章 2: Episode 1: Tae-Hyung, The Guardian Angel

"What do I do now?" she asked herself tensely as she got up, slung her bag over her shoulder and walked as far as possible from the apartment. There were five officers in total, just for one 24 year old girl. No, Lisa thought, she wasn't just a 24 year old now, she was a 24 year old who had almost killed a man.

She glanced back and quickened her walk into a jog, just like that night after school. That night after kicking the faces of the only helpless boys in her school. She didn't remember them very well, nor did Miley. She regretted bullying them constantly for five years a few times right after graduation.

But by the time she got out of college and started looking for a job, she used to kill herself over and over for being so rude...so mean...it was like karma was getting back at her for ruining the school lives of those seven boys.

"I wonder where they are now," she spoke to the night air, walking slowly now, in a neighborhood she didn't know. "Are they like me?" she laughed and nodded, "They probably are."

The roads were empty...no cabs. She couldn't go to Miley's place now too, the risk was too high. She saw a small convenience store at the distance. "Sleep on the streets till tomorrow's bus rolls in?"

She found herself walking towards the store, at least she could buy dinner. But before stepping under the convenience store's light, she stopped.

"If I use my credit card, they'll find me even more easily...then I'll have to run again. I'll use cash," she decided then stopped again. "But they'll check the store CCTVs. And then they'll know I'm here." she countered herself and walked back into the dark into the little alley between two buildings, no dinner for Lisa.

She sat down on the ground, her bag between her legs and waited in the dark. For what, she didn't know.

A bright red sports car caught her attention. It rolled in front of the store and parked lopsidedly before an unbelievably tall boy with permed hair stepped out of the car. She noted his long lean legs, almost similar to that boy in the Cafe.

His eyes were covered with sleek sunglasses and a dark mask pulled over his mouth. Lisa stared at the boy enter the almost empty convenience store and come out a minute later, a thin translucent cover in his hand.

"I wonder if he is going in this direction," Lisa wondered, really hoping he was. He looked like an okay guy. The car pulled out of the parking lot and turned towards the direction Lisa wanted to go on.

She threw her hands up in the air,"YES!" she whispered yelled and stood up and walked on to the road.

The boy was expecting a smooth ride back to the house where the rest of his friends were. Loud music playing inside the car, he exited the convenience store and turned. He was murmuring the words to the song when he screamed and rammed the breaks, hitting the horn and blinking the head lights on reflex.

He saw a girl in front of his car, covering her face with both arms. He rolled down the window and yelled at her, "Move out of the way! You could have died!"

She broke from her frozen stance and dropped her hands. The boy saw her pale face and waited patiently for her to walk away. Instead she walked straight towards the open window of the sports car. The boy thanked God that it was night and the girl couldn't really see his face.

"Are you going to MM?" Lisa asked, slightly acting like she was helpless. Truth is, she actually was, so she didn't have to act much.

The boy nodded.

"Can you drop me there? I missed the last bus."

Oh shit, the boy thought. He can't be seen with a girl...but she was all alone and it was almost midnight..."Are you sure you want me to drop you?" he still asked, hoping she would go away, but this girl was persistent.

"I don't know. I just want to go home,"she pleaded and the boy couldn't take it anymore. He nodded towards the other door and unlocked the car. Lisa smiled wide and let out a squeal, "Thank you kind stranger! Thank you so much!" she bowed again and again before walking over to the other side and getting inside the cool air conditioned car.

And she actually was thankful, at least one thing went right, even if she was officially the first 24 year old lady to almost kill a man, lose a job, get kicked out of her house and have the police after her in just one night.

The car accelerated and for the first time that night Lisa let out a breath she didn't know she was holding.

........

"Where is your house?" he asked, after a few minutes of awkward silence. He was getting scared every moment that passed with a strange girl in his car. His eyes always glanced at the rear mirrors to see if there were any paparazzi who had tracked him down by chance.

Lisa shook her head, "No, it's okay. Just drop me anywhere in MM, I know the place very well."

The boy's hands tightened around the steering wheel. This voice...where had he heard it before? "Is MM your hometown?" he asked.

