Tiffany taps her fingers against the wooden surface while her other hand supported her head as she shifted her weight towards the counter. She hums a song and looked outside through the transparent glass door. The scenery looked more like a picture, with absolutely nothing moving. The street was quiet in the day, with a few regular people walking up and down that alley but since it was near midnight, Tiffany expected the residents to be sleeping on their beds instead of wandering on the streets. She could also be sleeping right now, if it wasn't her kind nature to take pity on the manager. He had asked her to take over the night shift for a week since her colleague had gone for a holiday. He initially wanted to hire a part time cashier, after considering the fact that it wasn't safe for a pretty girl like Tiffany to be alone late in the night tending the store. But this plan had to be aborted after looking through the finances and realising that the store hasn't been doing quite as well since the opening of a huge hyper mart nearby. Of course, the manager initially vehemently disagreed with Tiffany's suggestion to help out. But after a long thought, he finally gave in, not without giving Tiffany extra pay for the week and also a leave from her regular hours. And therefore, there sat a tired Tiffany looking dully at the dark sky, waiting for a least one person to enter the store.

 

She decided it was better to do something then to sit there idle. So she got off the seat and moved to the storage room to get a mop. Some cleaning now would be a good idea, she thinks. She continues to hum and mops the floor when the bell chimes, indicating that someone had entered. She looks up in surprise and watched a girl with a dyed blonde hair, funky tank top, ripped jeans with chains hanging on them walking in. A thug, and Tiffany's sixth sense gave an alarm. As a stout Christian, she knew that it wasn't right to judge a book by its cover, but as a common folk, she knew when to be on an alert when she sees a dangerous person. Tiffany grips her mop tightly as she quietly walked over to the counter while keeping an eye on the girl.

 

-

 

Jessica wandered down the lane with her hands in her pocket.

 

"I'm absolutely bored to death," She muttered as she kicked an empty can. She continued strolling down and happened to see a lighted up store ahead.

 

"Maybe I should get some beer,"

 

She made her way down into the shop and peeked through the glass door. There wasn't a cashier at the counter but she could hear a soft humming from inside. She squinted her eyes and focused, finally noticing a small red head bobbing up and down from beside the shelves. She then pushed the door and entered the store.

 

Jessica headed towards the beer section and eyed the entire collection of beers present. There were so many kinds and she didn't know what to choose. She then stood there, different brands of beer in each hand, continuously changing as she kept placing them back onto the shelf and then getting another one. It wasn't long before she heard the bell chime and the footsteps that followed after. The group of boys were rowdy and were currently shoving each other playfully. They hadn't noticed her and had stopped behind her to grab a couple bags of potato chips, then reaching across her to get two bottles of beer. Thank goodness though, she didn't feel like and outcast tonight. If these boys had realised that Jessica Jung was in the store, they would have ran away for their lives, worried that they might get beaten to death, like how the other boys did in the rumours circulating around. Sometimes Jessica wished she hadn't become a gangster, for she felt so lonely with no friends who could joke around her freely.

 

"Eh eh eh, what is pretty looking girl doing here? You should be on my bed doing me, if you know what I mean," Jessica snapped out of the reverie and tiptoed, only to see one of the thugs giving a lecherous wink to the cashier. She may be like one of those guys, but she knew better than to disturb an innocent person, especially someone as docile as that girl.

 

Jessica clenched her fist and tightened her jaw when she watched the guy touch the young girl's cheek with four other idiotic guys whistling, further encouraging more erted actions. The young girl had slapped his hand away but it only made him more.

 

"Fiesty, that's exactly how I would like my girl to be," He clicked his tongue and blew her a kiss.

 

“That will be 15,000 Won please,” The cashier had tried ignoring his stupid remarks but he kept going.

 

“If I gave you 20,000, would you come with me to my house?”

 

"I think that's enough," Jessica had coolly stepped out of the aisle and faced them directly.

 

"Who do you think you are?"

 

She smirked and slowly approached them.

 

"Don't you know me? I think your seniors would be ashamed of you for not being able to recognise the legendary Jessica Jung,"

 

She smugly looked at the blunt fingernails and ran her tongue over her teeth while talking to them.

 

The look on their faces turned to one of terror as they stuttered, "Th-the Je-jessica Ju-jung?"

 

They slowly retreated backwards till their backs hit the door. One of them finally pushed the door open and escaped, with the rest of the following suit.

 

"Cowards," She muttered under her breath as she watched their pathetic escape. She then remembered the victim and turned her head.

