A / N; IMPORTANT, PLEASE READ Hi there! Oh my god, FINALLY. A new chapter. I thought this would never happen. It has been exactly 6 months today since the last chapter if I calculated it correctly... I am so sorry x.x' I actually had this chapter finished a month ago but then I went to Korea and forgot about it and also I wanted to prepare some of the next chapter in advance, so you guys wouldn't have to wait too long! So I hope you like this and if you did, maybe give me an upvote or a comment? That'd make me really happy! Thank youuu~ See you soon :)

word count; 4413     date; 15/10/25

twelve

The Distance Between

RIMI - Run Away
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0XBmCXg0LY

I knew so many things, but nothing all the same.

I knew exactly what the best methods were to use on different types of victims when picking their pocket.

But I never got to experience how far you had to reach in the stranger’s pocket, how touching the forbidden fruit felt like, how the victim smelled like when you had to scoot so close to them during rush hour to commit the crime.

I knew exactly how to prepare a gun, clean it, assemble it, load it, release the safety even, but I never got to pull the trigger.

It is like you’re about to die from hunger but you’re given only so much food to barely survive.

This is what I did, barely surviving. Barely remembering added to it because the memory of the blonde guy’s face faded from my mind as well. Only a blurry image appeared whenever I tried to call his face to mind.

Less and less each day. Each week. Until I forgot about him.
I was beyond grateful when I found the house empty after waking up after noon.

It meant I could finally not give a about my composure, my posture, groan in pain with every step I took.

I didn’t know if I grew accustomed to it or if I was really healing but the soreness in my muscles, the bruises were slowly receding into inexistence again. Only the one on my neck was still shockingly visible.

It has been four weeks or so and it looked like someone had choked me just the night before. It loomed there like a shadow of my tabooed adventures.

When it was getting warmer, I decided to go out and get myself a choker.

April was not nearly as moody as people rumored it to be. The sun was beaming intrusively above my head, as if wanting to show itself off in all its glamour after a long period of being shut away behind clouds.

I lost myself in the fresh spring breeze brushing through my hair and just walked like in a trance.

I only stopped when I felt like I had arrived where I thought I belonged, where ever that was supposed to be.

I looked up only to see the all too familiar front of the decaying bookstore.

“Seriously?!”, I shouted in frustration and kicked the shutter.

It jarred obnoxiously loud. Had I ever felt more pathetic than at that moment? I don’t think so.

“What a cliché I am.”

This is what I had become.

A sentimental loner hurting innocent inanimate objects.

To be frank, I never went elsewhere. I never went outside except for the nights when I went fighting in the club.

I didn’t have any friends nor acquaintances, no favorite coffee shop I could go sit and sulk in my lonely life.

I decided to turn and look around.

A disappearingly small sign popped into my vision.

Exactly what I’ve been looking for.

I crossed the street with this kind of awkward not-quiet-running-walk and entered, accompanied by a loudly chiming bell set into motion by my opening the door.

A girl my age greeted me, almost seeming intimidated by my appearance.

Did I really dress THAT bad?

I smiled at her as if not having noticed and signaled with my hand I would look around.

I kind of understood her, though.

The neighborhood was a downright ghetto.

The more peculiar it struck me that a cute little accessory shop was running business here.

“Probably the Mafia’s in the back rooms…”, I thought to myself while browsing through a sea of flashy, twinkling and unique pieces of jewelry.

It took me a while to find what I went out for in the first place.

A studded choker of black leather looked totally lost amongst all the girly hair clips and bracelets.

I scanned the shop for a mirror and took the piece with me.

Unwrapping my neck from my scarf without hurting myself proved difficult, it took all my concentration but then I was finally able to put it aside and turned back but…

“!!”, I jumped in surprise, having the shop attendant and the reason for my surprise jump with me in unison.

“Yo! Calm down, Andromeda!”

He massaged my shoulders while giving me his signature buck-toothed smile.

“A name I didn’t hear in a while”, I thought.

“Bobby. You scared the living outta me. Appearing like some angered ghost lady.”, I flamed, hitting him with both my flat palms.

