Dara walked up the stairs at the subway entrance. It was already half past ten and pitch-black dark outside. She shuddered a little from the cold, wishing that she had brought her jacket with her. 

When she neared the street, she stiffened and stopped in her tracks. 

A group of young men were walking towards her and she had noticed that one of them was the man who had caused a ruckus earlier at the maid cafe. The man's followers looked beat up; there were numerous bruises and bloody scrapes on their arms and faces. One of them appeared to have broken his nose, which was slightly crooked at the middle.

Dara warily stood and narrowed her eyes at them. She clenched her fist, ready to fight if she had to. She was baffled when the group took no notice of her and walked past her without a single glance.

"What are you doing out so late, Dara-sshi?" The leader suddenly spoke, breaking the silence. He turned back to her with a curious look on his face. "It's dangerous for young girls to be out this late, sweetheart."

"None of your business." Dara said icily. "And don't call me that. It's disgusting."

Amused chuckles came from the group while the leader looked mildly surprised. 

"I never knew you could be this cold, Dara-sshi. I'm so used to seeing your submissive side as a maid." A smirk formed on his lips. "But I think I prefer this side of yours better. It's feisty."

"Like I give a damn about which side you prefer." Dara scoffed. The leader's smile widened at her reply.

"Sweetheart, you're my ideal type of woman. y and fierce with a touch of innocence as a bonus. You should leave that blonde boyfriend of yours and come to me instead.. I'll treat you right." He winked. "Speaking of which, your boyfriend did put up quite a fight earlier. Even though we outnumbered him, he managed to stay conscious for a while."

One of his men winced and gingerly touched his broken nose. Dara's blood ran cold at the man's words. 

Jiyong...

"What did you do to him?" She said in a low voice. 

"See for yourself." The leader pointed his finger backwards at the shadows between the buildings. "You should be grateful that we didn't get him while you were still with him. He's-"

"Yongguk." One of the men said warningly. "We need to go."

Police sirens had begun to wail from a distance, not escaping the attention of the gang. They had broken into a house earlier and there was no doubt that the policemen in the area would be searching for the culprits tonight. 

The leader raised an eyebrow at the sound of the sirens, having now just heard them. He sighed and looked at Dara, who was still glaring at him with a look of pure hatred on her face. 

"Well, I'd love to stay and chat, but it's about time we get outta here." Yongguk said. "I'm sure we'll see each other real soon...Dara."

He sprinted off into a forest path next to the street with his men closely following him from behind. As soon as they were out of sight, Dara rushed over to the dark end of the street and peered through the alleyway.

"Kwon Jiyong!" She called out loudly. Her eyebrows furrowed with worry when there was no answer. Dara felt confused as to why she felt so worried, when in fact she hated the guy with a mighty passion. Why did she feel so helpless and scared?

A mental image of the broken body of Jiyong came into Dara's mind. She felt shaken but shook the thought off and continue to search for him in the dark.

"Kwon! Answer me, you idiot!"

Suddenly, a strong gust of wind blew into her face, making her contact lenses contract and pop out. Dara cursed and rubbed at her eyes. Everything was a blur; she couldn't see anything clearly at all without them, which left her extremely vulnerable.

Squinting at the darkness, she tried to look for a lifeless body