Park Chan-yeol [Red Riding Hood/Channie] (EXO)

Do Kyung-soo [The scary gangster/D.O] (EXO)

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After the last exam had been written and handed in, I sighed as I massaged my sore hands. A handful of the students around me let out a loud sigh as well. Some of them even let their heads fall against the wooden surface of their desks while the lecturers dismissed us and congratulated us on finishing our last exam for the first semester.

After putting my green winter jacket on, I quickly packed all my stuff in my backpack. With the straps over my shoulders, I proceeded on leaving the room. Now I only had to go home quickly, take my already packed suitcase and leave the town with the first bus. Breathing in the cold air as I opened the exit door, I threw my head back and looked up to the sky.

No school for two weeks. It was a long time ago that I had felt this relieved. It was fun to study and all but for once letting my brain rest from lectures was very much needed at this point.

My eyes roamed over the campus. Students talked with each other. Some laughed, some even cried. I was about to look away to give them their privacy when I suddenly noticed a familiar face that glanced back at me. Jeong-guk vanished just as quickly as I had spotted him between a group of youths. Since there were so many students walking on the long walkway they unintentionally hid him from my eyes, so it was no wonder that I had lost track of him in the end. My heart clenched. Panic and worry had arisen in me. I ran in the direction I had seen him last but he was nowhere to be found. I looked around, breathed slowly in and out to calm my crazy heartbeat but it didn't help. I wasn't able to calm down. How could I? Liza's disappearance—it was never going to sit well with me. Not until someone reassured me about her well-being.

And this guy; he surely knew more than me about her current situation, so although I didn't know where he was, I kept searching for him anyway and jogged up to the gate, exiting the big campus. Being-guk was nowhere to be found. Like a ghost, he had vanished and had left no traces behind. Maybe it had been my imagination after all. Normally it had been nightmares pestering me throughout the long nights but now, in the middle of the day, maybe I still kept dreaming. I shook my head to clear my mind.

I needed to snap out of it!

Taking a long breath I gripped the right strap which hung over my shoulder, snuggled my face into the smooth material of my scarf, and made my way back home although I would have rather looked some more for him. Snowflakes fell from the heavily grey-white colored sky. The white ground looked more like an ice skating arena, so I had to be very careful not to slip and fall. Not as if it would kill me. Dying was the least of my worries at this point in my life anyway.

The political issues had worsened a lot that particular month. Not even the powerful human beings ruling over the country could do anything against the mafia which was slowly rising to take over their positions. It was obvious that some politicians were involved with the gang since they had denied the problem with Bangtan at multiple conferences, saying there was no underground organization trying to destroy the political system. Korean citizens on social media who were known for their harsh opinions about politics and the mafia were blocked and journalists who had criticized politicians and gangsters suddenly stopped writing. All the Indie channels disappeared from the Radio and TV and were replaced by other broadcasts about irrelevant topics. Thus, everybody kept quiet and hid in the fear of being the next one to be tracked down by the mafia.

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After opening the front door to my home a tasty smell hit my nose. I didn't think about taking off my shoes as I slowly approached the kitchen area, hypnotized by the absurd idea of Lisa being the one eating the Ramen I had prepared the day before. It seemed like a dream, almost an illusion. Though as my eyes were set on the small dining table I didn't see the girl who had vanished just like every protester. An unknown man sat there, eating from a white bowl. I froze as I observed him slurping the noodles and digesting the food in a weirdly calming stance. Light icy blue, almost white eyes looked up into mine as he had noticed my presence next to the kitchen counter. Silver hair with a tint of lilac, multiple colored golden chains hanging from his neck leading to his black sweatshirt and black leather jacket—he had the appearance of a model.

The stranger ate as if he hadn't broken in someone else's apartment but at his own house. I couldn't hide my surprise as I stood there, staring at the artificial-looking male. Not sure what to do, I must have looked very indecisive, blinking a couple of times to make sure this scenario was not only playing in my head but in the actual reality. Who was this guy? My heart sank as I noticed a silver gun laying beside the bowl, shining as it reflected the light coming from the glass lamp above.

He was probably in the mafia. Maybe he was a shark, the Jackson type of guy.

"Sit down," he said while chewing, turning his gaze back to the Ramen.

I felt as if I couldn't move all of a sudden. My heart thumped so fast in my chest, I feared it would jump out of my ribcage any minute now.

