Someone grabbed Minjee's right arm and pushed her down. She saw a boy take her bag and run off as she fell. Her head hit the red brick wall of a café behind her. Her lips parted to yell, but she couldn’t form words with a lump growing in . The flicker of the street lights blurred. The cars passing by began to disappear and the shadows of the night engulfed her vision. The last thing she saw was a figure running after the boy who had pushed her down.

           There was a throbbing sensation in her head. Faint muffled voices echoed around her. The voices became clear, but her eyelids wouldn’t budge. She knew it wasn’t a dream, but a part of her thought it had to be, until her eyes opened. The sky was dark, almost black.  Light was shining from a door a few feet away. As her eyes adjusted she felt something move against her. Her head turned to find two arms holding her against the chest of a blond boy who was arguing with someone.

           "Finally, she's awake. Let's get outta here before someone sees us with her," a tall, thin boy said. His chestnut brown eyebrows tightened above the bridge of his nose.

            "Xander, we can't. That mugger might come back. You saw the way he was eyeing her from across the street," a moon faced boy retaliated.

            "Kibum, it's not like he did worse. Eli took care of them," Xander rolled his eyes before gesturing to the blond boy who held her.

            "He could've," the youngest intervened.

            "He wanted to," said the boy holding her. Everyone's eyes turned to him.

            "Yeah and how would you even know that?" This boy's voice was different than all the others, it rung like a bell.

            "Because when I found him he was with his friends." His mouth curled as if to snarl and he looked disgusted just thinking about it. "One of his friends had told him to get her, not the bag." Minjee's head was still aching and their voices sounded louder to her. She tried to get up, but everything was spinning. The blond boy, Eli, held onto her and stood up. "Tell us where you live and we can take you home."

            Minjee frowned. They didn’t seem like the type of people who would like someone like her. How would they react when they learned that she lived in a rich neighborhood? Her eyes darted to the angry looking boy, Xander. He might be nicer to her, but it would probably be better not to say anything. Plus, despite what happened she didn't want to go home, yet. If she could just get away from them she could continue on with her plan.

            Before she could come up with an answer, Xander spoke up. "We can't take her home."

            "Why not?" Eli sighed impatiently.

        "Look at her, she's not from around here. It’ll be too much trouble.” He crossed his arms.

           Eli ignored his leader. He knew why Xander was angry, but he didn’t want to bring it up. Instead he turned to Minjee. "I'll take you home."

            She shifted her gaze from the blond boy to his leader. "I can find my own way home."

            "Yeah, let her find her own way home." Another boy eyed her. "She's just trouble."

            Everyone exchanged looks. Xander walked out of the alley without another glance back. The youngest started arguing that if he didn't go home soon his parents would be on his case again and ground him for good.

            "Since when do you worry about trouble," Kibum laughed.

            "I'd rather cause trouble than be in trouble." The young one smirked. "Besides, if I get in trouble at home again I might have to change schools."

            “I don’t think we should let her go,” a voice announced from the shadows. A black haired boy walked up to the group standing by the light from a backdoor in the alley. “What if we let her go and something happens to her again. People saw us with her. If anything happens to her the cops will come looking for us too.”

            His dark eyes looked down the alley. He saw his leader tense up at the edge of the black street before he turned back and made his way to them.

            “Kiseop’s right,” the boy with the ringing voice admitted.

            “Then what do you want us to do?” Xander’s eyes were cold and stubborn as he glared at the black haired boy.

            "She can stay in the meeting house," AJ suggested, "Just until we can make sure we won’t have to deal with anything like that."

            Xander pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. He wasn’t in the mood to deal with this. Minjee took this time to look for her bag. The blond boy was holding it. There was no way for her to leave without any of them noticing. The pounding in her head was beginning to subside making it easier for her to think. She could make a run for it, but there were nine of them. Suddenly, she felt a harsh tug on her wrist. Xander was pulling her towards the dark back streets where two cars were parked. She opened to scream, but he hastily shoved his free hand in her face to stifle her voice. Her other hand reached up to push him away, but his grip tightened. She took a few steps back hearing him sigh heavily at her actions. With a swift flick of his index finger he struck a nerve on her elbow and forced her into the back seat of a black car before taking the seat beside her. The other boys piled in without another thought and drove off.

            “Let me go,” her voice came out shaky. “Nothing will happen to me if that's what you're worried about.”

