The next morning, Adryn woke up around 2 in the afternoon. Her first thought was how great of a rest she'd gotten. Her next thought was if any of the events of the previous night had truly happened and if they were real.
"Maybe I just had a really vivid dream?" Adryn questioned herself as she got ready for her day. Once ready, she walked into her kitchen and saw a red rose in a vase sitting on the kitchen table.
That was a true shock to her, as it proved that everything had truly happened and that it wasn't some dream. Seeing the rose, after her shock wore off, made Adryn smile. Nearly immediately afterward, she frowned at the rose.
"Am I going crazy? I don't even know who Taeyong really is or if he was truthful at all." Adryn muttered to herself as she shook her head. She then headed to her desk and pulled out her laptop. Adryn began to do a search online for the broken heart tattoo she'd seen on Taeyong, as she wanted to know which gang specifically it belonged to.
Adryn found her answer fairly quickly and learned that the broken heart tattoo was for a gang called NCT. They were one of the most powerful gangs in that area of Korea. Reading that led to her learning that the leader of NCT and all of their members were unknown. It was well known that anyone who ever knew who exactly they were, were killed. Adryn learned that NCT leaves no evidence behind and they were quite thorough with their work.
After digging a little deeper, Adryn learned that there were rumors of the leader of NCT. One rumor that stood out to her, was that they were the most violent and ruthless of them all. Along with that, there were rumors that the recent murders were caused by gang violence. The police weren't interested in it, as everyone who was killed were horrible people in some way. There were various other rumors as well, surrounding NCT and the various other gangs around the area. All of them got worse and worse the deeper Adryn went into them.
Feeling a chill run through her, Adryn powered down her laptop and closed it. She then got up and closed all of her curtains and made sure her windows were locked as she did so. She then found her cell phone, which was on her bedside table, and then called Eclipse.
"Hey, what's up?" Eclipse answered right away and sounded fairly worried about Adryn, as she hardly ever called her during the day.
"Stop by after work today. We need to talk about something, but I'm alright, so don't freak out over it all." Adryn replied to her best friend quickly. Adryn tried her best to keep her voice calm, but Eclipse had sensed her frantic feelings.
"You know, just you saying that and how you said it, worries me and makes me want to freak out. But alright, I'll stop by. I'll text you when I'm on my way."
"Cool, see you then," With that, Adryn and Eclipse hung up their phones. Adryn then took a good look at her apartment and sighed. It was a mess. There were clothes everywhere and it overall just wasn't in the best condition. It'd been a few weeks since Eclipse had been to Adryn's apartment. Adryn didn't have much energy to do any cleaning during those few weeks. She didn't have much energy to do much of anything in the first place ever since her book had been rejected.
After about an hour of cleaning, Adryn was able to flop onto her bed with a sigh. She had cleaned up everything to a point, but she didn't fully clean everything.
"I hope Eclipse comes soon. I've got nothing else to do today..." Adryn muttered to herself as she looked up at her ceiling. "Oh! I should probably go out and get some food." Adryn hopped up from her bed and checked her wallet. She had a bit of money left and it should've been enough for something small. After all, Adryn had no food in her pantry and nothing in her refrigerator either.
So, realizing that she need to get supplies, Adryn got her shoes on and left her apartment to go to a nearby convenience store. She walked through the alleys and past the various people that were already passed out from either drugs or alcohol. She ignored them all. However, she couldn't ignore the creeping feeling within her that there was someone watching her. Even so, Adryn was close enough to the store so she just walked faster.
After she hurried herself to the store, Adryn got inside and felt a little safer. There were a few people there and the cashier woman was always kind to Adryn. So, Adryn went through the aisles and gathered some instant ramen. She got a spicy shrimp for herself and a normal chicken one for Eclipse. Adryn also got 2 bottles of water for herself and her best friend. Once she collected everything she needed, Adryn made her way to the cashier woman.
"It's been a while since I've seen you." The kind woman spoke to Adryn with a smile on her face.
"Yeah, I've been pretty busy." Adryn lied completely, but she hoped that the woman didn't notice it. The woman just nodded her head and bagged her items before Adryn handed her the money. Adryn then thanked the woman and hurried out of the convenience store.
Once in the outside world again, Adryn hurried through the alleys and back to her apartment building. After getting inside the building, Adryn could hear one of the first-floor couples screaming at each other; like usual. So, Adryn made her way quietly to her apartment and went in, before locking the door securely.
"People scare me..." Adryn muttered to herself as she put the water bottles in the refrigerator and then put the ramen on her table with the rose. "I wonder if Eclipse texted me." Adryn checked her phone and realized that the woman had indeed texted her. Eclipse was on her way, so Adryn warned her to watch out for the first-floor couple, as they were fighting again over probably something stupid; like usual.
With the warning text sent, Adryn just sat at her table and played on her cell phone for a bit. She deleted some spam messages and then blocked their numbers. She didn't know how anyone got her phone number since she'd only given her number to Eclipse. As Adryn messed around on her phone, Eclipse walked into the apartment. Eclipse had a key and so she had just let herself in.
"Hey, I'm here!" Eclipse announced as she closed the door behind her.
"Hey," Adryn responded as she locked her phone and set it down.
"So, what is going on? Why did I need to come over here? Not that I mind." Eclipse asked as she went over and sat down at the table as well.
"Well, a Korean man broke into the apartment last night. I'm pretty sure he mentioned that he was from a gang."
"I'm sorry, what?" Eclipse was shocked at first but then went into panic mode. "We need to pack everything. You're coming to leave and move in with me."
"I wasn't done with my experience yet."
