They’ve been driving for 30 minutes now and Dara still has no idea where they’re going.  She is too scared to ask.  When she felt the gun pointed at her and saw the man in her rear-view mirror – wearing the same outfit as described by the policeman earlier – she immediately knew the danger that she was in.  She wanted to ask where he was taking her and wanted to plead, say something like “take all my money and just leave.  I won’t call the police, I promise, just let me go.”  But she couldn’t. She just couldn’t think properly; she has never felt so frightened. 

The man was talking to someone on the phone every five minutes, cursing every chance he could get. 

“I got the money, don’t do anything to her.  Dammit you ! Try laying a finger on her and I’ll hunt you anywhere.”  He heard something over the phone, and cursed again.  “ you! I told you I got the money!  I’m already on my way to drop the money where you told me to.  I’ll be there in five minutes.”

Hearing him spit those kinds of words every five minutes, made Dara feel more afraid.  She just kept her eyes on the road, while glancing once in a while in her rear-view mirror. 

Finally he told her to turn right, into a dark alley and they stopped in front of an old building.  “Just wait.  Don’t you dare shout or you’ll know what will happen to you,” he told Dara.  He dialed something on the phone again.  “We’re here, I got your money.  Where’s the girl?”  “No, I’m alone.  I just got a hostage to drive me here.  !  Let’s just get this over with!  Bring the girl out and I’ll give you your money.”  And he did not like what he heard next.

“Why can’t you just ing stick to the deal?  I got you what you want; now bring the girl out and we’re done.  I won’t leave the money here if I don’t see the girl.”  Then he heard something on the phone that almost took the wits out of him.  “Gaaahh!  Alright alright!  Just don’t hurt her.  I’m gonna leave the money here and bring the girl to the place that you said.  I will be there in an hour, and if you don’t bring me the girl, you’re dead.  You’re ing dead! Got that?”  The call got cut off.

Kwon Jiyong hated this.  He hated being played at, he hated being dictated.  But as of now, he really has no choice if he wants to see the girl alive.  He opened the window at the backseat where he was seated, then threw the bag with the money.  He took the phone again, “You got your money.  Make sure you bring the girl to me in an hour.  I’m going to that place now.”

“You can leave now.  Don’t try reporting to the police.  I will remember your face and you’ll see what happens when you try reporting this.”  He told Dara.  He got off the car and started walking away.  He was limping on his way.  Dara saw him remove his mask, but she couldn’t see his face.  He was walking away and she could only see his back.  He had blonde hair, which reached down to the bottom of his neck, though it was cut neatly at the sides.

Dara doesn’t know what’s keeping her there.  She didn’t get hurt, and the guy just left her.  The next step would be to drive off as fast as she can.  And she knows that, but she can’t seem to leave.  She watched him as he walked away, thinking about everything that she has heard all the time that she was held hostage.  Although she fervently thinks that what the guy did to her and earlier robbing the convenience store was completely wrong, she kind of understood that he had a reason.  Even though he was the one with a gun, it looked like he was more afraid than she was.  He was fighting for something, and he was scared of something.

Coming back to her senses, she paid attention to the way he was limping.  Dara then recalled what the police officer told her that they suspect the robber was wounded while he tried to escape.  The humanitarian in her won and so instead of driving away, “Get in!” Dara told him. 

Jiyong was astounded.  There was so much in his mind that he even forgot about the girl as soon as he got off that car.  “What, are you crazy?  Go away, I have no time, I’m in a hurry.  And you should just drive off, be thankful I let you go.”

Dara was surprised when she saw his face.  He’s young, she thought to herself.  With all the profanity she heard from him earlier, she would’ve guessed that he was at his thirties or so.  Now that she can see his face, he looked like someone in his early 20s, almost the same age as Top.

“What are you staring at? I told you to go away before I regret not hurting you there.” The boy shouted at Dara.  She shook her head a bit, realizing that she got lost in her thoughts a bit there.

“But you’re wounded.  Do you really think you’ll make it in time in that condition?  You can’t even walk properly, much less run.  Get in!  I’ll take you to where you need to go.” “Don’t worry, I’m not taking you to the police, you didn’t even give me my phone back yet.  Besides, if I really wanted to call the police, I would’ve gone straight there by now.”

Jiyong had no more energy to think now, and he was feeling the warm blood in his leg already.  He couldn’t debate even with himself anymore.  As much as he tried not to act like the leg is not bothering him, he was actually in pain.  So he got into the passenger’s side and told her where exactly they need to go.