            “You don’t know much about this town, do you?” Xander sneered. “I wouldn’t be surprised if those guys were waiting for you across the street right now. I bet they'd-“

            “You don’t have to scare her,” Kibum called from the front seat.

            "Whatever."

            Minjee felt uneasy. What would those boys do to her? What had they wanted to do before they were stopped? What would these boys do? She began to feel sick, a nauseous feeling formed in the pit of her stomach and made her mind spin. She was wondering if there would be some way to escape later and pretend this never happened. Her eyes watched all the boys in the car carefully. Xander seemed to be the only one who hated her guts. The others didn't seem to be a problem.

            It took her a second to realize the car had stopped moving. All the boys were staring at her. Before Xander could grab her wrist again Eli opened his door and carefully pulled her out of the car. They were parked by a row of two story houses. All were inviting with green lawns and bright lights casting shadows onto the street. All except for the one the boys were dragging her off to. It was an old dark house with boarded up windows, brown grass, and a roof that looked as though it was sinking. The front door stood out oddly looking new and smooth.

            "Couldn't we let her stay in our house?" Eli turned to their leader.

            His answer was an exasperated glare after which Xander took hold of Minjee's arm, pulling her along. She tugged her arm free and turned to run when someone pulled her back.

            "It's just to keep you safe," a soothing voice assured her.

            She looked back to see the moon faced boy, Kibum, holding her arm firmly. On both ends of the sidewalk were two boys standing guard while three boys stood by the cars. Unwillingly, she walked towards the house. The lights inside were already on when she stepped through the threshold. To her left was a blur of a living room littered with mismatched furniture. The boys who had been standing guard were now filling the entrances to the other rooms making it hard for her to anything. She wondered why they'd need a vacant house. She was quickly led up a flight of polished stairs framed by a creaky railing. On the second story was a wide hallway lined with four narrow doors. Two weren't hanging on the hinges while the other two had peculiar circle patterns as though someone had taken the time to peel the paint off. They placed her into one of the rooms with a door intact. Inside was a clean bed and a floor lamp. The window was boarded up and covered in colorful graffiti.

            Xander walked behind the bed to a bedside table. He returned with something clanking in his hands. Minjee's gaze turned to his hands. Her breath caught in . She squirmed and tried to fight her way out the door, but several hands prevented her from leaving. Two of the hands held out her wrists, allowing Xander to lock the chains around them. Kiseop walked into the room with a steaming cup of hot ramen.

            "What are you doing? Is it really necessary to chain her to the wall?" He asked.

            "We can't trust her. She could run away while we sleep. She could be a trap." Xander pushed Minjee against the wall and locked a pair of chains around her ankles.

            "AJ, check her backpack for a phone." AJ picked up the backpack from beside the door and searched through the possessions until he found a cellphone. Then he tossed it to Xander from across the room.

            "No one interesting on her contact list. Just family." He pocketed the phone and left the room. There was an awkward feeling flowing through the room. Minjee thought about the chains and why they would be in such a place. The thought sent shivers down her back.

            "Hey, I'm Kevin." The one with a ringing voice smiled and sat next to her on the floor. "I'm sorry about Xander, it's just personal problems. Can you tell us where you're from? We can take you home tomorrow."

            "Please let me go," Minjee looked into his eyes for sympathy, but he shook his head. This wasn't what she had expected. She didn't even know where she was. Should she lie about where she's from and have them take her where she planned to go? They didn't seem like people she should trust.

            "If you don't tell us where you live we'll just have to take you in," a dark brown haired boy spoke up. He was leaning against the boards of the windows, arms crossed and eyes narrowed. "Do you know what happens to lost girls in this town?"

            "Soohyun, I don't think threatening her will make her tell us any sooner," said Kibum.

            One by one the boys walked out of the room. Kiseop left the ramen on the bedside table before sneaking a glance at the girl on his way out. Eli locked the front door of the house and sat next to Soohyun in the front seat of the navy car.

            "I think we need to take care of her soon, before any cops come looking for her." Soohyun admitted.

            "I know, but I doubt she'll tell us where she lives. She probably ran away." Eli smirked as he drove.

            "Well we can't just keep her there," Soohyun continued, "after school we'll set her straight. The sooner the better."

            "Yeah, don't want Xander stinking up the place like after she left," Dongho agreed from the backseat.

Next chapter tomorrow. This is really fun to write, or even think about XD