A soft breeze. The summer sun. A crystal sky. Hyejin.
She walked through the field, her fingertips brushing against the tops of the tall flowers that danced in the wind. Her hair flowed behind her like water. She stopped.
Seonghwa stood in the middle of the field, watching her. Her white dress brushed the ground lightly as she walked through the sea of purple and red flowers. Mountains surrounded them on all sides. It was though they were in a giant bowl, hidden away from the evils of the world. It was just them. Just the two of them. Alone.
She glanced up at him and smiled. It was the most beautiful smile he had ever seen, shining brighter than the sun itself. Beautiful, oh, so beautiful. She threw her arms out and ran to him. Everything went in slow motion until they collided. He held her in his arms, her arms wound tightly around his waist. Her head was buried in his chest and she was smiling. She looked up at him. He gazed down into her eyes. It was as if her eyes held the galaxy, billions of stars and constellations. He moved a strand of her dark hair away from her eyes and pushed it behind her ear. His fingertip dragged slowly down her cheek and down past her lips. Her cherry red lips that he so badly wanted to kiss. He leaned down and pressed his lips to hers. The world flashed with vivid colors and a rush of happiness surged through his body.
Suddenly, the flowers around them wilted and turned brown. The sky darkened and the mountains grew taller. The wind became harsh and violent. Hyejin's body faded and materialized into small pink flower petals that turned black when the touched the ground. He shuddered and wanted so badly to scream out.
When he called her name, no sound came out. Suddenly, he plunged into deep darkness. Water surrounded him and she struggled to breathe. He tried so desperately to swim to the surface, but the longer he tried, the farther down he sunk. He thrashed around. His chest began to swell with water and he was choking. His vision faded and darkness consumed him. Right before the last of the light vanished, a single soft pale hand reached down for him, but her fingers slipped from his grasp. Hyejin.
Seonghwa coughed. A bit of blood colored his lips. He tried to sit up, but winced at the pain that shot through the lower half of his back. He managed to roll on his side and reach his arm to feel his back, biting back the pain. The cut actually did not feel as deep as he thought, be he had no idea how it looked. He bit the inside of his cheek as he forced himself into a sitting position. He cursed under his breath as he brought himself to his feet. He had to lean against the wall for support, for standing on his own was not an option.
He stumbled to the door, clenching his stomach. He felt sick. Without warning, he lurched forward, spilling few contents from his stomach on to the floor. He trembled as he wiped the corner of his mouth with his sleeve. Just as he calmed down, his stomach tightened and he attempted to throw up again. This time, it was just water. His stomach was empty, but it was still trying to bring up non-existent contents. His stomach hurt and his throat burned. He stumbled back a bit before bringing himself to the door. He twisted it and it opened.
The house was eerily quiet. There was no saying how long he had been out for. Minutes? Hours? Days? Steady beams of sunlight streamed through the window. Tiny particles of dust floated around the room slowly.
Seonghwa moved to the stairs, making sure to keep one hand on the wall for support. The door at the bottom of the steps was open partly and it was bright down there. He stepped down the first step. It creaked loudly. He went down another step, followed by another, then another until he was at the bottom. He pushed the door so that it was opened completely. He managed to walk to the front door without falling and his strength had slowly regained.
Harsh sunlight blinded Seonghwa when he pulled the door open. His car sat a few feet away along with the car that had been there when he first arrived that he had originally assumed was the house owner's car. Green patches of grass dotted the ground in various areas along with tiny flowers that popped up.
He stumbled out of the door and slowly made his way around the side of the house. The once-white paint had chipped, revealing the old rotting wood underneath. He stopped and leaned against the house, looking at the sparkling lake. The mountains towered high above and tiny birds flew around freely in the sky. The sky was crystal blue. Fluffy white clouds dotted the sky like cotton balls. The calmness frightened him.
Seonghwa began walking to the lake. Hyejin. Where did she go? Where is San? He nearly tripped over a rock not paying attention to where he was going. He stopped at the edge of the lake and stared out into the distance at the towering purple mountains that were colored with the soft sunshine. The water was still and undisturbed except for the tiny water bugs that occasionally made an almost unnoticeable ripple in the water.
