𝗸𝗶𝘀𝘀 𝗶𝘁 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿. bloodhounds

𝗜𝗩. Martinis & Restless Thoughts

𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒊𝒗:

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❪ drunk driving ❫

MISO STARED AT HER once buzzing phone go silent for the umpteenth time, another missed call notification from rookie popping up ─bringing the tally up to seventeen missed calls in the last three days.

She absentmindedly swirled the pink hued alcoholic drink in her glass, a dejected sigh escaping her glossed pink lips ever so often. Her mind still racing with the events from earlier that week.

Miso's heeled boots softly clicked against the tiled floor of the deserted building as she continued down the winding hallway, her feet coming to a stop at her destination ─the bookshop.

Hesitantly, her fore finger came up to ring the doorbell.

A soft ding-dong from the doorbell pierced through the establishment's calm silence and the door buzzed unlocked, letting her in.

The interior was just as she remembered it. The dust ridden books. The files sitting untouched on the mahogany bookshelves. Not to mention the bright and mellow lighting.

"Miso?" A familiar, pained, voice called out to her. "You came."

The old man, sitting on his automated wheelchair, almost couldn't believed his eyes. It had been close to three years since he saw the woman ─two years since she cut off contact with everyone and dropped off the face of the earth.

Miso remained silent; opting to observe the old man instead. He hadn't changed one bit. His brown hues still held its familiar, albeit oddly, mischievous glint.

"Yangjung said it was urgent." Her voice; void of any palpable emotion.

Sensing the slight discomfort in the woman's body language, the old man cut straight to the chase. "It's Hyeonju." A pained sigh left his frail body.

"I'm getting worried about her." He started. "She's been going around involving herself in very dangerous matters."

Miso, again, wasn't surprised. Hyeonju was always biting more than she could chew. Old habits indeed do die hard.

Mr Choi then let Miso in on everything he knew. From the stolen identities and borrowing of large loans to the suspected funding of a loan shark company called Smile Capital.

"Isn't that out of your league?" Miso asked. Surely he couldn't have asked to meet her because some loan sharks were getting conned? That was their problem, not his. That much she knew. "It's not like their incapable of helping themselves."

"That's why I am worried about her. I don't want her running around alone." The old man stressed. His heart aching in helplessness. "That kid's the only family I have left, Miso."

Ouch.

"I know I am asking for too much." Mr Choi desperately reached to grasp at Miso's hands. "She won't listen to me, but I'm hoping she'd listen to you. She adored the ground you walked on."

Miso pulled away from his grasp. Her eyes dropping to her laps. Her fingers fiddling with the gold and red rings adorning them.

"Please. Just talk to her."

It all felt too much. Was she really ready to jump back into the life she so desperately walked away from not too long ago?

The young woman sighed. She felt torn. On one hand; she swore that she would never speak to Mr Choi and anyone remotely related to the old man ever again and on the other, she would do anything for her family.

But was her loyalty to Mr Choi enough for her to forgive and forget?

Miso gingerly got up from her position on the balcony and headed back inside. Her glass joining the pile of abandoned dirty dishes in the sink.

Grabbing her keys, Miso left her cold apartment. Her eyes re-reading over the text Mr Choi had just sent her. Hyeonju is at the bookshop. Have a nice chat.

Somewhere inside a dusty bookshop, the curly headed man pulled out his phone again only to be disappointed by the lack of notification from a certain raven haired woman.

Why wouldn't she call me back? He wanted to scream out. Should he stop by later to make sure she was okay?

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✶ 𝗺𝗶𝘂 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗸𝘀 !
happy new year 😊

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