summary ➣ after several months of not being able to see your boyfriend yuto, you decide to surprise him at his dorm, and let’s just say he wasn’t the only one surprised when you got there
genre ➣ fluffyish
warnings ➣ weight loss??
“so are you sure it’s alright if i spend the weekend with you guys?” you nervously buckled your seatbelt as you listened to the drastic sigh that was released on the other end of the phone call. “yes Y/N, i’ve told you for the hundredth time that it’s ok. i checked with our manager and he said it’d be a great stress reliever for yuto.”
relaxing your muscles, you laid back on to the soft fabric of your drivers seat. it seems like you haven’t seen yuto for ages and to add on you’ve never been to the dorms without his guidance. the whole situation made you a nervous wreck but you really wanted to surprise him after such a long time.
“Y/N, are you still there?” hui’s voice echoed throughout the speakers within your car, “yeah yeah sorry, i’m still here hui.” your thoughts were so jambled you forgot you were still on the phone. with your startled response you could hear hui chuckle at you from the other side, “listen, he’s gonna love to see you, don’t even stress about it. it’ll be great i promise.” you and hui had been friends years before you and yuto even started dating. he was like an older brother you never had and he always knew the right words to say.
exchanging brief goodbyes you hung up the phone, pulled out of your driveway and began the dreaded 45 minute drive to cube entertainment. the entire ride there you had to constantly fight back your anxiety. why were you so anxious? you guys had been dating for more than a year and you’ve never been uptight about things like this, so why now?
trying to take deep breaths to calm yourself down, you began to quiet the rising anxiety that had been creeping on you for the past hour. to distract yourself even more you rolled down the windows and turned up the radio to drown out any wondering thoughts still left. focusing on your driving you realized you only had a little ways to go before you reached your final destination. the thought of being able to physically see yuto again immediately put a smile and your face and you returned to your bright and happy self. “it’s all gonna be alright” you thought to yourself, “it’s all gonna be alright...”
after about 50 minutes of traffic from hell, you were finally able to send hui the text telling him you arrived safely and were waiting for him in the parking lot. about six minutes passed before you saw the medium sized black haired man appear from a set of white double doors dressed in a jersey and blue jeans. if his outfit wasn’t enough to identify him, his smile would 100% give away that it was indeed Mr. Lee Hoetaek.
“well well well, if it isn’t the one and only Mrs. Adachi.” taking a low bow in front of you, you smacked the back of his head. “ah hui, what did i say about calling me that” you whined as he laughed and stood back up to your eye level. “cmon, i know you like it” you waved that little annoyance of a man off and ignored his teasing. “am i gonna have to deal with your teasing this entire weekend?” you asked as you already started to walk away.
“well, no, technically you’ll have to deal with...” he quickly counted a number out on his fingers before finishing his statement, “eight, eight people’s teasing this weekend”. you chuckled at hui’s words, damn, you really missed being around him and the boys. they were like family to you, it’s hard to believe how much they really meant to you.
“so i’ll take your bags, let the boys know you’re here, and you can go find yuto, sound good?” hui already began to strip the light luggage you brought from you and slyly leave you behind. “hey! can you at least tell me where he’s at?” you yelled at him from halfway down the hall, “now if i told you what’s the fun in that? plus i’m not really sure where he’s at.” hui then turned around and scattered along with your overnight clothes. “sometimes i just really really despise that man.”
the cube building was HUGE, even though you weren’t a huge fan of the company you had to admit it was really pretty on the inside. but with cube being such a big building it made navigating much harder. yet on the bright side, hui had you park on the dorm side so you had three basic places yuto could be: the small practice room, the gym, or genuinely just inside pentagons dorm.
before you set off on your little yuto scavenger hunt you went ahead and sent wooseok a text asking where yuto was. you knew he wouldn’t answer immediately so you wanted to give him enough response time so you weren’t just wondering every where on cube property. but your safest bet was that he was down a couple hallways in the practice room, he had been talking about how he kept messing some footwork up on their latest choreography and how he’d been spending extra time practicing. you were kinda hoping he wasn’t practicing right now, just because you thought he was starting to overwork himself these days. he always strives to make himself better which you loved and hated about him, just sometimes he doesn’t know when to stop.
just a few steps away from the room you could already see there were people inside the practice room whether one of them was yuto or not. putting your hand on the door knob you told yourself just to act normal just in case he wasn’t actually present in the room. when you turned the handle you made immediate eye contact with three guys, none of which were yuto. a sigh of relief exited your body and a loud scoff could be heard.
“well hell are you not surprised to see us or something?” you instantly matched the voice with shinwon and a smile stretched across your face. “yea what the hell Y/N”, the second voice could be matched up with kino who had his arms crossed in front of his chest. you turned around and closed the door but before you could even get a word out a pair of long dangly arms picked you up off the ground.
“AH Y/N ITS BEEN SO LONG, I THOUGHT HYUNG WAS KIDDING WHEN HE SAID YOU WERE VISITING!” and this happy boy can easily be recognized as wooseok. you laughed and patted for him to put you down which he did once his energy levels dropped a bit. “no, no, i’m happy to see you guys i really missed you all. i was just hoping yuto wasn’t in here overworking himself.” the three boys let out a long ahh and shook their heads in agreement.
“so you’re looking for king of japan huh?” shinwon slipped in while making his way to lean on a wall. you nodded in agreement and looked at wooseok and kino for their responses. “well i’m pretty sure he’s in the gym working out right now.” wooseok added, “he’s been working out recently so your best bet is there.” hmm so he has been overworking himself a bit...
you had light conversation with the three and thanked them before going to check the gym to see if yuto was there. you enjoyed being able to talk to them, they’re some of the members who are closest to your age so conversation and interests were easier to talk about.
the gym was only a hall and two rooms over from the practice room, hopefully he didn’t hear wooseoks loud ass from the practice room or else the surprise would be ruined. as you got closer to the door the pain in your chest started to rise and you tried your best to ignore it. instead you tried focusing on the booming music that was leaking from the blurry door leading into the gym.
you couldn’t recognize the music to be yutos but you didn’t exactly know what kind of music he listened to when he would work out. so slowly you cracked open the gym door, allowing the music to grow louder and make your thoughts incoherent. you looked around a little until you saw a shirtless guy with glistening honey skin curling some weights in the corner. making your way in fully and shutting the door you tried finding the source of the loud music to turn it off. unfortunately you were unable to find any noticeable off switches so you decided to just sneak up on him.
the closer you got, you realized how buff and toned this guy was. maybe it wasn’t yuto? your thoughts all started to doubt each other and now you had to decide whether or not you wanted to take the risk of embarrassing yourself because you thought some random trainee was your boyfriend.
but while your thoughts started eating each other up the music had stopped and the man had put down the weights. you immediately snapped out of your confusion and just waited for the man to notice your presence. that’s when he finally got up and turned around and at that moment you thought you were for sure going to pass out.
