She wasn’t sure what she was thinking, getting in some strange guy’s car. Believe me, he had said, opening the passenger door for her.

If she hadn’t been panicking, if she hadn’t run away, if she hadn’t killed someone she would have never even spared him a look. Hyuna knew better. The circumstances had changed drastically, however, for the blood-stained girl, and that odd sense of security and confidence that underlined the young man’s words drew her hopefully into the vehicle.

The first thing she had noticed about her riding companion was his bruises, his cuts, his own scars that she was sure mimicked how he felt on the inside. Hyuna wondered to herself as the car slowed down for a red light whether or not Hui was in as difficult of a situation as hers, and that, perhaps, she wondered, maybe she just jumped into a situation crazier than what waited for her back at the shop. That’s when her situation came flooding back to her.

The shop.

Hyuna had left the shop.

She just ran away from a crime scene.

Her heart raced as her mind left the car and sprinted back to the reddened floor. Hyuna placed a palm over her chest and attempted to cover the noise of her beating heart that she was sure the young man could hear. He’d know right away, she thought, he probably smelled the murder on me as soon as he opened the door.

Hyuna was now a murderer.

“Want to tell me what’s got you painted in blood?” Hui’s voice cut her attention, causing Hyuna's head to whip around and face him. She stared wide-eyed, lips trembling.

“W-what?” She choked, looking away from his gaze and out the window. “S-stop the car. I can’t be in here—this isn’t what I wanted. I need to save him.” She jiggled the door handle in an attempt to leave, but couldn’t beat the lock as the stranger kept her inside.

“Well, you’re definitely not getting out now that the light is green.” Hui chuckled in a way that was oddly too calm for Hyuna's tastes.

Murderer. You’ll be prosecuted as soon as someone comes looking. Because you left.

“Stop it!” Hyuna spoke aloud, acknowledging both her thoughts and her driver.

“Fine, look, I’ll unlock the door if you tell me what "wasn’t what you wanted."” He used his free hand to make air quotes.

Hyuna turned from the window and looked slowly at the young boy. For a second she noticed a slight sense of concern lining the eyes of his hardened face. Despite the dangerous persona he embodied, she could tell that there was something deep within him—something determined to soothe her frenzy.

“I-I wanted a less boring life.” Hyuna sat back in her seat and let the car carry her as she let out her thoughts like some raging faucet. “I didn’t want anything too crazy—maybe a new job, or maybe a new life outside of this city!” Her eyes brimmed with tears as she slowly lifted her hands. The circumstances were beginning to show their intensity. She looked down at her shaking hands and noticed that her tears failed to cleanse the blood from her skin. She spoke in a whisper. “I didn’t want this. I was just bored! Life was boring, trivial, pointless! What’s there to do that’s exciting anymore?”

“Maybe murder?”

“How did you know?” Hyuna yelled as her attention redirected once again and she watched the young man. He didn't even flinch at the sharp tone of her voice.

“Listen, Lady Macbeth, I’m doing anything but lying when I tell you just how familiar I am with how people look after they’ve killed someone—especially if it’s their first time doing it.” Although he hated to admit it, Hui was familiar with the line of work despite having never killed someone himself. being a fly on the wall for Honcho brought the young pickpocket to many different places. “The blood, the frantic running into streets, the unusual trust shown to some beaten thug on a Friday night? You were practically telling me as soon as you hopped in the car.”

“I can fix this.” She looked to him for hope, her words acting as more of a question towards the man who claimed expertise in murderers. With a smirk, Hui shook his head before returning his eyes to the road.

“You ran, Lady, that’s the worst possible thing you could have done if you wanted to prove your red head innocent in court.”

“I—” Hyuna looked down at the blood that had made it onto her legs. It crackled under her finger as she traced it. “I can’t be on the run,” She whispered, “I won’t survive. This isn’t what I wanted.”

Hui sighed and pulled the car over to the side of the road. As he glanced at the clock, he noticed it was almost ten thirty. Honcho’s men might be growing curious about when he would be arriving. Perhaps they’re placing bets about whether or not I’m running.

“Listen, uh,”

“H-Hyuna.”

“Right. Hyuna. Hyuna? Hui.” He unbuckled his seatbelt as he poorly introduced himself, and positioned himself so that he was seated facing the panic-stricken girl. He watched her shaking as he tried to smile, “Stop saying this isn't "what you wanted." How about I switch things up for you. This world,” He motioned outside the car around them, “this place is filled with things I can assure you that you want. That you like. That fascinates and entertains you. This world you're trying to run from is actually filled with what will make you think twice about calling your life boring.”

“Like what?” Hyuna questioned, her hands moving to wipe the stained tear tracks from her face. Hui sighed to himself in slight frustration when he saw the stains of blood that were now left on her face. He motioned to the car they sat in and continued on as he leaned over into the back seat to search for something.

