I blindly walked back down towards the Super Junior apartments, barely missing getting run over by more than one crazy driver. The man’s words replayed over and over in my head.

Idiot.

Fat child.

Freaking whale.

Worthless girl.

I heard my phone buzz again, and I pulled it out of my pocket with trepidation, dreading another call from that man. I stopped and leaned against one of the buildings in relief, seeing that it was only a text from Alex.

From: Alex

Henry said to tell you that the money in your bank account is all from your account back home. He said you’d prefer it that way. Okay?

I was glad for the thoughtfulness of my idiot brother, but I couldn’t bring myself to smile after what happened a few minutes ago. I replied:

To: Alex

Okay, tell him thanks for me!

I stuck my phone back in my pocket and continued in my obedient path towards the convenience store, hating this grip the man had on me. He’s always been there, watching my every move. It was like being a guinea pig in an experiment, and I couldn’t escape him. I’ve never been able to escape him.

As I reached the convenience store, my phone buzzed again. I pulled it out and looked at the text, feeling a cold shiver race down my spine.

From: Mary

If I find out that those two girls know about you…

He didn’t even have to send another text to finish. I knew what he’d do. I swallowed nervously and nodded, knowing that he could see me, then put my phone back and walked into the store, the words flashing across my vision.

Mary isn’t his name. Honestly, I don’t know what his name is. That’s just what he told me to put into my phone.

I pulled my mask down around my chin and smiled at the woman at the cash register, who bowed back and said something in Korean to me. I continued walking, examining the contents of each package on the shelves, not being able to read the mysterious symbols covering them. Finally, after making my way past the two arguing Korean girls and to the back, I found a stack of small wrapped packages of green stuff. If anything was seaweed, this was it. I looked at the label, which had the number 3,500 and some weird symbols next to it. Picking up one of the packages, I started digging around in my purse for 4,000 won as I made my way up to the cash register.

I gave the package of seaweed to the woman, who looked at me a bit weird, then proceeded to scan it and spout a number at me. She handed the package back to me, her opposite hand touching the elbow of the giving hand, after I handed her my 4,000 won. She then gave me a few coins in exchange and bowed at me. I bowed back, feeling a bit weird for adopting this custom so quickly, and headed out of the store, pulling my mask back up over my nose and mouth.

Walking quickly in the opposite direction from the park, I wrestled open the package and took out one of the dried green strips, growing a bit weak at the thought of food, even this. I’m so hungry! I took a ravenous bite of the strip, then proceeded to cram the whole thing in my mouth, sighing in pleasure. Who knew seaweed could taste this good?

My hand was already halfway in the package again before I remembered the man’s words to me. Only one strip, then walk for another two hours. Suddenly, my eyes grew wide, and I nearly dropped my pack of precious seaweed. “Two hours would have me returning to the dorms at 11:30,” I whispered, coming to a standstill in the middle of the sidewalk. “11:30… He knows where Super Junior is going to be at any given moment in any given day. Oh gosh, he’s probably spying on my phone!”

I barely had time to slap a terrified hand over my mouth before my phone buzzed again.

From: Mary

Of course I know, you stupid child. When you flew off to Korea without telling me, it told me that you couldn’t be trusted. Why else would I tell you two hours? You can’t stand out by going missing from the dorms. You disgust me with how unbelievably dimwitted you are.

Tears leaked out of my eyes again at the words on the screen. I bit my lip. “I’m sorry, it won’t happen again,” I murmured. “I won’t stand out.”

A half a minute later, a new text arrived.

From: Mary

Of course you won’t. But ‘sorry’ only goes so far. Show me that you’re sorry.

How the heck am I supposed to do that? I quickly slid the package of seaweed into my purse and started walking again, hating myself. “What do you want me to do?” I whispered, hoping he could hear me.

A few minutes later, my phone buzzed in my hand.

From: Mary

Remember what we had to do a few years ago?

My heart plummeted at the thought of returning to that gross practice. But if I didn’t, I would stand out. I would become his target. “I understand.”

From: Mary

Good girl. Remember, I’ll be watching you.

I tucked my phone into my pocket at this last message and sighed. How did I even get wrapped up in this?

~

An hour later, I was lost. Bonafide lost. All I knew was that I had passed another park a block or so behind, and a big river was somewhere to my left. Up ahead, a busy street was filled with the sounds of honking and screeching tires. Crazy Koreans.

I looked around in vain for something in English or Chinese that I could read that would point me back towards the apartment. I would have asked for help, but seeing as I was a foreigner who spoke only English and Chinese, not many people would have been able to understand me.

I stopped in my tracks outside of another building that looked very similar to the Super Junior apartment. This couldn’t be it, could it? No, there’s not a convenience store on the other side of the street, and it’s much too noisy. I sighed, spinning in place to try and find something familiar. At least the visibility and air quality had cleared up a ton.

I groaned and stopped looking around, determined to try and find my way back as soon as possible. Plus, I was really hungry, and I knew I would only be able to eat anything after I got back. I started walking again, away from the busy street, back towards where I thought I came from.

Suddenly, a dizzy spell hit. I gasped as one of the toes of my sneakers skidded on the sidewalk, losing my balance a bit. Then, I was falling and everything turned to black.

~~~~~~

Hey guys, I hope this was acceptable! Anyway, thanks to all of you who commented, you seriously made me laugh with your guesses and comments! So, tell me what you think will happen, and tell me where you think she is! I'll give a little shout-out to those of you who guess one or the other correctly :) Anyway, I'm supposed to be working on homework right now, so ciao!