[Ssambang]

Surrounding by the serenity in the middle of the forest, a building stood lonely, which looks like, has been abandoned for more than 50 years. Two stories with the broken windows and some parts had been destroyed dramatically, but still, provide the support to stabilize the body of the building. The atmosphere itself couldn’t help, but postulate the aura of mysterious, unobtrusive, and secluded that human beings wouldn’t offer themselves to get closer. If humans tend to find the domicile to film the horror movie, kidnap, well that building is the most suitable one.

Momentarily, it’s no longer a peaceful place from the time when a group of people made their way while looking around the scene before decided to enter the building. They dragged their footsteps to climb to the second floor and decided to stay there.

For her, the journey to this place is the most tragic one. Miss the steps while climbing, the hand got dragging, pushing from behind, and lastly, your eyes got blindfold which you couldn’t help yourself to stable the balance.

Someone pushed her to get a seat on a chair while dragging her hand behind and tied it for countless times. Her brain couldn’t function enough to answer her curiosity how can she end up like this? Why did this happen to her? What is she going to do?

Only god knows how long she has been locking up in this situation with her eyes still gets blindfolded. She could only sigh and hung her head low and her body jerked up from the sound of thunder from outside as the rain started pouring crazily. She got shivered as the temperature started to drop as the rain continues to pour down as the sky didn’t mind the small body that was shivering like a kitty. From time to time, the strong wind brought the rain to inside the building and she couldn’t escape but got soaked from it. No one care to check on her. They let her suffer from the cold wind and rain while they chit chat among themselves until a phone rang interrupted their conversation.

“It’s about time”

She heard a husky voice which she wasn’t sure whether that person was the one who answered the phone and she tilted her head to find the sound but the low laugh made her frown. She sighed for the umpteenth time. She felt hopeless at this moment. Was she going to die? What did they want from her? Those questions kept replaying in her head which she had nothing to do except feeling pity for her short lifespan.

No one knows how long she fell asleep while sitting on the chair until her sense noticed someone stood near her.

“What do you want?” her voice was hoarse from dry throat and turning her head around.

“Be quiet if you want to be alive”

It was a girl who was near her, and her voice was soft like a fairy but with a hint of coldness.

“Please don’t kill me” She pleaded with her tiny voice as she started sobbing. But a hand covers and another hand unties her blindfold. She tried to open her eyes and adjust her vision to get familiar with her surroundings. Her gazed got locked with another pair of eyes that look back at her like reflection.

“We have to hurry so they can’t kill you but you have to be quiet as much as possible, got it?” The stranger told her and she just nods her head along while trying to find out who was this lifesaver of her.

That stranger moved to untie the robe on her wrist followed by the one around her ankle. She tried to get up but her legs became wobbly. She was almost kissed the floor if the stranger’s arm didn’t wrap around her shoulder quickly enough.

“let’s go” The stranger led her to the stair while her eyes roamed around to make sure no one spotted them yet. Until then, she noticed how scary the atmosphere was. Not even a single light bulb was found only darkness surrounded them. But the stranger appeared to get used to it as they hadn’t trip down with anything yet. They successfully arrived on the ground floor without falling from the stair.

“I’m scared” She didn’t care anymore to show how weak she was in front of this stranger who just helped her even though she still couldn’t trust her yet.

“From now on, we have to run fast before they noticed you were gone,” The stranger said and let their hand intertwined tightly before they started to run and leave the abandoned place.

“Who are you?” They had been running long enough in the darkness without any directions and not to mention that they were in the forest.

“It’s not necessary” The stranger replied and panted a little.

“But you help me”

Their conversation got interrupted when the stranger pulls her to stop while she acted as she listened to something.

“What-“

“Shh,” The stranger put her index finger to . They saw the sun rose little by little the same time they saw something that made the other girl trembling. It was her kidnappers' group.

“- Hitomi runs” The stranger cursed out and tugged Hitomi’s hand to pull her run to another direction.

“Th-they are here,” Hitomi said as she looks at her legs that ran faster to the hand that holds hers tightly.

“No matter what, don’t look back,” The stranger told her as they increased their pace when she heard a faint yelling from behind.

“You know my name,” Hitomi said and suddenly she jerks the hand that was holding her to stop. The stranger turned to her angrily

“What the ? You want to die?”

“Y..you are on..one of those kidnappers” Hitomi stuttered but her sentence made the stranger’s pupil shaking a bit before it back to normal again.

“It’s not the time to think about it” The stranger pull Hitomi’s hand to continue running but the latter yanked her hand from the grip.

“Why did you help me? To kill me right away, so that you can get all the money from kidnapping me?” Hitomi asked with frustration, but the girl in front of her didn’t show any signs of bothering from Hitomi’s assumption.

“Think whatever you want but one thing you should know is-“

BANG!

“” the stranger pulls Hitomi swiftly at the same time she dropped her knee to the ground as her right arm got shot. Hitomi almost shouted but she quickly covered . She shakily looked at the blood that came out from the stranger’s arm.

“KIM CHAEWON, HOW DARE YOU BETRAY US?”

Those kidnappers started to shot randomly while yelling Chaewon’s name. Chaewon got up right after collecting herself and she dragged Hitomi to run. They barely escaped from the bullets that shot to them when Hitomi noticed the bullets shot the tree that was just near her body.

The gunshot still could hear in the forest, until Chaewon was sure they were far enough from that group before made a swift move by pulling Hitomi to hide near a huge bush. They heard many footsteps after that until it faded away from their hiding place.

“Find that and kill the two of them. I’ll make that Chaewon pay for her ”

Both Chaewon and Hitomi overheard the person that sound like a leader yelled out to his gang when they ran passed them. Chaewon closed her eyes and scrunched her face when she noticed the blood hasn’t stopped flowing yet.

Hitomi witnessed the bullet sweat that was on her rescuer’s face, and she looked at her shirt before tearing out some parts.

Chaewon opened her eyes and stared at the latter. Hitomi didn’t say anything when she straightened out her arm to grab Chaewon’s wound arm and wrapped the piece from her shirt around the wound and tightened it which earned a groan from Chaewon. After finished it, they had a staring contest waiting for one another to speak first.

Chaewon knew she owed an explanation but how should she explain it? Tell Hitomi that out of nowhere she felt guilty for kidnapping her? Or was it because she overheard from the phone conversation that her leader talked with the person that hired them to kill this girl instead of exchanging with money as other kidnappers do? Did she feel sympathy for her?

“I’m sorry,” Hitomi said as she looked down pulling the other girl from her deep thought “I assumed you want to kill me yet you helped me from getting shoot” she gripped her hand tightly till her knuckle turned white as she tried hard to control her tear.

“I think I deserved this for helping them kidnap you,” Chaewon said in low voice.

“Why?” Hitomi asked

But Chaewon looked up and just sigh. She recalled the time that she received the call from the leader 2 weeks ago

It was just another day for Chaewon to stay in her house that didn’t has any decorations just a plain sofa that she sat on, a small window on the left side that leads her to the corridor and on