"I don't believe you," Daehyun uttered coldly, rising out of his chair.

"Daehyun," I began, stunned. "I-I'm not joking! Your mom- er, at least, she said she was your mom. I don't know if she was or not... but anyway, she called the other day and really wanted to talk to you. It sounded urgent."

Daehyun, not paying mind to anything I had to say, made his way out of the cafe. He let the smudged glass door slam behind him.

"Daehyun!" I cried, ignorning the unfriendly stares from the other customers. Weaving between the cafe's small, oak tables and chairs, I stumbled after him.

Instead of being reuinted by the warm sun, light droplets of rain sprinkled my face. I squinted through the watery mist, desperate to find my agitated boyfriend. A couple of cars rolled past, and herds of rushed people scurried by, but I still located him almost instantly. Jung Daehyun had a certain celebrity air about him, meaning that he stood out even if he wasn't necessarily trying to. Not to mention his hair was a bright, lemon blonde now, and he was wearing a neon, multi-coloured jacket that was so bright it could be seen from a mile away.

"Daehyun, wait!" I called, risking my life to dash across the street, narrowly missing a couple of speeding cars and taxis. Reaching him, I dashed in front of him and latched onto his arm. Breathless, I stared directly into his unchanging, stone-cold eyes. "Why won't you believe me?"

"Let go."

"Daehyun..." my voice wavered.

"I said let go!" He broke free of my grasp and pushed past me, his shoulder roughly smacking against mine.

I was utterly devastated in this state he left me. I felt so weak and vunerable all of a sudden. I didn't even want to turn around to watch the one who'd just broken my heart walk away. I hovered amidst the bussling crowd, completely stunned. My hand still tingled with Daehyun's fleeting warmth.

I found a bench nearby and sunk down into it. Trembling, the melancholy view of Seoul before me blurred as my eyes filled and began to brim over. I wasn't really sure how much I was crying, for now the mid-afternoon shower fell harder than ever from above. My eyes stung though from the mixture of salt and rain. The empty feeling in the pit of my stomach made me nauseous. Watching the herd of untouched children, businesmen, mothers and fathers wander on by, I realized that I have never felt so alone.

***

Daehyun's P.O.V.

The weather had begun to change so rapidly. The sky had become saturated with solumn thunder heads. I pushed on down the sidewalk, passing a mismash of buildings and buildings, not caring who I bumped into or collided with.

The world had felt so crooked to me right now, everything was wrong. Mother had died. She had died a long time ago. But not before she packed up and utterly abandoned me. She left me, just left me with my deranged, lunatic of a father. I know that she's dead, no way she would still be around, no way she could. And even if by a slim chance she's still... around, nothing has changed. She wouldn't want anything to do with me, her thug of a son. And that meant  ____ was a liar, just a liar.

I lumbered on untill it grew dark outside. I didn't know where I was going, nor did I care, I just didn't stop. By now, my hair was dripping wet, and my clothing was water-logged, clinging to my body. It was cold now and I was shivering and shaking.

'What now?' I thought. The skeeting rain pelted down on me, chilling my bones. But I could barely feel the numbing pain of the weather because the unbearable emotional pain was sweltering and blistering under my skin.

I continued to walk darkly alone until my apartment complex rolled into view. By now, many of brightly illuminated flourescent lights that littered the fronts of the building and streets had quit. It must be late by now for them to be off, which meant that I had been aimlessly walking the for the entire rest of the day. I didn't want to go home yet, but I figured that I would have to eventually.

I passed by the only street lamp in the ally, prior to the complex, and almost made it to the sidewalk. Just as I had cleared the overhead light, and reunited myself with the pitch blackness of night time, my mind stuttered to a standstill. A jolt of sharp pain rocketed through my skull. The geometric buildings before me blurred, making me stumble. I was shoved backwards by something strong. Panic filled me as I realized it wasn't a something, but a someone. The person grabbed ahold of my wrist and twisted it behind my back. Then they forced me against the brick wall of another building. My chest was flattened, smashed against cold bricks. The person shoved their weight and completely pinned me against the damp wall. My skull and brain ached, little needles of pain jabbed everywhere at my flesh.

