Sweeping up the glass sherds, I stop and pick out one of the wilting stalks. I look at the violet blossom, slowly turning into a dry, sick brown. A bitter smile forms on my face as flashes of that night pass me by before my inner eye. How could he have done that to me…? Clenching my fist around the flower, then opening it again, I watch as the now loose petals slowly float onto the ground, dancing around as if there was something to celebrate. Full of anger, I step onto them, destroying them further with the rough sole on my shoe.

               “Don’t you think they deserve better?” I hear a voice from behind me.

               “No” I answer briefly, adding under my breath, “They deserve as much as I got back then.”

               “Na, na, na! Not so bitter, my lady” he scolds me and walks up to me from behind. I get up from my crouching position and turn around to look at him.

               “What do you want?” Putting his hands into his pockets, the crazy axe-guy - this time without his axe - looks me up and down, all while having a dirty grin on his lips. I’d have called him a ert by now, if I wasn’t used to that stupid face he makes 24/7. Seriously, I bet he looks like that even when he’s asleep.

               “Just wanted to check on you” he says, continuing to watch me with that amused smile.

               “Oh really? As you can see, I’m fine. So if you could excuse yourself now that would be wonderful.” He laughs.

               “But I’d like to keep you company. We don’t have such beautiful women like you here everyday.” Is that creep flirting with me…?

               “I bet you normally don’t have any women here…” I respond, then crouching back down to finish the cleaning-up. “Except for dead ones, that is…”

               “Believe it or not, we sometimes also bring living ones.”

               “...like I was brought here? You kidnap women on a regular basis? Then you should know by now how to treat your prisoners…” I put all sarcasm I can muster behind that. Having all shards on a small cleaning shovel, I get up to put them into the dustbin. “Oh and I wanted to talk to the missile. Is he back yet?”

               “...the missile?” Yukwon repeats. “Ah, you must mean BBomb! I don’t know where he is. Haven’t seen him since last night.”

               “You’re not the only one” I remark, making my way out of the room and out the back door, where I put the glass and the half-dead flowers into one of the refuse containers.

               “Have you made up your mind yet?” Yukwon asks, as he followed me here.

               “I have. I spent the whooooole night thinking” I answer.

               “So you didn’t sleep again?”

               “Idiot. Obviously I wouldn’t use so much energy to decide that. Not like I’ll die either way…” I walk back inside, again being followed closely by him. As we make our way to the front of the shop, we pass by the babyface. What was it they call him again…? Pyo…? He and the axe-guy greet each other.

               “You’ll take over now?” Pyo asks and his teammate nods.

               “That’s why I’m heading to the front right now.”

               “And her?” the babyface points at me.

               “I don’t know what she wants…”

               “You could also ask me directly” I interfere and Pyo’s eyes wander to my face.

               “What are you doing, Y/N?”

               “None of your goddamn business!” I say, letting my voice go from all the way down to all the way up. The perplexed look on his face tells me my little stunt was definitely worth it. “Just let me know if you see that leader of yours. I’m heading out for a while” I announce, to which he replies with a frown.

               “I don’t think you’re supposed to go outside alone…”

               “Then think about it a little more. Maybe you’ll reach some form of conclusion. Until then, I’m gone. See ya!” I shout at them over my shoulder, already walking out the door. Surprisingly, none of them actually makes an effort to hold me back, until I’m already a few steps away. The door is swung open and I see Yukwon as I look behind.

               “Running after me now?” I with a cheeky smile.

               “If you wanna go out, I’m coming with you. I can’t risk having you run away on me” he utters. “Besides - I’ve been looking for a chance to spend some more time with you.”

               “And why is that?”

               “You’re interesting…” he laughs.

               “Don’t think you’re getting into my pants with that!” I answer and shoot him a sharp but friendly look.

               “Wasn’t planning to” he says, catching up to me and throwing his arm around my shoulders. “Now. Where are we going?”

               “I thought I’d take a little walk and see if I can find the missile.”

               “Well, good luck with that. The city is huge” Yukwon says.

               “I know that, stupid. Which is why I cut it down to a few places where it seems logical for him to be” I answer. We cross the street and draw near to a flower shop. I look in through the huge windows, but see only a lone vendor. “Off to the next one then…” I mumble to myself and lead Yukwon down to the main street.

               “And you? Where do you usually get your victims from?” I start a conversation. “The red light district?”

               “Sometimes, yes. When I’m looking for easy prey” he clarifies. “But I hunt down all kinds of women and pretty girls.”

