Wendy stood frozen in the middle of the crowd, her eyes searching for his familiar face. There was a desperateness tightening in her chest that made it hard to breath. Tears continued to trickle down her cheeks as people bumped into her from every side. Fear had taken over and she’d basically shut down not bothering to move even after a few spewed curse words in her direction. Her vision started to blur and it was becoming hard to breathe the longer she stayed waiting but the girl couldn’t risk moving or running away because he wouldn’t be able to find her. A figure coming closer caught her attention and she heaved a breath of relief when her vision focused to see his face. He had found her. “Oppa..” With a tearful smile, she wrapped her arms around his neck, face burying into his chest. A sense of peace rushed over now that he’d found her and Wendy thought everything would be okay but that was quickly proven wrong when he quickly pulled away and tugged her hand. Glancing behind as she sprinted in the direction that Taekwoon darted off, she saw the two men chasing them. “Don’t let them take me!” Her voice was laced with worry and fear as she ducked behind the vehicle that she assumed was his to hide from the coming men.
He crouched behind the vehicle, by her side as soon as they reached it, placing a finger upon his mouth signaling for her to keep silent. “Shh… I’ll not let anyone hurt you.” His whisper was firm, as he tried to pass her as much conviction through it as he could. Taekwoon didn’t intend to let anyone touch her and he would do whatever it took to keep her safe and sound, with no injuries or any kind of kidnapping involved. He allowed himself to keep quiet for a moment, trying to listen any kind of sound that would serve him as a warning, as if angry male voices or quick steps. And once he was sure that they had averted the men, he used the key to unlock the car, wishing with all his strength that it wouldn’t catch their attention. Swiftly opening the passenger car’s door with one of his hands, motioning forward with his chin to say with a gesture that she had to enter the car, but not waiting to her response, already pushing her inside as gently as he could with the rush he had. And soon, the male, carefully, stood up and made his way to the other side of the vehicle, so he could get inside it and drive till home, but he didn’t noticed when the man came from the other side, just noting his presence when his hands met Taekwoon’s shirt, pushing his back hard against the car and mentioning – with a lot of hostility as he pressed Taekwoon’s shoulders, making them start to hurt – that someone wanted the girl. He just had a moment to think when the man’s fist met his chin, his tongue instantly tasting blood as his lip got cut by the punch, and in a matter of seconds he used one of his blows of taekwondo, managing to make the man get off him and entering the car, promptly starting it and driving fast out of that place, a blend of soreness and relief taking his whole body as he looked to the side to see Wendy still there.
After sending the text, Wendy glanced around her surroundings looking for a safe place to hide while she awaited for the arrival of the male. A large dumpster pressed against the side of the building caught her attention and she quickly scampered to slip in the space between the wall and dumpster. Male voices echoed through the alley as two men walked into the area chattering about finding the girl with blue tipped hair for their boss. Fear shot up Wendy’s back as she cowered in the tiny space, her whole body trembling in hopes that they wouldn’t discover her. Taking a shaky breath in, she switched her cellphone on silent so it wouldn’t alert them to her hiding place and tried to keep as quiet as possible. The darkness was soon lit up by the light of her phone signalling a new text. Wendy was barely able to catch a glimpse at the male’s messages before a loud shout shook though her entire body. In one sudden blur, the dumpster was shoved away from the wall exposing her as one man shouted to the other that he’d found her. The girl knew that she had two choices, stay and they them drag her away or make a break for it. Without a second thought, Wendy sprang up from the ground and shoved one of the men with all her might before darting for the light at the end of the alleyway. Once she reached the sidewalk, she looked both ways before deciding to run to the left back in front of the club. She could hear the shouting of the men chasing her but that didn’t stop her from bolting further into the crowd of people. Faces, colors, and the boom of music coming from inside the club all mixed and smeared together as Wendy finally stopped running, standing still in one spot trying to calm herself enough to find Taekwoon. Tears spilled from the frightened girl’s eyes as she unlocked her phone finally reading the message. “Taekwoon oppa!” Wendy shouted repeatedly like a child lost looking for their father.
