" ʏᴏᴜ ᴀʀᴇ ᴛʜᴇ ᴘᴇᴀᴄᴇ ɪ ᴄʀᴀᴠᴇ ɪɴ ᴛʜɪꜱ ᴅᴀʀᴋ ᴄʜᴀᴏᴛɪᴄ ᴡᴏʀʟᴅ ᴏꜰ ᴍɪɴᴇ. "
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Seo-Yun landed on her hands and knees harshly, and the grass under her gloved fingertips crumbled as she gripped and ripped at it. Tears endlessly trickled down her cheeks, landing in the dirt, and her throat seized causing dry sobs to rack through her, her mind was nothing short of a war zone of memories, blurring the line between memories and reality. Her heart rapidly pounded against her chest, Seo-Yun cried and cried until the tears just...Stopped. She cried until everything had just stopped, leaving her with an emptiness she hadn't felt in a long time. Yo Seo-Yun transported to her apartment, and her mind was no longer a raging war but a deadly silent minefield, her movements almost robotic as she slowly walked to her bedroom, her feet moving by themselves as her mind was stuck, frozen in the minefield.
Seo-Yun only came back to reality when she suddenly stopped in front of her vanity. Dark eyes stared back at her as she gazed emptily at her reflection through her vanity mirror, Seo-Yun stared at herself, her eyes no longer the bright honey-brown she remembered them to be, they were now red, swollen and dark. So, so dark. It reminded her of her father. Seo-Yun clenched her gloved hands so hard she could hear the leather starting to tear under her grip, Seo-Yun stared back at her reflection as it whispered back to her.
You're no better than him, you even look like him.
Should've killed him.
Should've made the air fade from his body.
Should've watched as he fell to the ground.
Watched his blood seep from his body.
Weak.
Just like he always called you.
The minefield in her mind detonated and Seo-Yun screamed and smashed her fist into the mirror, the glass shattering under her hand. Seo-Yun threw everything off the vanity, causing them to crash to the ground. She ripped apart her room, throwing her lamp against the wall, watching it shatter, she tore apart every photo, and every painting, smashing every piece of glass, she punched and kicked her wall leaving holes in it as it threatened to collapse, she screamed and yelled in anger. She needed to feel anything, anything at all. Seo-Yun collapsed to the ground, leaning against the end of her bed in the middle of her destruction, her heavy loud breaths being the only thing she could hear and just like the glass that surrounded her, Seo-Yun sat there, shattered.
Ryung-Gu, Jun-Woong and Ryeon appeared in Seo-Yun's apartment hours later. They had completed their case, but unlike every other case, the three didn't feel proud. They didn't celebrate. They didn't even smile when the 13-year-old daughter thanked them. They looked around the living room, the apartment was silent and dark the only source of light coming from the slightly open curtains, The three of them carefully made their way down the short hall with Ryeon leading them while Ryung-Gu stayed at the back, his hands clenched in his coat pockets.
Ryeon stopped suddenly and inhaled sharply, causing both men to tense and follow her gaze. They looked into the dark room and felt their hearts drop at what they saw, the room torn to shreds, objects laid broken on the floor, shattered glass everywhere, bedding torn and thrown across the room, the walls covered in holes that looked like it had been kicked and punched in. And in the middle of it all, Seo-Yun sat silently, her legs bent as her arms laid on her knees, she stared emptily at her ruined gloves.
"Seo-Yun," Jun-Woong whispered brokenly as he stared at his friend. His heart sinking the longer he stared at her, Ryeon swallowed thickly and took a small step towards Seo-Yun.
"Get the fuck out." Seo-Yun whispered, her voice hoarse and monotone. Ryeon stilled and looked down at the broken woman, before shaking her head softly.
"You know we won't do that Seo-Yun." Ryeon replied quietly. Seo-Yun never once lifted or head or moved her gaze, she stayed still.
"Don't make me do it for you Ryeon." Seo-Yun lowly threatened though the three of them could hear the pleading in her voice. Ryung-Gu clenched his jaw and placed his hands on Jun-Woong and Ryeon's shoulders, he gave them a silent pleading look and after a moment of hesitance, neither of them wanting to leave their friend in such a state, Ryeon and Jun-Woong nodded slowly.
"We will be in the living room. Take as much time as you need." Jun-Woong softly said and with one last look, he and Ryeon began to exit the room. As Jun-Woong passed Ryung-Gu, the taller man laid a soft hand on Ryung-Gu's shoulder before walking out and softly closing the door, leaving Ryung-Gu and Seo-Yun alone. Ryung-Gu said nothing as he carefully walked to Seo-Yun, he slowly sat down next to her making sure to leave space between them, no matter how much he wanted her in his arms, he knew she needed space.
