𝐉𝐎𝐎 𝐒𝐄𝐎𝐊-𝐇𝐎𝐎𝐍 ✩•̩̩͙*˚＊· ───
𝐩𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐡𝐨𝐛𝐢𝐚 (ɴᴏᴜɴ) . ᴛʜᴇ ғᴇᴀʀ ᴏғ ᴛʀᴜsᴛɪɴɢ ᴘᴇᴏᴘʟᴇ.
─── The most dangerous game of power in South Korea has no rules or limitations, except for those created by each individual player's ima...
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She couldn't breathe. Her throat closed up and refused to allow oxygen in to her lungs despite her desperate attempts to carry on performing one of the basic body processes that came as second nature to humans. No matter how hard Yoori tried to take air into her body, it wasn't enough.
She couldn't think. There was a dull ringing in her ears, quiet yet persistent. Like the hum of a bee or the sound of a heart monitor flatlining. This noise blocked everything out – the booming of the fireworks outside, the chattering of the excited Hera Palace guests enjoying the party, and Yoori's thoughts too, which should have been frantic in her current situation.
She couldn't move either. Yoori couldn't step forwards, nor could she back away. She couldn't even sink to the floor as her knees went weak and began to shake from the pressure of having to keep her body upright. She was simply stuck. Rooted to the spot. Immobilised. It was like earlier—when her heel had gotten stuck in the grass—but this time there was nothing physically stopping her from moving. The only thing holding her down now was the absolute terror coiling around her body and refusing to loosen its control over her.
Her eyes remained focused on the once pristine white statue of Hera situated above a once clear blue fountain. To be more specific, they focused on the horrific red that stained the sculpture and dripped down from the limp hand of the lifeless body laying across Hera's lap to colour the water below.
Gasping for air, Yoori shakily raised a hand to her throat to pull at the neckline of her dress. Her nails clawed at her throat, but she barely noticed what she was doing as she continued to stare in horror at the newest decoration of Hera Palace: the fresh corpse of Min Seol-ah.
Through the dull white noise filling her ears, Yoori heard the sound of an elevator moving. It took her a minute to realise that someone other than her was about to witness the horrific scene that she had just stumbled upon. Then another minute to understand that she had to get out of there—and fast—if she didn't want to give the newcomer a perfect opportunity to blame her for Seol-ah's death and swiftly have her removed from Hera Palace.
Gathering up all of her willpower, Yoori forced herself to take a step backwards. Then another one. And another one.
And then Yoori was kicking her killer heels off, gathering up the skirts of her dress, and sprinting away from the fountain as quickly as her shaking legs could carry her.
