DAY 0084

It was a lonely Wednesday for Youngji as she walked down the streets to get home. Hongbin was absent for today because he had to fix some requirements on his passport. She felt sad not seeing the tutor today, but it was all fine for her because she'll see him tomorrow.

She went home earlier than usual. She noticed that the streets weren't full of people. It was quite creepy. Ken assured her before that this new route* is safe, but seeing it empty made her uncomfortable. She felt that someone was following her.

Please spare my life, she inwardly thought.

She tried to look back if there were any people following her. There was none. She shook her head and started to walk again. Having the thought of someone following her, she walked a little bit faster.

Before crossing the other side of the road, she looked back once more. No one was following her...or not.

When she looked back, a guy grabbed her from behind. She tried to remove the guy's arms from her. She wasn't paranoid. She knew there was someone out there.

"Just shut up and you'll be safe," the guy said.

"Help!" Youngji screamed in fear. All she wanted was to go home, yet this happened.

"I told you to shut up for goddamn's sake!"

"Help! Someone save me!" She screamed again, louder than the first one.

Instead of talking again, this creepy guy dragged Youngji to a strange street full of guys who looked scary. They were all masculine, and they have a lot of tattoos all over their body. Youngji didn't stop screaming, hoping that someone would save her from this misery.

"Here's our feast for today," the guy that dragged her said.

"Oh, she's a good catch!" The guy with the nose piercings exclaimed.

"Come on, guys! Let's do this!" Another guy said.

"Let's just start already!"

The guys have been talking until they started to get close to her. Youngji realized that she was about to be a subject of . The idea feared her. She didn't want this. What did she do to have this?

The guy with the nose piercings started to her blouse. She tried to protect it with her arms, but the guy was too strong and moved it away. She couldn't look. She closed her eyes, hoping for a miracle that would come.

The guy ed the first button when someone grabbed him and landed a punch on his face. Youngji started to open her eyes to see Ravi fighting over the guy that started to her. She cried. She was grateful that someone saved her.

But she forgot a little detail: he wasn't the only boy there.

The guy that dragged her was getting closer. She was trying to run away, but another guy held her. She tried to escape the man's touch, but no avail. They're too strong.

Ravi was done punching the guy with the piercings and approached the guy that held Youngji. He punched him and gave a few kicks. The guy fought back, giving the same punches and kicks to Ravi. Ravi was starting to lose his strength, but that didn't stop him from saving Youngji and fighting the other guys.

"Oh my gosh, Ravi!" Youngji screamed as she saw her friend collapse. She went to him and check if he's okay. "Damn it, why did this happen to us," she whispered.

"Just go before they hurt you again," Ravi said, pausing in between words.

"But I don't want to leave—"

"The both of you! Leave already! I'll be the one to handle these guys," another guy suddenly appeared in front of them.

What in the world, Youngji thought. The guy was familiar to her.

"Do I know you?" She managed to ask.

"Just leave if you don't want to be fully !" Mr. Familiar repeated.

Without any words, Youngi tried her best to carry Ravi until they reached the light again. She searched for a clinic nearby, but there was none. The nearest clinic is a few meters away, and she knew that Ravi couldn't make it there.

"Your button," Ravi whispered.

Youngji felt her cheeks turn to red. She forgot that one.

"Can you walk?" She asked.

"Yeah, yeah."

Youngji released her hand that was carrying Ravi and buttoned her blouse. She also grabbed the chance to fix herself. She really looked like trash when those guys got her.

"Let's go back to school," she suggested. "That's the nearest clinic I can think of."

Ravi nodded and started walking. Youngji followed, leaving a gap between the two of them. She was uncomfortable at Ravi's aura at the moment. The guy looked like he was to kill people with his dark glances. People crossing the street avoided him—probably because of his glances and his messy look. He had bruises all over because of what happened.

When they got to the school gate, the guard asked why they were coming back. Youngji explained the situation she encountered even though she was really uncomfortable talking about it. The guard assisted them in going to the clinic. Students were looking at them, wondering what happened within the past hour.

