out of the woods [yeonjun x reader]

chapter 1: seoul food

A twinkling ring echoes through the shop as the front door to Angelita's Salon carefully opens.
I look up from the section of hair I'm trimming and smile when I see that it's Angel herself,  coming back with our midday lattes.
"Oh thank God," I say with a slight laugh. "Took you long enough."
"Oh hush," she mockingly shushes me as she shuts the door behind her and walks over to me.
Her heeled boots click on the floor as she offers one of the togo cups to me and i gratefully take it with my free hand. "Thank youuu."
"You're welcome—and how are we doing today, Miss Lena?" Angel turns her attention to the lady in the chair who smiles at her through the mirror. "Good as always, Angie."
Angel hides an obvious cringe and I nearly snicker, knowing she hates being called Angie but also knowing she won't say anything due to Lena being our most consistent regular.
"Good," Angel says through a forced smile. "That's awesome. Alright, well, I'm gonna hit the books and let you two ladies get back to it!"
She pats my shoulder before striding off towards her office in the back, sipping her latte.
I finish up Lena's hair within the next hour, giving it a blow dry and doing her bangs how she likes before we both head to the front desk to settle her payment.
"Thank you again, y/n—you have a good night, hon." Lena waves after we're done and I wave back as she walks out the front door. "Bye, love! See you soon."
Once she's gone, I wipe my hands on my apron  and grab the broom in the corner of the small building to start giving the floor a good sweep.
Over the next few hours, I only have one more appointment with a guy touching up his roots and once that's over, I start the process of locking up.
"Y/n, are you sure you don't want me to stay and help?? I have time before I meet Sam." Angel offers, her coat and purse already in hand.
I wave her off. "Girl, go! I've closed a hundred times, it's no big deal."
"Are you sure?" She raises a brow seriously. "I don't know. I've been hearing a lot of stuff down the strip mall about shady guys hanging around outside after hours."
At that, I laugh. "Angel. I grew up in the heart of Miami, I think I know how to handle myself, don't worry. Besides, Sam is waiting for you."
I decide to leave out the part that I had absolutely no experience on the said streets of Miami and honest to God would not know how to defend myself.
At my smirk, she blushes. "I don't know, y/n—I'm nervous."
"Nervous that she will ask you to marry her or nervous that she won't?"
"Both? I don't know." She looks uncharacteristically flustered and I smile some. "Well, there's only one way to find out, boss."
I guide her to the door and she fidgets with her hands. "Okay—but again, be careful. Call me if you need anything and don't forget to lock that back door after you take the trash out. The hinge is old so—"
"—you really have to yank it. Yes, yes, I know—this isn't my first rodeo." I tease her as I open the door and gesture out into the parking lot. "Goodbyeee."
"Bye." She waves weakly.
"Don't be nervous, it's gonna be great, I promise." I reassure her as I send her off.
"Right." She nods without much confidence. "You're right. I'm just gonna let what happens, happen."
"That's the spirit!" I exclaim. "Text me whenever you can, I wanna hear what happens."
"Okay," her cheeks flush even redder now from the cold. "Okay well wish me luck! Byeeee!"
I wave with a laugh as I watch her jog over to her car. "Byeeee! Good luck!"
I wait until she's safely inside the vehicle before shutting and locking the front door again.
Time seems to fly by as I get my closing stuff done, popping in my air pods to listen to some Taylor Swift as I clean up the salon.
About forty-five minutes later, I've finished restocking all the products and turning off all the lights, leaving only the trash to be taken out.
I gather up all the bags into two handfuls and then make my way to the infamous back door with the bad hinges.
After unlocking it, I give it one good shove and it gives way, letting me out into the dimly lit alley.
'Miss Americana and the Heartbreak Prince' blasts into my ear drums, probably loud enough to give me hearing damage but I don't really care.
I glance around for a quick second to make sure there's no suspicious activity or hobos lurking around before starting my trek to the shared dumpster behind Seoul Food ((SOUL food, get it?? Heh😅)), a popular Korean barbecue place a few doors down.
I plop the trash down on the concrete on the ground and muster all my strength to flip the lid of the dumpster open.
It takes a few tries but eventually I succeed and then stoop down to regather the abandoned garbage bags.
Of course, with my luck, my right AirPod finds it's way out of my ear and I hiss a curse word as I drop to my knees in order to effectively look for it.
But even with the beginning notes of 'Should've Said No' bumping in my left ear, there's no denying the loud, argumentative voices I know hear filling the alley.
My eyebrows crease, momentarily forgetting my stranded earbud as I pause my music and slowly peer around the side of the dumpster for a better look.
From my point of view all I can really make out is the shape of two men, standing by the open back door of the restaurant, yelling at each other in a different language.
Well, this is awkward.
I think about just throwing my shit away and then loudly slamming the dumpster shut, just to kind of make them aware that there's someone else witnessing them argue like crazy people out in the open.
Well, I think about it.
Until one of them pulls out a gun.