"I better hurry," you thought. Your dad would kill you if you weren't there to close up. However, when you entered, the shopping center was full of people, making it hard to move around.

"How am I going to get through, half an hour till closing time already?" you whispered. You decided to push through the sea of people

"I'm so sorry," you said as you pushed through the huge crowd.

You finally got through and you decided to check your watch, as you walked forward, you bumped into a boy.

"Y-YAH," you screamed, and then you looked up.

He looked like he was close to your age, or maybe slightly older. He was a bit taller than you too. He had messy blonde hair. It suited him. Soon he noticed you glaring at him and smiled at you making your heart flutter... just a bit. He had such perfect smile.. a perfect nose, high cheekbones and a perfect jawline.

 

"_____ get yourself together, how can you think like this after what he did to you, all guys are the same!" you mentally scolded yourself. As you turned to walk away, he spoke and you froze.

"Sorry, for bumping into you," he said. His voice was deeper than you expected it to be, but it was very soothing.

"H-Hi, I'm _____, you have really.. Nice teeth," you stammered, as you turned around to face him.

"Aish, _____, white teeth what are you talking about," you thought to yourself.

He gave you a cute smile. "No, no, _____ you can't think like this," you thought.

"I haven't seen you around this area before--," you said.

"No, I'm visiting my grandpa this week, he's been sick. I'm from Seoul." he replied. You were about to respond when your alarm started to ring.

"N-nice meeting you, I have to get to work now, at.. the chicken shop," you murmured. Then, you ran off.

 

He looked at you as you ran off.

 

"Weird kid," he mumbled to himself.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

You burst into the chicken shop and the familiar smell of grease and oil greeted you. You rushed straight to Marie who was locking up the cabinets in the shop. "Late," you thought to yourself.

"Ahjumma, where is my father?" you asked.

"The back of the store, dear," she replied. Her face wrinkled up as she smiled. "I thought that the child was not coming today," she exclaimed to herself as you rushed to the storeroom.

 

"DA-," you yelled as you reached the back of the shop. You were about to open the door but stopped when you heard unfamiliar voices whispering in the storeroom.

 

"Have you prepared Donghae for tomorrow?" asked a man with a deep and husky voice, you didn't recognize it. "Lee Donghae, from school?" you mumbled quietly to yourself.

"Yes, I assure you that he'll be ready for the wedding tomorrow."

"Marriage?" you thought to yourself, something wasn't right. "Donghae wasn't the type of person who would do something like this."

"The money will be transferred to your account by next week."

"Money?" you exclaimed, "What is this?"

"How will we capture her?" came the voice of another.

"Don't worry, everything is settled, the wedding dress is at the warehouse," replied a woman.

"An arranged marriage?" you thought to yourself.

The last voice you heard was one you recognized, "_____ and Donghae will be married by noon tomorrow, I assure you, just give me the money, please." The pleading voice belonged to your father. Your mind flashed back to the wedding invitation.

"How long has he been hiding this from me," you thought.

 

If you married your life would be over. All those dreams would be shattered, your dreams of dancing and singing, becoming perfect. How could your father do this to you for money? How could he arrange your marriage without even talking to you about it? You burst out of the store. You had to run away.

 

Frantically, you dialed your friend Gyuri's number and explained the situation to her. You felt a pang of sadness when you remembered she was moving to Seoul tomorrow. Who would you talk to when you needed someone beside you?

"You have to get out of this place _____," she replied.

"How?" you asked.

"Tomorrow we'll escape," she replied.

"Escape?" you asked, beginning to feel confused. "You're going to Seoul though."

"Pabo, I'm bringing you with me, don't worry about packing either, I have everything settled," she said.

"This is my chance to start over," you thought to yourself, but there was one place you had to visit before you escaped.