The second hand ticked loudly as it echoed through the empty house. It was late at night and the house was filled with nothing but silence. Hailey curled herself into a ball under her bed sheets and tightly closed her eyes. Just any minute now, just any second and he will return.

It was as if her thoughts could predict the future. The rich stench of alcohol drifted into her room and Hailey began to tremble in fear. He was back.

Her bedroom door flung open and there he was, standing under the door frame, his figure covering any light that entered the room.

“Please, you’re drunk. Please,” she began to persuade but it was no use.

A strong hand pulled the sheets off and grabbed her hair. Hailey was about to vomit at the smell of alcohol travelling through her nose and into her lungs.

“You look exactly like your mother, that woman who abandoned us. Do you know how much I hate your face?” He said angrily and began to drag her out of the room.

Hailey was scared. Tears of fear rolled down her face as she once again witnessed how scary her own father was. Ever since her mother left them, he would get drunk every single night until he became addicted to the substance. Not only was he an alcoholic, he also turned into a horrible father. He would hit, shout and do anything to abuse Hailey in his drunken state. It happened so often that it became a routine.

As her father raised his hand high above his head and prepared to slam it down, Hailey covered the hits with her bare arms causing bruises and nail scars. She struggled to break free from his grasp as he continued to cruelly strike her. This was about as far as she could endure, she had enough of this. She had to do something, something to get away from this insanity. With the little strength she possessed, she managed to kick his shin which caused him to release her and clutch his leg. Using this opportunity, Hailey ran.Using her aching hands to wipe away her tears she moved as fast as her two legs could carry her.

“Get back here!” Her father yelled across the house.

Hailey just couldn’t live like this anymore; she decided to run as far away as possible from home.

“No! And don’t expect me to come back ever again!” She yelled back as tears continued to drip from her terrified face.

She opened the door and ran into the night.

Never once looking back, she ran and ran until her legs gave way. She collapsed onto the cold floor in front of a convenience store. Now crying her heart out, she wrapped her arms around her tugged in legs and buried her face so it would be hidden from the public. She hoped that this way, it would silence her cries, even just a little bit.

Who knows how long she stayed there sobbing. People walking the city streets took one look at her and didn’t even care to ask if she was ok, that is besides one particular person.

A young boy, no older than Hailey herself approached her with caution. He curiously glanced at the 8 year old girl crying in front of him. Using his scarf to cover half of his face, he reached out his hand towards her.

“Hey, are you alright?” He asked and Hailey lifted her head.

The first thing she noticed was how his hair reflected the rays of the city lights. It looked as if there was a radiant halo around the crown of his head, causing his bright golden hair to become almost luminous.

“Look, it’s late and I know a place where you can stay. Follow me,”

Hailey looked at him suspiciously but her stomach broke the tension by creating sounds of hunger. Although Hailey could only see his eyes, she knew that he was secretly chuckling at her behind his scarf.

“What are you waiting for? Let’s go get some food,” he said again and emphasised his extended hand.

Hailey was drawn to this boy and reached her hand out to him. Hoping he would take her far away from this place.

Holding hands, they walked slowly and stopped in front of a bakery. The bakery, that she would soon call her new home.

~*~*~*~*~*~*

Hailey shot up from her bed, with cold sweat prickling the back of her spine. Not that dream again, she thought to herself. She peered down at her arms and faint scars still remained from ten years ago. She felt a sense of nostalgia just seeing them and quickly looked away.

She hasn’t seen the blonde boy ever since that day but more importantly she had escaped her father. She was now 18 and within the ten years she stayed at the bakery, her father had never once looked for her. She didn’t expect much from him but she didn’t think he would just let her leave so easily like that.

The sun was just rising and the light slowly brightened her room. Hailey ruffled her hair and prepared to go out to open up the store located just in front of her so-called home.

A big and masculine male suddenly stepped inside her room. A long scar ran across his cheek and several other scars were visible beneath his short sleeved shirt. You didn’t need to ask him to know that he was an experienced fighter.

“Good morning Minho,” Hailey replied as she ducked her way past him.

“And good morning to you to. Jongup’s already awake baking the bread," Minho's deep voice informed. 

Hailey’s stomach churned when he announced Jongup’s name.

“Jongup’s awake?” Hailey asked and felt her face warm up.

She quickly tied up her hair and darted towards the bakery. Minho scratched the back of his head in confusion and sighed.

“I guess Jongup was always the popular one.”

Hailey patted down her shirt and entered the Bakery. She could see Jongup’s perfect figure inside the kitchen. He was wearing a black low cut tank top which revealed a tattoo running from his shoulder and along his upper arm. His defined jaw line was covered in a thin layer of sweat and patches of flour were visible on his arms and clothes.

Hailey rolled up her sleeves and walked over to him.

“Good morning,” she said cheerily.

Jongup was startled by the sudden call and looked up.

“Oh, Hailey, it’s you. ‘morning,” He said and a smile formed across his face.

The smile that always made Hailey’s heart flutter. Every. Single. Time. She looked away and cleared .

“Do you need some help?” She asked and went to put an apron on.

“Sure. Could you knead this dough while I place these in the oven?” He requested.

Hailey immediately went over to assist him.

She loved working at the bakery, well mostly because Jongup was in charge of it. Not only did she work there, she also lived there too. It was her home along with tens of others as well. Jongup included. On the outside, it was just your typical Bakery but behind it hid a hideout, a hideout for a group of people who identified themselves as gangsters.

Not the stereotype gangsters though. These guys were different. The blonde boy knew that too, otherwise he wouldn’t have bought Hailey over here in the first place. The people here were probably the nicest and friendliest individuals Hailey has ever met.

As Hailey and Jongup prepared the bread for the day, the rest of the crew slept soundly behind the building. After Jongup placed the ready dough in the oven he walked over to see how Hailey was doing.

Hailey threw the dough onto the table a little too enthusiastically and sent a thick cloud of flour flying into the air. Jongup chuckled. She had been kneading for less than a minute and yet she still managed to get flour all over her.

Particles of flour went into Hailey’s eyes and she blinked vigorously to clear her vision. Since the blinking didn’t work she was about the rub her eyes with her hands when Jongup reached out to stop her.

“You’ve got flour all over your hands. Don’t you think you’re only going to make it worse by rubbing them.” Jongup said and slowly wiped the white powder from her eyes.

Hailey twitched at his touch but she couldn’t deny the fact that she was enjoying it.

“There, better?”

Hailey nodded and directed her attention back to the dough before her heart would betray her and start beating rapidly.

Several loud bangs suddenly erupted from behind the bakery which caught Jongup’s attention. He rushed out to see what caused the sudden noise and Hailey was left curiously glancing at the view of his back.

As Jongup arrived at the location, he saw that his crew were in an uproar with a group of men dressed sluggishly.  He lifted his toes to get a better view of the intruders and gasped.

It was them, their rival gang from back when they were still classified as the bad guys. People feared them but Jongup and his gang knew better and decided to do what they believe was righteous. Fire was what the other group named themselves and just like their name, Jongup felt a sudden rush of rage.

They already agreed on cutting their ties with them but here they are, coming back to cause trouble. In the midst of the crowd, Jongup saw their leader Minho trying his best to stop the fighting. Jongup couldn’t stand still any longer. He made his way through fists and objects thrown across the room until he reached their opponents leader, Sungyeol. 

Author's note

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