-Chapter XII-

It was times like these that Yong Hye was grateful that Taemin was a heavy sleeper.

Her phone had gone off, and though that isn’t entirely odd, the time of the phone call was. A quick glance at Taemin’s alarm clock before she grabbed her phone told Yong Hye  two things: it was too early in the morning for anyone in their right mind to call, and, if it was her mom, Yong Hye wasn’t going to answer.

But it wasn’t her mom.

“Yong Hye?” the voice on the other end of the line said quietly. Apparently, they were afraid they would bother someone by talking too loud. Yong Hye laughed sarcastically. They called at two thirty in the morning, but were going to whisper?

“What?” she hissed back, sliding out of bed as quietly as possible so she wouldn’t wake Taemin, who simply grunted and rolled over, up.

“It’s Yonghwa, I’m sorry to disturb you.”

Yong Hye stopped in her tracks just as she reached the bedroom door. Yonghwa was a writer and editor of the magazine she wanted to work for after she graduated. She knew him only through one of the journalism professors at her school, and, though they had never spoken, anyone in the business knew who he was. He was the best reporter anyone had ever read. He managed to get stories that other reporters died trying to write, and he had advanced quickly; being named a supervising editor at The Report before he was even twenty five, a nearly unheard of age in the world of editing. He didn’t even have to say his last name. If you were into the investigative journalism world in this city, you knew who he was.

“Yong Hye?” the voice on the phone asked, looking for a response.

“Yeah, sorry,” Yong Hye said quickly, resuming her walk into the living room. “What is it?”

“Dr. Song sent over your pieces a few weeks ago, and I’m sorry I couldn’t get back to you earlier about them. Things are sort of busy right now.”

Yong Hye bit back her initial reaction to ask what he was working on, knowing that it may seem rude. “That’s fine,” she said instead. “I totally understand.”

“I figured you would,” Yonghwa said. “I also know that Dr. Song informed you that, in order to work here at The Report, would have to pass a field test.”

“He did,” Yong Hye said, gripping the living room couch in front of her tightly. Some part of her knew where this was going.

“Well, I was hoping to administer that test now,” Yonghwa said, confirming Yong Hye’s thoughts. “After reading your stuff, I think, if you pass your test and the following background checks, and of course graduate; you would be a good addition here atThe Report.”

Yong Hye nearly squealed with excitement, but again managed to bite it back, wanting to remain professional. “Alright, sounds good.”

“Okay,” Yonghwa said, a hint of happiness filtering through to Yong Hye. “Here’s your job: there’s been a leak about a meeting going down tonight in a half hour among some of the ‘up and coming’ gang leaders. These guys are generally the children of gang leaders now, and their folks want them to start forming their own alliances and making their own decisions, so they set up this meeting. I need you to go to the address I’m going to give you and discover as much as possible. I don’t need an outline of their plans; more of a conformation that this is what’s going on, any names you hear or any details they may be clumsy enough with to speak about in your presence; whether they know you’re there or not. Think you can do it?”

“Yeah,” Yong Hye said breathlessly. “Of course.”

“Great,” Yonghwa said, then gave her the address. “If I can offer you a bit of advice,” Yonghwa said. “It would be: don’t try to do too much. Stay as safe as possible.”

“Of course,” Yong Hye said, nodding as though he could see her.

“You have the address written down?” Yonghwa asked.

“Oh, I know the place.”

-           -           -           -

Fifteen minutes later, Yong Hye found herself across the street from the café she and Taemin had visited the last time they had gone shopping. She had decided that across the street was the safest place to wait until people started walking out, and after another ten minutes, she was very glad of her hiding place.

She heard noises coming from the side of the café, and realized that they must have decided to come out the side exit, hoping to seem less conspicuous. However, it looked like the majority, if not all of them, all walked onto the main street, clearly in Yong Hye’s view. At first, Yong Hye was afraid that she hadn’t paid attention enough in her studies to recognize anyone, but soon, Yong Hye realized that they weren’t exactly afraid of showing off that they were part of a gang. They were all dressed according to their gang; certain colors, designs or pieces were characteristic of the different gangs, and Yong Hye recognized a few, and was a little surprised when she saw designs she didn’t recognize.

She waited until they were far enough away to not be able to hear her walking before she started following them, trying to look like she just happened to be walking down an essentially deserted street at three in the morning.

She followed them for only three blocks before anything happened.  

A large arm snapped out of an alley and wrapped around her waist. Her initial reaction was to scream, despite knowing that the gang members ahead of her would definitely hear her, but that action was stopped as another hand clamped itself onto , both arms pulling her back against the chest of her assailant.

“What are you doing, little girl?” a man’s voice asked gruffly in her ear.

As scared as she was, Yong Hye rolled her eyes. It wasn’t like she could answer with his hand over .

Her attacker, having not received any resistance after pinning her, relaxed a little, which was what Yong Hye was looking for. She stomped her foot on his as hard as he could, and though it didn’t make him let go of her waist, it made him let go of , providing Yong Hye with the opportunity to scream.

“Hey!” the man yelled, recovering and clamping his hand back over Yong Hye’s mouth.

“Hey,” a new, calmer voice said. Yong Hye felt a weight land on her attacker’s shoulder, assuming it was a hand. “If you’re going to attack someone, do it where people can’t see you.”

Yong Hye felt the man’s hands slip off of her. Grumbling, the attacker slumped off.

Turning, Yong Hye knew that whoever had gotten her free was scarier than her previous attacker. Why else would he just let her go.

“Taecyeon!” Yong Hye cried once the man’s face came into focus.

It was, indeed, Taecyeon, though Yong Hye couldn’t help but notice that his usually smiling face was the exact opposite. He was frowning down at her, eyes narrowed, frown lines creasing his face.

“Princess…” Taecyeon grumbled.

“Hey Taecyeon!” a voice, from the direction of the men Yong Hye had been following called. “You coming? You know you can bring the girl. Have a little fun?”

Taecyeon looked up and at whoever was speaking. Yong Hye didn’t dare turn around. “No, I’ll just take her somewhere a little nicer,” Taecyeon called, sending a little wink to the other speaker.

Yong Hye looked up at Taecyeon, shocked. The man didn’t look down at her; he was watching the group of men retreat. After watching them turn a corner, Taecyeon’s attention snapped to Yong Hye.

“Come on,” he said, grabbing her hand and pulling her in the opposite direction of the retreating gang members.

“Where are we going?” Yong Hye asked, jogging to keep up with Taecyeon, who was pulling her along at an alarming rate.

“A hotel,” Taecyeon answered shortly.

Yong Hye, hearing his answer, dug her heels into the sidewalk. She didn’t think he was actually serious when he was talking to the gang member.

Groaning from the sudden resistance, Taecyeon walked back to Yong Hye, not letting go of her hand. “I’m taking you to a hotel, because if they happen to follow us to your house, you could be in a lot more trouble than you were just now.”

Yong Hye, shocked at his logic, let him start walking again, pulling her along again.

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