Avoiding Minho didn't prove to be as difficult as you had deemed, the boy ditched school the next day altogether. Maybe he really had been sick. Though that didn't justify his behavior, you were sick and tired of everyone taking you for granted. You essentially avoid the trio of girls as well and sat in the library during lunch. Turned out, the school's library was in fact the only library in town and you had made a mental note to visit it later after school, you were yet to catch up with the school syllabus.
Jung Wooyoung and the rest of his friends were back to ignoring you. Even San, who had been one of your budding acquaintances(?) in the town, had resorted to simply smiling at you but not pursuing any conversation. San's attention in the class went to their teacher, an unusual feat for the hyperactive boy. You had initially hoped to keep confronting Wooyoung about what happened but he was never left alone with you—one of his friends, usually San or Hongjoong, always lingered nearby and ushered away if you got too close. They didn't want to speak to you.
You tried not to take that too personally.
It was half-past four when you left for the library after informing your gran (promising her that you weren't meeting up with 'that' boy), who was reluctant to let you go out on the day of the Winter Moon but eventually agreed once you promised to be back before sundown.
You had never been the type to keep promises. By the time you caught a glance at the old clock in the library, it was past seven, the sun had long set and the librarian, an old lady with a kind smile and greying hair was ushering you to pack up.
It took you a good fifteen minutes to find the books you needed to borrow and another thirty minutes browsing the different books that could possibly reveal what the actual purpose of Aconite was. The librarian double-checked each book you mulled over. Extensively ensuring it was included in the records until only one book remained. The native woman (You had found a book on native art) rose her brow at your book with wary regard.
You walked down the sidewalk, mindlessly thinking about the contents of your books until you were made keenly aware of the sounds of footsteps echoing behind them. It didn't stop.
You narrowed your eyes as you glanced behind yourself to find no one. You didn't have a good feeling about this. You pulled out your phone, only to see a dead screen much to your frustration. Shit, shit, shit.
"I'm sure my friends are anxiously waiting for my arrival. It's a good thing I'm almost about to see them," You said in a loud voice, trying to ward off your potential unwanted company. Most rapists and muggers weren't likely to attack if they knew their victims were near to help.
'I need to get somewhere safe.' you thought to yourself anxiously, grasping the straps of your backpack tightly.
The footsteps didn't relent. The constant bubble of anxiety you felt inflated as you began to internally panic. But first, you needed to get back onto the public street. You tried to take a shortcut into an ally, only to see a faceless male figure enter from the opposite side.
You changed course, cutting across a parking lot only to be intercepted by the man to emerge from the shadows, you were startled by the familiar face and were thrown off by the way he looked. He had dark intents in his heavily lidded eyes. You were scared now, breathing quickly and feeling like the world was closing in on you. You wanted to ask him what was going on, speak to him, anything but then all your instincts took over, your lips sealed shut as the meaning behind his eyes elicited danger.
You tried to run the other way only to be stopped by Minho, who suddenly was standing right in front of you. "Hey, where are you running to? I saw you at the library." He cajoled, cackling right after.
You turned to your left; only to be met with a dead-end, then looked to your right where Minho had blocked your way by his arm, he had a sickly familiar gleam in his eyes. You were cornered.
"Hey...it's okay," He said, appraising you lewdly, as you tried to squirm out of his hold. "How have you been? Missed me?" He said, trying to get closer as he eyed you, evil ideas playing in his head. H seemed like an entirely different person, not the Minho you had come to know. But then again, you barely knew him.
You attempted to shove your way out of the corner. "Whoa! Where are you going?"
You blinked dazedly. Everything sounded like you were hearing it from a glass wall. Muffled almost. You tried to numbly push against the wall and the boy.
"Where are you going?"
You couldn't breathe.
You felt an incoming panic attack closing in on you.
Not now.
Not now.
Not now.
"_____?" You could distantly hear Minho calling your name as he closed in, jostling you.
"Stay away from me," You whispered.
Minho bravely reached out for your arm. "You're so pretty."
You tried to jerk it out and shove him away. "Don't touch me."
The shiny lights in your vision suddenly became brighter as a loud screech interrupted the attack. A familiar motorbike hastily stopped and you stared with wide eyes as a figure leaped towards you with loud, terrifying growls.
Furious growls and snarls rumbled from the new presence who had arrived to the rescue.
A blur of something pale and very fast unexpectedly yanked Minho off of you, throwing him across the parking lot until a loud, sickening crunch was heard. You gasped at the terrifying display of inhuman strength and speed. Even in the dim lighting, you could see dark liquid pooling from under Minho's body.
"Wooyoung!" you hissed, a mixture of shock and relief twisted your angelic features as the scent of fresh blood reached you slowly but surely.
Wooyoung didn't seem to notice the blood; at that moment, his thoughts were focused on one thing and one thing only—protecting you.
His taller figure looked almost demonic as he glowered at the boy whose inebriated state had quickly sobered with the change in prey. His body was wired and ready to pounce, standing between you and Minho defensively.
Wooyoung was absolutely frightening.
He had lost all sense of control over his abilities as huge psi-bolts radiated from his body haphazardly in all directions, shrill static filled the air. You crouched, leaning against the wall with your palms pressed against your ears as a wave of nausea hit you. The gruesome sounds of breaking bones and tearing flesh echoed in the deserted lot followed by pained grunts and screams of agony before it all came to a still. Minho's head lurched sideways as he sputtered and choked on his own blood and then nothing.
Wooyoung snarled, crouching slightly before he dove for the other's neck. And that was when the dam broke, there was static in your head once more as you trembled like a small child. One second you were hunched down on the concrete, the next you were being pulled into someone's chest. You squirmed and writhed, trying to get away from the person's hold.
"Ssh, it's just me." The unmistakable voice of Wooyoung resonated in your ears and you fell limp in his hold like putty. You sobbed into his chest unceasingly, hands clutching at his jacket. He held you in silence, rocking you slowly as your tears soaked his chest. A tiny lapse let you pull away, blinking lashes heavy with tears, before you collapsed again, your howls of misery worsening. The pain must have come in waves, minutes of sobbing broken apart by short pauses for recovering breaths, before hurling you back into the outstretched arms of your terror.
Brick by brick, your walls came tumbling down. You didn't care he saw. You just broke down. The sobs punched through, ripping through your muscles, bones, and guts. Your mind was in a quasi-state of panic, terror, and relief, you tried to throw away the frenzy out of your being but it pulled back in like a yo-yo. Over and over. In and out. You felt hollow. Your life could have crumbled at your fingertips. Then, suddenly, he was there, patting and rubbing your back. He reached into your hollowness.
And then just like that, he was snatched away, doubling over in pain as his bones snapped and eyes turned the shade of molten gold gritting out a lone word towards you through clenched teeth, his feral eyes gauging holes into yours.
You had never stared into a predator's eyes, but you knew without a doubt that you were staring into one's now.
If this had been a prank, this was a very elaborate prank. If this had been a delusion, then damn you needed a better imagination. But this seemed a bit too visceral and much too disappointing to be either of those and now, when nausea and the feeling of your head being split open had passed, reality seemed to make itself known and the gravity of the situation kicked in.
Jung Wooyoung had just killed someone.