You were dragged to the other end of the park. Once Yongguk finally decided it was safe enough to stop running, you pulled your wrist away from his grip and punched him in his arm – hard.

 “What the hell was that for? I just saved your life!” he snapped. “Maybe that was a mistake”, he continued bitterly as he rubbed his aching arm.

  “I wasn’t in danger, you moron! I was trying to help a dying man. Now he’s probably dead, because of you!” you yelled, still unable to compensate what was going on. Everything seemed to be in such a blur that it was hard for you to even be having this conversation.

  “’Because of me’? I’m not the one who shot him! How dare you say that after I just saved your sad little kamikaze-?”

  “’Kamikaze-’? That’s an extremely classy insult, you know”, you said sarcastically and crossed your arms. Before he could say anything else, you continued: “Look, we don’t have time for this. What the hell happened back there? Who was that? Who shot him? Why did drag me away from someone who was dying and why did you tell me it wasn’t safe to stay there?”

  Yongguk massaged his temples. “So many questions”, he mumbled. He walked up to you and laid his hands on your shoulders. “All you need to know is that the man who was shot was a bad guy. Terrible, actually. The guy who shot him is even worse and if he finds out that you saw what he did he will hunt you down and make sure you never breathe a word of it – or breathe in general – ever again”, he explained calmly and moved his hands off of you.

  You frowned slightly, processing what he’d just told you. Only one question kept popping up in your head and you couldn’t keep quiet any longer. “How do you know them?”

  Suddenly it hit you: what it was all true? What if Yongguk really was part of a criminal organization? What if he’d offed someone and was now hunted by those same men that she’d just seen? What you truly had fraternized with a criminal?

  Yongguk shrugged and refused to look you in the eye. With his eyes in the distance, he answered: “My family has always been butting heads with those guys. It’s been going on for centuries now. I don’t even know when it started – or how. I just know that there’s a war going on: blood has been spilled. Both on their side and ours”

  You raised an eyebrow. “Hold on – your family is in a gang war?” you asked, wanting to be one-hundred-percent sure of what you’d just heard.

  Yongguk nodded slowly. “My family sort of is the gang.  My parents were killed when I was very young. We used to live a normal, suburban life. I lives with my little brother, my mom, my dad and we even had a dog. It was the perfect, happy little life, but all of that changed when our house was broken into one night when I was five. Those guys broke into my home, killed my parents and took over our house. I later on found out about my dad’s past with those guys and my family mob-related past became clearer and clearer to me. Luckily, my brother and I were saved by a man, who took us under his wing. Made us part of the gang, taught us everything we know now and protected us. I’ve been living with him and the other members for as long as I can remember”, he explained with a low voice.

  Your eyes widened. A part of you felt bad for him, so bad you just wanted to give him a hug and tell it would all be okay. Another part of you wanted to run like hell and never look or speak to or of Bang Yongguk ever again. The mob? Gangs? Murder? This was all just too much.  You took several steps back and looked around you, trying to find a possible escape route in case his mob-buddies decided to show up and off you too.

  “Come on. You’re not actually afraid of me now, are you?” Yongguk asked and smirked slightly. “I’m almost offended: I did just tell you my deepest, darkest secret”, he continued and took a couple of steps towards you.

  You shook your head and crossed your arms over your chest. “Why did you tell me all of that? Was just to freak me out? Because congratulations: it worked!” you snapped and took a few more steps back, keeping a safety distance from him. You didn’t even know how you were supposed to react to something like this.

  Yongguk tilted his head slightly and answered: “You asked me how I knew them. I figured telling you the truth would get you back into your senses. Clearly that didn’t work, because if had, you’d be long gone by now. Probably running towards the nearest police station to explain this story to some low-life cop, who wouldn’t believe a word you say”

  You scoffed and rolled your eyes. How could he even talk that way in this situation? “I’m not that stupid”, you said simply. He took a few more steps towards you, but this time you didn’t move. You just watched him walk up to you, while giving a slightly examining look. You still didn’t trust him: you didn’t even know him!

  “I suggest you follow me”, he said and reached out his hand for you to take. He looked at you with a serious look, proving he wasn’t joking around. You scoffed and thought that he was determined to drag you everywhere with him.

