Author's note: I'm adding in another warning hehe. It's nothing too graphic but there will be some violence in this chapter. 

“Janie, why were you so mean to them?”

I looked at Sarah. What do I say? Be honest.

“So they’ll leave me alone.” She looked confused “But it’s fun to have friends”

Not always..

I didn’t want to tell her that of course. She is still very young so I decided to change subjects.

“Come on Sarah, we have to buy some groceries. You can pick out some candy if you want to.” “Really??” I smiled at her and nodded.

We walked in the grocery store and I picked up the stuff I needed. Because of my budget I only had 40 cents left for Sarah’s candy. It wasn’t enough so I immediately felt bad.

“Sarah if we wait for the next time we’re going to shop you’ll have double the money.” She pouted but couldn’t argue with me. It simply wasn’t enough and Sarah wasn’t stupid. I wanted to buy something for her but I couldn’t do anything about it. The things that were in my basket were things we really needed.

I bit my lip as I thought of something I could put back. I looked at the cleaning supplies, the different cans and the different fruits and vegetables that I needed for making dinner. I sighed and looked at Sarah apologetically. She still looked disappointed as she peeked at the candy aisle.

As I rummaged through the different items, I found a box of pills. Painkillers to be exact. I’ve been taking painkillers since my back has been killing me. The mixture of stress and the poor quality of our bed had caused quite some pain. I chose to put the pills back. Sarah’s happiness is more important than me whining about my back.

I’ll survive.

“Sarah, you can pick out some candy now. Make sure the price is under 6000 won okay?” She nodded happily and skipped to the aisle with the sweets.

I walked to the cash register and paid for the products, Sarah’s candy included. She had chosen these sweets called Pepero. She had talked about this game you can play with these sticks. It reminded me a lot of the ‘Spaghetti scene’ in lady and the tramp. She wanted to play it with a boy in her class, who she had befriended today, and I couldn’t help but chuckle at her cuteness.

We walked outside and passed a few stores but I stopped when we passed a cute coffee shop. When I looked through the window, I saw a flyer hanging. “Searching for new employees” I read to myself.

I opened the door and walked to an employee. It was a guy with jet-black hair and sharp eyes, who couldn’t be older than twenty. I crossed my fingers as I started talking to him. “Good afternoon sir, I would like to apply for a job here.”

He smiled at me. Wow he’s cute, wait what am I saying?

“I will give you the application papers.” “Thank you." I smiled at him. It was a fake smile of course. It’s something I’ve perfected over the years and I’m not proud of that but I need to get a job. If I act polite and kind I’ll have a bigger chance of getting hired.

He came back with the papers. “Okay, you have to fill in your name and age over here and don’t forget to put your signature over here.” He pointed on the paper and I started filling it in. when I finished writing I gave him the papers and he checked if I filled it in correctly.

“Well nice to meet you Jane. Aren’t we in the same class?” I looked at his face and then it hit me. He’s the class president! “Oh yeah I recognize you now. You’re the class president right?”

“Yup, well my name is Jaebum, I look forward to working with you. When can you start?”

“I can start the day after tomorrow when school is finished. Just give me as many workhours as possible.”

“Okay I will see you at 4pm then. I’ll start with teaching you how everything works here since my parents own this café”

I nodded but then remembered something. “Is it possible to take my little sister to work? I don’t have a place for her to go yet.” I said signalling to Sarah who was hiding behind my legs. “Yes that’s fine! I actually have a little sister as well. She is always in the shop so they can play together.”

Yes! “Thank you so so much! You don’t know how much this means to me.” He smiled and we said our goodbyes.

We walked outside again and it was already getting late. It turned dark early because it was the winter season. I was a little freaked out but I didn’t show it. I didn’t want to scare Sarah.

We were only two blocks away from our apartment when a guy with a mask stopped in front of me. “Excuse me” I said as I tried to walk past him. But he placed his arm around my waist, enabling me from walking further.

“Janie?”

A shaky voice called my name. I looked down at Sarah and pushed the groceries in her arms. “Go home. Run.” She didn’t want to go but I gave her a stern look “Go Sarah. I’ll be there soon.” She nodded and ran away.

“What is a beauty like you doing walking outside at this time?” His breath smelled like cigarettes and… alcohol. “None of your business.” He wasn’t having that though so he pushed me in a dark alley. I struggled and screamed but no one heard me. He pushed me against the wall holding on to my wrists so hard, it hurt.

Someone save me, please.

But of course no one came. My life isn’t a fairy-tale. No cute guy is coming to safe me and make me fall in love with him. It won’t be the start of a cute love-story and we won’t live a happily ever after.

He started touching me all over. It was disgusting. I felt his hands going from my hips to my waist and slowly moving upwards.

I slapped him in the face but it looked like it didn’t do anything. He didn’t even flinch. I kneed him in the crotch and he groaned. He cursed at me before kicking me in the stomach. That’s going to bruise. He kicked me so hard that I could barely breathe. I fell on the floor clutching my stomach, taking deep breaths to try and stay calm. He kicked me in the back before running away leaving me like trash on the floor. Probably afraid someone had heard the struggle and was going to call the cops on him.

I didn’t even try to call the police. I didn’t have any information to give. He was wearing a mask and a hat. It was simply impossible to describe him and he had already ran away.

I laid still for a while, to catch my breath, before standing up. I dusted off my clothes and walked slowly to my apartment. Every movement hurt so bad.

I entered the elevator and looked in the mirror. I brushed trough my hair with my fingers and sighed. I looked bad. Well, not that I ever looked good but it was even worse now.

I walked out of the elevator and Sarah immediately hugged me. I pretended that it didn’t hurt. She had been waiting in front of our apartment door and I was incredibly happy she found our apartment and arrived without a scratch.

“Hey honey, let’s go in and eat!” “Are you okay Janie?” Now what? Lie. “Of course I’m okay. I just had a conversation with that man and came here afterwards.” I smiled at her and opened the door. I made dinner and tidied up the place.

Sarah was already sleeping when I crawled in bed next to her. I placed my arms around her tiny body and pulled her close to me. I wore a baggy shirt and sweats. I didn’t realise that my shirt crawled up and exposed my tummy.

Author's note: Chapter 7 already! Okay, I know that what happened in this capter is a little cliché. The girl gets attacked in a dark alley BUT I promise I put that scene in for a reason. I kind of needed it to happen and you'll understand what I mean by that once you read the upcoming chapters. ;) I kind of hoped this chapter would turn out differently but I hope you still liked it!