 

"It isn't saf-"

 

She stopped midway when she noticed the other girl shuddering in fear, crouched at the corner of the counter with tears falling from her eyes. Jessica guessed that she was probably thinking of the outcomes if Jessica had not been there to save her. The blonde had carefully approached the red head, not wanting to traumatize her further.

 

"They're gone now, don't need to be afraid. I'm here,"

 

Jessica slid down the wall and sat beside the girl. The cashier had initially flinched from Jessica's advances but finally gave in when she realised that it was the girl who had saved her.

 

"Don't cry anymore," Jessica now had her arm across the young girl's shoulder and gently pulled her closer, letting her own shoulders get drenched by the tears.

 

"Th-thank yo-you," Jessica smiled when she heard the sincere gratitude. It was so heartwarming to see that someone had truly appreciated her, and not just because she could get them out of their through violence.

 

The blonde had looked down at the nametag on the cashier's uniform while she continued to coo to the victimized girl.

 

Tiffany.

 

She was sure to come back tomorrow night.

 

-

 

The bell chimed again, Tiffany immediately held up the pepper spray and aimed it towards the customer. The whole incident had scarred her and she had managed to tell her manager everything that happened, not without some tears of fear as she recalled the events. He had then finally decided to hire one more person to tend the store together with Tiffany, even if it ate into the budget. His workers' safety was of utmost importance to him and Tiffany was glad to have such an understanding boss. He also insisted that she got a pepper spray in case of emergencies.

 

"I see you came prepared,"

 

 Tiffany looked at the girl curiously before realising that she was the one who saved her. She then lowered the pepper spray and widens her eyes as the other girl approached her.

 

"Did they come back to disturb you?"

 

Truthfully, Tiffany was skeptical about this girl. First of all, why did she bother saving her? And second of all, why did she bother to come back to check on her? But she decided otherwise and honestly answered the question, "No,"

 

She thought that the other girl might have saw the look in her eyes when she heard her say, “Don’t be afraid, I won't hurt you,"

 

Her mother had once told her to always be on an alert when strangers approach her, and that bad guys never tells the truth but always cover their motives with sweet sentence to lure the victim. Common sense would have made Tiffany more afraid, but she didn’t know why she had let her guard down when she heard the blonde girl say that. It wasn't the smartest thing to do, especially when she saw how the s cower in fear at the mere mention of the girl's name, but she could not sense any threat or menace in the words that she had said.

 

Her body relaxed and she heard the other girl chuckle in amusement.

 

“I’m glad you’re not afraid of me anymore,”

 

Tiffany gave a small smile and proceeded with handling the documents on her desk.

 

“So why did you come back?”

 

“Can’t I come back?”

 

“Well, I’m not saying you can’t but you don’t look like you’re going to buy anything,”

 

“I’m here to check on you, see if you needed any help from me again,”

 

Tiffany looked up at Jessica and narrowed her eyes, “Are you trying to curse me?”

 

“Well, those guys are persistent and I’m just afraid that they might come back to harass you,”

 

Tiffany opened her eyes in surprise and casually mentioned, “You seem like a nice person. I don’t understand why the boys ran away last night,”

 

“Probably because of the rumours,”

 

“What rumours?”

 

“Hey Tiffany, is she bothering you?” Both of them had turned to the right to see a young man scrutinizing Jessica and noticing her wild clothing. She definitely looked like someone who could mess around with people.

 

“Looks like you have someone to help you,”

 

“My manager employed him after the incident last night,”

 

“Then I guess I’m no longer needed around here anymore,”

 

“Wai-.”

 

“Goodnight Tiffany Hwang, and I hope I wouldn’t need to save you anytime soon,” Tiffany watch the door close and her heart fell. She was a little disappointed that she didn’t get to have a long conversation with her benefactor.

 

She glanced over at Kwon Yul and stared at him with distaste.

 

“What?”

 

“She was the one who helped me you idiot. And you chased her away before I could even thank her,”

 

“Well, how was I supposed to know? And she looks like a thug anyway. You can’t blame me,”

 

Tiffany snorted before flipping through the paper. Jessica Jung? A notorious thug? Rumours? But she didn’t seem like one. Jessica was gentle and caring. Technically, no thug would help others right?

 

-

 

“www.google.com,”

 

“What are you doing?”

 

“I’m goggling something,”

 

“Obviously since you are at the google page,”

 

“Then why ask?”

