"charley" a soft whisper hushes out from the trembling lips along with clouds forming as her warm breath comes in contact with the much colder enviornment. the metallic pole becomes her support while she pants out of exhaustion, clutching right side of her waist, wincing at the contact almost instantly and tilts her head down, face scrunching on seeing the thick fabric of the hoodie sticking to the fresh wound that needs some medical assistance.
the dog scoots closer to her, licking her hand as his tail waggles from side to side. aera smiles weakly at him and looks around, not seeing many people on the street at this time of the night, except for the one worker in the store across the street that says open 24/7 on it's board.
her eyes wander down again, patting the dog's head who follows the girl's limping state quietly. they were almost on the other side, when a voice rings in, making charley bark loudly as he steps forward to defend the injured girl.
"come back aera, enough of running now." the man says, raising his arms midair to show that he isn't armed and not a threat; because all in his right mind, with a skull-cracking bite force of the german shepherd present for the kid's defence, scaring her and forcefully taking her with him, wasn't an option.
the girl shakes her head, taking a step back as the man takes a step forward, holding his arm ahead and gesturing the dog to calm down. "charley, now!" aera commands and the five-year-old german shepherd, launches himself on the man, earning a groan from the man and a horrified glance from the lady in the store who come out quickly to help him get away from the dog.
aera turns around hastily, ready to sprint again, however her feet halt in her place as a blinding light advances towards her. time slows and her eyes glance back one last time, hearing loud groans of the man and a faint screaming voice of the lady who tries to scare the dog away from a distance. by the time she looks back, the light is too close, making her relax for a moment; it might be the end. then no more running. no more hiding. and just peace.
a shrill screeching sound brings her back to reality, the slow motion ends in a blink and a everything seems rushing. the motorcycle slides with to the side, generating sparks with the friction of the metal and the street; the man on the motorcycle, who fell at the side, letting out a low grunt of pain; charley who is busy tearing his prey's limbs off; the prey itself; and the store lady.
"charley! leave him and let's go!" aera says, finding an alley a few meters away and runs into the direction, suppressing the huge urge to stop by the motorcycle man and apologize to him for the accident that she caused. but right now, getting away is a bigger deal for her.
she glances back after coming a little far, sighing softly in relief as her eyes watch charley running towards her. the man's body and the store disappears in the darkness of the night, now being in a place much quieter than before.
a small smile tugs the corners of her thin lips upwards, the dark brown eyes staring at the canine who pants near her, sitting down as she crouches on the ground as well. they're in an alley. shouldn't be. but the safest place right now is unknown to aera and hiding is the best she can do.
charley stays close to her, not minding the hug from the girl to keep herself warm in a cold night of january. she stares up at the sky, not fascinated this time, instead a feeling of weariness dawns on her along with the dark grey clouds, the ones those hide the stars and the moon behind them. a shivers runs along her spine with the temperature dropping low and the wind pacing up gradually, swiveling the frizzy strands of her layer-chopped hair.
of course she knew running away from home was a tough task, especially when your home is the same as one of the biggest drug dealers and abductors in town. it wasn't until aera turned eleven that she realised something was wrong, morally wrong. the person she referred to as "daddy" was playing some kind of dirty game and pulling her in it too.
she remembers the first day she moved in with him, park minjoon, at the age of seven and became his lovely daughter in less than a month. he would buy all kinds of toys and chocolates and dresses and play princess with her, the only condition being that she should follow the rules.
do not go out of the mansion.
do not open any door without permission.
aera once had the audacity to go against him and learned to never disobey the man ever again. moreover it was the day she realised he can never be her father no matter how hard anyone tries, and she can never be perfect enough to be the kind of daughter he wished to have. by the time she turned thirteen the punishments had gotten much worse and painful, with all the electric current that ever ran through her body, a spark of getting away from him ignited inside her, and after weeks long of gathering enough courage and planning an escape out of his territory, two days ago it became the day she ran out to get away, to find a new life, or die finding a new life. but there was no way she could let herself be locked in that mansion, being a murderer's daughter and watch people dying before her eyes everyday.
aera's attention comes back to earth when charley shifts a little, standing up cautiously and looks around. a few footsteps huddle together, sounding closer and closer every second as if they were running towards the same direction. the girl gasps, shifting behind the dumpster, her index finger pressed on her lips as she gestures charley to stay quiet.