               “Underage girls too?”

               “Of course! They’re the most fun to play with.” In the corner of my eye I see him his lips. “Luring them out of their homes deep at night when they’re worn out from studying all day… only to hear their sweet voices scream for mercy…” He grins.

               “I sure as hell hope you don’t torture them for too long, dear” I say sharply.

               “Oh, I play with them the whole night… and when morning comes…” He puts his finger against his throat and gestures as if he was cutting off the head. I stop in my tracks and turn around, grabbing his collar.

               “Kill them right away. If I catch you torturing or abusing one just once, you’re…” With my free hand I mimic the movement he just showed me, glaring into his eyes while doing so. “Got it?” He nods and swallows heavily, then I let him go, pushing him away from me so that he stumbles back a few steps. When he comprehended what just happened, he laughs.

               “You really are an interesting one…” he comments, then walks past me. “Come on! We gotta find our leader.” Our…? I think I just threw up a little into my mouth at the thought. Me calling that stupid man leader? I can’t see that happen in the near future or in any kind of future…

               We stop by the next flower shop on my mental checklist and walk inside. But here as well, the missile is nowhere to be found.

               “Next one, then…” I murmur, exiting the building and we continue strolling down the street, when I spot a familiar face. What is he doing here…?

               “What is he doing here?!” the man next to me shouts and for a moment I feel like I’m dreaming. They know of each other?! And Yukwon doesn’t seem too happy about it… The guy we both spotted comes walking over, cracking his knuckles. His stare is glued to my face.

               “So you’re with them now, as I see?” he assumes angrily. Jongsik’s never been one to use his brain before speaking…

               “I’m on my own” I answer.

               “Yeah, sure. Anyone can say that” he spits. “As for you” he turns to Yukwon, “we still got some unsettled matters.”

               “Heh. Bring it on, er” Yukwon shouts back, switching to a fighting position and within a second taking a blow right into the face. If Jongsik’s good at anything… I’d say it’s letting his body do the talking.

               “Hey, stop it, you two!” I yell at them. The people around are mostly just running away or watching in awe, so I run at the fighting bundle by myself and try to separate them somehow, when a man grabs a wooden board leaning against one of the houses. He comes running and aims at Jongsik, but just as he’s about to hit him, he ducks and I recieve the blow straight to my head instead. The two finally stop to look at me, while I stumble a few steps back and my vision becomes blurry. …

               In front of me rusty, old walls are towering. They weren’t that big back then… I look around. Not even the moonlight comes through the hole in the ceiling tonight. It’s pitch black, still I’m somehow able to make out my surroundings. I step forward. The sound of my shoe meeting the dusty ground echoes throughout the hall. There he stands, right in front of me. That person whose face I don’t remember. Maybe I forgot, maybe I don’t want the memory to come back. I see something in his pocket… it reminds me of the painful incidents. I approach him, not sure if I’d like to punch him and yell at him for what he put me through, or if I’d like him to just hold me and tell me everything’s going to be alright from now on. But with every step I take, he seems to fade farther away. I reach out my hand and scream for him to wait, still he has that blank expression, an aura as if he didn’t care. Did he care…? I start running into the shadow where he disappears, until I really can’t see anything anymore. I feel like I’m falling. Whether it’s figuratively or falling for real, I don’t care. It scares me nonetheless.

               I open my eyes with a jolt of my whole body and wait as my surroundings become clearer, while the dream still lingers in my mind. No… that wasn’t a dream. That was a memory, even if a very distorted one. I sit up painfully, when I hear a calming voice from behind me speak.

               “Be careful” he says and I turn my head to look at his face, registering that I must’ve been asleep in his lap. Why does this keep happening…?

               “So this time the missile wanted to have my head close to his crotch…” I comment. I notice a wound on his cheek - looks like a cut.

               “My missile…?” he jokes and I want to hit him. Lucky for him I still feel shaky, or I would’ve picked a fight. I look around and see that we’re back at the shop.

               “How did it end?” I ask and the missile points over to a chair, where Yukwon is sitting, nose probably broken and bruises all over his face and hands. Next to him stands Pyo, curiously watching the conversation.

               “Not so well for him” the leader answers. “But they stopped fighting after that man knocked you out and I managed to chase away that other idiot.”

               “He has a name” I protest.

               “Everyone has a name” he dodges me. “Now. I heard you were looking for me?” I nod.

               “I made my decision” I announce, making eye contact. “I want to work with you. However, only under one condition.” I look over to the babyface. “I get to teach him how to properly wield a gun.”