How to Win a Hero? | Kang Haerin x Reader

Until It Happens to Her

Chaewon opened her eyes and found herself walking toward a familiar alley. She was about to make a turn to the left when she bumped into a girl. Though it wasn't hard enough to knock both of them, they said sorry to each other. Chaewon saw the girl had the same height as her, more or less. Or maybe because she wore high heels, she didn't manage to notice the real height.

"Are you going there alone?" the other girl once again looked at the dark alley.

"No, I'm going to meet my friend here," Chaewon said, probably it made her worry since it was almost midnight.

"Why don't you meet her at a cafe or something? It's dangerous here"

Wow, for a stranger, Chaewon was astonished by how caring this girl could be. She assumed the reason to be something happened recently. News covered how more dreamers rebelled these days. They could even kill each other just to be credited for an innovation created by another dreamer.

The stranger said meeting another friend in this alley late at night was dangerous, but wasn't she walking from there too? That's why the collision happened.

As if she could read Chaewon's mind, "I just threw a junk there, to avoid the smell, you have to go deeper into the alley"

That night, she promised her 'friend' to have a meeting. She was sure of her uneasiness because it was her first time to be invited into a strange place, but foolishly she decided to believe her friend.

"I will be okay. Thank you for your concern, but I have to go. If we meet again, I will treat you to a coffee because of your kindness. Bye-bye" Chaewon ended it with a smile. She could see the girl hesitated to move at first, but eventually left.

It took less than 5 minutes until her friend arrived.

"You're here"

Chaewon turned her back toward the incoming voice, "Of course, you ask me to meet you here"

Seeing the dubiety in her eyes, Chaewon encouraged her to talk.

"I hear this from your other friends, that you're creating something new," started the conversation by asking a confirmation. It's true that Chaewon was doing something. When her sister got promoted to be an innovator, she wanted to follow her, so she answered her friend with a nod.

"You know, my crush got into Middler last week and I already miss her a lot. You are a genius, so you must be able to create another invention, right? Can you at least give me a credit for your current work? I promised I would pay you well."

It annoyed Chaewon to see there was no effort poured out. Her creation itself wasn't ready to be used. She still went through trial and error so many times. She wanted to go to Middler, so she worked hard, not asking other people to give their attempts.

"I'm sorry, but I can't do that. You can ask me for help if you have any ideas, but I can't give you what I have right now, okay?"

Chaewon received an uneasy silence as a reply. She was about to walk closer when she heard the other girl muttering something.

"Sorry, but I can't hear you."

"You f*cking ungrateful b*tch!" She let out a knife and that was enough to make Chaewon just stand still. "Let's not be like this, Jeong" She never knew that desperation could drive someone's mind.

"You leave me no choice" Chaewon became very anxious. What should she do? Told Jeong that she would give it? Too late. Ran out of the alley against the famous runner from her school? Chaewon definitely won't make it. The only way for Chaewon to at least survived was to knock out the girl.