His eyes ran desperately through the crowd of people that were in front of the Factory Underground. If he could only have a sight of the blue of the tip of her hair… But the more he looked around, the more he worried – as if it wasn’t already enough. He briefly questioned himself about why had she come to such place but, not being able to concentrate on his own mind or to think straight, he simply shook the thought away and continued his search, now moving himself among the mass of people with a lot of rush. Although he couldn’t explain, he sensed that she was in danger; he could sense that Wendy needed him, and knowing that he still hadn’t found her was freaking him out. “Where are you, Wendy?…" He mumbled to himself, bumping onto a woman that sent him a death glare, obviously not amused – not that he had time to care. Over the sound of the music coming out from inside the club, he heard a shout and, in a blink of an eye, he recognized it as the girl’s voice yelling his name. It took less than two minutes to Taekwoon finally find her, relief taking his whole body as he saw she was okay, but as soon as he took a view of the tears rolling down Wendy’s cheeks, he wrapped his arms around her in a way to show he was there and everything was going to be fine. Or at least he thought so for a moment before he saw two men moving in their direction, quite mad and rushed. "Let’s go!” With swift reflexes, he pulled back of the embrace and grabbed the girl’s hand, starting to run away from the crowd to the car he left parked not so far from the night club, dragging Wendy along. He didn’t know who they were and judging by their faces and physical expressions, they were the reason why the younger called him, so he would not stay to find out whether they were innocent or not, and was pretty much preferring not to enter into a fight since things would not look good if he did so.
Wendy couldn’t lie and say that it was nothing bad but at the same time she didn’t want him to worry anymore than he already was so she chose not reply to the final two messages he sent. She kept her fingers clenched tight around the phone not putting it away in fear that she might miss his text or call as he approached and paced aimlessly on the sidewalk in front of the club. Drunkards and scantily clad dressed woman bumped into her from every side leaving Wendy feeling even more claustrophobic than she had before inside the night club. “Taekwoon..please hurry.” Mumbling to herself, she glanced at the clock on the phone and sighed at how time seemed to be ticking so slow. A rough male voice rumbled through her thoughts and she quickly snapped her head to the sound catching sight of the figure that was pursuing her inside the club. Thankfully he was preoccupied with the bouncer talking about god knows what and didn’t spot the weary girl. Not wasting any time Wendy scuffled in to mix with crowd of girls that were walking by and used them as cover while she hurriedly made her way into the nearest alleyway to hide. With trembling fingers she quickly sent a message.
[✉- 레오]Are you close?
As he drove till Hongdae his mind was filled with worries. What if she was kidnapped? What if she was lost and crying somewhere? What if someone hurted her? The amount of ‘what if’s’ passing through his thoughts was driving him crazy at the point he wanted to punch a wall just to release the stress. Taekwoon was just like that to anyone younger than him, since he always felt this fatherlike urge to protect them even when he, most of the time, prefered not to show his concerns. In fact, he just hoped she wasn’t into too much trouble – since he could sense, even when she didn’t answer to his last message – that she was involved in something bad. His phone demanded attention by lighten up the screen when he was already parking the car on the vicinity of the night club, then with quick reflexes, he answered to Wendy’s message while getting off the car and walking till the front of the club, having to divert of various people not to bump onto them.
[ txt to wendy ]: I'm here.
[ txt to wendy ]: Where are you? I can't see you among the crowd.
[✉- 레오] I’m almost scared to tell you.
[✉- 레오] I’ll be waiting.
[✉- 레오] Tell me when you’re near so I can look out for you.
[ txt to wendy ]: I just hope it's nothing bad.
[ txt to wendy ]: Alright. I'm going.
He locks his phone and puts it into his pocket before getting into his manager’s bedroom and stealing the car keys. Taekwoon, then, quickly manages to get out the dorm and enter the car, that was parked on the garage of the building. Without even thinking he starts it and begins to drive till Hongdae, where the girl was waiting for him. He was rather concerned about her what made him wish to get there swiftly, hoping that she’s not involved in something bad.
[✉- 레오] Yeah, the club..
[✉- 레오] I’ll explain when you get here.
[✉- 레오] I’m gonna wait outside. You’ll find me, right?
[ txt to wendy ]: I can't wait to hear the explanation.
[ txt to wendy ]: I hope so.
[ txt to wendy ]: I'll be there in a few minutes.
[✉- 레오] No..I mean yes..no..
[✉- 레오] I just need to get out of here.
[✉- 레오] I don’t know the address. I’m in Hongdae at Factory Underground..
[ txt to wendy ]: Factory Underground?
[ txt to wendy ]: How did you--
[ txt to wendy ]: Anyways, I'm going to pick you up, don't worry.
[ txt to wendy ]: Are you alright?
[ txt to wendy ]: Anything happened?
[ txt to wendy ]: Give me te address and I'll go to find you.