Chapter 7

"Oliver Sung?"

A tall skinny man nodded. He stood up and signalled Pil to follow him. They entered an alley of different old shops.

After a 2-minute walk, they reached a small house. As soon as they got inside, Oliver rushed to the kitchen. He took out something from the cupboard over the sink and handed it to Pil. A thick white envelope was given to Oliver. 

The door closed.

In Pil's hand was a black suitcase full of personalized spy devices that Oliver had made for them.

Pil rang Kian's number. His call was immediately received. 

"Everything's ready." Pil smirked. 

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'Oh no!' Mina regretted why she let herself get immersed looking around. She felt stupid. The guy disappeared!

She did not know what to do. 'Should I go back now?'

But she was eager to know who that guy was and why he met her tutor. She could not help but associate how they actually seemed suspicious when they met at Gangsil with how this narrow street looked like. She shook her head thinking that the guy and her tutor could be gang members who would meet up here. Or possibly, this place was their hideout.

'It can't be.' Mina tried to erase her weird assumption. She felt guilty that she judged them easily just because she saw them suspiciously meet last week.

'Where am I?' She stepped back.

Mina got lost!

Mina tried to find her way back. But the more she looked for the old shops and corners she had passed by, the farther she got.

A lot of eyes were curiously staring at her. She had no courage to ask any of them because she suddenly felt scared. She just kept walking.

'I need to get out of here.' Her fear worsened.

Mina thought of using her phone, but eyes were still fixed on her. What if they snatched her phone? Her grandfather would then know the trouble she got into and for sure she would get scolded harshly.

She stopped walking when she spotted an old book shop. Without any hesitation, she ran towards the shop believing that it would be a safe place where she could use her phone.

When she got inside, her hand instantly covered her mouth in a great shock. 

It was not a book shop but a men's bar! 

Fearful hesitation nailed her feet on the floor. She was unable to move. It was a completely new world for her.

A decently young and pretty girl in her school uniform suddenly showed up and this amazed the eyes of every man inside the bar. Everyone was looking at her including those women in super tight and short dresses that were revealing so much of their skin. They were sitting intimately close beside the male customers.

She closed her eyes and spoke in a shaky voice. "I.. I am s..sorry."

Without delay, Mina stepped back and turned to leave when a man appeared behind her.

"We have a young and beautiful lady here!" He came closer to Mina. He reeked of alcohol and cigarette.

Mina began to tremble. When the man tried to grab her by the arm, she alertly kicked his leg and ran outside the bar. 

The man limped and shouted angrily. "Get her!"

Four men inside the bar quickly stood up and rushed outside.

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Mina was sure she was being chased. Her heart was wildly pounding in her ears. Her fear grew bigger.

She had been running as fast as she could. She entered every block hoping to hide from those men who were after her. She kept running without looking back. She had no courage to do so. Just the thought of seeing them running behind her scared her to death.

But Mina started to feel exhausted. Her arms, her legs, her knees, her feet. She felt like they would lose strength anytime soon. Her whole body was trembling.

Her eyes instantly teared up when she saw a dead end!

The last bit of hope left her.

Panting and feeling so exhaustedly drained, Mina fell on her knees. No more place to run to.

'I'm dead.' Mina closed her eyes in despair and she accepted the frightening consequence of her stupidity and stubbornness.

She could not hear anything but her panting and pounding heart. But she was scared to look back. 

'Did they lose me?' She desperately hoped.

It's still quiet.

Mina slowly opened her eyes. She was in a small vacant lot. She looked up. The walls were high.

When she felt like the men had already lost her, she cautiously turned her back. She saw no one. She let out a heavy sigh!

Still panting, she tried to stand up though her knees felt so weak. She got up slowly. She really wanted to get out of this place.

She looked for her bag which fell. She could see it a few steps away from her. She walked slowly to get it. Her hands were still trembling. She bent down to reach for her bag.

But as soon as Mina held her bag, she suddenly heard big footsteps walking towards her direction.

Her hand fearfully dropped the bag. She fell on her knees again and hopelessly closed her eyes.

Someone was already standing in front of her. Mina started to cry. 

"It's me. Don't be scared." 

The voice that she just heard, she knew it. It's her tutor's.

She hesitatedly opened her tearful eyes.

Her tutor bent down to face her closely. "Did you get hurt?"

Mina cried more. Big tears came out rushing. She was so scared.

Her tutor's presence made her cry like a lost child. The thought of having him near her meant one thing - she's finally safe. 

She could not stop crying. Heavy tears kept falling.

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Mina was looking outside the window. She didn't know where they were heading to until the taxi dropped them off in front of a five-story apartment.

"I can't think of any place. I know you are still shocked and scared right now."

"W..Why are we h..here?" Mina looked confusedly uncomfortable.

"My house is on the rooftop."

"H..House?"

Kian sighed and walked to the stairs that were attached to the side of the building. Mina did not follow him, she remained standing.

Kian turned his back. "Look at you now. Can you go home like that?" 

Mina's shoes, backpack and uniform were all dirty. Her hair got messy. Her eyes could clearly tell that she had just finished crying intensely.

The apartment building was not high but the rooftop could overlook the bright city nights of Hannan. It was because Jeonwu neighborhood was situated higher than the rest of the places in Hannan. It was near the mountains.

The rooftop was spacious. A long wire was hanging from both sides. It must be for drying clothes.

The house looked small from the outside. No window could be seen, only the door. Beside it was a light post that stood tall. This was the only source of light here.

The entire rooftop looked almost empty if not for the small table and three chairs at it.

The door opened. Kian came out holding a glass of cold water and folded towels. 

"Drink this."

Mina got it but she looked hesitant to drink the water.

Kian hissed. "Don't worry, I won't harm you."

She was actually thirsty and quietly drank the water in one gulp.

Kian got her bag to dust it off but Mina tried to stop her. "I'll do it, teacher."

Though he kept his cool, Mina could see a bit of annoyance on his face. He ignored her and continued dusting off her bag.

Mina got another towel to clean her uniform from dust and dirt.

"I should be angry at you. I must be scolding you right now. But because I know what happened has brought you shock and fear, I will just think it was his fault and not yours."

Mina was taken aback. "His fault?"

Kian faced her. "What else could be the reason why you ended up at Liang St.? Because of that guy. You followed him, did you?"

'I'm screwed.' Mina wanted to disappear at the moment.

But Mina tried to appear she had the right to hear an answer. "How did you know I followed that guy--"

Mina suddenly stopped asking as she got startled seeing her tutor bend down. Her heart raced crazily. She tried to move her feet away from him but it was too late. He was already cleaning her shoes.

Mina's guilt had been eating her up. She felt bad and sorry for causing this kind of mess.

Looking at her tutor who was silently cleaning her shoes, she spoke. "I am sorry, teacher. I'm really sorry."

Kian stood up. "How are you feeling?"

Mina feigned a smile. "I'm okay now."

He got her bag and gave it to Mina. "Then let's go."

She quickly rose up and followed her tutor.

"Make sure you always carry the Math book I lent you. So, if you have free time, you can read that and study your lessons. You're terrible in Math." Kian spoke out of the blue.

"Y..Yes, teacher." Mina responded. She got confused though. 

'What's with him?? Did he really have to diss me in this situation?'

Kian got his phone while walking downstairs. 

An activated tracking application was displayed on the screen. His eyes were fixated on it. 

Current tracked location: L Apartment, Jeonwu

Last tracked location: #35 Hengxie, Liang St.