Chapter Text
A young man stood in front a supermarket at the eastside of Seoul, staring thoughtful through the glass windows at the brightly lit interior. Not that he couldn’t see otherwise – it was still bright outside as well, as it was just short after noon. The man himself didn’t look that old, maybe just older than a high school student. With a quick glance around, he put a facemask on and his hands into the pockets of his hoodie before he entered the store.
He noticed quickly that he wasn’t the only one in the store. Besides him, there was an elderly gentleman at the register, vividly gesturing towards the poor worker behind the counter, a mother with her toddler in the grocery section, and another boy similar to his age, presumably a high school student, if his school jacket was anything to go by.
After another look around for what he was here to get, the man made his way into the snack section, not far away from the young schoolboy. But as he grabbed a packet of chips, he simply forgot to take another look behind him before he secretly slipped the packet into the pocket of his hoodie.
He continued his stroll through the store, grabbing a few cans of soda and other snacks, until his pocket couldn’t fit more before looking suspicious. When he was done, he let out a disappointed sigh, as if he didn’t find anything of interest, then made his way to the exit. The cashier was still trying to calm down the elderly man, who got pretty agitated by now, and our thieving hero couldn’t help but feel a little sorry for the poor boy. This empathy quickly changed to relief though, as the cashier was distracted enough that he was able to exit the store easily without being perceived.
Or so he thought.
Just as he was about to turn a corner, pretty satisfied with the successful outcome of today’s mission, he felt something poke against his shoulder.
“Hey, are you really gonna go without paying?”
Shit, he thought, turning around just to see the little high school boy from the store once again. On second thought, he didn’t seem that little up close. He couldn’t have been that much younger than the young man himself. He would have thought about it for longer, didn’t he have other problems than that boys age right now.
With a raise of his brow, he shifted his bodyweight to one of his legs, making him seem more relaxed than he probably should be after getting caught in the act. Though his voice radiated the same unworried attitude when he finally spoke.
“Depends. Who’s gonna stop me?”
“I-… Go back and pay for the stuff.”
Ballsy. The boy didn’t even seem that much taken aback by his answer as he expected. The man however just looked at him, before turning around with a simple “No” and continuing his walk.
“H-hey!” He continued down the street, not looking back and being satisfied, assuming the boy had finally given up (or instead went back to the store to report him), when shortly after he heard footsteps quickly catch up behind him.
“I said go back and pay!”
“Why don’t you go back and pay yourself, if it’s so important to you?” Now the boy was starting to get on his nerves. He only had so many minutes before the cashier would notice the missing items from the store, and from there on it was only a minute of time until the cops would look for him. This boy was putting his nose into businesses that didn’t concern him. Would he have run back to the store, he would have at least had enough time to walk the corner to their hideout and be done with this drama.
“Well, I didn’t steal it, did I? So, you should pay.”
The man stopped in his tracks, deeply breathing in and out, before he turned back around to the boy. He wasn’t a violent person if he didn’t have to be, but if this continued, he had to do something he really didn’t want to do. His piercing eyes focusing on the slightly smaller stature in front of him as he spoke, in a deeper and definitely more threatening voice than before.
“Listen, kid. You’d really wanna turn around now, otherwise I’m gonna lose my patience. And you really don’t want me to lose my patience.”
The boy just stared him back in the eyes. He must have sensed how he tensed on the spot. He had seen it himself, even though the other wore that mask, he wasn’t much older than him! He was just a run-off-the-mill thief, probably too lazy to spare his pocket change on… Whatever he brought from the store, but it for sure weren’t necessities! He was pretty sure the man was bluffing anyway, just to get him to leave him alone.
“I’m not scared of you.”
“Let me phrase it differently for you, then.” From the back pocket of his trousers the man suddenly pulled out a pocketknife, and the boy felt his heart drop to his stomach. That guy wasn’t just an ordinary thief, not with the way he run his finger over the back side of the knife, slowly stepping closer to him.
“You’re going to turn around, go home and never tell anyone about anything that you saw today, or the only way you’re gonna leave from here is with an ambulance.”
He watched how the boy started trembling. It was quite small, if he wasn’t that advanced at reading his opponent’s body language he probably wouldn’t have noticed. But it definitely told him what he needed to know: The boy was scared.
But he wouldn’t have needed to read his body to know that – his nervous stuttering already gave him away. Not having the patience to wait for a coherent reply, he continued.
“I’ll give you five seconds. 4…”
He watched, how the boys’ eyelids shut tight, his body trembling more noticeably now. It seemed his body was frozen in place, even if he wanted it, his legs just wouldn’t budge. It irritated the man, he really didn’t want to dirty his hands on a schoolboy right now, but now he already started counting. He wouldn’t back down now.
“3…”
Still no reaction from the boy.
“2…”
Just as he was about to announce the last number, the sound of sirens coming from the main street made him curse under his breath. Just as he suspected, the cashier must have noticed the theft and called the police. He turned around, ready to run, when he felt a careful grip on his wrist.
“Wait, don’t…!”
He tore himself from the grip, turning around one more time to look at the boy. Was he really that stupid? Did he want to die? He might still have a minute until the cops arrived, maybe less. Even though he didn’t want to risk it, he knew that if he ran now, the boy would definitely snitch on him. He had to at least try and prevent this. What a better way to do that than threatening?
“If you tell anyone about this, I’m gonna personally find and kill you.”
“I want to see that.”
He was bluffing. That boy was scared to his bones. However, he also had a determined glint in his eyes, one that made the man slowly grin under his mask.
“Then tell them.”
“If you don’t confess yourself, I will.”
“How? You don’t know my face or my name. Would be funny to see you try. But then, we’d have to kill you~” He couldn’t stop his grin anymore. Even though he called his bluff, that boy still got some guts, trying to tell him what to do.
“I know your voice, that’s enough.” Meanwhile the boy felt his courage returning every second. He didn’t know what had gotten into him, but that strange man obviously didn’t have the guts to kill him anyways, so why not stall his time until the cops arrived?
“If that’s what you think.” Slowly he become annoyed again. The sirens had already gotten louder, he knew that if he didn’t run now, he’d be in trouble. He had to cut this conversation short. “Just try it but remember that if I will not personally hunt you, my people will, and they definitely won’t hold back.”
“In that case I should give you my name, too, then. Make it easier for you.” He was taunting him now. Sadly, it didn’t have the effect he desired.
“I’m sure I already know it: Nuisance.” He flicked the boys’ forehead before continuing, “Now turn around, before my boss kills both of us for not getting him his snacks on time.”
And with that he turned around again. This time he started running before the boy could get a hold of him again. Satisfied, he turned a corner, running down a few more streets before finally slowing down. Meanwhile he scolded himself in his mind. How could he have gotten carried away like this!? That was too much of a close call. One more second, and the cops could have gotten him, blown his whole cover, and gotten his group into trouble. He would be a dead man either way by then.
One more time he looked over his shoulder, relieved when he saw (and heard) no traces of the boy or the police, before slipping into an alley where he quietly knocked on a small door. “It’s me”, he announced, which made the door open just wide enough for a human to enter. He quickly slipped inside, not bothering to look around one last time.
He didn’t even notice the small footsteps that were now carefully approaching the alleyway.