She wondered to herself if she would experience any trouble tonight, if any. Although she hoped for them, she wouldn't.

The night had barely begun, it was still young, and so she knew - anything could happen.

"Hwayoung," the security guard grinned, the girl hugging him gently as he simply pointed towards the doors, giving her access before those who had queued for hours. "Any trouble, you'll let me know, right?"

"Do I ever?" She asked, walking backwards as the man tutted, chuckling to himself.

That much was true, she would never tell him. Her problems were her problems only, that's all she had ever known. And besides, letting a man deal with her problems was the last thing she wanted.

"The usual?" The bartender asked the girl who stood in the same spot every weekend, if not every Friday and Saturday and even nights in between if she could afford it.

With a nod and a smile, the girl patiently waited, her palms sweaty as she clung to her money, half expecting a tap on the shoulder or a touch of the waist anytime soon - yet it didn't come. At least not yet.

"For you," the man behind the bar presented with his friendly smile, a smile which never faltered no matter how many times he served her. It was a smile the girl could appreciate.

"Thank you," Hwayoung took the drink gracefully, exchanging the money as she watched the man. "You've never told me your name."

"Ah," he chuckled, looking down at his lack of name identification. "I must have forgotten my tag."

"Do you forget it every shift?" She asked jokingly, the boy laughing as he shrugged.

"I guess you must catch me on my bad days," he reasoned, the girl shaking her head in response. Everyday seemed like a good day for him, the friendly aura that radiated from him was rare to see, especially for a man, she thought. "My name is Jacob."

"Nice to meet you, Jacob," she smiled, taking a sip of her drink. "I'm Hwayoung."

The boy nodded with his familiar smile, his ears ringing with the sultry voice of the girl who was so mysterious and captivating that he found himself drawn to her every time she appeared here.

He wasn't nice to her purely because of that. She came here alone, that was mysterious, but he wondered if she ever felt lonely.

So when he would see her waiting to be served, he would ensure he done the most to be at her service with a warm smile, hoping that would cheer her up.

And besides the fact he would always catch glimpses of the girl in some sort of trouble.

"Well, I best get going," Hwayoung spoke again, the depth of her voice was not apparent this time. She glanced around, almost as though she was scoping the room. "I'm sure I will see you soon."

"I'm sure you will," Jacob chuckled, cleaning the glass with the towel as he watched the bar become more crowded. "But maybe you won't remember."

The girl let out a laugh, taking the rest of her drink smoothly before she handed him the glass. "Hopefully."

The boys hung around in the usual corner - their usual crowd didn't go unnoticed by Hwayoung. There were many of them, she would always count around ten.

They were noticed by her often not because of their mass, but for the simple fact they kept away from everyone else. She never saw a single one of them bother anyone, especially girls.

In fact, they seemed friendly, and had she liked men a little more - maybe she would have chatted to one of them.

One always caught her eye, his cocky smile and pleasantly obnoxious laugh often making her glance over. He looked younger than most of the others, or maybe that was because he was the loudest.

The only reason he caught her eye, however, was the simple fact that she always caught his.

She would find him staring, his eyes dangerous yet friendly.

He would watch her, for she appeared so intimidating until she smiled at the bartenders or girls who passed by. And tonight was no different.

"Why don't you go and talk to her?" Sunwoo asked the boy, nudging him slightly as he watched the girl too. "She's pretty."

"She is," Eric nodded in agreement, swooning for a moment before he nudged the boy back. "Besides the point, we aren't here to flirt, and I don't think she is either."

"She's strange," Changmin butted in, narrowing his eyes as he watched her walk across the dance floor, her eyes wandering below her. "She's here every weekend, what for?"

Kevin rolled his eyes at the boys, shaking his head. "To have fun, can't a girl do that?"

"All by herself?" Younghoon interjected, his eyes trailing after her as everyone's glance seemed to be glued on her. "We all know how unsafe this place is."

"Everywhere is unsafe for women," Kevin answered, the boys all nodding slowly in agreement, still failing to take their eyes from her. "Maybe we should make her feel more safe by not staring at her?"

In that moment, the boys all turned to look at each other awkwardly, their leader chuckling at them as his eyes remained on her despite his friends wise words. "Does that rule not apply to you, Sangyeon?"

"What if she gets into trouble in the split second we look away?" He retaliates, the boys shrugging. "Exactly."

In the split second he turned to answer them, he lost sight of the girl, his eyes searching the room with no luck. The lights were too flashy, the room was too dark at most, and she was too difficult to find.

The bass that echoed and thumped off the walls began to slow its pace, the voices of those around becoming audible, giving a little more hope.

The boys stayed silent, accepting their defeat in a sense. They didn't know why they felt themselves watching over her.

Perhaps it was the mystery of her that was reflected within themselves. They came here most weekends for a break, a time to relax, to get away from trouble. Yet, they somehow found themselves getting into it.

The second they saw a man too close to a woman, causing trouble with anyone, their minds starting ticking - their criminal feet carrying them to the situation before they had the chance to reevaluate or seek approval from their leader.

Just like Eric did. He watched closely for a second, seeing the girl cornered by a man, except for this time, there was no struggle or shouting.

Instead, he watched as she clamped his ear between her fingers, the redness on his cheek visible even under the strobe lights.

She dragged him with a force that he had only seen amongst the people in his world, and therefore he simply walked towards them, ignoring the boys who wondered about his venture towards the exit.

As he got closer, he heard her voice for the first time. It was deeper than the voice of any other woman he had heard, her words taunting yet sultry when they rolled off her tongue.

"I'll ask you one more time," Hwayoung hissed, the grip on the man never faltering despite his twisting and turning. "Do you think it's okay to do that to a woman?"

Eric froze in his spot, realising he was standing outside a toilet cubicle, the door slightly ajar as she kicked him.

The mans eyes found Eric, looking at him almost pleadingly as the girl simply refused to give in. "You don't have a lot to say now, do you?"

The boy would have almost felt bad for the helpless individual who lay curled up on the ground, his face aching red under her grip, had he not been a sketchy man getting karma.

Eric glanced one more time, the realisation hitting him that she in fact had everything under control. A strong woman who showed no remorse to someone who did her wrong, that was something that was so rare to see - but so refreshing.

Although the second he attempted to walk away, her next words rang in his ears. "Now tell me, who do you work for? Who sent you?"

With that, the boys body pulled itself towards somewhere out of view, the man losing sight of him when he maybe needed him the most.

An inaudible gasp left Eric's mouth when he heard the door slam shut, the door lock, and a scream pierce his ears even through the thick walls.

And with that, he finally had the courage to walk away despite being relatively shaken. "Come on Eric, you've seen worse."

"Where did you go?" Sunwoo asked the boy as he came back into view, straightening his back before grabbing his drink - all eyes on him.

"The bathroom," he wasn't exactly lying, taking a sip of his drink which shortly came to a finish.

"Another one?" His friend asked him with a chuckle, sitting his glass down too. Little did he know, Eric surely needed one.