Dark eyes followed black paint along the previous white canvas that was now filled with darkened colors smeared over the fabric skillfully. Slowly and by , a dark room began to form in her eyes. There was little light, the moon not even wanting to shed eyes on the horrible incident that was going on in the image. Rope. There were unimaginable amounts of rope everywhere, around women, beds, chairs. Everywhere. Gray bundles of smoke hovered around the room, despite the open doors that led to practically nowhere.  Every now and then there would be a strangled cough or horrified, sickly moan.

She blinked.

The image was becoming real again. Like it always did.

She sighed, and ignoring the sounds playing clearly in her mind, continued to pain. She was finally at the main attraction—again. In the middle of the obscure, hopeless room was a girl. She was little more than five feet tall and chained to a chair rather than tied. Her breath was staggering from all the smoke and sickness and—

She stopped herself again, glaring at the canvas before a tube of paint and throwing it at the canvas. She was tired. She was tired of this haunting her when she tried to paint. She was frustrated, exhausted, dying. Painting had always been an outstretch of her inner mind, something she could make final and physical. But unfortunately, she was able to feel when she painted—forever reliving the image she was creating—and the only way she could rid herself of those emotions were through the of her paintbrush. But this… This. She had no courage to finish it. She’d tried so many times, a noticeable fact that could be seen by anyone that stepped in her private art studio.  Hundreds of canvases, all seeming like the beginning of the same image, all incomplete, lay around her; some even held foot marks from where she’d stepped on them to get to the canvas she was working on now. She just couldn’t ever finish though. Those feelings, that day, everything would come rushing back in a speed of nostalgia and nausea. Everything she’d felt that day would come rushing to her, and no matter how bright, how happy, how optimistic the room she was in reflected, when she painted this everything became dark. There was no light save for the dim bulb that hung above the table that day, threaten to fall or the loose, mangled chain and shatter.

What was she attempting to paint?

A memory she could never, would never, forget.

She had never regarded her parents’ warnings about kidnaps or . They had never happened to her or anyone she knew, so why would she? Each day, even after she moved out of their home, they pressure her: ‘stay safe’, ‘lock your doors’, ‘don’t trust strangers’, ‘stay aware’. She’d scoffed at them, pretending to listen but in her head, they were merely overly protective, foreign nuts that had grown up in a different, more dangerous era. Things had changed, she told herself. Things like that couldn’t happen in broad daylight—as she never strode too far from crowds anyways—she’d told herself. Things like that didn’t exist, that is, until it happened. 

She was merely sitting at the park that day before he came to sit next to her. Though not normally the overly curious one, she allowed herself a glance at the new stranger that had decided to accompany her. He wasn’t looking and if he had seen her, he must have been pretending not to notice her hard stare. What had innocently started as a curious movement of eyes soon developed into pure hypnotization. She couldn’t move those pupils away from his outrageously beautiful figure. The first she noticed was his jawline and facial structure. In all honesty, he had to have the most perfect bone structure she’d ever seen. Where one sharp line of perfection ended, another began, continuing the endless cycle of beauty. He was completely gorgeous. The way his hair waved into a slight curl and was fixed about in a most pleasant manner hooked her. He was tall, taller than her, but nowhere near a giant.

And in the midst of her awe and daydreams, he’d turned to glance at her himself putting on a surprised expression.

“Is there something wrong? Did I leave food or cake on my face? Maybe leaving a restaurant without checking the mirror wasn’t a good idea…” He trailed beginning to rub his face self-consciously, trying to uphold his angelic image as best he could. She wanted to answer and as she felt her soft lips part, she found herself at a loss. ‘Not food, but beauty definitely given by the gods..’ She thought. 

Her stare hardened as she watched his hands scrub over his face…his beautifully crafted hands. She noticed the silver ring on his hand in the shape of what seemed like an arrow of lightning. It nearly matched his level of handsomeness, but he far surpassed a ring. He was living art, and for the first time in a while, Zhi Xing had gotten the urge to paint a picture of another human being.

