I felt better when the red marks on Roxy's wrists were gone. But I still felt pissed off when she kicked me in my sensitive spot. Seriously, that girl has trust issues. She kicked me pretty hard. After asking her if her wrists were fine, she had this weird look on her face twice. I was confused. I just smiled at her. Weird, I thought. After that, both JiHoo and me went home. I was still confused about my feelings, but I knew I liked Roxy.

 

The drive home was quiet, silent. The atmosphere was weird, as if it wasn't the right mood. It felt. . . awkward. I just stared out the window because I couldn't look at JiHoo's face. I don't know why it was awkward.

 

“Do you like her?”

 

His voice shocked me out of my thoughts. It was really loud when he said it. I looked at JiHoo, whose face never left the road. I guess he doesn't want an accident. He should have done it before when we were getting here, I thought, annoyance itching in my head.

 

“Jason?”

 

Again, I snapped away from my trance and looked at him. The car had stopped at a red light and JiHoo was looking at me, a little irritated.

 

“Sorry,” I said softly.

 

“So?” he asked.

 

I looked at him, confused. “What?”

 

“Do. You. Like. Her.” He paused on every word, his voice clearly showing how irritated he was.

 

“Sorry,” I said again. “And yes, I do like her but it's not love.”

 

“Are you sure?” he murmured softly, but I could still hear it.

 

“Huh?”

 

“Nothing.”

 

“JiHoo, what is it?” I pressured him.

 

“Nothing. Oh! Here's your house. Bye!”

 

He pushed me out of his car without a word and drove off, the dirt showering me and making me cough.

 

“Jerk!” I yelled as loud as I could. I wiped my face with my shirt and walked towards my house; scratch that, mansion. It wasn't as big as Roxy's but it was still huge. I opened the huge door and was immediately greeted by my butlers and maids.

 

“Welcome back, Master,” they all said at once. The atmosphere was tense and stiff. They're at it again, I thought, sadly. I tried lightening up the atmosphere.

 

“Didn't I tell you not to call me master?” I scolded them jokingly. I pouted cutely. They immediately relaxed. The tense air dissipated. I wanted them to treat me equally, not some snobby rich person. I grinned widely and they smiled back.

 

One of the butlers came and held out his both of his hands. I shook my head.

 

“It's okay. I'll do it myself, Mark,” I said.

 

He bowed and said, “Of course, . . . Jason.”

 

I smiled again and clapped my hands like a little kid. It was actually the first time someone said my name instead of master. I mean, I like being treated like royalty, but it gets tiring if you hear it every single day. A few chuckles were heard. They knew every time I come home, I act like my other personality, a childlike one. Only people from my house know this.

 

“I'll be in my ro-o-o-o-om,” I said, singing out the last word. I slung my backpack over my shoulder and walked upstairs to my bedroom. I ran to my bed and jumped on it. I stared up at the ceiling.

 

“I don't know, JiHoo,” I mumbled, closing my eyes. In minutes, I dozed off. I went to dreamland. Actually, the opposite.

 

“I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU!” someone screamed. It was pitch black all around me. My hands were aimlessly grabbing the air, catching no one and nothing. I screamed. I stomped my foot in frustration. I grabbed fistful of my hair in anger. I kept turning my head around, sensing that someone was looking at me behind, but there was nobody there.

 

“Where are you?!” I screamed. “SHOW YOURSELF!”

 

Nobody did. I felt like breaking down. It felt suffocating. I screamed again, the sound echoing eerily. Suddenly, the ground started to sink. No, it was my feet. Hands were grabbing my legs, pulling me down. I tried grabbing anything to keep me up, but nothing helped. The last thing I saw was Roxy looking down at me before I descended into darkness.

 

“Jason! Wake up!” a voice shouted. Someone was shaking my shoulders so hard. My eyes shot open and I quickly sat up, bumping into someone's forehead. The impact was so painful and fast.

 

“OOOW!” I screamed.

 

The other person also screamed out in pain. I rubbed my forehead. Sure enough, there was a already bump increasing in size.

