I sit on the edge of a roof, several stories above the ground, looking out over the streets of Busan. The wind blows my hair furiously around my face, but I make no move to brush the strands away. Tears sting my eyes as I remember back to that one fateful day. The day that changed my life forever...

- Three Years Earlier -

    I slung my bag over my shoulder and headed for the exit of the drug store, suppressing a yawn. It had been a long day. 

    “See you tomorrow, Hero,” I said, waving to the young man taking my place behind the counter.

    He hummed nonchalantly, pulling out a manga. “See ya.”

    Stepping out into the cold midnight air, I pulled my coat tightly around my shoulders and headed straight for my car. My breath fogged up in clouds before my eyes as I fumbled with the keys, quickly sliding behind the wheel and dumping my bag in the passenger’s seat. Slamming the door shut, I rubbed my eyes, resisting the urge to fall asleep right there in the parking lot. When I finally gathered enough energy to pull my seatbelt on, I turned my body and froze. 

    Sitting in the shadows, I could just make out the dark silhouettes of two black hummers.

    This wouldn’t have bothered me if it hadn’t been for a notice on the news recently. A group of violent gang members were wanted for a series of fatal robberies, and rumor was they were driving two black hummers. I felt a pang of fear shoot through my body as I stared at the cars. Every instinct within me screamed to hurry up and drive away, but my limbs were locked in place.

    Suddenly, the front door of one of the hummers swung open. Six figures emerged stealthily into the open and I choked out a gasp. Ducking down in my seat, I was fairly sure I had no choice but to lie low and pray they wouldn’t notice me.

    The figures made their way stealthily towards the entrance of the store, and I raised my head an inch, following them with fearful eyes. Black masks hid their faces, but it wasn’t rocket science to figure out this was most definitely the wanted gang. With bated breath I watched them reach the glass door. Inside, Hero sat obliviously behind the counter, flipping through his magna, a look of utter boredom on his face. My stomach dropped, and I wondered if I should sound the horn to get my coworker’s attention, but one of the masked figures suddenly raised his arm.

    Another pulled out a case and opened it, revealing several black guns, and I watched in horror as they each grabbed one. There was a fleeting moment of silence in which my frantic heartbeat thumped loudly in my ears. Then they burst into the store, shooting up into the air. The harsh bangs reverberated through the night, sending nausea crashing through me like a tidal wave.

    I looked on as four of them grabbed a stunned Hero and threw him onto the ground, holding him still and pointing their guns at his head. The poor guy was shuddering, raising his hands above his head and looking around frantically. While they terrorized Hero, the other two worked on the cash register until it slid open. They motioned to the others and were thrown a sack. 

    As they cleared the register of its contents, I held my breath, flashing my eyes back to Hero. I wondered if they would kill him. As if in response to my thoughts, a single gunshot rang out and I bit back a scream.

    In a normal setting, sirens would have already been blaring their way towards the source of shooting, but here, far past the outskirts of the city, we were very much alone.

    Hero fell limp against the ground, and I could just see the pool of blood forming against the white tiles. I had never been close with him–I only ever saw him at work–but the sight still made me sick. He had a family, he had friends, he had a life–and now it had been taken from him. Hands shaking, I reached up to cover my horror-struck face, but an erratic spasm in my muscles sent my arm flying against the car horn. 

    The masked men froze and as one turned to face the source of the blare. My heart nearly stopped as I realized they had seen not only my car, but me as well. Reaching over to my bag, I fumbled in a clumsy frenzy to find my phone, but my fingers refused to cooperate. With a fresh wave of panic, I saw them flash looks at each other before one of them stalked to the door and flung it open. Walking up directly in front of the driver’s seat, he stood still, gun in hand, staring at me.

    Shrinking down, I stared back, unable to see anything other than his piercing, seemingly black eyes. I could not scream, nor did I want to, for fear he would turn the gun on me. As the seconds drew out, his gaze hardened, and I saw his gun hand twitch. My eyes widened and my hands shot up to my mouth; tears filled my eyes as I wondered if the last moments of my life would be spent looking down the barrel of a gun. 

    He lifted his arm, pointing the gun directly between my eyes, and I squeezed them shut, unable to move, unable to breathe.

    “Daehyun!!”

    I couldn’t help the startled, strangled sob that erupted from my throat. The gunman dropped his arm and we both turned to see another masked figure standing at the store’s entrance. Tears flowed down my face as I fell limply against the car window–I was still alive. The man at the entrance walked towards the gunman briskly, grabbing the weapon from him.

    “What are you doing?” he demanded, grabbing his friend’s (Daehyun, I think.) arm.

    Daehyun jerked away. “I’m doing what’s necessary,” he snapped, lunging for the gun, but the other kept it out of reach.

    “What makes you think this is necessary?”

    Throwing his arm out to the side, Daehyun scoffed. “We just shot that kid point blank.” He gestured incredulously. “What’s different about this?”

    “Go back,” the other said levelly. “I’ll deal with this.”

    “Bang-“

    “I said go.”

    With an angry sigh, Daehyun brushed past and kicked the store door open, some of the glass cracking as it made impact with his foot. I shuddered and inched my hand to the car door, pressing the lock button–not that I thought it would protect me. 

    The masked man gazed at me for a moment before walking around to the window. Shying away, I once again slipped my hand into my bag. Where the hell was that phone? The man rapped twice on the glass.

    “Open up.” His calm, almost indifferent voice made me squint up at him, but I was met with nothing more than another pair of dark, sparkling eyes.

    When I didn’t respond, he knocked again. “Open the door.”