“Miss?” His voice was just as much a compliment to his looks as anything else. It was a bold drawl, but an undertone of seductiveness. However,  his voice had snapped her out of her incredulous ‘glance’ that she was definitely giving him.

“Sorry,” She apologized softly. “I was spaced out.” She half lied. She was spaced out, just not anything else but him. Understanding, he grinned and nodded, leaning back on the wooden bench more comfortably, and she melted. She’s thought he was beautiful with a smile off? Well he was definitely topping the radar with it on. She bit her lip—a subtle way of assuring herself saliva was indeed not running down the side of . Any other guy would have found her creepy as she did so while gawking, but once again, he seemed not to notice.

“I space out a lot as well. Probably not on the same thing as you,” He threw her a wink and gave an intoxicating chuckled before continuing, turning his eyes to the sky. “but you’re lucky to be you. You don’t have to do horrible deeds everyday just to make a living while at the same time known that if you stopped, your life might as well be over. Like people who rob banks for their families.” He smiled innocently at her again. “There’s a surety that they would reject most over anything the idea but they have people to feed. Can’t let them down…I wish I could put this down…” He mumbled the last part his attention now focusing on the green grass below.

“Put down what?” She asked and he was taken aback by her question.

“Put down living.” He stated honestly. “There’s more I’d like to do like discover what life is like after death.” He’d covered up that hint of suspicion with a lie—she just wished she had known back then. He scratched the back of his head in an awkward and nervous gesture. “Ah, sorry. I don’t usually say things like that to…people.” She smiled back and nodded, thinking deeply about what he’d said while they both drifted back in silence. She’d like to discover that too. Then she’d paint. She paint in the afterlife. Everywhere she would be famous for picturesque views of places no one had known before then, but she’d also paint to remember. To remind people why their previous life had significance and to never forget—once they were alive too.

She saved an actual glance at the stranger again and noticed him still seeming to ponder on the same idea he just brought and before she could stop herself, she was already tapping his shoulder. He faced her, surprise evidently shown.

“A cup of coffee?” She pointed at the coffee shop just behind them, a  good distance from the park. “You seem to be in a thinking mood today. Nothing’s better than thinking over something with coffee. It clears the mind.” He smiled and nodded, and gleam of something in his eyes.

 It was victory. He knew he’d won this when she’d accepted.  This was definitely the different type of victim. Usually, just sitting next to a girl would have her in his fingers and he wouldn’t even need to approach them. They came to him, asking him for numbers, addresses, and even job locations. He only ever approached men, but even then he’d had his fair share of hits. But her…she just stared, not saying a word, her eyes watching him so hard her could practically feel them as they impaled on every bone he had. So he’d decided to send the signals, and it wasn’t such a bad idea. He stuck his hand in his pocket, slipped off his ring and started the plan.

Once they’d gotten far enough, he feigned innocence and began to shed his jacket going through the pockets. She watched curiously as he fumbled clumsily about himself and he smiled back at her.

“Sorry…my ring…my mother gave that to me, it’s not possible that it may have fallen onto you or around you right? Can you check? It’s a really important piece of jewelry..” She nodded and let her guard down allowed her head to fall as she look through her belonging, fumbling the same way he’d done. With a grin, he pulled out a white cloth with some kind of powdered narcotic Minseok had made for operations like this. “Ah! I found it, look here!” She looked up and he gave an knowing smirk before pressing the cloth over and nose, pulling her close to his body and leaning in as if her were kissing her and to onlookers, that’s exactly what it looked like.

She fell limped against his hold within seconds and he grinned, as a car pulled up. He saw Luhan who gave a friendly nod and he lifted the girl into his arms, keeping her head propped and mouthing incoherent words—she was talking to him, onlookers thought. They were more than wrong.

“Smooth?” Luhan asked as Chen stepped into the car and he nodded with a smug smile.

“As usual.”

Zhi Xing woke up with the sensation of not wanting to. Without even opening her eyes, she could feel that her hands and feet were brought to a chair with dog chain. As she struggled, her spine tingled dangerously, as she realized just how cold the metal against her skin really was. She was no longer dressed in the same thing she’d been wearing earlier than day, but her blurred eyes could make out hits of pink sequins—a dress—and her neck felt heavy with the amount of accessories that had been placed on her body. Sharp black heels peaked out from the silver chains and she wondered just where in the hell was she?