“Y/N?!” but at least your first instinct was right, it was indeed yuto, but a very toned, more muscular, sexier yuto... in that moment you forgot how to speak the only thing you were capable of was scanning every inch of yutos body.
“You like what you see?”
his deep cocky voice instantly flooded your cheeks bright red as he made his way over to you.
“s-surprise!” you managed to choke out before sweaty yuto enveloped you in a tight hug. all he did was chuckle at you as he placed a quick kiss to sit on your forehead. “why didn’t you tell me you were coming? i could’ve been ready and we could’ve went to go get lunch!” he let you go and pouted his lips at you.
being the dumbass you are, you still couldn’t bring yourself back to reality after seeing buffed up yuto. “hellooo, earth to Y/N, anyone home? don’t make me tickle you.” finally you snapped out of it and came face to face with your boyfriend. instinctively you hugged him again which jerked him backwards a little bit but he gladly hugged you back.
“ha well someone was dazed a little bit.” he chuckled while you continued to embrace him. “i’m sorry, i was just a little shocked.” he looked down at you and raised an eyebrow, “hell out of all the people here i should be the one shocked.” you both let out little laughs at each other before you loosened your grip and yuto moved just hands down to your waist.
“well i’m glad i surprised you, it’s what i wanted. but you just surprised me with all of, well you know, this.” you dragged your hand lightly down his chest, drawing a straight line down his toned abdomen. “you look like you’ve lost a lot of weight hun” yuto scrunched his nose and randomly kissed your cheek, “ive been working out for the past couple months baby, just trying to make myself look better”. you reached your arms up to yutos neck and looked at him in disbelief, “yuto you were already the hottest, sexiest most perfect man on the world. you didn’t need to change yourself.”
a small smile pricked his lips and he reached down to kiss yours. oh how you missed his gentle kisses and just the feeling of being close to him again. “do you not like how i look now?” he asked jokingly which earned him a light slap to the chest, “of course i like how you look now, you’ll always be perfect in my eyes. i just want you to stay healthy, i can’t monitor you all the time now yuto. i just worry about you overworking yourself.” you rubbed his cheek and gave him a small smile. “i promise you im fine, i just wanted to gain more muscle that’s all, i promise. i still eat all the cookies and goodie bags you send me.” you laughed at each other and it made you feel a little better knowing that he wasn’t trying to unhealthily force himself to workout.
after a small moment of silence yuto finally speaks out “i missed you Y/N” he whispered as he pressed his forehead against yours, “i missed you too yuto.” you connected the space and kissed him again but this time it lasted longer than the first, it was more passionate and deeper. when you both pulled away it caused you to laugh and fall into his arms. moments like these are what makes you miss him every time he goes away...
now that yuto knows you’re here, you both decide to make your way back to the dorm and get yuto all cleaned up and you must say, the man smells much better now. laying on his bed playing on your phone you waited for him to return from his brisk shower. suddenly without warning a big plop landed right next to you. the strong scent of old spice rolling off of him. you had never forgotten that distinct smell of body wash since you were the one to buy him that specific brand.
“im.so.glad.you.came.to.see.me” moving around, yuto placed kisses all over your face as he spoke to you which made you a giggling mess. once he stopped he calmed down and pulled you into his chest. of course he still had no shirt on, but you were never one to complain.
“yuto” you said which made the wet red striped haired boy look down at you. “Y/N” he replied sarcastically, “is it weird that on my way here i just had a nervous gut feeling that something was gonna go wrong today?” the little smile on your face turned to serious as you asked yuto the question you had been wanting the answer to all day.
even though you couldn’t recall the memory at the moment, yuto knew exactly why you were so anxious about seeing him after such a long time apart, “you know i would never do to you what he did to you, right?” he played with a strand of your hair while you tried processing what he had just said. and then it hit you.
your ex, he had cheated on you, after he went on vacation for awhile and met a foreign woman and slept with her... it was your last relationship before you dated yuto and it was something you always told him that bothered you. it explains why you were so anxious to go see him, you were just in terror that you’d find him cheating or find out he’s been cheating and half to drive 45 minutes back home all broken-hearted again.
you made eye contact with yuto and faintly smiled. he has made you realize that you can trust someone and fall in love again without having to second guess his every action. you really really loved him and you couldn’t ask for someone better.
“i know, i know you would never, i guess i just get paranoid sometimes.” he rubbed a little circle on your cheek and smiled, “i would never do anything to hurt you, i love you a lot Y/N, there’s no one in this world other than you that can make me feel like i own all the stars in the sky.” for a moment you felt tears prick your eyes but you held them back, this time you just dug your face into his chest and let him hold you. this is truly the thing you had missed the most, just being able to rest in each other’s presence.
“Yejin?” Hyojong waved his hand in front of my face.
“Yeah?” I asked, realizing he must have been talking to me.
“I said, I need to take care of some… stuff now,” he repeated kindly, smiling at me as always. “I’ll get you to the living room and you can stay there or in my room, okay?”
“Yeah, I’ll be fine,” I replied.
That was not completely true, though. I didn’t know what was going to happen if Hyojong was not around and I was scared about it. I hoped for the best, but Hui’s words still rang in my head and I just hoped he was as busy as Hyojong for now.
He walked me to the living room and left as soon as I sat down on the huge couch, the same one that Hyunggu sat on yesterday. Not even a minute passed when I felt someone fall down right next to me, almost squishing me with his body. As if there was not enough space.
I looked to the left and was met with a definitely-too-close stare and a wide smile.
“So you’re Yejin!” the man said and only when he moved back a bit, I saw that it was the one laughing so much yesterday. I couldn’t remember the name though.
“I guess,” I mumbled a response and he chuckled, putting an arm around my shoulder, his eyes not leaving me for a second.
I leaned back, trying to get as far from the guy as possible.
“Get off her, Shinwon,” I heard a voice from the right and immediately snapped my head in that direction, just in time to see Changgu walk in and rest his back against the wall in front of me. “She’s not interested,” as blunt as the statement was, the last word still unsettled me.