They arrived to the clinic safely. The nurse attended to Ravi who was still hurting. Youngji, in the other hand, asked if she could rest in one of the beds. The nurse gave her permission, and so she went to the nearest bed and had a rest.

She couldn't sleep. She had a lot of questions in her head that needed answers. Why did Kim Ravi save her? Why did the guy become a badass even though he wasn't one in the past? Why did Mr. Familiar appear in the scene and saved them? Why is Mr. Familiar—she snapped out it. She didn't want to think of the latter guy anymore. Her only concern right now is Ravi, who was sleeping peacefully in the bed in front of her.

In a few minutes, she went fast asleep, thanks to the cool air from the air condition unit.

"Hngh..."

Youngji immediately got up as she heard Ravi groan. She went to his bed to check if he's better already.

"How are you?" She asked with concern. "Is it still painful?"

"Somehow," he managed to answer even in a soft tone. "This will heal soon. I'll just get medication."

 Youngji suddenly looked at the clinic's clock and noticed that it was already past six in the evening. "Can you walk?"

"Mm," Ravi answered coolly. "Let's get you home already."

Youngji shook her head and said, "It's better if I'm going the one to take you to your flat."

Ravi chuckled. "You want to get again, hey."

"But you're still in pain. It's better if the guys can attend to you in an instant," she insisted.

Ravi gave up and got up from his bed. He asked from the nurse if there were any medications for his bruises. The nurse said there was none, but he had to clean his bruises well. He also needed to be careful as well.

When everything was settled, the two started walking out of school. It was a quite walk for the two, since no one opted to talk to each other.

 Well not until Youngji asked something to Ravi.

"Can I ask you something," she whispered. "I mean, there's something really bugging my mind right now, and it's about you."

Ravi smiled. "Throw it, then."

Youngji stopped walking for a while to get the momentum she needed to ask. Ravi stopped as well, wondering why she stopped.

After some time, Youngji finally got the courage to ask. "What happened?"

Ravi crossed his brows in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"What happened? Why did you become," she paused to find the right words to say, "a person who isn't you?"

"But this is me," he answered in confusion. He didn't really get what Youngji meant.

"But you weren't a bad guy before."

Ravi finally got what she wanted to say. He knew that the girl would ask soon. He saw her giving glances to him a few times whenever they eat together. He smiled to her, and gave her the answer she's been looking for.

"I had no choice," he shared. "I didn't want to be like this too, but it was her in stake."

"Her? You mean—"

"Yes, I like someone. She likes me as well. But screw it, our love won't work. It's a mess."

"Can you please enlighten me?"

Ravi sighed. This was the first time he opened up about his past. It was fine though; he was actually comfortable to tell to her because he knew she had a part, although he doesn't really know the exact past she had.

"I had two choices, Youngji. If I chose that we'll be together, then it would be a huge mess. We'll face all kinds of . One of us would die. The worse part? We'll never know who would die first. I didn't want to sacrifice both of our lives just because we wanted to be together. I didn't want that.

"I chose the second choice given to me: both of us we'll be safe, but we have to accept the story plotted to us right now. I never became this bad guy, but it happened. I wasn't controlling my life, there was someone else doing it for me."

"What?" Youngji managed to ask from Ravi's heavy revelation.

He shook his head. "You'll never understand, Youngji. You don't need to. Let's just say that we can't be together because we had another life to live."

She nodded in respect even though she in a blur. She wanted to ask more, but it seemed like Ravi wouldn't give any more about it.

They continued to walk silently. Youngji didn't bother to ask anymore. Besides, she got the answer she needed. That's what mattered the most. The rest will be a mystery for her, unless Ravi talks to her again and shares what happened to his life before.

In a few minutes, they finally reached VIXX's flat. Ravi invited Youngji to come in, but the latter said she really needed to go home.

But before she left, Youngji said something important to him.

