Chapter 1

Clover’s POV

I accidentally kidnapped a mafia boss.

Or at least I am half-sure that I did. Because of course, it’ll just be my fortune to get caught in a big trouble like this.

It all started on a normal evening after my shift ended at my newest minimum wage job. 

“Nine hundred fifty… one thousand…” I counted in the dark and slid the bills into neat stacks. I grabbed the tip jar next and dumped the money I collected.

“Sixty-three bucks for today’s tips,” I uttered under my breath with a small tired smile. It’s not bad and it’s good that I got more tips compared to ordinary days. I’ll take this as a win!

While tallying the total money, I heard a sudden thud outside the truck.

“Who’s there?” I asked out loud. No one answered.

That’s weird. It’s almost midnight. The festival has been long done by now and no one is really around at this hour. Maybe it’s just some stray cat.

I was about to shrug it off, thinking it’s just the exhaustion getting to me. I also wanted to go home and rest but a muffled scrape followed, shifting against metal. 

At that moment, I had a bad gut feeling. I gulped. Still, my curiosity led me to stand up and reach for the door.

The moment I opened it, my eyes landed on a figure crumpled against the wheel.

“Oh my—” I covered my mouth in a gasp and instantly hopped off the truck.

I knelt in front of the bleeding man. “Sir? Sir, are you okay? Can you hear me?” I tried tapping his face lightly but he did not respond.

Grabbing his wrist, I checked his pulse. “I’ll take you to the hospital—”

His bloody hand suddenly grabbed my arm and I squeaked. He gave me a sharp gaze and gritted out, “No hospitals,” before closing his eyes again.

“But…” I trailed off then checked his side where the blood was oozing out. I took out my handkerchief to press on his wound as I scrolled through my phone’s map for the nearest medical institute.

“Three hours?! The nearest hospital is three hours away?” I blurted out, panic rising through my chest. My fingers started trembling as I attempted to still contact the center.  

This man is in a very poor state. His pulse was weak. He needs to be treated as soon as possible. However, before I could actually make a call, his body suddenly went limp.

“Hey! Hey—!” I caught him before he hit the ground. His heavy weight collapsed into my arms.

My previous medical knowledge automatically kicked in.

Airway. Breathing. Circulation. 

I slightly tilted his head while I composed myself to remain calm and think properly.

Then, things turned worse when an explosion erupted nearby. There was a loud boom. I looked back and saw a blazing fire a few streets away.

Right then and there, every nerve in my body screamed to move.

I only have a fraction of a second to decide. He won’t make it to the hospital—three hours with the festival traffic is a death sentence. We can’t stay here. Something dangerous was literally in the smoky air.

So I hooked my arms under his and dragged him inside of the ice cream truck. I turned off the cooling system and grabbed whatever blanket I could find to wrap around him.

“Thankfully for you, I am a med school dropout,” I spoke to the passed out guy, trying to ease my nerves as I slid into the driver’s seat to start the engine.

I drove to my house at top speed. I was checking him from the rearview mirror, screaming inside… why did this have to happen to me?!

After half-dragging and half-carrying him from the truck and into my cramped apartment, I placed him on my couch. I was in a daze, all I was thinking about was saving him. 

I checked his wound again.

“Gunshot,” I whispered to myself after inspecting it closer. My heart hammered in my chest. “Just my luck,” I said.

Sprinting to the bathroom, I grabbed my emergency kit. I cut his shirt open with scissors. There was a lot of blood on his torso. I tried to repress my fear and turned my brain off for any other thoughts in order to let my instincts take over.

My hands moved swiftly, swabbing the area and ignoring his faint groan. The only light was from my windows. The bullet hadn’t exited.

“Of course not,” I breathed and focused once more. 

I’d never done a removal except in one simulation before but I knew I had to risk it.

“Please don’t die, please don’t die, please don’t die,” I kept chanting as I clamped the tweezers. I prayed to all the saints I know and my always absent guardian angel. 

Just then, I eased the metal out gently and blood welled again. “Stay with me,” I begged with a whisper.

I packed the wound with a sterile gauze and wrapped it tight with an elastic bandage. It wasn’t perfect, but it was enough to keep him alive… hopefully. Having a corpse with me would surely lead to losing my job for the third time this month. I still have rent to pay.

As the adrenaline left my body, I slumped down on the floor next to him. 

I grabbed the TV remote and turned it on for background noise—anything really, to keep my brain from obsessing over the fact that there was an unconscious, suspiciously dangerous-looking man dozing off in my living room. 

I’m still not sure if I’m just hallucinating these events. 

Yet it seems like I simply can’t have one thing for tonight.

The news anchor’s voice cut in over flashing red “BREAKING NEWS” text on the screen.

“Tonight’s top story: a violent clash between two major criminal groups erupted downtown earlier this evening. Police sources confirm at least eight in critical condition and twelve dead in what is believed to be an ongoing feud between rival syndicates…”

My hand froze on the remote.

The screen shifted to CCTV footage—it was a gunfire exchange like a scene straight out of a movie. I could barely make out the details… until I saw a tall man in a black shirt and suit jacket fighting in the chaos.

His face was not shown but it clicked for me.

My head turned around slowly to look at the man currently on my couch.

“…reports suspect the mob leader of the notorious Nero Syndicate was severely injured during the exchange...”

Leader. Syndicate. The words echoed over and over.

I feel my blood run cold.

The location in the news is near the parking lot I was just at. 

Oh no.

This can’t be happening…

Reaching for the phone in my pocket, I stared into the empty space of my run-down house. My mind short-circuited and I felt all my strength leave my body.

After one ring, my call was answered.

“I think I wrongly abducted someone…” I said absent-mindedly.

My friend replied on the other side. “Again?!”

I stared at the man I just saved.

For someone named after luck and hope, I sure am the misfortunate person in the world.