Shinwon huffed, but backed out and took his place on the other side of the couch. His eyes still lingered on me playfully, but he didn’t seem as insistent as before.
“How do you know?” Shinwon spoke again, his question clearly directed at the other man. “Did she turn you down?”
He chuckled, but when I looked at Changgu his gaze was fixed at me and there was a dangerous spark in his eyes.
“She didn’t have a chance yet.” I noticed he was playing with something in his hands and as soon as I realized it was the same knife as yesterday, my eyes flew back to Shinwon.
The contrast between these two men was incredible, but he was the safer pole here. I didn’t dare to look back at Changgu and Shinwon successfully grabbed my attention.
“So Yejin-ah,” he spoke, but it was not the scary tone anymore, more of a curious one. “What did you do for a living?”
“Uh… I’m an architect,” I replied, not really knowing if it was just a casual conversation or if he was trying to gather information. Either way, I didn’t like the past tense in his question.
“Cool!” he almost screamed in awe, “But you still managed to get lost yesterday,” he laughed, throwing his head back and I got flustered.
“Uhm.. I.. that’s not really-” I tried to explain myself, but Changgu was quick to interrupt me.
“Or maybe you weren’t lost at all,” he mused, with a smirk. “So? How was it, Yejin-ah?”
I tensed up and suddenly my voice was gone, leaving me absolutely helpless.
“Oh come on, have you seen her face when Yanan brought her?” Shinwon was back at it with his loud voice. “She’s not a spy,” he said clearly amused by Changgu’s words.
The other man just chuckled and said nothing at that. I was left with Shinwon’s odd questions and even weirder reactions to my answers. It was not the easiest conversation to handle, but it was definitely more relaxing than any other up until now. I could almost forget about Changgu’s presence in the room, as he only reminded me about himself a few times by throwing in a random comment.
It was all fun, but I couldn’t stand their loudness for too long. I felt too overwhelmed with all that so I just gave a simple excuse of being sleepy and limped back to Hyojong’s room. It somehow felt like the safest place in this whole building. I walked in and took a while, taking in everything that I didn’t manage to see yesterday. The whole room was very clean, but the desk couldn’t be messier with various papers, documents, files and tons of scattered pens, all of them different.
I smiled to myself and moved on, standing at the window. I put the crutches away and rested my elbows on the windowsill, staring outside. It was raining, water drops on the glass obstructing my view a little. The house really was in the middle of nowhere as the landscape outside consisted of fields and trees. I sighed and a small circle of condensation appeared on the window for a second.
“You prefer being alone, don’t you?” I heard next to me, right before I felt Hyojong’s presence at my side.
Somehow he managed to walk in without catching my attention, which was odd considering how silent the whole room was. I looked at him, but his eyes were just as unreadable as yesterday, so I went back to admiring the falling rain.
“I guess so,” I shrugged. He was so comfortable to be around.
“Would you mind if I joined?” he asked simply.
“Wouldn’t it ruin the whole concept?” the playful remark came out naturally, before I could think about it.
Hyojong chuckled, lowering his head, before looking at me again.
“Do you care?” he mocked, making my lips stretch in a small smile.
I took a step to the side to make space for him and winced immediately when I tried stepping on my hurt foot. His hand immediately flew to my waist to steady me, but it was gone just as quickly and I suddenly felt cold.
For the next few minutes, the only sound in the room was the raindrops hitting the window as we both stared outside. The silence was not uncomfortable though, it felt so natural I lost myself in it for a second, closing my eyes slightly.
Suddenly Hyojong’s phone buzzed and I was ripped out of my peaceful moment. He glanced at the screen.
“I guess the relax is over,” he said straightening up. I sent him a questioning gaze and he shrugged. “Hui hyung wants everyone in the living room.”
There was no room for further questions and I felt like it would be no use asking them either way. Hyojong didn’t know what it was about and if he did, he wouldn’t tell.
He helped me a little and we made our way to the living room. Everyone was already there, apart from us and Hui. I was told to sit next to Shinwon and I did so without a word, still pretty intimidated by the rest of the guys. He smiled at me brightly but didn’t have a chance to say anything when Hui entered the room. He greeted everyone and sent me a separate, longer stare. I froze in my seat and didn’t even notice Jinho walk in as well, until they both took their places next to Hyojong, at the front of the room.
The room was so silent for a minute I could clearly hear my ragged breath. Then Hui spoke confidently, easily gaining everyone’s attention.
“The plan is now ready, thanks to our lovely Yejin-ah,” he smirked, piercing me with his eyes. “She will play an important part, so I hope everyone welcomes her in our team for the time being.”
“Of course is she agrees,” Jinho spoke up, also looking directly at me. His eyes, however, were not making me this anxious. “You have a choice, Yejin. Not a pretty one, but you do-”
“Let’s listen to the plan first,” Hui interrupted Jinho, tone of his voice not as playful anymore. He clearly didn’t like people getting in his way of fun.
“Of course,” Jinho cleared his throat and stood up, making his way to a whiteboard on one of the walls.
The plan sounded simple. In general. I was going back to university to befriend Sohyun and make her trust me. Changgu was enrolling with me as well, to become her boyfriend and lure her here, to the headquarters. That would make kidnapping her perfectly achievable, maybe even easy. After a few days of a ‘spring holiday’ with her boyfriend, Sohyun would be introduced to the whole situation and ransom would be requested. Jinho didn’t say anything else and I didn’t even want to think about what would happen after. It wasn’t already tough to come to terms with all that I just heard.
The plan was easy, but the problem was me. Me being involved in all of this. It sounded so straightforward. Meet Sohyun. Become friends. Help Changgu…. right. Changgu. Not only was I terrified of him, I felt like prey in his presence and I bet it was not far from reality. But to be left alone with him? Treat him as my best friend? Was I a good enough actress to fake trust?
I got so carried away with this train of thought I forgot Jinho mentioned I had a choice. A small spark of hope ignited in me.
As soon as I looked up, I saw everyone’s eyes focused on me. I didn’t even notice they were waiting for my stand.
“I…” I swallowed hard, directing my next words at Jinho alone, “What choice do I have?”
There was hope in my heart but not my mind. I realized my position and the resignation in my voice probably gave it out to everyone. Jinho smiled sadly and wanted to answer my question but Hui was faster.
