05 :Masked Man

Wong Takeda stood infront of the mafias. “Get out of here,” he exclaimed.

One of them was a huge one with a fat belly, sneered. “And what are you going to do if we’re not leaving?” he breathed to Takeda’s face.

Takeda punched him in the face which caused a crack sound to the nose. “You smell bad,” he let out a sigh. 
“Who’s next?” he asked with a grin.

Raeyeon came and stood beside him. Takeda glanced at her. “Yah~ what are you doing?” he asked.

“Might as well fight together..” Raeyeon smiled.

“Now, you’re treating me like a friend?” he chuckled.

“Yah yah, that’s my girl you’re laughing with,” a tall bulky guy stood by the door with a gentle smile on his face.

“Oh~ Eli oppa,” Raeyeon called out his name.

Takeda glanced at her. “You know him?”

“Yeah, he’s my boyfriend..” she smiled.

Eli came in the store and started punching the first guy who’d blocked his way. One of the gangsters strode to him. But Eli was fast to avoid the punches and he kicked the guy on the knee. He hurried and grabbed hold of Raeyeon’s hand. “Let’s run,” he said.

Before they could run any further, a masked man appeared out of nowhere and stabbed Eli.

Raeyeon frozed. She wanted to reach out for him but she can’t move. From where she stood, she could hear Eli’s unstable breathing. She panicked. She had to call the ambulance or something. She had to hurry.

“Oppa!” she croaked.

But the body laid there. Not moving. Not breathing.

“OPPPAA!!” she cried out.

Park Raeyeon opened her eyes abruptly. The first thing she saw was her room’s ceiling. She sat on the bed and run her palms to her face. She was sweating hard and without her realizing, she was crying.

What she dreamt was the incident happened 5 years ago. The year where she learned what sorrow means. Although she had Hyejin going on hating her but Eli was there to hear her brag or nag about what happened. 
However, without Eli, she decided to stay strong for how long, she didn’t know. She shook off the thoughts of Eli and wiped her tears away.

Raeyeon stood up and walked to the mirror. She sighed heavily. Luckily everything was a dream or more like a nightmare. The bakery is definitely meaningful to her. Her manager, Nicole and Dongwoon including other staffs, didn’t know who she was. They didn’t know what life she has. With all the thoughts in her head, she went into the bathroom and got ready for classes.

College was same as usual, the unusual part was Yonghwa always stood by her side which makes everyone wooed and asked for his phone number from her. Creating a whole new feeling that she came to know as ‘jealous’. Not the ‘love’ part of jealous. Just jealous that Yonghwa had taken the spotlight off her. That was what she said to herself.

“You know, I preferred staying at home,” Yonghwa started the conversation as both of them sat for lunch.

Raeyeon grinned. “Finally, those words came out from your mouth,” she said and fed herself a mouthful of salad.

Yonghwa glanced at her and wanted to laugh. Raeyeon was pretty and all. But when it comes to food, she’ll always have something smudged on her face. This time, she had mayonnaise on her lips and cheek. He leaned forward which makes Raeyeon to lean away from him. Yonghwa took the tissue, wiped it and continued eating.

Raeyeon blinked. “Yah!” she yelled.

“What? You thought I would kiss you instead?” he said while gesturing his spoon.

With a groaned, she took a big gulp of her blackcurrant juice. “Say Yonghwa, I want to know something. Why do I need a bodyguard?”

Yonghwa looked at her with mix emotion. He looked back to his plate. “You need one,” he gave her the shortest answer.

“That means I’m in danger.”

“No.”

“Stop lying, Yonghwa,” she said and stared at him.

Yonghwa raised his face to look at her. “What would you do, if I am hired to kill you,” he muttered.

Raeyeon froze. “You wouldn’t..”

“and why?”

“Because you’re my bodyguard. You’re supposed to take care of me not kill me,” she answered with a short breath.

“You’ll never know. Especially in the life you’re living in,” Yonghwa said solemnly.

“You tell me, Yonghwa sshi. Should I trust you?”

“Do you?”

She looked at him.

“Don’t play with the word trust if you don’t know what trust is,” he exclaimed and stood up. “I’ll wait outside of the café’” with that, he made his way out.

Raeyeon frowned. “What’s with that?” she said and took the last bite.

Yonghwa scratched his head. “Trust?” he scoffed. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

Raeyeon went out of the café and spotted Yonghwa leaning against the locker. She bit her lips and stared at him. He made her wonder. Why does the word trust made him so mad? She walked slowly to him and shoved him lightly. “Mianhe..” she said.

Yonghwa’s eyes were fixed to the wall in front of him.

“I’m sorry for not trusting you. It’s my fault,” she comforted him again.

“It’s best that you didn’t, Raeyeon shii,” Yonghwa finally said.

“Yonghwa shii~ you’re getting weirder every moment you know,” she exclaimed and glared at him.

He smiled. “Let’s go,” he said and walked the opposite path.

She scoffed and followed right behind him.

That night, Minhyuk sat leaned towards the street lamp and dialed a number. “Yeah, still no sign of anything,” he nodded as he heard the voice from the other line.


“Be sure to find enough evidence. We can’t arrest him with what we have..”


“Don’t worry Sir. I’ll do my best,” he said and bit his goodbyes to his boss. Lately, things had been tough. Minhyuk taught that things would be a lot easier when he entered Shinman’s gang. Somehow, it makes it very hard. People are eyeing him everywhere he went because he’s new. He sighed and patted his tummy. “I’m hungry,” he pouted. “Maybe there’s something I could eat along this way,” he said to himself and strode pass the alley.

The first ‘food’ shop that he caught his eyes on was the bakery. He smiled to himself and went in. The smell of bread and coffee blown him away. He patted his tummy again. “Let’s eat some delicious bread,” without hesitation, he took the tray and surveyed every bread. Minhyuk was very particular when it comes to food. He wanted the best for his tummy.

“Tsk. Which one should I choose? Cheese with garlic or chicken sandwich?” he moaned over the food in front of him.

“Can I help you, sir?” a girl asked as she saw the customer is having a hard time.

Minhyuk glance to his right and saw Raeyeon. “oh? Raeyeon shii?”

Her eyes widened. “Minhyukshii.. What are you doing here?”

“Buying some bread.. but you..?” he looked at her from head to toe. “Part time?” he whispered.

Raeyeon looked around. Her manager wasn’t looking. So she decided to explain things to Minhyuk outside. 
“Oh.. oh..my bread…” he said while stretching out to pick one but he can’t reached it.

Outside, Raeyeon stood opposite Minhyuk. “Urm.. Minhyuk shii. The part-time job..I..”

“You want me to keep the secret?”

She nodded weakly.

He smiled. “Don’t worry. I won’t tell anyone..”

Her face brightened up. “Really? Really really?”

He nodded again with a smile.

When Raeyeon was about to walk in the bakery, she saw a masked man.
-----------------------------------------------------------