[CONTENTID1]Game[/CONTENTID1]

[CONTENTID2]Chapter Twenty Six[/CONTENTID2]

[CONTENTID3]

The 21 year old Jakyung was far more mature than the 12 year old Jakyung, but had never forgotten then fear and resentments she’d had at that age. So as she watched as Mark walked past them to a private booth at the back of the bar, she poured all of her anger and regrets into her kiss with Baekhyun. He was shocked, she could tell by his hesitance before responding to the kiss, and when she finally pulled away, he gave her a very stern look.

“I know that meant nothing, Jakyung. But if you’re going to use someone as a distraction, at least give them a bit of warning beforehand.” He left off the fact that he thought she was a great kisser and would have loved to continue what they had started at another time.

“Sorry. I didn’t want him to see me. Not yet,” she mumbled. Baekhyun didn’t know if Mark had seen them or not, but Jakyung had her back turned to the table where Mark sat, and instead used the mirrors on the clubs walls to watch him. They resumed dancing.

“If you knew he was going to be here, why are you here?” He asked her. He didn’t understand. Jakyung had been deeply disturbed after the events at the pier; a person would have to be blind to not notice the changes. “You’re not going to try and kill him right now, are you?”

“No, not this time.” She gave him a small grin, but it was distracted as she watched a woman walk up to the table. “I’m watching how he works.”

Mark Tuan was a habitual person, she knew. She had known this for a long time, though after he had disappeared for a few years, she didn’t think that she would have to use that information again. As she danced with Baekhyun and watched her target through the mirrors, she let the memories of her tortured teenage years wash over her.

The first time she met Mark, she thought he was handsome. At first, she had a small crush on him. She was a young girl who was captivated by the lazy smile he wore. She was 10 and he was 13, so she didn’t know much about anything back then. She hated the fact that he worked for her father, and was jealous that Taekyung got to spend so much time with him. The only time she saw Mark was when he accompanied her brother or one of the older bodyguards to come check up on her and Nana. She had an image of Mark in her head as a reluctant tagalong, but she soon found out that it wasn’t the case at all.

The first time she witnessed Mark’s true self was when she was walking home from school through the woods she used as a shortcut to Nana’s house. It wasn’t dark, there was a clear path and she wasn’t afraid at all. But it still scared her when Mark appeared in front of her on the path, as if from thin air. She screamed, and he smiled.

“You scared me Mark,” she told him, walking past him. “Don’t do that again, or I’ll tell my brother.” It was supposed to be taken as a joke; she was startled, but got over it quickly.

“You have a pretty voice,” Mark said as he trailed behind her. Jakyung blushed. While she had already gotten over her crush on him, she was 12 and starting to notice boys and her own body, making the compliment a little more meaningful to her than he probably meant it.

“Thanks,” she mumbled. “Are you here to check up on me again?” She sounded bitter, but it wasn’t towards Mark. It was no secret Jakyung hated her father’s antics.

“I am,” Mark told her, and then paused. He smiled and empty smile she would have shuddered at if she had been looking. “Let’s play a game, Jakyung.”

“I don’t really have time to play, Mark. And aren’t you a little old to be playing games, don’t you have homework or something to do?”

“Games are fun, especially when there’s a prize involved,” Mark replied. It was enough to peak Jakyung’s interest; she’d always loved a good challenge. “I’ll be the hunter, and you be the prey. If you manage to make it out of the woods without me catching you, I’ll tell your father to send you a new backpack in your favorite color.” While Jakyung didn’t want any gifts from her father, she was in need of a new backpack. The one she had now had been with her for three years and was starting to show signs of heavy wear; she was just too sentimental to give it up.

“And if I get caught?”

“More fun for me,” Mark grinned. Jakyung glanced at her watch. It was already 5 and she had to get home and study, but if winning this game got her a new backpack, and she managed to run fast enough to cut her time through the second half of the forest then she wasn’t going to complain. She tightened the straps of the bag around her shoulders and nodded her head.

“Fine, lets play,” she told him. Mark gave her a 30 second head start and she darted off down the path. She had been taking martial arts lessons and so her speed and stamina had gotten better, but she soon realized that she was no match for Mark. It took him five minutes to catch her, but when he did, he had a look on his face that made Jakyung uneasy.

“I caught you,” Mark practically purred as he held her arm in his grasp. “Shouldn’t you have screamed?” The question was odd, Jakyung thought, but she shook her head.

“I wasn’t completely caught off guard this time,” she told him, trying to wiggle out of his grasp. His hold tightened and he frowned.

“But I told you your voice is pretty,” Mark said. Jakyung stared at him, and for the first time since meeting him, she was very unsettled. “You have to scream when I catch you. That’s part of the game.”

“But I don’t want to scream,” Jakyung said evenly, even though at that moment she really did. Mark’s frown deepened and he shoved her against a nearby tree. She winced but didn’t make a sound.

“Scream or else I’ll make you scream.” Jakyung trembled out of fear but held shut. His fingers dug into her arms and she finally let out a little whimper. The sound seemed to break Mark out of whatever trance he had been caught in and he suddenly let her go.

She didn’t glance back once as she shoved him out of the way ran home like the devil was on her heels. She avoided the woods for a month after that, making sure to stick to the main roads, even if it took her a little longer to get home.

She hadn’t told anyone about what had happened. It seemed like she could put it past her now that her father had been sending the older bodyguards again, she relaxed and began to take the old shortcut home. The only time she saw Mark was when Taekyung visited and he came along. He never said anything to her, and she never so much as looked at him.

The next time they were alone together was when she decided that she hated him.

It was before school this time and she had left early to be able to get to class and spend a little time reading a book she had gotten from the library. She had just stepped on the path through the woods when she heard the footsteps behind her. She thought it might have been a jogger, they weren’t uncommon and she had gotten used to seeing one or two on the path when she walked to school.

She wasn’t expecting to feel a hand on her shoulder and for Mark to spin her around.

“Jakyung. You look surprised to see me,” he said. She shoved him away and continued her walk, not saying a single word to him. Inside her pocket, she held her key ring splayed through her fingers, ready to scratch at his face if she needed to.

He began to whistle. It chilled her blood. Then he started singing. She hated that she liked his voice.

“Hey there little red riding hood, you sure are looking good. You’re everything a big bad wolf could want.”

Jakyung’s step faltered for a moment but she kept walking. His voice was low and a little raspy, but the tune haunted her. She thought calming thoughts about how she would only have a few hundred meters to go