After about thirty minutes of walking, the woman sped up and held Youngjae back by latching onto his forearm. Without a word, she tried to drag him elsewhere, but the latter grabbed onto the hand gripping him. “Where are you going?”

This time with both hands, she arrested his wrist, “Let’s go home,” to his surprise she looked afraid and worried. Even her moisty eyes seemed to be pleading with him. Then in due time, he noticed how she cowered and avoided eye contact with people passing by. He started to wonder if she was still the same woman who challenged him the night before.

As a Korean couple walk by, the woman turned her face toward the wall. She waited for them to pass before glancing around. Ever since she stopped Youngjae, she hasn’t lifted up her head up enough for him to get a visual of her neck.

A moment later, Youngjae began hearing people whispering as they walk by. He wondered if it was about the fearful woman in front of him. He knew because she was still holding onto his wrist and was slightly squeezing it. To ease her mind, Youngjae pulled her into an embrace. He had one hand on her back while the other on the back of her head. And pressing against his abdomen were her hands; they had come up out of reflex and self-protection.

He could hear and felt her breath against him, but more importantly, he was trying to listen in on the gossip. Nothing coherent has struck him yet. On a side note, even from the corner of his eyes, he felt the stares. Why were people suddenly interested in them? For some odd reason, as if they were a popular display in a museum, their unwelcomed audience began to grow. Youngjae studied the location. Before the place got too crowded, they have a better chance fleeing now than later. “On the count of three, we’re running. Right behind you, the path is clear,” Youngjae whispered into her ear.

There was no reply but silently they locked hands. “Ready? One, two,” Youngjae began counting, “three!” With their hands intertwined, Youngjae led the woman through the crowd. He had to shove one or two men out of their way, but otherwise, they were on their way toward the church.

However, what shocked Youngjae was that the group of Koreans started chasing them. They sounded like a mob, just charging after them.

“Don’t go home, lose them first!” the woman said aloud as she managed to keep up with Youngjae.

“What? Lose them first?!” Youngjae asked surprised, though he hardly had time to express it.

Before Youngjae could take the route to the church, the woman caught up to him and pointed to a path that curved away from it, “This way, this way,” she said. Then at full speed, he regained leading. Mercilessly, Youngjae break through any barriers that were in their way. At one point, the woman found herself apologizing for anyone he forced over.

After some time Youngjae took cover behind a building’s column, where he hauled the woman up against him and as quietly as they could, they waited for the mob to pass by. “I think they went that way!”

“Go, go, go! Don’t lose them!”

“Hurry!”

“It was her! Don’t let them escape!”

Once Youngjae and the woman were sure everyone was gone, they began to chuckle and laugh. Through heavy pants, the woman sighed aloud, “This is refreshing,” she said with a grand smile.

“Right? Getting chase is fun,” Youngjae commented. The woman chortled as she took a step away from him. And for the first time, since a while ago, she finally looked him in the eyes.

“Only when you’re with someone,” she said. Youngjae couldn’t help but pinched her chin lightly.

“There you go. Now you’re talking,” he exhaled.  

“Seyeon,” the woman answered, “my name is Jin Seyeon,” Youngjae bobbed his head as it was good-to-know. With her eyes slightly squinted from smiling, she asked him, “What’s your full name Youngjae?”

The lad sighed mentally. When was the last time he introduced himself as ‘Yoo Youngjae’? Since high school? Ever since his parents kicked him out of the house, he has only dubbed himself using his first name. Even so, it sickened him that it was his parents who named him. “What about you?” Youngjae twisted the question in his favor though it confused the woman immediately.

“Me?”

He hummed, “I got the gist that you’re the reason those people came after us,”

Instantly her smile faded and she pivoted her gaze away from him. He could see that she was pondering whether she should let the cat out of the bag. Quietly, he watched as she pulled her knees toward her chin and tucked her arms under her legs. “To tell you the truth...I hardly leave Rosemary because of my family,”

Rosemary?

“They tried to marry me off into a Chinese family to secure their busines