The stranger sighed after I didn't do as he told me and set the chopsticks on top of the frame of the white bowl which made me flinch. While munching annoyingly, he took the time to stare me down. His icy blue eyes lingered a moment too long on my cat-printed socks before his eyes roamed over my frame and halted at my face yet again. I changed my mind about him looking like a doll, he resembled a fairy with his pointy ears that were a little bit sticking out under his metallic silver hair strands. This person wasn't about hiding and going undercover. He was an attention seeker with this elegant and clean style. Especially those unique eyes, one could never look past those. Just like the gun which laid dangerously close to his arm that he rested intentionally next to it.

Catching the last drop of courage in me, I swiftly turned around and darted to the front door. Getting a hold of the door handle, I immediately opened it and froze. It felt as if life was drained out of my whole existence. So much adrenaline and shock pumped through my blood that I feared my brain would give up functioning any second now. Honestly, I wasn't sure if I even remembered my name, while I only fixated the black circled hole at the end of the gun, ready to put a bullet in my head.

"Back off," The second stranger ordered in a stern tone. His words sounded alien to me even though I knew the language very well, hearing it the past 18 years of my life. I felt like vomiting or crying—most likely both. My legs were about to give in under me though they were the thickest and strongest parts of my body and should have been able to hold me up in any situation. I slowly sank into a panicking form. I had never experienced it before. I couldn't breathe. I wasn't even able to shriek, my throat so dry and my mouth clamped together like one of a shell.

"Are you deaf? Back. Off. Now!" the man repeated in his deep and scary voice. His words were now clearer than ever. Especially when he pushed the cold metallic object to my temple. I immediately followed his order and took a step back, still feeling very much like a human statue, my eyes glued to the deadly weapon. Now the second unknown male was in my apartment as well, closing the door with his shoes behind him. His dark brown, almost black eyes roamed over the apartment and halted over my shoulder.

"Are you for real? Fucking hell, Red Riding Hood! We're not here to eat and enjoy ourselves!" the man scolded the other male, shooting daggers at him with his dark orbs. The man looked very much pissed off at this point, massaging his temple with his free hand, sighing loudly. "Why am I always the one babysitting the fuck-ups?" he rather asked himself than the other male, sighed, and went through his raven black hair with his free hand.

He sounded exactly like Jeong-guk with that familiar statement.

Suddenly his round eyes found mine yet again and narrowed at me. The silver gun still pointed to my head, he raised his head, looking down on me. That wasn't as easy as he was only two or three inches taller than me.

"Who are you?" he questioned me, leaving his full lips slightly open while he stared at me.

What?

He didn't even know who I was? Then why the fuck was he holding a gun at me, in my own home? Why did they feel the need to break into my apartment and steal my food? That luxurious watch around his wrist gave me a feeling that he didn't need to steal anything from me since he could easily buy it himself.

"Aish! Don't tell me she doesn't even speak Korean," he rather spoke to himself again, changing his stance and gazing behind me yet again. Suddenly 'Red Riding Hood' appeared next to me, leaning his left arm on my right shoulder on the process. I felt all the hair stand up on my body and had the urge to just pull away.

I hated when strangers thought they could come up to me and touch me out of the blue.

"She does speak Korean," the model answered, holding up my passport as proof. "She's a Korean citizen." I glared at him as those words had left his rosy lips. So he had snooped around my bedroom before he had sat at the table and eaten my leftovers.

At that moment I just wanted to slowly back away and flee through the nearest window. Only that this wasn't some thriller movie where I would have a chance at escaping like most of the lucky main characters usually did. I was pretty sure that I played the role of a very minor character whose death didn't affect the storyline nor the feelings of the actual watchers.

The dark, nearly black eyes found mine again and made me almost jump out of my skin as I looked forward again. As if he had sensed my crazy idea, his aura darkened. This man was very intense.

"Not in the mood for talking then?" he asked me and waited for some time while staring at me. It's not as if I didn't want to. Was it physically or mentally cause or both, I just couldn't let my voice out. Additionally, my head felt clouded and dizzy, numbing every nerve in my body.

A very weird feeling was slowly taking over my brain. I couldn't quite pinpoint it but it was a mix between helplessness and worry. This must be what all the protesters must have felt when their voices had been taken away.

"Well, it doesn't matter anyway. Our job is done for today. We have what we came for."

That was it? What did they come for? What did they steal?

"Huh? We don't even know yet if she's involved?" Red Riding Hood said, confused, letting my arm go. The passport was still in his grasp and the gun he had put next to him on the table, was in his back pocket, shimmering from the light above.

"That's exactly why you still count as a rookie, Channie," the dangerous male stated. I directed my gaze from the gun to the black-haired man again who eyed 'Red Riding Hood' or 'Channie' or whatever his name was.

