Burning....burning...I could feel his stare burning through my sides. The guy...TOP, now that I had learned, was sitting right in the chair next to mine, just about four feet away from me. As Youngbae and Jiyong was talking with two other producers in the room, I was just trying out some of the unfamiliar equipment in the room.

...and he was watching me.

       From the corner of my eye, I could see a blurry yet distinct view of his deep crystalline eyes examining me quietly.

       I immediately jerked my head towards him with a light frown and as if nothing happened, he casually blinked away to look at his notepad on his lap.

       And this happened for one ridiculously long and awkward hour. 

The fact that he had seen me trying to copy the files into the USB drive...the fact that he HAD the USB drive...the fact that he thought I was a GUY. These horrible facts haunted me the entire time I sat there as he watched me cautiously. Stalking my every move with such curiosity.

       "Oh it's lunch time." Jiyong said softly as he leaned back in his chair, stretching out his long arms.

      I looked up at the clock. 12:30 pm.

"Do you guys wanna go out to eat or go to the cafeteria downstairs?" Teddy, one of the producers asked.

       "Oh actually I promised Remi to go out to eat lunch with her today." Jiyong said, grabbing his phone off the table.

       The other guys all sneakily chuckled and let out mocking, "Ohhhhh~"s as they slapped Jiyong's arm lightly.   

       "Moya*? Now you're gonna start ditching us?" Youngbae laughingly said.

      Teddy pipped in, "You know brah, it's bros before-"

      "Hyung!" Jiyong pointed a half serious, half playful finger at Teddy. 

      "I'm playing, I'm playing." Teddy laughed as he stood up, "Yah, are you guys coming too?" He asked to us...me and Mr.Stalker.

      I blinked confusedly, not knowing whether or not to go. 

      "I'll just stay here hyung." TOP said in that casual tone of his and then looked over at me as if he was waiting for my answer.

      "I-I...I'lll uhh-" I stuttered until I heard my phone ring in my pocket. I held up a finger and quickly fished it out of my pocket. 

Crap, it was Taewoo! Why was he calling me?

       "Ill just take care of lunch myself, don't worry about me!" Words spilled out of my mouth as I rushed out of that tense room.

I answered the phone as I sneaked out of the hallway and into a clear and empty place by the emergency exit.

-----------

*Moya- "What?"

          "Yah, how is it going?" Taewoo's sleazy yet sour voice flooded from the phone. 

         I flinched, "Why the hell are you calling me now? Did you expect me to have it for you by today?" 

        "It's just one thing. How hard could it be for you to-"

        "Well it's pretty damn hard. Why don't you try?"

        ", I wouldn't be the one trying to make the bigger call here. Let's face it, you're the one who needs this money more than I need the files." 

        I spat at the ground. He was really testing my anger...but he was right, I did need that money. And badly too. 

       "I almost had it, okay? It was all done transferring when someone saw me and took the USB drive. I promise I'll get the copied files to you...so make sure you have the money." I sighed and banged the back of my head against the wall.

        Taewoo yelled an insult into the phone and I closed my eyes as I had no other thing to say back to him. I was at his mercy, it wasn't my place to yell.

        But I had enough of his voice for now so I ended the call and opened my eyes.

Right in front of me...was Choi Seunghyun.

         A sharp curl formed at the corners of his lips in a smirk and his eyes twinkled. The perfection of his coal black hair shined in the light, contrasting his defined features even more. He had his arms crossed over his preppy clothes, a simple black sweater underneath a stylish navy blue trench jacket which defined his long neck, and dark pants finished off with classy white laced Oxford shoes. 

          "Stealing music from the company...lying to people about your true intentions...you're really a good producer huh? A producer of lies." TOP said smoothly with every word spoken with flawless accuracy.

           "Y-You were eavesdropping." I stuttered out.

           TOP scoffed and took a step closer to me, now just about a feet apart. "I don't think that's the bigger problem here." 

           I scoffed even louder and scowled, "Who do you think you are? It's not like it's even any of your business. Just give me back my flash drive." I held out my hand.

           "Not any of my business?" He gave me a questioning smile, full of mischief and frustration as he held up a finger. "Firstly. This place is my workplace and might as well be my second home. Second. This company is YG family, if you didn't know on the way coming in here. Third. You're stealing company files, so you are stealing from my family's home."

 

             I growled, "Like I said, who the hell do you think you are-"

             "Stealing from company files is a criminal activity punishable by law, and if you're caught, I wouldn't want to see what Sajangnim would do to you....let alone, Jiyong." TOP's eyes twinkled like stars in a midnight sky. 

