UNTIL You [YOONGI] (Book 1)

Chapter 10

Yoongi was taking Soo-ji home after they spent some time together at the fields. He told her some of his memories of his parents.

He parked his bike at the corner of her street and they walked the short distance to her house since it was so late at night that they didn't want to wake the neighbourhood. However, as they approached her house there was a scuffle ahead of them. Five tattooed guys with scars on their faces huddled around a man crouched on the floor, who was holding his hands up, begging for them to stop kicking him.

"I'm asking you again. Do you have the money or not?" One of the guys growled, stomping onto the man's stomach.

"N-No... STOP! PLEASE!" And he cried in pain loudly when they kicked him harder again and again.

Soo-ji and Yoongi looked up at the screams.

"APPA!" Soo-ji shouted and ran forward.

She tried to pull the guys off him, but they were too strong.

She stood back when she suddenly saw Yoongi grabbing one of the guy's shirt and hurling a jaw-break punch to his face.

One down.

He then turned to the second one, grabbed the back of his head and drove his face to his knee, breaking his nose straight away.

Two down.

The third one whipped out a metal pole and lunged towards Yoongi, who immediately stepped aside to dodge it before smashing his fist into the guy's stomach, knocking the wind out of him as he fell to the floor.

Three down.

The fourth and fifth one came at once and Yoongi grabbed the metal pole from the third guy on the floor before whipping it round their faces.

All down.

"Appa!"

He looked around and saw Soo-ji struggling to lift her dad up. He ran over, placed her dad's arm over his shoulder and lifted him up in one swift go.

They took him inside and laid him down on his bed. He was conscious, but he was groaning in pain weakly.

"Would you mind if I take care of him quickly?" Soo-ji asked in a low voice.

"Sure."

Yoongi looked around the house while Soo-ji went to get a first aid kit and a damp cloth.

There were old family photos hung on the wall and he could instantly recognise Soo-ji as a child.

A younger version of her dad was in most of the photos too as well as a woman, who he presumed was her mother.

Soo-ji closed the door to her dad's bedroom quietly and turned to look at him. He could see her eyes were getting watery.

"Thanks a lot out there." She said to him and sat on the sofa with him.

"Who were those guys?"

Soo-ji contemplated on whether to tell him the truth.

"They were people my dad owes money to." She looked down at her feet.

"Where's your mother now? Do you want to call her?"

Soo-ji lifted her head and shook her head.

"My mother doesn't live with us anymore." She took a deep breath before continuing, "my parents are divorced and my mother has another family in Gwangju now. My dad... he took up drinking and gambling ever since she left. He's rarely home."

Yoongi didn't say anything. His eyes softened and his heart tugged when he saw how sad she looked.

"Have a good night sleep, we've had a long day." He spoke softly.

Soo-ji nodded and walked him to the door. She gave him a small smile one last time before thanking him again and closing the door.

***

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Soo-ji was sleeping in her bed when she was scared awake in the middle of the night by banging on the front door and a window downstairs smashing.

She immediately sat upright, sweat forming on her forehead. She hesitantly walked towards her door and put her ear on it to hear if there were any movements in the house. She thought of running across the hallway to her dad.

Suddenly, she heard loud heavy footsteps coming up the stairs and she immediately locked her bedroom door and attempted to drag her study table in front of it as fast as she could. She stood back, trying to look for any kind of weapon.

They kicked her door down when she just managed to pick up a pair of scissors.

She turned towards to the door and three heavily built guys rushed in. Two of them held her arms at each side, her scissors falling to the floor.

She could hear more men going to her father's room.

"WHO ARE YOU? WHAT DO YOU WANT?!" Soo-ji shouted.

She could hear shouting in her father's room.

"Don't hurt him, please!" She begged.

The third guy stood in front of her and slowly advanced towards her.

"So that's your father huh?"

Soo-ji winced in pain from the two men's tight grip on her arms.

"Your father owes us a lot of money, honey." The guy in front of her sneered.

Her breaths were heavy and her heart was hammering against her rib cage.

"How much does he owe you?" She managed to croak out.

"70 million won."

Soo-ji's eyes almost bulged out of its sockets; she felt like collapsing after hearing that.

Where the fuck am I gonna get that kind of money?

"I give you two days to repay us. Find us at the Charles Seven Casino." The guy in front of her was so close to her face that she could smell cigarettes from his breath.

"Two days?! You have to give me more time than that!"

Suddenly, he grabbed her jaw tightly. "I don't think you're in the position to bargain here, sweetheart."

Soo-ji tried to shrug out of her grasp and he started laughing seeing her struggle.

Her anger was rising, her jaw hurt and the two guys holding her were making her arms go numb.

She spat at the guy's face in front of her and he let go of her immediately.

Standing back in shock, "you little bitch!" he bellowed before hitting her round the face once.

"Let's go." He ordered the other guys and the tight grips on her arms loosened and she slumped to the floor, bearing the pain.

She heard a splashing sound outside her front door and she hoped to God they were not dousing her house in petrol.

She immediately got up and ran to her father's room.

She found her dad shaking in fear on the floor, but other than that, he was alright. She ran to her front door and saw they had thrown red paint all over the front of the house. The rest of the house was completely trashed.

She fell to the floor crying hard.

How am I gonna resolve this? I've already given so much money away to save dad before. When will this bullshit ever stop?!