Chapter Text
Wooyoung said goodbye to the man with a smile on his lips as he finished locking the coffee shop, turning the key a few times inside the lock and when he saw that the other was far enough away, he soon changed his forced expression, feeling his cheeks hurt in addition to wrinkling his nose in pure disgust.
“ Oh, dear Wooyoung, you look so handsome today, why don't you become a model? ”, Wooyoung paraphrased the man as he put the key in the pocket of his jacket that covered his apron.
Wooyoung took one last look inside the establishment, letting out a long sigh as he thought about what to say to Jongho to explain why he hadn't cleaned the place. Obviously it was because of the same clingy man with thin and outdated pickup lines who hit on him almost every day. Jongho, the owner of the coffee shop, knew very well who this man was and how inconvenient he used to be with all the employees, especially with Wooyoung, who had become his newest obsession.
As usual, Wooyoung tried to avoid him and dodge the unwanted presence countless times, which only made him so late that the cleaning of the cafe would have to wait until the next day. Even though Jongho was his boss, he was also his friend, so he firmly believed that he would understand. He considered arriving early to clean the cafe before the opening, but he knew himself too well and wouldn't get up as early, so as he walked down the street, taking a small shortcut through an alley a few establishments above the coffee shop, he took his phone out of the side bag he was carrying, opening it right away in Jongho's messages to explain himself, opting to send an voice message.
“Hey, Jongho. I just closed the coffee shop and I couldn't clean everything because you know who was bothering me again. I promise it will be the last time and…”
Wooyoung stopped for a moment, frowning as he looked around. He could have sworn he heard someone calling for help, but he was completely alone with only a few cars passing by on the streets near where he was. He thought it was all in his head, so he kept talking.
“And I'm going to put an end to this disgusting flirting. I promise to work overtime to make things up as the others employees will have to clean up my mess.“
He sent the message and put his cell phone back in his bag, quickening his pace. It wasn't that he was afraid of being followed or of being mugged, especially since that part of the city was quite safe, but the problem was that he didn't like to walk alone at night. He was afraid of the dark, to be honest, like a six-year-old child. He knew it was a silly fear, but he was always overcome by it.
“Help!!!”, a scream interrupted his thoughts, leaving him on high alert.
He realized that it hadn't been in his head. Someone really was asking for help.
Wooyoung looked from side to side, listening to the sounds of footsteps and pleas for help. He could pretend he hadn't heard anything and hurry home but he couldn't ignore the call for help. From the voice, he suspected it was a young woman at least. He wouldn't be able to forgive himself if this girl ended up on the news the next day because of his negligence. Wooyoung paid more attention to the footsteps and screams and started heading in the direction they were coming from, until he saw them.
“Someone please help me!!”, the young woman cried out in tears as she ran away.
She was a girl, no more than fifteen years old, and she was running aimlessly, seemingly just looking for someone to save her and a good hiding place. Before Wooyoung could take a step towards the girl, he saw a man the size of his refrigerator running after the younger girl. And he was fast. Very fast. But for the girl's sake, he would be faster. Wooyoung looked for something he could use as a weapon, finding a broomstick carelessly thrown into a restaurant's trash can and followed behind them both, running as fast and as quietly as he could. He realized that, the way the girl was going, she would quickly be cornered in a dead end, so he would need to be quick and smart, before that barbarian touched the teenager.
As he predicted, the girl stopped running when she saw herself heading straight for the back of a store, the door that could give her a chance to hide was properly locked, as were all the others around it. The teenager, with an expression of terror, heard the man's footsteps getting closer and closer, leaving her petrified against the wall.
“Well well, the little mouse has nowhere else to run, does she?”, the man said with a certain amusement in his voice, getting closer and closer to the girl. He was so sure that he would capture her that he stopped running and started walking, putting one of his hands in his jacket pocket.
He would have to act now, or he wouldn't be able to save the girl and, on top of that, it would get complicated too.
