Ah-Hyun slowly cracked her eyes open, waking up the day after the attack had occurred. She looked at her Tiffany & Co. watch. It was almost night. Alarmed, she immediately picked up her phone and saw over twenty messages and missed calls. Her relatives must have been worried sick. She was outside exploring the city the day before, and she promised her aunt that she would be back to her apartment by nightfall. She quickly called her, and through all of her aunt’s yelling, managed to say that she was safe and that there were extenuating circumstances.

“I’m sorry. Please don't worry about me— I’ll be back soon.”

When her aunt finally hung up, Ah-Hyun looked around the room. She was wrapped in soft blankets and there was a pillow underneath her, which she did not remember from the night before. Jungkook tucked me in after I passed out last night, Ah-Hyun thought. Jungkook was nowhere in sight, but he had left a note on his desk. It was written in English, albeit rather broken English.

“I practising dance.

news says they catch women yesterday therefor no worry.

그쪽 좀 어리버리하신 것 같아서 무슨 일 있으면 연락하실 수 있게 전화번호 적어났습니다.”

She couldn’t read the Korean in his message, but underneath the Korean line was a phone number, so she assumed that he left his number in case she needed him. She folded the note and slipped it in her pocket. Slipping her shoes on and grabbing her backpack, she walked out of the room. Down the hallways, she looked into the various rooms and saw trainees dancing, singing, and socializing. She passed by a dance studio where she saw Jungkook sitting on the floor by himself drinking water.

“Jungkook-ssi,” Ah-Hyun said, walking into the room. “What have you been up to?”

Jungkook was a little irked by the way she called him by his name when she did not know if he was older than her. But two could play at that game.


“Ah-Hyun-ssi,” Jungkook echoed. “Did you just wake up? I just got done with my dance practice for the day.”

“Yeah, I did. Look, um, I would feel safer if you could bring me back to where I live, just at least until my subway station,” Ah-Hyun said.

“What are you scared of? They caught the person yesterday,” Jungkook said, leaning back on his hands with his eyebrows furrowed.

“I— yeah but still.”

“Do you not know how to get back to your own house?” Jungkook asked. “Using the easiest-to-use subway system on the planet?”

“Hey! You only think it’s easy because you’ve lived here your entire life,” Ah-Hyun said, indignant. “My subway stop is, um, Yong-dong pyo station.”

“Yong dong pyo?” Jungkook asked with a smirk.. “You mean Yeongdeungpo? Next to the market?”

“Yes, shut up. That’s the one. Can you please take me there?”

“So that’s why you were walking down this street so late at night. You were lost,” Jungkook said. “I missed practice yesterday so it would be really bad if I left early again today. Are you sure you can’t get there by yourself?”

“I really can’t. I’ll make it up to you. How much money do you want?” She took out a designer wallet out of her bag. “Please,” she said.

Jungkook looked at her and felt strong pity toward the girl, whose expression and wilted posture told him that she was both lost and scared. He stood up. “I don’t need or want your money. Let’s go,” he said as he clasped her wallet shut and walked out of the dance studio.

They walked to the nearest subway station. “All the stations are also labeled in English here,” he said as he pointed to a map. “They’re at every station." When they got on a train, he also pointed out, “Never ride the trains labelled 'Express.' They only go to main city stops and they skip all the stations in between.” He looked at the girl, who was listening to him intently. She was long and thin with flowing black hair. She was attractive, and she would fit right in when she visited Korea.

As the train made a stop, Ah-Hyun looked out the door and saw an entrance labelled “Mall.”

“What is that?” Ah-Hyun said.

“That’s a huge shopping mall that’s connected to the subway stations. You probably don’t have these in America.”

“Can we go in?” Ah-Hyun said as she motioned her hands at the entrance.

“I really have to get back to practicing soon,” Jungkook protested.

“Please? I’ll never be able to get here by myself. I can buy you something.”

Jungkook looked at the face of a girl who probably never had to work a day in her life and probably didn’t respect the fact that he had to work. On top of that, she thought she could buy his time. This is the thanks he got after he saved her life. Then he thought about how he ran off from his entertainment company the day before and reason he did. He didn't want to go back so soon.

“What the heck, let’s go. You better buy me something nice,” Jungkook said. Jumping up and down, she grabbed Jungkook’s arm and raced toward the store.

Ah-Hyun walked along the glossy paths of the store, occasionally picking up purses and coats to inspect them, putting the ones she liked in her shopping basket. Jungkook noticed that she did not check the price tags on any of the items. Money was not a limiting factor for her. They walked upstairs and Ah-Hyun spotted the makeup section of the glossy store. Walking to a kiosk, Ah-Hyun asked the employee, “What make up is trending in Korea right now?”

“Right now, it’s just simple black eyeliner. Would you like to try a sample?” The employee said. Ah-Hyun took the sample stick and drew on the edges of her eyes.

“I heard cat-eyeliner is in right now, see if it looks good— HEY!” Ah-Hyun was interrupted when a girl bumped into her, making the makeup smear across her face and her clothes.

Mina regained her balance, saying, “I’m so sorry! Some guy just ran past and shoved me!”

With her hands outstretched and a look of dramatic shock on her face, she said angrily, “My shirt! I loved this shirt! Is this eyeliner staining?” Ah-Hyun asked the employee. She looked in the mirror and gaped as she looked at her face. “Can you watch where you’re going?” She asked Mina in rage.

Yooeun approached them. “Hey, what’s going on?” He said as he stood next to Mina. Another person running toward the exit ran past Ah-Hyun, shoving her aside.

“Woah woah!” Jungkook said as he helped Ah-Hyun from falling down. At that moment, someone else ran into Jungkook, hitting his shoulders. “Why is everyone running?”

Jungkook looked at Mina. It looked like Mina, but could it be her? She became so much prettier, somehow looked so much more innocent than she last remembered, with shiny beautiful hair running down her shoulders. It had been years since he had seen her. He saw that she was looking at her too, as though she recognized him.


More people ran past them now, and they all looked scared. Could it be a fire? The mall on a Friday night was packed. Crowds of people began to flow in one direction as if they were running away from something. Mina, Yooeun, Jungkook and Ah-Hyun could see one figure far away that everybody was running from. It was a man firmly grasping the leg of someone collapsed on the floor. They could barely make out the situation because there were so many people blocking their field of vision, but they could see his head tilting to the side like he was in a trance. Those from the crowd who tried to intervene and save the victim was grabbed by the man, who wouldn’t let go until he tore off their skin. With blood streaming down their bodies, they ran for their lives.

The man took the leg, which, when he picked it up from the floor, they could tell was now torn from the body. He chewed bits of flesh off of it. That was when they started to run. Mina tightly clung to Yooeun to avoid getting seperated in the chaos. 

Mina looked back and saw Jungkook trip and fall to the ground. Crowds of people relentlessly stepped over him and he was unable to get back up. “Wait!” Mina said to Yooeun. “My friend is in trouble.” She saw Ah-Hyun desperately grabbing onto a railing, trying to go back to save Jungkook. But the incoming tide of people kept pushing her back. How would Mina walk opposite the crowd? She thought for a moment.

She stretched out her arms in front of her, tilted her head to the side a little, and snarled loudly as she swiped at the approaching people. Terrified that she too might attack them, the people instantly ran around her, creating a wide path for her. She walked toward Jungkook, taking care to seem as crazed as possible. Biblically parting the sea, she made her way toward him and helped him up.

Jungkook linked his arms with Mina and Ah-Hyun, and Yooeun followed them out. With all the shoving and pushing that the people around them were doing, the four of them held each other tightly as they sprinted out of the mall and into the open air.