A voice spoke before I could even get words past my lips. "Jung Daehyun, don't move and just listen to me," the person said breathlessly.

I flinched and stopped trying to wriggle free. "Donghae...?" I felt like something hot and blazing had just exploded in my chest. I tore Donghae's hand from mine and as I whipped around, I socked him in his face as hard as I could. Blood and spit flew from Donghae's busted lip. I clambered on top of him as he fell hard into the ground. I sent as many blows as I could, all the while him shouting and trying to shake me off.

"Stop Daehyun! Stop!" he croaked, red oozing from his mouth. "Listen to me!" he cried out.

I hesitated, clenched fist hovering dangerously close this his cheek. "Give me one reason I shouldn't beat the you right now?" I should kill you for what you did to ____!" I wound up my first again, globs of iron smelling crimson dripping from my knuckles.

"They have ___!" Donghae cried, wincing at the shock of pain he felt from talking.

My heart ceased. "What?" I brought my hand down, and looked down into Daehyun's bruised eyes. "What did you say?"

"They have ____. Jiyong and the others, they took her. Found her walking home in the dark today, alone, and they-"

"Where are they?" I interupted him. Donghae stared up at me. "WHERE DID THEY TAKE HER?"

"I - I don't know, they didn't say..." Donghae coughed, more blood sputtering from his mouth. They had _____. I slowly stood up, allowing Donghae to catch his breath. All anger had fled from me, the solumn lonliness and numbness filled me again. My legs buckled from underneath me, and I began to shake from panic. I crumbled down into a heap, folding my arms around my legs.

"Daehyun." Donghae stared down at me in shock. My glazed eyes traveled back to Donghae. "I overheard them talking, and I don't know for sure but they had mentioned one place: an old, rundown school next to Namsam tower. I don't know for sure, but I think they might have taken her there." Donghae said as he was struggling to get up, like a boxer who had been struck down again and again. The thick blood had spilled over onto the collar of his shirt, permantly staining it.

"Why are you telling me this?" My voice wavered. Donghae could be setting up a trap for me, yeah, he could easily be. I wondered if he was also lying to me, because these days everybody seemed to be a liar. But, suddenly, everything seemed to click in my head. I picked myself back up, my eyes widening as the realization spread through me. "The day you shot ____... you missed. You shot at her from point blank, but you still missed! Why?"

Donghae appeared uncomfortable, "Why are you asking?"

"Why?!" I repeated, this time screaming.

"Because I didn't want to kill her, that's why!" He retorted right back, which surprised me. "She's never done anything wrong, so why would I want to hurt her?"

Then, for the first time in a while, I began to see clearly. I narrowed my eyes. "You... what are you? You're not one of them."

Donghae gaped at me in disbelief. "Is this any time to be questioning me? They have _____!" he was also screaming now and he sounded so desperate. "They're going to kill her!"

I flinched from his cold words, but did my best to maintain my composure. "Why should I believe you?"

Donghae, using ever last bit of his strength he had left in him, leapt forwards and gripped my shoulders. He was a lethal proximity away from me. But something unseen stopped me from moving away.

"Daehyun," he mumbled, out of breath again, "When I came to you, I didn't expect you to believe me. No, why would you? What've I done for you to believe me?" he laughed bitterly, his reddened, puffy mouth appearing even more grotesque up close. "But this isn't me. This isn't Donghae. Donghae likes to read the morning paper, he likes to go out and see his grandparents, and like to chat with you and _____ when you two come home after a long day of school. He's trustworthy, kind, has hopes and dreams. He's not some thug gangster who shoots whoever he feels like."

"What're you getting at?"

Donghae exhaled. "Today, I'm not coming to you as a thug. I'm coming to you as Donghae, you're friend. The one who would never lie to you. So please, please, go save _____."