I had been too stressed about the situation—I still was—to take in the appearance of the shorter burglar. But now, that his gun was held lazily by his side, I didn't feel as much pressure though I was still freaking out internally. The dangerous man had a rough look to him though his pretty face didn't show it, his round eyes did. With his full lips and a button nose, his soft facial features did resemble one of a child's. However, he was the complete opposite of innocent and childish with his deadly weapon and that harsh gaze in his round eyes.

"This girl," he began yet again, staring at me while he talked. "wouldn't act the way she does if she wasn't involved."

My heart clenched.

He must have meant her. He must have talked about her. About Lisa.

"So we just leave now that's it clear that she's involved?"

"It's not our job to find out what she's hiding," the other male explained, lifting his hand. The gun was pointing at my face this time, his index finger dangerously close to pulling the trigger. "However, we still have to bring her to the interrogation room." He pressed the muzzle of the cold object against my cheek. "And she's going to behave herself if she doesn't want to end up in a wheelchair a lifetime long," he threatened me, a small smirk tugging at the corners of his lips as I took in his imminent words. My eyes automatically widened at his cruel warning.

"Let's go." Dropping the aim of his gun, he turned around and opened the door, motioning for me to go past him and leave the apartment. Glancing back at Channie, the dude only raised his eyebrows at me, nodding in the direction before me.

After exhaling and inhaling shortly, I finally stepped out of the apartment. My heart raced like crazy as I strode the terrace along the stairs. I felt the intense gazes at my nape, burning holes in my skin as I slowly went down the metallic steps.

Would they shoot me from behind? Where the fuck should I even go? Did they just let me go first? Weren't they worried about me escaping?

I stopped in my tracks I had reached the ground and turned around. Channie was jogging down the stairs, ignoring me as he went past me to the parking lot in front of the building. Though he glanced back at me as he noticed that I wasn't following him anymore. The other male was nowhere near, maybe still in the apartment. My gaze set on the other way, I thought of a crazy idea.

Wouldn't this be the perfect timing to escape?

Wherever I had found the confidence in me about actually outrunning these men, a deafening bang made me lose those insane thoughts all at once. My heart must have almost stopped by the way it had clenched at the scary sound and increased its rapid beat. The fairy was pointing his gun at me with an emotionless expression on his face. My immediate reaction was to search for the wound on my body but after some seconds I realized that I had never felt the pain from the contact with the bullet. Moreover, I was still alive.

Had he missed my body? No, that would be absurd. He may have been a 'rookie' or whatever that babysitting speech of the dangerous man had meant but he couldn't be an actual amateur when it came to guns. It had been intentional. He was trying to scare me. Channie wanted me to know that even if he wasn't killing me yet he was very capable to do so if he wished to.

"I'm going to shoot you the second time if you don't move it."

So with trembling legs and the urge to vomit, I began walking again, praying to all the Gods above that he wouldn't shoot a second time and hurt me.

There was no way I would play around with my life like this ever again.

Arriving at the parking lot, Channie unlocked a black luxurious car with the keys he had fished out of the inner pocket of his leather jacket. For that, he had to put his gun in the back pocket of his black jeans. I noticed that he was still holding my passport which he slid into his leather jacket's pocket.

"Get in," the gangster ordered and went to the other side of the car to get in the driver's seat himself. He wasn't even checking up on me anymore. Not that he needed to after he had pulled off the trigger not even a minute ago. Looking around for one last moment, my eyes stopped at the other male who stood on the terrace, glancing back at me as well while he extended down the stairs.

I breathed in, opened the car door, and hesitantly slid in the back seat, laying my backpack on my legs. I felt immediate discomfort as I was more or less trapped in an unknown car with an unknown man and an unknown destination. I didn't move, even forgot about putting the seatbelt on. I began playing nervously with my hands and closed my eyes for a moment, trying to hide from reality but my fast heartbeat never slowed down.

I didn't know what to do. Not that anyone suddenly thrown in such a shitty situation would know what to do. What would happen to me now? Would I also vanish under unknown circumstances and be found dead in a lake? What did these guys want from me anyway? I knew nothing other than that Lisa had vanished and the friend she had saved out of the mafia was in another country. I wasn't even the girl's roommate anymore since the landlord had said that she had quitted the contract on the exact day we had last spoken on the phone. There was simply nothing I could have told them.

Suddenly realization hit me.

I knew who had been with Lisa that day she had vanished.

My thoughts were interrupted by the dangerous male opening the car door and getting seated next to Channie in the passenger seat.

