I don't use any Korean words seeing as I don't know how to use them and, more importantly, I'm not Korean. I don't really like using Korean/Any Other Language in an English story anyway unless there is an explicit reason for it. That is all.

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And there it was. In big, bold text with the words glinting up at you like it was the proverbial dagger to your MacBeth, with pictures gawking at you and ripping at your heart while your brain struggled to form coherent thoughts through the haze of turmoil. You could feel the pain, you could comprehend that something monumental was going on, but it was like your brain was literally unable to fully understand what was going on. Your hands clenched around the news paper that was held tenuously in your fingers and slowly, like every word had to be analyzed in order to make sense, your began to understand the horrific twisting in your chest.

"Confirmed! SHINee's Jonghyun and Namoo Actor's Shin Sekyung are dating!"

There it was again, the twisting and the agony and the pain. As if your phone had a direct link to the organ in your chest that was currently ripping in two, it rang. You stood completely still for a moment as people were huddled around you in front of the giant pile of papers and exclaiming over the headlines; talking to each other, screaming at each other, crying to each other. The wind swept passed, you were frozen, your heart beat slower, your phone rang still.

The gentle shove you received tore you from your revere and you whipped your head to the side to meet the eyes of some teenaged girl. "I don't mean to be rude, but you're blocking the news papers." You nodded to the girl a few times but the action was involuntary, you weren't even completely sure of what she had even just said to you. "... Ma'am? Did you hear me?"

"Yeah... move... sure." You sidestepped the crowd and the girl immediately filled the space you had once occupied with many others trying to worm their way forward along with her. You were staring at the throngs of girls glaring down the news ledger in their hands with vapid eyes, some were furious while others were decidedly impressed--the former heavily outweighed the latter--and you only briefly contemplated asking someone to explain what you'd just  read. But you still couldn't move, your arms hung uselessly at your sides and you can feel the tightness in your face as you gaped forward with wide eyes and a tensed jaw.

Your phone rings and, finally, you comprehend this enough to actually look down at your pocket and blink. You slowly pushed your free hand into the hallow that held your cell phone before you brought the device up to your ear.

"... H-Hello?"

"[Your Name]! I've called you 10 times! Why haven't you answered?"

"... I don't.. I..." Words failed you, the voice on the other end stilled almost instantaneously.

"... [Your Name]?"

"I... I..." You choked down a sob before you closed your mouth and watched the world blur behind a veil of tears. You couldn't tell if you were having an emotional break down or if you were going to rip in half, they felt the same in that moment.

"Where are you?" The voice was very matter of fact, very stern and serious, you briefly tried to match the voice with a name but every available synapse in your brain was donated to keeping you upright.

"...The market down the street." Is that right? That's the last place you remember being, the place you'd picked up the news paper, but is that where you are now? All you see is a mass of bodies, the overwhelming echo of noise, the anxiety, the pain, oh God the pain.

"Don't move, I'll be right there." The call dropped and you vaguely remember dropping your hand back down to your side as every feature on your face hardened and you stared forward painfully.

You think people stared but you couldn't be sure, a lot of people were throwing themselves around and screaming and crying. People entered your line of vision with tear streaked faces or tensed features or irritated grimaces or wary eyes or even the occasional worried glances; it was like watching everything through a screen, like you weren't really there, like it was a movie playing out in front of you and you couldn't change the channel.

'Someone do something! Someone shove someone or someone start a riot! This is the most boring show I've ever seen!' You could feel your brain detaching promptly as the world became lifeless and animated, rapidly becoming more interesting. 'Isn't something going to happen? People are just walking by? How boring! Where is the shadowy guy! The one who comes and starts the plot and, I don't know, punches someone or something?! How do I change the channel on this stupid thing?!'

As that thought hits you, you whip your body around before one short and sharp breath races past your lips.

And you run.

The sound of your shoes slapping the pavement pounds in your ears like drums and your chest heaves like it is struggling against the very air you're breathing. You weave in between people as your legs push harder and harder to help you gain speed, you push passed those not getting out of your way fast enough and push yourself as hard as you could so that you wouldn't have to stop. One you reached a barren stretch of cement, you bolted forward with all of the strength your weakening muscles could give. If you stopped, the pain would catch up; if you stopped, you'd have to face the truth; if you stopped, you'd have to face the agonizing heartache and you don't want to. As long as you're running, as long as your legs are moving, as long as nothing stops you, you're fine. You can run, you can run. Run. Run.

Arms suddenly surround you painfully and slam you back into the wall of a chest. You scream so loud that your voice cracks, you pull against the arms as they hold you tighter and tighter.

"LET ME GO!"

"[YOUR NAME]! CALM DOWN!" The side of your body is pulled against the cool sting of a brick wall as you continue to wrestle the arms encasing you.

"NO. NO." And then it hit. The pain caught up, the screams dull down into sobs and your heart slam pathetically against the ground before you collapse into the arms around you. The chest behind you untensed as tears stormed down your face violently and sobbed ripped out of your throat with painful tears and croaks. Suddenly, the body is in front of you and holding you so tightly to their chest that it almost seemed like they were trying to keep you together, to keep your heart together. You balled your fists up in the fabric of the shirt you were sobbing in to, you yanked and pulled roughly as you screamed and the arms continued to hold you in their vice like grip. The shaking subsided, the screams died down, the tears slowed, the arms holding you loosened--

But the pain wouldn't leave.

You moved back from the body only to grip the arms with your hands for support, your face entirely downcast as your hair blocked everything but your own legs from view. Your breathing was slowly stabilizing as the shaking came back, you choked out another sob when the warmth of a hand cupped itself fully against  the side of your face.

"[Your Name], [Your Name]? Look at me, please look at me."

"Mi--... Minho..."

"I know, I know. I'm here." His arms slid under your own to bring your body flush against his, one of his hands delving his fingers into your hair and placing your face in the crook of his neck. "I'm right here."