“None really,” he spoke slowly and clearly with cold satisfaction spread across his face, “unless you want to make everyone’s life harder and still end up deep underground.”
He flashed a wide grin and I shivered. That was not a choice, he was right. But to have to choose between my life and Sohyun’s? He couldn’t be more cruel. That said I have already made up my mind.
“I’ll do it.”
It felt as if someone else said it, even though I clearly felt my mouth moving. The words ringed in my ears like a curse. My head was down, so I could only hear everyone let out their breaths after Hui clapped his hands with satisfaction. People started chatting, asking questions about their roles and I, in turn, tried not to break down crying. What did they expect of me? I wanted and didn't want to know at the same time.
To make everything worse I suddenly felt a strong presence next to me. I didn’t realize when Hui took Shinwon’s place, but now that I looked up, his face was too close to mine. I flinched and tried to move back, but his hand was already wrapped around my arm, securely keeping me in place.
“Yejin-ah,” he said my name as if he was chewing candy. I felt it lingering on his tongue and it made me sick. “You agreed to work with us. What a good girl,” he purred the last few words, making me uncomfortably aware of his touch and closeness.
“It hurts,” I squealed when his grip on my arm tightened even more. There was sure to be a bruise.
He didn’t move even slightly, though, his gaze not leaving my eyes for a split second.
“This is nothing, sweetie,” he said, clearly amused with my reaction, but his voice was dark. “Try doing anything stupid and I’ll make sure you know what pain is.”
My heart dropped and I felt cold sweat running down my back. His eyes were bearing a promise and a threat.
“You’re part of the mafia now, Yejin-ah,” his voice felt sticky and hot. Like tar, not honey. “There is no way out of here.”
This day couldn’t have been worse. You were desperately trying to come up with all kinds of different scenarios that would be more awful, but there was none. Nothing would top the last twenty four hours. Hours? Those events would be enough to make a pretty exciting two years.
Everything started yesterday evening with a call from your mom. Lovely woman, but she somehow always managed to say all the wrong things. She didn’t mean to make you sad of course, it was most likely your own fault for getting teary-eyed at what she told you. It’s not like you could reject her calls, though.
Now standing at the bus stop, you felt two little water drops on your cheeks and cursed under your breath. You wiped them, but couldn’t help the next ones falling down as well. You were not going to cry in a public place like this!
But the cold wind blowing into your face wasn’t helping a bit and your fingers started to freeze, since your coat didn’t have any proper pockets. Your toes weren’t in the best state either and you hated yourself for wearing a skirt and heels to work that day. You felt so miserable, you were waiting for the damn bus for a good ten minutes, where was it?! You took a few steps to see the itinerary and a big yellow page caught your eye. You quickly read through and your worst thoughts came true. Every other bus was fine, but yours must have been reduced in courses because of some road work. The next one was coming in half an hour and you just wanted to scream. Seems like the worse scenario you were trying to think of just found you.
At this moment you just couldn’t hold the tears back any longer. Not like you could earlier, but now it felt like there was an ocean under your lids that just waited to flow out.
“Are you waiting for the 52?” you heard a warm voice right behind you.
At first you thought it must be some homeless person or a drunk guy from a nearby pub. But the voice wasn’t hoarse and you didn’t smell alcohol. With a little hesitation you wiped your cheeks from the tears that managed to escape and turned around.
You were shocked with how close the guy was standing, definitely closer than you heard the voice from. At first you felt uncomfortable and wanted to take a step back, but after a moment you felt the heat radiating from him and it embraced you. It wasn’t only the physical heat, however you had to admit he didn’t seem cold at all. It was more of the safe feeling you got out of a sudden, when he looked down on you with this warm smile on his lips and in his eyes.
“Uh...” suddenly you struggled to find words.
“You were staring at the notice as if it murdered your family,” he chuckled. “I guessed that must be your bus. Well, unless you just resent yellow that much. I must admit this shade was a pretty unfortunate choice…” he made a half thoughtful half disgusted face and you had no choice but to laugh.
You weren’t sure anything right now could make you even lift the corner of your mouth, but this guy managed to make you laugh just like that. He smiled at you again and for a second you drowned in his dark eyes. They were half covered by his black fringe, but you could still see them perfectly.
“God, you’re shivering,” he said with so much genuine concern you would have never expected from a random stranger.
In no time, you were wrapped tightly in his scarf and he grabbed your hands to warm them up with his own. It was just so natural, but right after you realised the situation both of you stepped back and your face turned bright red. He looked away, while you clumsily started to warm your fingers by yourself.
“So, are you going back from work as well?” you tried to start a conversation to make the whole moment less awkward.
“Ah, yes,” fortunately he caught the bait, “I work right around the corner.” His smile struck you again and this time you smiled back. “By the way, I’m Hyunggu,” he stretched out his hand and you shook it.
“I’m Y/N,” the smile wouldn’t leave your face. There was something in this guy. Hyunggu. There was something in him that made you look at him, stole your attention from anything else around. Just by standing there and smiling, he managed to fill your whole world.
“Good to know,” he smirked suddenly, “I won’t have to write ‘the bus stop girl’”
Now that confused you. How could he be so cute and awkward one minute and make that face that hit you right in the chest in the other?
“Write it where?” you simply asked, not getting the situation at all.
“Under your number,” he replied handing you his phone. That smooth bastard. You smiled, though, and typed it in quickly. You noticed that the name was already there so you just clicked ‘save’ and gave him the device back.
“Why do you need it?” you decided to play his game, “You’d meet me here sooner or later. We’re taking the same bus from work.” You tilted your head and he scoffed.
“It’s cold you know!” he sounded a bit offended, but you could see he was clearly acting, “I will need my scarf back before that.”
Oh, right, the scarf. You felt embarrassed how easily you forgot that it was his property that was now wrapped around your neck.
“Oh, sorry, I should give it back now,” you stared at the ground and started to take off the cloth. Suddenly his hands stopped yours and when you lifted your head, you saw a wide smile on his face.
“I told you, I’ll call you when I need it,” he said simply, making your knees weak, even though they were totally stiff from the cold.
You had no idea how to answer or what to do and he seemed pretty happy with making you so flustered. You glanced at your watch just to do something, but you noticed it was almost the time the bus should come. You looked back at Hyunggu to let him know.
“The bus will be here any moment, where are you going?” you asked.
“Oh, I wasn’t waiting for the bus,” a sheepish smile stretched his lips as he rubbed his neck.
