Daniel sat at work, his cheek resting on his hand. 'Jeez, yesterday was crazy. Hard to believe.'

'I'm so confused, I just want to sleep.' "Welcome." He tiredly greeted the customer.

He looked up and saw the creepy customer

from yesterday, smiling at his phone.

'He-He's here! This guy has been in every day!! He only buys whiskey... I will not grow up to be like that. Always staring at his phone... What the heck is he watching?'

The man turned so Daniel was able to see a glimpse of his screen.

'(Y-Y/N)?! Zoe?! It's Zoe's broadcast! Why is he watching that? Even while he's walking?' Daniel shuddered when he felt eyes on him and looked up to see the man staring down at him.

'O-OMG! I got caught!'

"I'll pay for this."

"Yes! Yes!" Daniel answered nervously, quickly tucking his head down to scan the items. 'Woah, whiskey again. Always the same.'

Daniel scanned the items as quickly as he could manage, but his hands began to tremble when he saw the second thing that the man was purchasing.

'What's this?'

________________________________

"I hate throwing out the trash, especially when friends are over. So embarrassing." Zoe whined .

"It's whatever, I don't mind." (Y/N) said with a shrug.

"You're too nice to me."

"I'm not."

"Seriously, it's dark and scary here, so it's nice to have a friend with me." Zoe said.

(Y/N) sighed. "Don't thank me for being a decent p-"

"E-Excuse me."

Both girls looked away from each other and to the person who had interrupted them. It was a creepy, older looking man who was scratching the back of his neck with a smile.

"I need directions."

Zoe flinched back, stepping behind (Y/N) out of instinct. 'W-What? Really creepy! He's asking me for directions on this dark street! 100% Pervert! We gotta get out of here!'

"To where?" (Y/N) asked, making sure to keep her distance, taking one step back for every step the man took forward.

"I can give directions from a distance away." (Y/N) said, becoming more and more on edge with every step the man took.

Suddenly, a shorter figure jumped in front of the two.

"Guys! Run!" Daniel panted, standing protectively in front of (Y/N) and Zoe.

Zoe had no clue who this "pig" was, and (Y/N) had no clue where the hell Daniel had come from.

"Daniel, what's-"

"He bought a knife!"

(Y/N) and Zoe stopped and looked at the man, who had frozen in his place, still smiling. Suddenly he snapped, and he was lunging at Daniel with the knife.

'I have to run!' Daniel couldn't even hear the man screaming insults at Zoe over his thoughts.

'Ugh... what can I do?!'

Daniel quickly punched the assailant's hand, knocking the knife out of his grip. The man and Zoe gasped, while (Y/N) grinned proudly.

"Daniel, nice!"

Daniel watched the knife hit the ground.

'T-There, we're saved! Now what? Next...'

Daniel twisted his body like how he remembered Zack doing, and threw a punch. Unfortunately, the hit was too short.

'No!'

"What the?! Who the hell are you?! Y-You're nobody! Zoe is all mine!" Gangnam Lord screamed, running at Daniel with flailing arms.

'Ahh! This is dangerous!' "Zoe!" Daniel called out, jumping on top of her to protect her from Gangnam Lord's weak punches which rained down on his back.

"Y-You are so rude to me! What's wrong with my looks? N-Now I'm really pissed!"

'What did I do?' Zoe wondered fearfully, tears bubbling up in her eyes.

"I-I donated the most to you! I-I will touch you!"

Gangnam Lord was thrown off of Daniel, (Y/N) having had yanked him off by his collar and sending him stumbling to the ground.

"Back up." She said lowly, her voice so domineering that Gangnam Lord sat on the ground and stared at her for a few seconds, trembling with a mixture of fear and rage.

After a few seconds, Gangnam Lord grit his teeth and grabbed the knife that he had conveniently landed next to you.

"It's over for you! You can't steal Zoe! Damn dyke!" He growled, lunging at (Y/N). He swiped the knife at her, and she dodged the best she could.

"I-I-I I've done nothing wrong! It's your fault!" He yelled, raising his now bloodied knife to try and strike somebody again. Before he could land another hit, a weight cane soaring through the hair and hit him in the head.

(Y/N), Daniel and Zoe all looked to see who came to their rescue from their places on the ground.

"You... Are something else." Vasco panted, pointing at Daniel. "I like you."

Gangnam Lord rolled around on the ground, groaning in pain. "My face... I-I'll kill you! You're finished! Ouch!"

Vasco stood up taller and sweat off of the back of his neck.

"I saw everything, you punk. Now deal with me." Vasco took another few seconds to breathe while Gangnam Lord was still on the ground. "Dropping that barbell is a relief."