    With a minuscule shake of my head, I felt a rush of relief when my fingers closed around the cold exterior of my cell phone. Now if I could just find a way to dial the police. 

    The man finally grew tired of my stubbornness. Raising his arm, he brought the gun’s handle down violently against the window, shattering it. I screamed, cowering against a light spray of shards. He reached in and popped up the lock, opening the door and grabbing me. With ease he dragged me out of the car, and as much as I fought, I could not free myself.

    “Calm down!” he shouted, shaking me rigorously. “I’m not going to hurt you!”

    “Liar!” I shrieked. “Liar! You killed Hero! You killed him!!”

    “I-“

    “Let me go! Let me go! You monster!”

    He raised his free arm and dropped the gun. “Look!” he shouted over me. “Look! I dropped the gun! I’m not going to hurt you!”

    Refusing to hear his words, I continued to fight, wrenching my arm to and fro and throwing kicks in his direction. He grunted in frustration and reached for my shoulder, pinching a nerve I didn’t know existed, and I cried out in pain, falling limp against the pavement. Shoulder throbbing, I glared up at him, still tugging my arm slightly.

    By now the rest of the group had emptied the store of anything valuable–which wasn’t much–and convened around us. Six pairs of eyes stared down at me, and I felt my anger transform back into fear. What would happen now? I was at the mercy of six wanted criminals. They could say they wouldn’t hurt me all they wanted, I knew I was still helplessly in danger.

    “Bang, what are you doing?” The tallest man turned his head towards my captor.

    “Yeah, what the hell? Just shoot her and be done with it,” another muttered.

    “No.” Bang–I assumed was his name–held up his hand. “I’m not going to kill her.”

    There was a pause, and as I clutched my still throbbing shoulder, I let myself look around at the group. With their masks on, all six of them looked similar, varying only in height. Each of them had a gun in their hand and a hard look in their eyes; even hidden by the masks, I could see the hard lines of violence etched on their faces.

    “Justify that.” Daehyun’s harsh tone broke the silence. “How can you spare this one when you just had the other killed?”

    “I didn’t order you to shoot him,” Bang replied coldly, to which Daehyun stiffened. “You shot him on your own accord.”

    “You would have ordered it anyways.”

    “And if I hadn’t?” Bang let his words hang in the air for a moment before speaking again. “I don’t need a reason to shoot someone, and I don’t need a reason not to shoot someone. I say we won’t hurt this one, and that’s the way things are. Understood?”

    The others grumbled and muttered. It was clear this was very uncharacteristic of Bang, and I sat there with bated breath. I was scared, angry, and confused; the feel of my phone against my arm, hidden beneath my sweater, comforted me only slightly. Maybe when they weren’t looking, I could call for help.

    “So…” the shortest one mumbled, “if we aren’t shooting her…what are we doing with her?”

    Bang looked down at me. Mustering up the most disgusted, hateful glare I could, I stared back. With a low, infuriating chuckle, he pulled me to my feet and let go of my arm. Almost immediately, the others moved so I had no escape from the circle.

    “You’re a sick monster,” I hissed, spitting at Bang’s feet.

    “I don’t understand,” he replied, in a voice that said quite the opposite. “I’m sparing your life. You should be grateful.”

    “Grateful?!” I growled through gritted teeth. “The only thing I should be grateful for is now the police have a witness.”

    To my great anger and annoyance, a low ripple of laughter filtered through the group.

    “Ah, you see…” Bang began, crossing his arms. “We won’t be letting you go free.”

    My eyes slowly widened in realization.

    “Do you really think I’d just let you waltz away after what you saw?” His eyes sparkled.

    “No,” I whimpered, my blood going cold. “No, you can’t-“

    “I’m sorry, darling,” Bang hummed, “but you’ll be coming with us.”

    “No!” 

    With a sudden rush of anger-fueled energy, I turned and forced my way through the barrier of black-clad men, knocking two of them aside. My legs took on a mind of their own, turning faster than they’d ever gone before, steering me away from the group. Their shouts drifted after me, but I didn’t look back, focusing all my energy to running as far away from the as possible. 

    Digging into my sleeve, I pulled out my phone and frantically tapped in the emergency number. 

    “Help!” I screamed between heavy breaths, “Help! Wanted! Criminals! Coming for me!” 

    A stitch formed in my side, but I ignored it, gritting my teeth. I could hear a woman’s voice speaking on the other side, but I couldn’t make out her words. 

    “Help!” I cried again, turning a corner onto the main road, which was, to my dismay, empty. It would be, at one in the morning–it wasn’t exactly a busy ‘main road’. “HELP!!”

    Suddenly, the phone shot out from my grip and scattered across the asphalt, shattering as it hit the ground. An iron grip closed around arm and spun me around until I was face to face with two familiar, stone cold black eyes. Daehyun growled deep in his throat and harshly twisted me until I was hoisted over his shoulder. 

    I screamed. Pounding on his back, I shouted out desperately into the night as he ran back towards the parking lot. Just as we reached the store, the sound of sirens filled the distant air, each second growing louder.

    “.” Daehyun threw me down before Bang and the others.

    “They tracked the call!” one shouted.

    “Get back in there and deal with the body! The security tapes, too,” Band ordered, and three of them darted back into the store. Turning to the other two, Bang clenched his jaw.

    “Knock her out.”

    The last thing I remembered was a cloth being forced over my nose and mouth, filling my head with a nauseating sensation. The world spun, and Bang suddenly seemed to be hanging off the earth, his frown most definitely not turning upside down. Then the blackness overtook me, transporting me rapidly into an empty void of dark, dreamless sleep.