Before she could answer, the car's electronic screen lit up with an incoming call. Out of habit, he pressed the receive button on the screen, and the phone call got connected to the car's blue-tooth system. So that when the person on the other end spoke, it was heard through the car speakers.

The boy's heart skipped a beat in cold fear as Jimin spoke, "Hey Tae-hyung! You here yet?"

Lisa raised her eyebrows at the name and looked at the driver. Tae-hyung flinched and shook his head as Lisa's hands flew to her mouth, covering it in surprise.

"I'm dropping a girl home," Tae-hyung replied, thinking of an excuse to tell this stranger whose hands were on her head now.

"WHAT? I thought you knew you weren't allowed to-" Jimin was about to say 'date' when the driver interrupted, "I don't know her, she was lost," then in a little more tense voice, "Stop calling me Tae-hyung..umm....Harry," Tae-hyung mustered out.

Jimin finally got it and laughed nervously on the other side, "Yeah, but they're our nicknames right? So Meong-chong, you on your way right?"

Lisa laughed at the driver's actual name and covered her mouth as she sighed. She actually thought for a second that they were actually from THE band. She laughed nervously at her own stupidity.

"Yeah, yeah," Tae-hyung's deep voice replied. Before he cut the call Jimin said, "Be careful okay?"

"Yeah okay Harry," Tae-hyung replied casually.

"Oh I wasn't telling you. I was telling the girl," Jimin corrected and laughed out loud before cutting the phone. Tae-hyung nervously turned to look at Lisa and laughed nervously.

"I thought you were actually THE Tae-hyung, deep voice, cool hair and all," Lisa said, studying him thoroughly now.

"Oh no no way, Tae-hyung is waaayyy better than plain old me. It's just the voice I guess," he said, glad that Lisa wasn't some die-hard ARMY who would recognize him by the way he talked and the shape of his nose.

"Yup, definitely. I think Tae-hyung is the coolest, ya know? Like he has that charisma, that's just impossible to ignore," Lisa added, her eyes sparkling.

Tae-hyung saw that and glanced out of the window, a wide sly smile hidden behind the mask he was wearing. Maybe it was the praises she had just indirectly given him, or maybe it was the sparkle in her eyes, he didn't know which.

Their conversation would have continued longer and until they had reached MM. But loud familiar sirens sounded from behind them. Tae-hyung checked his speed, "What? I'm driving below the limit."

A voice from the loudspeaker cut through the sports car's windows, "Pull OVER! Now!"

Lisa clutched the leather seat and bit her lip. "Um...Meong Cheong, go faster."

Tae-hyung blushed at the name Jimin had given him, "But they're telling us to pull over!"

Lisa was kneeling on the seat now and she whipped her head at him, "They're coming for me okay? Now Go!"

Kim Tae-hyung didn't think twice. He hit the gas and sped the car up, he didn't want to get caught either. All he wanted to do was reach MM and have that party with the others....then comes this girl on the middle of the road.

"What did you do?" Tae-Hyung yelled in frustration as he banked right.

"I almost killed a man," Lisa admitted, her eyes on the cars which were speeding up very fast.

"WHAT?!" Tae-hyung literally screamed now. He would have strangled her but he had a car to drive. "And you still get inside my car?"

"Just get me home!" Lisa screamed, sitting properly in the seat now, her hands wrapped around inside her bag. She closed her eyes tight, just wanting this whole thing to be over, "Please," she pleaded, "Just get me home, I didn't do anything wrong."

Tae-hyung looked at her, cradled in his car like a baby, trusting him to get her home. The sparkle in her eyes were gone. Tae-hyung sighed and focused on the road, "You should be lucky I took my car and not my dad's," he muttered.

"What?" Lisa asked, trembling for the second time today.

"Just put your seat-belt on. We're going to shoot through space," Tae-hyung sang out loud and revved the engine. Lisa looked up at this strange boy. At the weird way he talked. At his unnaturally deep voice that sent chills through her skin...was he actually...no, no way, she told herself. Then he looked at him one last time to confirm.

That's when she noticed it. That cut in his right eyebrow. It was almost invisible but the police sirens gave enough light to illuminate his face. That cut on his eyebrow, she knew it too well.

Because she was the one who had given him that.