 

I looked around and it was one of my butlers, James. He was on the floor rubbing his forehead, mouth shooting out curses. I stifled a laugh. It was the first time I heard him cuss. I stood up and helped him up, ignoring the pulsing pain in my head. He started apologizing.

 

“I'm so sorry, M-master. N-no, I mean J-Jason. S-so sorry,” stuttered James. “You l-looked like you were having a n-nightmare, so I tried to wake you u-up.”

 

“It's okay, James. I'm fine,” I said. “Are you okay?”

 

He blushed. “Y-yes, I'm f-fine. Thank y-you for being concerned.”

 

I smiled and patted his back. “No problem. What time is it by the way?”

 

James checked his watch. “It's 6:00, Jason.”

 

“Are my parents back?” I asked him.

 

He hesitated before saying, “Sorry, but no.”

 

I frowned. They were never here for dinner. Always at some business trip. James's voice interrupted my thoughts.

 

“You can eat with us,” James suggested shyly. I immediately brightened up.

 

“Yay!” I squealed in excitement. “What are we eating?”

 

“Your favorite, crab stew,” said James, smiling. I clapped my hands in happiness. I was probably grinning like an idiot. I love seafood and crabs are my favorite.

 

“Let's go then!” I shouted and grabbed James' hand. I dragged him all the way to the dining room, where my maids were setting up the table. As I entered the room, all the maids' heads snapped up and looked at us, surprised.

 

“I'm eating with you, guys,” I declared. There were more than 20 chairs because our dining room was huge.

 

All of them smiled widely and started preparing faster. I tried helping the others but they said it was fine. I pouted and did my aegyo, since some of them were Korean and I had learned it from them. They chuckled and let me help them which I gladly did. We finished preparing when the doorbell rang.

 

“I'll get it!” one of my maids, Yuri, spoke. I nodded to her and almost sat down when I heard a bloodcurdling scream. I jumped up and ran towards the door. There was a man with a knife and Yuri on his feet, blood staining the white floor.

 

“Yuri!” I shouted and ran towards her. The man looked up at me and smiled gruesomely. His left eye was covered with an eye patch and a scar ran down his other eye like a lightning bolt. He was wearing a hoodie and black jeans. I put all of this in my head before I helped Yuri up.

 

“Jason, right? We'll see each other again.” He chuckled evilly before running away.

 

“Wait! Come back!” I shouted at his fading back.

 

“Yuri!” a voice said. I glanced behind me and it was Yuri's boyfriend, Shinwoo. I gave her to Shinwoo and sprinted towards the direction of the stranger. The wind whipped at my face as sweat appeared on my forehead. I panted heavily.

 

“Where are you?” I shouted. “What do you want?”

 

A voice spoke behind me. “Roxy.”

 

I turned around and was met with a knife pointed at me. “What do you want with her?”

 

“What I did to her two years ago.”

 

“What?” I asked, confused. Two years ago. . . Two years ago was when Roxy was . . .

 

“Stay away from her, Josh!” I growled at him with menace.

 

“No can do, Jason. I need my revenge. This time it's worse,” answered Josh with a laugh. “I'm guessing Roxy told you about me?”

 

“How do you know me?” I asked. No answer came from him. I glared at him. So he's out of jail, huh? I thought

 

“She has nothing to do with this,” I said. “Her parents told me everything.”

 

He took a step forward and the cold blade touched my throat. I tried not to swallow so the blade won't sink further in.

 

“So? I know Roxy has an interest in you, though she doesn't want to admit this,” Josh said.

 

“How do you know all this?”

 

“Let's just say I have my ways.”

 

“Leave her alone! She doesn't need all this!” I yelled at him. I took a step back but he stepped forward.

 

“Or what?” he taunted.

 

He got me. I couldn't do anything. I couldn't hurt him or else I would be in jail.

 

“Jason, hurting you is part of my revenge. Roxy just can't admit it,” said Josh.

 

“What?”

