed with vacant eyes out at the rain-swept streets passing by.
In what seemed like the blink of an eye, her stop had arrived. Seulgi got off the bus and briefly scrunched her face as she stepped back out into the rain. When she reached the convenience store on the way home, she gratefully ducked inside.
Seulgi took her phone out from her pocket. It was damp, but still perfectly functional. Good. She opened the bank app and checked her balance. 2,000 won. Okay. That would be enough for tonight. She grabbed a couple of instant ramen packs and paid for them at the counter. After stuffing them in her bag, she set off again into the pouring rain.
Although she shivered, Seulgi was thankful for the rain. In a neighbourhood like this, one always had to watch their back. People would be less likely to want to come out and cause trouble in this weather. It also made her harder to see and covered her footsteps.
One dilapidated house after another, Seulgi finally reached her family's house. Glancing furtively over her shoulders, she opened the front door and stepped inside.
She let out a sigh as she bent down and slipped her shoes off.
“Eomma, I’m home!” Seulgi called out.
A muffled grunt answered her, followed by uneven thumps along the wooden floorboards. An withered, greying woman appeared at the top of the stairs.
Seulgi smiled, but held out her hands. “Wait, Eomma, don’t come down! I’ll come to you!”
Ignoring the water she was dripping everywhere, she raced up the stairs. “Eomma, it’s not safe to be near the stairs, remember? For the love of me I don’t know how you even got up here!”
Her Eomma simply gazed at her with vacant eyes and grunted again. No recognition. No affection. Nothing. Seulgi’s heart broke all over again in that little moment.
So she sighed again for the millionth time today, helped her mother down the stairs, and decided to get on with heating up the instant ramen.
****************
Sooyoung entered her apartment with bags of takeaway and one box of Pokémon cards hanging off her arms. She paused for a moment to drink in the view. The windows that adorned the hall that lead to the rest of her apartment were her favourite part. Seeing the city from a above like this was always calming after a stressful day.
But her serenity was soon broken by a loud, obnoxious call from the living area. “Sooyoung, did you bring the food yet?!”
Sooyoung rolled her eyes and walked to the living area. As expected, Yerim lay sprawled on the couch in her PJs with the TV on. Behind her, the kitchen was a mess of pots and pans and burnt food strewn across the marble benchtops.
“Still can’t get it right, can you?” said Sooyoung.
Yerim sat up, crossed her arms, and pouted. “I can! It’s just…something wrong with your pots is all?”
Sooyoung smiled. “I’m sure. But in the meantime…” She placed the bags on the coffee table and removed the small containers of food.
Yerim’s eyes widened and she clapped her hands. “Ooh, yay! What did you get?” Without waiting for an answer, she grabbed a container and opened it. “Japanese confirmed. Good choice, unnie.”
Sooyoung plopped herself down beside the younger girl and opened her own container, savouring the scent of Japanese curry wafting over her nose. As if on cue, her stomach grumbled.
Yerim laughed. "Your stomach agrees."
Sooyoung groaned. "You have no idea. Now where are the chopsticks?"
Sooyoung and Yerim ate in silence for several minutes. Sooyoung wolfed down mouthful after mouthful, barely chewing. She hadn't noticed it before but she was ravenous.
Yerim's voice interrupted her thoughts. "So how was shopping today?"
An involuntary smile tugged Sooyoung's lips. "It was okay."
Yerim grinned mischievously. "What's that smile for? Was the shopping that good? Huh?"
Sooyoung shrugged and ate another mouthful of her food. Then she said, "Yeah, I mean...it was okay. The store attendant was super nice."
"Ahhh..." Yerim gave her a knowing look. "Now I see. The store attendant was super cute, weren't they?"
Sooyoung brushed her hair behind her hair. "She was alright. She helped me pick out the gift for my nieces and nephews, which was great because I know nothing about Pokémon."
"Sounds romantic," Yerim said.
Sooyoung scoffed. "As if."
"What's her name?" said Yerim.
"Seulgi. And yeah, you're right. She is super cute. And nice. And I'm dumb and forgot to get her number."
"Well, it's lucky that you have the perfect excuse to go see her."
"What do you mean?"
"Because you're such a good aunt who wants to take in interest in her family's hobbies, you're deciding to learn more about what they love!" Yerim exclaimed, holding her arms up.
Sooyoung raised an eyebrow. "Wow, that's actually a good idea."
"I'm full of good ideas, actually," Yerim shot back.
Sooyoung glanced over her shoulder at the kitchen. "Like trying to cook dinner?"
Yerim gently shoved Sooyoung. "Shut up."
Sooyoung smiled and continued eating, her thoughts filled with a certain, cute store attendant.
****************
Seulgi woke with a start. Her phone's alarm blared through her bedroom. In the room next door she could hear her mother grunting and thumping her fist on the wall. With a groan, she reached over to her bedside table, grabbed her phone, and silenced the alarm. Eleven PM. Time for the side job.
