I didn't even see them coming.
One second I was staring mindlessly at the casino's lights, the next, each of my arms was grabbed by two men, built like gorillas. Their thick fingers pressed in, exerting enough force to numb my arms.
"Hey—!"
Startled, I jerked. My feet left the ground, kicking into the empty air. But it was like struggling against walls that could move; I couldn't pull myself free.
I was dragged toward a door tucked into the corner.
"Hey, what are you doing? Stop—!" I raised my voice, but the scream died in my throat as a fist buried itself in my stomach.
The bastard didn't pull his punch as the air tore out of my lungs. Before I could even gasp, a bag was yanked over my head. It obscured my vision, which wasn't necessary since I had already passed out from that single punch.
Thank God I hadn't eaten yet. Throwing up in a bag sounded like a new kind of hell.
Floating in that black void, I had to wonder: what did I even do? I was just admiring the beauty and ethics—whatever that was—of the casino. So why?
Something must have irritated them. Was it my clothes? Anyone could tell I didn't belong there. But could they really drag me out just for that reason?
No, I was only fooling myself. Because I knew exactly why I was here.
The casino wasn't as clean as it looked. Other than gambling and pleasure, there was always some dirt going on between the fingers, and one of them was—
The Drugs.
Though they were illegal, that had never stopped anyone.
I was the same.
Soon, voices started to appear inside my ear, feet dangling into the air, as I was hauled.
A door opened loudly, and I was thrown into the air by that bulky man. My knees hit the ground; the impact went to my brain through the bones. He didn't know how to hold back.
"Argh!" I cried.
"Quite!"
A big shoe collided against my chest, completely emptying my lungs. I endured the sharp pain from his kick.
Although I was familiar with pain, I still had qualms about receiving that kick again. It was all survival.
"What is this?" A new voice came from a distance. Melodious, but it sent a shiver down my spine. It was cold and hit louder than the shouts of those thugs, even when it was barely loud enough.
"It is about the drug problem that has been circulating around lately."
As someone answered, the bag was yanked off over my head, blinding me for a moment. I shook my head but received another kick from the side before someone quickly pulled me onto my knees.
My knees were still hurting from the impact from before, but I didn't dare to move a single muscle of my body.
After the pain subsided a little, a sound of footsteps resounded before they stopped just in front of me.
I was breathing heavily as my body was trembling. It would be a lie to say that I was not afraid—no, I was scared the hell out of my mind, so much that I didn't bring myself to raise my head and look at the figure in front of me.
All I could see was a pair of black shoes that were polished brighter than the lavish flooring, and with the type of furniture placed inside a very large room, it had to be an office.
Why was there an office inside the casino? Was it for the owner? No!
I hadn't gotten to look at whoever was in front of me, but I knew I was in a massive pile of shit.
"Is that her? The one who has been running wild lately?"
I gulped despite my mouth being dry. That voice had no emotion in it at all. That was scary.
"Yes, there's one more beside her. They seem to be together in this."
My eyes flew open.
Alex.
I knew selling drugs wasn't good. I'd refused at first. But then Alex told me we could go our separate ways if I didn't want to do it.
Being an orphan, I didn't have a family. The closest thing I had to one was Alex. So how could I leave him? I couldn't do that.
I slowly started to lift my head. They were talking about me now—surely they wouldn't hit me again while I was the subject of the conversation.
"Seem to be? Be specific."
First, after the shoes, a pair of long legs wrapped in black trousers perfectly came into my view. And from the legs, I was somewhat able to make out the person's appearance.
I was by no means a short girl—instead, I was taller than most of the females, but the slender legs before me made me feel small.
I was already in a panic, but now my heart started to beat louder. The possibility of me getting out of here alive diminished because the person before me gave a dangerous, oppressive feeling.
"They are, ma'am."
But it appeared I wasn't the only one who was suffocating, as the other person's voice was also trembling. They were still doing much better than me.
My palms started to get sweaty, and my eyes started to itch as my breath came out in a burst.
All I could do was blame Alex, but I also knew if he was in this situation, he would surely think of something to get out of here alive, which I couldn't comprehend with my goldfish brain.
Suddenly the shoes in front of me moved and walked closer to me until I felt a pull of my hair.
"Eeek!" I whimpered. I was already on the verge of breaking into tears, and a single tear escaped from the corner of my eye.
But as my eyes landed on the full figure of the person, I froze.
It was a woman. She was wearing black trousers with a black shirt, smoothly ironed without a single wrinkle. Her sleeves were folding up neatly, revealing her alabaster-skinned forearms.
She was so tall that she had to lean a little to grab my hair.
I was in awe as much as I was in pain because I had never seen a person with such a perfect frame.
Her shirt was perfectly hugging her upper body, and I was able to clearly see her figure. It had a slender waist—not like mine. No, unlike me, the woman seemed strong. Her breasts weren't disproportionately large like mine but were well defined.
I slowly opened my eyes fully as I got used to that pain, but my eyes widened further, and as if I had momentarily forgotten about it, I was dumbstruck.
The feeling of fear went away as my mind ran with strange and unusual thoughts.
How could a person look like that?