They couldn't have gone far, but then again, Seonghwa didn't know how long he had been unconscious for. He had only assumed it had been a few minutes, but he really couldn't have been for sure.
A sudden pounding headache ripped through his skull and he was almost blinded by the pain. When the pain subsided, he turned back to the house. He needed to find Hyejin.
As he started to walk, a low voice caught Seonghwa's attention. He stopped and listening, cupping his hear to hear better. The voice came from his left. He quietly made his way to the corner of the house and listened. The voice continued. It was low and deep, but it almost sounded panicked. A small female voice answered him, louder than the man's voice. Hyejin.
Seonghwa followed the voice as quietly and quickly as he could, trying to keep out of sight. He pressed his back to the side of the house. The voices stopped for a moment, but then continued. As he got closer to the source, the angrier the voices sounded. Seonghwa ducked behind a natural wall of thick bushes when he made out two figures a few feet ahead.
Hyejin laid under San on her back while San was on top of her, looking down and speaking to her. He had her arms pinned on the ground above her while his other hand was planted on the ground by her side.
"Hyejin, please, stop fighting me." San pleaded in a whisper. Hyejin shook her head, almost on the verge of tears.
"No, San. Please, don't. " A tear slipped down her cheek. "Please don't...please." She was crying now. San's hand slid up her thigh and up under her shirt. She tried to wriggle her arms from his grasp, but he was too strong and she was too weak. She opened her mouth to scream out, but quickly clamped his hand over her mouth, cutting off her scream.
Seonghwa quickly stood and stumbled forward. "Hyejin!" He yelled. San's head whipped around, anger filling his face. He stood and glared at Seonghwa. Hyejin quickly crawled backward, trying to make distance between herself and San.
San's face turned from anger to amusement. He let out a low, disturbing chuckle that sent shivers down Seonghwa's spine.
"I must not have kicked you hard enough," San said, smiling. Seonghwa clenched his jaw. San took a few steps towards Seonghwa. "Please, don't hurt him," Hyejin said in a tiny voice behind San. He looked back at her, "Shut up."
"Mr. Park, you always show up at the most random times." Seonghwa didn't respond. He knew he was too weak to do anything and San knew it too. He took a few steps back and crouched down next to Hyejin. He grabbed her by the hair and pulled her up so that his face was level with hers. Seonghwa took a quick step forward, but stopped. San was testing him.
San's hand moved up to Hyejin's jaw. While still looking at Seonghwa and smirking, San kissed Hyejin's neck. Seonghwa clenched his teeth together, hard. Hyejin's hands curled up into tight fists, but she didn't dare try anything.
"Stop it," Seonghwa said. San smiled and threw Hyejin's head back and stood. Her head hit the ground and she yelled out, curling on her side. San quickly walked up to Seonghwa and hit him in the stomach. He doubled over and almost fell. San laughed.
"You're too weak to do anything." San pointed out. Unexpectedly, Seonghwa threw his fist up and hit San square in the jaw. He fell over and landed on his back with a thump. A rise of anger surged through Seonghwa's body, giving him new strength. He sat on San's chest and started throwing blows at him. One after the other, Seonghwa's fist made contact with San's face. Seonghwa cried out with every hit. Tears streamed down his face, blinding his vision and he kept hitting San until his knuckles bleed and his hands shook.
He looked down at San's bloody face. He wasn't moving and instead stared at the back of his eyelids. His head hung to the side. Blood streamed steadily from his nose and mouth and his breathing was labored. Seonghwa stood, staring down at his hands as they shook. Dark blood formed a glove on his hands. He looked up at Hyejin who stared back at him with wide eyes.
"Hyejin," he said, taking a step forward. She scrambled backward. She was afraid of him.
San's limp body lay on the ground at a twisted angle. His arms lay at his sides. Seonghwa bit the inside of his cheek hard enough to taste blood.
He slowly sat on the ground, pulling his knees into his chest. He pressed his forehead to his knees and closed his eyes as a final tear slipped down and fell to the ground.