ninety three

i

"I'm sorry, but you can't stay here tonight."

Your life was pretty fucked up at this point.

Backtrack.

Life didn't completely suck balls when you first moved to Gangnam. It was the usual waitress job in the local cafe and partying every other week at the club with some of your co-workers. Shit, you even managed to get a raise to assistant manager of that internet cafe. Life was bliss.

It continued feeling like a rollercoaster going up for the next two years, especially when you met your boyfriend, Heonwoo. He was a sweet, outgoing, and lively guy and if you didn't really know him, you'd think he'd be perfect boyfriend material. 

Except for the fact that he has a gambling problem. Not just a gambling problem, a gambling problem that left you with no house, no car, and a 20 million won debt. 

Rolling your suitcase up next to the table, you sat down in the convenience store and stared out into the darkened night. In truth, it was all your fault, not his. You were a fucking pussy and let him leech off of you because you just didn't want to be alone. Well, how did that turn out, smartass?

You were suddenly sipping your banana milk with such determination you nearly crushed the damn cup in your fist. 

What the fuck am I gonna do?

-

You were tempted to snap the stupid mop in half. Nothing in your life was going right, nothing. The rollercoaster that was going up? Well, it stopped, and this was probably the lowest drop you have experienced in your entire life. 

"Hey, you alright?"

Mina was peering over her shoulder as she wiped down the tables on the other side of the cafe. 

"Why does the world hate me?"

"Honey, are you already going through a mid-life crisis? You don't look that old." 

You groaned loudly and buried your face in your hands, tears of frustration running down your cheeks in streams. 

"Just in a financial crisis."

"How can I help? How much do you need me to raise your salary by? 1,000 won? 2,000?"

"Twenty million."

Her face paled and you wiped your face hastily.

"It's alright, I get paid enough. I'll just take on more jobs to-"

"Do you have a place to stay?"

"No, no it's fine. I can stay at the saun-"

"Stay with me."

Mina could really persuade you to jump off a cliff at that point. You were so desperate, and it wasn't as though you could contact your family back in Ulsan to send you money, and besides, you could already imagine the amount of beating you would get from your mother when she finds out you spent all that money, even if it weren't her own. 

So you slept at Mina's place, for the next two weeks. Guilt often kept you up at night, but it was a nicer experience than the hard floors of the saunas. But eventually, the relative peace dissipated and reality struck once again. 

You were in debt, less than broke. And now someone came to remind you.

- 

"Do you know Heonwoo?"

Well, okay, your first instinct when you see a huge buff guy dressed in all black with muscles nearly exploding in his shirt, and a vein in his forehead protruding like a bright, red siren, is probably not to say you know Heonwoo. 

Especially not because saying his name would remind you of the debt that those two syllables dragged with it. 

Naturally, you hesitated. 

"Do you know Heonwoo?"

Finally, you uttered under your breath.

"Can't say I don't know him."

"He's started some major beef with us."

I tried not to choke as I looked up to meet his eyes, glaring him down.

"And what does that have to do with me?"

"I'm assuming you are his girlfri-"

"Ex."

"Ex-girlfriend. You do know he is in a major debt."

"Yes."

"Where can I find him?"

"I don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know? You-"

"We broke up. And he ran away. I don't fucking know where he went."

The large man paused for a minute and blinked blankly at me. He seemed as though he were hesitant in his next few words. 

"Then I'm sorry, but I hate to do this to a sweet girl like you."

"What do you m-"

Convenience store. You were just a few blocks away. Nighttime. The sky was dark. Walking passed your old apartment. The man was sitting there alone. Strong man in black. Something came up to your mouth and your vision went black.

-

A silky cloth blindfold was wrapped around your eyes and as you tried to pull your arms up to claw the obstruction to your view, crying out when your restraints only allowed your hands to move a few centimeters. 

"Sweetie, don't bother moving. You're wrapped tightly to that chair." 

The owner of the voice gestured the two men beside you to remove your blindfold, allowing you a clear view of the man standing before you. 

"Would you like to tell me where your boy is?"

"He's not my boy."

You spat near his feet, but evidently missed as a soft chuckle sounded from his end of the room. 

"Nonetheless, you won't tell us where he is."

"That's because I don't fucking know."

"Ah, watch your tongue, young lady. You don't seem to know who you are talking to."

"Why the fuck am I here?"

"Oh, dear, that's because.."

He took this moment to smile--to fucking smile--as he slipped a hand in his pant pocket. 

"If he won't pay us back, then you will."

"Great, but I'm broke."

"Not in money."

Your eyes fell to the floor at some point in the conversation, but now you lifted your head to peer at him as anxiety started to fill up in your heart. 

"With your life."

You turned to look at the two men standing beside you and they stepped out of what you now realized had been a box. With the pressing of a button, the glass sides of the box began to roll up. Your eyes started searching frantically for another way to escape, pulling futilely at your restraints. 

The sides of the box had locked themselves in. 

Your gasps and pants were becoming more frantic, and it seemed impossible to move any of your limbs. 

That's when you started to see the water stream into the box and pool at the soles of your feet. 

Fuck.