As he dragged her, she saw the faces of the people around. They were oblivious to what was going on right in front of their noses. She scoffed as the guy held her tighter close to him. She cursed hundreds of times as they reached the back door. He kicked it opened and pushed her outside, closing the door behind him. They were in a dark alley behind the company, where they had the dumpster. She turned around and took her dagger out, so smoothly and fast it was impossible to see.

“Who the are you?!” She asked, her dagger pointing at him. He chuckled and got closer to her, the dagger dangerously close to his chest.

“You guess.” He said. She narrowed her eyes as she looked him, but the shadows the hoodie made on his eyes didn’t let her see his face.

“Take the hood off.” She said. She saw him smirk and slowly, he grabbed the hoodie and pulled it back, revealing a blonde hair that sparkled in the dim light of the alley. Chaerin felt herself chocking on her own saliva, her dagger fell from her hands as she saw the high cheek bones and blue eyes of the man in front of her. “It can’t be…” she chocked. He walked towards her, grabbed her hand and pulled her closer to him, hugging her tight.

“I’ve missed you, Faith.” He said, his voice sincere and lovingly.

“W-What… what are you doing here?” She gasped, a tear forming on the rim of her eyes. He said nothing, just held her tighter on his arms, and then pulled away abruptly, looking to both sides as he did so.

“We don’t have enough time to chat babe, listen well what I’m going to tell you.” He said with his perfect English accent. “I came here to warn you, not to hurt you. I’ve been following you since you left me, and, well, became this. You have no idea in the dangers you’ve put yourself into baby, do you?” He said. Chaerin shook her head, her shock still plastered on her face.

“James, what’re you doing here? Following me? What do you mean by following me?” She said. He let out a sigh and grabbed her hand, he was clearly a lot taller than her, so he had to bend a bit to grab her hand.

“They want you dead, and I won’t allow that. That guy who attacked you, Raoul, he’s some serious business, and he has no heart I’m telling you. The only way I could keep track of where you were was to join this sort of life, and trust me, it’s not the most alluring one, but it helped me keep you sort of safe.” He said and she shook her head.

“Sort of safe?” She said and he smiled, his perfect pearls shining with the dim lights of the alley, Hell, everything about him shined brightly with any light around, she thought.

“The only reason you’re still breathing is because I’ve made some arrangements with your boss. They want you dead, and this, this job is a trap, you won’t be able to fulfill it.” He said.

“W-What?!” She said, feeling totally betrayed. “You mean this is just a set-up? From who, Hyunseung?” She said. James nodded. “What about Dara, is she part of it too?” She asked.

“I’m not sure, Hyunseung knows how special you are to your comrades, so I’m not sure who are his allies, but you can’t stay here any longer, you have to leave!” He said and grabbed her hand. She abruptly let go of his grasp and stared at him.

“I can’t leave, not now… Jiyong-“

“What? Don’t tell me you love him?” He said with pure sarcasm on his voice.

“No, but he has been nice enough for me to take care of him.” She said.

“What if he’s Hyunseung ally? You can’t trust anyone Faith, no one!” He said.

“And you? How can I trust you when you tried to kill me, kill us, just this morning?” She said. He looked taken aback, and his eyes moved quickly to the sides, then at her.

“I didn’t tried to kill you.” He said.

“Ah you didn’t? Then why was my comrade bleeding unconsciously on the floor?” She said.

“That was a mistake.” He told her. She nodded and turned around, heading for the door.

“You better leave me alone James, or I will be the one killing you.” She said and opened the door, but before she could go in, he grabbed her hand.

“I won’t lose you again, and I certainly won’t let them hurt you, so just listen to me, please.” He said. She looked at his hand, his knuckles full of scars, and there was one scar that almost made her cry, it ran across his hand, and the tendons looked damaged from it.

“How did you… got that one done?” She said, pointing at the scar. James looked at it and smiled weakly.

“My hand got stuck on an elevator’s chains, I almost lost it.” He said and slowly let go of her, and she let the door close slowly.

“Are you being honest with me?” She asked him and he nodded.

“I just want you to be safe, that’s all.” He simply told her. She inhaled deeply and nodded.

“So, what’s your plan?” She asked and he smiled, glad she would be willing to listen to him.

“You have to disappear, from everyone’s sight, including that Jiyong guy.” He said and she widened her eyes.

“What? I can’t do that!” She said and he raised an eyebrow.

“You said you didn’t love him.” He said with an as-a-matter-of-fact tone. She looked to her hands, then at his face, his blue eyes looking at her longingly, and she knew that look, it was the kind of look he used to give her when he was silently begging her for something.

“No, I don’t love him, not at all.” She said. Something deep inside of her screamed, screamed that it was a total lie, but something else shut that inner voice, hiding it somewhere deep within her. Now everything seemed to confuse her, the job she had, the people she knew, the ones she loved, everything was too confusing.

As she fought with her inner thoughts, James extended his hand, full of scars from past battles, and smiled. “Trust me again Faith, trust me on this.” He said. She looked at him and smiled weakly, though her eyes told him something else, she was sad, she was desperate and stressed.

“At least let me say goodbye.” She told him. He thought for a moment, then nodded.

“I’ll be waiting for you outside, please be careful.” He said and walked away towards the alley. She inhaled deeply and turned to the door, opening it hastily as she went back to the company. She walked into the crowd, hoping to find Jiyong and leave that place filled with undesirable faces all around it.

As she walked – more like bumped – into the people dancing around, someone grabbed her by her arm. She elbowed the person and turned around harshly, only to find Jiyong wincing from her attack. “Oh my God, I’m so sorry!” She said grabbing his shoulders, he looked up and smile, though his face was full of pain, he smiled.

“It’s ok, I’m alright.” He said.

