Mrs. Lee’s POV:

“You can stop the car right here,” I ordered.

 

“Yes, Madame.”

 

I sat there, carefully examining his car—waiting for something to happen. After a long hour passed by, I grew impatient. There was simply nothing here to see.

 

I let out a sigh of disappointment.

 

“Mr. Soo, let’s go home.”

 

As I reached over for my seatbelt, I discerned movement in his car.

 

“Wait.”

 

I moved closer to the front window, hoping that it would improve my view. GiKwang stepped outside alongside with the girl. I observed the two for a while, noticing how intimate their relationship was.

 

My eyes widened in enmity and shock as he leaned in closer to her—so close that I can guarantee their lips were in contact. I felt myself fuming in anger, but soon calmed down when I realized there was much to do.

 

“We’re done here. Let’s go,” I dismissed. Mr. Soo started the engine.

 

This was going to be my last and final warning. If that wretched girl dares to lay her hands on my son once more, she will regret it—miserably.

 

GiKwang’s POV:

I dropped Natalie off and began my drive back home.

 

Streetlights and buildings were all just a colorful blur as I drove past them.

 

“G-GiKwang,” she uttered nervously. Although it was dark, I was sure her cheeks were flushing pink.

 

Without consciously noticing it, I pitched in closer. My heart was racing like crazy, but I knew what I felt was right. As soon as my lips touched hers, the cage of butterflies broke free. My stomach fluttered uncontrollably. We broke away after a while, and she rested her forehead against mine. I laced my fingers through hers and left a soft peck on her nose.

 

I felt myself blushing madly when the image flashed back into my mind. I smiled foolishly to myself.

 

I might be wrong.

 

I might be getting my hopes up too high.

 

But at the moment, I didn’t care.

 

Natalie accepted my feelings, and that was what mattered the most.  

 

Natalie’s POV:

 

I slammed my bedroom door shut and sat down against it. My head was still spinning ferociously from what just occurred a few minutes ago.

 

“What you thinking, Natalie?” I whispered under my breath as I clawed at my scalp.

 

He’s bound to find out about this sooner or later, and I couldn’t bear to see him hurt. And yet, I couldn’t bear to tell him the truth either.

 

My phone vibrated.

 

It was a text message from GiKwang.

 

Hey Nat. Just wanted to say good night. Don’t stay up too late.

 

“Ugh!” I tossed my phone back into my purse before throwing myself facedown onto my bed.

 

What should I do…?

 

 

I inhaled deeply, allowing the cool night air to fill my lungs.

 

After a long week of work, I’d usually take a long evening walk to my local park and then back home—something about it made me feel at peace. In contrast to daytime, which was always hectic and chaotic, nighttime always welcomed me with a relaxing and comfortable silence.   

 

I walked—all the way to the park—only accompanied by the consistent and rhythmic chirping of crickets and occasional faint dog barks.

 

As expected, the playground and benches were completely empty when I arrived. I sat down on a swing and lightly pushed myself back and forth while holding a staring contest with the moon. Tonight, it was full, and its beauty was even more emphasized by the scattered twinkling stars that surrounded it. The moment my heartbeat slowed back down to its regular pace, I got up and began making my walk back home.

 

“Well, look who we have here!” a voice rang out. I looked up and found a group of men on the sidewalk. One man—dressed in all black with a mask draped over the lower half of his face—stood, alone, in front of five other men who were dressed in white.

 

“Get out of my way,” the man in black ordered—his gaze was hard and cold.

 

All five of the men laughed, mockingly, in unison.

 

“And what are you going to do if we don’t? You do realized you’re outnumbered right?” a man in white taunted as he placed his hands onto his hips.

 

The man in black stood there for a while. He did not respond.

 

“Yah, boss asked you a question. You should know better to ing answer you dog!” another man in white stepped out and kneed him in the stomach, causing him to slightly crouch down in pain.

 

Terrified, I hit under the playground slide.

