Tiffany put on her earphone and bury the buzz of city life in the background as she lulled herself along  Yozoh’s Tokyo Girl. Once her stop was near, Tiffany stood up and pressed the buzzer. She left the bus along with another guy, a younger guy. A college student probably, but they walked the opposite way once they got on the bus stop.

Her day ended late that day. It was way past midnight when it did. Tiffany was tired, but she told herself that she only needed to hold on for a few more days. Ten days at most, and then she will be fine. Her life would be fine. Boring, but no more hurting.

Tiffany took a deep breath and smiled.

A middle-aged man, still clad in his office suit, wobbled along the sidewalk. He was obviously drunk. Sometimes it scared her to come across such person, but he was just man, human like her. They all had their own problems and often chose to drown their sorrow in alcohol.

“Hey, you!”

Tiffany flinched as the middle-aged salaryman pointed at her. “What time is it? Why aren’t you home yet? Stop making your parents angry! Go home!”

“Ahjusshi, I’m going home!” Tiffany quickened her steps,slightly sliding to the side to keep the distance with the man.

“Go home!” The man grabbed her hand, forcing her to come with him.

“Ahjusshi! Let me go! I am going home!”

“Ahjusshi, she’s not your daughter. Let her go, okay?” A gentle voice scolded the man.

Tiffany looked up, and it was the guy from before who got off at the same stop as her. The college guy. He was tall and fair and had gentle features. He was wearing a grey hoodie, his hair long and tousled and his pants a pair of washed out jeans. He was holding onto the ahjusshi’s hand, stopping him from dragging Tiffany away with him.

“Who are you? Are you her boyfriend?! Kids these days are so rude! You should have send her home before-”

“I get it! Just let her go, okay?” The young guy slightly raised his voice, this time firmer and harder.

“You arrogant punk!” Tha ahjusshi hit the young guy in his head. Tiffany gasped. What do people usually do when they meet a violent drunkard? Should she hit him back? But the college guy seemed to be hesitating. He was sort of blocking the hit, but half-heartedly so as the older man kept hitting him.

“Ahjusshi, stop!” Tiffany yelled.

“Take this!” The ahjusshi gave him one last strike with a swing of his empty bottle, and it crushed into pieces as it made contact with the younger guy’s head.

Tiffany yelled her lungs out.

Tiffany and the young guy went to hospital straight away. The injury wasn’t too serious, thankfully, but it took a while for the nurse to completely clean glass shards from his head and he had to receive three stitches. After a while, the treatment ended with a bandage around his head. Tiffany felt gravely guilty for getting him hurt.

“Don’t worry. It’s not as bad as it looks,” he said flatly.

“We should make a police report,” Tiffany said, frowning in worry.

The guy sighed. “Nah, the old guy probably doesn’t even remember what he did.”

“I’m sorry… And thank you for helping me.”

“Don’t mention it.” He shrugged.

“Ah,” Tiffany pulled out her phone from her handbag and handed it to the guy, “give me your phone number, so I can properly repay you next time.”

“Nah. You don’t have to.” He casually waved his hand.

“No, I insist.” Tiffany smiled at him. For a second, the guy seemed like he was on a daze, but he lightly shook his head afterwards and obliged to Tiffany’s request.

“What’s your name?” Tiffany asked as he keyed in his phone number.

“Oh Sehun.”

“Sehun,” she nodded, “I’m Tiffany Hwang.”

“Tiffany,” Sehun repeated and nodded. He handed Tiffany’s phone back.

“You can just call me Fany.”

Sehun nodded, his expression was blank throughout their conversation. “Nice to meet you.”