Release From Hell

I'm Not Yours

Yoonbum had been planning this day for months. He sat quietly inside the closet with a crowbar and a knife in his hands. Sangwoo had gone out for a while, but now he would be back any moment. Most of Yoonbum's planning had been trying to gather up the courage to attempt an escape. He knew what would happen to him if he got caught. This was his only chance to really escape. If anything went wrong, he was done for. Yoonbum tried to keep these kind of thoughts out of his head, and instead focused on his breathing. His plan had started when Sangwoo had tried to get him back on his feet with crutches. At first, he really hadn't been able to walk, but after a while, he slowly got better. When Sangwoo was out, Yoonbum had practiced walking around the house. Finally, he had gotten to a point where he could stand completely on his own, and as long as he had something to hold on to, he could walk normally. From the bedroom to the front door was enclosed, so Yoonbum would always have a wall to hold on to. When Sangwoo opened the closet, Yoonbum would surprise him and hit him on the head with the crowbar. He kept the knife in case he couldn't outrun Sangwoo. The element of surprise was on Yoonbum's side. Sangwoo didn't even know Yoonbum could walk now. Whenever they practiced together with the crutches, Yoonbum always pretended to be in pain, or he would fall over. It did hurt him to walk, but he didn't care. Yoonbum knew the brief moment of pain would be worth his freedom. As he crouched in wait, he gripped the knife tighter. Time passed, and Yoonbum was beginning to worry. What if Sangwoo had somehow found out his plan? He could be waiting to overpower Yoonbum, or he might leave Yoonbum in the closet, knowing that he couldn't come out without Sangwoo seeing him. Yoonbum was starting to sweat, anticipating every way this could go horribly wrong. Just as he was about to leave his weapons behind and give up, he heard the front door open. Suddenly, Yoonbum went as still as a statue. He heard footsteps pacing up the hall. He heard them go past the bedroom door and into the kitchen. Hardly daring to breathe, Yoonbum strained his ears to listen.
"Bum! I'm back. I brought you something."
He heard Sangwoo's voice echo through the house. Yoonbum held his breath, not responding. A twinge of fear had shot through him at Sangwoo's last sentence. Knowing him, it was very unlikely that Sangwoo had brought home a bar of chocolate. Yoonbum heard Sangwoo leave the kitchen after a minute. He knew Sangwoo had checked every hiding place in the kitchen. The footsteps moved until they stopped close to the bedroom door. Next, Sangwoo would be checking the wardrobe in the hall.
"Yoonbum? Is he asleep again?"
Yoonbum willed his heart to stop beating so loudly. The bedroom door squeaked open, and he could picture Sangwoo standing in the door frame. He could almost see his expression when he realized Yoonbum wasn't in the room. He and Sangwoo both knew Yoonbum wouldn't go in the basement unless he was made to. Yoonbum wasn't allowed upstairs either, and as far as Sangwoo knew, Yoonbum wasn't able to use the stairs. Therefore, in Sangwoo's mind, Yoonbum must either be in the closet or he was gone. The footsteps rushed over to the closet and threw open the door. Sangwoo saw, with surprise, that Yoonbum was sitting inside, looking up at him.
"Oh, there you are. Why didn't you say anything?"
That's what Sangwoo would have said, but before he could say a word, Yoonbum jumped up and bashed him in the face with his crowbar. He felt something crack and guessed that Sangwoo's nose had been broken. Sangwoo was distracted and his hand flew up to his face, which was already covered in blood. Yoonbum took this opportunity to shove past and start running as fast as he could towards the front door. He stumbled a couple times, every step sending shooting pain up his legs. In his rush, Yoonbum had dropped his crowbar on the floor. Just as he was reaching the line Sangwoo had drawn in front of the door, he felt two sharp blows hit his knee and his head. He tripped and fell to the floor, and the wind was knocked out of him by Sangwoo, who had fallen on top of him. Sangwoo was emitting a constant flow of swearing, his knees pinning Yoonbum to the ground. He saw that Yoonbum struggled hopelessly while Sangwoo began to hiss about how Yoonbum was going back in the basement and how stupid he was for ever thinking he could get away. Sangwoo continued to threaten Yoonbum, and crawled off him, putting him in a headlock and beginning to drag him away. Yoonbum struggled desperately to break free, but Sangwoo was too strong. Suddenly, he remembered the knife, which he had slipped into his pocket. He moved one hand away from Sangwoo's arm and plunged his hand into his pocket. He grasped the knife and using all his strength, he stabbed blindly behind him. Sangwoo yelled and released Yoonbum's head. Yoonbum fell to the floor, and briefly saw that he had stabbed the knife into Sangwoo's shoulder. He scrambled to get up, and continued to hobble down the hall until he reached the door and opened it.
"Wait! Yoonbum, don't leave! Don't you see you're making a mistake? You'll never really escape me, and we both know you don't really want to leave."
Sangwoo stumbled forward with his uninjured arm outstretched, as though to grab Yoonbum. Yoonbum looked at him, disgusted, and spit in his face before bolting out the door.