chapter one

“Why exactly are we here again?”

“Why exactly am I explaining again?” Somin retorted. She rolled her eyes when Matthew pouted, but she smiled nonetheless. “We went to college together, remember?”

“Not good enough,” Matthew sighed. “There has to be a better reason.”

Somin hit him lightly with her purse, and then took his hand. “Let’s find one inside, then—it’s cold out here.”

As soon as the door opened, they were greeted immediately by the blasting music, and then by a tall figure that quickly moved aside to let them in. Lee Hongbin wasn’t one for heartfelt greetings, and commented, “I thought you two weren’t gonna show.”

“We weren’t—” Matthew started, only to be cut off when Somin elbowed him hard in the side.

“Why wouldn’t we?” Somin said quickly, throwing a glare at Matthew. “You took the time to invite us.”

Hongbin smiled at Somin, and she felt Matthew stiffen beside her. Before she could respond to either of them, another person entered the room. Heo Youngji had a way of breaking the tension, no matter the situation. “You two made it after all! Holy crap, it’s been a while, Somin!”

Somin’s eyes lit up. “Youngji! Congrats on the job! And wow, you look beautiful!” she said, pulling the older girl into a hug.

After they pulled apart, Youngji turned to Matthew. “Glad you could make it too. How’s work? Catch anyone new?” she asked, her smile mischievous.

At that, Matthew laughed, and Somin was grateful for how easygoing Youngji was. “That’s not how it works, Youngji . . . but it’s going fine.”

As they caught up on what happened in the years after college, Youngji led them into the interior of the house, where the many guests were already talking and eating, immersed in the party. When new guests arrived, Hongbin and Youngji excused themselves to welcome them in, leaving Matthew and Somin alone. Immediately, Somin him, crossing her arms over her chest. “You can’t be that serious, Matt.”

“I can’t help it,” Matthew said stubbornly. “I don’t like him.”

“He was our classmate.”

“He hurt you.”

Somin huffed, frustrated. “Even I’m over it, so why are you still not letting it go? We were all young, we were all idiots—”

“Being an idiot isn’t an excuse for driving drunk.” Matthew’s voice was low, hard, and Somin knew it was futile. Especially since he was now in the police force, he had seen too many instances of when drunk driving went horribly wrong, tainting his perception of Hongbin forever.

With a heavy sigh, she tried again, differently. “Okay, you don’t have to like him . . . Can you just accept him, just this one night?” Matthew was about to protest, but she spoke first. “For Youngji?”

He flattened his lips, and after a few seconds nodded. “Fine. Just today.”

“Thank you,” Somin said with a smile, and then she pulled him down by his shirt to peck him lightly on the cheek. “I need bigger heels,” she said, frowning, and Matthew laughed as he pulled her to him by her waist.

“I actually like how short you are.”

Somin gaped in mock outrage. “I’m not short, I’m average. You’re the one who’s freakishly tall, we went over this.”

“Okay, sure, I’m too tall,” he said to appease her, but he failed in suppressing his laughter.

Somin tried elbowing him again, but he held her too close for her to gather enough force. “I swear, you’re gonna pay when we get back—oh, .”

His smile faded. “What is it?”

She slapped a hand to her forehead. “We forgot the gift!”

Matthew relaxed when he realized it wasn’t something serious. “We can bring it another time,” he said lightly.

Somin shook her head. “No, it’s just in the car. I’ll be right back!”

Before she could leave, though, Matthew grabbed her wrist. “I’ll go get—” He cut himself off when he saw Hongbin approaching, and Somin looked uneasily between the two.

“Hey,” Hongbin said when he was close enough. “Can we . . . can we talk?” He looked directly at Matthew, but he was visibly nervous.

Somin used that as a cue to excuse herself. “I’ll be right back,” she said, using her other hand to free herself from Matthew’s grip. She turned, and dug through her purse for the keys as she walked away. After she walked out of the room, Matthew turned his attention to Hongbin.

“What do you want?” he asked, and then he remembered his deal with Somin. “To talk about,” he added.

Hongbin shifted his weight from one foot to another, averting his gaze from Matthew. “I know you still hold me accountable for that accident,” he said, getting straight to the point, and as unwilling as Matthew was to talk to him, he appreciated Hongbin’s directness.

“You’re right,” Matthew said coolly.

“I know I’ve said this before, but I will never stop being sorry about that. I . . . I was stupid—I ed up, and I fully regret what I did.” He looked up, but Matthew gave no reaction. “I don’t expect you to suddenly change your view of me, but at least today, can we act like we get along? I . . . Youngji was really looking forward to today.”

Damn him, Matthew thought. Hating Hongbin was easy, but Youngji had no relation to that accident, and she had a kind heart. She deserved better than Hongbin, but Matthew wasn’t about to tell her that to her face. Quickly pushing those thoughts from his head, he simply nodded. “This won’t last longer than today, though,” Matthew warned, but Hongbin smiled thankfully nonetheless.

