Amber
Falling was not part of the plan in a crowd of rabid legs desperate to go forward.
She suffered from the fall, her knees scrapped into red bloodied bits, and her palms laced with pain. Prostrated, she tried to rise, but a violent kick had her rolling forward, her head slammed against the tile, brain turned to mush as she was shoved, lip first to the floor. A flip that had her world spinning, and God the pain. It rippled through her, spanned tight at her abdomen, the soft fleshy bits of her that were trampled on the hardest.
It didn't hurt as much as she thought it would.
Then the stampeded began. The dig of weight upon her bones, worst than punches, each a bursting concentration of agony. The double stepped trips of fans increased in their waltz to find her soulmates. They didn't see her and when they did feel her beneath their feet they paused to look back, resulting in a horde that she couldn't escape.
She could die in a stampede.
Panic seized her tight with its claws. She turned to her back, huddled into herself as her ears rang to the beat of trampling feet. Fear ruined her, her eyes swept forward, swift as she searched for MinJae whom she knew for sure was still looking despite the distance they'd carried him. Her breath escaped her; lungs contracted when a stomp sent her ricocheting across the floor.
She couldn't see anything.
She crawled as fast as she could through the legs, through the pain. Determination allowed her to go further. She was slightly freed into a more open space. But the screams had her turning to look back; her eyes were locked upon the faces of unknown individuals. Eyes trembled as she noted the recognition, the shock and then the anger.
So much anger.
The image of Claudia burst through her mind, paralyzing her and rendering her useless. Weakness seared through her as they stalked up close. Their hands reached; their jaws snapped. They weren't people who would help her, these were crazy fans who believed themselves married to her soulmates. Lunatics that wanted her gone because she threatened their fantasy.
These were the people that her soulmates had likened her to the first time they had met.
사생팬 (Sasaeng Fan)
A sudden surge of self-preservation filled her and she was sweeping to her feet as their fingers nicked her skin. The vertigo slammed into her vision, it made her body sway for a moment or two but then she continued running. And with each step clarity filled her as she calculated and plotted her route to freedom. Her muscles burned as her laboured breath only rose in speed.
Faster. Faster. FASTER.
But she tripped and fell again, just because her feet didn't seem to work. Exhaustion burned through her along with a curious localised pain that flourished in her belly. It spiked hot and sharp at her belly button, throbbing. It was a dart of weakness to her overloaded muscles. A sign of injury from the kicking of feet. There was the briefest moment of darkness as she swayed, and then she struggled, like a soldier riddled with arrows she moved, limped, stumbled.
"AMBER!"
The bellow was a welcomed sound; sweet relief filled her as her soulmate pulled through the crowd. JieMi pushed through, panting as he swept like a jet through the sky, seemingly a thousand miles further from the crowd that attempted to chase him. He caught her in his arms without another thought, pulled her to his shoulder as he hauled her sorry ass through the airport.
There was no time for words, too much running was necessary in their escape, but as his legs blurred and pounded, step by step to the tips of each marbled tile. She looked back at the crowd that didn't seem to stop, watched as cameras flashed. As screams ripped from desperate fans, as the people surged.
She shrieked when JieMi tried to take a detour towards the door that should lead them to the road. The place where a vehicle would be waiting to drive them to safety. But he drew to a sharp painful halt when the fans that had chased the other men spilled through at the sight of their last victim.
Predators towards a prey.
Sharks at the scent of blood.
"Goddamn it," he cursed, and his grip on her tightened as he bounced her higher up his body. His eyes darting for an exit. "Fuck. Fuck. Fuck."
They continued on, his body heaving forward as he gained speed, running as if his life depended on it. Sweat dripped from his body, rivulets that soaked his face and drenched his clothes. And then he twisted and moved towards the men's toilet as if that would help.
A mistake.
"JieMi...We'll get cornered—"
"Lock-Will lock it—" his voice was strained in deep panted notes, raspy from oxygen lack.
He wouldn't last long, she realised. His spurts of speed despite her weight on his shoulder was only possible because of his need to bring them both to safety. But the exhaustion had grown too much and, in his eyes, she saw the flickering beginning of a blackout. He'd shoved and ran far harder than she'd expected.
The judgement from strangers that oozed around them, free of worries and void of celebrity recognition was a thankful sign of nearing safety. But it was not enough with the commotion that grew as the fans approached.
He stomped through without a word, swerved into the room as if his life depended on it. His shoes were squeaky as they protested against the friction. And Amber squeezed her eyes shut at the sight of the row of shocked pissing men. But her eyes flew open when female fans, deterred as they were, hovered at the door. There was a moment of humanity as they paused over the sacred line of biological function.
One stepped in, and then another, fuelled by the herd, they proceeded forward, courageous. Berserk.
"JieMi!" she called out weak as he pulled open a door and locked it. The walls held them in its enclosure, déjà vu filled her as he sat her down upon the bowl, and bent over to catch his breath, wheezing as sweat slicked down his cheeks. She breathed, tinnitus calming as the fans grew distraught outside the door.
Safe.
Then he vomited all over the floor.
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