When she got out of bed this morning, rather reluctantly at that, the last thing Kang Yuri expected was to be in a police chase. So then why was it happening?

"Hold on tight, Sweetheart- things are about to get rough!" the boy next to her laughed happily. Though if you asked her, she would say it sounded more crazy than it did merry, but that could have had something to do with the fact that she was currently clutching the little handle on the roof so tightly she couldn’t feel her fingers anymore and was a little distracted from her so called partner in crime, attention half on the colorful lights flashing in the road behind them and half on praying the seatbelt wouldn’t break and that she would, somehow, get out of this alive. It did nothing to alleviate her fears when they took the next turn particularly sharp, the vehicle’s driver letting out an excited whoop, the wide grin on his face as charming as it was concerning. He was actually enjoying this, the little psycho!

And who happened to be the maniac behind the wheel of the car she was sure would be her grave? His name was Chen, otherwise known as Kim Jongdae, and she had only known him for approximately two hours and twenty-six minutes and she was already closer to being arrested, not to mention carsick, than she had ever been in the first twenty-three years of her life. Well, it certainly left one hell of a first impression, she’d give him that.

How did it come to this? She was wondering the exact same thing, and the only answer she had was steamed buns.

Let’s rewind for a second, shall we?

*****

“Stupid Baozi,” she muttered under her breath, bitter and still groggy from her early and not so pleasant wake-up call this morning. Kang Yuri was not a morning person- and that was a major understatement. On any usual morning, she would be comfortably cuddled up in her warm bed still snoozing away in dreamland for a couple more hours, the perks of taking all of her senior year courses online. Only today wasn’t a usual morning for her. Instead of possibly enjoying a dream where she was happily dating the perfection that was Lee Jongsuk, she was heading to the nearest convenience store to buy a ridiculous amount of steamed buns, of all things, at the request of her persistent roommate who happened to be obsessed with the stupid treat he shared a name with.

Kim Minseok was the son of family friend a few years older than her. He was attractive, semi-responsible, caring, successful, and just generally all around the perfect bachelor- or at least he would be if he didn’t live with her. Although his official job was labeled as ‘up and coming marketing manager at a well-known company’, his unofficial career was being her live-in babysitter. She didn’t hold it against him; after all, it wasn’t his fault that her parents had tasked him with such a huge favor back when she had decided to move out and try making it on her own. And of course, he would accept, being the great Oppa that he always had been to her when they were growing up as next-door neighbors. He wasn’t there a lot anyways because of work and business trips, so she didn’t really have anything to complain about. However, at the times that he was there, he was always babying her or forcing her to do stupid chores, nagging her about her homework and taking her medicine, or asking her to buy him snacks when he was too swamped with work or struggling with a hangover. This morning, it happened to be the latter. Unfortunately, as much as she liked sleep, it was impossible to say no to his pouty, puffy cheeks and practiced puppy dog eyes.

“Annyeonghaseyo.”

Yuri dipped her head in a subtle bow in response the cashier’s greeting before shuffling her way down the aisles to a section she was more than familiar with. She eyed the white packaged buns with a sigh. Why was her life so boring? If she were being honest, this was probably the most excitement she had experienced all week if you didn’t count freaking out over the two leads finally kissing the other day in the drama she was currently watching.

How many should she get? Five? Ten?

“Annyeonghaseyo.”

Stuck in the middle of a mental debate with herself over whether she should save her money and face Minseok’s scolding for buying too little or sacrifice her cash to appease the beast, Yuri was oblivious to the entrance of her fellow early morning customer. However, that didn’t mean that he was oblivious to her. At first, he was just going to pass her, but he quickly backtracked, doing a doubletake. After all, it wasn’t every day you saw someone trying to juggle more white milk steamed bun snack packages than could possibly be healthy- was she even capable of eating all of the those?

“Hey.”