Once Hongbin left, Matthew realized that Somin hadn’t come back yet. How long does it take to get to the car? His brow furrowed, he headed toward the front door to check, a pang of unease hitting him. The air outside was cold, but Matthew didn’t care enough to go back and get a jacket. It would only take a second to check where—she wasn’t there.

His eyes scanned the street in front of the house, and though he spotted their car, the lights of the car were off. There was no one near it either, no one walking toward the house. He felt his stomach churn unpleasantly, a nauseous feeling settling in his gut. He walked toward the car, hyperaware of his surroundings, and when he got closer he saw something near the passenger door that made his stomach drop.

The small, light gray purse was unmistakable. It was Somin’s.

Matthew’s training was the only thing that kept his mind focused. He quickly made his way to the car, and testing the handle, he realized that it had never been unlocked. He then walked around to the other side of the car and froze.

A man, seemingly in his early to mid thirties, was sitting slumped against the side of the car and bleeding heavily from the abdomen. The blood had spread all over the middle of his shirt, and there were streaks of what Matthew assumed was blood along the side of the car. Dropping to his knees, Matthew checked for the man’s breathing, and then tried to find a pulse.

“,” he breathed out when he realized the man was dead. His training told him to call backup—now—but then he remembered why he had come outside in the first place.

“Somin?” he called out, his volume at a normal speaking level, and when there was no response he called out again, louder. “Somin!”

“Matthew?” a voice called, and Matthew whipped around, but it wasn’t Somin—he should have recognized the voice. It was Youngji, standing on the steps in front of her house, and Matthew vaguely recalled that he hadn’t closed the door behind him. “Is everything okay?”

His voice came out steady, betraying none of the panic he felt inside. “I can’t find Somin.”

Youngji walked down the stairs onto the sidewalk. “Did she come out here? Are you sure she didn’t come back inside?”

Matthew ran a hand through his hair—his hands were shaking. “She didn’t—she would’ve come to me, if she came back.” When he saw Youngji coming closer, he remembered the man at his feet and quickly held up his hands to stop her. “Youngji, a man has been killed here. Call the police.” His voice was not as friendly as before; he had assumed a more professional tone, since it made it easier to deal with this. Youngji halted, her eyes widening almost comically, and then she nodded, disappearing into the house.

Matthew glanced around again, and then he saw something in the middle of the street a little ways away. As he approached it, he recognized the phone as Somin’s, and when he picked it up he noticed that the screen was cracked. It was still unlocked, though, in the phone app—it hadn’t been long, then, since her auto-lock feature was set to five minutes. In fact, with the time that had passed since he came outside, it would mean that she had still been there a minute before he came out.

A muffled sound caught his attention, and he turned his head toward the source. There was a small street two houses down that Matthew knew opened into a cul-de-sac, and it had no houses around it—people usually held picnics in the grass around it, enjoying the view of the lake. Uneasily, he walked toward that street. The sight that greeted him when he turned the corner made him freeze.

Somin was there, but she wasn’t alone. A man had his hand clamped over , his features concealed with a black baseball cap and facemask. He was gripping her by her hair, dragging her with him to the edge of the cul-de-sac, where a black car was parked.

“Somin,” Matthew whispered, unable to believe his eyes. It was a mistake—the man had heard him, and he spun around, turning Somin with him. Somin’s eyes widened in recognition, and she struggled harder, trying to make more noise.

Before Matthew could make a move, the man shoved Somin to the ground. However, he didn’t make a beeline for the car like Matthew expected—he reached behind him and pulled something out, and then grabbed Somin by the hair again. He brought his hand around her neck, and the object glinted in the faint light of the streetlamps.

“Don’t move closer,” the man said, his voice rough. “Or she dies.”

His own helplessness infuriating, Matthew slowly held his hands up and stood still. He could only watch as the man walked backward, pulling Somin back with him.

And then his heart broke as realization dawned on Somin’s face. “M-Matthew?” she called out, her voice sounding strangled. “Matthew, ple—” she cried out when the man yanked on her hair, and she shut her eyes tightly. Her face was shining as they passed a streetlamp, wet with tears, and Matthew clenched his hands into fists, tightly, resisting the urge to bring them down lest the man should hurt her.

He could only watch as the man shoved Somin into the car first, forcing her to climb over the center console to get to the passenger seat.

He could only watch as he drove away haphazardly with one hand, his other hand keeping the knife to her neck the whole time, and he could swear that despite the facemask, the man was smiling as he passed Matthew on the way out of the cul-de-sac. The car screeched as he speeded away, taking Somin with him.

Matthew lowered his hands slowly, and then ungracefully fell to his knees, breathing hard. The air was still cold, but he doubted that was the reason why he was trembling.

In the distance, he could hear the sound of sirens, growing louder as they approached.

hey guys! i just really, really love kard, so i had to start writing something :P this will be much darker than let me hug you harder, though ... hope you all still like it!

don't worry about me starting a new story and having too much to work on ... writing more than one story at a time has helped a lot with writer's block, so less worry about that obstacle lol