 

Sooyoung bend over to look at what Tiffany was typing in the search engine.

“Jessica. Jung. Rumours. Who is Jessica Jung?”

 

“She is the one who saved me,”

 

“You mean the hero you have been gushing about?”

 

Tiffany blushed. She had been talking about Jessica to all her friends and how the blonde had actually bothered to come back and see if she was fine. Not to mention, gushing about how beautiful Jessica was up close.

 

“There the first one,” Tiffany snapped out of her trance as she looked over to the link Sooyoung was pointing at.

 

Jessica Jung strikes again. Earlier this morning, two boys were admitted to the hospital after being found by residents nearby. Police says that the two boys had ran away from home two nights ago and witnesses have claimed to have seen them with Jessica Jung, 25, a notorious thug in the city. The police are currently investigating and have promised to bring Jessica back for questioning.

 

Sooyoung gasped.

 

“Your hero be-beats people up?”

 

“It could just be a rumour,” Tiffany’s voice deflated. She was uncertain whether she should even call Jessica her hero now. It doesn’t seem like it was such a good decision to make when she went around flaunting about how some stranger had cared for her.

 

“Rumour? But this is a news report! It’s official,”

 

“Well, here’s another one,” The tall girl had moved the mouse over to the link and hovered over it before clicking it twice.

 

Kim Sooha, 18, was found dead at the void deck earlier this morning. Residents had reported the body at about 6am. The boy was badly beaten up. Police had also found a knife together with his belongings. The police suspects that it could be a gang attack and not a robbery since no money was stolen. They also suspect that this case involves Jessica Jung, a well-known gangster, as the last call made from the young boy’s phone was to her. The police are currently still investigating.

 

“Tiffany, I honestly don’t think it is such a good idea to boast about Jessica’s beauty anymore,”

 

“YO WHAT ARE YOU GUYS LOOKING AT?” A shorter girl had jumped from behind their backs, causing both Sooyoung and Tiffany to scream. Tiffany had also instinctively shut the laptop and chided her friend.

 

“SUNNY! DON’T YOU SCARE US LIKE THAT!”

 

“WHAT? You guys wouldn’t be so panicky if you weren’t doing something, unless..” Sunny had that glint in her eye before reaching over to grab Tiffany’s laptop.

 

“SUNNY NO!”

 

“WHAT WERE YOU GUYS DOING? IS IT ?”

 

“WHAT? IT’S NOT!”

 

“THEN WHY ARE YOU SO AFRAID? LET ME SEE!”

 

After much grabbing and pulling, Tiffany finally snatched the laptop out of Sunny’s hold and before the shorter girl could even protest, the bell rang and Tiffany smiled.

 

“Class is starting now! Let’s go!”

 

“NOT FAIR! WHAT WERE YOU GUYS LOOKING AT?”

 

-

 

Jessica strolled down the same alley again. No doubt she swore she wasn’t ever going to see Tiffany again, since she had to reason to, but to completely not see her was like a drug addict undergoing cold turkey treatment. Jessica secretly sneaked to the glass door and peeked through to see Tiffany doing her homework seriously. Her eyebrows were furrowed and she pouted her lips, which was a cute sight for Jessica. The older girl chuckled but stopped when she felt a stare that someone had been giving her. She looked over to the right and saw the same young man from the other night, staring at her and pointing at her. Jessica saw his lips move and eyes looking towards Tiffany. She quickly ran away before she got caught by Tiffany.

 

Too late.

 

-

 

Find all angles between 0° and 180° which satisfy the equation:
cos x - sin 2x + cos 3x - sin 4x = 0

 

Tiffany lifted the end of the pencil to scratch her forehead and furrowed her eyebrows as she tried recalling the different formulas to solve the equation. After some time, she finally grasp the concept and was getting ready to pen down her answer before Kwon Yul decided to scream at her.

 

“Tiffany!”

 

“WHAT?” Now she was really pissed.

 

“It’s- It’s her!”

 

“WHO?”  Tiffany’s heart thumped, as she anticipated his answer.

 

“JESSICA! SHE IS RUNNING AWAY NOW!”

 

The young girl hurriedly got off her seat and ran out of the door. Fortunately, she managed to see the running figure and shouted loudly to stop her, “JESSICA! WAIT!”

 

-

Jessica slowed down in her steps, turned around panting. She watched Tiffany trudge downhill, chest heaving up and down as the other girl tried catching her breath.

 

“Why are you running?” Tiffany breathed out.