"Whatever you're going to say Ryung-Gu. Say it and leave." Seo-Yun muttered. Ryung-Gu pursed his lips together and shook his head.
"Like Ms Koo said. You know I won't do that." Ryung-Gu responded and Seo-Yun clenched her jaw in anger and annoyance but a part of her heart lit up, trying to desperately call out for Seo-Yun to lean on him, Seo-Yun squeezed her eyes closed to stop the tears.
"Seo-Yun-" Seo-Yun took a sharp breath and glared at her hands as Ryung-Gu said her name.
"Don't." She cut him off and snapped her gaze snapped to him, her glare dark and sharp, piercing through him.
"Don't you dare fucking sit here and tell me what I did was right, or that I'll heal. You don't know me. What I've gone through." She seethed angrily, clenching her hands even tighter causing the shards of glass that pierced her gloves to sink into her hands, and blood began to drip from her hands onto the ground. Ryung-Gu did nothing but look at her, if threatening him, hitting him, screaming at him, swearing at him, if all that is what was going to make her feel better Ryung-Gu wasn't going to stop her.
"Then tell me. Let me in...Seo-Yun let me in." Ryung-Gu whispered as he stared into her dark teary eyes. He let his hands slowly travel to her bleeding ones and held them softly, he didn't care about the blood slowly caking and staining his skin, he didn't care about the torn leather. Seo-Yun shakily inhaled and tried to blink away the tears, she shook her head but she didn't have it in her to rip her hands away from his grasp.
"Let me in." Ryung-Gu whispered once more, that's when Seo-Yun's resolve broke and the first tear slipped down. She gasped and cried, her hands shook and she gripped his hands.
"H-H-Hold me. Please. Ca-can you hold m-me?" She brokenly asked through her cries, Ryung-Gu, in an instant threw his arms around her and held her as her cries echoed through the apartment. Her tears soaked through Ryung-Gu's shirt, he didn't utter a word. He held her silently as she continued to cry.
It took several minutes until Seo-Yun's cries and tears faded into nothing but deep breaths. Seo-Yun laid her head against Ryung-Gu's chest, staring tiredly at the wall.
"I need to get the glass out of your skin so you can heal properly," Ryung-Gu said, Seo-Yun numbly nodded and slowly sat straight. Ryung-Gu looked at her for her permission to touch her hands.
"I've noticed your slight aversion to touch." He whispered and she looked at him, for a moment before slowly nodding. Ryung-Gu took a steady breath and as carefully as he could, he slipped off the leather gloves from her hands and had to hold the sharp breath he wanted to take at the sight of her hands. No amount of blood could cover the scars that littered her hands, his eyes stared at them for so long, they covered the entirety of her hands leading all the way up under her sleeves. His heart clenched painfully in his chest, sadness and anger twisting together.
"I-It was the price I had to pay." Seo-Yun whispered as she watched him stare at her scarred hands, Ryung-Gu snapped his gaze to her eyes, remembering she had said those exact words the night he came back to her apartment and ate with her, which was only the night before although it felt longer than that.
"After the men had recaptured us, they asked who planned everything. I couldn't let any of them take the fall for me, so I confessed. They held me down and all of them took multiple turns at slicing my hands...When I thought it was all over, they lined up the rest of the kids a-and killed them right in front of me...M-Made sure they had them close enough to me that their blood would spray on me when they slit their throats." Seo-Yun numbly explained and Ryung-Gu clenched his jaw, fury seeping through his veins at the men who did this to her.
"Ever since then, people would get scared of me when they saw the scars, so I started wearing gloves to hide them, and have been ever since." Seo-Yun finished quietly. Ryung-Gu took a deep breath to control and dull his anger, he nodded softly and silently started to pick the shards of glass out of her skin. He was thankful they were all moderately big pieces, it made it easier for him to pick them out, Ryung-Gu gazed up at Seo-Yun and brushed the strands from her face, behind her ear.
"Go have a shower Seo-Yun. Clean up, take your time and then come out to the living room. Jun-Woong and Ryeon are worried about you." Ryung-Gu gently ordered before slowly standing. He hand out his hand to Seo-Yun who stared at him for a moment before reaching out and letting him help her stand up. Ryung-Gu lead her to the bathroom before letting go of her hand and gave her one more soft look before stepping out and closing the door gently.
