Despite Damin insisting it was fine for her to miss out on the trip, Mrs. Yang wanted her to go and have fun. Ultimately, she paid for both Jungwon and Damin to go on the trip.
Even though she was grateful, Damin felt like she was a burden. Mrs. Yang had to pay for everything for her, and even buy her new things. She was only gonna be staying here until after the trip as the school provided a new dorm for her to live in. And then after that, she'd have to get a part-time job.
The teacher was doing roll calls to make sure every student was present before they got on the bus. Jungwon had planned to sit beside Damin throughout the ride there but unfortunately for him, they already had assigned seat-mates.
You can imagine the other students' disappointment when Mr. Sangwoo informed them about it.
Today must've been Jungwon's bad day as his seating partner was none other than Miyoung. He sent a help-me look to her and she just chuckled.
Damin's seatmate was Cho Minwoo. She recognized him as he was in her Chemistry class. She'd never had an actual conversation with him though.
"Hello, I'm Kang Damin," she introduced herself. "You're in my Chem class right?"
"That's me, I'm Cho Minwoo, but you can call me Amin," he replied back.
Damin had to admit she had a good time with him. He was an easygoing person and made her laugh a lot. Due to this, she didn't even look at Jungwon even once.
The poor boy kept turning his head to her whenever he heard her laugh. Miyoung didn't make his situation any better either. She kept blabbing about things he didn't know either since he was barely even paying attention.
Jungwon couldn't help but feel a little jealous when looking at the two. He's had a few classes with Amin but the two were always competing for the first place title in their whole year. Of course, Jungwon always came first.
But he still felt slightly threatened by Amin at the moment. Pouting a little, he looked away and out on his earphone to clear his mind.
✩ ✩ ✩
They finally reached their destined location, which was the museum. The teacher announced that they stay in pair's throughout the whole trip to make things easier.
Jungwon frowned upon hearing this. He was really looking forward to spending more time with Damin but things never seemed to go his way.
Damin noticed his frowning face and waved at him. This really seemed to cheer him up because, within a second, a big smile made its way to his face.
Even though they were instructed to stay in their pairs, that didn't stop Jungwon from standing close to her, occasionally telling her something stupid and making her laugh.
Damin found the whole trip to the museum white boring. The only thing that kept her occupied were Jungwon and Amin's jokes they would tell her often.
When the trip was nearing its end, she excused herself to go to the toilet, not knowing the danger that was coming.
As she made her way to the bathroom, she muttered to herself about random topics. She didn't see the person hiding behind the wall who immediately grabbed her by the waist as he spotted her.
Everything happened so fast. She let out a scream, feeling herself being carried by the man through the back exit. He wouldn't let her go, even though she flailed and kicked him.
The mysterious man threw her body to the ground, earning a loud thud from her body. She instantly recognized him. The man from the mall. The one with a snake tattoo on the back of his neck.
Two other men appeared and one held her down as the other handcuffed her arms together and then proceeded to tape her mouth. He picked her back up and hurried to the van which was waiting a small distance away.
Jungwon sensed horrible gut feelings. He then excused himself to the toilet, wanting to wait for her outside the toilet instead. However, he noticed that Damin's bracelet was lying on the ground. She never takes it off.
And it was ripped too.
He called out for her but was met with silence. He called her a few more times as he looked around. The exit. The door wasn't closed properly and that had caught his attention.
As he got closer to the entrance, he noticed something that made his stomach turn. There she was. A man was dragging her away as he dashed toward the van. He could see her attempting to break away by kicking and flailing her legs but to no avail.
"Damin!" he yelled, running after her. Damin looked up and yelled his name, but it went muffled due to the tape. She felt her eyes water, while she fixed her gaze on him.
His heart was racing very badly as he ran faster. He would never forgive herself if she gets taken.
"Take care of the boy," said the tattoo man. One of the men nodded, turning back to take care of the situation.
The man sent a punch to Jungwon, which he safely avoided, but he didn't expect to be met with another one. When a fist landed on his stomach, he exclaimed out in pain. The following strike was avoided by Jungwon, who then kicked the man in the stomach.
The man took out a kitchen knife and strikes for Jungwon's stomach. He stepped back just in time to avoid it. Jungwon hissed in pain when the knife came in contact with his arm. He punched the man's face and twisted his arm, making him drop the knife. Jungwon then kicked the knife a safe distance from the both of them.
This angered the man a lot, and two punches were sent to Jungwon's cheek and another three to his stomach, causing him to fall to the ground, clutching his stomach in pain. The man held his shirt up and punched his face a few times.
Warm liquid started to drip down Jungwon's face. A final strike to his face caused his vision to go blurry. The man then handcuffed one of the boy's hands to a nearby pole.
Noticing Jungwon was still trying to get up, he kicked him a few times to make sure he couldn't even stand up.
Damin had tears streaming down her face as she watched Jungwon struggle. She couldn't bear to see him getting beaten, barely conscious, bleeding out on the ground.
"Damin..." Jungwon whispered, a stray tear rolling down his cheek.
She was thrown harshly inside the van. Before she could even think to use her peculiarity, she felt a sharp pinch on her neck.
When the man injected her with god-knows-what , she thought this was it. This was how she was gonna die.
She was never gonna see Jungwon again. His beautiful smile. His cute dimples. His fluffy hair.
Anger coursed through her veins and she clenched her fists. She focused her mind and tried to use her peculiarities but was met with disappointment. The chemical that was injected into her stopped her from doing so.
The last memory she'd have of him was him being brutally beaten up as he tried to fight back. The way he groaned in pain as he clutched his stomach. The way punches that were being thrown to his face made him bleed.
Jungwon yelled for her, trying to get up and move but he couldn't. His body was in too much pain. And the handcuffs prevented him from doing so.
He sniffed, forcing himself to get up, and tried to run to her. He tried and tried and tried. Despite his wrists starting to ache and bleed from the force, he still tried. He couldn't bear to lose her.
When all four men got in the van, the driver stepped on the accelerator. To their disappointment, the van didn't move an inch.
"Drive!" The man with the tattoo yelled.
"I am!"
The driver stepped on the accelerator a few more times but to no avail.
In the midst of all the chaos, Damin heard a soft sizzle behind her, feeling a warm liquid in her palm. Her eyes widened when she realized she had melted the handcuffs. She used this opportunity to try and escape.
"Hey!" one of the men noticed her and tried holding onto her.
Before he could touch her, however, she sent a slap to his face with her flaming hand. He screamed in agony as his face fizzled, a burning hand mark on his face.
She turned to the door and it opened right away, giving her a perfect chance to escape.
"The girl!" yelled the tattoo man. He reached for the door but it shut right in his face. His hand reached for the handle and he tried opening it but it was locked shut.
"Ah! Fire!"
He looked behind and the seat was caught on fire. He tried forcing the door open a few more times, desperately banging on it as the fire inside the van spread rapidly.
Within a minute, the fire spread to half of the van. She slowly stepped back as she watched the men scream in pain. They were banging on the windows in distress, trying to break them but it wouldn't budge.
Damin ran towards Jungwon, ignoring their cries. Her heart broke seeing Jungwon. He immediately engulfed her in an embrace as she sobbed on his shoulder.
"You're safe, Damin," he whispered reassuringly, wiping her tears. "You're safe,"
damn