 

“I'll let you figure things out on your own. You are smart,” he answered. “I'll just give you one present.”

 

I barely opened my mouth when he slashed my right arm with the knife. I yelped in pain. I grabbed my arm and fell to the ground. Blood trickled down my right arm. I looked up and he was gone. I cursed. I winced at the pain in my right arm. I had to get it fixed. The puddle of blood at my feet was increasing little by little. I stood up shakily and walked towards my house. I had to let Roxy's parents know about this.

 

I staggered towards the front door, panting heavily and lightheaded from the blood loss. Blood dripped down the mat, staining it. I opened the door and collapsed on the floor. Somebody helped me up and carried me to the couch. I tried to stay awake, but a voice coaxed me to relax.

 

“Jason, go to sleep,” the voice said quietly. My eyes fluttered and sleep finally reached me. This time, neither dreams or nightmares appeared.

 

I woke up by the sound of an alarm. I rubbed my eyes groggily and sat up. I looked at the clock. It was two in the morning. Somehow, I ended up in my room. I tried to remember what happened last night. I lifted up my right arm. It was covered with a white bandage and blotches of red were on it. I poked the cast and winced at the pain. It felt like the cut was deep. I tried not to move it around too much as I went downstairs, looking for something to eat. I stopped at the foot of the stairs when I smelled something. My nose immediately went into alarm mode when I smelled something burning. I ran to the kitchen and saw smoke and fire at the stove. I grabbed the fire extinguisher and sprayed the stove. The kitchen soon was filled with the white gas. I hacked and coughed as the gas went into my lungs. I put it down and looked around. I saw two shadows in the corner, the smoke covering them.

 

“What happened?” I asked, a little annoyed. Two people stepped out from the smoke. Yuri and Shinwoo. Her left foot was covered with a bandage and she was limping. Shinwoo was holding her hand in case she fell.

 

“Sorry, J-Jason. I just wanted to c-cook you something,” stammered Yuri. My expression softened. My mouth curved upwards into a grin. I set down the fire extinguisher and helped her to a chair.

 

“Thanks, Yuri. I'll cook instead since you almost burned down the kitchen,” I said humorously with a smile. Yuri blushed and stuck out her tongue.

 

I got out all the ingredients and started cooking. Soon enough, delicious smells and aromas filled up the whole kitchen. By the time I had finished, it was already five am. I took out my masterpiece from the oven and put it down on the dining table. Maids and butlers came out of their rooms and followed the smell to the dining table and was surprised to see me preparing the table. I chuckled at their expressions.

 

“My thanks for helping me yesterday,” I simply said and gestured for them to sit down. They obliged and started gobbling down all the food.

 

“Slow down! It's not gonna run away!” I said, clapping my hands to get their attention. They bowed their hands but continued to eat rapidly. I laughed at their silliness. I ate my food and finished, patting my stomach. I burped loudly and everybody laughed. I looked at the clock and was surprised to see it was 6:45 already.

 

I stood up and went to wash the plates, but a hand stopped me. I cast a look behind me and saw Hana, another one of my maids.

 

She smiled. “You're not a maid, Jason. Get dressed for school while we do the job here. We are your maids after all.”

 

She winked at me and ushered the rest to the kitchen. One of the butlers pulled me out of the room and pushed me upstairs. I obeyed reluctantly and trudged my way to my bedroom. I quickly got changed into gray skinny jeans and a blue v-neck shirt. I made sure to lock my door and went into the bathroom. I had to make three phone calls. I took out my phone and dialed the phone number on the piece of paper in my hand. I had two more in my pocket for the other two phone calls. The phone rang once, twice, when it finally stopped.

 

“Hello?” the voice at the other line spoke.

 

“It's me, Jason,” I said.

 

“Oh! No long time no talk, Jason!” the voice said cheerfully.

 

“Yeah, I know. Anyway can you do me a favor?” I asked.

 

“If you come back?” the voice asked, his tone hopeful.

 

“No! I already talked about this, Jake. I'm not coming back,” I replied roughly.