"Did he hurt you? Did he try to touch you or anything?"
"No, he didn't. He and I met last year at a bar. I wanted him to kill me yesterday but he told me that he can't because he is in love with me. He wants to take me away and make me happy. He told me that he'll return in now 6 days to get my answer. He also mentioned that he has his friends watching over me to make sure I'm safe for this week." Adryn explains as Eclipse just stared at her. "So, do you want some ramen now?"
"Sure. I need to eat while thinking about what the fuck you just told me."
"Cool." Adryn got up and got Eclipse's ramen first and then popped it into the microwave.
"So, why did that man say he loves you when you'd only met 2 times?"
"He told me he loves me because of how kind I am since he'd witnessed me being kind to others. He said that he took a liking to me immediately."
"Who is the man and what gang is he from?"
"I can't tell you. I don't want to risk his safety."
"Why are you protecting the man?" Eclipse's question caused Adryn to pause in watching the microwave. She turned to face her best friend and smiled at her.
"Because he makes me feel safe; for some reason."
"Have you lost your mind?!"
"I've never really had a sound mind, to begin with, but I'm not crazy right now or anything," Adryn replied as she chuckled at Eclipse's panicked face. "He could have killed me easily but he never made a move to hurt or coerce me."
"Do you love the man?"
"No, but I like the idea of being important to someone. I like the idea that someone might love me, protect me, and make me happy."
"Are you still taking your medicine?" Just as Eclipse asked, the microwave went off and Adryn turned her attention back to it. She then pulled out the ramen and brought it to Eclipse.
"I don't have the money for them anymore. I haven't been taking them for a few weeks now."
"Are you doing alright then? Or is this feeling toward this strange man a part of a manic episode, due to your bipolar disorder."
"Well, that was rude, but no. I can't have a manic episode like that when this depressive episode is going on so strongly."
"How are you feeling then? Are you sure you're alright?" Eclipse ignored her hot food and just stared at her best friend.
"Ever since that day, I just don't have much hope for anything and I honestly just want to give up," Adryn explained simply but Eclipse just frowned. "Look, you've flourished here in Korea and I haven't. I'm not doing good at all and I'm probably going to be losing this apartment soon since I haven't been paying for it."
"I'll pay for it all." Eclipse instantly said to Adryn.
"No thank you. I can't live on other people's money anymore. It makes me feel useless and worthless."
"But you know you aren't." To Eclipse's words, Adryn's face contorted into a cringe. She then turned around and got her food ready. She then put it in the microwave. "Adryn. I don't want to make you feel anything negative, but if you need to, you can move in with me. You can work with me in some way or get a job or something."
"I appreciate that, but I'll have a hard time finding a normal job with how bad my
mental health is and how horribly I speak Korean."
"I'll help you with your Korean."
"That sounds good, but I don't want to change anything yet. Honestly? I'm thinking about accepting his offer."
"You can't do that! You don't know this man at all."
"I know I don't know him, but I think I can tell when someone is a good person or not."
"You sure about that? Think about all your ex-lovers and how horrible they all were in some way." Adryn ignored Eclipse as she got her food out of the microwave and brought it to the table.
"I admit, I had poor judgment in the past, but this is different. I'm not pursuing him; he's chasing after me." To Adryn's words, Eclipse just stared at her. Eclipse blinked her eyes a few times before sighing out loud. She then turned her attention to her food finally.
So, with Eclipse now eating, Adryn began to eat her food as well. The two ate for a few minutes before they finished up. No one said a word, as Eclipse was dwelling on everything that Adryn had said.
"Do you want some water?" Adryn suddenly broke the silence with her question. She got up, threw their containers away, and then grabbed the two water bottles from the refrigerator.
"Thank you," Eclipse muttered to her friend as she took the water that was offered to her. "Hey, were these the last of anything in your refrigerator? Come to think of it, was this the last food and drinks you have? Do you have any money left?"
"Do you work tomorrow?"
"Do you have any money left?" Eclipse's question caused Adryn to sigh.
"I have no money left. I spent the rest of what I had on what we've just eaten and are drinking."
"What?! Why didn't you tell me?" Eclipse asked as she got out her wallet and began to pull money out. "Here, get some food and drinks in here before you starve and die or something. No wonder you've been losing weight!"
"I needed to lose weight anyway," Adryn muttered to her best friend. They were both admittedly not as skinny as most of the other women around, but they weren't too far overweight either. "And I don't need your money. I can handle things myself."
"Alright, I get that, but take the money anyway." When Adryn didn't reach out to take the money from Eclipse's hand, the pink-haired woman set it down on the table. "I'll text you later, but I do have work tomorrow so we probably won't be able to hang out."
"Okay, be safe," Adryn mumbled to Eclipse. Eclipse nodded her head, then hugged Adryn before leaving the apartment. Adryn locked the door behind Eclipse and looked out the window. It'd begun to get dark already without either of the women noticing. "I guess I'll just play on my laptop for a bit then?" Adryn wondered if there was anything else for her to do, but ultimately, she ended up on her laptop anyway. Adryn started with trying to think up other ideas for a story to write but fell into reading some manga and watching some anime.
When it got dark enough and when the hunger slowly began to return, Adryn got off of her laptop. She then took a shower and got ready for bed. She figured that she would just sleep to avoid the hunger she was feeling. So, after her shower, she changed into sleep clothes and got her glasses on. She checked her phone for any missed messages or phone calls then. Since there weren't any, Adryn sighed to herself and climbed into bed. She turned off the light next to her and drifted off into a less peaceful sleep than she'd experienced the previous night.
