EGOIST (Sang Woo x Fem!OC) [COMPLETED]

43

The loan sharks know where she is. Her debt is near and due.

So as she ran through the station chased down by her pursuers, this is where she realizes that she has nowhere to go. Not in Gangwon, not anywhere in Seoul. Her best choices are either to plead for some more time or go on in hiding. Though she's evaded this nightmare for long enough, it was just timely that it caught up to her after a month of this false feeling of freedom.

She was yanked into a dark alleyway, the leader of the gang looking around to look out for any witnesses. When there weren't any, he turned back to Hae Young, a sinister look in his face. Neither of them were happy to see each other in the big, big city of Seoul.

He grabs her by the throat, evoking this sound from her of a simultaneous gasp of air and choke. "Do you know how fucking expensive it was to get here?" He growled, grip tightening around her throat. "How much of a pain in the ass it was to sit through hours of that fucking train ride?"

It was like he was looking right into her soul, eyes burning with fiery rage, and he saw the fear in Hae Young's eyes, like a prey staring at its predator face-to-face. He scoffs at her terrified face, finally letting go as Hae Young collects herself, gasping for air.

"It only clicked that you weren't in Gangwon when we visited your place." He says, looking down at her pathetically. "Lucky for us, your father told us everything. Her heart drops.

"What did you do to him--"

"--Nothing bad." He smiles menacingly, tone mocking. "You don't have to worry about what we did. Your father was nice, hospitable, so was that lady taking care of him in your place."

He kneels down to her level.

"Now, I am merciful. The talk was civil. No violence involved." He puts his hand up. "I promise. However, Moon Hae Young," With his fists, he grabs her by the hair, forcing her to look back up to him. "You're just putting the people you love in danger."

"Please, don't do anything to him. He doesn't know anything about this--"

"--Why would we massacre your father if you're the one who owes us shit?" He laughs, and so do the rest of his cronies.

"Is that why you went here? To escape from me?"

"--No." She spat. "I swear, I'm not." Hae Young's voice shakes in fear. There was a look of consideration on his face. Hae Young feels the grip on her hair loosen just for a bit.

"I was looking for a job, I needed the money--" She babbled, trying to explain herself in a panic. "--I was going to pay you as soon as I earned it. I swear, I swear!" She cried. What else was there to explain anyway except for the actual truth.

He just scowls, finally letting go of Hae Young and dropping her to the floor.

"--And I've got myself the job." Hae Young desperately adds. "And I'm earning the money for you, and for my dad. Just please-- I need more time."

He then takes out a pocket knife. Hae Young's eyes widened, backing up into the alley wall in fear. He walks closer towards her menacingly. He places the tip of the knife by her throat.

"You've got a year." He says lowly, digging the point into her flesh, feeling it break her skin ever so slightly.

"

********

She was a disheveled mess. She tried to salvage what she could of her messed up hair and the bleeding point in the center of her neck, washing, combing, until she was close to fresh and new. And when she was done, she carefully headed out the train station's public restroom.

Sang-Woo had been waiting by the exit of the station, waiting expectantly with a cold cup of coffee in hand. He recollected himself as he finally saw her rush out of the station. "Where the hell have you been--"

There was no time spared for pleasantries as Hae Young took the cup of coffee in his hands, taking a big sip, then grimaced at the coldness.

"--And what the hell happened to you? You look like you got run over by a truck."

She ignores his comment, downing the rest of her cold coffee in hand before dumping it into a waste bin.

"How much time do I have left?" She asks him in a panic. Sang-Woo checks his watch.

"Enough time." He said. "Do you have everything you need? Your documents, you resume--"

"I've got it." She reassures him, and he just gives her a hesitant nod. This is, after all, the interview that would make or break her career. Months in that old job of hers in Deongson-dong just didn't cut the quota she had set for herself. She needed more, and the opportunity opened for her in Ssangmun-dong.

They quickly rushed to the corporation, a building standing in the heart of the city; though brutalist and quite old-looking, it looked like a new and fresh start for Hae Young. "This is it." Sang-Woo says beside her. Though she couldn't step onto the building. Not yet. She turns to him, an anxious expression on her face.

"What if I mess it up?"

"You're not going to mess it up."

She frowns.

"How are you so sure?"

He sighs. "Look, there's a 50-50 chance that you mess it up--"

"--Thank for the reassurance--"

"--but," he adds, placing both hands on either of her shoulders. "I'm betting on the other half that you won't."

There is obvious reluctance on her face, though what else can she do? She can't back out now, now that she's here and needs the money.

"Alright." She sighs. "Alright, alright." She repeats to herself, recollecting herself. She pats her clothes off of dust and dirt, fixing her disheveled hair until it is tamed. She turns back to Sang-Woo.

"Well, how do I look?"

There was a pause dedicated to his thoughts, eyes lingering beyond her clothes or her hair. He wasn't even looking at them, he was looking at her. And there was a brief moment. With shaky hands, he was so tempted to brush a stray strand behind her ears. But he doesn't. His hands lay stiff on his sides, clenching, tempted. It was a habit that hadn't left him all these years.

"Well?" Hae Young pressed. He avoided her gaze.

"You look fine."

She nods. "Alright." She lets out a nervous, shaky breath. Here goes nothing.

She begins her ascent on the steps in the entrance of the building. One step in, Sang-Woo stops her, calling her name.

She turns back. "Yeah?"

He couldn't utter anything else, being in another moment where he was tempted to go up those very same steps to pull her in, to kiss the top of her head for good luck. But he doesn't. He knows their bounds, and he will respect them.

He shakes his head. "Nothing, just-- Goodluck."

She gives him one last nod and a smile before turning around to enter the building, disappearing into the double glass doors as once again, she leaves him speechless in her wake.