"i'm sorry, sir! please leave me!" a man cries, as he's pushed into the alley by another man.
aera closes her eyes tightly, clutching on the dog's fur to avoid having him pouncing on the strangers as they fight, more like one beating the other. she peeks out a little, a middle aged man is on the ground, groaning in pain, clutching his bleeding thigh while the other man is glaring down at him, having a gun pointing at the crying male.
it's too dark to make out any of their faces, but aera's certain that man holding the gun has tattoos inked on his hand. his hair is long and black, damp with, probably sweat. a dark chuckle rolls out of his lips, as he shakes his head shifting the bangs out of his face, making the dim streetlight fall on one side of his face. aera stares for a second, trying her best to recall if she ever saw the man, because if she did, he means nothing but danger.
the gunshot echoes quite loud despite the silencer, making her flinch. charley levels up in an instant, barking at the man whose attention now shifts to the dog, leaving the dead man's figure for a while.
he steps forward, tilting his head at the dog, "hey, how come you're here at this time?" his voice sounds deep, almost alarming for aera as her mind keeps reminding her of the weapon he's armed with. charley takes a defensive step forward, standing in a fashion that shouts out, do not come near her or you'll be having your arm torn off.
the man has his brow arching at the raging canine, pulling his hand back when the dog snaps his jaw being a blink away from the bite. he stands and peeks over behind, curious of what the dog is trying to protect with such determination.
aera hunches down, as the man chuckles. the amusement clearly displays on his sharp features with a raise of his eyebrows and a smirk lifting the left corner of his mouth which widens on noticing that the girl is scared.
"tell it to shut up." he orders, pointing his gun at the dog, making aera gulp as she tugs on her pet's hind leg, pulling him closer to herself. loosing charley would be worse than going back home.
"charley," she whispers, hugging the dog, "shh, i'm okay."
the man crouches in front of them, ignoring the frequent growls from the garman shepherd as he's standing beside the girl now. "what are you doing here?" he asks with a voice that confirms for aera that this guy just killed a person and won't hesitate killing her or her dog too.
"nothing," she answers after a moment of silence.
"listen here kid, the thing is, you saw something you shouldn't have seen. and now, it's my job to make sure you don't spill it out to anyone."
his eyes are dark, staring at the young girl defying anything in form emotions as he inspects the girl closely, guessing her to be around thirteen or fourteen years. still a kid, he scoffs, shaking his head, "get up," he says, "-and come with me."
"no," aera shakes her head, "i won't tell anything to anyone. you can go."
he snorts as if she just cracked a joke, making her frown and speaks, "do you think i'm a fool? just get up and come with me, i'll see what to do with you."
"no," she refuses again, "who are you?"
"i'm someone you shouldn't have met, but now that you did, it's better to obey." his voice deepens at the end, having aera staring up at his tall and muscular figure towering over her.
a pair of faint footsteps approach near, followed by a groan, the voice being familiar enough for the girl to be hiding behind the dumpster, pulling charley with her. the man glances back on seeing such response from the kid and realises it was an older man, limping after being badly hurt and his clothes torn on places.
"aera, i know you're there." the voice says, making the girl shake her head, placing her finger on her lips as a gesture to the tall man to stay quiet, almost begging him to help her this once.
"what?" he sighs, turning around and faces the injured.
"where's the kid?"
"there's no kid here. get going."
"you... you're jeon jungkook?"
the younger male smirks, "bingo" he whispers darkly, glancing back at the young girl while his hand points the gun at the man, "may i?"
aera nods at him slowly, eyes focused on his finger that is pressing on the trigger and soon pulls in once, and the ground receives another dead body with a thud.
"aera, huh?" he repeats, "nice, but i doubt you're anything like your name."
"thank you for helping me," she mumbles.
"i don't want your thank you. you need to pay me, kiddo. i just fucking killed this guy for you."
the girl blinks a few times, her hands search over her clothes wherever there's a pocket. jungkook watches amusedly, crossing his arms on his chest when she stops, pulling out a shiny locket and glances up at him.
"this is all i have," she says, "your name is jungbook?"
he glares at her, "kook. it's jungkook." he corrects, leaning down as he takes the locket from her, scoffing with his shoulders rolling back and breaks the chain off, throwing it in the dumpster, earning a gasp from the girl.
she stands up quickly, looking for her locket in the dark, "why did you throw it?!" she voices out, more like a whine to him.
"that's so stupid," he rolls his eyes.
"you're stupid!" jungkook glares, hearing her response as she's on the ground, searching for the locket that seems precious to her. his tongue pokes the inside of his cheek, having his eyes fixed on the young girl who has now seen him shooting two people.
"hey," he beckons coldly, "come with me."
"no! go away!"
"you-" he stops, hearing a growl from the dog and sighs deeply, then suddenly remembers the initial seconds of their meeting, "get up, or i'm shooting this animal here."
he smirks on seeing her halting with her movements, and there he knew charley was the key. "come with me, i won't repeat." he says, having his gun at the dog.
"no, don't hurt him." she says instantly, standing up and holding his hand, "please don't hurt charley... i'll go with you."