"If you want to fight for her, then fight. Sometimes, you need to break rules in order to find the happiness you've been longing for. I want you to be happy, Kim Ravi. You still have the rest of your life to do it. I'll be here if you want someone to talk to."

Ravi was about to break down with what the girl said. It hit him—he couldn't be happy unless he fights for her. He wanted to cry, but it was so unusual of him. He just hugged her instead.

"Thank you," he whispered to the girl's ear.

Youngji just nodded. She let go of Ravi's embrace and smiled. "I really need to get going now. Good night."

"Good night."

 Ravi watched Youngji walk away from their flat. When she was gone, he got in and saw Hongbin casually watching SISTAR's new music video on the television.

"Hyung!" Hongbin greeted as he saw him on the door. "What happened to you? Why are there patches on your skin?"

Without any word, Ravi grabbed Hongbin to his room. Hongbin didn't mind. He knew that Ravi's in his phase where he wanted to talk the dongsaeng in private. He wasn't nervous, just concerned.

Ravi closed the room's door and sat beside Hongbin, who was on his bed. No one spoke until Hongbin asked what happened to him.

"Nothing happened to me, but there was to Youngji," Ravi casually said as if wasn't a serious topic to talk about.

Hongbin suddenly got nervous. It was Youngji they were talking about. He couldn't find his voice to ask what happened. All he wanted right now was Youngji's safety. Ever since Youngji opened up her past to him, Hongbin felt the need to take care of her. Youngji's no ordinary girl to him. She's a wonder for him.

"Protect her at all costs," his hyung said in a manner that it was a demand and not an option. "Whatever happens, be there for her."

"Why? What happened, Ravi?" Hongbin stuttered, even forgetting to use honorifics on his hyung.

"She was almost a subject of ."

Hongbin's jaw literally dropped. ? Youngji?

Seeing Ravi's bruises, Hongbin finally understood what his hyung meant.

"I'm sorry it happened to you," he finally said after composing himself. "I didn't know this would happen."

"Nobody knows."

"But still..." Hongbin trailed off. He didn't know what to react. His mind right now is in a state wherein everything just shut down in an instant. And he doesn't know why.

"How is Youngji? Is she fine?" Hongbin started to panic. He felt responsible for it, since he was actually her tutor after all.

Ravi nodded. "It was a good thing that I was there, and someone actually appeared to save the both of us. She's fine now."

Hongbin released a sigh of relief. He never got this tensed over something. He brushed his hair in frustration of what happened. He was so stressed hearing the bad news.

"Damn it, I need to call her," he stressly said.

"Don't. Let her be the one to open up about it. At least, you're informed."

Hongbin nodded. It was right that she should open it up, not him. Youngji may still be in trauma when he says it, so no. He'll let her talk about it naturally.

"There's food for you in the dining table, if you're hungry," Hongbin said while opening the door. "Thanks for telling me."

Ravi nodded and started to dress up to his home clothing. Hongbin closed the door and went to his room. He got his cell phone and started typing a text message.

To. Park Young Ji

Sorry I couldn't attend to you earlier. Sleep well.

He looked at it once to make sure he typed what he wanted to type right. He wasn't contented with the content, so he typed again.

To. Park Young Ji

Sorry I wasn't with you earlier. Sleep well.

Having another glance, Hongbin still wasn't contented with it. He typed again in frustration.

To. Park Young Ji

Sorry I wasn't with you earlier. I hope you're fine. Sleep well.

For the last time, he looked at what he typed. With a smile forming on his lips, he pressed the send button. He placed his phone on the side table and waited for her to reply.

He heard his phone ring after three minutes. He checked to see the message in store for him.

From. Park Young Ji

It's no big deal, and thank you for texting. Sleep well too. See you tomorrow.

Hongbin didn't opt to reply anymore. He lay down on his bed and finally went to his own dreamland.

Day 0084 | 06:20 by multipaenida

sorry if this took somehow long. it's fine tho, it's the longest update so far. and * = refer to

i hope you'll like the next chapter o(〃＾▽＾〃)o /hongji/

xoxo, jays