Chapter Text
Yoo Mia had two problems: nighttime and her oppa.
She was supposed to leave Shin Yoosung’s house after dinner but the girls started scrolling through the new Star Stream app and were inspired to make videos of their own. Yoo Mia’s favourite video was the one where Shin Yoosung used an ugly squid filter and Yoo Mia pretended to beat her up while sporting the sunfish filter.
If Yoo Mia had left when she was supposed to, she wouldn’t be half-running through Seoul trying to get home before the sun went down. The emergency phone her oppa lent her kept buzzing in Yoo Mia’s pocket but she ignored it.
The last text exchange she had with her oppa went like this:
[Oppa:] Yoo Mia.
[Oppa:] Have you left Shin Yoosung’s yet? It’s getting late.
[Yoo Mia:] Yes, stupid oppa. I left a while ago I’m almost home.
She was, in fact, making her fifth Star Stream video at that time. But she was planning on leaving right after! It wasn’t her fault that the girls discovered the live stream feature and stayed another hour.
Her breath frosted in the air as she watched the sun dip below the nearest building. Silently, she swore to herself, using a word she heard her oppa use on the rare occasion he lost one of his video games.
The phone in her pocket kept buzzing in suspicion since she hadn’t told her oppa she was home yet. She started to panic, thinking of the disappointed and worried look that would surely be on her oppa’s face when he should be working. Yoo Mia could lie and say she was home—but the molten feeling that settled in her gut stopped her from doing so.
Not wanting to disappoint her oppa, she decided to take a shortcut. Yoo Mia usually went around this district but she knew her oppa’s job as a police officer had been stressful recently and she didn’t want to make him worry. As her quick steps took her past ramshackle buildings and littered streets, the neon street signs buzzed with an incandescent glow and lit up her features. She tried to burrow her face in her coat to avoid the gaze of the people around her and quickened her steps.
She saw a strong older woman haul a man out of a building as he screamed indecencies and stumbled down the steps. A couple of people huddled against a crumbling brick building, empty bottles clanging as they rolled on the ground. A knot formed in her chest as nighttime finally settled, casting everything around her in deep shadows.
Yoo Mia kept her eyes on the ground even as she left the district, the darkness looming threateningly in the corners of her vision. When Yoo Mia realized she was only a couple blocks from home, her breath came easier and she stopped, raising her head to the night sky. In this district the light pollution was weak, allowing the stars to glitter. A couple of constellations could be seen, too.
It’s beautiful.
“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” The voice was rough, like gravel tumbling down a metal sifter, making Yoo Mia jump. She hadn’t noticed the man until he was right next to her.
Her eyes widened as she looked at the man. He was shorter—and older—than her oppa, but had a similar muscular build. Shaggy brown hair hung over his forehead, only partially obscuring his eyes.
“It’s Yoo Mia, right?” The smile didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Your oppa sent me to find you. I’m from the precinct.”
Yoo Mia was still tense but her shoulders relaxed a little bit. “Why didn’t he come instead?”
The man flashed his teeth and simply said: “He’s awfully busy lately. Why don’t I walk you home?”
Yoo Mia stared at the outstretched hand. If her oppa sent him, then he would get mad if she refused. Besides, this man was a police officer and they were only a couple blocks away. She accepted the outstretched hand.
“Good,” the man practically purred, pulling her gently toward the alley.
She followed dutifully and asked, “What’s your name?”
The man only hummed and kept staring forward. Yoo Mia contemplated but figured he wasn’t one for talking, especially if he was friends with her oppa. She looked down at their linked hands and noticed the edge of a tattoo peeking through his sleeve. It looked like a snake.
In retrospect, maybe Yoo Mia should’ve checked her phone.