I stood frozen in fear as I stared at the man who was threatening my life.  With a small shotgun in his hand, he smiled at me with a greedy look in his cold eyes. I felt the barrel of the gun against my temple. Various alarming thoughts ran through my head as I tried to figure out what I should do.

“C’mon lady,” he said with a harsh voice. “I am very busy today.” My shaky hands reached for my purse when the man suddenly fell to the ground hard with the gun slipping from his hand and clattering against the pavement a few feet away. A tall figure stood in front of me towards the man who was threatening my life. I could not see the face of the man who saved me since his back was to me, but he seemed very familiar with beautiful gold hair. The man on the ground groaned from the pain and then slipped into unconsciousness. My legs collapsed from under me and I felt very lightheaded. The figure in front of me had clenched fists as he took deep breathes; it was as if he were trying to calm himself down. I felt my eyelids becoming very heavy and right before I lost consciousness, I saw the face of my rescuer. The face I immediately recognized, but his eyes were different; his eyes were glowing red.

My eyelids slowly lifted and at first I saw shapes before I was finally able to focus. I stared up at the familiar ceiling of my bedroom. Slowly stretching out my sore limbs, I tried to recall what happened. Then I remembered. I sprang upright on my bed and searched all over my body for any signs of injury. A long and exasperated sigh of relief escaped my lips once I found no injuries. Then I closed my eyes as I tried to make sense of what I saw yesterday. The image of Kris standing over me with glowing red eyes would not escape my mind. The image terrified me. What is he?

“Glad to see you awake,” said a smooth voice. I flinched and slowly opened my eyes to see Bora entering my room. She was dressed in jeans and a casual pink blouse that seemed to suit her. She slowly closed the door behind her and I relaxed once I recognized her. She smiled her bright smile as she seated herself beside me. “How are you feeling?” Her dark eyes were filled with concern. I looked down at my pale hands as I answered her.

“Fine, I guess.” My voice was hoarse and shaky. It was true that I felt fine since there are no injuries on my body and I feel completely normal, but the image of those red eyes is still frozen in my mind. “What happened?” I asked Bora this question because I was feeling very confused and she must know something. Her dark eyes lowered to her lap as if she were unsure of what to tell me.

“First Jessica,” she said. “What did you see?” Her dark eyes then connected with mine and I could not look away. She knows. We both sat in silence and stared at each other for what seemed like a long time. Her dark eyes searched mine as if she could see my memories. Then she broke eye contact with me and sighed. “Jessica, I need you tell me before I can answer you.” Again, the image of Kris’s red eyes appeared again and I shivered. Clenching my blanket in my fists, I summoned the courage to answer her.

“I saw red eyes,” I said. Those four words came out of my mouth before I could even hesitate. Bora took a deep breath and held it for a while before finally exhaling it. Then, she turned to me, grabbed my hand, and smiled at me.

“You should lie back down,” she suggested. “I made you some soup for lunch.” She gave me a little shove and I fell back to my pillow. Then she stood up and headed for the door.

“Wait a minute.” I sprang back up. “Lunch?” Bora turned around and smiled at me. “How long have I been out?”

“A while,” she said before slipping outside my bedroom. The door closed with a soft click and the silence of the room engulfed me. Thoughts ran through my head as I sat there alone. The images of that pair of red eyes won’t leave my mind. Bora entered the room with a tray of food and placed it onto my lap, but I wasn’t hungry.

“Bora,” I whispered. “What is he?” She stared at me with a cold expression as she slowly sat down.

“I can’t answer that Jessica,” she said in a calm voice. This was when my frustration peaked. I was frustrated by my confusion and by the lack of answers.

“Why!?” I screamed at her with tears stinging my eyes. Bora just continued to stare at me with coldness. My fists clenched my blankets hard as I bit back my frustration. "I am confused and need answers." 

"I'm sorry Jessica," said Bora. "That question is not for me to answer." Her tone was smooth and level, but not soothing. Everything about Bora in this moment seemd cold and unfeeling. I could barely recognize her as the bubbly person I met when I first moved here. Then, her phone vibrated. Bora picked it up, read the message, stood abruptly, and headed for the door without saying a word. Before walking out, she paused and turned back towards me. "Eat the soup, it will help you feel better." Then, with the click of the door, she was gone. Loneliness set in as the silence of my bedroom engulfed me. I reluctantly slirpped the soup Bora made and I drifted into sleep.

