signed | choi seungcheol

➢thirty-four

-Jiyeon-

I wake up in a familiar room to find an IV connected to my arm. I blinked my eyes opened to see Minhwan standing in the corner of my room, packing something. I sit up abruptly, startling him as I pulled the cord off of me, "What are you doing here?"

"Well, first of all," he smiled as he zipped up my luggage, making me more confused, "You fainted and so we brought you here. The doctor said you haven't eaten in awhile and is overexerting yourself and that's why you fainted. Stress is one of the reasons too."

I nodded slowly as Minhwan continued, "Your mom, who is downstairs, said you're moving because be around Seungcheol is hurting you too much so you'll be moving to the edge of Seoul." I don't really like what was happening but I couldn't complain to him either.

I stood up quietly and started packing up with him, "Well he is kind of poisonous to me now and staying here wouldn't be helpful either so yeah." Minhwan quietly moved closer and wrapped his arms around me, startling me.

"What are you doing?" I asked as I tried to push him away but he continued to hug me, "It'll be hard for awhile but don't give up." When he pulled away, he smiled and gave me a pat on the back before leaving the room. Little did I know, he was going to become more mysterious.

xxxxxx

Two Months Later

I had moved into a small nice apartment by myself while my mother stayed at our old apartment. I continued to try to investigate the case and tried to find where the Lee siblings were, it was like they disappeared. Getting over Seungcheol was easier than expected but I was still hurt by what had happened.

A few weeks after I had moved, a new neighbor moved in next door and that person was Minhwan. He started to scare me a little, how did he possibly coincidentally rent an apartment right next to mine.

I've been in his place a few times since he always forgets to lock the door before leaving but it's always so empty. His house is pretty much full of dust and it's like he only lives in his bedroom. What's weirder is that he's always asking me to go shopping or eat with him and he always pays although his house is full of just cup noodles.

He only goes to work like once a week and always seems to be circling around me. If I go to the supermarket I somehow bump into him and it's like he's stalking me but at the same time, the smile he always gives me is somewhat reassuring and I feel safe around him.

It was another day for us to be shopping but this time, it was in Gangnam. I really wanted to go back to Gangnam even though there were painful memories there. He tried to convince me no so I told him I would go by myself, that made him change his mind and we ended up going there together.

I sighed as we stopped at the food court to get some food. Minhwan smiled as he pointed to a table nearby, "I'll get you some food while you reserve that table for us." I nodded and returned a smile, "Jjampong please!"

He patted my head as I head to the table and sat down alone. Suddenly a group of men wearing black suits similar to the one Minhwan was wearing. Some of them looked at me, others just walked around the food court suspiciously.

I ignored them as Minhwan brought the food out and we quickly finished eating before actually shopping. I bought a new dress and a pair of shoes before saying I was finished which then Minhwan thought I was crazy, "Just two th-"

He stopped all of a sudden and his smile disappeared. He was someone who smiled 24/7 and if he had stopped smiling, something must be going wrong. His hand slipped into mine, scaring me a little, "Jiyeon, leave the bag here."

"What?" I whispered back, "Why?" He was staring at someone and when I looked at what he was staring at. My heart jumped. It was the group of men that were stooping around the food court. I immediately put down what I had bought.

"On the count of three, run to the stairs and go all the way down to the last level," Minhwan whispered. When he counted to three, we dashed all the way to the stairs as the group of men followed us.

"Why ar-" I was about to ask when Minhwan put his finger to his lips, "Shh. Just go to level one and run away. Out of the building." I nodded and we continued to run down the stairs. I was faster for I was wearing comfortable clothes. At the second floor, Minhwan ran out the second-floor exit as I continued downstairs quietly.

Some of the men followed after Minhwan but some caught on and followed me instead. I groaned quietly as I exit the stairway to find myself in a dark hallway. The door right across, the one that would lead me out to the main area, was locked.

I could hear the men coming closer so I decided to turn right to look for other ways to get out before I get kidnapped. But they were really quick, "Faster! Get her! She's right here!" I couldn't relate to them on how they could still manage to talk after running down 5 flights of stairs.

I couldn't go anymore. I reached a four-way and was going to chose which way to go but I had already lost my sense of direction. Just before I got caught by the men, a strong arm pulled me over to one of the hallways, covering my mouth.

"Shh," the man said and his grip, in some ways felt familiar but it wasn't Minhwan. We watched as the group of men ran to another hallway. We waited for awhile before leaving the corner. He didn't say anything as he walked me to the door to the main area.

The light from the shopping mall almost blinded me. I blinked my eyes to see Minhwan give the man a quick bow. The man, who is dressed in all black, bowed back before turning around and pulling the fire alarm.

Minhwan grabbed my hand and started running before I could say anything to the mysterious man. When I turned around, he had disappeared into the chaotic crowd. People shouted, screamed and ran all over the place.

Suddenly I felt pain strike my whole entire body. I let go of Minhwan's arm as the man in front of me pulled the knife out of my side. I gripped my side as I managed to stumble away from him. Minhwan saw what was happening and immediately started fighting the man with his bare hands.

[play TRACK 4]

I coughed lightly as I picked up the knife the man had dropped. I watched carefully as more men started beating Minhwan. I was about to stab one of the men when another grabbed me by the arm, stopping me.

My vision was too blurry and I couldn't stop him so my hand dropped the knife. The man laughed, "Oh god. Looks like we got two in one! What lu-" The man from before kicked him down and helped out Minhwan a little before running over to me.

The pain had already numbed out and the bleeding became worse. I was on the floor when my vision was finally going to give up on me. The man shook me a little, "Jiyeon! No. Don't close your eyes. Stay with me! The ambulance is coming. Please don't leave." And with that my body gave up and everything went black. Again.