 

“Why are you chasing after me?” Jessica retorted.

 

Jessica saw Tiffany fidget as the other girl wrung her fingers together. She wasn’t sure, since the street lights were dim, but Jessica suspected that Tiffany was currently blushing.

 

“Wo-would you like something to drink? My treat?”

 

Tiffany gave a shy smile and lowered her head to hide her face.

 

Jessica chuckled.

 

“So you chased me just to ask me if I wanted a drink?”

 

-

 

“NO! I- I-,” To be honest, Tiffany didn’t even know why the hell she even ran after Jessica. She had been spending her days thinking about whether Jessica was going to come back after Kwon Yul managed to chase her away and the thought of Jessica passing by her shop just thrilled her. No doubt being with someone as dangerous as her was crazy, but she was happy to see that Jessica was treating her differently from the way she treated others. She didn’t seem like the kind who bashes people up. Instead, she seemed like an underrated superhero that helps grannies and innocent victims, just like Robin Hood.

 

Tiffany heard Jessica’s chuckle again before she felt her hand being pulled.

 

“Let’s go then, let’s go get us a drink. Your treat,”

 

-

 

Both of them arrived back at the store where Kwon Yul was manning the counter.  He gave Tiffany the weird look when he glanced at their attached hands. Tiffany herself had looked over at where he was looking and realized that they were holding hands. She hurriedly pulled her hand out of Jessica’s grip and looked away with a flushed face.

 

Kwon Yul, on the other hand, grinned at Tiffany’s reaction and gave a knowing wink at Jessica, to which Jessica responded with a cold glare. His expression died down and quietly retreated to the storage room.

 

Jessica then looked over to Tiffany and tugged at her shirt.

 

“Are you going to sit down or are you just going to stare out of the glass door?”

 

Tiffany looked at Jessica and timidly made her way to the vacant seat while eyeing Jessica who had calmly walked to the drinks aisle to grab some drinks.

 

“What would you like to drink?”

 

“Anything,”

 

She watched Jessica grab a bottle of beer and then turning around to pick a drink from the cooler. Jessica smiled as she approached the cashier.

 

“Fruit juice for minors,”

 

“I’m 19! I’m not a minor! I’m old!”

 

Jessica looked at Tiffany with amusement before commenting, “So you want to drink too? I’ll go grab another bottle,”

 

The thug was ready to go back again before she felt resistance. She looked around and saw Tiffany hesitating.

 

“What is it?”

 

“I-I don’t drink,”

 

Jessica laughed at Tiffany’s defiance and shifted her body back to the counter.

 

“Like I said, fruit juice for minors,”

 

Tiffany glared at Jessica and reluctantly twisted the cap off the bottle of fruit juice. She wasn’t really fond of fruit juice but she couldn’t help but admit, the fruit juice was really sweet, and strangely heartwarming.

She lifted the bottle up to see its cover. It was something she was sure to drink again.

 

-

 

“Is it true that you hurt those boys?”

 

Jessica looked up, startled by Tiffany’s random question.

 

“How do you know about them?”

 

“I googled,”

 

“So you’re like a stalker?”

 

“NO. I- I was just curious alright,”

 

“I didn’t hurt them,”

 

“Then why does the police suspect you all the time?”

 

“Because they are stupid,”

 

“So how did those boys die?”

 

“Why are you asking so many questions?”

 

“Like I said, I’m just curious,”

 

Jessica sighed at Tiffany’s inquisitive nature.

 

“They got hurt by themselves. They were actually internal spies and were caught so they got beaten up badly,”

 

“But why were they with you?”

 

“I’m like the embassy in the underground world. I have no gang and work for no one. These boys come to be for protection. How do I say this? Think of it as me being a mediator. I call the two gangs out and they settle the problem upfront. Any violence would result in me confronting the party,”

 

“So you’re like a social police?”

 

“Somewhat,”

 

“But why you? Why are they all so afraid of you confronting them,”

 

“This is a long story,”

 

“I’m willing to listen,”

 

“Long story short, I met a group of young amateur boys. I took down a few of them and the rest were just scared. So as they retreated, one of them tripped over a piece of stub and fell off the cliff while the others watched their friend fall to his death. After that incident, there were many nonsensical rumours about me being able to control minds and what not. And of course, expectedly, the rumours became more and more exaggerated. The last time I heard, it became me taking down 100 boys and all of them died because I controlled space,” Jessica chuckled and gulped down the beer in her hands, before continuing, “ It was so ridiculous,”

 

“So... technically you didn’t do anything,”

 

“Except making three boys unconscious I guess. But fame grows this way, doesn’t it?”