She rolled out of bed and got dressed in jet black everything - skinny jeans, shirt, leather jacket, boots, and even a mask that covered her nose and mouth. She was ready.
Tonight was a simple delivery run. Duck into a rival gang territory, pick up the drugs, and get it back to home turf. No problem. As a runner, Seulgi had done this enough times for it to be almost routine. It never was though.
Seulgi pulled her hood up and dashed out of the house. She was quick and quiet as she ducked from shadow to shadow. Not many people walked the streets at this hour. There were still a few though, and you never knew who was one of your guys and who worked for the other side.
After half an hour of free running through the slums, Seulgi reached the pick-up point, deep in the heart of the Jackals' territory. She crouched on the corner of an overhang opposite the designated alley.
Mostly obscured by the shadows was a man with a hefty-looking backpack. Seulgi squinted looking for- ah! There it was - on his bare forearm the tattoo of the Jade Vipers. That's the man.
Seulgi ran to the side of the overhang and dropped off, rolling smoothly when she hit the ground and springing back to her feet. With furtive glances over the shoulders, she dashed over to the alley.
As she neared the man snarled. "Hey, Teddy-Bear. Nice of you to show up."
Seulgi kicked the man in the shin. He grunted, then stumbled, clutching his shin.
"Shut up, Minho. Just give me the bag," Seulgi growled.
"Whatever." Minho tossed the bag at Seulgi with more force than necessary.
Seulgi grunted as she caught it, then slung it onto her back. "Don't get caught," she said.
Minho glared as he tugged his sleeve over his tattooed forearm. "Speak for yourself."
Seulgi shook her head as she turned and began to ran, huffing and puffing with the new weight. Why was Minho always so difficult? She wasn't some cute teddy bear. She could handle herself just fine.
With her muscles burning, she climbed her way back to the rooftops. Sweat beaded her head by the time she reached them. She stopped only for a moment to catch her breath before running on. The sooner she got back to home turf, the safer she'd be.
Then she heard Minho yell. Then she heard a gunshot.
And Seulgi's blood ran cold.
Not a moment later she heard the scuffles of several men climbing up the building after her. She didn't need another warning.
Seulgi ran for her life.
Her legs burned, her feet pushing hard against the concrete as she propelled herself over the rooftops.
The men hounded her tail. And the worst thing was that they were deadly quiet. No taunts, no catcalling. They were here for blood.
Seulgi risked a look behind her and regretted it instantly. They were closer than she had expected. Two of them were already on the same rooftop as her. A glint of metal caught her eye. Her heart leapt to her throat.
She pushed herself harder. Her lungs couldn't get enough air.
Another gunshot cracked through the air. Pain lanced through her flank. She stumbled, and fell hard on her face. The metallic taste of blood dusted her tongue.
As she turned over, the two men caught up to her. One of them had his gun levelled right at her head.
"Wait!" she yelled. "Wait! I'll give it to you, just let me take it off."
After a beat of silence, the man with the gun simply nodded.
"Okay." Seulgi sighed. A few more moments to live. She had no delusions that he would spare her after he had the drugs.
Still, with her eyes locked on the man with the gun, she slowly took her arms out of the backpack's loops, then held the backpack up on shaking arms. "Here," she said.
The second man slowly approached. Then, as soon as his hands clasped the bag, Seulgi yanked it - and him - in between her and the gun.
At the sudden move, the first man's finger twitched. The gun belched its bullet into the second man's back. He cried out.
Seulgi rolled herself off the side of the building.
But the second man maintained a vice grip on the backpack. With teeth clenched and a vein bulging in his forehead, he glared daggers at Seulgi as she dangled on the end of the backpack.
The first man's footsteps approached the building's edge. With a flash, Seulgi realised she wouldn't make it out with the drugs. The man would should her dead first. So she did the only thing she could.
She let go.
Blank shock painted the second man's face as she fell. Satisfaction glimmered in her stomach. Her butt hit a balcony rail. On reflex, her hands shot out and clasped onto it for a half-second, slowing her descent, before she fell a further storey and landed with a whump into a garbage pile.
Seulgi winced. A low, involuntary whine escaped her throat as her whole body reverberated with pain. Her right flank and now her left wrist too were stabbing her. Tears seeped from her eyes.
A little voice at the back of her mind at the edge of the pain urged her to cover her mouth, to keep quiet. So she did.
Several tense moments passed as the faint voices of the men on the rooftop above talked. Seulgi couldn't quite make out what they were saying but she could guess that it was about her. Whether they should check if she was dead or not.
But in the end, they left, their hyena laughs audible from under the garbage that concealed her.
When the air was finally silent and still again, Seulgi finally allowed herself to cry.