_______________________

TOP looked at his watch, it’s 7:10pm.  She’s late.   Weird, he thought.  Dara has never been late in their dates.  In fact, she was always the first one to arrive and he was always sorry to her ‘cause there were times that she had to wait for more than an hour, and there were even times that she had to go home after waiting for so long because TOP couldn’t make it. 

Ever since he decided to start a restaurant business, he had been very busy from talking to real estate agents, finding contractors for the construction, to meeting with potential suppliers, that he and Dara rarely had dates lately.  The last time they met was a week before but they just talked for five minutes.  Dara just dropped by the site where they’re building the restaurant, to bring food for him and the workers.  But she had to leave right away ‘cause she had to go back to work.  He feels sorry that Dara had to go out of her way like that so she could see him.

Thinking of how long since he and Dara became official, he realized he has not really done anything special for her.  Since they met at a time where they were so busy in school, then had to start building their careers after graduation, he hasn’t had a chance to make special events for his girlfriend.  Sure they had dates and he gave her gifts, never failed to call her every day; but Top felt that he could have done more.  In the past eight years, Dara has been very patient with him.  She has never even complained at least once about him coming late for their date or him suddenly cancelling out.  She always had this “I understand,.”  “You’re still the best man for me,” “I still love you” answers to him whenever he apologizes.

So for the past month, aside from being busy with the restaurant, he has been planning something special for Dara.  TOP has been talking to Dara’s friends, met with her boss to not give her a hard time this week, and he has talked to Dara’s parents about his plans.  Dara’s mother cried when TOP made it clear to them about his intentions.  He gave them his assurance and Dara’s father had to hug him out of so much happiness from what he had heard.  TOP carefully prepared for this day, made the reservation for their favorite restaurant a month ago.  He even had to restrain himself from meeting Dara a week earlier before this, because he was worried that he might slip out of so much excitement.  Now that the day has finally come, he feels very nervous.  He couldn’t think of any other thing today, even had to make excuses about meeting suppliers this week just to make sure every detail about this evening will go smoothly.

He looked at his watch again, it’s 7:15.  He called her an hour ago and he was sure that Dara said she’s on her way.  He called again thirty minutes later to check but she wasn’t answering.  He thought it’s okay, she might be driving so it’s not safe for her to pick up his call.  He called ten minutes later, but she was still not answering.  He tried to drive away any negative thoughts; he just thought maybe the phone’s battery was running low so he just waited for her.  Anyway, there’s five minutes more so she really isn’t late.  But now that she’s fifteen minutes late is weird; she has never been late.  He’s getting worried now.  “Did she change her mind?” “Did she find out about his surprise today and decided she’s not ready yet?”  He had those thoughts running in his mind right now.

“Sir, everything is ready.  As you said, we put the ring inside the dessert as you requested.  Just give us a signal when it’s time for us to serve it.”  The restaurant manager told TOP.

“Thank you.  You have worked hard.”

“It’s our pleasure Sir.  You are an important guest in our restaurant, and we are thankful that you decided to spend this very special event with us.  We wish you luck Sir; for sure she’ll say yes.” The manager assured him, and then left.

Top looked at his watch again and he just felt that something was really off.  He tried dialing her number again and there was still no answer.  He never felt the need to do this before because he trusted her, but he just couldn’t shake off this scary feeling.  He used the phone tracker to locate where she is and he got so scared when he found out where the place is.  It says the owner of the phone is somewhere in Banghwa-dong, which is very far from the restaurant, and the place is not even in the way from her office to the restaurant.  He’s so nervous now, he called the police immediately and told them to search for a car.  He gave them the plate number and described the car, described how Dara looks like.  He immediately left the restaurant and got to his car as fast as he could and went to search for her too.

__________________________________________

They were driving now to the place and Dara looked at him.  “Are you okay?  You’re badly hurt; we should get you to the hospital.”  Dara told him.

“Don’t mind me; this is nothing.  Just get me to that place and you can leave me there.  And don’t talk to me; just drive.  I don’t have time to chat.”

“What’s your name, by the way?  My name is Sandara Park.”

“Aaaarrrghhh!  I’m not interested in your name!  Now will you just ing drive?  You might be forgetting the fact that I still have a gun with me.”

