Don’t mind him, Danah chants inside her mind as she glances over her shoulder for probably the fiftieth time that day. Don’t mind him, he’s not coming around anymore. He has no reason to.

But that isn’t enough to dispel her fear.

‘Danah, you’ve been staring outside all morning.’ Her co-worker, who goes by the name of Sam, folds her arms over her chest with a sigh. ‘Is something wrong?’

‘Nothing’s wrong.’ Danah mumbles, turning back to the table she’s been busy wiping down.

It’s been a few days since Yoongi’s sudden appearance but the memory is still as fresh as a raw wound that haunts her mind. Her boss had found her, practically bursting a vein in barely restrained irritation as he’d reprimanded her of escaping her work responsibilities and taking a stroll outside when all her colleagues had been busy serving tables. It had caused Danah to flush with embarrassment before she’d apologized numerous times. This had led to her working overtime to clean up all the dirty dishes and conduct one last cleanup of the entire front area of the restaurant. She managed to drag her feet home and barely made it to her front door, limbs aching from overwork.

Danah has a very bad habit of getting in trouble with the manager. It’s not the first earful she’s gotten and it’s definitely not going to be the last. She’s been working at Delta ever since she finished school in order to provide for her two siblings which, in Danah’s view, isn’t as bad as she initially thought it would be. The older girl knows and supports Lisa’s dream of going off to college or university to get a good degree in whatever smart field she likes, for Lisa is the one with the brain. Danah, unfortunately, hadn’t been that great at studying and thus there are sacrifices to make. She’s decided, albeit ignoring the continuous protests from Lisa’s part, that she wouldn’t pursue an education, keeping the money saved up from when her dad was around to finance Lisa and Samuel’s instead.

It’s a little after three in the afternoon when she can finally breathe and grt away from her shift. Quickly packing her things to escape the manager’s temper, Danah breathes out a relieved sigh when she is finally out of the restaurant’s vicinity.

It’s hot and humid, the kind of day that makes her fringe stick to her forehead. Wiping her face with her shirt sleeve, Danah’s attention suddenly shifts to her phone when it blinks, signalling that she’s gotten a message.

As she scans the words, her eyes widen and she doesn’t waste time to press down the call button.

‘You have to go and get Samuel,’ she says as soon as her smaller sister picks up the phone, ‘he can’t walk home alone, he’s only six.’

‘Danah, I have a meeting right now and I can’t miss this. It’s for the annual fair,’ Lisa replies, tone clearly showcasing frustration. She can imagine Lisa tugging at her light brown strands, a habit she falls into whenever something doesn’t go her way, ‘And you know I can’t miss the annual fair. I’m the official president of the English Lit Club.’

‘But I can’t get to the school in time to get Samuel–’

‘He’s fine, Danah.’ Lisa lets out a huff, ‘Seriously. I’ve been walking home alone all my life. You don’t have to baby him so much.’

‘That was back when everywhere was still safe.’

‘You’re such a worry-wuss.’

Danah glances down at her watch, frown deepening on her face when she realizes that it will take a lot more time to get to Samuel’s school. ‘Alright well,’ Danah mumbles into the phone, already taking off towards the subway station in hopes of catching the earliest train, ‘I’ll just go get him.’

‘Are you sure?’ The obvious worry in Lisa’s voice echoes Danah’s own worries and she can’t help but bite down on her bottom lip at the thought that Samuel might get impatient and start walking home without her. Maybe he’ll think that nobody’s coming to get him. That is enough to fasten her pace until she’s actually running.

‘Yeah,’ Danah breathlessly murmurs before hanging up. She dashes through the streets and winds her way around the throng of people, practically launching herself onto the right train before the door closes in her face.

Spending a soft murmur of apology at having barrelled right into a couple of strangers, she quickly and efficiently waddles through until she finds a vacant spot, before her arms reach towards the wall, stabilizing her body against the moving ground.

