C h a p t e r E i g h t
VIII

"Shh!" the mysterious figure hissed, silencing the fearful Seung Yeon at once. He appeared to be waiting for something, although Seung Yeon did now know what he was waiting for. He kept very still, and due to this, Seung Yeon did not dare to move. She heard distant footsteps growing louder by the second, the figure backed away further into the shadows with Seung Yeon still in his embrace.

"Where is he?" a husky male voice asked desperately.

Seung Yeon looked from the corner of her eyes, she saw several men, some armed with knives whilst others were armed in an illegal type of weaponry. 

Guns.

She let out a muffled gasp at the sight of the vicious weapon. She immediately regretted it, for the mysterious figure pressed his hand more forcefully against .

"If you want to survive to see tomorrow's sun rise. Keep quiet." he whispered into her ear. She nodded in acknowledgement since she did not know what other response to give.

"Useless!" the man with the husky voice shouted, "there are three of you and one of him. Three healthy, fit, young men against one injured man! And you're telling me you couldn't catch him?" he bellowed. Seung Yeon just about caught the sight of the men lowering their heads apologetically.

"Aish! Go look elsewhere then! Why are you standing there like blocks of wood! Hyung-nim ordered you to find him, dead or alive, by sun rise! And if we don't find him none of us will be able to live a second past sun rise! Go!" he ordered. The men scuttered off in all directions, but none of them entered the alley way to search.

Seung Yeon closed her eyes in despair, why is no one coming through the alley! I'm being held hostage! Someone help me!

As soon as the footsteps faded away into silence the tight clasp around Seung Yeon's mouth finally loosened. Without second thoughts, she pushed the figure away; his back collided into the cold brick wall behind him. He slid down to the floor weakly, his left hand clutching his right arm.

Seung Yeon felt a sticky substance on her face, she wiped it off with her fingers; under the limited moonlight she could just about make out that the substance was red in colour. Blood.

She gasped and immediately transfixed her eyes on the frail man who lay on the cold floor, his eyebrows were furrowed in pain, his lips were pale and there were beads of sweat that broke out on his face.

Hang on.She bent down and edged a little closer to the man, ocassionally flinching backwards whenever he moved. She reached a close enough distance under the dim moonlight to to observe his appearance. It's him!

She coughed to clear , "excuse me..." she croaked.

No response.

"You feeling alright...?" she asked cautiously.

No response.

"Do you... Do you want me to call an ambulance for you...?" she asked gently. She waited for his response before planning on turning around to head back to her house for her phone. Before she moved her feet, she felt a strong clasp around her foot. Seung Yeon screamed and kicked her foot loose in defence; she took several steps back and ensured that there was distance between the two of them.

"You're not allowed... To call the police..." Young Saeng breathed with difficulty; it was dark, but Seung Yeon could just about make out his painful expression with every word he said. She watched him heave himself up, Seung Yeon could tell that it was difficult for him move. He used the wall for support as he shuffled along the alley way, leaving several blooded hand prints on the brick wall. His hand was still pressed tightly on his arm; it seemed to her that his arm was not the only part of his body that was injured, as she caught red stains resembling the colour of blood on his white shirt.

Her lips trembled along with the rest of her body, was this the effect of the cold, or the guilt she had from witnessing an injured man go free?

"Wait!" she called. She straightened her posture and cleared again, she scurried towards Young Saeng and seemed less afraid from before. He's injured; he won't be of that much harm to me, would he?

Young Saeng turned back to the voice that called for him.

"You're injured," she said, eyeing his multiple blood stains. At a closer distance, she realised that his shirt was cut in several areas, it then came to her that he was possibly cut by the knives she saw the men with earlier, the cuts on his body were not all deep, some were shallower than others, though they bled just as much.

"I'll handle it myself." Young Saeng said in an almost inaudible whisper.

"But you're bleeding too much - " she rushed forward to hold him up just as he was about to collapse again. He rested his head on top of Seung Yeon's head, now using her for support instead of the wall.

"I'll take you to the hospital, all right?" He became unconscious by the second as Seung Yeon struggled to support him. "Are you alright? Hey!" she tried to shake him awake with her free hand whilst struggling to keep him standing. "Hey!" she called, "wake up!"

~~~Flashback~~~

A young girl was sitting in the corner of the streets, hugging her knees to keep warm. She was hungry, cold and had several bruises on her body. She had no coat on, several passer byers wondered wh