365 FRESH

TWO

HYUNA –

"just a shave?"

the man from the seat grinned at her. "of course, pretty lady."

hyuna nodded, ignoring his comment, grabbing the shaving cream and the razor. she applied the cream to his cheeks, and to his chin. she smiled a little, as it reminded her of her dad pretending to be santa claus with shaving cream around christmas time.

the arm snaking around her backside snapped her back to reality.

she dropped the tools and backed away, confused. she swallowed, hard.

"oh, come on, little girl. don't be afraid of me."

hyuna grabbed a random piece of equipment and held it out in front of her. "touch me again, i dare you." at that, he just laughed, smacking the tool away from her hand as he closed in on her. he pushed her against the nearest wall and placed his hands on the wall next to her head. he leaned in, so hyuna could smell the alcohol emitting from his lips. she turned away in disgust.

as he leaned closer, hyuna pushed him off, right into the open cabinet.

he fell like a sack of potatoes, making a huge thump! on the floor. right away, a pool of blood formed around his head. "shit, shit, shit." she dropped to her knees and ripped off the cloth around her shoulders and tried mopping it up, but it only soaked through. she grabbed a towel from the countertop, desperately trying to clean it up. tears filled her eyes. this could not be happening. this was murder. hyuna eventually gave up, as the blood was even soaking through the towel.

★ ★ ★

hyuna half-walked half-tripped her way out of the barber shop in which she worked. she was numb, that's all she was. she didn't feel anything. blood was on her arms and her legs. she didn't care if others saw her stumbling around the street with red covering her body. how would she explain the dead man on the floor of her shop?

she inhaled sharply when two bright headlights shined on her, followed by a squeak of tires stopping short.

hyuna faced the driver. a young man with blood on his lip and nose. he wore a silky blue shirt and a look of confusion. he stuck his head out of the window and looked her up and down, spotting the red on her.

"are you gonna get in, or not?"

hyuna ran to the passenger side, opening the door and slipping inside. it felt good to not be out in the open anymore, vulnerable. she didn't bother buckling the seatbelt.

hui glance at her one last time, before starting up the car and driving down the road.

after a few minutes of silence, in which he gave hyuna a towel from the car, he cleared his throat. "i'm hui."

"hyuna."

"nice."

more silence. uncomfortable silence.

"need a tampon?"

hyuna, despite just only meeting him, shoved him a little.
hui turned to face her. "what?" he chuckled. "i'm only making sense here."

hyuna smiled, and then looked back to the road just in time.

"watch out!"