  You raised an eyebrow and shook your head immediately. “I’m not going anywhere with you. I don’t even know you! All I know is that your name is Bang Yongguk and that you’re a criminal! Not to mention that’s way more than you’ve even shown interest in in me”, you snapped. “Look, handle your ‘gang-war’ on your own. I need to find my sister, get home and leave this entire night behind me”, you continued and turned to leave.

  “They’ve spotted you, which means they’ll come after you”, Yongguk shouted after you, but you just kept walking, not looking back. You didn’t care about anything he said anymore.  You were exhausted and confused and all you wanted was to get home, take a shower, crawl under the covers and never think about the events of that night ever again.

  When you finally arrived at the edge of the park, you caught your sister’s worried look. She ran up to you and hugged you tightly, like she hadn’t seen you in years.

  “____! I was so worried that something might’ve happened to you”, Jo Lin said as she tightened her grip around you. “Where the hell were you?”

  You nodded quickly and smiled, trying to look apologetic. “Sorry, Linnie. I got lost again”, you explained and bit your lip, trying to look embarrassed. Jo Lin rolled her eyes and showed you a small smile before wrapping one of her arms around you and guiding you to the car.

  The next day you sat in chemistry class, talking to Ji Eun about yesterday’s events. Well, not all of them. Just the ones that happened before the incident at the park. You didn’t want to push that kind of knowledge on your innocent little friend.

  “So, you actually defended that juvenile delinquent?”  Ji Eun asked once you’d explained the café-incident.

  “Yes and he’s not a delinquent: he just had a bad reputation”, you said, this time knowing for sure that you were lying. After what he’d told you last night, you were starting to question many things about him. Had he ever killed someone? Had he actually been to prison? Had he committed other crimes, maybe dealt illegal substances?

  “Yah!” Ji Eun snapped you back into reality, making the teacher “shush” you and a few classmates give you dirty looks. You turned to her with a confused smile: you’d been so deep in your worries about Yongguk that you hadn’t noticed your friend had asked you a question.

  “Sorry. What where you saying?” you asked and tilted your head innocently. You assumed that whatever she said had been another judging comment about defending the honor of your town’s “black sheep” and gotten on the bad side of the popular guys. You didn’t care about looks or your place on the “social totem pole” as much as Ji Eun did. She was all about looks, popularity and parties, even though she wasn’t much more popular than you.

  “I asked you who the guy was, who was making fun of the druggie?” Ji Eun answered and leaned against the table with her eyes half closed, obviously not caring about the person who’d insulted the one person in this school who she judged more than anybody.

  “Don’t call him that”, you said and looked at your friend with a serious look. She simply shrugged and shank lower in her seat, sleepily. “It was Jon Kyul”, you continued and put a loose strain of hair behind your ear.

  Ji Eun almost jumped up in her seat as you said the name out loud. She looked at you with wide eyes, her look laced with shock. “Jon Kyul? From our math class?” she asked loudly, making a few head turn yet again.

  You placed your hands on her hand shoulders and chuckled quietly at her ridiculous reaction. “Calm down. Yes, him. What’s the big deal? Don’t tell me you have a crush on him or something? Because I have bad news for you: you’re in a committed relationship and he’s an ”, you explained and smirked.

  Ji Eun shrugged your hands off and looked at you with a serious look. “No, he’s not. He’s just a bit rough around the edges. He’s actually a really nice guy”, she said and pouted at your comment. You couldn’t believe what you were hearing.

  “You did just hear what I told you, right? Him and his buddies completely humiliated Yongguk at that café yesterday and-“

  “And he deserved everything he got”, Ji Eun interrupted you and shook her head. “A guy like him should be put behind bars”, she continued and flipped her hair behind her shoulder.

  Again, you were shocked to hear her talk like this. “How can you say that? You out of all people? You’re the one who always tries to find the best in people!” you snapped, unable to even begin to start figuring this behavior out.