Dara was taken aback by the hostility.  If this guy was not wounded and they were not in a hurry to save some girl, she would have hit him already with her bag and started her lecture about good manners.  Though in spite of the slight annoyance, this guy made her really curious.  For sure this boy is still young, younger than her, but she thought about what brought the boy in this kind of situation.  In his age, this boy should be at the club having fun with his friends, or dating a lot of girls his age.  She pushed these thoughts aside when she saw the guy checking his watch.  She remembered that they have to make it in time, or else he might lose his patience and just shoot her.

Finally, they stopped at what looked like a children’s playground but the whole place was dark.  There was just one street lamp lit, which was 10 meters away.  Dara did not know that there was still such a place in Seoul. 

Before he got off, the boy gave Dara her phone back.  “Here’s your phone.  I’m returning it just because you drove me here.  But I’m telling you, calling the police now is not a good idea.  You better stay away from here.  I won’t have time for you later, and I might just shoot you.”  He then got off the car, and walked to the middle of the playground.

Dara couldn’t take her eyes off him.  She was scared and concerned for the boy at the same time.  She was sure that he was in danger, and some girl that he keeps mentioning on the phone.  But yes, she realized it’s safer if she just leaves now.  She got hold of her phone finally, and was shocked when she saw the time.  It was 9’oclock in the evening already and there were so many missed calls and messages.  The boy might have just switched her phone on silent mode, maybe thinking that it would arouse more suspicion if her relatives couldn’t contact her.  She immediately called her boyfriend and was so relieved to hear his voice.

But it couldn’t be compared to the relief that was felt by the other person on the line. 

“Dara!  Babe, where are you?  Are you okay?  Say something please.”  Top had so many questions for his girlfriend, and he couldn’t even relax yet.  He wants to see her immediately. 

“I’m okay, don’t worry.  I just got into a minor accident, but I’m on my way home now.  Is it okay if we just cancel the dinner tonight?  I’m so tired.”

“Accident?  Are you hurt?  Where are you?  I’m coming for you.  Please just tell me where you are.”  Top just couldn’t imagine his girlfriend getting into an accident.  That small, fragile figure…aaahh, he immediately shook scary thoughts off his head.  He doesn’t want to make things worse for her.

“No…no need to come here.  I…… Oh no, Jagiya please call the police now!  Quick!  I’m at Banghwa-dong, this is urgent.  Please tell them to come as fast as they can!”  She hung up quickly, because suddenly two cars appeared on the other side, and four men with guns went out from those cars.  There was a girl with them, and they were walking towards the direction of the boy.  She was watching the scene from the car, sitting low, careful not to be seen.  The girl was pushed so hard to the boy, that Dara heard her scream in pain.  The whole scene is making her dizzy.  Then she saw the men point their guns at the two.

“Oh God, what’s happening?”  Dara felt so scared.  Without thinking, she got off the car and ran to the scene.  “Excuse me, I don’t know what’s happening here but gentlemen, can you please put down your guns?”  She said, raising her hand in surrender, like signaling them to stay calm.

The armed men were dumbfounded.  Who is this girl?  Doesn’t she really know what’s happening here?  Does she have no idea what danger she just got into?

The boy, holding the girl in his embrace, shouted at Dara.  “What the ?  Why are you still here?! “

“Oh, what do we have here?  Lady, it’s very brave of you.  Do you know this boy?”  This man speaking looked so scary.  He pointed his gun at Dara and was chuckling.  The other guys who had their guns pointed at Jiyong and the girl also started laughing.

“Please, no need for guns.  We can talk about this.  If it is money you want, I can give it to you.”  Dara was trying to sound calm, but her voice is betraying her.  She sounded so scared.  She glanced at the boy who looked so annoyed now, seeing that she’s only prolonging things.

The men laughed again at her.  To them, she looked like a little girl chasing a ball not knowing she’s running to a cliff.

“Hmmm, since you’re here, why don’t you just join the party?  You see it’s not fun if we just shoot these two.  Adding another one might make it more interesting?”  The man who looked like the one in-charge of the others started walking towards Dara, laughing while he said that.

But then police car sirens were heard, and everything happened so fast.

“What the , you even dared to call the police?”  The old guy looked at Jiyong.  The four men started running away from the scene; but as soon as the police cars arrived, a gunshot was heard. 

“Noooooooo!”

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A/N: Thank you to my early subscribers and to everyone who wrote their comments.  

The mean so much to me guys. =)

Sorry I don't have banners yet..I'm not good at fanarts so I would appreciate

anyone who could make banners for my story. Yay! =)