chapter 2: BACK AGAIN
1192 Words
KANG DO-YUN'S POV
The car was quiet, but something didn't feel right.
I watched the buildings pass through the window. My phone had been ringing for the past ten minutes, and every call was from Park Ji-hoon.
I finally answered.
“Are you ignoring me on purpose?” he asked.
“I'm busy.”
“Doing what?”
“Nothing you need to worry about.”
“That's exactly what you would say. just remember to get me the pizza on your way”
I ended the call. Annoying jerk.
The car turned into an underground parking garage. I looked at the driver.
“Why are we here?”
He didn't answer.
I reached for the door, but the man sitting beside me suddenly blocked my way.
“Stay where you are.”
I looked at his hand, then at his face.
“Move.”
Instead, he reached inside his jacket.
I reacted just as a gunshot rang through the garage. A sharp pain struck my left shoulder, and I stumbled against the seat.
For a second, everything went quiet.
Then the driver got out, and two more men appeared near the entrance.
I didn't need an explanation anymore.
Someone had set me up.
I forced my way out of the car and ran before they could surround me. I managed to get outside, but my shoulder was hurting badly, and I knew I couldn't keep moving like this for long.
I called Ji-hoon again.
He answered immediately. “Where are you?”
“Near the old shopping district.”
“What happened?”
“I've been shot.”
His voice changed. “I'm coming. Tell me exactly where you are.”
“Find out who arranged this first.”
“Do-yun, forget that for now. You need help.”
“I'll call you back.”
I ended the call and looked around.
The convenience store was just down the street.
It was the last place I wanted to go, but I couldn't think of anywhere safer.
Not yet.
HAN SEO-YEON'S POV
The door opened, and I looked up from my phone.
The man from earlier had returned.
For a moment, I almost smiled.
Then I noticed how pale he looked and how carefully he was holding his left shoulder.
“What happened to you?”
“Nothing.”
I stared at him.
“Right. you look so nice in that ”
He tried to walk past me, but his steps faltered. I hurried over and helped him into the little storage room behind the counter.
“Sit down before you fall.”
He lowered himself onto a chair.
I grabbed the first-aid kit and returned to his side.
“Let me see your shoulder.”
“It's fine.”
“Then why are you holding it like that?”
He gave me a tired look but finally moved his hand. His shirt was torn, and it was clear he needed proper medical attention.
I pressed a clean cloth against the injured area.
He winced.
“Sorry,” I muttered. “I'm doing my best here.”
“Your best is painful.”
“Next time, I'll let you handle it yourself.”
He fell silent.
I reached for my phone. “I'm calling an ambulance.”
“No hospital.”
I turned to him. “Excuse me?”
“I can't go to a hospital.”
“Then tell me where you want to go. Because I'm not qualified to deal with this.”
He didn't answer.
I looked at him for a few seconds, waiting for an explanation that never came.
“You know what? You are the most difficult person I've met this week.”
“It's Monday.”
“Exactly. You've ruined my week already.”
He almost smiled, but the expression faded quickly.
Before I could say anything else, someone knocked on the store's front door.
I froze.
The store was closed, and the sign had already been turned around.
Through the narrow gap in the storage-room doorway, I saw two men standing outside beside a black car. One tried the door handle.
Locked.
The other looked through the glass, scanning the store.
I stepped back.
Do-yun caught my wrist.
“Don't open it.”
I couldn't figure this weird guy out. what if those are customers.
We stayed quiet until the men finally returned to their car and drove away.
I waited until the vehicle disappeared before turning to him.
“Who were they?”
“I don't know.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“No.”
At least he was honest about lying.
I returned to his side. “Listen, I don't know what you've gotten yourself into, but you need a doctor. Whatever problem you have with those men isn't worth dying over.”
He looked at me.
“Why are you helping me?”
I glanced at the cloth in my hand.
“Because you're hurt. What else am I supposed to do? Leave you here?”
He didn't reply.
His phone began ringing, and he struggled to reach it. I picked it up.
“Hello?”
“Where's Do-yun?” a man asked.
“Who are you?”
“Park Ji-hoon. Put him on the phone, please.”
I handed it over.
“Ji-hoon,” Do-yun said quietly.
“I'm on my way. Stay where you are, and don't do anything stupid.”
“I'm sitting down.”
“Good. Keep doing that.”
Do-yun ended the call.
I shook my head. “Your friend sounds worried.”
“He worries too much.”
“You've been shot. I think he has a reason.”
Do-yun didn't respond. His gaze had moved to the silver pendant around my neck.
The one my brother had given me.
His face changed.
“Your brother...” he whispered.
I leaned closer.
“What about him?”
He looked as though he wanted to tell me something, but before he could continue, his eyes closed and his head dropped back against the chair.
“Do-yun?”
I tapped his cheek gently.
“Hey. Can you hear me?”
He didn't respond.
My heart began to race.
I called emergency services and explained what had happened, giving them the store's address. Then I returned to his side and followed the instructions I was given while waiting for help.
I kept looking at his face.
For a year, I'd been searching for answers about my brother. Now someone who claimed to have known him was sitting in front of me, and he'd almost told me something important.
I couldn't let this chance disappear.
“You'd better wake up,” I whispered. “I have a lot of questions, and you're going to answer every single one.”
Outside, rain tapped against the windows.
I had no idea who those men were, why they'd followed him, or what my brother had to do with any of it.
But I was beginning to understand one thing.
Maybe destiny isn't that bad..
At least it brought me a handsome stranger who might have the answers I want.
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