𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐲🔞 ᵇᵗˢ ʰʸᵇʳⁱᵈ ˣ ʳᵉᵃᵈᵉʳ

One

    "A NOISE"

"God, it feels good to be out of that shit show," Y/n spoke as she stretched her limbs, eager to make distance between herself and the place she hated most- work.

"I know, they've really been working us these past few nights. I think I used up half the coffee supply in the lounge- but keep that between you and me. You know how stingy Mina is," Jin replied, smiling back at y/n, his eyes lingering over her for a moment longer than they should have.

"Ha! I thought I saw her eyeing you down, no wonder," Y/n joked, a shiver running up her hands as a gush of wind hit them. She sighed, a cool puff of smoke leaving her mouth as she exhaled.

Her eyes drifted from to SeokJin's sleeveless arms and she scoffed. "I hate you- I don't understand how you can just walk around like that without a jacket like it's nothing and here I am, all layered up, still feeling like I'm about to catch Hypothermia," Her teeth chattered as she spoke the words.

"What can I say? I'm just that hot," He sent her a wink and received a slap to his chest.

They came to a stop like every night at the end of the Street. SeokJin would walk left towards his apartment, and Y/n would head straight. And just like every night, SeokJin would beg Y/n to let him walk her home.

"Come on y/n, just let me walk you there. I'll feel a lot better if I can see that you've gotten home!" He glared at her and she hummed, resting her chin on her hand in fake thought.

"No." She said after a few seconds causing Jin to let out a groan.

"But-" he went to speak but was cut off.

"SeokJin, It's a three minute walk. It literally takes me longer to drive here with the morning traffic- I'll be fine," She said in a voice that hinted there wasn't much changing her mind.

The man on her left gave a displeased sigh before sending her a small nod. She smiled victoriously and leaned over, her body wrapping around his in a hug. "See you Monday, Seokie," she squeezed him tightly, gathering a bit of his warmth before they parted.

When she pulled back, there was a faint blush on Jin's cheek and that was all she could see before he averted his eyes and mumbled out a goodbye, speed walking the opposite way.

"I'll text you when I'm home!" She yelled after him, her hands cupped around her mouth.

After that, she didn't waste much time and began to speed walk home by herself, the chilly night nipping at the places her scarf could not cover.

She hurried down the street that would soon connect to her own, the only sound following through her ears being the padding of her shoes against the concrete and the whistling wind against her ears.

That was until she heard somewhat of a loud, miserable cry coming from somewhere over her shoulder. She arched a brow and slowed to a stop, gently turning her body around to detect the noise, but there was only silence.

Just when she was about to continue her jog home a similar sound erupted and she twisted around to spot a dark alley way.

"Oh, fuck no," she whispered to herself, shaking her head. "There's no way i'm going in there. Not today, I don't give a damn- I'm not dying," Y/n convinced herself, and stomped her foot in the direction of her house, but the whimpering sound came again and she froze mid-pace.

She tried to ignore it. She really did. But the endless possibilities filled her mind of what was going on and she bit her slightly chapped lips in frustration.

"God damnit," she cursed before turning around and staring at the alley, a few more heart wrenching noises being released.

Why couldn't she have been listening to music?

She snatched her purse off her hip and dug through it, looking around and sighing when the only thing she found that was potentially weapon-like was the corner of her carmex chapstick.

Holding the tube out in front of her with shaky hands, she inched towards the dark alleyway, mumbling small words of encouragement to herself. She had to do this sketchy horror movie shit. What if someone was hurt? She couldn't live with herself if she left them here .... Or could she?

No, no. She couldn't, definitely couldn't. She peaked over the corner of the wall for a second and heard a miserable groan, and by that sound she was certain that whoever it was, they were injured. Or patient zero in the zombie apocalypse.

But as she went to step out and reveal herself, the carmex lightly lowered now, she heard a crunching from under her foot and glanced down to see a now crushed, discarded can.

Something that sounded like a sharp breath was taken from the darkness at the sound of her movement and Y/n knew she was being watched.

"H-hello?" She said nervously, gulping a little bit.

There was a brief shifting sound and she could see the shadows in the dark mingle and grow smaller; a flash of a green-yellow light flashed towards her.

"Are you hurt?" She called out once more, squinting in the dark.

Silence. Well, guess not, she thought and tried to force herself to walk away. What if whatever hurt this person was still there and hurt her next?

But two reflective orbs staring back at her in the dark corner made her stay grounded.

"Alright...I'm coming over," she warned and fished in her pocket, grabbing her phone out and shined a light across the area, seeing stacks of cardboard and a few trash cans lying about. But other than that, the place was vacant.

"What?" She asked to herself, dumbfounded, and shined her flash light around once more before getting closer. Had they ran from her? Surely she hadn't made all of it up? Right?

Her feet carried her closer to the inspection spot and she lifted the cardboard around, and pushed gently on some trash, finding absolutely nothing. That was until she saw a small, greyish tail sticking out from under another pile of rubbish.

"Awe... Hey, little guy," she cooed and nudged the trash from over the animal, revealing a filthy, injured, grey cat.

But he did not seem happy to see her.