"Did you watch the news today?"
Nari looked up at her friend Jisoo. They were currently sitting in their first class at school, waiting for their lesson to begin. "No, why?"
Jisoo pursed her lips and leaned across her desk with a conspiratorial face. "There was another murder last night. By that young gang. They're calling themselves Stray Kids."
Shuddering, Nari relied, "Why do people feel the need to do such awful things? What do they have to gain?"
With a rather bored look, Jisoo shrugged. "I don't know. But my parents aren't letting me out after dark now," she said with a pout. Nari almost laughed out loud.
"What business do you have after dark?" she teased her friend. Caught off guard, Jisoo looked at her with wide eyes.
"N-nothing. Nothing important," she amended with a smile. Nari smiled back, but was made a little uneasy by her friend's expression. But she shook it off. Jisoo tells me everything. She wouldn't hide something from me.
After agonizing through a day filled with too-long assignments and mind-bending equations, Nari walked home with Jisoo. Her friend's home was closer to their school than her own, so as usual, Nari dropped her off first. Before she could continue home Jisoo smiled brightly at her.
"You want to come to a party tonight? It's at Tae's house," she said excitedly. Puzzled, Nari squinted.
"I thought you weren't allowed out after dark?" she asked hesitantly, recalling her friend's complaint. Jisoo's smile faltered.
"R-right. Never mind," she mumbled, waving her friend home. Waving back, Nari turned and strode on.
She was still a few minutes away when her stomach rumbled painfully. "Maybe I should grab a snack or two. It's not like we have food anyway," she mumbled to herself. Nari changed her course slightly towards the nearest convenience store.
As she approached the door, she saw three tall figures, one a bit taller than the rest, standing just outside the entrance. All three were wearing dark clothes and had their hoods up, and two of them were clutching bags of food. Nari could hear them talking in hushed voices.
She had been raised not to judge others based off of their appearances, but she couldn't help shivering as she walked past them. Their aura was so cold.
After a few minutes of browsing the store's options, Nari had her arms full of snacks. She made her way to the counter and paid, thanking the employee. With her precious food in tow, Nari exited the store, and was surprised to see the hooded men still standing there.
Awkwardly pausing, she stared for a moment too long. The tallest one glanced in her direction, his face shadowed by his hood. Nari's eyes widened and she almost felt as if she were in danger. But that was silly, she chided herself. He was just a person, he would never harm her in broad daylight.
Before she could turn away, Nari had caught the attention of all three boys. She cleared her throat and stepped away, dropping her eyes to the ground.
The tallest one tilted his head, then placed his hands on the others' shoulders, leading them away from the store.
The timid girl glanced in their direction again and noticed something on the ground where they had been standing. She hurried over and picked it up. It was a plain, slightly faded hard drive.
"Wait!" she called out, running after them. When she reached them, they seemed wary.
But Nari gently grabbed the tallest one's sleeve and nudged his hand open, placing the hard drive in his palm. "You dropped this," she explained, looking at the others.
The boy darted his head up at her and pulled his hood down, exposing a head of thick, chestnut-coloured hair. Nari stifled a gasp.
She wasn't easily attracted to boys out of caution, but this one easily took her breath away. With his tall nose, elegant eyes, sharp jawline, luscious full lips and beauty marks, he was definitely the most attractive man Nari had ever seen.
His pretty brown eyes, however, were full of poorly masked panic. Hastily, he licked his lips and peered down at her. "Thank you," he said in a lovely, honeyed voice. Nari swore her heart was nothing but a puddle of goo now.
She coughed out a laugh and tucked her hair behind her ear nervously. "Don't worry about it."
As fast as she could, Nari spun around and speed-walked away from the awkward exchange. She wasn't looking forward to going home, but it was a little better than making a fool out of herself in front of a gorgeous boy.
Don't waste your thoughts on him, the frazzled girl told herself. You'll probably never see him again anyway.
When she came up to the steps of her house, Nari stopped. She really, really didn't want to have to deal with her uncle today, but there was no way around it.
Silently, she opened the worn door and slipped off her shoes. Tiptoeing past the kitchen, she allowed herself a glance at the table. It made her feel slightly better to see that there weren't as many empty bottles thrown on there as usual. Her uncle was, thankfully, nowhere to be seen.
Breathing deeply, Nari continued to step lightly around dirty furniture, picking her way through the house until she shut and locked her bedroom door. This was her only 'safe zone' in the house.
Now relieved and relaxed, she changed out of her school uniform and into sweatpants and a t-shirt. Pulling her hair into a ponytail, Nari took out her homework, opened one of her snacks, and began to attack the paper.
When seven o'clock rolled around, she had run out of food and sanity. She rolled over on her bed and stretched, grunting as her joints popped into place. Sighing, Nari let her mind wander back to the boys at the store. Why had they been so wary of her, a 5'3", 17 year old girl carrying an unhealthy amount of junk food? And why had that boy been so shocked when she handed him the hard drive? Why was it so important?
The tired girl rubbed her eyes and gave her head a shake. It was useless to dwell on such things. Especially when they had nothing to do with her.
Too lazy to get up again, Nari pulled her phone out to text Jisoo.
Nari
Hey, you're home right?
seen
Nari
Please tell me you didn't sneak out again
seen
Nari
You need to stop, parties aren't worth getting grounded
seen
Nari
Well wherever you are be safe. I'll see you at school I guess
seen
Nari groaned. "Jisoo-ah, why you no listen to meeee?"
Shoving her hurt down, she went to her bathroom and brushed her teeth. Tears began to blossom behind her eyes. Jisoo always considered her advice, always listened, always heard what she had to say. The only thing she didn't listen about was going to mature parties while she was underage. It stirred up Nari's anger, but mostly her concern. It was only a matter of time before Jisoo got hurt.
Forcefully, Nari rinsed her brush out and smacked it down on the counter. She tried to force her emotions down, but they rose back up. Against her will a tear trickled out, and then another. Sobs built up in her throat until it burned too much and she let them out.
Nari threw herself on her bed and cried, her slight body trembling. It wasn't just frustration over her friend, it was the release of weeks of pent up stress, anger, and sadness, and Nari just let it all out.
When the tears stopped, the shivering girl curled up on her bed, hiccuping. Her hand fisted and she wiped the moisture off her face like a child. Slowly, her tired eyes fluttered shut, and she drifted into a fitful sleep.
Little did Nari know, a tall figure watched from his hiding place on the street outside her window. Watching her, his heart wrenched. He remembered when he had been alone, when he hadn't had anyone.
But he pushed aside the strange feeling and took out his phone, turning away from her. Quickly, he dialed a number and held the phone to his ear. The other line picked up immediately. "Yes?"
"I found her," the boy said quietly, awaiting his leader's answer. He could almost see the grin forming on the older boy's face.
"Excellent."
I feel like this is going to suck but
I'm writing it anyway
Who do you think was outside her window?