“I brought you into this world! Do you know how hard it was to raise you alone for 20 years?! Do you know how hard it was to raise you alone?! 20 god damn years, I wasted on you, and this one thing, you can’t even do for me?! Do you-“

“Why didn’t you just abandon me then?! What’s the difference between then and now? At least I wouldn’t understand much back then.” Sera’s voice died down as more and more tears raced down her cheeks, “I’m not an item to have a price tag on. As you’ve stated, you’re supposed to be my mom!”

SLAP.

“Don’t you dare talk to me like that, just who do you think you are?! I brought you into this world, therefore I own you!”

“I don’t care, I’m not going to live with that old man! I’ve done more than enough to bring money into this house, and I’m done.”

“Don’t you dare plan anything stupid, he’s coming to pick you up tomorrow and that’s that.”

Sera wiped her tears and ran into her room, slamming the door behind her as she jammed as many clothing and necessities as she can into her duffle bag.

“Hey there,” Sera heard a voice as she sat at the bus stop waiting for the bus. She quickly wiped away her tears and looked up and there before her stood a young man, probably in his early 20s, in a black suit, with both his hands in his pockets. He had a nice defined jawline, slick black hair, and tiny, attractive eyes.

“Hi,” Sera cautiously greeted back.

“Why are you sitting here? There will be no more busses coming around for tonight,” he took his hands out of his pockets and tapped his silver watch, “it’s 10. Busses stops running around 9 here.”

“Oh, I-I didn’t know that, thank you,” Sera quickly stood up, her face flushed in embarrassment, and slung the strap of her duffle bag across her body, only to realize she didn’t have a backup plan as to where she would go once her money ran out.

“You’re not from around here, are you?” the young man eyed her duffle bag before turning his focus back on her, “if you want, you can walk with me back to town and find a place to stay there.”

“Uh, yeah, sure, that sounds good, thank you.”

“I’m Im Jaebum, by the way, and you are?”

"Na Sera," Sera stops in her track and quickly bows, "sorry, should've introduced myself earlier."

"It's fine, Sera. What brings you here? It's rare anyone not from town ever pass by anymore."

"Oh, I, uhh," Sera squeezed onto the strap of her duffle bag and hesitated for a bit, "I was just passing by, you know, exploring my surrounding."

"Well I'm glad you decided to stop by, Sera. It's nice to see a different face around here."

"What were you doing though?" Sera eyed his outfit.

"Oh, I was coming back from a relative's funeral."

"Oh, I'm sorry for your loss. I-"

"I got used to it actually." Sera was a bit confused but nodded her head slowly in response, for she didn't have anything else to say.

"Well, here we are," Jaebum stretched out his arm in front of him, pointing towards the houses that were closely grouped together, “we’re a small town, but there is a small hotel over there if you need a room to-"

"I actually have no money," Sera cuts him off, not having the courage to look into his face for he might just reject her right there and then if he knew what she was going to say next, "Can I-."
She trailed off, hesitating, but before she could finish her sentence, he did it for her. "You want to stay at my place?" Sera looked up at him in surprise, for she was actually going to ask for money.

"I was actually going to, um, ask for money," she trailed off and looked away.

"Yeah, I don't have any money on me, sorry," he chuckled, "but here, you can stay at my place. I promise I'm not some kind of ert or anything."

"And I promise I'm not so kind of serial killer on the run," she light-heartily laughed. Yeah, she just met him a few minutes ago but what’s the difference? She’s already out in a strange town where she knew no one anyway. Plus, even if her life ended here, it was better than having it end with the old man she was sold off to.

Worst case scenario, she ends back up to where she was running from: being owned by some creepy person.

After settling her things in the guest room, Sera walked out to see Jaebum sitting alone on the porch, staring into the sky full of glimmering stars. Naturally, she plotted herself down next to him, “It’s beautiful,” she smiled, looking out into the sky as Jaebum turns his attention to her.

“Ah, right, why is this town-“ Sera turns her gaze towards him, only to find his eyes staring deep into hers. She didn’t notice before but the shade of his eyes were a deeper darker brown that normal. And without warning, Sera’s heart started pounding against her chest as the butterflies in her stomach began wake up and dance.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to stare,” Jaebum broke the gaze first as he notice Sera’s face starting to flush in a deep pink.

“I-It’s fine,” Sera quickly focused her attention back to the dark night sky, “I-I was just going to um,” Sera quickly panicked, forgetting what she was going to talk about and not knowing what to say to erase the awkwardness. It may not have been awkward for him, but she was definitely feeling it on her end.

“You were going to say something about the town,” he stole a glance of her from the corner of his eyes, unknowingly smiling to himself when he saw her desperately trying to act normal.

“I, um, I’m going to go rest now,” Sera quickly got up and bowed her head, “thank you for the hospitality, good night.”

“Night,” Jaebum chuckled as he watches her walk away to her room.

"New victim?"

"Mom, I've told you to stop calling them that, she's our guest," Jaebum sighed as Sera closed her door before turned toward his mom.

"Fine, your next target then."

"Mom, I'm-"

"She just need to be here for 36 hours, remember that," his mom plotted herself next to him, "don't you dare get attached to her, Im Jaebum. She's the last one we'll need. All of us are depending on you, don’t let us down. If you lose this one we’re going to have to start from the beginning all over again."

"Don't worry," he sighed as he got up and headed towards his bedroom. But something deep down inside of him was telling him otherwise. Deep down inside of him, there was a tug of doubt that he was going to finish the mission. He didn’t know what it was but there was something about her that made him want to forget his mission altogether.

“Morning, how was your sleep?” Jaebum greeted as Sera approached him.        

"It was good, thank you, again. I really am grateful," Sera stole a glance at Jaebum as she sat down for breakfast, still avoiding direct eye contact.

"No big deal, like I said, it's nice to see new faces around here."

"Thank you for the food!" Sera took a big spoonful of the rice, "it's so good," she complimented, with so full.

"Ah, you must have been starving, sorry I didn't cook you dinner last night."

"No! It's fine," Sera looked up from the food and caught Jaebum's eyes once again, making her face heat up. "I, um, it's fine," Sera quickly swallowed her food, mentally pep-talked herself, and looked up at Jaebum, making eye contact and trying to remain calm, "I was fine yesterday, thanks."

"Are you fine today though? Your face is really getting red," Jaebum bit his lip to hold in his smile. He knew she was getting embarrassed, but he felt like teasing her just a bit more.

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine," Sera placed both hands on her cheeks. She knew he was a good looking young man, but in the natural light, he was even better looking.

"Am I making you uncomfortable?"

"Yeah," Sera's eyes widen in shock, "no! I mean no, you're not. Sorry, I think I'm just really not feeling well today, I'm going to go-" Jaebum suddenly broke out in a laughter, "I'm just teasing you. You kept blushing more and more and it was cute so I just wanted to see you blush," Jaebum slowly calm down and sat back up straight, "sorry, finish your breakfast and I'll show you around?"

"T-that sound good," Sera awkwardly smiled and lowered get head, trying to keep get focus on the food that she no longer had an appetite for.

"Why is it so empty? I mean, it's not empty but I expected a few more people than this," Sera scanned the people around her, as she had ex