AERI

I'm so scared I can't even breathe.

I can't even say sorry. My mouth won't move. It feels like my body is frozen stiff to the ground, and my heartbeat skyrockets when he takes a step closer.

He points at the thick ice cream dripping down the front of his shirt.

"This yours, kid?"

He smiles. And I see he has several gaping holes in his mouth.

He's missing teeth. A lot of them. Some of them are lined with gold— some with dirty silver. Barely any of them look normal.

"Because if it is, I might need to fuck you up a little."

I've never moved so fast.

The moment I hear that, I get to my feet and break into a run towards the opposite direction. I don't look back— I don't. Any second I expect him to grab me by the throat and drag me away to kill me.

I hear him laugh. Or was I imagining it?

Thoughts run wildly through my head.

My legs are too short. He could literally walk to catch up to me. He was going to get me. He was actually going to get me and take all my teeth and my heart and beat me to death and—

And for the second time in the last five minutes, I run right into someone else.

At this point I was just going to give myself up.

Hands wrap around my shoulder. And I'm already sobbing into a shirt, tears streaming down my cheeks as I tremble violently. My legs give out under my body.

It's all hopeless.

I should've just gone with Aemin. I should've stayed with him.

Now I was going to get sold off as a slave down in the underground of Kaz.

"...child?"

I keep crying, trying to drown out whatever's going around me. My heart feels like it's going to explode with the anticipation.

Then the hands that had wrapped around my shoulder shift down to lift my body up from the ground. And in a second I'm buried in someone's arms, my head rested on his shoulder.

I'm so surprised that the tears stop.

I start hiccuping instead.

Was this...Was this supposed to happen?

Then I realize who I'd run into. It's that man, from before. The man who had been smoking and I'd told him to stop. He's the one holding me.

I shiver when I hear the chilling voice again.

"V."

"Hand her over."

No.

No, no, no.

"Please...p-please don't." I whisper, my fingers tightening around his shoulders. I bury my face deep into the crook of his neck.

And to my surprise, he laughs lowly under his breath.

"Silly girl. Did you throw that at him?"

What?

"I— no, it was an accident!" I exclaim, my words getting faster and faster. "I ran into him, and I was holding an ice cream, you know? I only took a few bites out of that, and it got all over his—"

"It's fine," He murmurs.

"He won't be getting anywhere near you."

Then he calls out to the scary man, with the missing teeth. His voice is so calm— almost relaxed. As if he was talking to a puppy instead of a man who looked like he could easily rip me into shreds.

"She says it's just an accident. Why don't you just let her go this one time?"

"So?" He growls. "That girl needs a lesson. And I'll be the one giving it to her."

"She's only a kid."

"Kids need discipl—"

"I said, she's just a child."

His voice suddenly changes. It makes me numb— it even makes the other man go dead silent. Time seems to stop for a second, frozen by the sudden ice in his tone.

The ice turns to venom.

"Or do you want to start something you won't be able to undo." He whispers, tilting his head. "You did know who I am, didn't you?"

There's a crushing silence. And it makes me squirm a little— the discomfort of it all. But he just tightens his arms around me, and his grip feels more safe than dangerous.

The man spits on the floor.

And I genuinely think he's going to do something when he turns and leaves, cursing loudly under his breath.

I keep tense as a stick until he finally disappears around the corner, his footsteps fading away into the darkness.

The man called V looks at me.

"Are you alright?"

I nod. Then I hug him tightly— I give him the hardest hug I can.

"Thank you." I mumble. "Thank you so much."

If he hadn't been here tonight. If this man hadn't been here, I would've died. I would've been a goner.

But he doesn't let me down. Instead he starts walking down the street, with me still in his arms. I blink in surprise as he stops in front of the ice cream parlor my brother and I'd been in just a few minutes ago.

Then he lets me down.

"Wait, why..."

"You said you barely got to have a couple bites, didn't you?" He says, and I blush as I see the shopkeeper look up in surprise.

"Oh, you're here again, little missy!" She exclaims, looking a little confused at the strange man next to me. "Weren't you just here a minute or two ago?"

He gives her an easy smile.

"She dropped her cone. We're here for a new one."

Then he turns to me.

"Choose. Whichever— however many you'd like."

But I can't help but hesitate still, pressing my thumbs together. My voice is a tiny squeak.

"But ice cream is so expensive..."

He laughs softly. "Don't worry. Go on and tell her what you want. We don't want to keep her from going home, do we?"

