Jihyun had jumped in front of the bullet, just in time. He did it to save her life, but at the cost of his own. He wheezed, clutching his chest tightly in an attempt to slow the bleeding. The world was already black, so he felt no fear within the throes of darkness. He was more afraid of dying. Why had he done that? He barely knew Hyun-a and yet, he felt like he'd known her his whole life.
"V!" He recognized those voices! Jumin, Yoosung...Saeyoung. They must be worried about me...They don't need to. I can handle it. He always hated making his friends worried, that's why he always put himself in dangerous situations. He never wanted them to worry about someone as undeserving as he was.
He was gasping but no air was filling his deflated his lungs. Blood spluttered out of his lips as he coughed weakly, his blind gaze tracking her movements as she knelt by him. He longed to lift his arm to wipe the tears off her face, but he was being anchored down to the earth by invisible chains that were relentless. A whimper escapes from her lips, "I...I never got the chance to tell you..."
Words... what were those again? How did they form? He knew they were important, knew they held meaning that could crush hearts and build love that held the potential to conquer the world. And yet, all he could do, with his dying lungs and stuttering heart, was whisper two words, "I know."
There was a sense of numb shock that washed over Hyun-a's body as she watched Jihyun, her brother who had given up so much, die. Her brother who until his very last breath, believed he had nothing but his life to give. How did he know? How did he know what she was about to tell him?
How could he lay down his life for someone who took them for a living? If anyone deserved to be saved, it was him. "J-Jihyun? " She called softly, shaking his shoulder a bit as if he were just sleeping. Everyone watched her in sorrow, unable to take their eyes off the scene before them. A cold-blooded assassin who has killed many over her lifetime crying over the body of the one life she didn't take. A dark thought flitted through her head as her tears stopped and she stared down at his ashen face.
Kill Saeran. He did this.
An unimaginable anger burned in the pit of her stomach, leaving a bitter taste in her mouth. Slowly her head rose upwards, her eyes hooded to hid the murderous gleam in her brewing irises. Saeyoung was the first to register the killing intent that radiated off of her in choking waves. The others struggled to understand what exactly it was that they were feeling, but Jaehee felt sick.
When her eyes locked onto Saeran, the hacker's eyes widened marginally. He knew exactly who that murdering intent was aimed at and so did he. A small flash of fear danced in the man's mint green eyes as they met with hers. He knew that if he didn't run right now, he would die. So without another word he bolted into the shadows and up the staircase. Before Saeyoung could stop her, Hyun-a was dashing after him with gun in hand.
"Shit. We have to stop her! She's going to kill Saeran!" The male exclaimed, taking off after the two along with the shocked members of the RFA. As soon as he mentioned the word "kill" Zen's eyes narrowed in anger. His thoughts went back to the bodies he had seen littering the dark hallways and the blood painting the walls in a gruesome art. Had Kiri─Whoever the hell she was─Kill them? The silver haired male couldn't even fathom taking a life. How could she take a hundred?
Ahead, Hyun-a was hot on Saeran's tail. Every corner he turned she would appear not even a second later. A rush of adrenaline and fear for his life flooded his veins as he desperately tried to stay ahead. Saeran wasn't build for much physical exercise. His body was too frail and so his endurance was near nonexistent.
The only way he could run was up and to the roof. He had no where to escape and it was beginning to dawn on him. Where was his savior?! Why wasn't she protecting him like she promised?! Cursing under his breath, Saeran shoved the door open with his shoulder and stumbled out into the waning light. It was obvious he had no ways to escape unless he was willing to jump off the building. He was about to do just that when he suddenly remembered the gun in his hand. Maybe he could shoot at her again and if his savior blessed him enough, he would finally kill her.
Saeran barely dodged a bullet by ducking in surprise when a loud bang came from the doorway. Never in all his years had Saeran seen the cold fury Hyun-a reflected. It was considerably worse than his mother's fury but he refused to be weak, not again. "You killed him." she stated icily. Saeran couldn't help but grin, "That dog was going to die sooner or later!" He didn't even see her shoot forwards until he was tackled to the ground. His first instinct was to squirm and uselessly flail around, but he remembered the brief training from the ex-military follower and tucked his legs, kicking outwards until the blue haired girl had slid back.
A triumphant smirk pulled at his lips as he grabbed his gun from where it had clattered to the floor. His mistake. The moment his eyes left her she had brought them back to the same position, but this time she had impaled his arm with her dagger. Saeran screamed out in pain as he desperately clawed at the blade but Hyun-a merely kept her palm on the hilt.
She heard frantic steps pounding up the stairway but ignored it. They couldn't stop her from getting revenge! A hatred she had never known burned her veins as she glared down at the writhing man. "Pitiful. A bug like you is not fit for claiming his life." She hissed, pressing a knee into his rib cage. Saeran gasped for air but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't take anything in.
"He was my brother. But you knew that, right?" She questioned with a tilt of her head, betraying an innocent look. The white haired male grinned sadistically and laughed. "He never looked for you." Saeran choked. Hyun-a's grip tightened on his throat. " H-He did n-nothing! He j-just let you suffer. You're just like─"
"Don't you dare compare yourself to me." she barked. Saeran flinched but nonetheless kept his expression. If he delayed a little longer, he could use Saeyoung's love for him to save himself. "You know it's t-true. You and I are the s-same. Both of our 'brothers' abandoned us." He had spat the word like it was poison. "Think what you want, but in the end, you killed an innocent man. How does it feel Saeran? How does it feel to have taken a life?"
The man paused, eyes widened slightly at the gun pointed to his head. "Do you feel sick?" She suggested.
"Do you feel dirty? Like you'll never be able to wash the blood of your hands?" Hyun-a hummed, bringing her face closer to his. "Perhaps not. You haven't really been able to think about it. Instead you ran like a coward. Pathetic and weak."
Saeran snapped. "I AM NOT WEAK!" He wasn't thinking when he thrashed around again, aggravating the blade that pierced his hand. Another pained yell passed his chapped lips. The assassin watched through impassive eyes, preparing to pull the trigger.
"Please don't kill him Hyun-a...he's all I have left."
The sudden flashback caught her off guard, faltering her motion as she blinked. Saeyoung asked me...but I have nothing left to loose. With her mind set back on killing Saeran, she readjusted her aim and readied to pull the trigger again.
But he does.
The thought slithered in like the snake of Eden, taunting her and watching her through narrowed slits. He has his own brother, the last of his family to lose. Are you really going to take that away from him just like what happened to you? The snake hissed in amusement. Hyun-a flinched internally. Am I...? she asked herself. A flash of a tired looking Saeyoung flashed in her mind. It was one night when she had decided to stop by, he said he had work to do but she only realized how long he sat there with his fingers flying across the keyboard, all to protect the brother who was at her mercy.
Could she really make every action since his childhood utterly useless?
The snake wrapped itself around her leg and climbed all the way to her torso, squeezing and taking her oxygen. Do it. Saeran killed Jihyun, it's only fair that you kill him as well. Do it Hyun-a, take your revenge.
Slowly she gripped the gun tighter. Her stormy eyes hooded as she pressed the barrel to his head. Saeran was crying. He wasn't emotionally strong like she was, he couldn't grin in the face of death like he imagined. It was in that moment, he realized how desperately he wanted to live. How he wanted to see the blue sky again and watch the clouds drift by like in his childhood. But his pride and stubbornness wouldn't allow him to beg for his life.
All that was left was the click of the gun and the deafening sound of it firing.