 

“Wow,”

 

“It’s better like this anyway. I rather not fight them,”

 

“But you’re a gangster,”

 

“So?”

 

“You’re expected to fight,”

 

“But I never liked fighting,”

 

“Then why did you choose this, what do you call it, this path?”

 

“When you come from a family who doesn’t appreciate much, you will come to understand why I decided to become a thug. When I’m out, I see fear flashing across people’s eyes, I feel a sense of control and I feel needed. But at home, I feel nothing but a piece of junk that my parents would be more than willing to give away for nothing in return,”

 

Jessica’s eyes turned cold and Tiffany felt sorry.

 

“This is probably one of the iest sessions you ever had with someone. I’m sorry,” Jessica got off the seat and wanted to walk off, but Tiffany grabbed her hand, preventing the older girl from walking.

 

“Stay! You saved me; you’re definitely worth something to me,”

 

-

 

Tiffany persuaded her boss into letting her stay on the night shift. He initially disagreed with it because it meant that he had to continue hiring Kwon Yul. But Tiffany had told him that she didn’t need him anymore because someone was always there to protect her.

 

“You better tell me you are not talking about some guardian angel,”

 

“It’s not a guardian angel, it’s a person,”

 

“Who would protect you if Kwon Yul isn’t there? A person? Who is he?”

 

“It’s a she, and she is a customer,” Tiffany gave a sheepish grin.

 

“A CUSTOMER? ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND TIFFANY?”

 

“She was the one who saved me the other night,”

 

“And it was a fluke. She is lucky she didn’t get harassed by those guys as well,”

 

“They were so afraid of her. They didn’t even dare to touch her,”

 

“Didn’t even dare to tou-,” Mr Kim scoffed, “Are you sure you haven’t been reading mangas lately?”

 

“I swear, Mr Kim! She is perfectly fit enough to help me. If I tell you who she is, you’ll definitely agree that she can protect me,”

 

“Alright then, who is she?”

 

Tiffany hesitated.

 

“Look, you can’t even tell me her name! She is probably non- existent,”

 

“Wait! I’ll tell you, but you promise not to go crazy,”

 

“Okay,”

 

“Jessica,”

 

“Wh-what?”

 

“Jessica Jung,” Tiffany held her breath as she waited for her boss’s response.

 

“JESSICA JUNG?!?!”

 

Well, things became ugly. The boss literally went nuts about Jessica Jung being in the store and had even accused her of stealing supplies, which was truthfully nonsense because Tiffany had managed to prove to him that everything tallied and nothing was even missing in the first place. The manager then went silent for a while, and paced around the room.

 

“I give you two weeks. If you can prove to me that nothing can go wrong during these two weeks, I’ll let you take on the night shift permanently,”

 

“YES SIR!”

 

“Wait,” Tiffany looked at Mr Kim quizzically as he hurried over to the phone and made a phonecall.

 

“I’ve just ordered an emergency button. This button will connect to the police and you MUST carry it around with you at all times, do you understand?”

 

“YES!”

 

Tiffany had run up to the manager and hugged him. She felt him tense in her hold as he awkwardly raised his hands to avoid touching Tiffany.

 

“Thank you,  Mr Kim,”

 

-

 

“I don’t see Yul around anymore,”

 

“I don’t need him anymore,”

 

“Why not? I thought Mr Kim wanted him to protect you?”

 

“Not now when I have you around,”

 

Jessica had made it a point to visit Tiffany every night. The older girl had made a point to bring in different snacks every night after the first week when the both of them got very sick of the store supplies. And that day, Jessica had bought ddeokbokki on her way to the store.

“You’re so cute when you blush,” Tiffany poked her stick into the dish and putting the rice stick in while laughing at Jessica’s flushed face.

 

Out of revenge, Jessica dipped her finger into the sauce and tapped Tiffany’s nose with it.

 

“You’re so cute when you’re dirty,” The older girl had mocked Tiffany’s unglamorous state.

 

“This calls for a war,”

 

It was 2am in the morning and the both of them were busy cleaning the floor with all the chilli sauce on it.

 

“It’s all your fault,” Tiffany sulked.

 

-

 

“So she didn’t do it?”

 

“No,”

 

“And to think we had been afraid of her all these while,”

 

TBC