There was a proverb that said, even a donkey would not fall to the same hole twice.

She tried to escape once, and it failed.

She probably dumber than a donkey to try again, but there was no way she would just sit around and waited for the freedom to come to her.

Which probably never, especially if Richard Kawaguchi was the one who grasped on it.

Her maiden attempt of escaping from him was three months ago.

She didn't plan it, the opportunity just came up when he went overseas, she thought probably universe tried to give her a sign.

And she went for it, opportunity wouldn't come twice.

She barely went through the gate of the mansion, and Sejin, Richard's right hand man already caught her.

So much for the sign from the universe.

She got punished for that.

Richard inked his birthdate onto your back near your hip.

In kanji, thank god.

Otherwise people who saw it would probably thought she was an ex-convict.

He asked his trusted tattoo artist to do it.

Initially she refused, of course, but he threatened to have her tied down and do it himself, you had no choice but relented.

"Do it again, and I will carve my name to the more visible area of your body"

He gave you a deadly look.

That punishment suppressed her desire to escape for a while.

She still couldn't forget the searing pain when the needle pierced through her skin.

Richard Kawaguchi was the leader of one of the biggest yakuza group in Japan, so he had several of his best men to guard her round the clock.

It wouldn't be an easy thing to escape from him, so she decided that if she was to do it again, she would need a more thorough plan.

Being with Richard wasn't exactly a dream life, but she had to admit he was quite lenient on her.

She met with women from other group, and she could consider herself lucky that she belonged to him instead of them.

Not only those women being treated as slut, but also often put at brothel once the men got bored.

Richard almost never being violent or harsh to her (except when she tried to escape), he even spoiled her by showering her with gifts and expensive clothes.

But the thing was, she shouldn't be there from the first place.

She never had anything to do with his business or life.

Six months ago, she was just an ordinary college girl, juggling between school and part time work to pay for her college fee.

She never had any time to socialize, let alone to get involve with yakuza world.

But again, the universe probably had another plan for her.

It was one quiet afternoon at the ramen restaurant where she had her part time job.

It had long passed the lunch hour, so the premise was empty from visitor.

A group of five men with casual clothes came inside.

There was one who wore all black suit, obviously the one in charge, because when he sat down, other men sat on the other table not too far from his table.

His aura screamed authority.

One of them with leather jacket sat in front of him, waved his hand to call her.

She was the only waiter around that time.

She hesitantly walked to them, bringing menu books, which they skipped to even take a look.

"What do you want, Richard-san?" The man asked the guy with black suit.

He was a handsome man, with dark brown hair, lean but toned body, almond shaped eyes, and plump lips.

He smiled at her, very different from the 'Richard-san', who looked so cold.

"Anything with spicy soup." he replied while still checking his phone.

"One seafood soup for him. No squid or octopus."

" How about you?" she asked him.

"No need. You can ask them if they want anything."

He gestured to the three men sitting on the other table.

She went to the kitchen with the orders, apparently the black suit guy was the only one who would eat.

Other men only wanted cold drinks, nothing else.

No wonder , they probably on strict diet to maintain those muscly figure.

She mused to yourself.

She waited near the kitchen, too agitated to stand near their table instead, like she was supposed to do.

She even mentally prayed for the food to take longer time to serve than usual, so she could delay the moment she had to walk back to their table.

Twenty minutes later when the food ready, she sighed in defeat and made your move to bring it to them.

When she put the tray in front of the black suit guy, for the first time her eyes met his.

His face was beautiful, a combination between masculine and pretty, and it was obvious he came from mixed bloodline, maybe asian and caucasian.

With midnight black hair, and tanned skin, but exotic features, he looked breathtaking.

His body was lean and toned, almost similar posture with the guy with dark brown hair, only he was taller.

Several rings perched on his fingers, and his ears adorned with silver small round earings.

But his eyes were the most stand out feature of his face, dark grey in color, piercing deep and cold.

And now those eyes were observing her with sharp stare , made her squirmed uncomfortably.

"If that was all, please excuse me."

She bowed and about to leave their table, when she heard him spoke.

"What's your name?" He gazed at her.

It caught her off guard.

She would expect him to ask about the food or drink, certainly not about her.

"Me? I mean..my..my name?"

She couldn't help but stuttering.

"I asked you, what is your name?"

He repeated his question impatiently.

"Yuri, my name is Yuri Himekawa."

"Are you a permanent here?"

He cocked his head staring at her while narrowing his eyes, as if assessing her value.

She took a step back, unconsciously trying to move away from him.

There was something unsettling about him that she couldn't quite put her finger on.

"I'm a part timer only."

"What time you usually at work?"

His eyes still bore onto her, never left her figure.

"I'm sorry, but why you would want to know? I'm not sharing my personal info with a stranger."

She surprised herself that she could answer him like that.

"I don't think working schedule can be considered as too personal info.

Any regulars should know right?"

He scoffed.

"Then please come regularly if you want to know."

She plastered the sweetest smile she could muster.

For a second she thought she saw him smirked, but she was not sure.

He was staring at her for a few seconds before switched his attention to his food.

She left their table, and once she were out of their earshot, she let out a long breath that she didn't realized she had been holding when talking to him.

God, she hoped he wouldn't be a regular, she didn't think she can handle him too often.

He was too intense.