Maybe she should have chosen to spare her wallet instead, considering she was having trouble carrying them all. Then again, Minseok could be scary when he wanted to be, and apparently this time her desire to avoid conflict won out.

“Hey…”

Should she just ask the cashier for help? Wait, was she allowed to get a bag before she paid? Maybe-

“Hey!”

She jumped in place, startled by the sudden exclamation by her ear, fumbling with the packages in her hands. She winced as most of them fell to the floor, her being only able to save two, and the loud noise of something being crushed and flattened alerted her to the fact that she would definitely have to pay for them now. Turning her head to the side to give the person that made her drop them a blank look, she was met with the sight of a male around her age with shiny black hair and a sheepish smile.

His dark brown eyes widened and he cleared his throat awkwardly, quickly schooling his features into a blank look to match her own and casually leaning back against the stocked shelf. “I mean, hey.” He nodded to her coolly.

His attempt to overcome his mistake might have worked, had he not put too much of his weight on the fragile shelf. A few seconds after he had placed his elbow on it, the shelf gave out, causing him to go wide eyed again as he tried to keep his balance, and now it wasn’t just the steamed buns on the floor anymore.

“Yah!” The cashier was none too happy with them.

“Oops?” the boy gave a crooked grin, seeming more embarrassed than apologetic, as they were both promptly kicked out. Great. What was she supposed to do now? Return back home empty handed to a whiny chipmunk with a hangover? Unlikely.

“So…” She blinked at the vaguely familiar voice and turned towards her fellow backlisted shopper, the person who had gotten them temporarily banned. He was smiling at her widely, not upset in the least with their current situation. If anything, the sparkle in his dark eyes gave away that he was not-so-secretly amused. “Do you want to grab a coffee?”

Was he… asking her out?

“No.” She didn’t even add a polite ‘thank you’ to the end of the statement, or an awkward but kind smile to lessen the sting of rejection. Minseok would most likely scold her for her lack of manners and social protocol if he knew, but at the moment, she didn’t care. She didn’t make it a habit to go out for drinks of any kind with unfamiliar men, especially ones that got her kicked out of stores. In fact, she didn’t really make it a habit to go out with anyone, period. It was one of the side effects of spending all of her time locked up in her apartment like a shut-in.

“Aw, come on, Sweetheart, don’t be like that.” Seeing that his flirty smile and charming personality weren’t exactly getting him anywhere, he decided that it was time to switch tactics. The confident smile slid right off his face, melting into a more sincere and awkward expression, his features more vulnerable and not as guarded. “Hey, how about this,” he tried again, “I feel bad about getting you kicked out. Honest. Especially since you seemed so hungry.”

“They weren’t for me,” Yuri interrupted him, correcting his false assumption.

“Right,” he nodded, agreeing without a second thought. She got the distinct feeling that he was teasing her, but she let him continue, watching him warily. “Anyway, why don’t I make it up to you? There’s another store that sells snacks a couple blocks from here. I have a car, one that’s plenty fast enough. You looked like you needed help carrying all of those things anyway.”

Growing up, kids are always told not to talk to strangers- even more important, never get in a car with one. White vans, kidnappings, candy, stranger danger- all that good stuff. She wasn’t stupid. Given her condition, her parents had been especially adamant about her safety, impressing these rules upon her every chance they got. Even Minseok still warned her about the so-called dangers of the world at times, his lectures twice as long and four times as boring and insufferable as her parents’ had been as a child. She always listened, always followed the rules.

This was her first time every getting kicked out of anywhere.

Maybe that was a good thing. Maybe it was time for her to start breaking the rules that trapped her. Maybe it was time for her to live a little.

“Okay,” she agreed.

“I promise that I’ll- wait, did you just say okay?” he blinked in confusion.

“Okay,” she repeated, nodding to him.

“Perfect.” His smile was back now, though it was more laidback and natural than it had been before when he had first approached her in the store. “The name’s Kim Jongdae, but most people call me Chen.”

