"What do you want, L?"

He scoffed, "What? Can't a guy enjoy a peaceful walk around the hotel too?" He snatched one of the pillows from a nearby sofa and lied down on the bay window, his slippers barely touching Naeun.

"What're you-"

"I'm tired, can't you see that?" he said, eyes closed.

Naeun rolled her eyes. She stood up from her seat and was about to walk away when L called her from behind.

"Going so soon, kitty?" She glared at him.

"Do not call me that," she hissed, her tone icy and sharp, ready to slice him into pieces should he dare call her that name again. L returned her threat with a sly grin. A chill ran down her spine. Naeun didn't want to look scared around him, but she couldn't help shake off the fear that quivered its way to her.

"Why not? It suits you." Naeun continued to walk away when L stopped her again, no nickname this time. "I wanted to talk to you, remember?"

She heaved a heavy sigh, "Does it have to be now? Curfew is in five."

"That's more than enough for what I want to say to you," he replied.

Naeun sighed one last time before signaling him to proceed. Just as she predicted, L apologized for what he almost did to her but with a lot of difficulties - it took him a good two and a half minutes just to say the word, sorry. He didn't, however, apologize for nearly beating Daniel to death.

"Well, he's not dead now, is he? In fact, I overheard a friend of his saying that he's all better now and that he can go play around in the snow with his girlfriend if he wants to."

Naeun swore she felt one of her veins pop. She nagged at him until he couldn't tolerate it anymore. "OKAY, FINE! I WILL APOLOGIZE TO THAT BRAT!" His sudden outburst startled Naeun and she trudged back. L noticed and quickly calmed himself down, apologizing to her again. Without thinking, Naeun blurted out the question she'd been wanting to know, "Why did you donate to that man?" Seeing the way he had acted around her made it so impossible for Naeun to believe that the boy who donated so generously to the old man was the same boy that stood in front of her. L gave her a confused look and she elaborated further.

"Last night, I saw you donating to the Starlight Orphanage. You looked so different and even smiled at him. Why?" She forcefully tried to compose herself, but her legs were ready to scurry back to her room. L made an Aha expression. "So you saw," he whispered, barely loud enough for her to hear.

He started approaching her like a tiger prowling to its prey, his eyes full of lust, and his sly grin remained on his face. Naeun never wanted to scram so dearly. How could L frighten her so easily? Where was this sudden fear coming from? She wanted to cry and call for help but restrained herself. Naeun hated being weak and she wasn't about to show it in front of L. 

"I would tell you but..." He was so close to her now, his face barely inches away from hers. His mouth, so close to her ear, she could feel his hot breath as he whispered into it. Tears threatened to fall but she held them in. "Your time is up, kitty." He walked past her. 

Once L was out of sight, Naeun collapsed to the ground, letting go of the breath and tears she'd been holding. She felt giddy as she tried to steady her racing heartbeat. What was wrong with her? Why was she feeling this way?

~~~

Eunji jolted when she heard the door open furiously.

"Naeun!" she exclaimed, "What took you so long? I was starting to worry someone had caught you 'sneaking' around." The sight of Naeun's puffy, red eyes raised concern into the brunette's eyes. "Hey, are you alright? What happened?" 

Naeun shook her head, "Nothing. I just miss my family a lot that's all." s

Liar, Eunji thought; she could see right through her but seeing how worn out Naeun looked, Eunji didn't press further. She'd do that another day. 

Naeun excused herself to the bathroom to wash her face when Eunji felt her phone buzz.

Key Oppa: Hey, is Naeun back yet?

Eunji: Yeah, she just did.

Key Oppa: That's good to hear...I'll let him know.

Eunji: Alright, good night Key Oppa~

Key Oppa: Haha, good night Eunji :)

~~~

Naeun kept splashing her face with water until the bottom half of her sweatshirt was soaked. The word, why,  repeated in her head. The way he exploded, the way he smirked, the way he approached her, whispered in her ear, why did it frighten her so terribly? Even back at the cafeteria, when she tried to defend Daniel from L, she had never felt such immense fear taking over her. 

Why...?

Exhaustion got to Naeun. She quickly changed into a new set of PJs before exiting the bathroom, and covered herself under the blanket, avoiding Eunji's troubled gaze. Naeun promised herself that she would tell Eunji about the incident once she felt better and was fully rested. She could foresee Eunji beating the daylight out of L which lightened her mood a little. She promised she would tell her everything. Just, not today.

~~~

Naeun felt something sharp gripping her wrists. She was screaming, she was struggling, and she couldn't breathe; she felt like she was drowning. It was cold and dark. She heard a girl squealing - it sounded like her but a scream came shortly after. A loud crash and then, a wailing sound

A Siren? A black hole her in and Naeun fell hard on the rough ground. The siren grew louder.

What is going on?! Wake up Naeun, wake up!!

And she did. Eunji was still asleep next to her. Naeun wiped the sweat off her forehead and quietly got out of bed to fetch herself some water but stopped midway when she glanced at her reflection.

"AHHHH!"

Blood oozed out of her head, coloring the wooden floor in crimson. Her clothes, dirty and torn. Cuts and bruises were visible on her neck and shoulders. Naeun stepped closer to the mirror, touching her face and hair.

What happened to me? Is this real?

She reached out to her reflection. It let out a painful cry and grabbed for , dragging Naeun closer to it.

"Runaway," it whispered.

"RUNAWAY!!!"