CHAPTER 1: I AM ABOUT TO TO DIE

"Oh my God! I see Jae, there he is!"

Shit! Jae quickened his pace, shoving his face further into his oversized jacket. It had been a bad idea; he had known that from the moment he had stepped out of his company building and had been mobbed by a crowd of 'fans'

Thankfully, he had managed to get away the first... three? No- four times, however, this time the mob was huge enough to swallow him whole, and it did not help that he was in a rather empty street.

"Jae look here! Ah!!"

"Oh please just turn around once! Jae!!"

"OMG, I am a huge fan, Jae!"

He could hear the squeals and terrifyingly they got closer and closer with every passing minute. Jae tried walking even faster, in fact, almost ran, but to his avail, the screams of his names did not seem to die down. If someone was to see his face, they would run away, simply for he looked as pale as a ghost and yet looked like he had seen a ghost himself.

Yuri cursed under her breath. Don't even think about it. He will kill you, Yuri. A voice screamed almost as if it was not from within her, but a friend worried about her bones being intact.

"Screw you, Kim." she muttered before angling her cap downwards, fixing her mask and throwing her hair forward in an attempt to hide her face. Striding forward, she grabbed hold of his arm and dragged him along with herself.

Jae widened his eyes the moment he felt something, or rather someone, graze his skin. He flinched but failed to show resistance quickly. Shit! Shit! Shit! Am I being kidnapped? Oh my God! It took him a minute to recover, but once he had come back to his senses, he tried to pull away, but the girl's grip tightened.

"What are you doing? Leave me! This is invasion of privacy, I will sue you f- "

"Oh shut up, will you? I'm trying to save your ass here." he heard her muffled voice; only then did he take notice of his surroundings and to his relief, it was a rather secluded yet familiar alley where- wait- this is-

She left go of his arm and turned around and even with the face mask on, he could recognize her. His eyes widened as hers squeezed shut in nervousness.

"YOU!" he yelled voice laced with bitterness as he recognized her face immediately.

Yuri laughed nervously. This was a terrible idea.

Pause. Now, this might seem like a sudden and irrational reaction on Jae's part, which is understand, he's a little overdramatic- speaking from Yuri's experience. However, it isn't the most irrational reaction.

Well, you see, this isn't their first time meeting, neither is it the second, nor the third- the point is, they have met, more than once and to put it articulately, the meetings have not been the most... propitious. Wait, let's present a little backdrop.

Two months ago

Yuri sucked in a deep breath and rolled her eyes.

"I am not doing it." She snapped, glaring at the man in front of her. He shrugs back at her.

"I'll have to go to your family then."

"You wouldn't dare," she exclaims, eyes slightly widening as if to warn him.

"Try me, sweetheart." Yuri grimaced at the nickname before sighing and tossing the camera into his bag.

"Everything ready?" A hoarse voice mumbled from the other side of the room.

She waved him off, not wanting to show her nervousness to the man, who simply wouldn't let go of her. Instead, she walked up to him and tossed a couple crumpled dollar bills into his duffle bag.

"That's a quarter of the money I owe you."

He simply zipped his bag and hung it over his shoulder before cocking an eyebrow at her, "Don't try any funny business or else—"

"You'll kill my family," Yuri mumbled, rolling her eyes as she waved him off, again, "yada yada yada, I have heard it all a million times."

"Your awareness is commendable." He sassed, before making his way out and Yuri sighed in annoyance before following.

Yuri stared into his soul the moment the car engine started. The ride was shorter than she would have liked it to be and the moment she started going over the plan in her head, the more it sounded ridiculous. The car screeched to a halt.

"Come on, onto business now."

She stepped out of the car and took in a deep breath, staring at the house (if it could even be called that) in front of her.

I am screwed.

----

I am screwed.

Jae let out a love-sicked sigh, staring at her from a distance. She looks ethereal. Whether she actually did, in her messy bun and creased shirt was besides the point— the real point was that he had a massive crush on his secretary. He puppy-eyed her from a distance as she spoke to the two head managers.

"I need this to be perfect, they are huge brands and a collaboration with such huge names only means more traffic for us. And with that… " She explained to them but Jae did not hear a word, he was busy admiring Lisa or as Tom says- 'the love of his life.'

"Okay, thank you, we'll meet sharp at 4pm, in the office." She gave them a quick nod and then turned towards Jae, passing him a soft smile.

Jae smiled back as he got pulled back into reality.

"I'll take your leave, sir. Remember, there is a meeting with the field investors in half an hour at Ichae cafe." She smiled to him one last time before picking her bag and exiting with a 'goodbye'

Before Jae could step out of his dreamland, she was out of the door. He cursed himself before plopping down on the couch and leaning his head against the headrest. The doorbell rang just then, making him groan. Who on earth has no work?

"Sir, there is a girl at the door…"

"And?" Jae asked, his eyes still shut.

"She is making a chaos."

He furrowed his eyebrows before getting up, painfully and making his way down the hall. And as he opened the door, letting his eyes fall on the main gate, he sees Yuri.

"Hi," Yuri smiles gently- almost, nervously.

"Good morning," Jae greets back, his eyebrows still furrowed, "May I know why you are creating a chaos here?"

She nervously bit her bottom lip, looking at her feet. Slowly, she looked back at him.

"I need your help, I am about to die."