She stared blankly at his outstretched hand for a few seconds before hesitantly taking it. It wasn’t that she was so inept in social situations that she didn’t know what she was meant to do with it- she wasn’t an idiot, she knew what a basic handshake was-, but she hesitated because she was taking a minute to summon her courage. She was about to walk into uncharted territory, to do something forbidden. For a girl like her, this was a big step, practically monumental. When her slim hand wrapped around his own, she had the faintest feeling in the back of her mind that she had just sold her soul to the devil, sealing some sort of tragic pact with the mundane motion of pumping her arm up and down in that instance. However, the most prominent sensation she felt at that moment was the impression of warmth. His hand encasing her own was incredibly warm, a type of soft and comforting heat she had never felt before, or if she had, then she couldn’t remember it.

“Kang Yuri.” She gave her name to him- there was no going back now.

Flash forward about an hour and a half (he had taken her out for a drink at a café nearby, in spite of all of her protests and blunt refusals) and they were at a larger department store, one that still had a small grocery and snack section with a healthy supply of white steamed buns that were sure to satisfy her agitated roommate. Or at least, they would have been enough, had she returned in the fifteen-minute time frame she had originally promised him. If she turned up now, he’d no doubt chew her out and bite her head off about it. The nagging would never end. Her only hope would be if he had passed out again and didn’t notice that she was unexplainably late- he never believed any of her excuses, and even if they were true, he didn’t put up with them. She still bought an absurd number of them though- it never hurt to bring along a peace offering.

Jongdae had tagged along, roaming the store with a bored expression on his face as he picked random items up off the shelves and threw them back without regard for their proper placement. She was learning that Jongdae was the type of person that didn’t hold a lot of respect for order, for rules and the status quo, for pretty little packaged boxes lined up perfectly straight on clean, level shelves, not a corner out of place on the display case. He was very laidback, confident, and didn’t really care about the way others perceived him. Yuri admired that about him. However, he also didn’t seem to care much about others in general, his own desires coming first. His persistent attitude in pursuing her proved that, as well as the way he effortlessly steered all their conversations at the coffee shop- not that she had put up much of a fight in either instance, being the more introverted of the pair that thought it best to avoid unnecessary conflict.

“Are you done?” Jongdae reappeared at her side as she finished paying for the snack food. She just nodded, offering him a small smile as she grabbed her bag from the cashier. He returned the gesture for a brief moment before the playful grin she was sure was his default expression abruptly vanished, the barest hint of a frown replacing it, eyes locked onto something over her shoulder. She was cut off before she could even open to ask him what was wrong.

“Listen,” he put a hand on her shoulder, not meeting her eyes or removing his gaze from whatever had captured his attention. “I need you to go wait by the car, okay? Don’t worry,” he flashed her a dazzling smile, the skin at the corner of his eyes crinkling just a little bit too much from how wide his grin was for it to be real. “I see someone I know- a friend of mine. It won’t take long.”

For all his natural charisma, Jongdae was a terrible liar. However, that wasn’t Yuri’s problem. Jongdae was interesting, different, but he was still just a stranger to her. After he dropped her off at her apartment, they’d go their separate ways and never see each other again. Yuri would be grounded for a week -as if she ever even left her room in the first place; Minseok really needed to be more creative and come up with better punishments- and Jongdae would go back to doing whatever the hell he did before he decided to waltz up and harass her. Therefore, even if it was an obvious lie, Yuri chose to believe it because it was just easier that way.

Now, she was quietly waiting next to the car for Jongdae to finish whatever abrupt business he had to that was so urgent he had shooed her away. Leaning against the driver's side door with her plastic bag of purchased items, she couldn't help but agree with Jongdae's earlier statement- his car is extremely cool. She wasn’t a girl that was into cars, so she didn’t know the make or model, but it was slim, sleek, flashy, and elegant all at once, and she could see why he adored it. The exterior was a beautiful sapphire blue color with a metallic finish and black accents. A faded stripe in a darker, greyer shade of blue went perfectly down the center of the front hood, reminding her of those old racing cars in movies from another time period. The windows were slightly tinted and the interior was a pure, bold black leather that she had found more comfortable than she would have thought it was. It also made a pretty good perch to lean against and cloud watch.

