System RUIN: Sweet Chaos

20 | safe and saved

Taehyun groans when he remembered he ditched night class once again. They had to practice a group dance in the agency for an upcoming showcase, and that means more ditching and less attending. "Thank God it's Friday." He mumbled, reminding himself he has no weekend classes.

The thought of laying in his bed until when he wishes to just excites him, the weekend was like a short-vacation to remind himself of his goals and to boost his motivation. It's like he works his ass off every day and the week end becomes his prize for doing so.

He made his way to a convenience store near the agency building, planning to buy ramen before going home to his dorm. They finished their practice at 11 PM, meaning the last bus had gone and he had to walk home to save money.

He paid for his stuff when someone bumped into him, he smelled a familiar perfume but shrugged it off as the someone immediately apologized and walked out. Upon reaching out, he felt the cold wind rush which made him pull up his hoodie up to his head, walking away with the lamp posts served as his light along the way.

His phone suddenly rang, not wasting his time to see the caller, he answered and sighed loudly. "Son? Are you there?" The familiar authoritative voice reached his line, he shut his mouth to avoid answering and continued walking, "I called your agency and they said you had logged off, I heard there's an upcoming showcase, you'll do well, I know. You're Kang Taehyun after all."

He then heard a bitter chuckle that made him sigh once again, the tiredness was clear in his father's voice yet he couldn't care less. He deserved it after all the things that happened to them, Taehyun thought. "What do you want? I want to turn the call off, my hands are hurting." He trails off with his tired voice.

He hears a deafening silence at the other line, "Hello? Dad?" He calls out. A muffle was heard before he answered, "Yes. I'm here, sorry about that. You should rest. Anyways, I'll say this directly. There's a party tomorrow, and everyone's bringing their children. How about you stop by tomorrow?" The uneasiness mixed with hope drained his father's authoritative voice to a soft one. He can feel his hesitation to ask.

Taehyun groaned and stopped walking, "You can bring Nahyun, Dad. I really want to rest. Gotta go."

"I see. Right, rest well, son, take—"

He turned the phone call with a sigh. "He only calls for the company." He mumbled, kicking the tiny rocks near him to vent his frustration.

"Stupid company—" He stopped when he heard a loud thud. He spaced out for awhile when an agonizing pain when started to spread on his head, throbbing. He grunted and held it, turning to his back at the same time when another hit was blown. He fell to the ground while wimping, his eyes droop as he tried his best to look at the face, yet all he saw was blur with light. The figure shown with a cap and a wood held in his right hand.

Taehyun was very scared, just thinking about dying early never occurred once in his life. He had set a long term plan until the end of his 50s.

A boy chuckled seeing him squinting like that, he tilted his head to see his face clearly. Taehyun's phone started ringing, he ignored it and came nearer.  He held his chopped wood firm to ready himself and give another blow when he felt a pang in his back, making him fall on top of Taehyun. Taehyun grunted when he felt the weight of the body.

The attacker stood up fast and turned with a kick, but failed when that someone held his foot. His eyes widened to see a young girl wearing track pants with a white shirt, her hair was in a ponytail, she looked so innocent yet her cold expression differed from her overall appearance.

Judy huffed seeing him taken back, she twisted his foot making him groan and immediately attacked him with a kick in his stomach, "Hong Junghyeok." Judy called out which made the attacker widen his eyes. He forcefully removed Judy's foot and stood to punch her yet she blocked and it returned the favor.