I swear, this guy was determined to rat me out. Something about his face yelled intimidation.

             But instead, I chose to remain strong, "What the are you talking about?!" 

             "You know, I hate people like this. Trying to gain money and success through unlawful acts...all for their own greed." There was a sick disgusted look on his face and it pissed me off.

             Greedy? I felt my blood pulsate heavily through my veins and anger washed over me. All this. Every single thing I have done in my life was never for me. I had to pay for everything, I had to be the head of the house. My dad? He left me for gambling when I was young. My mom? She fell sick when I was just a teenager. No one ever gave two s about me and yet I WAS GREEDY?

This bastard seriously made me pissed.

             "GIVE IT. NOW." I said in a low voice with my blood boiling up to my head.

    

             He reached down into his pocket and pulled out the small flash drive. 

            "This?"

            "Give it now!" I yelled as I lunged forward to grab it but unfortunately, despite my longish body, his hand was out of my reach.

            "You know, you're not only a liar, but you're a rude little liar." He backed away and kept the USB drive out of my reach. 

Who the hell was this guy to do this to me?

            "I'm counting. One." I said sternly with a vicious glare.

            He looked a little frightened but still had that confidence of his head high. "Counting won't help. I'm going to tell Sajangnim."

           "Two." 

            "Oh? Is that him I hear walking down?" TOP leaned his ear to the side and pretended to hear something. But it seemed as if he was somewhat right. I began to also hear something from the hallway, voices of a few people talking

           "THREE!!" I yelled and with every might I had, I kicked him painfully hard down at his crotch. 

          He let out a strange deep yelp and automatically, his body crouched down and collapsed on the floor. 

 

I almost felt bad...I really did. The kind of miserable way his head was 

snuggled into his chest from the sudden pain. But it was my chance. His shaking hand was loosely grasping the USB drive and my fingers delved in between, digging it out of his helpless fingers.

         Without looking back, I ran. My fingers held the USB drive tightly as if my life depended on it. I quickly excused myself out and left the building as I quickly called Taewoo. But to my disappointment, he was somewhere else at the moment so I couldn't meet with him.

Instead, I headed to the hospital where my mom was at.

 

 

 

 

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~

         The hospital wasn't too big of a hospital, more of a local one with lacking funds. My mom stayed in the 2nd floor, in the stay in wing where most of the simple injuries were treated since I couldn't afford to have her in the special care ward all the time.

        The calming scent of air purifiers and muted flowers set the mood of the place as somewhat peaceful and tranquilizing. It made me feel so sad when I walked through those hospital hallways when a few of the doors were open. There were people of all ages weak and hopeless, yet they still had the will to live on. It fascinated me, how much people were willing to live.

         I found my mom sitting upright on her bed in her usual room. Unlike most days, her eyes were open and steady as they looked out through the window into the cloudless sky. She wore a cream colored beanie over her tiny head and her face was slimmer than ever. An immediate smile formed at my mouth when I saw her.

        "Umma*!" I said with an uplifting voice as I jumped into her view.

       Her sweet beautiful smile gave way when she saw me.

      "Raena." Mom's voice was soft, kind of a whispery voice that spoke through a warm summer breeze. 

      "How you feeling? You're awake today." I sat near her bed and her hands warmly grabbed mine.

      "Much better now that I've seen you. How is life treating you? Not too badly I hope." 

      I took my hood and hat off, letting my wavy hair let loose down my back. I never felt comfortable with my hair down unless it was with my mom. 

      "Actually...I quit. I have a new job now...but I'm not sure if I can stay there any longer." I sighed hopelessly.

       She gave my hands a squeeze. "Why? What's wrong?"

       "I-...I-I..." I paused for a moment. I could never let her know I was doing such things for her. "Nevermind, don't worry about it."

         "If you don't tell me, then I want to know even more." She said with a sneaky grin.

        "Well...it's just that I forgot to pay my landlord and...it's piling. I'm going to get kicked out if I don't have the money by next week." The money part was true, just that it wasn't that I forgot, more so that I didn't have it.

 

        Mom sighed and she looked skinnier than ever. I knew she felt bad, this was why I never tried to tell her anything. That she would feel bad for me. 

       Her face grimaced as it hung low and her brittle arms pulled me into a hug. She smelled of hospital clothes and air purifiers. A scent I've come to hate but understand.

      "Umma is sorry....Umma is so sorry." She quietly seeped into the crevice of my shoulder and I felt tears wet my clothes.

       Without anymore thought, my fingers reached down to my pocket and grabbed at that little flash drive that would make all the tears go away.

 

 

For now.