#*thread;starter

The door was unlocked, and open a crack. Saerin knows that if Joonhyo was here, he wouldn't leave the door open - and if he left, he would have made sure it was locked. Her heart drops and she hesitates to take the handle, trying to peek inside through the crack to see if anyone was inside.

The smarter thing to do would be to leave and wait until Joonhyo arrived home to go inside - but maybe this was a surprise he had planned for her. She fishes her phone out from her purse and pulls up his contact information, sending a hasty message.

[ sms ; joon-hyo ♥ ] Are you home? The door is open a crack but the lights are all off.. [ sms ; joon-hyo ♥ ] It's probably my fault! I'm sure I forgot to lock it. So never mind!

She drops her phone back into her purse and steps inside, trying to close the door behind her quietly. She tiptoes over to the light switch on the wall and flips it up, expecting to find Joonhyo standing there with a big smile on his face.

"Surprise to see me?" A voice asks, but it doesn't belong to Joonhyo. Saerin's blood runs cold and she freezes with her hand over the light switch, her pulse quickening.

"Y-youngjae.. why are you here?" She asks, voice meek and wavering. She keeps her back to him, body already trembling. Their break up hadn't been a good one, at all -- and his voice was calm. Not the kind of comforting calm, but the bone-chilling calm before the storm.

"So, you're living with him already? I remember asking you months ago if we should live together, and you said you preferred living alone.. --

-- ..aren't you going to look at me when I'm talking to you?" His voice is sharp, and strikes immediate fear in her.

She takes a deep breath and turns around, her heart dropping into the pit of her stomach -- he hadn't come without a plan. He stood only a few feet away from her, with a gun pointed at her chest. The look in his eyes was sickening; he was thrilled to have this power over her, a small smile on his lips.

"You wouldn't get away with this.." She says quietly, her voice barely above a whisper. Her features pale and she swallows thickly, tears sprouting from her eyes. 

"Those tears may have worked on me before, but now? Not a chance. You really made a mistake, you know.." His thumb rests lightly against the trigger and he tilts his head, waiting for her to respond. When she doesn't, he bares his teeth and shakes his head; it was a pity, really. Such a good life wasted.

She knows she should probably run, but she's frozen in fear, rooted to the floor. She's trembling, breath quickened, pulse rapid. When she finally does get the gall to move, it's a second too late.

Bang!!

The sound bounces off the walls and echoes through the building; immediately alerting everyone within that a shooting had taken place. For Saerin, that wouldn't help her case.

For a split second, it feels like time has slowed. She watches as the hollow-point bullet soars in her direction, helpless to stop it. It explodes through her chest, puncturing her right lung and exiting through her shoulder. Before she even hits the ground, she's out cold.

Only one thing crosses her mind as everything goes black - that if she die, she'd die with regrets. Before, Saerin was never afraid of dying, in a sense. Then, there wasn't much for her to live for. But now, she had someone to live for, someone she wanted to spend her life with - and someone that she would deeply miss.  

Youngjae quickly flees the scene, assuming she's dead or would be in a a few minutes - her condition was critical, and the internal bleeding was already severe. Her life was hinging on the quickness of her neighbors, who were already on the scene and dialing an ambulance on their phones.

It was a bloody, gruesome scene. She was bleeding out fast, but a few people were adding pressure to the wound to try to stop it while they waited on the ambulance. If not for them, she'd likely be dead. The white carpet was soaking up every drop of blood, staining it crimson.

She was lucky that the paramedics arrive swiftly and got her onto a stretcher. By the time they got her to the ambulance, she was already suffering from hypovolemic shock - people crowded around the front door of the building, police sirens blaring as they arrived on the scene.

It was late on a Friday night when Saerin left the bar that they had all agreed to meet at to celebrate. The roads were nearly empty, save for the occasional passing car on the street or lingering person on the sidewalk. Saerin had a long walk home, considering it was too late and taxis were no longer running. She didn't mind, though. The smile on her ruby red lips could be seen from miles away -- from another star, even. 

It meant a lot to Saerin to be given this opportunity. Honestly, she had started to give up hope that she'd ever have the chance to redeem herself. It was a miracle, really. In one day, Saerin's life had changed for the better -- and starting tomorrow, it'd get even better.

She's eager to get home, so instead of following the main stretch of road, she takes a detour down a back street. She knew these streets well, considering she's been living here her entire life. Her apartment was only a block away, and across the street. If her excitement allowed it, she planned on trying to sleep immediately so that she'd have energy for the next day.

Saerin is completely oblivious to the black Lamborghini creeping along a safe distance away. It's headlights are dim so that it draws no attention to the driver. Leather gloves grip the wheel tightly, a heavy foot tapping the gas pedal. They were biding their time carefully when when Saerin would need to cross the street. And as luck would have it it for them, there weren't a lot of witnesses around either.

Saerin glances over each shoulder twice before stepping out into the street. Traffic was seemingly clear, there wasn't a car in sight. Not that she could see, anyway -- the one that crept up behind her from the backstreet remains unnoticed.

After careful consideration on when the best time to strike would be, the driver presses their foot down heavy on the acceleration -- pushing it to the floor. The engine roars to life and tires squeal as the car makes a sharp, precise turn onto the main stretch of road that Saerin was crossing. A few heads turn to witness the sight, gasps filling the air when they realize this is an intentional act.

Saerin has no time to act. When she turns her head, her eyes double in size, blinded by the sudden light of the fast approaching headlights. Her heart drops, and she screams out in horror, but it's too late -- the car was exceeding 80 miles per hour, and in an instant she's hit.

People spoke of death like it was a natural, beautiful thing. Saerin never understood why anyone would fear death, something that was inevitable for every human being. She was always certain that she'd have a peaceful, easy ending. She never feared that.

But now, as she lays in a pool of her own blood, choking and gasping for air to fill her collapsed lungs, she can understand why people fear death. She can hear people gathering and frantically trying to get her to respond to their calls, but she's motionless and unresponsive. The only relief is that she doesn't feel any pain. She can feel the beat of her heart slowing, and she feels incredibly cold.