TW: abuse.
The loud clatter of dishes made Y/N's heart race. She pushed herself further into the darkness of the wardrobe. The eleven-year-old girl believed in ghosts and was afraid of the monsters in the closet but her fear of what might happen if she did not stay in the wardrobe was greater.
Heavy, unsteady footsteps came closer and closer until they stopped just outside Y/N's room. Her whole body was covered in a cold sweat and her breathing was shallow. Upon finding it locked, he banged loudly on her door making her gasp and cover her mouth.
Please, go away, please. She chanted in her head as if she could make it happen if she thought hard enough.
"Open up!" He screamed. "I know you're in there, you little bitch." She shivered even underneath the pile of clothes as the door was forced open, slamming loudly against the wall. "Is this how you pay respect to your father when he comes home?" His voice was clearly audible but slurred, now that there was no door obstructing it.
She hugged her tiny body. Make it stop. She begged as tears pricked her eyes.
.
Y/N saw the sleek white car as soon as she stepped outside of her university gates. The students and teachers that were passing by were either looking at the two-seater or the boy leaning against it, dressed in black jeans and a leather jacket with a white t-shirt underneath.
When he spotted Y/N through his shades he smiled, stood straight, and spread his arms for her. Y/N smiled too and walked briskly towards him. Then she broke into a run, straight into his arms. He lifted her off the ground slightly as he hugged her before putting her down. "Good day?" She asked him, placing her chin on his shoulder.
"Better now that you're here," Yangyang spoke against her hair. He leaned back to look at her. "Shall we go?"
Soon, they were seated inside Yanyang's car and off to do whatever he had planned for them today.
Y/N leaned back in her seat and looked at him while he zoomed through the streets. She loved him and more than that, she was grateful for him. If it hadn't been for him...
.
Y/N screamed involuntarily as a soju bottle crashed on the floor beside her. She sprinted forward blindly without looking back. Ignoring the threats and insults that came her way, she managed to escape the house but not unscathed.
Her father chased after her but with all the alcohol in his system, he could not even keep up with her small legs and crashed on the floor.
But Y/N did not stop running. She ran farther and farther until she reached a playground she'd never been to before. She sat at the bottom of a slide and looked around to made sure she wasn't followed. She wept and tried to catch her breath at the same time. It was a mess.
When she had calmed down a little and her cries were reduced to convulsive gasp she brought the hem of her shirt up to wipe her tears and snot off her face.
"Are you okay?" She jumped when she heard the voice. She turned around and saw a boy crouched on top of the slide. She took a few steps back as the boy dangled his feet and slid down the slide. He sat on the spot Y/N had been sitting on seconds ago and observed her. Y/N observed him too. He seemed to be a few years older than her and looked clean and wealthy, unlike her.
"Why aren't you wearing any shoes?" He asked, looking at her feet. "Your feet are bleeding." Y/N looked and noticed it too. And now that she had noticed it, her feet started to hurt. Her feet weren't the only parts of her body that were injured. Her knees were bleeding, her elbows were scraped and the cut on her face stung too. And her heart. Her heart hurt most of all.
The boy stood up and walked a couple of steps away from the slide, giving Y/N room. He gestured for her to sit there. Y/N accepted the seat quickly, and why not? She had been sitting there first. "What are you doing here so late? Don't you have a home?" He asked. Y/N wanted to throw his question back at him but she could not speak with the sobs still racking her body. Even holding her breath did not help.
"Wait here. I'll bring you some water," the boy said quickly. "And don't worry," he added as an afterthought. "I won't tell anyone you're here. You see, I ran away from home too." He gave her a guilty smile before running off.
.
The ringing of Yangyang's phone broke their little make-out session. He reached over to put his phone on silent but cursed when he saw the caller ID. "One second," he told Y/N regretfully and answered the phone. "Yes, boss," he said in a steel cold voice, a stark contrast to the warm and loving tone he used with Y/N.
Y/N leaned back in her seat and drew shapes on the foggy window of the car. She bit her lip to try to contain her smile. They were parked outside a restaurant. Y/N had been getting out of the car when Yangyang had stopped her, telling her that he wanted dessert before lunch. Y/N soon found out that by dessert he meant the peach-flavored lipgloss she had been wearing. There was no lipgloss left on her lips now.
"I'll get it done by tonight" She heard him say. Yangyang glanced at Y/N, looking torn. "Alright, okay. I'll be there, boss." He said before hanging up.
"You have to go?" Y/N asked. She could not keep the sadness out of her voice. Nor could she ask him to stay, that had been the deal. She knew he was part of a dangerous world where she did not belong. She could not bring him out of it either.
"Not right away," he answered. "But I won't be able to go over to your place with you."
"But you can come after finishing your job, right?" She asked hopefully.
Yangyang's face lit up at the suggestion. "I will," he said. "Let's go eat something." Y/N put on some lipgloss before stepping out of the car.
.
Y/N was on the swing, slowly swinging back and forth. Her feet were not touching the ground. Not because she was barefoot, - Yangyang had brought rubber slippers and bandages along with the water- but because her legs were yet too short. He had told her his name while sticking a bandage on her knee. He sat on the swing next to hers. His feet made it to the ground effortlessly.
"Why'd you run away, Y/N?" he asked quietly.
Just thinking about it brought a fresh wave of sadness over her. "I didn't," she said. "I'll have to go back home. If I sleep on the streets someone will kidnap me." She took a quivering breath. "My father won't even buy me back," she added quietly. "What about you? Why did you run away?" She looked at him and for the first time that night, saw the last remains of a bruise below his jaw. She gasped. "Does your father beat you?" She had almost added 'too.'
"What?" He asked, confused. She reached over and touched the patch of slightly discolored skin. "Oh, this? No. This was from my training." He hesitated before saying, "my family does... bad things and they expect me to do them too once I grow up. But I don't want to. So I ran away."
"What sort of bad things?" She asked innocently. "Are they thieves?"
Yangyang blinked, letting the thought roll in his mind. "Well, I wouldn't say that they're not thieves."
As the years passed, Yangyang and Y/N grew closer and helped each other grow and face their demons. Those demons just happened to have human faces. Yangyang had never told Y/N what kind of unspeakable deeds his family was involved in. Until one day when he confessed his feelings for her but before she could tell him that she liked him too, he spilled all his family secrets. He was part of a mafia.
Of course, this was not enough to change Y/N's feelings for him.
xxx
How are y'all doing? After a sad ending (previous chapter) here's a happy one. I hope y'all enjoyed it. And I hope going back and forth between the past and present wasn't too confusing.
Thanks for reading. And a special thanks to @liuyangyangsimp for requesting this!