“Like this car.” He said as he sat back in his seat and tossed her a ragged towel that was found under a cushion. “I like cars, and now I have a car.”

Hyuna caught the towel from him and softly thanked him under her breath as she attempted to scrub away the blood on her body. She pondered his words.

“So you have a car? Through what, sketchy jobs "on the run?”" She asked, furrowing her brow as she pointed to the cuts over Hui’s face. Her skeptical attitude was beginning to return to her. Hui subconsciously touched the scars as she pointed. He didn't like her noticing them, but what bothered him more was that he noticed that he cared for some reason.This babe is getting to me, he inwardly groaned.

“Well,” He huffed, shrugging at the girl, “I definitely would say I’m on the run after not handing in this baby.” Hui patted the dashboard and nodded towards the clock. “Y’know, I’m sure those girls reported this car stolen by now and one can only hope Honcho hasn’t sent too many men after me to get it back.”

Although she didn’t know what or who he was talking about, Hyuna knew that the situation she found herself in was definitely spicing up her usual Friday nights. Guess I got my ‘newer than new’ she thought.

"I think "they" must have…I’m sure there were sirens running earlier tonight, but—”

“You were probably too cooked up to notice which one of us they were after, huh?” Hui joked.

“Not funny.” She glared, an unwelcomed smile breaking through her lips.

There we go, it’s working, Hui thought, as he turned to buckle his seatbelt.

“Well, Lady Hyuna, let me tell you something that is funny.” He turned the car on and revved the engine as he sped back onto the road. He ignored how empty it was—how they would easily be spotted by the cops if they were to drive down the road. “Being on the run, albeit scary and thrilling, is actually quite exciting. You get to start fresh somewhere else, and, if you have the right tools, you can even get used to it after a while.” Motioning to her hands, as the blood transferred from her skin to the towel. Hui added: “Although you may get blood on your hands, you can always wipe it clean.”

“Clean?”

“Fresh.” Hui smiled over at Hyuna and did his best to ignore how heroically out of character he was behaving. “We could live that way 365 days a year if you’d like.” He nodded at her expectantly, waiting for an answer. Starting fresh with a partner might be better than going alone out into the new world, Hui noted, and when leaving the city, Honcho’s men wouldn't think twice about stopping some random car with a young couple in it.

No one dated in H.

“We could? You mean, together? You want me to go on the run with you?” Hyuna questioned, attempting to showcase to Hui the absurdity of combining their crimes.

“Well I wasn’t having anyone expecting me for a little over an hour, but, well, I guess that now with the cops on my tail Honcho and his men will be expecting me any minute. We can't be having that, though, huh?” Hui pressed down on the pedal and raced through the emptied streets. He glanced over at Hyuna. “You want to leave this city?”

She shook her head almost immediately and thought about all the cons of her current situation. Her whole life was in this city. Her friends, the shop, Gramps—

Gramps.

Hyuna thought of her grandfather that she would leave with the burden of a corpse lying in his shop. He’d be mortified. But, if I tell him the truth, he’d help me.

“Don’t think you can make things go back to the way they were because you can’t. You fled, and pretty soon those cops won’t only be searching for the car and me.”

“I can’t go with you,” Hyuna replied in a whispered tone, her face turning to look out the window. She saw how fast the car moved along the road, but still thought that she could jump. She could still run back. Maybe a taxi would pick her up now that she wasn’t as bloody.

“Listen,” Hui began, “from A to Z I’m telling you I know everything that is going through your head. I’m practically a pro at this.” He looked at her and placed a hand on her thigh.

It was warm.

“I’m the one you need right now. I might be a stranger, and I know that I look just as dirty as the floor your dead guy is probably lying on right now, but I can help you start fresh.”

His eyes were determined. They were strong, hardened by what seemed like years of experience with these ‘sticky situations.’ What she noticed most, though, was the same warmth from his hand shone through those hardened eyes.

Without thinking any further, she nodded. “Get me out of here.” She whispered.

Before he could reply, though, the two flung forward into the dashboard as the car ran into something. Hui noticed once he had slammed on the brakes and found the strength to look up at the road, that it was not something, but rather, someone.

“Jesus” He coughed, rubbing his chest to soothe the part that had hit the steering wheel. “Just how many people plan to run into the road tonight?” He grew angrier from his joke and unbuckled his seatbelt as he kicked open his car door and stepped out.

“Hui!” Hyuna strained as she called out to the blonde. She watched him walk angrily towards the body lying in the middle of the intersection. She tried to not focus on the way the young boy in the street mimicked the positioning of the man lying on the barbershop floor. With her eyes closed, Hyuna prayed in thanks for the lack of cars on the road that night.

Within seconds, however, her eyes flung open at the sound of Hui yelling and punches being thrown.