As an arts student you didn’t have much lectures to go to, but the all the individual projects were starting to pile up on you. You needed to work on them, you knew it. That, however, didn’t stop you from spending the whole weekend spread out on your bed with a pack of snacks in one hand and a drama playing in your laptop.
Suddenly you heard your phone buzz. A new text. Your heart skipped a beat and you scrambled out of your bed in the speed of light. This could only be one person, it had to be him. You grabbed your phone and unlocked it hurriedly.
TEXT FROM: HWITAEK <3
Hey, babe
Your heart was beating fast, faster than after a long run. You pressed the letters quickly and sent the message immediately.
TEXT FROM: YOU
Hi ;*
TEXT FROM: HWITAEK <3
Are you free tonight?
You felt something inside of you, like a twist. People called it butterflies, right? Well that’s not how it felt. You wanted to reply, but the next message came right after.
TEXT FROM: HWITAEK <3
Should we meet at 9? I’ll send you the address.
You hesitated. You wanted it so much, but seeing the messages for real made you feel somehow hollow inside. The next text came a minute later and you saw a preview with the address and a smile. Your eyes were still stuck on the previous one, though. You thought about saying no, but then a sad smile flashed through your face. You knew yourself too well.
TEXT FROM: YOU
See you there ;*
You threw your phone on the bed and started to get ready absentmindedly. You still had a few hours and for Hwitaek you needed to look like a goddess. The makeup will get smudged anyway and your hair will be a mess, but still you pinned them into a pretty bun and painted your lips red while looking in the little mirror on your desk.
You decided to wear a skirt, since he complimented your legs a lot, and chose a matching shirt. A few puffs of perfume on your bare neck and you were ready. You looked in the mirror again and refused to say the word that came to your mind first. Instead you forced a smile and whispered ‘Goddess’.
***
Hwitaek opened the door of the hotel room before you even managed to knock. He must have heard your heels on the corridor. His smile always blinded you, and his fingertips on your arms, when he took your coat sent shivers down your spine. You felt his gaze on you and something in his eyes darkened. You were satisfied with yourself. That was the only effect you had on him, but at least you could make him look at you that way.
He ordered some food and drinks, there was some small talk. About your assignments and his schedule, nothing important. Nothing that would interest him and nothing you wouldn’t already know. Minutes and hours might have passed but it was all just like white noise.
Then he gestured to you and you sat in his lap, smiling softly. His arms were tight on you, one hand on your hip the other sneaking under your skirt. You felt the heat coming from him, a delicate smell of alcohol and a distinct one of his perfume.
And your head was empty. You wrapped your arms around his neck letting him guide you. You didn’t want to think, because you knew the outline of your meetings with Hwitaek too well. You knew how it ended, but admitting to it would break you. So you pushed all the thoughts aside and focused on his hands on your hips and his breath on your neck. Soon his mouth and chest were covered in the red from your lips and your fingers gripped tightly on his hair. You heard a word coming from his mouth that made you shiver.
“Mine” he breathed into your ear and your heart dropped.
You kept on with your act, but what scared you was that he didn’t know how right he was. Or maybe he did. Anyway you were his, totally and completely. You didn't plan on falling that deep when he dazzled you with his smile for the first time.
You shouldn’t be here, but he knew how to play you. You melted under his gaze. You felt good.
You felt loved.
Even if only for a few hours, you could finally forget. And you didn't care if for the rest of the time some parts of you felt missing. With him you were complete.
“Hwitaek...” you whispered, lying next to him and watching sunrays slowly breaking into your room through the window.
His hand was still on your thigh and you could feel his chest moving lightly behind you.
“Yeah?” his voice was colder and you tried not to flinch.
That was the part you hated the most. The way he changed in the morning. The way you felt sore and his tone made it worse, but you still clinged to him every time.
You asked about some daily stuff just to keep the conversation going, so that you wouldn’t fall into the trap of your thoughts. He replied mostly with a few words, leaving you hungry for affection. You suddenly felt cold despite the heat radiating from his body next to yours.
“I’ll go now,” you said quietly and he took his arm from you just like that.
“I’ll drive you home” he replied casually, but didn’t move even slightly from his previous position.
“It’s okay,” you said, swallowing hard. “I’ll catch a bus.”
You didn’t want to risk his career with a scandal, that’s what you told yourself every time, but deep inside you knew that was the answer he expected.
At home you washed and went to bed immediately. You were tired, but sleep wouldn’t come. You felt empty and were beginning to miss him already. The absence of his body on yours was too painful. You tried to touch yourself the way he did, but it just wasn’t the same. You didn’t feel the rush, the electricity that his fingers left on your skin. You longed for his little murmurs in your ear and you knew you won’t hear his voice until next week.
Hwitaek wouldn’t leave your head and you couldn’t control it.
After some time you gave up on sleep and reached for your laptop instead. As a habit you instantly opened one of the gossip websites and the first headline made your heart drop.
‘Cube Entertainment confirms the latest relationship rumors’
You clicked not wanting to just believe your assumptions and there it was. A big picture of Hwitaek holding her hand.
‘Cube Entertainment issued an official statement according to which Pentagon’s Hui and CLC’s Eunbin are officially dating.’ you read under it, and yet again you felt that emptiness inside you.
You knew.
You asked him this morning and he told you himself. He said it was something different than between the two of you. Why did it affect you that much then? You laid your hand in the exact same place his larger one was lying in a few hours ago. You felt like crying, but your eyes were completely dry. It was just that twist in your belly and the emptiness of your heart that stuck to you for the rest of the week.
You were like a robot, did your projects, went to lectures, but didn’t hear anything from what the lecturers said. Then a few days later your phone buzzed again.
TEXT FROM: HWITAEK <3
Hey baby, wanna meet tonight?
You wanted to scream. At yourself for how you rushed to the phone every time, at him for how he had you totally figured out. You didn’t know what to do, your hands starting to tremble. You stared at the text, but your fingers somehow worked on their own.
Sure, what time? ^^
You hesitated just a little longer than last week before clicking the SEND button. You thought for a while about your decision, staring into the mirror, when a sad smile stretched your pale lips. You realized you never had a choice in the first place.
“I guess there are other ways we can make money from you.”
I turned to him with wide eyes, panic raising in my stomach once again, but before I was able to say anything, I felt Changgu’s fingers taking a strand of my hair.
“You want to sell a beauty like this?” I shivered at his words.
Hui chuckled.