So I finally end up asking for a small cherry cone. I felt so bad— he'd been the one who'd helped me out, and now he was paying for the ice cream I'd spilled all over by myself.

"A triple cherry cone, please."

My head jerks up in surprise.

A triple?! That was three scoops. Not one, not two, but three. The most expensive one here, and the menu I'd always just looked at longingly.

"I-I didn't ask for that, though!"

But he doesn't act like he's heard me as he draws out a sleek black card and hands it to the shopkeeper. She gapes for a brief second, before taking it like it's diamond in her fingers.

The man's eyes glitter when he turns back to me.

"I saw you looking at it."

A heavy blush covers my cheeks as I avoid his eyes. "No I wasn't."

"Sure." He says lightly. And no matter how hard I try, I can't keep my face from blooming in excitement as the lady hands me the sky-high ice cream cone. It's like heaven in my hands.

I hear quiet, husky laughter.

"Come now, child." He says, leading me out the store.

"I'll walk you home."

_______________________________

A week later

I hadn't seen that man since last week.

Whenever I would come back home from school, I'd always look in the shadowy alley where I'd seen him the first time. But no— he'd gone somewhere.

Maybe on a vacation?

Or maybe he'd gone to the upper sky grounds of Kaz, where the elite lived. He'd literally bought me a triple ice cream last time.

And I'm thinking to myself when I see a wisp of smoke in the air. It's a familiar situation— and my head instantly whips towards the alley a few meters in front of me.

There he is.

He's dressed head to toe in black, hood pulled deep over his head. He's slumped against the wall, a white smoking stick in his fingertips. And my eyes widen when I see a couple of green glass bottles scattered around him.

It's even worse than last time.

"Hey! V!"

I run over to him, brows already creasing in frustration. My nose scrunches together.

He looks up at me. And my entire body stills when I see his face closer, under the shadow of his hood.

Oh no.

"Oh no," I whisper out, exactly what's on my mind. "Did you fight someone? What—How...?"

V sighs.

"Shouldn't you be in school, child?"

His lip is torn and bloody. There's a cut on his cheek— not one, but three. His eyes are flushed red, carrying a burning glow that hadn't faded just yet.

"We...We got out a little bit early today." I say, blinking frantically. "Why are you hurt?"

"I fell."

I frown at his obvious lie. He isn't even trying.

Smoothing down my dress, I sit down crosslegged on his lap. His brow raises a little as I reach to pull back his hood.

"Lemme see."

His long, dark hair falls over his eyes when I pull back the hood of his jacket. I wince, noticing a few more cuts that I hadn't noticed earlier.

"Did you fall on your face or something?"

He laughs, lifting his cigarette to take another breath. But I slap it out of his hands before he can, and he gives me a disappointed, playful look as the stick tumbles to the ground.

The flame dies away with the dirt.

"I just started that one."

"Good riddance, then." I sniff, turning up my nose at him. "You smell like smoke and alcohol all over. It's gross—"

"Do I?"

He smiles. Then he suddenly pulls me into his arms, burying my face into the front of his chest. He laughs when I yelp and wiggle back out of his grip.

I'm mad now.

"You're drinking all this too," I say, my voice seriously as I wave wildly at the green bottles. There has to be five, at least. "How even old are you? I bet—"

"Eighteen."

Then he makes a babying face at me. I can tell what it is— because Aemin always, always does it to me. He's been doing it for the past twelve years  I've been alive for.

"I have to do this, you know. It distracts me. Better than staring at all the bugs on the walls, no?"

Bugs?!

I instantly jump up to my feet, my eyes wildly roaming across the alley floor. My mouth twists in a scowl when he smiles.

"Just kidding."

"You're a jerk." I mumble as I hesitantly settle back down on his lap and cross my arms over my chest. "And if you need distracting, you should've just told me. I have a lot of stories to tell you."

"Like?"

"Like at school today, my teacher made everyone do jumping jacks because she said that no one was paying attention to class. She made us do a hundred!"

His look is amused. "She's a good teacher to keep all of you in shape."

"It wasn't funny then, trust me. I think one kid fainted."

"And? Tell me more."

Huh.

Maybe I was doing good. Distracting him so he didn't drink more of that toxic stuff.

"Okay, then let me tell you about this time when her pet snake got loose—"

I start on a spree of storytelling. I always had so much to talk about, but no one to really tell it to. My parents were always busy, and Aemin was only free on Sundays. Other times he was just too busy.

So really, I'm so thrilled when he says that.