"I heard a shot," he stated as he put the seatbelt on. So gangsters did care about safety. I also remembered that I needed to do that, so I cautiously put the seatbelt on as well.

"It was just for a warning," Channie replied and started the motor.

"You shouldn't waste your bullets on warnings that have already been given," the dangerous male scolded the fairy who then simply nodded as a sign of understanding.

There had been no need for any warning shots because I hadn't been doing anything wrong! I had simply thought about running away but hadn't even physically attempted it.

I watched the fairy smoothly turn the wheel as we left the parking lot. The car was filled with silence until we were on the highway, driving ridiculously fast.

"Give me your phone," the dark-haired male ordered and put his elbow on the armrest, holding his palm out. I had gripped the grab handle above the window although it didn't help to calm me down at all. The vehicle wouldn't slow down to my misery.

Huffing, I let go of the grab handle pulled my phone out of the pocket of my winter jacket, and leaned forward. I was about to place the phone on the palm of the demanding man when I abruptly stopped in my tracks

All the phone numbers of my family were in that smart electrical device.

"No," I said, for the first time raising my voice in front—in this case behind—these gangsters and leaned back in the leather seat. I felt almost too confident for my good, sensing an extreme pride in myself.

"What did you just say?" The dangerous asked, his tone dark and demanding.

I must have been out of my mind. However, I would show any kind of crazy when it came down to my family. No way would I tolerate such scums bothering my beloved ones.

"I said no. I won't give you my phone. You have no right to interfere in my privacy like this," I repeated, not giving a damn about any warnings or threats of his.

"Isn't she a funny one?" the dangerous male asked Channie who didn't answer and fixated his gaze on the street. "Talking about rights all of a sudden, what about ours? You think we do this shit for fun?"

"I'm not kidding around either. The phone stays with me."

Suddenly, he turned around and his arm stretched out to me to grab me by the collar of my winter jacket and pull me forward. Red Riding Hood didn't even flinch at the fast movements of his comrade and drove as if he wasn't in an intense situation. The fairy was probably used to this.

"Listen here, little girl. I won't have an annoying brat as you consult me about my actions. You should be grateful that I haven't put a bullet in your head by now." His breath reeked of smoke.

I fucking hated smoke.

As his dark eyes gazed intensely in my green ones I felt dread rising in my gut yet again.

"Give me your fucking phone," he demanded this time, strengthening his grip on my jacket. "Don't make me repeat myself a third time."

"No!" I stood my ground, glaring at the scary man. My whole body trembled after I had still refused to cooperate though my determined facial expression could very well hide my fear.

For a moment there was only silence. I was awaiting him to pull out his gun and shoot me or lay a punch on my face. I was pretty sure that he thought about doing so as well but the blow never came. Moreover, he never used his gun.

"We'll have to make a quick stop," Channie's voice resounded in the car. Both the other gangster and I looked to the silver-haired guy who eyed the display of his phone, scrolling with his thumb while he still drove on the street. That was very reckless of him.

"Is there an emergency?" the dangerous male asked his inferior, his grip still on my winter jacket.

"Yeah, we're out of Cup Noodles," Red Riding Hood replied and turned the car to the left. I raised my eyebrows at his answer. Really? Cup Noodles? Was that maybe a secret code for drugs? There was a small store on the side of the street, so he searched for a free space where he could park the vehicle. Channie found one fairly quickly and smoothly guided the car in a gap between two cars. After stopping the motor, he got out of the black car with a swift move, circled the vehicle, and went directly in the direction of the small shop. The dangerous male who had stayed behind with me spared me a last glance before he roughly grabbed me by my wrist.

"I'll give you three seconds," he instructed and suddenly turned around, pulling my hand with him. His rough fingers squeezed my skin strongly but not painfully enough for me to give in.

"One," he counted and suddenly it felt as if my hand would dislocate from my wrist. Startled by the pain, I automatically opened my grasp and let him snatch my phone.

"Fucking brat," he muttered and let go of my hand which I retreated immediately. What was that? How did he manage to almost break my bone when he had only used one hand? Feeling panic arise in me I wanted to lean forward and take my belonging back but a sudden wave of sanity held me back. Who knew what he would do if I attacked him? After all, he was the one with the gun and not me. But I needed my phone back!

In the end, I did nothing and so we sat in silence until Channie returned with two filled bags of Ramen Cups that he placed in the trunk of the black car. Getting seated in front of the wheel again, he started the motor anew and shortly glanced at me, a small smirk tugging at the corner of his rosy lips in the process.

"What was it about the warning again?" Red Riding Hood mocked his scary comrade.

"Shut the fuck up, Channie."