 

“I was just kidding. And I know,” the voice answered back. “What is it that you want again?”

 

“Do you know who Josh is?” I asked him. I had half expected him to know and the other half to not know, but his answer surprised me.

“He's on the list,” said Jake.

 

“What?” I shouted on the phone but quickly covered my mouth. No one could know about this.

 

“The list? Are you sure?”

 

“Yes, he's been on that list for two years after he —.”

 

I cut him off. “Don't say it.”

 

“Why? Do you know the girl or something?” he asked.

 

“None of your business, Jake.”

 

“I'm helping you so try to be nicer,” replied Jake.

 

“Sorry. Yes, I know her and I think I like her,” I confessed.

 

“Oooohh! So what? Do you want us to protect her or something?”

 

“Yeah, something like that. Be careful of him,” I said. “He gave me a little present yesterday. It wasn't a good one.”

 

I made quotation marks with my finger when I said gave. Jake answered and I laughed at his answer.

 

“What? He gave you ?” Jake joked, laughing.

 

“YAH! He cut me with his knife, stupid!” I yelled.

 

“Just kidding. Anyway, fine, I'll help you,” Jake said.

 

“Really? I thought you would say no,” I said.

 

“Well, you did save me a lot of times, so I just want to repay you,” he answered.

 

“Thanks a lot, Jake,” I said sincerely.

 

“No problem, man. Anyway just to tell you he's marked as dangerous on the list. That's it. Bye!”

 

“Wait—what? Jake!” I looked at my phone. It was back to its home screen. I cursed. If he marked as dangerous, then it's a bigger problem. I took out another crumpled piece of paper from my pocket and dialed the number from it. I waited until the third ring when somebody answered.

 

“Hello, Park residence,” a monotonous voice answered. Probably some maid, I thought.

 

“Um. . . can I speak to Mr. Park or Mrs. Park?” I asked uncertainly.

 

“Yes, please wait for a moment.” There was a long silence. I waited for what seemed like an eternity when a voice answered.

 

“Yes? Who is this?” Mr. Park said.

 

“Sir, it's Jason. And I have bad news,” I replied.

 

“What's wrong?” he asked.

 

“He's back, sir,” I replied, looking at my injured arm.

 

“What? Who are you talking about?”

 

“Josh. He's back.”

 

 

 

After the phone call to Mr. Park, I already knew what to do. I had been contemplating whether or not to do it. I chose to do it. I dialed the number on the last piece of paper and waited for someone to answer.

 

“Who's this?” a cracked voice growled.

 

“It's Jason,” I said.

 

“I don't know anyone named Jason. Bye!”

 

Before he could hang up on me, I quickly said, “I'll tell your wife what happened that night.”

 

He gasped. “You wouldn't!”

 

“If you don't do what I say, I will,” I replied evilly.

 

“Fine, fine!” he shouted and I cringed at his loud voice. “What do you want?”

 

“Do you know Josh?” I asked, happy that I got what I wanted.

 

“Yes, he's on the—,” I cut him off.

 

“I know. Jake told me.”

 

“Oh,” was his answer.

 

“Track him down and kidnap him,” I said.

 

“Why?” he asked, suspicion in his voice.

 

“Because he's trying to kill someone,” I replied curtly.

 

Again, his answer was, “Oh.”

 

“So will you help me?” I asked.

 

“Do I have a choice?” he grumbled. I smiled.

 

“Guess that's a yes. Just make sure he doesn't get away and that he's not following anyone,” I reminded him.

 

“Okay, anything else?”

 

“Um . . . tell me if you caught him. He's dangerous. I got cut by him last night,” I answered.

 

“Why?” he asked.

 

“Nothing. Anyway thanks,” I said.

 

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever,” he said sarcastically and hung up. I looked at the screen.

 

Hope he does it right, I thought glumly.

 

I went out the bathroom and took my backpack. I went downstairs; it was already 7:00. I went to my car and started it. As I pulled out from the driveway, I waved goodbye to my maids and butlers. I sped off towards school, probably going over the speed limit.