Blood and Gasoline

Chapter 1

Walking the streets at night alone, even if it is a place you know like the back of your hand, is something almost every woman fears. If you walk the streets at night alone in a new and unfamiliar place, this fear increases tenfold. Most tend to air on the side of caution, sticking by a rule not to trust anybody but yourself. Others unwittingly trust strangers and the outcomes are horrifically varied. For Y/N, not trusting anybody was a practice she had become relatively skilled in. Not trusting anybody meant that nobody could hurt her. She knew exactly where she was going despite the darkness of the night. Even if she didn't, she would probably still end up where she wanted to be. The rumbling bass from the speakers inside Viper could be felt in a mile radius around the club, pulling anyone who could feel it towards the building like a magnetic field. Being in that mile radius, Y/N would naturally be drawn towards the source. However, seeing as Viper was the desired destination, the rumbling bass beneath her feet only gave her more incentive to get there.

She could use a drink, or 5, after the day she had had. After a long and tedious day at the office, the last thing anyone wants to come home to is an eviction notice. It seemed as though the world was playing a cruel trick on her and she didn't find it humorous in the slightest. However, it would be a lie to say she hadn't been expecting it. To put it lightly, her life was shit. Stuck in a dead-end job that she was barely qualified for and bored her out of her mind and living in a more-than-cramped one-room apartment was not in her life's plan. She once had dreams of becoming a performer, it didn't matter where. Travelling across the country at 16 in hopes of fulfilling this dream was futile in hindsight. Long story short, it obviously didn't work out as well as she'd hoped. She had tried to audition for roles but to no avail and so she had to get a job answering emails and phone calls for a small company that wasn't going anywhere financially.

It was her only source of income and only just paid her rent. Well, it did until the price of the apartment was raised, for some unknown reason. Managing to convince the landlord that she could get the money soon but needed another week, she realised her only option was to work as hard as she could in the hopes of a promotion. One week on, she still hadn't been able to pay her rent so the eviction notice had been expected but was still hard to see. She had three days until the apartment had to be cleaned of all her belongings, if not they would be thrown away. So she got changed into a simple black dress and heels and did her hair and makeup before grabbing her purse and walking out of the apartment and heading for the club. A night of booze was exactly what the doctor ordered. Thinking that things couldn't possibly get any worse she entered the club with her head held as high as she could and made her way to the bar.

She had grown relatively close to the bartender over the course of time she had been in the hidden city, so had no problem in spending her night sat talking to the man.

"Same as usual, Y/N? Glass of rosé?" the man asked while polishing a glass. The man was tall and muscular, filling out the smart white shirt he wore, which had the first three buttons undone. Hanging around his neck was an undone bow tie, complemented by his hair which was dishevelled in a far too seductive manner. Leaning forward on the bar to rest her head in her hand she could see his perfectly fitted black slacks.

"Yeah, Yugyeom. That'd be-" she started before she was rudely interrupted by her phone buzzing on the bar next to her. It was an email from work. Unlocking her phone and reading the message, Yugyeom could see her face fall before she spoke once more, "Shit." As it turned out the owner of the company she worked for had committed fraud and embezzlement. Consequentially the company would be closing, meaning she had to be 'let off, effective immediately' as they had put it. "Actually, Yugyeom, could you make that wine into two shots of vodka?"

"What's happened?" He asked after he raised his eyebrows in shock. He turned around to grab two shot glasses and the large bottle of expensive looking vodka then pouring out the two shots. She handed him his money, already knowing the price, before answering.