“Urngh…” She froze at the moan that seemed to come from just inches away. She clenched her eyes shut (her history of horror movies refusing to let her open them).  “New…arriv…rival?” A cough sounded directly after the scratchy voice. The husk was unfamiliar to her but a little more assured she cautiously opened her eyes, much wider than before, and felt tears immediately form in response to the high amount of smoke that lingers just about head level. She blinked the tears from her eyes to get a good look around, imprinting her surrounds just in case she ever escape. She was seated at a table along with about eight other girls who looked several times worse than she did. They were skinnier than attractive should be with other obvious flaws: dark baggy eyes, bruised veins, and the whites of their eyes no longer remained pure but were tainted with a sick yellow color.

 All of them, including herself, were in provocative clothing, but none of them seemed as shocked to her. They seemed accustomed to this. She look at the woman next to her who was no doubt older, and quite more…endowed than others and herself. She still had meat on her bones, but Zhi Xing suspected that it be lost in no time. Blinking more, she looked at the window to the side of the table, the moonlight barely escaping the clouds to climb into the room. The light above their heads not much help as it flashed on and off. Daring to stare more, she took in the even more horrified sights behind her. Beds. Lots of them, and she noticed only two empty. Women strapped down the larger number of them with IVs in their arms and others with bruises and cuts on their faces and sides.

What the hell had she been brought into?

“Still staring? Isn’t that what got you in trouble the first time?” She froze at the unfamiliar voice and whipped her head toward the door to see three men walk in. All were tall, but she noticed one had the prettiest baby face… and if she hadn’t known better, she would have thought he was younger than her. He smirked and approached the table, her body already tensing and ready for him to attack her. Instead, she heard the multiple thumps of light boxes. She watched as the other girls who hadn’t been restrained reached for the cigarettes and matches as if they were a lifeline. They’d really accepted their fate…  The other man held obvious bags under his eyes that darkened with the glare he was throwing around. His jet black hair shined under the moonlight and stared in fright. His eyes…they were deadly.

Lastly she noticed was him. He stood with his hands in his pockets and hadn’t even taken a moment to look at her, the woman beside her seeming more of interest to his eyes. The baby faced man cleared his throat and he looked up shrugging with a sheepish smile.

“So Luhan, who’s the choices for tonight?” The baby-faced one, Luhan, gazed over the woman uninterested until he caught eye of herself and the woman beside her.

“Choi Hana, Zhu Zhi Xing.” She froze. How did they know her name? She didn’t remember giving that man her name.  She stared back at him, but once again, he refused to meet her eyes. The woman beside her stood—nearly falling over the chair in the process—and she watched as they pressed a mere remote button, freeing her instantly. The chains dropped to her sides and she stood up backing away, horrified as to what was about to take place.

“No…what’s going?! NO!!” She screamed as the abysmal-haired one grabbed her, but she kicked and punched unsure of what she was hitting, but in her thrashing caught sight of his eyes which were murderous by now. She watched as he left his hand to strike until another caught it in mid-air. He turned, very much surprised.

“Chen what are you...? It’s business.” He…Chen… nodded but shrugged.

“Kris promised me I could keep one of my own after we lost that bet remember, Tao? I’ve chosen.” Tao backed off with an annoyed sigh and Chen gave him a pat before she felt his tight grip around her wrist. Luhan watched with an amused smile as Chen led her out of the room.

“Jerk.” She heard Tao mutter.

She was thrown into the room on a bed and heard the door lock and shut behind her and Chen who was sighing and running a hand through his hair. She gaped at the way he could still stand there, remain beautiful and calm.

“You monster.” She directed, and glared as he gave her a sympathetic smile. However, she wasn’t in the mood for sympathies. She was going to leave. She was going to live. She was going to make sure the police found this place and—

“Don’t even think about it.” He muttered, and she gawked. He still had the patience to—His stare shut her up. All traces of sympathy, care, and lightness had vanished to be replaced with a dark expression she’d never seen dawned on anyone. “The police?” He scoffed. “They’re just as bad if not worse than this. They just have the government to hid behind..” He muttered angrily, and she shook her head disbelieving.

