방탄소년단
"Let me guess," she hummed pensively. "This is where you kill me, huh?" She laughed.
He glanced at her through his soft brown eyes, her giggles bringing him pleasure.
He then chuckled deeply. "You're so silly. Though, it would never be out her...
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"I can't believe you put in your two weeks already." Jin sighed in dismay, wiping down the counter.
"I'm happy for you," Rina added enthusiastically, clapping her hands together. "It's good you're getting out of here, there are better opportunities out there for you."
Seren grinned, wanting to believe that there truly was something out there that was better for her. She wanted to stay optimistic about her future, she was still young and in college, there were going to be many opportunities for her.
She kept repeating that until it was like brail on the surface of her brain, until she had every word memorized as if it were an unforgettable song.
"I really wanna believe that there is better out there for me." Seren said, sitting on the empty stool in front of the bar. "Hopefully I can afford not working here."
"Do you have any interviews coming up?" Jin questioned, throwing the dirty rag behind him.
"Um, I already have a job somewhere." She revealed with a small smile.
"You do?" Rina's eyes went wide, shocked. "Seren, that's good news!"
She shrugged, "I don't know. I'm literally gonna be a barista. Not that it's bad, but I'm just gonna be making way less."
"So then, why are you leaving?" Jin leaned over the counter, quirking his sharp brow.
She couldn't take the dangers of getting home late anymore. It was driving her to insanity, slowly, and it was at the most agonizing pace she could have ever imagined. She tried asking Miyong for better hours, something that would make her feel safer, but he wouldn't budge.
Seren didn't want to have to beg him for better hours.
Regardless, even if she did get the better hours, the tips wouldn't be as much as they were before. She would be working at such an unkempt job for a low wage, which in her view just wasn't worth it.
No amount of money was worth her safety.
"Because I couldn't take working here," Seren admitted, drawing circles on her legs. "It was just too much. Getting home late, having to be cautious as I get out of my car, and getting into my car."
She would have never left that place if Hoseok didn't encourage her to leave, telling her that he would help her with any bills she needed help paying.
Seren didn't like the sound of that idea. He had his own responsibilities to worry about, he shouldn't shun them out all because she needed an extra hand, it just wasn't fair to him.
He convinced her to leave her job after day three of his stay at her house. He had no problem staying longer, wanting to make sure she was completely safe and her stalker wouldn't show up in her sleep.
Rina nodded, completely validating her leave. "It makes sense. It's scary, and I can only imagine how it is for you, you live alone." She said, shivering. "I still live with family, so my dad actually waits for me to get home, without that I'd probably stay in my car."
"I know I'm a man, so I shouldn't be afraid." Jin cleared his throat. "But sometimes I get fearful that someone is watching me. I think, wow, imagine how women do it? I'm supposed to be tough, but sometimes I get terrified to even step out of my own car on late nights."
"Jin, it's fine. Just because you're a man doesn't mean you can't be afraid. It's normal, and reasonable." Seren said, keeping her eyes on her tapping feet.
"Especially with everything going on." Rina's voice became a low murmur. "The strange killings going around by Jack." She said his name in a different tone, as if it were poisonous.
Seren nodded, absentmindedly. "Yeah."
She then paused, blinking.
She looked up from the ground, staring up at Rina. "Wait, what do you mean? Who's Jack?"
She watched as Rina and Jin shared a timid glance at each other, staring back at Seren with pressed lips.
"You haven't heard?" Jin asked, shocked. "That's surprising, he's been all over the news."
But, they still hadn't answered their question.
'Who the fuck is Jack?' She repeated with more vexation, growing impatient.
"He's the one responsible for all those gruesome killings. They call him Jack because of his costume. People have said they've seen him at late hours in the night, searching for his next victim." Rina answered her unspoken question, her fingers drumming the countertop.
"What... what does he wear?" Seren dared ask.
It could give her an idea of who her stalker was. There was a great possibility that her stalker could be Jack.
If that were true, she wouldn't know how to take such information. That would mean her stalker is a murderer, and that night she felt him drag a knife across her spine could have been her last.
Hopeless tears began to form in her eyes, smolder rising in her chest. She had no idea whether to feel angry or terrified.
Probably both.
Both seemed like the right answer.
"He wears a baggy jumpsuit, it's black," Rina responded, looking around the empty lounge that they were supposed to be cleaning for closing. "But, he wears a black jesters hat, that's why he was given the name Jack."
She exhaled, licking her lips.
She didn't know whether to be relieved or feel even more lost.
It wasn't what her stalker wore. That meant that her stalker and this Jack person were two completely different people.
However, it didn't mean her stalker wasn't a murderer. Who knew what he was, it didn't make her safe.
"He mostly kills men, though." Rina added, sensing the fear seeping out of Seren. "You're safe."
"That means I'm in deep shit, then." Jin muttered, serving himself a glass of whiskey.
Seren would laugh, she knew Jin was just trying to lighten the mood with more jokes. But, for some reason, she didn't have it in her to laugh it off. It was too much of a serious topic to laugh at, especially when she had to take into consideration that Jack was her stalker.
"Jin, don't say that." Seren muttered, looking at him. "You'll be fine, just please make sure somebody knows where you are at all times."
"Yeah, don't go out without someone knowing where you'll be." Rina agreed, rubbing her hands above her thighs.
"But, guys... Just promise me something for now." Seren cleared her throat, looking at her two friends. "Even though I'll be gone, promise me we'll stay friends. You guys mean a lot to me, and it would suck if we couldn't stay freinds."
Jin scoffed, planting his elbows above the counter. "Did you think we'd let you leave and never talk to us again? No, you'll be updating us on our group chat, it's mandatory."
"Yeah, don't just leave us hanging." Rina expressed, placing a hand on Seren's knee. "We can find time through our schedules like before and have dates. We'll all stay friends."
She smiled, putting her hand above Rina's. Her heart fluttered, touched that Rina and Jin still wanted her in their life even after she decided to leave them.
That's what it felt like.
It felt as though she was leaving them hanging, they were the only reason why she kept going back to work because she knew they'd be there to make her laugh. To make her smile, and shed a few tears from the never-ending jokes that Jin invariably told.
"I will." She vowed, glancing at the both of them with a plethora of love gleaming in her eyes. "It will be my homework for the next years to come."
