Kazuha is tired.

Tired of the way the man - whom she is supposedly 'dating', is trying to pull her into getting her to sleep with him.

For starters, he was delusional enough to think that she's dating him when all they did was went to two lunch dates after class and now, he's bold enough to drop hints of wanting to spend a night at a love hotel now that their movie date is coming to an end.

Kazuha is partly to be blamed for it. Three dates in and she hasn't even turn him down once.

That's just the way she is.

People may call her cruel for toying with people's heart. Giving people hope, only to trample all over them right after but Kazuha wasn't that much of a sadist, for that to be her intention.

She simply hates being alone.

Hence, the reason why she let countless numbers of men pursue her, just to get someone to accompany her but when situations like this arise, she had to draw a line between them.

Kazuha doesn't step as low as going into bed with them. The lowest she had ever gone for was going on dates with someone else's boyfriend though to be fair, he was the one who lied about his relationship status, claiming that he had recently broke up with his girlfriend and is trying to move on from it.

It ended up with Kazuha being caught in a crossfire in a cafe and her going home wet after getting splashed with the water on the table by the same 'ex-girlfriend'. A very classic scene from one of those ridiculous dramas that her housemate enjoys very much.

“I don't think that this is going to work out,” she says, forcing a smile up her lips after a quick sip of her drink. “Let's not see each other again yeah?”

A look of bewilderment appears on his face. “…I thought that you had fun at the movies earlier?”

“That,” Kazuha pauses, trying to come up with another response. “The movie was great but you're not exactly what I'm looking for.”

“...Wow, you really are a . Just like the rumours say.”

Of course she is.

“If that's what you're saying then yes, maybe I am as what the rumours say. Now, have a great night,” she says as she stands up from her seat after pulling out a few dollar bills from her purse to pay for her drink.

Sadly, she wasn't quick enough to leave before he throws a tantrum. Kazuha hisses in pain when he yanks her back by her wrist.

“Someone needs to teach you a lesson.”

“People are watching,” Kazuha lowers her voice and glares at him. She tries to break free from his grasp but fails to. “Stop this.”

“Let's go to where people are not watching then.”

Fear starts to sink into her when she sees him smirking at her deviously.

This was no longer a mere tantrum from him, it seems.

Her eyes roam around the cafe in panic but no one seems to want to get involved in a 'couple' quarrelling in public. Instead, everyone tries to mind their own business. Even as he drags her out of the cafe and into the cold street.

“Stop it Jaehyun! It hurts!”

“Shut up ,” he replies, rising his hand to hit her. Kazuha instantly flinches at this and shuts her eyes closed, ready to feel the sting on her cheek but it never came. The grip on her wrist loosens after a few seconds and before she knew it, she was free from him.

The sight of a young woman in a ponytail and cafe uniform greets her the second Kazuha opens her eyes while Jaehyun on the other hand rolled in pain on the concrete surface, not far away from where the stranger was standing at.

“Sir, you haven't paid for your drinks yet.”

“ you! I'm going to sue you for this- Aaah!!” he further screamed in pain when the woman steps on his hand.

“What was that? Did you say something?”

“I-I'm going to report you to your manager for this!!” he threateningly points to her face as soon as he gathers enough strength to crawl away from her. “I demand to see your manager!”

“What's going on?”

Another woman similarly dressed to the other lady steps out of the cafe, demanding for an explanation for the scene unfolding in front of her. She her brow questioningly at her fellow co-worker, who only raised her shoulders into a shrug.

“This hit me! That's what happened!”

“You better have a good explanation on why you're hitting one of my customers, Yunjin.”

The said woman - whose name appears to be Yunjin grunts in response. “He was about to dine and dash.”

“...You could've asked for the bill nicely, you know.”

Yunjin averts her eyes to Kazuha for a brief moment before shifting back to her co-worker. “Unnie. He was pulling this lady here against her will and was about to hit her.”

“Oh… Is that true, miss?” the co-worker - Gaeun furrows her brows in concern, trying to affirm the situation. The look on Gaeun's face was quick to turn when Kazuha gave her a nod. She immediately glowers at the man lying on the ground. “Attempted kidnapping, assault, and a dine and dash to top that off, do you see how much of jail time you might be facing?”

The colour starts to drain from Jaehyun's face. “W-What nonsense are you spewing about? I didn't do any of that!”

Gaeun scoffs at his pathetic attempt of trying to defend himself before pointing towards the cctvs installed in front of the cafe. “The cctvs might tell us something different. There are several different witnesses too and I know a few people who can put you in jail easily. Should I call them?”

It was enough to make him scamper off from the scene and into his car, though not before cursing them all out. The way he hurriedly drove off from the scene, almost bumping into Yunjin on the way was at the very least, pathetic.

A sense of relief washes over Kazuha when she watches him leave.

She's had her fair share of handling crappy guys, but this had yet to be the worst one.

It hadn't occurred to her yet on how scary these men can be but tonight might just be the tip of the iceberg. If the other girl was just a minute late to her rescue, who knows what could've happened to her?

Kazuha curls her fists against the thoughts, trying to swallow her fear away.

Maybe it's time for her to go home.

Yunjin's soft voice manages to break her away from her train of thoughts. “Are you alright there?”

“Yeah, I'm fine. Thank you, really.”

“Does it hurt?”

Kazuha's eyes instinctively follow to where Yunjin was looking at. She hadn't even realized that Jaehyun's grip left quite a mark on her wrist after all the fiasco. “Oh, this. Don't worry about it. I'll survive,” she says with a smile, trying to lift up the sombre mood between them.

It was Gaeun's turn to speak, sighing as she runs her fingers through her hair. “Man, it's been a while since something like this happened to our store.”

“I'm really sorry for the scene.”

“It's alright, it's not your fault anyway. It might just be our Yunjin’s fault here,” Gaeun says as she tries to brush it off, earning a scoff from the said woman. “Misfortunes seem to follow her everywhere she goes. I don't even know why I let her fill in whenever the other part-timers couldn't make it. Last time she was here, a dog went loose and tried to jump over the counter when he saw a can of whipped cream laying around. Courtesy of our friend here who forgot to return it to the fridge.”

“There's no need to tell a stranger that,” Yunjin grumbles in dissatisfaction. “Who was the one who caught the dog in the end and saved the day? I was--”

“Anyways,” Gaeun immediately cuts her off by shoving her palm against Yunjin's mouth to stop her from babbling even further. “It's not safe for you to go home alone. Is there anyone you can call to pick you up?”

A moment of hesitation crosses over her face. She could call one of her friends (not that she had much in the first place), but everyone was away at their respective hometown to visit their family for the holidays and Kazuha was the only one who stayed behind. She's not going to bother them with her own problem. “Not really.”

“Hm,” Gaeun purses her lips as the gears turns in her head, shifting her gaze from Kazuha and her friend back and forth. She finally unclamps her hand from Yunjin's mouth. “Yunjin, you're fired, and your service is no longer of need. Now go accompany this gorgeous lady home.”

“How are you going to fire me if you don't even pay me in the first place,” Yunjin mutters under her breath and sticks out her tongue. “I'm never helping you out at your parents’ cafe again even if you come running to me crying.”

“Yeah, yeah. You're pretty easy to trick into doing things anyway. I'll manage,” Gaeun tries to wave them off. “Now go, it's getting late.”

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