“Can you imagine how much she would be worth?” his voice trailed off at the end in an almost dreamy manner, as he traced his fingers up my thigh.
I let out a short squeal when his hand hit the rim of my skirt and finally jumped away slightly on the seat. They both started to laugh at that and I closed my eyes as the tears flowed down my cheeks against my will. Hui finally moved his hand back to the wheel, but Changgu’s fingers were still playing with my hair as he rummaged through my purse again.
“Park Yejin, age… twenty three,” he recited as he looked through my documents. I couldn’t even say anything, too scared about my own life.
Hui seemed to be deep in thought, the only sound for a few minutes being my quiet sniffles.
“We could also make her a spy,” he mused after a while, raising his brows at the rear mirror.
At that Changgu gave an approving hum and wrapped his arms around me in an almost protective way, placing his head next to mine. At least it would look like that if I didn’t know better already.
“Would you like that,” he whispered into my ear, “Yejin-ah?”
I was absolutely paralyzed and just wanted to go home. This couldn’t be happening. I kept quiet, but after a moment I realized they were clearly waiting for an answer.
“No,” I said quietly, but as soon as I realized it might have sounded rude, I tried to save the situation. “I just... I won’t be good at that. You should just let me go. It was all a-”
“Shut up,” Hui’s features changed back to ice-cold in an instant. He looked at me for a moment, black eyes drilling holes in me. “You’re too worthy to just let you go,” he mocked me. “And you’re not really in a place for negotiation.”
I looked down, too scared to say another word. Changgu on the other hand whistled to himself for a moment, before speaking his mind.
“She might be right though, hyung,” he said, the clicking sound of him opening and closing my pocket mirror constantly accompanying his words. “I mean,” he sighed, “would she even be able to work like that? That’s not a job for amateurs...”
Hui didn’t even spare a thought to his words.
“Changgu, why would we waste her body to some horny guys, if she can use it to get us good information,” he said firmly and even if Changgu had a different opinion, there was clearly no place for that anymore.
It was decided and I suddenly felt like a puppet, taken from it’s fairytale just to be put in a horror story. I kept staring through the window, completely immersed in my thoughts. I started to have troubles breathing when I imagined the next few hours, days, the ‘am I really going to die like this’ playing in my head on repeat like a broken record. I felt sick remembering the options I was given, both of them relying strictly on my body.
I felt a tap on my shoulder and realized I must have fallen asleep at some point. The car was now standing in a garage and both men were getting out. Suddenly the door on my side was opened, pulling me by the hands. Hui untied the knots without a word, but his eyes were saying ‘behave or you’ll regret’. So I did. I let him help me out of the car and put my arm around his neck, his grip on my waist too tight and uncomfortable. He guided me through the door to what I assumed must have been the headquarters, since I saw a lot of other people inside. Changgu was already sitting next to one of them, telling him something eagerly and gesturing to me, my purse still tightly in his hands. I looked away, hating the attention and too many eyes fixed on me.
Hui stopped in the middle of the room, calling out a name unknown to me.
“Hyunggu!”
“Yes, hyung?” said a boy, turning around on one of the couches. His eyes then drifted to me and my lifted leg and understanding came up on his face immediately. “Oh!” he exclaimed making his way quickly to my side.
“Can you take her to the infirmary?” Hui asked the boy and I looked at him.
Hyunggu nodded and smiled reassuringly at me while he took Hui’s place at my side, the man reluctantly letting go of my waist. I breathed out with relief as soon as he took a few steps away.
I was left with Hyunggu, the rest of the men gathered in the room quickly switching their attention back to the topic they were discussing. His hands felt different, even if they were in the same place that Hui kept his earlier. Hyunggu’s grip was protective, not possessive. We walked down one of the two corridors connected to the room, me limping slowly with a scowl on my face and the boy holding me tight so that I don’t fall. It took ages, but finally we reached a pair of doors on opposite sides of the corridor. The ones on my left were made from glass and led to a long room filled with clean, white beds. It looked exactly like a hospital room. Hyunggu opened the metal ones on our right, helping me to step inside and sit down. The whole room looked very professional with glass cupboards full of medicine and various tools. Hyunggu sat on a stool next to me and smiled warmly again.
“I assume the problem is with the ankle,” he said simply, focusing on my injury. “Can I see it?”
I blushed slightly, but raised the leg and he took it in his hands immediately.
“Tell me if it hurts.”
He started to apply pressure from well below the ankle and moved up. It was all okay until he touched a particular spot and a jolt of pain shot through my leg. I let out a short scream. He stopped immediately and thought deeply about something, before standing up.
He ruffled his hair and than decided on one of the cabinets, searching through it for a while. He came back holding a bunch of medicine in both hands, sat down and showed me all the things he brought one by one.
“I will spray it with a cooling spray so it doesn’t hurt that much,” he explained thoroughly the procedure before doing anything at all. “It’s not a serious injury, but you will have to use this gel and wear the elastic bandage for a few days, until it gets better.” He smiled brightly at me and I smiled back.
There was something about this boy that made me feel safe, like he didn’t want anything bad to happen to me. I immediately scolded myself for thinking that. You’re not safe here Yejin. Don’t let them deceive you again.
Hyunggu must have seen my face drop again, as his smile faded into slight confusion and embarrassment. He looked down and focused on treating my leg. There was silence for a few minutes. The cooling spray really helped, and it only stung slightly a few times when he was applying the gel. I could see the curiosity build up in him though, and when he was unwrapping the bandage he couldn’t hold it back anymore.
“Why...” he hesitated without even raising his eyes to me, not sure about his choice of words. “How did you end up here?” he spoke finally, his voice quieter than before.
I was thrown off, not really knowing how to reply. I didn’t even know why I was here in the first place. A bitter laughter escaped my mouth before I was even able to think about it.
“I guess I was just unlucky enough to bump into them on my way to work,” I started just as quietly, and when Hyunggu was still waiting for a continuation, I added: “I fell and they offered to drive me to the hospital.” I shrugged, suddenly unaffected by the whole situation.
Hyunggu, however, winced at that and for a moment I could even see a hint of anger in his expression, before it was all replaced with compassion. He finished wrapping the bandage and looked at me warmly, still holding my ankle in his hands.
“Do you know what they plan to do with you?” he asked and I flinched.
Do. With me. Suddenly I felt tears threatening to spill and I curled up my legs, wrapping my arms around them. The safety bubble popped and I was brought back to reality. I was still here on their mercy and apparently they could do anything with me.
