Relief flooded our souls when they left our passageway and continued on the wrong corridor. Because of the panicky moment, I had forgotten the one thing I always did whenever I found myself in trouble.
"Do you know that something called SOS exists on your phone, right?" I chided Aidan, irritated that his nervous energy had passed on to me. "Click that this instant unless you want to die."
"Okay, okay. Geez," he said in a dissatisfied voice.
He silently fished out his phone while I unravelled to him my plan. I neither wanted him to panic as he had done back there nor did I want him to fight a battle without getting injured.
"You have to be joking, right?" he exclaimed. "Are you in your right senses? Taking on three people is an impossible mission unless you have set traps."
"And what exactly do you have in your mind for setting a trap?" I questioned back.
"If we had a police siren, for instance, they should run for their lives."
I sighed after I forethought the events. It was the best way for the two of us to part safely until the situation cooled down. That is if we both agreed on working around the plan.
"We could do that if you are not using the one on the phone, I guess," I said after giving his idea some thought. "But say, what if they realise it's fake or that the police wouldn't be coming for them. Then what?"
"I already have that planned," he responded with a smile, and not giving me even an inkling of his scheme.
"Well, if you need time, then how about this," I said with a smirk and whispered the plan into his ear. "That should be enough time, right?"
"Let's hope so," he said, giving me his hoodie and making a run in the other direction from where the girls had gone.
I put it on, ensuring that every single strand of my reddish-brown hair was tucked away under the hoodie. Since they hadn't seen my eyes, I should be safe in keeping my identity hidden.
I put my hands in the hoodie's warm, cosy pockets and walked in the direction in which I assumed the girls would have taken. The alley in which the girls stood, hunting for their precious prey had flickering lights. It took my eyes a while to adjust to the lighting and the surrounding before I continued to walk my way out.
The sharp midnight draft blew hard, making his cloth hug me to keep me warm. But the hoodie toppled off my head multiple times, and harder every time, as I neared the main street. And just the moment I thought the road was clear, the damn hood fell off and someone called.
"Hey," one of the girls searching behind a trash bin called out.
I hastily pulled up the hood and smoothly turned around on my feet.
'Keep calm,' I told my heart. 'Nothing will happen.'
"Yes," I drawled in a bored voice.
She flashed her phone's flashlight on me and asked, "Have you seen a blonde-haired and green-eyed man come this way? He is nearly six feet in height, and had a hoodie."
"I have seen many blonde hairs, but not any of your fitting descriptions," I answered. "The alleys are too dark to make out people, let alone their appearances. But I do remember hearing footsteps fading away in the alley on the left."
The girl scurried away in that direction without a word, while the others still had their flashlights at me, probably questioning my appearance.
"Where did you get that jacket from?" asked the one near a pile of boxes warily. "That jacket is not found anywhere as it is personally made for HADES members."
"I just happened to get a duplicate one for myself," I replied, unfazed. "Who doesn't like this style? Plus, it's very comfy."
"Your pants are too simple for you to be wearing just expensive clothes," spoke the other girl. "You must belong to the poor class to be dressed in such terrible taste."
"What if I told you that I make them?" I backfired. "There are some people who hate revealing their social status, and more than that, they hate people who judge them. At least they get to see the real world."
"Let it be," the second one told the third. "She must be clever with her needle to be able to etch even the shining initials of Aidan Aoki. We still have work to do."
Without further ado, I took my leave. The nervous energy had built up in me and couldn't be brought down even with a long, sucked-out breath. So I thought jogging would do the trick.
But I had completely missed out on the fact that the wind would be blowing straight on my face. As I started my little run, his hoodie fell off. Sharp cries echoed behind me.
'Oh shoot,' I cursed.
"It's that woman that Aidan was with!" one cried. "Break her bones already! She's stolen what's ours!"
"People can dye their hair..." I trailed off as their feet pounded on the pavement.
'Now run,' my psyche screeched. 'Your hair was braided that way since the morning. There's no escape with speech now. Run!'
I sprang to my feet, glad that the job had given me a short warm-up. I took the right aisle, thinking the main road was that way and that light would lead me to my freedom.
And right ahead of me was a dead-end as nets of electrified wire concealed the grounds of the next building. There was no break in the net to cut and get through, without being electrocuted. Now I only had one option left that I had promised not to use unless it was necessary.
They walked up the pavement to block up any room for a dash. I positioned myself to a steady stance, keeping the weapon ready in my hand.
"You have no right to follow my friend around like that," I said with my back turned to them. "He's a human being who needs his own privacy."
I had to depend on my hearing to make out their distance. It was the way I could keep the attack a secret and well-timed. I closed my eyes for a brief moment to hear them better.
"Friend, huh?" scoffed the one on my left. "Didn't seem so when he took your hand and ran."
"Of course it wouldn't seem so to you," I said. "You misunderstand our relationship. A true friend will always help out their dear companion. And that is exactly why he made me tag along, and also why I'm here instead of him. You wouldn't last much longer here with the police around the corner."
"Hah!" mocked the other young lady. "We would finish you off before that."
"Try me," I answered, trying to provoke them. It worked since they charged at me with full resolve to have me eliminated from any 'competition'.
I took a slice to my arm from one of their blades as I waited for them patiently to attack me first. I only smirked in return before I slashed one on her arm and front while pinning the other girl down after locking her with my knees. I jabbed at the pinned one and kicked her ankle thoroughly so she wouldn't get up.
By that time, the girl whose arm bled ferociously was up with a wooden shaft in her hand. I gave her a chance to yank me to the wall and hit me with it, putting away my weapon, so that the man, with an emblem on his shirt, saw the whole show.
"Now, now," he said, coming into full view as he switched on the flashlight. "What do we have here? The notorious sasaeng fans sprawling on the ground, is it?"
Their faces were covered in dread. I stood up, dusting myself from the wooden powder that had come to settle on me. I winced at the pain in my ribs when I tried to jerk my back straight. I was beaten with the shaft right over my ribs, where I was sure a bruise recorded the evidence.
I felt something congest at the back of my throat. I coughed it out, bending my back and twisting my face in pain. The metallic tang that filtered out my mouth made me know that my injury was rather serious.
At the back of my whirling head, I heard the sirens echoing through all the narrow passages. I leaned against the wall to support my weakened body. I couldn't move my upper body but that didn't stop me from moving my limbs, in case they tried to attack again.
The man walked towards us, and from behind him, more men joined him. All of them had the same distinct uniforms, with emblems etched on their left pockets, lined with medallions. Nearly all the other men paled in comparison to the lead one, for their features were strong and sharp yet plain with either black or brown hair and brown eyes.
The man, who had appeared first and led the others towards us, had black hair and blue eyes as I could make out from his bright light. His face was rather gaunt, although his appearance was unusually unnerving.
"Which ones do we take, sir?" asked one of his supporting officers.
"Those two on the ground," he replied nonchalantly. "I'll take care of the one near the wall."
As he walked towards me, my heart raced although I hadn't committed a crime. I flinched when I realised that he had already closed in the distance between us.
"How was the show?" he asked with a smile on his face. "Did you enjoy my enactment of a police?"