BEEP BEEP BEEP BEE-
"Oh, for the love of God, shut up already!"
Seongmin slammed her hand onto her alarm clock again. She'd already woken up, gotten ready for the day, and was about to walk out the door, but her apparently broken alarm clock refused to stop it's shrill wake up call, as if shouting a constant reminder that the day had begun.
Seongmin had tried turning it off several times already, as well as throwing a pillow over it, but now, running late and with no other ideas, she unplugged it and rushed out the door, grabbing her book bag as she dashed away.
Despite the distance, a few decent miles from her house, she decided to run to work that day, knowing that at this hour the traffic by car would only make her later. Sighing, she began to jog, pacing herself so she wouldn't end up winded after mile one.
Halfway to her office building, Seongmin realised her mistake. She'd failed to consider the fact that others had had the same thought as her that morning, so the foot traffic was almost as bad as the lazy river of honking cars on the road. Forced to slow down, she sighed, knowing she was going to be late yet again.
It's not my fault, she kept telling herself. Somehow, Seongmin always, always ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time. When she was ten, she'd managed to get herself caught by the foot on a tree branch while escaping from a group of school bullies, and had dangled there for over an hour before her teacher had found her. Another time, when she was twelve, she'd ended up with three broken ribs when her aunt's horse had kicked her, after being spooked by a stray cat dashing away in front of it. As Seongmin got older, things like this kept happening, until she was almost convinced she was cursed.
Now, caught in the midst of a slow, unhurried tide of people, running late for work and with no alternative routes except the occasional sketchy alleyway, Seongmin cursed internally, realising it had happened again.
Looking at her watch, she had less than twenty minutes to go about two more miles. The sketchy alleyways were beginning to sound like a good idea. Seongmin's didn't want to have to sneak in to her desk via fire escape again to avoid being noticed by her cranky boss (long story).
She spotted one up ahead, between an old theatre and a barbershop. She began to edge her way through the crowd towards the side of the walkway, deciding that the alleyway was the best shortcut she could ask for. When she got to the opening between buildings, she squeezed out of the crowd, ignoring a few grumbling old ladies pushing around shopping carts, and made her way into the deserted alley.
"Ick," she started out loud as a black rat rushed across the cement ground ahead of her. Shuddering, Seongmin kept walking, her footsteps making ominous clicking sounds that echoed through the unnaturally quiet alleyway. For all the sounds of the streets not too far away, the space between buildings was almost too silent. It was giving Seongmin the creeps.
That was before she realised she wasn't alone.
Seongmin changed her gait, speeding up to both not be late for work and to get out of the creepy alley as fast as possible, and that was when she heard different footsteps behind her.
Turning around to be sure she wasn't imagining things, she took one look and began to jog away as fast as she could without breaking into a full sprint.
The man behind her, in a black hoodie and what looked suspiciously like a gun in his hand, began to jog as well, gaining on Seongmin. He was wearing a mask over his face that revealed only his dark eyes, silver hair falling from under his hood. Her suspicions that she was being followed were confirmed as she rushed down another alley, the man turning and following her.
Why me, universe? She thought, racing away in a full sprint now, adrenaline pushing her forward. She felt like a gazelle being chased down by a lion, faster than her pursuer but losing stamina fast. She was desperate, darting down random alleyways hoping to lose the man trailing her, when she realised.
There was more than one of them. A red haired man in the same attire as the first cut Seongmin off when she tried to race down a new path, and one with jet black hair and piercing deep blue eyes did the same a few moments later. Seongmin's heart was practically beating out of her chest as she ran, sweat pouring down her face despite the cool fall air, black and teal dyed hair flying behind her like a horse's mane. All she could think was run, run, run.
So that's what she did.
She followed her thoughts.
Straight into a dead end.
She tried to turn around to escape before the men reached her, but she was too late. The silver haired man came around the nearest corner, dark eyes glinting in satisfaction as he raised what was indeed a gun in his hand, pointing it straight at Seongmin.
"Don't move, sweetie. We'd prefer it if you were alive, but try anything and I won't hesitate to use this." His voice was deep and gravely, reminding Seongmin of the mystery novels she used to read, how the bad guys always seemed to have voices like his.
Not really helpful, considering the bad guys were almost always murderers.
"Hey, whoa, can we talk?" Seongmin put her hands up, warily looking around as the other two men came out from behind corners as well, stalking towards her like cats to a bird.
