Fateful (book 1 of the OT7 series) ✔️

Chapter 1

"I swear a man must've invented high heels," Miki muttered to herself under her breath as she reached down to dislodge her right heel that had gotten stuck between the crevices on the pavement.

She took the opportunity to rest her aching feet. Why did she think it would be a good idea to wear these brand new shoes on a first date. First and last date with a jerk, no less. He had spent the entire time leering at her legs and making sexual innuendos while licking his lips. Euw. Thank goodness she had a fine tuned system agreed with her best friend. When Aerin called at the 20 minute mark with an "emergency", Miki pounced at the opportunity and practically ran out of the bar.

She felt the phone in her hand buzz and automatically glanced down. Speak of the devil.

"Hi Aerin, sorry I'm late. I'm just around the corner, be there in 5. Where are you?"

"Hi lovely, no worries, I was worried maybe that jerk face has cornered you somehow. I was getting ready to fly kick the shit out of him so I'm walking towards your direction now. So tell me everything. Did he at least have a big bulge?"

Miki felt her spirits rise as she giggled. Aerin always knew how to make her laugh.

"How would I know what size his bulge is! He had pants on!"

"Who said anything about pants? I was talking about the bulge of his wallet. Get your mind out of the gutter, you perv!"

Miki let out a loud, embarrassed laughter. She quickly looked around to see if anyone had heard her say these ridiculous things. Thankfully there were few people around at this time of the night.

As Miki looked down to locate the shoe she took off, she caught a glint off the corner of her eye. A camera flash, she thought instinctively and turned her head towards the alleyway across the street. She squinted to make out the shadows in the dark.

"Earth to Miki! Are you listening to me? Do you want pizza or Chinese food tonight?"

"Sorry, sorry, there's just something odd happening in the alleyway here," Miki said distractedly as she started to cross the street.

"Miki! Miki, don't be a hero. Just stay where you are and call the cops if you're worried. I mean it, don't go over there by yourself!"

"It'll be fine, just stay on the phone with me. It's probably just a couple making out." Miki heard scuffling noises as she approached the alleyway. As she rounded the corner, she saw a big figure leaning over another figure lying motionless on the ground. With a gasp, Miki realized the man was holding a gun and was slowly raising his arm to aim at the person on the ground.

"Oh my God, he has a gun Aerin. Call the police!" Miki yelled into her phone, as she ran into the alleyway. She heard the distant shouting of Aerin's voice through the phone line as she dropped the phone.

"Hey!" Miki yelled as loudly as she could as she ran towards them. It wasn't much but enough to surprise the shooter into looking up. He pulled the trigger and the sound of the gunshot echoed around the walls of the alley.

Oh my God. Miki froze in place as she watched the shooter raise his arm and aimed towards her this time. Another shot rang out and she felt a burning sensation on her right shoulder. This can't be happening. Miki fell from the force of the gun shot, but she made herself look up and stared at the gunman, willing herself to memorize all she could about his features as he ran towards the other end of the alley.

Miki started feeling dizzy and nauseous. She didn't think she could make it back up on her feet, so half crawled, half dragged herself to the figure lying still.

Oh my God, he's only a boy. What a waste of a life. Suddenly he moved his hand and Miki realized he was still alive. She quickly placed one hand over his abdomen to apply pressure to his wound. She tried to say something reassuring but the darkness quickly claimed her and her body collapsed on top of his.

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Aerin ran down the street as she gave directions to the 911 operator. It was lucky she was always calm under pressure, otherwise she would've missed Miki's phone lying on the side of the pavement. She picked up the phone and turned into the alleyway.

She let out a whimper when she saw Miki's limp body. She quickly ran over to turn her body around and was shocked to find a man lying underneath. Both their clothes were drenched with blood. She had seen enough movies to know to apply pressure on the wounds while she waited for the police and ambulance to arrive.

She willed herself to stay calm and began a rambling monologue.

"Miki I knew you wanted a man, but don't you think it's a bit extreme to get shot doing it. And look at him, he's a young one, you perv. When you get better, I'll be your wing woman and we can go get you any man you want ok. And I promise to always wash the dishes after using them and I'll water the plants at home. Just please don't die on me ok...," she stopped and took a shaky breath of relief as she heard sirens and the paramedics came running to help.

Aerin stood helplessly while she watched the paramedics work. As they lifted Miki and the man away into the ambulance, they told her to meet them at Mercy Hospital downtown. She watched the ambulance sped away and stood still, trying to collect herself. She was jarred out of her reverie when a phone rang shrilly nearby. She looked around and saw a bloody phone right where the man had lain.

She picked up the phone and saw the name "Yoongi Hyung" flash on the screen and hit the answer button.

"JK! Where are you! You are so late. We've been waiting at the restaurant for half hour and Jin Hyung is so hangry, I swear I see smoke coming out of his ears. You better have a good ..."

Aerin interrupted the rapid fire rambling with a shaky "hello". The voice on the other end of the line immediately stopped and said, "who's this and why do you have Jungkook's phone?"

After being strong through the ordeal, Aerin finally gave up and started wailing. In between sobs, she stuttered out, "I think your friend is dead. There was so much blood everywhere. They took him to Mercy Hospital. What am I going to do without Miki? She's such a good person, why did this happen?"

"Who is this! What happened! Stop crying and tell me what happened!"

Aerin registered the fear in the man's voice and said as calmly as she could, "Something's happened to your friend. He is in Mercy Hospital. I'll meet you there. Come look for me, my name is Aerin."