Frightened.
That was the right word
that best describes what I am
feeling right now. I’m in trouble,
and there’s no way out.

oo4

“I was thinking that maybe, we should have a girls’ night out!” Soohae announced as we all changed into our usual clothes after our shift in the coffee shop. After quitting my job at Mr. Park’s convenience store two weeks ago, I work at the coffee shop up to ten in the evening, helping Soohae, Yuju and Taeji clean.

“Soohae,” Yuju said and then sighed. “Aren’t you tired?” she wore her shirt and then started to comb her hair. “But I wanted to drink though…”

“Okay, I think that’s a yes!” Soohae clapped her hands together. “What about you, Eunseo?” she looked at me with pleading eyes. “Please say yes. We barely go out with you!”

“B-but eonni..” I bit my lower lip. I don’t know what to say.

“I’ll treat you!”

“Eonni, I s—”

“I’ll call Saemi. Wait,” she got her phone from her pocket and then dialed a number. Yuju shook her head in amusement as she looked at me. “Hello, Saemi?” she pushed a button and it was on loudspeaker.

“Yes, Soohae eonni? Did something happen to Eunseo eonni?” she asked in a worried tone.

“Aniyo. I just wanted to inform you that your eonni will be going out with us. Is that okay? Please?”

I heard her chuckle. “Of course it is okay eonni. Have fun! And don’t forget to get my eonni a man, okay?”

I shook my head in amusement. I remember how Saemi would always tell me to go out on dates so that I will have someone with me, but I kept on laughing about it. Dating isn’t my thing, and I don’t think that I am ready to get involved into a relationship.

“Leave it to me. I’m a matchmaker~” Soohae said, and then laughed. “I’ll hang up now, okay? Take care of yourself while your eonni’s gone. Lock the doors, don’t talk to strangers. Call us when something happens, okay?”

She laughed gently.  “Ne eonni! Have fun. Bye!” then she ended the call.

Yuju shook her head in amusement, as she placed her phone inside her bag. “You’re unbelievable, Soohae. You always get everything your way.”

She grinned. “I know. I am awesome.”

--

In the end, we all went to a club with Taeji. It was Soohae’s idea, of course. They were all in the dance floor right now, dancing to the loud music, while Yuju and I were left on the table, drinking some cocktail.

“Why don’t you dance with them, eonni?” I asked her as I took a sip on my drink. I stirred it with the straw as I looked around the place. It is my first time to go a place like this. I always knew that this was crazy, but I never thought that it was this crazy. There were people making out on the dance floor, even on in the different stalls where the tables are. Some were grinding their bodies onto each other while dancing, and it all looked weird to me.

She shrugged. “Eunseo, dancing isn’t my thing. And besides, Sungha will be here in a while.” She took a sip from her drink and then looked around. She got her phone from her bag and started texting her boyfriend.

Time passed by quickly. One hour had passed and I felt a little bored as I watched the crazy scene around me. These kinds of things aren’t my thing. I’d rather stay inside a library or at home and paint, or draw, rather than stay in an insane place like this.

“Eunseo-yah,” I looked up and saw Yuju standing in front of me. “Sungha’s outside. I’ll just go out and look for him.”

I gave her a small smile and nodded. She patted my back and then walked towards the exit.

I continued to drink my cocktail as I looked around the club. This place sure is crazy. I don’t think I’ll ever go back nor try to go back to this place again.

“Eunseo, is that you?” I looked up, and to my surprise, I saw Daehyun looking at me with an amused expression. He is wearing a black v-neck shirt, and faded jeans, and as usual, he has his mask hanging on his neck.

Just like what he said before, Daehyun goes to the coffee shop three times a week in the past two weeks to buy coffee in the morning, or to have dinner in the evening. Within the two weeks, my impression about him changed. He wasn’t trying to scare me before, or do me any harm. He just wanted to get to know me more. But with the way he stared at me on the day I first saw him, I don’t know what has gotten into him that day. I’m still a little confused.

I smiled and gave him a nod. “Hey Daehyun.”

“Can I sit beside you?” I nodded. He sat beside me and finished his drink. “I never thought that I would see you here. What a coincidence, right?”

I nodded. “I never thought that I would go to this kind of place.”

He chuckled. “Why does it seem that you were forced to go here?” he called the waiter and ordered for another drink.

I shrugged. “I wasn’t forced to come here. I was dragged to come here. Soohae basically asked for Saemi’s permission for me to be able to come with them and have a girls’ night out. But these kinds of things aren’t my thing.”

He nodded. “I see. Don’t like noisy places, huh?” I nodded. The waiter arrived with his drink. “Thank you,” he said with a smile as he grabbed the glass of vodka.

“What about you? What are you doing here?” I asked him, and at the same time, the music got louder than before.

He looked at me and then leaned closer. “Ne? What were you saying?”

I leaned into his ear and whispered, “I said, what are you doing here?”

He took a sip from his glass and smiled. He leaned into my ear and also whispered to me. “I came here with my friends from Seoul. They came to visit me, and I showed them around.”

I chuckled. “You showed them around and brought them in a club? That’s nice.”

He laughed. “They were the ones who wanted to go to a club, and I was just being nice.”

I nodded. “I see. That was very nice of you, Daehyun-ssi.”

“Please, drop the formalities, Eunseo. We’re friends, right?”

