She knew it had been too good to last.

As her father’s apartment building loomed up in front of her, she felt icy dread flow through her. She could barely feel her father’s iron like grip around her wrist as he dragged her closer to her own personal hell. She wanted to scream. To cry. To pull her arm free and run without looking back. But her father’s words to her when he had once again appeared at her university ran through her head.

“If you run, I will hunt down Min Yoongi.”

She had frozen on the spot when Yoongi’s name had left her father’s mouth. She had no idea how he had found out about Yoongi, but the thought of her father confronting him, and possibly hurting him, had been too much for her to comprehend. She had obediently followed him from her university, her body numb, each step feeling heavier than the last. The closer to his apartment she got, the slower her steps had become. That’s when he had grabbed her wrist and started dragging her behind him.

As he pulled her through the building’s entrance towards the elevator, she took a look over her shoulder as the doors closed behind her, almost symbolic of the door of her freedom and happiness slamming shut. She was roughly pulled into the elevator, the metal door clanging shut. She risked a side glance at her dad, but he just looked straight forward, his grip still tight on her wrist. The beep sounding their arrival sounded like a gunshot in the silence. Her hands began to shake as the front door of the apartment came into view.

Her dad unlocked the door and roughly pushed her inside, finally releasing his grip on her wrist. She spun around to face him as he locked the door behind them, slipping the key into his trouser pocket. She opened to speak, but the words died on her lips as he took a step closer to her and ripped her bag away from her, throwing it behind him. She closed her eyes, anticipating what was going to happen. Her hands balled into fists as she bit her lip to keep her cries to minimum as the first strike landed. She crashed to the floor, knocking over two empty alcohol bottles that were on the floor. She knew from his silence that she was in for a long day…

Yoongi arrived back at his apartment and was surprised to find it in darkness, which was unusual as Hyori normally arrived home before him. He called her name and checked her room, but she wasn’t there. He pouted slightly as he took his phone out of his pocket to call her. He tapped his foot impatiently as he waited for her to answer. When his call was forwarded to voicemail, he hung up.

He flopped onto the couch and checked his texts and Kakao messages to make sure he hadn’t missed any messages from her. It wasn’t unusual for her to stay late at the library and for him to have to pick her up when he finished work, but she always messaged him to let him know where she was. He checked the time, he noticed that there was only half an hour left before the library closed. He deliberated for a minute before heading back down to his car.

He drove to the library, half expecting her to call him any minute saying that she had just forgotten to text him and that she was at the library working on a project. He arrived at the library five minutes before it was due to close. He took a spot right by the door, so that she wouldn’t miss him when she left. Twenty minutes later and Yoongi spotted the librarian locking up the doors. He quickly exited the car and jogged up to him.

“Excuse me, is the library definitely empty?” he asked, catching the elderly man by surprise. “Yes it is. I just finished checking all of the rooms. There’s definitely no one left inside. Are you waiting for someone?” he asked curiously. Yoongi shook his head. “It’s ok. I must have just missed her. Thank you.” He gave the elderly man a quick bow before heading back to his car, his phone once again pressed against his ear as he called her, her phone once again ringing endlessly.

When the monotone voice of the voicemail kicked in again he ended the call, a curse making its way out of his mouth. He quickly called Jin, hoping that she had contacted the older man. “Hey Yoongi.” His friend greeted, his voice tired from a busy day at the hospital. "Jin, have you heard from Hyori today?” he asked as he pulled on his seatbelt, his nerves on edge. “Not since this morning. Is everything ok?” he asked, picking up on the tone of Yoongi’s voice.

“I don’t know.” He admitted, running his hand through his hair. “I’m probably just being paranoid but Hyori isn’t at home and she’s not at the library either. She isn’t answering any of my calls or texts.” He said as he scanned the surrounding area, hoping that he would spot her. “I’m sure she’s fine. She’s probably just with friends and left her phone on silent after her lecture.” Jin said, trying to reassure his younger friend. He understood why he was so worried. If he was in Yoongi’s shoes he would be the same. Especially with the knowledge he had about her life before they met.

“Go home. She might already be there. I’ll try and call her, ok?” Yoongi nodded jerkily. “Yeah, ok.” He hung up, thoughts of being polite the furthest thing from his mind. He threw his phone onto the passenger seat and tore out of the car park, speeding the whole way back to his apartment. When he arrived back home, there was still no sign of Hyori at the apartment. He paced the length of the living room, a million thoughts racing through his head.

Almost an hour (and several calls later) his phone beeped with a message. He lifted his phone, expecting the message to be from Jin, but instead Hyori's number appeared on his screen. He quickly opened the message. “I think it’s better if we don’t see each other for a while. Please don’t call me.” He stared down at his phone in disbelief. “What the ?” he pressed the call button, his call immediately diverting to the voicemail service. He let out a long string of curses and called Jin, asking him to call her to see if only his number had been blocked. Jin tried to call her but his call was also diverted straight to voicemail.

Yoongi sat on the couch, his shirt slightly ed as he stared down at the message. “What is going on?” he asked himself as his mind thought back over every conversation they had had recently. It had been two weeks since he had confessed to her and they had started dating, he thought everything had been going well. After he had confronted her about her father and kissed her, they had decided to date properly. His schedule kept him quite busy, but they managed to eat dinner together almost every night. They had even managed to fit in a couple of real dates around his schedule. She had managed to persuade him to visit an amusement park. They hadn’t done much more than kiss, so he was certain that he hadn’t rushed her. But the more he thought about it, the more he began to doubt himself.

He was older than her. And he had taken her into his home. Had she felt pressured by his advances? Had she felt like she had to reciprocate his feelings because he let her stay in his apartment? He ran his hands through his hair, tugging on the silver strands. He sat on the couch, his mind racing until sleep finally claimed him. He hoped that he would be able to meet Hyori in his dreams and ask her for answers.

Hyori lay in her bed, her tears long since dried down her face. The lock on her door had been broken and the handle removed so she had no way to lock the door. She curled up into a ball, wincing at the pain caused by the simple movements. She had heard her phone ring several times from her father’s room since she arrived, she knew that Yoongi must be worried about her. She checked the time on her alarm clock. 3:04 AM. Part of her longed for sleep. To slip into the blissful painlessness of her subconscious, but every time she felt herself close to sleep, one of her many injuries would remind her of its presence and she would wake up again.

She was too afraid to go to the kitchen for some painkillers, or even for a glass of water to soothe which was dry and aching from screaming and crying so much. A small sob made its way from her body as she thought back to the night before when Yoongi had held her so lovingly in his arms as they curled up together on the couch. How could her life have changed so drastically in just twenty-four hours?

She briefly considered trying to sneak out, but her father’s loud snore from the living room quickly killed that idea. He had passed out in the living room, only after locking her phone, wallet and bag in his bedroom where she couldn’t get to them. The key for the door still in his pocket. She lay awake for the rest of the night, desperate for sleep which never came.