He just kept giggling stupidly and I had run out of breath from shouting at the jokester.

“You grew very out of shape since last time.”, he noted, smart-assy.

I knew he was joking but I had no control over my face frowning. It just hit me.

I turned around to finally put the choker around my neck, only half taking my eyes off him.

His glittering eyes gave away he was happy to see me, but there was no doubt he noticed my sudden change in mood. He softened.

“It’s still pretty bad, hm?”

“Well, yea, Bobby.”, I snapped at him, rolling my eyes.

I turned my head every direction to make sure everything of the still painfully visible mark was covered.

“Jiwon.”

“Hm?”

“Call me Jiwon. We’re not in the club.”

I flashed him a curt but genuine smile.

At least he wanted to distance me from it as well. And I was thankful for it.

Without another word I went up to the counter and paid for my new favorite piece of accessory, completely replacing my old scarf on it’s job.

I left the store, Bobby… or Jiwon, followed me.

I did not intend to turn around to talk to him. What was I supposed to say? The only times we ever talked was when we shouted to each other over the deafeningly loud music, dim lights not giving away much of who we really were.

And suddenly it frightened me. What if he found out. About who I was. He knew my real name. But that was not me.

I was not in the tiniest bit associated with WINNER. In the public, that is. I was just some random girl who liked to fight. Jiwon probably thought I still went to school or something. What if it all came crashing down?

What if he would keep away from me?

Then a new fear absorbed me into its pores like a sponge having lain dry for years.

When he grabbed me by my hand, the touch crept up my arm like a poisonous snake and it had me shake all over.

“Sori-yah. Let’s go get a some coffee. I know a place.”

A buck-toothed smile.

I thanked the waiter upon the arrival of our hot beverages with a slight nod.

Jiwon was totally absorbed into sugaring his coffee, grinning brightly as if that was his first time ever having one.

I watched him, thinking.

The way he had squeezed my hand back in the street where technically everyone could’ve seen, I had really just wanted to refuse… but he didn’t let go until we were safely in the warm aromatic coffee shop.

Like I was going to bust. Or maybe he understood my fear.

He ripped me out of my thoughts by waving the pot of sugar in front of my face.

“Ah! No, thanks. I drink my coffee black. Just like my soul.”

The boy burst into effusive laughter over this basic joke, making me snicker at the weird sounds spilling from somewhere deep in his throat. People turned their heads but I looked at them like they were the weirdos.

Seeing me smile, his face softened.

I knew he wanted to accomplish breaking down my hardened facade… but why did he even bother to make the effort? And why did he understand me so well?

This particular thought came creeping in my head like an unearthly creature, something foreign, yet too interesting to turn your back to.

But it reminded me all too much of my friendship with Seungyoon to feel comfortable just yet.

“That thing fits you very well.”, Jiwon gestured to my neck, munching on a chocolate chip cookie.

I gave him another smile.

And that was the flow our conversation took. No heated discussions, no questions, no endless condolences.

Just a steady flow of give and take, like ebb and tide. Like the slight rocking of the ferry we took to Imjado a few years ago. It was comfortable. Not overwhelming for once.

I found myself giving in to his nature, slowly. A slight worry always remained, I learned that was what kept me alive.

But the moment I wanted to store it at the back of my head, it was violently pulled forward again.

Bobby slimmed his eyes, slightly turning his head toward the glass panel wall our table stood adjacent to.

“I think we’re being watched.”, he said while sitting up, bathing a bright smile of his in the warm sunlight.

First, confusion struck me due to his words not fitting his demeanor in the slightest way, but it only took me a second.

“What do you wanna do then?”, I continued the act, a fake smile glued to my face.

“How about we pay and get some fresh air?”

I nodded vigorously. Showing this over the top acting was a way for me to conceal my panic. I flung my jacket with the arms inside out over my shoulder and stood up, waiting for Bobby.

I really did not have the nerve to deal with my jacket.

He put down several bills on the table, securing them under the saucer of his cup