You watched as the numbers light up and faded as the elevator sluggishly made its way up the apartment floors.  The cheap florescent lights flicked and buzzed overhead; irritating you and adding onto your already present headache. You groaned as you adjusted the strap on your purse, your shoulder crying out in pain from all the heavy miscellaneous objects you shoveled into it every day. When the number 15 blinked, you bent down and grabbed your suitcase off from the floor. The elevator made an abrupt stopped when it reached 17 and the doors creaked open. You stepped out into the hallway and sighed. Your apartment building had unusually long hallways, and you were lucky enough to have the apartment at the end of the hallway. You adjusted your purse strap again and prepared yourself for the long walk, your feet screaming from the high heel shoes you decided to wear that day. “I’m not doing that again.” you muttered to yourself.  Suddenly, your phone’s ringer blared through the hallway.

“I’m going to kill Jess for changing my ringtone to a Girls Generation song.” The high pitched voices and loud bubbly music hurt your head. You put down your suitcase and rummaged through your purse, trying to find your phone through the clutter and mess.

“It better not be my boss.”  Your boss was a jerk, always calling you at odd hours, standing over your shoulder at work, carelessly pilling up the work that he was supposed to be doing. He was the reason for your daily headaches, and after 6 o’clock, you didn’t want to hear his voice any longer.

 You located your phone and looked at the caller ID. Your face relaxed instantly and you smiled.

“Hey Dongho.”

“Hey noona! What are you doing right now?” It was nice to hear a familiar and cheerful voice. You dug out your keys from your purse and put it back on your shoulder.

“I just got off work; I’m walking to my apartment now.” You leaned your left ear onto the phone, grabbed your suitcase back up from the ground and began walking down the hallway again.

“Umm, noona, I think you should take me to dinner.”

“What? Why?”

“Because I’m hungry! And I don’t have any money!” Dongho whined.

You laughed. “Well what makes you think I have money? What about U-Kiss? Ask one of your hyung’s to take you.”

“They don’t have any money either! Noona, I’m so hungry, I think I’m going to die.” You sighed; it was so hard to resist his aegyo.

“Alright, alright! I’ll take you to get something to eat. Where are you? I’ll pick you up.”

“No need, I’m already on my way.”

“What? How did you know I would say yes?”

“I would have convinced you somehow.” he replied, sounding smug.

“Well, you’re as cocky as usual.” You said and chuckled.

“See you in 15 minutes!” He hung up the phone just as you made it to your front door. You threw your phone back in your purse and put your keys in the door. You walked into your front door to see your boyfriend, sitting on your couch in the living room, the television turned up way to loud.

“Hey sweetie, I didn’t know you would be home. “ You opened the hall closet and threw off your shoes and jacket inside and set your purse by the doorway.

 “Yeah, they let us come home early today.” He looked over to you and smiled.

“I’ll fix you something to eat if you want.” You walked over to him and sat down on the couch. You reached over to the table and grabbed the remote. “Sorry I have a headache. Mind if I turn it down?”

“Naw, it’s fine. How was work? Rough?”

“Well, you know how the boss is.” You turned down the tv’s volume and sat crossed legged beside him. You touched your temples with the tips of your fingers, the beating of head thumping against them.

“I told you, if you need me to roughen him up a bit, I could.” He slammed his fist into his hand and looked at you with an eyebrow raised.

“And I told you, I can handle him myself. “ You kissed him on the cheek and got up. “What do you want to eat? We have some leftover chicken from the other night I could heat up.”

“Yeah, whatever. That sounds good.” He began flipped through the channels, haven lost interest in whatever was on before.

You headed into the kitchen and opened up the fridge. You took out the leftover chicken and put it on a plate to reheat in the microwave. While it was cooking, you went into the bathroom and took out some aspirin from the medicine cabinet and popped them in your mouth.  You walked back to the kitchen and checked the chicken. “Hmm, still cold.” You closed the door again and pressed the start button.

“Hey, Iron Man is on, do you want to watch it with me?” your boyfriend called from the living room.

“I can’t. I’m going out in a bit.” You jumped up onto the counter and sat down, your feet dangling off the ground.

 “With who?” Your boyfriend called back. Your heart began to race. This was not good.

“No one, just a friend.” You called back softly. You bit your lower lip and closed your eyes. Maybe he will let it go. He didn’t.

“What friend?” He called back. His voice sounded harder than it had been early, and you knew you were in trouble. You scooted off the counter and walked out of the kitchen, peeking into the living room.

“It’s nobody. Just... just Dongho.” Your boyfriend looked up at you and raised his eyebrows. He frowned.

Who? Dongho? Is that the shorty from the other day? I don’t want you hanging out with him.”

You put your hands on your hips and walked further into the living room.  “Well, that’s too bad. He is my best friend and I’m not going to stop seeing him.  Maybe you should get to know him; he’s a really good guy.”

“What?” Your boyfriend got up off the couch and walked over to you. “What did you say?  He’s a good guy? How good a guy is he? Do you like him or something?”

“Wow, jealous much. He’s my good friend. You know what, whatever. You need to calm down. Your food is in the kitchen, I’m leaving.” You turned and started to walk off towards your bedroom.

“No you’re not” Your boyfriend grabbed your wrist and swung you around.

“Let go of me!” You screamed and your boyfriend flung you to the floor. He knelt down over you and pulled you up, grabbing your face, and squeezing your cheeks in his hand.

“Maybe you didn’t hear me, so I will make it real clear.” He turned your head and whispered in your ear. “When I tell you to do something-” He pushed you back down on the ground and your head hit the ground. “YOU DO IT DAMMIT.” You began to cry, his eyes piercing into you, his face red and hot. He sat right on top of you, the inability to move making it even worse. “I don’t want you hanging out with anyone other than me? GOT IT. Your my girlfriend. Who does this Dongho guy think he is? You’re staying here with me tonight. OKAY?” you whimpered,  the weight of him hurting your body. You began to sob uncontrollably and shake under him. He stared back down at you and slapped your face. “Answer me when I talk to you.”

Suddenly, you heard a loud bang and your boyfriend fell on top of you. All the air from your lungs left your body and you struggled to breathe.  Then, the weight was lifted off of you, and Dongho was there, rolling him off you and onto the side.  He grabbed your hand and took you out of the apartment door and down the hallway, the door wide open and your boyfriend passed out on the floor.

You could barely see through your stream of tears, Donhgo’s hand the only think keeping you from falling to the ground. You made it to the parking lot and through the long line of cars, finally making it to Dongho’s car. He let go of your hand and helped you into the passenger seat and you slowly got in. He walked over to the driver’s side and go in alswell, putting the keys in the ignition.

”It’s okay now,” he said, reaching towards you and wiping your tears with his sleeve. “You’re safe.” He smiled at you, then pulled out of the parking lot and started to drive.