"What's there to talk about?" The red haired man asked, his slightly higher voice holding a taunting edge. "We caught you, you're our captive now, and you're dead if you try anything. I can't think of any other topic of interest for conversation."
"Shut up, Kim." The silver haired man hadn't taken his eyes- or his gun- off of Seongmin, but he directed his voice, slightly irritated, at the red haired man.
"Aw, come on, Song, can't I tease her a bit?"
"No, you idiot! Shut it!"
The red haired man, Kim, apparently, grumbled a bit but stood down. Song turned his attention back to Seongmin.
"What are we going to do with her?" The black haired man in the back spoke up for the first time. Seongmin was shocked to hear that he sounded young. He couldn't be older than a teenager. His voice didn't match his attire or intimidating eyes, and Seongmin wondered how he'd gotten into this gang, feeling a stab of sympathy.
He probably joined by choice, she reminded herself. She didn't know this kid, or his story. She snapped herself back to reality, blocking out her emotions.
"You don't have to do anything with me," she stated, hoping she sounded more confident than she felt. "You could just let me go, and I won't turn you in. We'll be even, won't owe each other anything. That's how this works, right?"
Song just laughed. "Wow, you really are clueless." I am offended, Seongmin thought, but held her tongue. "In answer to Gang's question, we have a very specific purpose for you. One that's not for your ears."
Still holding the gun, he glanced at Kim and nodded. Kim reached into a black backpack he'd been carrying and pulled out a length of rope.
"Whoa, hold up!" Seongmin shouted. The men paid her no attention, Song walking up and holding the gun right to her head.
"I won't kill you," he whispered, pressing his masked lips to Seongmin's ear. "But there are ways I can hurt you that'll feel worse than death." He traced a line down Seongmin's face with the gun, stopping it at her collarbone in a clear threat.
Seongmin fought back a pang of terror, standing stock still. Kim walked up to her, holding the rope out, and Gang just stood back, staring her down with his intense blue eyes.
This is it, Seongmin thought. She'd be taken wherever the boys were going and undergo whatever their "plan" was, and probably would never be heard from again. Truth be told, that was worst case scenario, but in her panic, she couldn't think anything else.
Then suddenly, a shadow crossed overhead. Seongmin paid it no mind at first, thinking it was a cloud or possibly an airplane, but then a voice spoke behind Kim, who was standing in front of her.
"Hey. I'd let her go, if I were you. We wouldn't want a fight to break out, now would we?"
Kim turned, moving to the side slightly, and Seongmin caught a glimpse of the speaker. Her eyes widened in disbelief.
A young man, who couldn't be much older than twenty, stood in the alleyway behind the three men holding Seongmin captive. His jet black hair looked a lot like Gang's, but he wore his down over his forehead rather than pushed back like said young gang member. He had a young face, complete with large, dark eyes and a sharp jawline that fit him extremely well. His eyes were full of confidence, shining with some inner determination, an easy smile plastered onto his lips. He wore a tight black shirt, showing off his impressive build, black pants, silver boots and a matching silver belt.
None of this, however, was what shocked Seongmin.
What surprised her was the fact that he wore a mask shaped like an hourglass, covering the top half of his face but leaving his eyes exposed.
He looked like a superhero.
But that was impossible. He was just a guy impersonating a hero, who was going to get himself hurt or killed here if he tried to help Seongmin.
"Get out of here," Seongmin hissed. "Don't hurt yourself here!"
"Better listen to the girl, kid," Song said, holding tightly onto Seongmin's shoulder to keep her from running and waving the gun in the new guy's direction.
The man just laughed. "Try anything. I can take you down in a heartbeat."
Song rolled his eyes, nodding at Kim, who moved forward towards the man. Seongmin closed her eyes, not wanting to see what would happen as Kim pulled his hand back, prepared to attack the new guy.
She heard a punch and a muffled oof, but opening her eyes, she was shocked at what she saw.
Kim was out cold, ten feet away from where he'd been standing a moment ago. The man in black was standing, perfectly unharmed and seemingly unfazed. He turned towards Song, shrugging apologetically at him.
Song's eyes were twice the size they'd been a few moments ago. Gang had a similar expression on his face as he rushed toward Kim, dragging him out of the way while keeping his eyes firmly locked on the new guy.
Just then, Song aimed his gun at the man, shooting before Seongmin could shout a warning.
She couldn't believe what she saw.