“Oh, no no!” Hyunggu quickly caught on what he said wrong and tried to save the situation with a scared expression. “I meant, did they say anything in the car maybe?”
Oh they did. I couldn’t help it as everything suddenly came back to me, their hands, laughs, words about using my body. I hid my face in my hands, as I felt the tears flowing down my cheeks and let out a quiet sob.
“Oh my god!” Hyunggu’s shocked voice was now closer. “I’m sorry! Please...” he said softly, trying to calm me down. “Please don’t cry.”
I felt his hands on my arms, rubbing them in a slow and steady rhythm. He carried on with it for a while, waiting until my sobs got quieter. As soon as I wasn’t crying anymore, he put his hands on mine and took them off my face gently, looking at me with worry.
“What’s your name?”
“Y-Yejin,” I replied after clearing my throat.
Hyunggu smiled and handed me a tissue so that I could wipe the tears.
“That’s pretty,” he said brightly, clearly glad that I was not crying anymore. “Listen Yejin,” he continued and I stared into his eyes, “I don’t know their plans and I can’t promise they will let you leave,” he turned his eyes away at that for a moment, before squeezing my hands slightly and looking back at me with a spark. “But I will do my best to make sure nothing bad happens to you, okay?”
His smile was so wide, so warm, so… catching.
“Okay,” I did my best to smile at him as well and he seemed satisfied with that.
“Now,” he said, standing up, “Let me just throw it out and wash my hands and I will be right back,” he gathered all the packaging from the medicine and headed for another door at the end of the room.
That was a chance. As much as I was thankful to Hyunggu for taking care of me, I couldn’t only rely on him. If I could get out of here on my own, I was determined to do it. Or at least try. As soon as he disappeared from my sight, I grabbed the pair of crutches standing in the corner of the room and quickly made my way out and into the hallway.
We came from the left, from the living room. I didn’t want to risk seeing any of the guys there again, so I decided to go right, quickly moving down the corridor and trying to make as little noise as possible. I turned left again and again, walking through the empty white corridors and rows of closed doors, until I heard some voices. I decided to go in that direction. The living room was not safe, but here I could listen from afar and leave quickly. That was a good plan. The voices got louder as I moved down the hallway and I saw light coming from behind the half closed door. I slowed down, focusing on not making a single sound as I walked up there and stopped, listening closely.
“-go through with that plan?” I only managed to catch half of the sentence.
“Yes,” Hui said firmly and I felt my body tense up at his voice.
“Then what’s with the new girl?” said the other man and I assumed that must have been about me.
“We don’t have money for the plan Jinho, I wanted to-” Hui reasoned, but he wasn’t even able to finish.
“That was impulsive and stupid, Hui,”
There was no response to that, only a huff from Hui followed by a few seconds of silence.
“Let’s focus on the plan, guys. It’s still not finished,” a new voice threw in.
“Right, we can’t just grab Sohyun from the street,” said the man referred to as Jinho. “The cameras are too risky.”
“What if we pretend to be her driver then?” some other man asked.
They were discussing the plan further, but I stopped listening. I was already confused enough, but the name they mentioned threw me off completely. I knew a girl named Sohyun. I even… but wait, it couldn’t be...
“Lee Sohyun?” I realized I said it out loud, when the whole conversation suddenly stopped.
I heard some whispers from inside the room and my heart dropped. I immediately turned around and started to make my way back to Hyunggu. He would protect me, right? Just then I heard another set of footsteps behind me. I tried to quicken my pace, but the crutches were very uncomfortable and the steps were getting closer and closer. Suddenly I felt a hand grabbing on my blouse from behind, stopping me forcefully. I squeaked at the harsh tug and watched a very tall blonde guy emerge from behind me. He moved to stand in front of me, before releasing my collar. His face was straight, but the look in his eyes said he was having fun.
I jumped out of the bus in a rush and looked at my watch, trying at the same time not to trip in those insanely high heels. Five minutes left to the meeting and annoyingly I had to get through the whole city centre to get there. My boss is going to kill me. How come it was me who got to see the new client and talk him through the design sketches? And how come on this particular day everything had to go just wrong?
I tried my best to walk as fast as I could since running wasn’t an option in a formal skirt. I looked up and of course there was a crowd in front of the ministry of finance building, lots of people protesting, tourists taking pictures and two guys standing right in my way. Ugh. I was just about to go around and past one of them when suddenly I felt emptiness under my heel, my balance was gone and the next second I was down on the ground with pain radiating from several places on my body. I scowled and my hand immediately moved to check on my bruised hip. I lifted my head and saw the man I was trying to pass, crouching right next to me.
“Are you okay?” He pulled his black face mask down and looked at me with a worried expression.
“Alive, I guess,” I mumbled. It was all his fault anyway.
“Come on,” he smiled reassuringly. “You can’t just lay here all day, you seemed to be in a hurry.” He seemed to get cuter with each word.
After little thought and swallowing my pride, I grabbed his hand and he pulled me to a standing position. Right at the moment I was on my feet again, I let out a silent scream and would have fallen again if not for the stranger’s arms. My whole leg was on fire after I tried putting my weight on it.
“Is something wrong with your ankle?” there was another voice coming from behind me.
I turned around to see another guy approaching us while pulling down his mask and hiding his phone.
“It hurts,” I said, embarrassed by all this attention.
They looked at each other and the second one dropped to his knees, gently taking my foot in his hands. My cheeks instantly turned bright red. I must have lost my heels when I fell, but now I couldn’t care less about them.
“It looks swollen,” he said and stood up.
“Should we help you to the hospital?” I looked back at the guy still holding me tightly, but didn’t manage to reply when his friend interrupted him.
“Of course, idiot!” he scoffed. “How is she going to get there herself?”
I immediately smiled despite all of this pain.
“Thank you,” I said not directing it to any of them specifically, but still looking at the one in front of me. He winked making me blush and look away immediately.
“Let’s go, Changgu,” the other one said, grabbing my hand and putting it around his neck.
For a moment I wanted to protest and stay in the arms of the other guy, but soon I realized I would probably be too short to grab him like that. Damn. He must have seen my look, though, because he chuckled and lead the way to their car.
They helped me inside, Changgu politely giving up the front passenger seat for me and settling for the backseat, while the other guy sat behind the wheel. He started the car and pulled out on the street without a word. The silence was making me slightly uncomfortable, so I looked outside and absentmindedly watched the city landscape passing by on the other side of the window. Then, a few minutes later, I realized we were definitely not going in the direction of the hospital, unfamiliar streets not belonging to the city center anymore.
