𝐃𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐖𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 (𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞!𝐚𝐮) 𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐙

CH. 53 ~ Betrayal

My skin aches from where the bow was slammed into my face and I fall over, seeing stars with a loud groan. I blink extra hard to clear my vision and I lift my hand to cup my cheek before I feel someone's foot stump as hard as they can on my lower back.

Yelling because of the force, I fall onto my stomach, my face getting smashed into the dirt and grass. A sharp pain had run from my lower back and up my spine, making me worry that I broke something. I thought that I was going to be kept on the ground but realized that I was wrong when the person that attacked me grabbed a fistful of the back of my collar. Lifting me to my feet and constricting my airways in the process, my outstretched hands fumble for the piece of the wooden bow that broke, wrapping my hands around its slender form securely before I'm completely brought up off the floor.

Gasping as hard as I can for air and squirming violently, I claw at my shirt with my free hand to be let go but instead, a shrill voice I can faintly recognize speaks up. In an effort to get me out of the grip of the evil that has me, I bring up the hand with the broken part of the bow and swing it as hard as I can backward, striking my opponent across the face.

Whoever it is, let me go and I hear a grunt but it's from a voice that I've heard before. The voice of the brunette that I know very well.

I stumble forward momentarily when Yunho lets me go and I almost face plant into the grass in front of me. Luckily, I'm able to regain my balance even if I'm still a bit disoriented from the prior choking and beating I received.

Swiftly turning around, I see Yunho bent over a couple of feet away from me, using his hands to clamp down on his messy curls. He pulls at them violently as if trying to rip out some unwanted thought from his skull. The brunette struggles with himself, panting heavily and looking like a frightened little boy that I can only imagine what it is that might be wrong with him.

"Yunho?" I gulp, uttering his name when I'm sure that he won't lunge at me. "Yunho, it's just me. Sun-Mi. Look, Mingi and the others are really worried for you. We want you to come back with us." I try to appeal to his better nature, warily taking a step toward him. He hasn't noticed that I've been inching closer so I take this as a good sign, but just in case, I grip the broken piece of the bow in my hand tightly, readying it.

"S-Sun-Mi, what— what's wrong with me?" His voice quivers and I can feel a sob coming even though he tries to swallow it down. "Ever since we talked that day... I can't think properly. I can't control myself." The terror in his voice alone makes me scared, but more so afraid for what's happening to him than what'll happen to me.

"That's what I'm trying to figure out," I assure him, getting in close enough to see his frenzied state. "If you come back, I can help you."

In his stooped over position, I can finally see just how badly he's shaking. His fists are called up to the point where his knuckles are completely white as a way to try to hide his nerves. The poor brunette's eyes are peeled open to the point where they might as well just pop out of their sockets and his mouth twitches involuntarily, muttering some inaudible phrases over and over again.

"No," he mutters loud enough for me to hear, shaking his head vigorously while he tries to take a groggy step backward. "No, you can't help me. Stay away." He breathes desperately, taking another step back.

"Please, Yunho, I can help you with whatever it is. Just come back—," Making my final attempt at persuading the brunette, I extend my hand to set it on his trembling shoulder, an act met with much retribution.

"I said GO AWAY!" He violently grabs me by my extended arm, flinging me as hard as he can into the trunk of a tree with inhumane force. I don't react in time to do anything to protect myself, feeling the air pass by me as I travel a short distance until I ram into the hard exterior of the tree, hurting my back immeasurably.