It seems to take more than just thirty minutes to get to Samuel’s school and Danah is practically a heavying, sweaty mess when she finally catches sight of the familiar green gates. She squints, eyes scanning the front area before finding the figure of the said little boy she’d been looking for.

Taking a step forward, she’s about to call out her brother’s name before a frown blossoms over her face.

It’s not the fact that Samuel is sitting atop the front steps, swinging his feet excitedly.

It’s not the fact that he holds a lollipop in his hands, one that she doens’t recall putting into his school bag.

There’s a man sitting next to him, his lanky limbs turned to give the said boy his full attention.

And when the stranger finally lifts his eyes into her direction, Danah feels closing with shock. Breaths escape her. Her chest tightens.

She’d recognize this face anywhere.

His ashy blonde strands. His defined jaw. His dark, brooding gaze that pierce right through her skull like a dagger.

Yoongi gazes at her for a full minute. She stares back with her jaw agape and a few beats of silence pass.

He smirks.

That snaps Danah back into action.

‘Samuel!’ she bellows, hoping her voice doesn’t give any of her fear away, hoping that Samuel can’t actually see the apprehending sense of horror crawling through her veins at the thought of this murderer being so close to him.

She walks over in hurried strides, barely managing to conceal her shaky hands while Samuel’s face lights up at her appearrance.

‘Danah!’ he cries, jumping up from his seat and not hesitating to wrap his arms around her mid-thighs. Lifting his head to give her a pout, Samuel throws her a look of accusation, ‘You’re late!’

‘I know, I know,’ Danah’s hand smoothes over her brother’s brown locks, ‘I’m sorry. Lisa was supposed to come pick you up but she couldn’t at the last minute and I just got off work when I read her message.’

‘It’s okay, He kept me company,’ Samuel’s finger jabs in the said man’s direction, ‘his name is Yoongi. He says he’s your friend.’

Danah freezes at that. He’s definitely not a friend and albeit the fact that he’s a murderer, this is her family he’s associating himself with. A trickle of annoyance flows through her, but she pushes it away as the memory of his pale hands curled around a dagger resurfaces in her mind.

She tries not to shiver. Without looking at him, Danah wraps a protective arm around Samuel’s shoulder, ‘I told you not to talk to strangers, Samuel.’

‘But he’s nice. He gave me a lollipop. He even knows your name! He says you’re friends with him. Is he your friend?’

‘No,’ She takes this chance to throw Yoongi a scowl, ‘No, I don’t know him.’

‘Come on Danah,’ The said man in question lifts himself up, causing the girl to flinch back on impulse. Panic is strumming through her like red alarm bells ringing, but she doesn’t want to alert Samuel nor does she want to cause a fit.

Yoongi has no business with her anymore. She doesn’t understand why he’s here. If he’d wanted her dead then he would’ve done so ages ago.

But why is he associating himself with her family?

‘We just talked yesterday,’ Yoongi’s smirk only grows upon noticing how she draws the younger boy closer, as if she’d pull him close enough he’d disappear right into her body and hide away from the said blonde murderer.

‘Leave Samuel out of this.’ Danah’s voice shakes with repressed anger, her eyes giving him a warning.

Yoongi’s head , ‘Samuel enjoys my company. Don’t you Sam?’

Hearing her young brother’s endeared nae fall from this murderer’s mouth makes her want to slam a fist in his face. How dare he talk about Samuel that way? He has nothing to do with them and Danah wants it to stay that way.

‘Lollipop man told me all about his family.’ Samuel suddenly pipes up, ‘there’s Chang, who is like lollipop man’s dad except that he called him a bastard. And then there’s Hoseok, who lollipop man says has a small — ‘

‘Samuel!’ Danah clamps a hand over his mouth, eyes wide at such profanities, ‘you don’t say that kind of stuff.’

‘But lollipop man said it. What’s a small , Danah?’

The said girl’s eyes don’t hesitate to sweep right through to Yoongi, a glare etched on her face.

‘Leave us alone.’ There is barely restrained anger underlying her usually soft soprano, but Yoongi barely raises a brow before chuckling at her attitude.