Author’s POV

“Thank you and please come again.” The young lady said as Jangmi stepped out of the café. A cup of Americano was in her grip and she took a sipped of it little by little.

  School just ended as usual that day and she has nothing better to do than taking a stroll in the town. She rarely goes out of her house so it was kind of awkward for her walking by herself. So she planned to call one of her friends to accompany her.

  Looking through her list of contacts, she decided to call someone that she thought she was most comfortable with; it was none other than her so-called partner in crime, Yulhee.

  Without wasting any time, she swept her thumb across the green icon while sipping her drink.

  By then, Yulhee answered, “Jangmi right? I almost pressed the red button because you hardly phone me... ”

  “Oh, did I? “ Jangmi asked in a childish manner because she did realize what her friend said was true.

  “You did! By the way, why’re calling out of the blue?” The girl from the other end of the line questioned.

  “Are you free? Because I was thinking of bringing you with me to the town today.”

  “Really? But I’m sorry; I couldn’t go because I’m going to my grandma’s house this evening.” Yulhee explained with an apologetic tone.

  Her friend was busy so Jangmi assured her that she was okay. With that, Jangmi ended the call. She went through the list again; there were around six people that she thought would be good to hang out with. Three of them were busy doing their science project, so they were disqualified.

  How about the class president? He was so kind to other students, but too much kindness would be uncomfortable.

 Ryubin and Hani?  No, they’re too loud to handle.

  So only one person left. The person’s name appeared on her phone screen but then she remembered; he was absent at school today and he must has a good reason to it.

  Aish, forget it. I’m going home. There’s nothing interesting here anyway. The girl thought and made her way home.

   To reach her destination, she had to walk pass a few buildings and the paths in between those buildings. On her way, there were a few guys that looked like some thugs sitting by the sidewalk. She didn’t like the way they were staring at her. She gulped hard and quickened her pace to get over them quickly.

  The cup of drink that she still hadn’t finish yet was held tighter as her hands trembled in fear. When she was twelve, she was traumatized when she saw an old woman was attacked by a snatch thief by the road. Until today, she still couldn’t get over it.  In silence, she prayed that something bad wouldn’t happen to her.

  Once she walked pass by them, she heard the sound of them standing up from where they were sitting. That only made her pace faster than it should be.

  What if I couldn’t get home safely today? Will I be okay? I could sense they’re following me. Should I run now?

  Negative thoughts started to pop up in her mind as her heartbeat raced rapidly.

  “Hey, school girl!” A guy with a deep voice shouted from behind.

  As soon as she heard those words, she started running for real as if it was an indication for her to do so. Unbelievably, she sprinted all the way to a place where she expected would be safe. She, herself didn’t know where she was heading to.

  “Are they gone now?” She looked behind while gasping for air.

  “Where am I?” She asked herself, scanning her surroundings. To her, it seemed like an abandoned alley and it gave her some sorts of bad vibe.

  Relax Shin Jangmi. It’s afternoon and there are people nearby. Nothing bad would happen. She reassured herself and started walking normally again. 

  Her right mind kept telling her to calm down but her whole being refused to do so. Her eyes were looking somewhere else and she wasn’t paying attention to the things that lay in her way.

  “Ew, look at those rats.” The girl cringed as she saw a few rats climbing up the building on her left.

  “It’s so quite here and mysteri- ouch!” Her sentence was cut off as she bumped into something. The cup that she was holding all the time fell and her forehead seemed to hit something hard. Despite the pain on her head, she was more concerned about her spilled drink on the concrete.

  “My coffee!” She bent down, picking up the empty cup and stared at it in sorrow. Jangmi was too focused crying over something petty that she didn’t notice the existence standing in front of her at all. Not until she caught a glimpse of the person’s existence a few centimetres away from her.

  Her eyes looked up to see who the person was and she gasped as soon she recognized the face.

  “Mark?!” She exclaimed and threw the cup away. Her hands went up to touch his cheeks so she could have a better view before saying his name out loud. “Mark, you’re here!” She was surprised at first but then she was feeling glad.

  For one last time, she scanned the guy from head to toe. “Why’re you wearing the school uniform? – you didn’t attend to school anyway- wait, are you skipping school intentionally?!”

  On the other hand, the guy mentioned tends to give her no reaction at all. There wasn’t any hint that he was going to reply. Jangmi suddenly felt uncomfortable as he was staring at her with no expression, thus she dropped her hands down and lowered her gaze.

  She didn’t know where the uneasy came from but she had gone through this several times before. The real question was, why did she felt like he was sometimes looked unsettled with everything around him? It was hard to predict what was going through his mind.

  They let a few seconds went by until Jangmi gained her courage again. Looking up to meet his eyes, she carefully asked, “Did.. something happened to you t-today?”

  Instead of giving her an answer, he threw her a question which she didn’t expect from him, “ Remember when you visit my house a few days ago, that time when you fo