COMFORT PLACE | bang chan.

[ 01 ] safe

When the two men who stopped me give me looks of confusion, I try in English, "I need your help." I'm shaking even more now, my hands coming together as a plea, "Please help me."

Upon living in Japan for nearly a year now, it's not often that I speak in my native tongue. I just really hope that at least some of them understand English so I can let them know that I'm being stalked.

The word 'help' must have been something they all understood, and the two men share a look before giving me concerned glances. They open their mouths, struggling to form sentences in English, and I really wish I was anywhere else but here right now.

But then I look over their shoulders. A man apart of the group that's being filmed begins to walk over. He's young, I notice, unlike the two men I've been trying to communicate to. Actually, I realise that the men who are being filmed are all quite young, while the men and the women surrounding them seemed to be middle aged.

When the younger man approaches, I nearly cry in relief when he asks me in English, "What's happening? Are you okay?" Before I can respond, he turns to the older men and speaks to them in Korean. They respond back, and then he nods and looks at me again.

This is when I burst. "I'm sorry," I absentmindedly realise that I'm whispering, voice full of fear and desperation. "I need your help. I'm—" A sob catches in my throat.

I can't really see the man before me, he's wearing a black mask and big black hoodie, but I would be stupid not to notice how pretty his eyes are.

The warmness in them eases some of the tension in my shoulders, but my heart still continues to beat loudly in my ears, fear swirling in my own eyes.

"Woah, it's okay." He places a hand on my shoulder, and the gesture makes me relax a bit more. "Here, breathe. Tell me what's wrong."

I do as he says, breathing in deeply, and squeezing my eyes shut. I pause, taking a moment to collect myself, before I meet his eyes again and whisper, "I'm... I'm being stalked. Please help me."

I watch as his head snaps up, an alarmed look crossing his features as he casts his gaze behind me. From the way his eyes narrow over my shoulder and the way he instantly steps between me and the man, I figure he's realised my situation.

That's when my heart catches in my throat, but not from fear like it's been doing so for the last few moments, but from surprise as the man wraps an arm across my shoulders and pulls me against his side, rubbing a comforting hand up and down my arm.

I should be running. I should be pushing him away. But from the way he squeezes me and protectively keeps me close to him, I can't help but immediately relax in his comforting embrace, breathing softly as I try to stop the racing of my heart.

He's talking to the other people in Korean now, and I assume he's letting them know about the situation. The older men look bewildered and startled when the man with the pretty eyes had suddenly pulled me close to him, but upon hearing him offer an explanation, their own eyes peer behind us and they nod in acknowledgement.

The man looks down at me, and even behind the mask I can see that he's smiling. "You're safe now. Don't be scared anymore. We got you."

I nod, feeling a bit more eased. I return his smile with a grateful one of my own. "Thank you so much," I tell him. "I'm sorry if I was disrupting something."

I glance up over toward the film session to see that the other seven men are back to what they were doing, interacting with the camera and making jokes.

"Oh, no," The man quickly says, shaking his head. "You were in danger, so don't worry about that. It's a good thing we were here for you to ask for help."