The man ducked, dodging the bullet as easily as if it were a poorly thrown dodgeball, and rushed at Song. Before he had time to react, the man had grabbed the gun, and squeezing it in his hand, bent it like it were a pipe cleaner rather than a piece of hard iron.
Song dropped the gun.
"Retreat!" He shouted, starting to rush away towards Gang, who was dragging Kim along. However, the man in black just grabbed Song's hood, dragging him backwards through he was trying to run.
"Aw, come on. You didn't think I was gonna let you get away, now, did you?" He looked towards Gang, who stood frozen, petrified. Song shouted as the man lifted him up and dropped him into a dumpster at the end of the alley, dropping a few cinder blocks on top for good measure.
Gang found some sense and began to run, dragging Kim again, but the man walked up to him, grabbing his arm.
"Ah, ah, ah," he said, waving a finger in a tsk gesture at the young gang member. "Come on now. You can get off easy. Don't try to run, I won't have to put you in the trash with your silver friend."
Song, still in the dumpster, was shouting curses as he tried to pry the lid open, to no avail. Both fortunately and unfortunately for him, a few officers ran around the corner then, guns drawn and focused looks in their eyes.
The man nodded to them. "These two. One in the dumpster. Red one took a hit to the head, he'll be out for a while." Then, without warning, he lifted Seongmin up bridal style and jumped, literally, onto the top of the nearest building.
Seongmin felt her stomach drop at the rapid increase in height, going dizzy for a moment. Then she realised, it wasn't over. The man was hopping across the tops of the buildings, jumping over alleyways and sheer drops as if they were cracks in the sidewalk. Seongmin felt the sudden urge to vomit, and fought it back, thinking her saviour wouldn't appreciate it too much.
Shutting her eyes tight, Seongmin waited until the man suddenly stopped before opening them again. It took her a moment to get her bearings, but she realised she was on the roof of her office building. In awe, she looked around, wondering who on Earth this man was who'd gotten her here in such a supernatural way.
"Hey, sweetie, you gonna hold on to me all day, or can I put you down now?" The man carrying Seongmin smirked at her, and she realised she was gripping tightly onto his shirt, holding on for dear life. She quickly let go, and the man set her down, laughing.
"This is your workplace, right?" He asked.
She nodded, still awestruck.
"Well," he said, trying to break the awkward silence. "I hope you have a fantastic day. Try not to get into any more scrapes like that, okay?" He smirked, bowing his head slightly, and turned to leave.
"Wait!" Seongmin cried, finding her voice again. "You- you're a superhero," she whispered, completely starstruck.
He tapped his mask. "This give it away?" He joked.
Seongmin just stared at him. A real superhero. She half expected to wake up in her room again, her broken alarm clock still screeching at her.
The Super smiled at her, a gentle smile different than his teasing smirk. "It's okay, sweetie. I'm not gonna bite."
"I- I'm sorry, I just-" At a loss for words, Seongmin just trailed off, continuing to stare at him in complete amazement. "Do- do you have a name?"
The Super laughed. "Black Rabbit," he said, reaching out to shake her hand, a remarkably normal gesture for a superhero, Seongmin thought. "Pleased to make your acquaintance."
Seongmin reached out and shook his hand, unsure what else to do.
"Well, I really must be going now, sweetie. I'd say see you around, but if I do, it probably means you've gotten yourself into trouble again." His original smirk came back, a glint of humor in his dark eyes. He waved to her, jumping off the edge of the building, and disappeared over the skyline as Seongmin watched, unable to tear her eyes away.
Her watch beeped after a few moments, snapping her back to the present and away from her racing thoughts. Sighing, she saw the time.
Late again. Darn.
.......
Hey! How are y'all doing? I hope you're having a fantastic day!
So, yeah. Long chapter, and one of the members has been introduced now! Yay! Leave a comment if you want to take a guess who it is under the mask. 😏
This is unedited, by the way. When I'm done with this, I'll go back and fix the unedited chapters, but this one was over 2,500 words and I just did not feel like doing it at the time 🤣
Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed, don't forget to vote if you did and comment your thoughts!
I hope you all have a fantastic day/night, whenever you read this, and I will see you all in the next chapter.
Byeeeeee!
~ MineCat57 🌺
P.S.
The song I have stuck in my head that I put at the top when I write these chapters will be called song of the day from now on :3
Song of the Day:
Daydream by J-Hope ❤️