The goodbye had been awkward, with Hana nodding and Jaejoong’s rare smile. But on the bus, Hana found herself thinking back to Jaejoong. How she wished she had someone there to protect her as well. She was sick of being so alone, but she had no other choice. She had no other option.

“Excuse me,” An elderly woman said, passing by to sit on the seat opposite of Hana. Hana looked away, refusing to make contact with anybody. This was her world. This was how she lived.

And likewise, the rest of her afternoon ended in a blur, much like most of her life since the incident years ago.

As she settled into her bed, embracing the warmth of her sheets, she didn’t know that tomorrow was to bring a shocking wake up to her orderly life. But for once, she was sleeping in peace…

It was certainly a rude awakening when the black suited man kicked her window open and entered without her permission. Hana didn’t have time to hesitate; she flew from her bed and immediately started running. This had been what she knew was coming. She had, unconsciously, been waiting for this day. The day when they came to finish her off.

But she instinctively ran. She instinctively ran as far away as possible.

She had no time to collect her glasses. She had no time pack some clothes, or even get her money savings. She just ran.

Out in the hallway, she froze momentarily at the corpse of the Housemother, laid silently near her windowsill, with crimson red smeared across her white apron.

She didn’t have time to pay her respects, as other suited men started running at her from the living room.

She didn’t have time. She couldn’t afford to think this through. Hana ran, climbed onto the windowsill, almost to tears as she looked into the empty eyes of the housemother.

She tried not to think about whether all the other people living in this apartment were killed in their sleep, and she jumped.

It was a long fall, and Hana didn’t think much as she looked up at the suited man staring down at her. From their eyes, she was reminded of the crazy look the monster she had met several years ago had given her.

It was hard to imagine that at this moment, she didn’t even have the mind to scream. The thud of her crash to the ground didn’t shock her, and she immediately stood back up to run. Pain, for the moment, was numb on her.

She ran, and ran, and ran. In a moment’s time, she looked up and realized she was a place she’s never been before. It was a strange street named “Oak” where everybody walking up and down the street seemed to be talking on their bluetooths.

 Nobody acknowledged her presence. Slowly, she slid her way into the crowd, disappearing amongst the sea of bodies.

It wasn’t until she reached a small bar in a dark alleyway that she stopped to examine herself.

Surprisingly, other than a severely scraped pair of legs and arms, the rest of her was intact. How she survived such a long fall, she didn’t know, and at the moment, nor did she care.

“Hey, you’re the girl on the TV aren’t you?” A drunkard slurred as he shoved a beer in her face. “Drink with me, will ya?” He asked, just before he fainted onto the ground.

“TV?” Hana gasped, grabbing the beer and running into the bar. Once inside, she chose a spot near the end of the bar, where she would be hidden by the dim lighting.

And there, she saw it. Her eyes were glued onto the screen of the small TV screen as she realized the pale girl on the screen was none other than herself.

On TV, her eyes were glowering at Jaejoong’s bully, right before she brought out her gun. She watched silently as her TV self brought out the gun and pointed it at the bully. Even though she was watching herself, she almost got scared at how poisonous her gaze seemed.

But it was the headline that caught her by surprise the most.

Right smack in front of a picture of her shoulder being grasped by Jaejoong was a row of words that said: “THE TWO MISERABLE PAIR? THE CLOSET BOY AND THE GIRL WITH NO PARENTS ARE DATING!”

And beneath that headline was her full portfolio. So that’s how they found her. 

~~~~~ 

Short chapter :P 

- ICEDCOFFEE