“Arasseo, Daehyun.”

He smiled. “There. That’s better. I was thi—”

“Hyung, I was looking for you.” A blonde boy came running to us. He looked at me and then back at Daehyun. “Your girl?”

I shook my head as I waved my hands in front of me. “Ani, ani. I’m his friend.”

He laughed. “Zelo, she’s the one that I was talking about last night. Zelo, this is Eunseo,” he looked at me. “Eunseo, this is Zelo. He’s one of my friends from Seoul.”

The boy named Zelo looked at me and offered his hand. “It’s nice to finally meet you, Eunseo noona. I’m Zelo.”

Zelo, what a unique name, I thought. I smiled as I shook his hand. “It’s nice to meet you too, Zelo. I’m Eunseo. Cha Eunseo.”

He gave me a nod. “Finally, I met you. Daehyun hyung told us a lot about y—” he was cut off when Daehyun suddenly stood up and covered his mouth.

He laughed awkwardly. “I-i told them a lot about your place. T-the coffee shop where you work at, right!”

I laughed. “Okay. That was very nice of you Daehyun,” I looked at Zelo who was still trapped in Daehyun’s strong grip, his hands still on Zelo’s mouth. “You should visit our coffee shop, Zelo.”

Zelo stepped on Daehyun’s foot hard, causing Daehyun to quickly release him. “We will, noona.” He looked at Daehyun and smirked. “Thanks, hyung. I’ll go now. I won’t disturb you and Eunseo noona anymore.” He looked at me and then waved as he left.

Daehyun sat beside me once again as he rubbed his foot. “That boy..”

I laughed as I looked at him. “Does it hurt?”

“No.” he said in a sarcastic tone. “What do you think?”

I laughed. “Okay, I shouldn’t have asked.” I felt my phone vibrate inside my pocket. I quickly got it and opened the text message.

To: Eunseo
From: Yuju

Eunseo, Sungha and I left already. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you beforehand. Please tell Soohae and Taeji that I already left. Be safe, okay? Text me when you get home.

I quickly typed my reply as soon as I read the message.

To: Yuju
From: Eunseo

Arasseo eonni. I will. Take care. Thank you.

“Is there something wrong?” Daehyun asked as he looked at me curiously.

I shook my head. “No, I’m fine. Yuju eonni already left with her boyfriend.”

He nodded. “Oh, I see. Who’s here with you now? Are you alone?”

“No. Soohae eonni and Taeji eonni are dancing.” I scanned the dance floor and saw them dancing with unknown guys in the center. Soohae looked at me and winked.

I shook my head in amusement. Soohae gets really wild when she’s drunk.

“Looks like your friends are drunk,” Daehyun said with a nod. “She looks a little…”

I looked at him and then raised my eyebrow. “A little what, Daehyun?”

“A little… wild.” He looked at me as he finished his sentence.

I smiled and nodded. “I know. She became like that after her ex-boyfriend dumped her for a girl he met in the club.”

He nodded. “The aftermath.”  He finished his drink and then he stood up. He looked at me. “Eunseo-yah, I better get back to my friends. I bet they’re looking for me. Just call me when you need me, arasseo? Our table’s over there—” he pointed at the table in the other side of the club. “—I’ll be here when you need me.”

I nodded. “Ne, ne. Thank you. I appreciate it.”

He gave me a smile before heading back to their table.

I finally finished my glass and looked around as I scanned the place. It is nice, actually. The whole place looked attractive enough to get more people come to their place. The music sounds great, even though it’s too loud, and I guess that’s how things in clubs are. The service is great, and the drinks they serve are great, too. I think I should study these kinds of places so that I will get tips on what business to put up when I earn enough money in the future.

I suddenly felt a pair of eyes on me. I looked around, and saw a tall and slender guy with dark hair looking at me while drinking a glass of alcohol. He smirked, and then continued drinking while looking at me.

I quickly looked away and looked back at the dance floor only to notice that Soohae and Taeji aren’t there anymore. I quickly scanned the place and found nothing. Annoyed, I stood up and got my backpack and quickly exited the place.

How can they leave me here? They dragged me to this crazy place and left me alone. I’m not mad at them, I just felt bad. I’m not used to these kinds of places and they were the only reason why I agreed to go there and then just like that, they left. I know that they’re drunk, but still.

I sighed. I quickly put my phone back in my pocket as I walked down the alley. I kicked the little pebbles on the way to calm myself down.

But something felt wrong.

That same feeling when Daehyun followed me that night came back. But it got stronger. Someone is following me, and I am 100% sure of it.

 I quickened my pace, trying not to be obvious. I need to get home ASAP if I don’t want to get in trouble. I took a peek behind me, and relief was what I felt. No one was behind me, and that person stopped following me.

I heard a laugh behind me. I looked back and saw the guy in the bar a while ago.

“Looking for me?” he asked. He smirked as he threw his cigarette on the ground, taking little steps towards me.

I gulped, as I took step backwards.

He laughed. He’s drunk and it’s obvious. “Why don’t you play with me for a while? I guarantee you, you’ll enjoy every single second of it.”

I got scared, no. Frightened—that was the right word that best describes what I am feeling right now.

I’m in trouble, and there’s no way out.

---

A/N: BAP will make the appearance soon. Wait for them. Love you all! <3