1 Savior

Prologue (1/2)

December 17th

The first time we met was two weeks after I had moved to Gwangju. The boys all had grown tired of living so far away from each other after we had finished university in Seoul and headed back to our hometowns, so everyone was slowly migrating to Gwangju.

We were all lucky enough to have found jobs. I had graduated from Seoul university with a psychology degree along with Kim Namjoon. He was the one who introduced me to the rest of the boys. They are a wild bunch. They didn't really fit my quiet lifestyle, however I quickly adapted. I would do anything for those six boys.

It was a tuesday. Like most days, I was walking Min Holly. I try to walk him whenever I can. I just know that he hates staying in the apartment all day. All him and I both want to do is explore before I headed to work.

I first saw her when we were crossing the same road that chilly tuesday morning. Both of us were heading in the same direction. I and the girl with the red hat.

I couldn't see her face, and honestly at first I wasn't paying too much attention to her. She wore dark sunglasses and a black mask. Her long black hair was tied in a ponytail through the hole on the back of the red hat. There was a name on the back of the hat, but she was too far to read it, and again, I wasn't paying much mind to her. She had dark jeans and scuffed Timberlands. Her shirt was a worn-out black sweater. The only colorful thing she had besides the hat was her navy backpack with kumamon keychains. She was petite, pale, and clearly underweight. However, she blended in. The only thing that stuck out was the red hat.

Waiting for the light to change to allow us to cross was peaceful. It was silent, but not the awkward kind. It was the type of silence of two strangers who mutually agree to not ask questions. By both of our body language, it was clear neither of us were up for small talk.

Eventually the light changed, and the girl and I crossed. However, as we filed onto the slightly crowded street, a man with a hooded puffy jacket, began to follow her.

At first, I didn't think much of it. He was just walking the same direction, but slowly he began to walk closer and closer to her. That's when I noticed the small wallet sticking out of the back pocket of her jeans.

He began to reach for it. I was about to stop him when the girl with the red hat turned around and caught his arm.

"What are you doing?" she spoke. Her voice was soft and raspy. As if she hadn't spoken in days. Still, her tone was sharp, words short and to the point. She seemed not one bit worried on how the man would react. He could easily overpower her, but she wasn't nervous, only calm.

The man scoffed. "Lady, I'm just walking in the same direction. No need to be so up tight."

I'm not one to interfere unless absolutely necessary, but he was so much bigger than her. I was close to stepping in. Just close.

She calmly pushed him aside. Asking him once more to leave her alone. This time, she seemed more annoyed. Her voice was slightly bolder and tone was more like she was testing him to do something. Despite that, she remained calm.

At that, the man scoffed again and opened is mouth to speak. That is until he saw her eyes. What is with her eyes? From where I was standing, I could see his face turn slightly paler. He looked shocked for only a few seconds before he put on an indifferent facade.

"Fine. I wasn't trying anything. No one would ever try anything on someone as broke looking as you anyways," his words were a weak attempt to get under her skin.

Once he left, the girl kept walking as if it were nothing.

Turns out it wasn't nothing.

Eventually the girl and I split paths. Once we did, I thought I'd never seen her again. Especially not ten minutes later.

I continued on Holly and I's adventure. We came across a coffee shop called, Aroma. Aroma was a franchise that marketed having a café in every city of South Korea. I tied Holly's leash to a chair outside, so I could go in and order quickly. I had been craving an Americano all morning.

When I was in the short line to order, I glanced out the window. My mind drifted to the girl with the red hat. From what I could see of her, she was pretty. I concluded that she seemed like the person who just wanted to blend in. As if she was running away from something or maybe someone.

It was both, but not anything I had anticipated.

I was snapped to reality when the barista tapped my shoulder.

"Sir, your dog is running away."

Without a second thought, I quickly rushed back outside to follow Holly. The brown toy poodle was still in my sight. He hadn't crossed any roads, which is good, but he was running back the way we had just came. I chased him all the way to a park-like place with trees, grass, and a fountain in the middle of a paved clearing. That's where I saw her for the second time. The girl with the red hat.

Holly made his way towards one of the two busy roads next to the park. Was this dog trying to get himself killed?

As he was about to step onto the road, someone stepped on the end of his leash, stopping him.

The girl with the red hat.

Holly noticed her and turned to her. He was wagging his tail while she gently picked him up.

I quickly walked over to them.

"Hey, um. Thank you for stopping him. He's kind of energetic," I spoke slowly. I didn't know if she would criticize my ability to take care of my dog or not.

She didn't.

She wasn't the type to.

Instead, she only pulled down her mask.

"No problem. Accidents happen. Dogs can be a handful and challenging, I get it. However, challenges can be fun," her voice. Her voice. Hearing it directed at me rather than someone else gave me chills. It was soft and had a more laid back tone. It held a sense of wisdom and pain. As if every word she spoke held meaning to her.

At least to me, every word did.

She carefully passed Holly back to me. Her hands brushed against mine. Her hands. Her skin was soft, but I felt the scars that laced her gentle fingers. Scars. Plural. Not one scar picked up from childhood roughness, but multiple. As her sleeve rode up, I noticed bandages wrapping her wrists and up.

Later I found out that those bandages were hiding a truth that never once crossed my mind.

I took Holly's leash and placed the rowdy poodle on the ground.

"Yeah, dogs aren't cheap or easy, but they do bring happiness," I spoke casually.

"Yes. They really do."

"Do you have a dog or any pets?" I asked. This girl truly makes me curious. Being a psychologist, I can usually read people pretty well. However, all I got from her was basic things. Any emotions or small habits went undetected by me. I could only see what she was letting me. As if she was conscious of people like me. She was closed off and I couldn't quite get her. The sunglasses didn't help either. They obstructed her eyes. Her eyes. From what I could tell, they were sharp, tired and held so much experience.

So much pain.

"No I've never really had a pet. It was never something that I asked for or longed for."

"Yeah, me neither. Holly just kind of appeared in my life. I was never seeking out a pet."

"You can't really seek out nice things. They more come to you," I will admit. This girl was strange. Her tone, the way she spoke so formally, and her word choices. All were strange. All were intriguing.

"I guess you're right there," I spoke.

There was a slight pause. A pause that seemed to only be awkward on my end.

"Anyways, my name is Min Yoongi," I said before reaching out my hand for her to shake.

"Soohyun," she took my hand.

Soohyun.

The name stuck. It would most likely never leave my brain.

"Just Soohyun?" I asked curiously.

"Just Soohyun."

"Well Soohyun, would you like to come to the coffee shop down the road with me, so I can repay you for saving my dog?" I wasn't asking for a date. I wasn't falling for her. I was curious about her. She was a puzzle and I was missing almost all of the pieces.

"My apologies. I just arrived here, so I must unpack. Maybe another time."

My next words were hesitant and not thought out. Thet most likely were taken wrong and implied that I wanted more from her than I actually did. Well, technically I did want something from her.

"How about we exchange numbers then. You know, so we can schedule a day for me to buy you coffee to repay you?" As soon as I said that, I panicked. I know that came off wrong. I was a stranger. There was no way she would give me her number that easily. So her response really surprised me.

She smiled.

And it was beautiful.

It was a small smile, but a smile nonetheless.

"Sure," she spoke, passing me her phone while I fished mine out of my pocket to give to her

I saved my contact in her phone as "dog boy Min Yoongi."

We traded phones back and said our goodbyes before going our separate ways.

I saw that she had simply saved her contact in my phone as, "Soohyun."

I changed it to, "Holly's savior."