Hao Yi hummed as she walked down the busy Seoul street, heading the three blocks down to the grocery store she preferred to shop at. She stepped inside, giving a small bow to the elderly man working the counter as she grabbed a small cart to carry the groceries she needed to cook Yixing dinner. As she made her way up and down the aisles, she couldn’t help but feel wary, as if someone was watching her. She picked up the pace, grabbing everything she would need before she headed up to the front of the store. After paying for the groceries, she grabbed the bags and stepped back out into the street.

It had only been 45 minutes, but the sun had already dipped beneath the buildings, and the street lights had clicked on. There were far fewer people in the streets than before, and her steps quickened, the feeling of someone’s eyes on her never leaving her back.

Hao Yi held her head high and walked confidently, but the growing pit of worry in her stomach screamed at her that something was very, very wrong.

When she turned the corner, she realized how right her instincts were. Standing in front of her, looming ominously, was the man from the café that she had accidentally dumped coffee on. Only this time, he seemed much larger and angrier than before. Two guys stood behind him, one on each side of him, and they leered at her with erse smiles on their faces.

“Long time no see, little girl. Forgot about me?” His sneer made Hao Yi’s blood run cold. She backed up, only to stop when she felt the cold brick itching underneath her arms.

“Didn’t you get our message from earlier?”

Hao Yi’s face paled as the image of the café ran through her mind, the shattered windows and furniture, the red paint that looked like blood everywhere. Her knees buckled as she struggled to hold herself up against the wall.

“What do you want from me?” She asked quietly, her voice barely more than a whisper.

“I think it’s time you learned your place.”

And her world went black.

_

Hao Yi woke up to the taste of iron in , and a ringing in her ears. Her head was pounding, and when she opened her eyes, all she saw was black. She pulled at her arms to try to use them to push herself up, but she felt a rope digging into her wrists as she hissed in pain.

She heard voices in the distance, and stilled, straining to hear what they were saying.

“Can’t we at least have a little bit of fun with her before we got to get rid of her?”

“You know what the boss said. Nobody touches the Chinese until he gets back. Besides, she’s as good as dead anyways.”

Hao Yi stiffened when she understood what was finally happening.

, Luhan, I should have listened to you,she thought as she struggled violently against her bindings. She coughed when she felt the impact of a foot against her stomach and wheezed, tasting fresh blood in .

“Looks like the Chinese is awake,” she heard one of her captors say, his malicious voice close to her ear.

The blindfold was pulled off of her, and she blinked quickly, adjusting her eyes to the sudden light. She looked around, making note of her surroundings. It looked to be an abandoned warehouse, but nothing else gave clue as to where she was, as the windows had been boarded up.

One of the men grabbed her violently by her hair and threw her into a nearby chair, retying her wrists and ankles so that she couldn’t move from it.

Hao Yi slumped against the chair, hiding the tears she couldn’t keep from falling behind her curtain of hair.

The two men’s voices became distant as they walked away, slamming a door, and Hao Yi was left alone in the dark, again.