'He ran carrying a barbell?! He could've left it' Daniel thought.

"Ouch, screwing me again!! This time I won't lose!" Gangnam screeched, standing up to fight again despite his swelling face.

"I'll kill you bastards! Think of how many balloons I've given you! I get screwed every day. I-I-I did nothing wrong!" He sobbed, swinging the knife back and forth.

Vasco only grabbed his wrist, and used his other hand to lift the small man off of the ground by his throat.

"Let... me... down!" He choked, kicking his feet.

"No knives." Vasco demanded."

"P-Please let me down, sir!"

Vasco only tightened his grip on the man's wrist to the point where he could no longer hold onto the knife, and dropped it.

"Ouch! That hurt!"

"Brace yourself." Vasco said, clenching the fist of his newly freed hand.

"W-Wait!"

The small crowd looked over to see an old man dragging himself over on a cart.

"Just a second, please stop! That's my only son!! Please forgive him for whatever he has done wrong!" The old man begged, bowing his head as lowly as he could manage.

Vasco looked down at the man and dropped Gangnam.

Gangnam choked when he saw his father, and began to berate the older man. His father ignored him and only continued to beg Vasco to spare his son.

Zoe whimpered and crawled closer to (Y/N) and clutched her arm. She didn't catch how the other girl winced when Zoe grabbed her, or tenderly placed a hand on her side.

"Get lost, dad! What have you ever done for me?!"

Gangnam began to rant about how society was against him. How in the world was it his fault he didn't get what he wanted when he had the whole world against him? It wasn't his fault that he couldn't even go to the government for help.

Vasco let him spill his heart out for a second, before interrupting.

"I'm not sure what you're saying, but... You don't get to blame others. Have you ever even tried to make a difference?" Vasco asked.

"Violent, ignorant punks like you have no clue! At the bottom of the pyramid, no matter how hard you try! No matter how you struggle, you get nowhere! I can't overcome it! It's a waste of time, there's nothing I can do!"

Vasco went silent for a moment.

"I overcame it."

The police ended up coming and arresting Gangnam Lord, ignoring his father's pleas.

Zoe thanked Daniel before running home.

(Y/N) was nowhere to be found, so Daniel assumes she had gone home as well.

Daniel chatted with Vasco for a few moments before heading back to the convenience store. On the walk back, he heard a voice coming from an alley he walked by. The person talking must have been on the phone, allowing Daniel to hear bits and pieces of the conversation.

"Hey, can you come pick me up?"

'It must be someone who had a bit too much to drink... But the voice is so familiar...'

"Yeah, I just got fuckin stabbed again."

Daniel pauses and looked down the alley with wide eyes. He saw a smaller figure leaning against the wall with a hood covering their head. 'I have to do something! My damn guilty conscience won't let me just walk past!'

"E-Excuse me! Do you need help?"

"Huh?"

Daniel walked closer and saw the person holding a hand to their side, pushing their sweatshirt up to show the gash. He was too focused on the wound to even bother looking at the person's face.

"Daniel?" The person gasped when he was close enough to see.

'How do they know my... (Y/N)?!'

The girl was looking up at him with wide, panicked eyes.

"(Y/N)! O-Oh my god..." he looked from the wound back to her paling face. "Y-You need help, I'm calling the ambulance."

"Daniel-"

"Just give me a second..."

"Daniel!"

He froze and looked down at her.

"Don't call the ambulance." She said, her voice sounding so weak that Daniel barely even recognized it.

"(Y/N)..."

"Please." She whispered.

"(Y/N)! Why?! This is serious, you can d-"

"Because I can't afford a trip to the hospital!" (Y/N) snapped. "If I get into that ambulance, me and my brother won't have groceries for a month, Daniel."

Daniel choked, "(Y/N)..."

"I can patch myself up just as well as they can. Why don't you just go home? It's late, yeah?" She said with a shaky smile.

"At least let me stay with you." Daniel pleaded. 'I can't just leave my friend like this, not when she's hurt this badly.'

"Go home, Daniel." (Y/N) demanded, using the same voice she used when telling the Gangnam Lord the back away earlier.

Daniel gave a shaky sigh. "Call me when you get home, Okay?"

(Y/N) only nodded, using the hand that wasn't pressed to her cut to shoo him away.

Once Daniel was out of sight, (Y/N) lifted her hand to look at her bloody cut, hissing in pain when she saw it.

She put her hand back over it and sighed, letting her head fall back and rest against the brick wall behind her. Her other hand ran over her face.

"Fuck."