He came a little closer, holding the wooden handle with both hands, making sure it was firm between his fingers, and took a deep breath, trying to calm his heart that was hammering against his chest. On his third deep breath, Wooyoung attacked the man. He couldn't say exactly where he hit him, but he breathed a sigh of relief when the man fell unconscious to the ground.
Wooyoung felt like he had run a marathon because of how breathless he was from the adrenaline that was coursing through his blood at that moment. He and the teenager looked at the fallen man for a while longer before their eyes met, and in that quick exchange, Wooyoung grabbed her wrist and she willingly followed him out of that alley.
“Let's go quickly! I don't know how long he'll be out cold or even if he was really alone”.
The girl nodded and ran off with Wooyoung without even looking back.
. . .
“What's your name?”, Wooyoung asked the girl who was sitting at the kitchen counter, handing him a cup of chamomile tea.
“Yuna”, she answered with both her voice and her hands trembling.
Wooyoung preferred to leave the cup on the counter, which the young girl mentally thanked for the sensible decision or she would end up spilling the hot liquid on herself or her savior.
They arrived at Wooyoung's apartment about ten minutes ago. They were stunned for a while, not really knowing what to do for about seconds or minutes, they didn’t really know, right after the owner of the apartment had locked the door and made sure they were safe more than once.
When Yuna felt a little calmer, her hands no longer shaking as much as before, she picked up the cup from the counter and took a sip, being careful not to burn her tongue. Wooyoung watched her carefully, also making sure that she didn't have any injuries on her body while the girl stared, somewhat lost, at the black stone of the counter.
“Forgive me for the invasive question”, he said, bringing her attention to himself, “but he didn't actually touch you, did he…?”
He tried to be cautious, but he didn't know exactly how to ask that kind of question. He was hoping she would deny it, and when she did, he felt a weight lift off his shoulders. The relief was so great that he even sat on the stool in front of her, on the other side of the counter, bringing his cup to his lips to take a sip of the tea. He sighed as the slight sweet taste took over his palate and soon took another sip before breaking the silence once more.
“We need to call the police”, Wooyoung moved to go to the bag that was thrown on the living room couch, but Yuna stirred, placing both her hands on his keeping him sitting in front of her.
“Please, Mr. Wooyoung, don't call the police”, the girl begged in a tearful voice.
Wooyoung took a deep breath as he stared at the pout on her thin lips and the teary eyes, giving in, nodding his head, making the teenager give him a grateful smile.
“At least you need to call someone and tell them where you are and what happened”.
Yuna's eyes widened, realizing that, according to the time, her brother must be crazy with worry and about to bring the whole city down just to find out her whereabouts. Certain that Wooyoung wouldn't call the police, she let go of her savior's hands and watched him walk around the counter and head to the small two-seater couch. As soon as Wooyoung picked up the phone, he handed it to the girl and she quickly dialed her brother's number, which was answered after one ring. Judging by the speed with which he had answered the call, he was certainly waiting for anything, from any information about her to someone asking for a ransom.
Wooyoung picked up the two empty cups and took them to the sink, which was already piling up a few dishes. Even though he was feeling lazy, he decided to wash what was there while he listened to the girl talking to her brother, paying attention to every word she said, as she gradually became more and more calmer. There was a brief pause in the conversation, only for her to ask for the address of the place, and as soon as Wooyoung told her, she resumed the conversation.
“He'll send a car to pick me up soon”.
The girl said, already next to Wooyoung, handing him his phone back. The boy dried his hands on the dishcloth that was on his shoulder and took the device from her hands, showing an uncomfortable expression.
“Is there something wrong? Shouldn't I have given you the address?”, she asked.
“It's not that. But why is he sending a car? Why doesn't he come pick you up himself?”, he wrinkled his nose showing how uncomfortable he was.
The girl had almost been kidnapped or something worse, and wouldn't the person she called her brother come to get her personally to make sure she was really safe? If it were Wooyoung himself with his younger brother, he would be crossing an entire country and facing whoever it was just to make sure he was okay and, even more so, he wouldn't let anyone touch him.
“Oh, don't think badly of my brother”, the girl giggled, wondering what the boy was thinking. “Knowing him as I do, he must be going after the person who was chasing me to take matters into his own hands”.