The ringtone of my cellphone woke me from my sleep and I shot immediately upright. I guess you could say that I have felt very jumpy ever since the incident with Kris and the mugger. Today is now Monday, which means it has been a couple of days since the attack. 

"Hello?" I managed to meekly choke out when I answered the phone.

"Jessica?" asked Hyoyeon. "Are you alright? Kris said that you weren't coming in for the next couple of days. Did something happen?" The sound of Kris's name brought the image of his red eyes back into my mind. I squeezed my eyes and took a couple of deep breathes as I tried to decide what to tell her.

"Everything is fine Hyoyeon," I croaked out. "I am just not feeling very well." 

"Okay, well I hope you feel better soon," said Hyoyeon. Then I heard some mumbling and some other voices from the phone.

"Jessica?" now it was Yuri who was on the phone. "Is there any way you could make it to the presentation today?" Before I could answer, a new speaker took the phone.

"Jessica, you don't have to come in at all today," said Sooyoung. Some more mumbling and talking.

"This is the least we could do since you finished the presentation all by yourself," said Taeyeon, who now had the phone. 

"Can I have my phone back?" I heard Hyoyeon's voice in the background. 

"Wait, I have an interesting question for her," said Tiffany faintly, then she must of grabbed a hold of the phone. "So did you tell Kris that you weren't coming in today? We were just wondering how he knew you weren't coming and why we didn't." Why did Kris tell them this? Did Bora tell him about my condition? I haven't actually seen Bora since the day right after the attack. 

"I contacted him since the presentation is today," I said. "I thought it was best to inform him directly." I could have told them the truth about the attack, or I could have even given the excuse that he is my neighbor, but I did not want to share those pieces of information to them at this time. I heard a disappointing sigh from Tiffany as Hyoyeon snatched her phone back.

"Jessica, don't worry about the presentation. Just worry about getting better okay?" said Hyoyeon. "Bye bye." 

"Bye bye," I replied and then hung up.

A couple of hours later, a knock came from my front door. I opened it and found Bora standing there with a small cake in her hands and an apologetic look on her face.

"I'm sorry," she said as she raised the small chocolate cake towards me. I let her in and we both went to my kitchen. Bora placed the cake on the counter and sliced two pieces from it. After placing the pieces on a couple of my plates, she handed me one. We ate with only the sound of our forks against our plates. When we were finished, Bora dragged me to my living room, pushed me onto my couch and sat beside me. 

"Why?" I asked her. Her dark eyes were filled with sympathy and saddness. She grabbed one of my hands and sighed.

"Like I said," she began. "It is not my secret to share."

"No, its mine," said a deep voice. I whirled my head around towards my hallway where Kris stood. Dressed in one of his business suits, he stood a few feet from me with his hands stuffed in his pockets and a solumn look on his face. I felt my anxiety heighten. The image of his red eyes burned into my mind and I felt my heartbeat quicken. Bora squeezed my hand reassuringly as she glared at Kris.

"I thought we were going to let her rest for a few more days," said Bora. 

"This needs to be resolved now," a new voice said from behind Kris. Then, Soyou appeared from behind Kris. She was dressed in a tight black skirt and a deep red blouse, which made her look very elegant. "Long time no see Bora."

"What are you doing here?" snarled Bora. Soyou then pouted and crossed her arms.

"I thought you would be happy to see me," said Soyou.

"Not in this situation," replied Bora with an icy voice. 

"I am here just to make sure Kris doesn't share too much," said Soyou. She patted Kris's shoulder with her perfectly manicured hand. Now I am even more confused. 

"Jessica," said Kris. I stiffened and felt Bora squeeze my hand tighter. "I cannot tell you everything, and I know how much that will make you frustrated and angry, but I just need you to know one important thing." I held my breathe as I waited for him to continue. "I will never hurt you." Those words were completely unexpected and completely surprised me. I soaked in those words and the image of his red eyes did not seem as menacing anymore. The way Kris said those words made me trust them. They made me believe in him. "I cannot tell you anything more." 

"What?" asked Bora as she shot up from the couch. "I thought we agreed that we would tell her more."

"Things have changed," said Soyou as her dark eyes glared at Bora. Bora then froze and just stared at Soyou. Both their gazes locked with each other's. 

What are they hiding from me?