“Guys, the hospital is the other way,” I spoke hesitantly, suddenly feeling uneasy. “I thought we were going to-”
“Oh sorry,” Changgu interrupted me quickly. “I have a friend who’s a doctor somewhere else, we’re taking you there.”
I wanted to believe him, but my mind was already blasting the alarm sound on full volume inside my head. I turned around to look at the boy and he shot me a bright, reassuring smile and a ‘don’t worry’. I sat straight again, shutting out the warnings popping up inside my mind. They are trying to help you, stupid. I let out a shaky breath to calm myself and rested my head against the window. Again, watching the buildings pass by was the only thing to do, but I didn’t dare to complain. In the end they were doing me a favour. However, when after around half an hour buildings started to get replaced by more and more trees, I started to tense, and just then a sign signalising the border of Seoul appeared on the right. My heart dropped immediately.
“Where are we going?” I asked out loud, fear apparent in my voice.
Silence.
I turned around to look at Changgu, but he only stared back into my eyes without a word. I suddenly felt panic penetrate me down to the bones.
“Stop the car.”
Silence again. I could see the driver tighten his hold on the wheel, not taking his eyes from the road.
“STOP THE CAR,” I screamed, feeling tears building up in my eyes, fear washing through me with every single scenario my mind was playing in my head. And none of them ended well. “I want out, let me out...”
There was no reaction and I had no other idea but to get out of this shit myself. I pulled on the handle and opened the door on my side. Jumping out was not in the plan, but it worked anyway as the driver immediately pulled over. I shot out of the car as soon as it came to a stop and wanted to run away. I needed to get out, run into the forest and hide from them. Somewhere. Anywhere. That was the only chance. But the moment I stood on my left foot, I felt a wave of pain through the whole leg. I dropped down on the road, not even able to take two steps away from the car. I tried to get up and keep going, but the same situation repeated and before I was able to do it again I felt an arm wrap around my chest and. A hand landed on my mouth before I could even let out a scream. Changgu successfully prevented all my movements and pulled me back as close to the car as possible so that the whole scene wouldn’t be visible from the street. I tried flailing my arms and legs, pushing, punching, biting, all of it with no effect. Then the other man emerged from behind the car, and as soon as I saw the look in his eyes and on his face I froze completely. I could feel the odd coldness in my stomach as he came closer and crouched right in front of me. I saw a knife and a bundle of rope in his hands.
“That was very stupid,” he growled.
I started to shiver in panic of what he could possibly do, but then he was up on his feet again, looking me up and down from a few steps away. Changgu pulled me up as well, throwing me into the car again.
“Make sure she’s not doing that again,” the driver barked at Changgu as he handed him the knife and rope and left.
The next moment his hands were on mine, tying them to the holder on the cars’ door. I didn’t dare to scream anymore, too scared of their intentions, especially of the guy, that was currently searching for something in the trunk.
“Ohhh, you made Hui hyung mad,” Changgu chuckled as he finished up the knots and then moved closer and closer to my face, finally whispering in my ear: “Bad move, sweety.”
I swallowed hard and tried not to flinch away. His sweet expression and bright smile were definitely a mask, as his voice dripped with venom now, every word he spoke burning me from inside. I could feel the rope digging into my wrists, pain radiating from the swollen ankle and the bruised hip as well. Changgu stood there for a few more seconds, playing with the knife in his hand and staring me up and down just as his friend did before. I looked down and just waited for this to end. I didn’t know anymore if my heart was beating really fast or if it already stopped. Seconds felt like minutes until finally the guy named Hui sat behind the wheel again. Changgu shut my door and threw himself on the backseat again with a laugh.
“Ahh, feels so good!” He exclaimed as Hui started the car and joined the traffic again, other cars getting scarcer as we drove further. “I was getting tired of this whole silence.”
He yawned theatrically. I glanced at Hui and he was smiling at Changgus words as well. It was a warm smile, not a harsh and fake one. Just then my eyes landed on a gun tucked behind his belt on the side and I immediately looked away, too scared of the sight alone. So that’s what took from the trunk before. He was not soft, he was dangerous.
I looked at my hands and then outside the window, trying to blink away the tears, afraid of what was going to happen. A moment later I heard some rustling from the backseat, it sounded like-
“Oh my,” Changgu chirped from the back, and I realized my purse was gone. “Look at all the treasures.”
I bit down on my lip roughly, trying not to start crying at the thought of this psychopath going through all my things, possibly seeing pictures of my friends in my wallet. That was too much and I felt my privacy being taken away. I blinked the tears away, instead mustering all my strength to say the only words that were coming to my mind at that moment.
“What do you want?” my voice came out weaker than planned.
I was afraid I would just get ignored as before, but after a short while I finally heard them speak.
“What do you think we want?” Hui lifted one of his eyebrows, sparing me a short glance before focusing back on the road.
At this my eyes went wide and I swallowed hard, my thoughts going in a very dangerous direction. Changgu chuckled and Hui looked at me again.
“Don’t flatter yourself,” he huffed. “You’re here, because we need money.”
“Oh my god,” Changgu whined. “Hyung, you’re spoiling all the fun!”
That didn’t comfort me much, my breath still ragged as my possibilities of negotiation were disappearing one by one.
“I don’t have much though,” I said quietly and Changgu let out a hum of confirmation as I heard my wallet being opened.
“You look well off,” Hui spoke again, completely serious, but then a smirk started to play on his lips. “We’ll see how much your daddy is willing to pay to get back his sweet little girl.”
At that I couldn’t help but laugh out loud.
“Then I don’t think you’ll be getting much.” I said bitterly and both of them looked at me with confusion staining their straight faces. “It’s not like my family cares much about me,” I said and when I saw it didn’t convince them I added: “You could say, they would prefer me not being there at all.”
The sadness in my voice was not planned and definitely not wanted so I cleared my throat and let out a ‘whatever’, before going back to staring out the window.
I could feel Changgu tapping his fingers rhythmically on the back of my seat, clearly thinking hard about the situation. Hui changed gears again. I noticed his hand lingering on the lever for a moment and then he placed it on my knee, resting it there casually. My whole body tensed and I was too afraid to look at him, but with the corner of my eye I saw a smile of cold satisfaction spread on his lips.
“I guess there are other ways we can make money from you.”
