Fear

3. murderer

It's been a week now ever since I went back to the bar. How was I feeling? I have no idea. What about my best friend's relationship? Probably still the same, just that I get more used to the stinging pain. Every moment that I have the time to wander free in my thoughts, Jeonghan's existence pops in my head. Every scene of me and him kept replaying over and over again. My heart feels heavy for some reason and honestly, there were so many questions I wanted to asked Jeonghan. Especially the kiss. I feel robbed in many ways.

Or maybe the best way is to forget him. Maybe he does that to every other girl he finds interesting, attractive or whatever. I just want him out of my thoughts but it feels like he had already taken over them. I don't know why and I don't know how but it's making me feel frustrated ever since.

"Aera!" I snapped out of my thoughts and back to reality, shifting my gaze to the voice who called for me. As soon as I realised who it was, I forced a smile. It was one of the last few people I wanted to deal with — Junseo and Haeun.

"Hello, lovebirds." I joked. No, really. I wanted their relationship to be a joke. Never mind, I take that back, I should be happy for them. "What brings you guys here?"

"It's been long since I've tasted your coffee which is why I suggested it as a date to come here." Haeun looked at Junseo with a wide smile on her face, causing him to smile too.

"One Mocha Latté and Matcha Green Tea coming right up," I said, keying in their order at the cash register and taking their money.

"And one Iced Americano for me." Almost instantly, I turned my head to his chilling voice.

"Looks like we meet again, gorgeous." Jeonghan shoot me a sly smile.

"Gorgeous? Who is he?" Junseo knitted his eyebrows together in bewilderment. Haeun simply stared at the both of us back and forth, also feeling confused.

"Um... I met him at the bar the other day. His name is Yoon Jeonghan." I awkwardly introduced, feeling the surge to just runaway right now.

"Aren't you the guy that—" Jeonghan looked at Junseo and my eyes widened to the size of saucers as I knew he was about the say something I'll regret. With no hesitations, I grabbed him by the collar and covered his mouth.

"I'll be right back." I laughed nervously at the couple and dragged Jeonghan to the room at the back of my cafe. I quickly closed the door behind me and sighed in a relief but my expression soon changed as I glared at him.

"You're pretty strong for a petite girl." he chuckled in amusement, clearly trying to get on my nerves.

"What are you trying to do? No, why are you here?" I loaded him with questions and I could feel my heart pumping fast from anger.

"What? Can't a guy get coffee?" he asked rhetorically and I scoffed.

"Coincidentally at my café? Wait, you knew I worked here, don't you?" I eyed at him which made him stare back at me. He shrugged subtly, "Obviously. If not why I'm here?"

"I never told you I worked here." I raised an eyebrow, feeling even more irritated as each second passed.

"I didn't say you did."

"Then how did you—"

"Look, I know some things about you. You're Bae Aera, a 21-year-old orphan who owns a café called, Attacca and just graduated from Sebong University a year ago." he deadpanned and I froze at my spot.

What the actual fuck?

"Who the fuck are you?" I cursed without realising and Jeonghan came closer to me, lifting my chin with his forefinger. "Blurting vulgarities don't look good on you, babe." he spoke in a hushed tone.

Babe?!

I pushed him away but I immediately regret it as he stumbled backwards, almost falling. I gulped the lump in my throat that I didn't know was there. "You're lucky you're a girl." he spat in anger.

"Just who the fuck are you?" I tried to sound tough, but I'm pretty sure I sounded more terrified than tough. "You really shouldn't be cursing with that pretty mouth of yours." his voice deepened. "And who am I?" he laughs bitterly, causing a pit to form in my stomach. "Someone you should fear." his expression turned stoic almost instantly and his dark eyes were smoldering into mine. If he was trying to inflict fear on me, he was definitely doing a good job.

With that, he pushed me aside and opened the door and left my café, leaving me in utter shock. I quickly regained my composure and faced the couple outside, forcing a smile once again. They asked a load of questions about Jeonghan and I honestly didn't know what to tell them. I simply lied to make things look normal and only some parts were true.

By the end of February, I thought Jeonghan would be looking for me but the last time I've ever seen him was the incident at my café. I was constantly living in fear, thinking that he would go around looking for me or whatsoever but he never did. It's been a month since all that crazy stuff happened, and I really hoped there wouldn't be anymore of it. I just hope March would treat me better.

10:04PM.

"Bye, guys!" I chimed happily as I waved goodbye to my employees, or more like my friends now who were walking in the opposite direction of me. I decided to take the shortcut back home as I was feeling eager to go back home and watch my Marvel movies. I'm a sucker for Marvel.

As I was taking the shortcut, I turned to my right, knowing that I have to cut through an empty alley before reaching to another street. The alleyway was dark and gloomy and honestly not an ideal place to walk at in the night since there were little light coming in but I couldn't really care less. But as soon as I was halfway through it, I heard muffled noises from the far left. I walked towards the noises since it was the route I needed to walk through but when I got nearer, I stopped in my tracks and hid behind a wall.

"Don't make me repeat myself," I peeked out from the wall and saw many masked men surrounding a middle-aged man who seemed badly injured. "You're a fucking moron." The middle-aged man spat at one of the masked men who seemed superior. I squint my eyes, trying to get a clearer vision but to no avail due to the lack of light. "I've had enough." The superior-looking man took out something from his sides and before I could mete out what was happening, the sound of a gun going off could be heard right then and there. I gasped loudly as I witness a murder with my own two eyes but instantly covered my mouth as I knew they heard me.

"Get her!" one of them shouted and I could hear many footsteps starting to shift, including mine. I hated running but right now, I think that's the best choice for a chance of living. I could feel a rush of adrenaline coursed through my veins but it wasn't a nice one. Anxiety started to rise in me as I couldn't find the exit. At this point, I had no idea where I was running to but I forced my legs to push harder and faster. My breaths started to become sharp and frantic, my eyes are wide filled with tears as fear washes over me when I thought about the possibility of my life being cut short. I looked behind me, seeing those mysterious people after me which made me sprint faster but as I turned back, there were already people blocking my only path.

I shrieked in shocked and crashed onto the cold, hard ground. Tears were already spilling to the point that I was sobbing. My back was against the cold wall as those masked men tower over me. I shut my eyes tight and held my head low, preparing for the worst. "Where is she?" My head shot up upon hearing his clear voice. A blonde man soon came to my view with a gun held in his hands. "Oh?" he locked his eyes with mine, looking down at me. Many thoughts flashed through my mind, only to realise who the murderer is.

Yoon Jeonghan.

—

if you're somewhat confused about the timeline, here's short explanation:

basically, the events that happened between jeonghan and aera were all in january. nothing happened in february which was why she thought everything was back to normal in that span of one month (which was why i stated 'by the end of february'). the current month now is march, hence the sentence 'I just hope March would treat me better.' hopefully this is easier to understand :D