“Let’s go over there.” She said signaling an empty row of leathered chairs – somewhat an empty and private space to talk – and Jiyong nodded. He limped his way over there while she grabbed him by his arm, leading him.

“I told you I’m fine,” he said as soon as they got to the chairs. Chaerin examined his face and body, touching lightly on his abdomen, the place where she hit him.

“I’m so sorry.” She apologized, he, instead, just shook his head and cupped her face in both his hands.

“It’s alright, where were you?” He said, his face with a slight hint of worry. She shrugged and touched his elbows.

“Just around, chatting and making acquaintances.” She told him, he nodded and smiled, so bright she doubted she had just hurt him a while ago. She dared to look at him into his eyes, and got herself lost in a moment. There was some sort of admiration in them, their dark brown color shining as he looked at her, her face cupped into his hands. She crooked her head a bit, and she realized they were getting closer. Chaerin took a quick glance at his lips, they were slightly parted, his face had turned serious, his eyes narrowed as he looked at her.

Now just a few inches apart, their foreheads touched –he was slightly crouched since Chaerin was shorter than him– and he whispered, “I’m so weird close to you.”

Chaerin was about to chuckle, and he move his hand to the back of her neck and pulled her closer, closing the gap between their lips. Chaerin closed her eyes, feeling the softness of his lips, feeling like everything had stopped between them, that every person in the room disappeared, the music stopped, and there was just the two of them, sharing a bit of life, sharing a bit of emotion, and sharing a bit of happiness. She slowly moved her hand to the back of his head, caressing his soft hair between her fingers. He pulled her closer; their bodies now completely close to each other. She let out a soft gasp between their kiss and he got that opportunity to insert his tongue into .

She willingly let him do so, both fighting for dominance. Chaerin slowly lost to him, and she knew that she had lost herself completely to that man, that complete stranger that made her world turn around five times faster. As the kiss deepened, she felt herself pulling away from him, slowly, but she did. It was like pulling away two strong magnets apart, it was almost impossible, but she managed to do it, and as she got farther away, her heart stopped beating.

“No, Jiyong, stop.” She whispered out of breath. He let his arms fall limply on his sides as he looked at her getting away from him.

“Why?” He said with a low, husky voice. She shook her head and lowered her face, her lips, tasting the sweet flavor of mint and cigarettes that was all him, and she loved it, there was no denying it.

“We can’t do this.” She said. He took a step closer and she took a step back, almost falling on the chair. “No.” She said, her hands in front of her, signaling him to stop.

“Just give me the opportunity to prove you, to show you I’m being sincere.” He said and she felt a lump forming on .

“How can I trust that? Give you an opportunity, then what? Suffer alone when you realize I’m not what you were expecting?” She said and he shook his head slowly.

“I’m not expecting anything…” He said and with that, she felt all her defenses fall from her. She threw herself on him and hugged him tight, kissing him hungrily as she did. He grabbed her by her waist and lifted her up, kissing her back. He was starting to walk towards the chair when she stopped him, pushing him back again.

“No, no wait, no…” she said and he let her go, but this time, he had a smile on his face.

“Ok then, no.” He said and sat on the chair behind her. She looked around, suddenly remembering that Kikwang was somewhere around there, also James was waiting for her and probably Hyunseung was around too.

“Not here, come.” She said and grabbed his hand, pulling him from the chair. He stood up hastily as she dragged him into the crowd. She glanced back at him, his face was puzzled, but a hint of excitement ran through him. She knew she had to put him on a safe place, or at least, far away from here.

As she made way through the crowd, she glanced towards her right, and there, she saw James with his hood put over his head but not hiding his face anymore. She avoided direct eye contact with him and continued walking, praying that he wouldn’t see her. Jiyong made a stop as she got closer to the doors and pulled her back. She cursed in her mind as he grabbed her on both his arms.

“We can’t go, not now.” He whispered on his ear and she cursed loud, but the music muted her voice.

“No, we have to, we have to go now.” She said, trying to hide the desperation on her voice. He laughed and shook his head, his right hand caressing her left cheek.

“No, we can’t go, why are you so worked up? Is something wrong?” He asked and she cursed, he was too cunning for her taste. She looked around and saw Hyunseung –to her damned luck – next to the bar, moving his head to the rhythm of the music, a drink on his left hand and the right one deep into his pockets. She cursed and looked to the other side, there was Dara, the dagger held firm on her right hand as she walked towards Hyunseung. She had her hair disheveled, probably from fighting.

“There’s nothing wrong… I just, want to talk to you, privately.” She said in a hurried voice. Jiyong looked at her with a puzzled face and smiled.

“Can’t it wait until this is done? It’s my job babe, I need to be here.” He told her. She inhaled deeply and nodded, but then, someone was standing at her back. She saw Jiyong tense up and she quickly turned around, and to her surprise, there was James standing behind her.

“Hello Jiyong, I’m glad to see you again.” He said in a polite tone. Jiyong smiled and pushed his hair back with his right hand, a habit – Chaerin noticed – that he had when he got annoyed.

“Hello Jamie, I take it you two already met.” He said, and even though he had a polite tone, Chaerin noticed the harshness of his voice.

“Yes, we certainly did, and I’m sorry to interrupt, but I think I’ll be taking her away from you, just for a while.” James said putting his hand on her shoulder, a gesture of a silent pressure, we have to go.

“No, Jiyong, please, come with me.” Chaerin said and James laughed.

“Certainly not my dear, he has so much work to do, we can’t take any more of his time,” James said and bowed slightly. “Jiyong, I hope we meet again.” He said and grabbed Chaerin by her hand, dragging her out. She looked at Jiyong, who was biting his inner cheeks, and tried to say something, but he just scoffed and turned around, merging into the crowd. It wasn’t good, it was far from good, it was bad, so bad…