However, her peace was short lived- peace never lasted long around someone like Kim Jongdae. He proved that when he came running at her, screaming in panic and waving his arms around frantically.

"Get in the car, get in the car, get in the car!" Jongdae motioned for her to quickly get in the vehicle, babbling. He instantly corrected her when she startled and made a move to round the hood to the passenger’s side, shepherding her to get in the closest door instead. “Driver’s side! Start the car!”

“But-” Suddenly she was fumbling with the keys clumsily, trying not to drop them after barely managing to catch them following Jongdae’s reckless toss from a fair distance away. Her eyes widened upon noticing the group of police dressed in navy bursting out of the department store doors Jongdae had just exited. Without delay or any more protests, she was yanking the door open, climbing in the driver’s seat, and roughly shoving the key in the ignition in a manner Jongdae didn’t appreciate and would reprimand her about later.

“Drive!” he demanded, slamming the door behind him. He was sitting in the spot directly behind her, arms circling around the headrest and pointing at the windshield in front of her and the road that lay beyond it. A frantic glance at the rearview mirror to confirm her suspicions that the brave boys in blue were indeed chasing her tentative companion, and the sole of her sneaker was pressing down on the gas pedal automatically.

“What the hell is going on?!” she shouted, heart pounding wildly and head spinning. It didn’t feel real, like she was dreaming, her mind unable to keep up with reality. Everything was happening too fast for her to properly react, let alone actually comprehend any of it.

“Right! Take a right!” Jongdae directed her. When she failed to comply fast enough to satisfy him, he reached around the seat and tugged on the wheel himself, the car skidding and making a jerky, clumsy turn. Yuri yelped, shoulder slamming against the window since there hadn’t been abundant time to take precautions and put a seatbelt on.

“You’re too slow. Move over,” he commanded. And then out of the blue, Jongdae was shoving the head of the seat down and somehow climbing over it into the front, and Yuri was being pushed over the console in the middle to the passenger’s side. The car swerved, drifting dangerously close to the sidewalk, horns honking and people shouting. Jongdae plopped himself down in the seat and quickly righted the wheel, correcting their course. She could have sworn that she heard him muttering to himself. “It’s okay Jongdae. You’ve got this under control. You’ve been in worse situations,” his lips moved, voice a soft, sarcastic whisper.

Sirens. Loud, wailing, red and blue sirens.

“.”

Yuri is sent flying into the hard car door again as they take a hard left- this time it’s her other shoulder that hits the door. She’s going to have bruises tomorrow, or maybe even in the next few hours, there’s no doubt about that. Taking the opportunity while it’s still available, her shaking hands rush to buckle the seatbelt securely over her chest before her body can be jerked anywhere else. It takes a couple of tries to fasten it properly, her heart beating in overdrive and her sweaty, trembling palms having difficulty making the two parts accurately match up. Once that chore is completed, she takes in a giant gulp of air and lets it out, feeling her lungs expand, burn from the pressure, and then deflate. She feels safer- like she’s cuddling up to a security blanket. Even if it’s a placebo effect, she’s grateful. However, the relief is only momentary, the car violently jumping over a speed bump at far more than the recommended standard velocity for such an obstacle. Her right hand shoots up to grip the little bar on the ceiling for reassurance, fingers wrapped around it so strong she was surely cutting off the circulation, more than just her knuckles turning white.

And that brings us back to the present, where Kang Yuri swears her life is flashing before her eyes.

“Hold on tight, Sweetheart- things are about to get rough!”

Making an illegal turn off the goddam road