  “This is different. I tried not to judge him and look on the bright side of things, but after everything Jonk Kyul told me about him-“

  “Wait- Jon Kyul badmouthed him to you? That’s why you feel so strongly about this? Because of something that moron said?” it was your turn to interrupt Ji Eun. You couldn’t believe that your sweet, innocent friend was acting like this.

  Ji Eun nodded. “Yes, and like I said earlier: that moron happens to be my friend!” she snapped right back at you. “Who’s badmouthing who?” she muttered to herself and looked down at the empty assignment form you’d been assigned in the beginning of the lesson.

  You shook your head and scoffed. “He’s not your friend; he’s only using you”, you said and tilted your head. “I hate to break it to you, but he just wants to get into your pants”, you continued, genuinely meaning every word. Even though Ji Eun was so gullible - and it sometimes drove you crazy - , you never wanted to see her get hurt.

  “I can’t believe how jealous you are!” Ji Eun scoffed and chuckled bitterly. “You want Jon Kyul for yourself, so you came up it with some ridiculous story about him. Is that what all of this was? Did he even say anything to Yongguk or was that a lie too?” she continued, her voice laced with disbelief.

  That’s it. There was a line and she’d just crossed it. How could she even think that she’d lie to her about something like this? She was your best friend! The bell rang and students started packing up and leaving.

  “You know what? Believe whatever or whoever you want. Obviously, I’m no trustworthy enough to be the one you count on”, you said bitterly as you grabbed your things and stormed out of the classroom.

  You were stomping your way to your locker, ready to smash every single one of your books to dust, when you noticed a man in a uniform talking to your principal. The man looked like a police officer. As you stretched out your neck to see better, you saw another man standing next to him: the man from the earlier night. The one who’d held a gun in his hands and shot a person. The who had killed someone.

  “We need to get out of here”, you heard a voice behind you. You turned around to face the conversation topic of the day: Bang Yongguk.

  You thought seeing him would make you anxious, but considering who’d just entered your school, you felt safer than ever next to him.

  “What are you talking about?” you asked and crossed your arms. You glanced over your shoulder at the three men talking, but Yongguk turned your head away. You raised an eyebrow at his ruthless action.

  “Don’t touch me”, you snapped and took a few steps back. No matter how safe he made you feel, you didn’t want him to think that he had power over you. Especially not after last night. “You’re not allowed to touch me or even talk to me, for that matter. You don’t know me”, you continued, suddenly feeling the anxiety building up. He didn’t even know your name, how could he possibly protect you?

  Yongguk tilted his head, obviously amused at your sudden outburst. With a small smirk, he commanded: “Well, then, tell me your name”. He glanced behind you at the men and turned back to you. “But make it quick”, he continued as the smirk quickly faded away from face.

  After a moment of hesitation you finally responded: “It’s___” and uncrossed your arms. You didn’t know what you were supposed to say or do in this situation: just like last night. Things seemed to always be complicated with him.

  “Well, ___, grab what’s necessary, ‘cause we have to go”, he said simply, like he was telling you to go fetch eggs from the grocery store.

  “Go where, exactly?” you asked, feeling the anxiety build up again. You were so confused; things were happening to fast and you didn’t understand half of what was going on.

  “I’m not sure yet. All I know is that we need to get out of here”, he explained, keeping his eyes on the three men talking. You looked at him confused.

  “Why?” you asked, now pleading for an answer. You’d had enough of confusing, riddle-like answers and you needed real ones: now. You didn’t care if you had to literally drain them out of him: you were figuring this out right now.

  “Because if that guy spots you, he’ll blow this to pieces within seconds, including everyone in it”, he explained intensely, his gaze never leaving the three men.

  “We can’t just leave these people here; they’re in danger. My friends-“

  “Your friends will remain unharmed if you’re not identified. Now come on!” Yongguk interrupted you. His serious, intense tone proved that he really wasn’t fooling around. Glancing over your shoulder one last time, you took his reached hand and followed him out through the backdoor.

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And it's here! I hope you guys like it, it took me a while. I'd really appreciate some feedback on how you think I'm doing. Also, if you know anyone who'd be willing to make me a main image for this fanfic, that would be great! I'd pay back for it (somehow xD). Anyway, thanks for reading and I'll updating again soon. Bye! ~ El