Wooyoung grumbled, but he still had the same irresponsible image about the girl's brother in his apartment.
“At least. Thank goodness”.
The girl laughed again thinking her savior's reaction was cute.
Even though he was a little tired, Wooyoung stayed awake and excited to keep the girl company, talking to her at all times, maintaining a warm and comfortable conversation while they both waited for whoever was going to come pick her up. During the conversation, Wooyoung discovered that her brother was a very influential person in the city, but she didn't say anything more than that, only that he was the same age as him, which caused him some shock. How could someone so young be so influential?
He realized that the brothers must be from a very rich family and, when she left, he was going to do some research on the richest people in South Korea. In the same conversation, Yuna asked why Wooyoung was out so late at night and what he did for a living, but not that she would judge or anything like that and she couldn't since by going out so late that night, she was able to be saved and something worse was avoided. Wooyoung replied that he was a waiter and barista at a coffee shop in that area and that he had an unforeseen event, which made him leave late that day. He even said that it had angered him but because of his misfortune, he managed to prevent a crime so, that time, only that time, it was a good thing.
They continued talking for about fifteen minutes until the barista heard the beep on his cell phone and when he looked at the screen, it was a message that a car was waiting for Yuna right in front of the building. Wooyoung got up from where he was sitting and walked to the window, seeing a black car surrounded by at least four very well-dressed men, all also in black. He felt a little uncertain, especially since the man who chased Yuna was dressed the same way. As soon as the teenager got to his side and had a view of the ground floor, she recognized both the car and the security guards around it, even so Wooyoung still looked at everything with a suspicious look.
As soon as they arrived in front of the barista's building, the girl hugged him tightly, thanking him once again for saving her life and keeping her company during all that time. Wooyoung placed a kiss on the girl's forehead before letting her go, asking her to let him know if she was okay and safe when she got home. One of the security guards assured him that she would be fine but soon fell silent when he saw Wooyoung glare at him, feeling strangely embarrassed by the intensity that those brown eyes conveyed.
“Listen here, you hulk , if this girl doesn't come home in one piece and I don't have any notice about her well-being, I'll go to your work myself and check on her and make you do your job better. Your boss won't be the only one you have to fear.”
The security guard Wooyoung was addressing blinked a few times, stunned and somewhat shocked by the words spoken by the barista while another one, a little further back, ended up losing his composure, letting out a laugh at the situation.
“Hey, you!”, Wooyoung addressed the other security guard, taking him by surprise, “Don't think you're safe, either. The same thing I told him goes for all of you. How is it possible that a girl is in so much danger with four men the size of a refrigerator as her security guards? Someone should teach you how to do your job better!”
Wooyoung shouted leaving everyone silent and slightly blushing while Yuna still seemed to be amused by the scolding given by the him.
"Once again, thank you for everything, Wooyoung. I owe you my life."
Yuna left a small kiss against the barista's cheek before walking away from him, bowing as she said goodbye, getting into the car soon after. The four security guards accompanying her cleared their throats, avoiding looking at the boy as they just followed Yuna's gesture, bowing to Wooyoung before getting into the car as well, the vehicle leaving soon after. Wooyoung smiled slightly watching the car continue to the end of the street and turn the corner, before returning to his own apartment.
While he was taking a shower, getting ready for bed, he went over that whole day in his head. It was certainly the most hectic day in his monotonous life and he would certainly remember what had happened for a long time. Even so, putting up with that gross client throwing inappropriate flirtations at him was worse than going through that whole adventure a thousand times over. He would certainly rather go through everything than all that disgust.
When he returned to his room, already dressed in his pajamas with kitten paws, he put his phone to charge on the nightstand and lay down on the bed, allowing himself to finally relax under the warm blanket. As soon as he closed his eyes, ready to give in to sleep, he heard his phone vibrate on the furniture next to him. He only stretched enough to check the screen, arching his eyebrow at the unknown number but smiled at the message below.
“Yuna is safe at home. I owe you, Jung Wooyoung. Good night.”