“They don’t kidnap women. They don’t sell them for ion. They don’t—“ Chen laughed, almost adoring her naïve words, and wishing himself they were true.

“Where do you think 10 percent of those es go? Did you really think we wouldn’t be found out in a business as big as this?” She froze, her head shaking.

It couldn’t be. The government…this?! Without the media knowing? It was impossible…yet here she was… Before she could get another thought in process, he stood and passed her opening the window.

“You’re free to go.”  She stared confused.

“What?”

“I’m allowing you this once to leave, and I’ll probably be killed for it, but if you didn’t know, you’re really naïve. You don’t know much about the world...” He chuckled. “Reminds me of me before I became a monster… Go. But don’t you dare speak a word of this to anyone, because we have the ability to end your life and theirs. Don’t even think about moving, because we’ll find you. We know everything about you, Zhu Zhi Xing. Apt.# 1228, Golden Swan apartments. Phone #: 02-146-8935. So. Life? Are you going to take it? I would if I could…” He spoke reminiscently, and to be honest, she was shocked. Still cautious, she made her way toward the window keeping her eyes on him, remembering his every detail, before climbing and running. She missed home. She didn’t want to remember. She wanted to forget.

Zhi Xing broke from her gaze with a blink and a shake of her head. That’s the when things had changed for her. Despite their words, she had changed living space, but no one had confronted her about it. Now she lived in her own shop she sold her paintings it, though it was nowhere near as famous as others in town, she liked it. In front of her was a window and she could see the streets of Seoul just as easily as they could see her. She wasn’t sure if they still watched but her old place…things were just too reminding there. She frowned and turned to her window.

The paint brush in her hand dropped.

The canvas fell due to her abrupt actions.

Everything seemed to pause in those few minutes, because there he was. After four horrible years of time it took her to get over those happenings, there he was in front of her, ready to haunt her again. She blinked and stepped back, and instantly her equilibrium was thrown off balance as she fell backward over a canvas. Yet still, she couldn’t take her eyes off of him. It disgusted her to see him like this. He looked like a normal person dressed in the convenient hoodie and jeans.  No one around would have suspected him a serial kidnapper that was probably responsible for 90% of Seoul’s missing population, but she knew and she wanted no more from him.

She quickly made her way toward the blind, trying to shut them as unnoticeably as possible, but the moment she set her hands on them his own eyes found hers. He still looked the same, not a thing changed. He still looked horribly angelic and horribly attractive. He was a monster, she reminded herself, though. Monsters didn’t deserve admiration. Knowing it would do no good, she shut the blinds unaware that he’d left his spot the moment the locked gazes.

“Zhi Xing.”

She nearly screamed at the abruptness of his entrance. Her door had slammed open and he still remembered her name as if it were an important part of his memory. She shook her head, crawling backward and away from him. Though she’d noticed by his manners that something had change. He looked on with pained eyes as she backed away, almost as if he hated his existence that very moment.

“I..nevermind. Sorry.” His voice remained barely a whisper, and he backed away mirroring the fear she held on her own face. He’d really just left like that? She stood confused and ignored her heart pounding out of her chest and nearly about to explode.

The next day, Zhi Xing was miraculously led by her feet to the park where she’d seen him four years ago. Her night had been filled with dreams and memories of that night, and the dark puffy bags under her eyes made it obvious that sleep hadn’t been her friend that night either. She didn’t know what, but something had told her that she needed this park, that coming here was right. She sighed and looked up, stopping in her tracks. On the same bench from four years ago in the same spot she once sat was Chen. He seemed distant, a cloud of darkness hanging over his head as he sat onlooking the view of nothing. There were no people around. Just him. Four years ago, she would have been afraid of this situation, and one would think that after those four years, she still would be, but there was courage in her heart. As to where it came from and for what purpose, she had no idea, but it was there, and she might as well make use of it. 

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