Chapter 10: Call in Distress (1)

After taking a quick bath, Avery wrapped her body with a bathrobe before striding into the bedroom. However, she hadn't even taken a step out of the bathroom door when she saw a man in the middle of the room.

Similar to her, the man heard the noise she made and turned to her. A growing creepy smile was on his lips as soon as he set his eyes on her.

"A—Avery… There you are."

Avery did not know who this man was. He was frail-looking and wore a black shirt and a cap. Even with a face mask on, she could tell he was a man she had never met before.

Struggling to keep herself from panicking, Avery tried to speak to the man: "How…how did you get in?"

"The door wasn't locked," replied the man.

Avery almost cursed out loud. But she was worried that the man would lose his calm and attack her, so she bit her tongue to the point that she cringed in pain and tasted the metallic taste of blood.

It was her fault for not checking twice. She was too excited over getting her cravings sated and forgot to lock the door. If she had, this wouldn't have happened to her!

The man bit his fingers nervously, and he looked eagerly at her. That creepy smile continued to appear on his lips as he said, "I'm your fan. I've been following and supporting you since you became a member of SERA! I wanted to meet you soon, but JJ entertainment suddenly announced the group's break! I was heartbroken because I couldn't see you quickly."

Avery knew that SERA fans were dismayed by their hiatus announcement. But there was no way to take it back, nor to continue their group's schedule after that 'incident'.

"I'm thankful for your support. Everyone in SERA will be happy to hear this," Avery tried to go along with his words while her eyes sneakily looked for her phone, which was placed a few feet away from her.

If only she could get her hands on her phone…

"Wh–what are you looking at?" the man suddenly asked her.

It was already too late to stop him. The man had already turned his head to glance at the direction where she was looking and found her phone.

He whipped his head back to her, and she could see anger filling his bloodshot eyes. "You're not planning to call the police, are you?"

Avery shook her head. "No, of course not!"

It was too dangerous to admit the truth to him. What if he actually attacked her if she said he was right?

"I don't believe you!" the man suddenly started to tremble and glared at her. Tears trickled down his eyes as he accusingly said, "You… Even though I said I'm your fan. You actually want to call the police on me?"

Sensing the surrounding vibe was starting to change, Avery did not think about convincing him to leave on his own anymore as she rushed forward.

Seeing her act like this, the man panicked and chased after her. He tried to reach out to pull her towards him, but Avery was too nimble. She was just like a slippery fish.

The man cursed out when he couldn't grab her and saw her take her phone. "F*ck! I knew it!"

Avery couldn't care about him anymore. Unfortunately, the man stood where the direction of the door of the room was situated, blocking her exit. So, the bathroom became the only safe place she could run to.

But the man read her intentions before Avery could take action. Since he failed to grab her, he decided to sprint and blocked her way.

And before Avery could stop herself, the force behind her rushing forward made her collide onto his body.

"Get away from me!" Avery shouted in disgust when he held her in his arms.

The man scoffed at her. "Shut up! Don't act so proper now. For all I know, you might be one of those girls who sell themselves for money and resources!"

Avery tried to struggle and get him away from her, but the man was too strong compared to her strength. Screaming for help didn't seem to help either, or else people would have already come here when they heard the commotion the two of them made just now.

"Please, don't do this…" she tried to plead with him.

But as if he had turned a deaf ear to her words, the man grabbed Avery and pushed her to the wall. Then, he plastered his body against hers.

It was at this moment that Avery smelled the scent of alcohol from the man. Her stomach started to act up again, and she lurched forward to vomit.

Unable to keep herself together, Avery ended up releasing the discomfort of her stomach on the man, who quickly dodged backward. Yet, he still couldn't save himself from some of her vomit splashing over him.

"What the f*ck! Are you crazy?!" the man looked at her in disgust.

But Avery couldn't look at him. The shame, anger, and repulsion she felt were starting to get to her.

Tears formed on the corners of her eyes as she cried while her hand that held the phone busily tried to contact someone.

She didn't know if he was still awake. But she hoped he would be able to hear his phone and answer her call.

Please...

***

After the call with Avery, Aidan went about his work. As he did, he couldn't stop worrying about her, and an urge to call her kept coming back to him.

A couple of minutes later, he received an invitation from his best friend, Liu Yan. He wanted to have drinks at the club.

Aidan felt bad for not bringing anything for his best friend. Thus, he wound up accepting his invitation to meet up at the club.

When he arrived at the private room Liu Yan booked, Aidan didn't expect that there would be people joining them to drink. There were at least six other people inside the room. In total, there were four men and four women.

His face darkened instantly.

Liu Yan knew what the expression on his friend's face meant and realized he was in so much trouble. He said, "A–Aidan, before you get me wrong. It wasn't me who called them–"

"Woah, aren't you a handsome one?" a blonde girl in a sexy white dress that hugged her body started to approach them.