It took roughly an hour before Seo-Yun appeared in the living room, clad in a soft grey hoodie and matched sweatpants. Seo-Yun nervously played with the sleeves of the hoodie as she slowly made her way to the living room, her mind clearer and calmer than before. She watched as three heads snapped up to her once she was in full view, Seo-Yun weakly smiled as guilt shone in her eyes, knowing they had spent so much time worrying about her, only for her to lash out on the rooftop.
"H-hi." Seo-Yun meekly spoke, her voice still hoarse. Jun-Woong shot out of his seat and pulled Seo-Yun into a hug, his arms wrapping themselves around her shoulders. Seo-Yun tensed but slowly let herself melt into her friend's embrace, she wrapped her arms around his waist and buried her head in his chest.
"I'm happy you're okay. Well obviously not like okay, okay. But like at least you're like here you know-" Jung-Woong's rant was cut off by the sound of Seo-Yun's quiet laughter and pulled away from Jun-Woong with a small smile on her face. Always leave it to Jun-Woong to make a dark situation into a lighter one, that's what Seo-Yun admired about him.
"I'm happy you're okay too Jun-Woong." She quietly responded and she watched as the tall male beamed down at her, his puppy eyes sparkling. Seo-Yun slowly turned to Ryeon who stood stoically beside Ryung-Gu, Seo-Yun was expecting lectures and looks of sympathy and disappointment from Ryeon. But it only took a second before Ryeon repeated Jun-Woong's actions and pulled Seo-Yun into a tight embrace.
"I'm so sorry Seo-Yun," Ryeon whispered to her friend. Seo-Yun smiled softly and buried her head in the crook of Ryeon's neck, her arms tightening around the older reaper's waist.
"I know." Was all Seo-Yun uttered before the two females pulled apart. Seo-Yun stepped towards Ryung-Gu and stood in front of him, he looked down at her and smiled at her, Seo-Yun gazed up at him for a moment.
"Thank you." Seo-Yun whispered so quietly, Ryung-Gu barely caught it. But he did, and he said nothing, he simply smiled and brushed her hair out of her face softly before Seo-Yun stepped away and sat down on her couch before looking at the three.
"I'm assuming you guys successfully closed the case?" Seo-Yun asked quietly. Jun-Woong nodded slowly after glancing at Ryeon and Ryung-Gu. Seo-Yun hummed and nodded her head, lost in thought before she looked up at them, a look of sadness in her eyes.
"I need to talk to him." Ryeon, Jun-Woong and Ryung-Gu all snapped their gaze to Seo-Yun who stared straight back. Ryeon shook her head firmly.
"That's not a good idea Seo-Yun," Ryeon responded. Seo-Yun sighed and looked to Ryeon.
"It probably isn't. But...I need to talk to him. I-I won't do what I did on the rooftop. I swear but guys, I need to face him. P-please. I need this to end." Seo-Yun said, pleading. The three shared a look between them before Ryeon sighed heavily and her shoulders slumped forward.
"Okay." Ryeon muttered, Seo-Yun smiled gratefully at her friends.
"But not now. You can say what you need to say to him tomorrow, and one of us will go with you." Ryeon ordered and Seo-Yun nodded firmly.
"Understood." Seo-Yun said, Ryeon nodded and exhaled deeply. Jun-Woong cleared his throat and look at Seo-Yun with soft eyes.
"Good. Get some sleep, I know you don't need sleep but it'll help clear your mind." Jun-Woong said and Seo-Yun smiled at him and nodded softly at the concern that shone in his eyes. Both Jun-Woong and Ryeon glanced at an unmoving Ryung-Gu before Ryeon laid her hand on Jun-Woong's shoulder and both of them disappeared. Leaving Seo-Yun and Ryung-Gu alone, Seo-Yun laid down on the couch and for a few moments neither of them spoke nor moved and slowly Seo-Yun's eyes started to drift closed. Ryung-Gu quietly stood up and grabbed the small blanket from the top of the couch and walked over to Seo-Yun, he softly placed it over her, making sure the blanket cover her completely. But just as he straightened up and was about to turn and walk away, Seo-Yun reached out to tug on the sleeve of his shirt causing the man to freeze and look down at her.
"Stay." She whispered. Ryung-Gu gazed down at her, his eyes flickering from her hand to her eyes.
"I'm not going anywhere." He promised and Seo-Yun smiled gratefully before softly releasing his sleeve and slowly closing her eyes. Letting every emotion fade away as she listened to Ryung-Gu's soft breathing as he laid on the floor beside her, covered in his own little blanket and using his coat as a pillow. And soon she drifted off to sleep, with her heart feeling a little brighter.