THE GLORY & THE FALLEN

I.

SCARLET'S LOUNGE REEKS OF SWEAT, alcohol and god knows what else.

Lalisa pivots on the plant of her foot, tray in hand, and threads past the wandering palms that graze her backside. Her lips twitch in disgust, eyebrows pinched to convey what her mind is too afraid to speak out. "Blondie!" Her gaze flits across the room and fixes Meria, the barista, beckoning her forward with a cigarette dangling on the outline of her lips. 

Her pace is brisk yet attentive enough as to balance the glass bottles and avoid any spill. Otherwise it would result in a deduct of her salary, she knew it well enough. 

"You don't belong here." The older woman spats, slamming the cloth against the counter, and Lalisa flinches. "You're a beautiful girl with a life ahead of you so why here? You're a walking temptation to all these pigs."

Why here?  she too has been asking herself the same exact question.

But her mouth clamps shut.

And silence lingers. Tortuous and gut-wrenching.

"The salary is enough to cover my expenses." She blurts after a long pause and trails her fingers across the silver coated bracelet. The colour slowly wearing out and the edges prickling her flesh. But yet, she couldn't muster herself to throw it away since it was the only piece left from her deceased mother and for that same matter, the only thing keeping her presence alive.

"Bullshit." Meria snorts, racking one hand through her dishevelled curls, before tugging at the roots. "I eavesdropped your call the other day and it seems to me that you're immersed in a pit of hell yourself." She jabs an accusing finger to Lalisa's shoulder and her breath hitches.

Shit—

There was no plausible excuse to cover that up and lying would be of no use either.

Tears pooled at the corner of Lalisa's eyes and she blinked furiously, refusing to show any trace of weakness. Absentmindedly, her arms fell to her sides and reached to smoothen the apron before fisting the material between her fingers. 

"Hey Lis." There's a pat on her left shoulder and the mere action is enough to snap her out of a reverie. She peers over her shoulder to find Gong leaning over her with a grin curving his lips. "Wanna make me the happiest man on earth and have some fun at the back of this dump bar?"

Meria spares a roll of her eyes and Lalisa giggles before slapping the cloth against the back of his neck. 

"I wouldn't bet on that." She flashes him a smile, reaching an arm across the counter to grab the notepad, and saunters into the other side of the lounge. 

"Ouch. You wound my ego, sweetheart." He calls out with one hand clasped over the left side of his chest and Lalisa's only response is a blowing kiss that Gong oh so desperately proceeds to catch with both hands and pretends to tuck it safely inside his jeans pocket. For once, she was thankful to his flirty nature for it eased the tension from before. 

And quite honestly, she wasn't yet ready to go there. It was a weight on her shoulders, pushing her further into a void she couldn't pull herself out from. A reality she wanted to run away from and never look back to.  

Lalisa swallowed, fighting the bittersweet taste that coats her tongue, and forced her limbs across the flooring to serve the next round of alcohol. Albeit slowly, the hours rolled in and before she could take notice, the faintest shade of dusk stretched across the sky, signalizing the end of her shift. 

"The other side of my bed is empty tonight, sweetheart." Gong wiggles his eyebrows suggestively, observing as she inches across the counter and lays the apron atop it. She bites back a smile and nestles herself into his embrace. Unlike Meria, he had been her first friend when she first took the job of waiter at Scarlet's bar and his advances are but a playful teasing to drift her worries away.

She never talks about it but he knows. Dammit, he even notices the slightest scrunch of her nose whenever something appalling irks her. 

"Don't set your hopes too high, loverboy." Meria chastised. "Suck it up and move on with your sweaty armpits."

Lalisa stifled a laugh, glimpsing the two bickering, and gathered her belongings before walking to the back of the bar. Usually, they would stay and talk over a round of alcohol but the excruciating pain convinced her otherwise. Instead, her shoulders sagged and she shoved one hand inside her purse to fish for the car keys. 

She breathed a sigh of relief when hearing the alarm go off as the doors unlocked and clutched the handle, only to stop dead in her tracks. It was low, barely above a whisper, but she heard it. A slurred profanity followed by ragged breathing and her eyes widened in panic. 

Her palm trembled, dithering to press her index finger against the inside of the handle. 

There was someone inside her car. She blinked, processing it slowly, before opening the door with the faintest surge of courage that coursed through her. And true to her suspicions, there it was. A body hunched over both knees with its face hidden between them. 

She stared at it with parted lips, unable to produce a sound, and poked the exposed skin just for a safe measure that it indeed wasn't a dead body. It twitched, huffing a groan before snapping its head up. Yes, it was alive although breathing feebly. 

"What the fuck?" She shrieked in sheer mortification, gaze travelling across the patches of blood before noticing the huge slit on the left side of his torso. The male before was drained of colour and physical strength as he reached to grasp her wrist. Lalisa stared down at the fingers curled around her forearm and bile crawled up her throat. 

Shit, shit, shit!

His eyes pinned her down, wide and pleading, and his features contorted when he rose from his previous position. Quivering fingers found the oozing wound and he clamped his palm against it, hissing in pain. Lalisa observed him with both feet rooted to the floor, unsure if helping the male before her was a wise decision—goddammit—for all she knows he could have pounced on her with the intent to harm if he wasn't as weak. 

"Help." He sibilated, tightening his fingers around her flesh, before his touch loosened and his head tilted against the cushioned seat of her car. limp and acceding to the severity of his wound. 

"Help me."

hi hi! so this first chapter is merely a introduction to the next part of the story and hopefully, a more interesting one because jungkook will attempt to get her help and of course, it will take quite a bit to actually convince her that fallen angels even exist!! i hope you enjoy and yes, this book is based on a simpler writing <3