 

“You’re going to regret this,” the man in black sputtered in his extremely deep and husky voice.

 

“What did you just say?!” one of the men on white grabbed him by the collar. The man in black looked up at him, smirking, before spitting directly into his face.

 

And at that moment, all hell broke loose.

 

The man in black lunged at the men in white, and after that everything became a blur to me. When all the punching and kicking finally ceased, the men in white were hovering above the man in black—who was now on the ground. Next to him was a bloody pocketknife along with a puddle of crimson that stained the asphalt.  

 

I gasped and for a split second, forgot that I was crouching under something much shorter than I was. In shock and fear, I accidentally bumped my head onto the slide, causing all the white men’s attention to shift to the playground.

 

“Did you hear that?” one of the white men asked suspiciously.

 

.

 

“Hear what? I didn’t hear anything. Let’s go. We’re done here,” another responded with irritation in his tone.

 

I let out a sigh of relief as I watched the men in white leave—one by one spitting down at the man in black—who seemed to be unconscious.

 

The pool of blood was growing larger and larger by the second, and I felt extremely afraid.

 

“…” I muttered under my breath as I carefully made my way over to him—making sure once again that the men in white completely were out of sight. 

 

His hand was placed over the wound—which was located a bit under his ribs. I grimaced, feeling a bit light headed at the sight of blood, as I kneeled down onto the ground next to him. Droplets of sweat were scattered all around on his forehead and his eyebrows were creased in pain.

 

“H-Hello?” I called out to him, realizing how afraid I sounded. “Are you okay, mister?” I lightly tapped him on the arm only to have silence in response. He was obviously unconscious.

 

I stood back up and began brainstorming. This man was way too tall in size compared to me to be carried, and I didn’t have my car with me. I couldn’t call the police, because what just occurred was gang violence. Knowing that gangs could easily track you down and seek revenge, I didn’t want to turn anyone in or be involved just for my own safety. Calling the ambulance would be no help as for now—the nearest hospital was about half an hour away. I had to get this man somewhere safe and have his wound be temporarily aided I could take him to hospital.

 

GiKwang!

 

Wait, no. GiKwang took extra night classes to help him get his doctors degree in college.

 

I groaned in frustration. The majority of my friends were probably busy studying for their college midterms. I had no one else to call for help…

 

But HimChan!

 

I quickly took out my phone and dialed HimChan’s number. The line rang on for a while, causing me to feel more and more anxious and nervous by the second.

 

“Pick up already damnit,” I cursed as I began frantically biting on my thumb.

 

“Hello? What’s up Nat? Sorry, I was in the shower,” HimChan’s warm voice finally rang out on the other line after what seemed like forever.

 

“HimChan, I have no time to explain. Can you please drive to CheongDam Park? —The one near my house? It’s an emergency! Please hurry!” I pleaded.

“Alright, it’s going to be okay. Calm down Nat. I’ll be there in five minutes,” he reassured before hanging up.

 

I turned back to the man lying on the ground, hoping that he would be able to sustain until help arrived. I placed a hand onto his forehead and checked his temperature.

 

He was burning up.

 

Please hurry HimChan…

 

 

I woke up to the sound of birds chirping. I rubbed my eyes open and checked the time. It was nine in the morning. I looked over to the find the man in black from yesterday, still sleeping soundly. HimChan helped me bandage his wound the night before, but he still wasn’t looking too good. His breath was heavy and slow, but consistent. 

 

His face was pale white.

 

I checked his temperature once again. It did not change.

 

Worried, I rushed into my kitchen and grabbed a bottle of antibiotics in my cabinet. I returned back to him only to realize that there was no way for him to drink it without taking his mask off.

 

“Forgive me for invading your privacy, but it’s for the sake of your life okay,” I whispered to him as if he was actually conscious and listening.

 

I slowly reached over and unhooked one side of the mask.

Before I could undo the other side, the man’s eyes shot open.