"good," his lips stretch into a little sarcastic smile, "start walking."
"charley" she whispers, holding the dog's collar and started walking ahead with short steps that make her wince as her hand moves to the side.
jungkook guides her to a car, opening the door of the back seat, letting the girl and her dog in. he releases a breath, earning a glance from aera as she stares at him, studying is face more clearly inside the car. his lips are tinted just like hers, and eyes are a dark shade of brown. the only difference she could tell between herself and the kidnapper was the scar on the crest of his cheek. oh and the tattoos that run up till his neck, covering one side and ending gradually at the back.
he's dressed quite decently, in fact so decently that a normal person wouldn't suspect him for being a criminal. black slacks and a white dress shirt tugged in, the sleeves are rolled up, flashing the inked skin of his right arm. aera shakes her head slowly as her mind plays numerous clips of men covered with tattoos on their arms and chest and some even had it on their face, being friends with her supposedly father and used to come home as her uncles.
the ride is quiet, even charley doesn't bark and sits silently near the girl who hugs him at last and closes her eyes. jungkook glances back at the child, now noticing the disheveled state of her. her clothes are dirty, laden with dirt and mud and her short hair is frizzy, the bangs fall on her forehead, covering a little of her eyes. the only thing he can certainly make out is her button nose that slopes perfectly on her face above a pair of cherry lips that look a bit chapped in the cold. her hands appear skinny to the point where he questions if she hs eaten anything or even had water in a while. she looks small. so young when he looks at her that it makes his heart do a summersault inside his chest, thinking how cruel this world can be to have a child as tender as her risking her life out here in the dark.
his eyes stare at the empty street, driving outside the city, before glancing at the kid one last time, sighing at his decision of taking her with him, knowing nothing about her. plus, having a hitman after her, indicated possible danger.
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"yah! get up!" jungkook scowls, kicking at the door of his car, standing outside of a huge a mansion. the girl flinched awake at the loud voice of the older male who looks unbothered by her tormented expression.
her eyes scan the place, following jungkook with short steps on the paved way that bisects the big lawn into two, one for the right and one for the left. despite being midnight, the grass and flower bushes look green under the lights from the lampposts lining all the way to the stares of the mansion as it is situated a few feet above ground level.
some cars are parked at the side, all reflecting the lights dimly. the mansion has an elegant exterior, looking even more beautiful with the lights glowing inside and the lampposts outside. aera tears off her gaze, fixing it on jungkook's back again as they enter a spacious lounge aera where wide stairs curling down from either side in symmetry.
aera glances down at her feet, suddenly feeling the hard surface turning into a much a softer one and realises it's a mushy grey carpet. her sight stalls unsurely at the man who brought her here and tilts her head, "now what? are you going to kill me?"
jungkook smirks, looking down at her and shrugs, "who knows? you gotta do some explaining first."
"will you kill me after that?"
jungkook's brow arches up, "why are you so desperate to die?"
"just tell me, are you going to kill me or not?"
he sighs, pulling out his gun from his pocket and waves it in front of her, "this is not a toy little girl, you can actually die."
"i know that," aera says with disinterest, but it manages to increase jungkook's curiosity as he lets out an airy chuckles, pointing the gun at her head. although the situation becomes less funny for him when the girl doesn't even react and anticipates the pulling of the trigger.
"you know what?" he leans down, "i won't kill you, just hurt you here and there. and that will hurt a lot, more than death."
aera stares at him, still looking unfazed by his little recital in an attempt to scare the fourteen-year-old. their attention shifts towards the side as a tall man walks in, his smile on seeing jungkook is replaced with a perplexed scowl on seeing the unknown guest.
he walks up to the two, having his eyes on the girl, "who is she?" his voice is heavy as he speaks to jungkook who shrugs in response.
"i found her in an alley." he answers and turns to aera, squinting his eyes on her while his words are well directed to the tall silver headed man, "it's a very troublesome kid."
"and you brought her here?" the other man presses his full lips together, showing off the prominent dimples either side on his cheeks.
"yeah, she's a witness of a kill." jungkook tells him, "two in fact, the other one was because of her."
"what?"
"i'll tell you, call everyone," jungkook nods, quickly looking at the younger girl, "and you, better not do anything stupid. i can still shoot your charley."
aera nods slowly, glancing at her dog who is sitting a few inches away from her feet. she sits quietly on the carpeted floor, beside charley while jungkook's orders a maid to call the rest of the guys. his eyes frequently stumble upon the girl, having an uneasy feeling arising everytime he'd look at her for too long. she wants to die.
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a/n- heyyy how are you all? did any of you watch the concert? because i didn't *sigh* 😞
anyway, vote if you like the chapter and stay tuned for more! lots of love! ❤️❤️
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