We drove for a long time, going nowhere. We reached a rural area and decided to dump the bike. "We're in Andong, I think." Nicolas said. "It's another city."
"How far from...where were we? Seoul?"
He nodded and pulled us through the silent and lonely streets. He hadn't let go of my hand since we left the motorcycle. "We need to call Gabriel. Make sure they made it out."
Gabriel and Ash must have retreated. I hope they did. I told them to.
"I don't have a phone. Do you?"
He shook his head at me. "Maybe we can ask someone. Come on." He pulled us along.
After what felt like hours of walking, we made it to the center, where all the homes were. I didn't say a word, Nicolas either. I just followed him as he pulled us forward. No one really looked at us; I was thankful for that. We stopped in front of a small corner in a little market in front of a young girl sitting on a basket. She had a crate of fruits next to her, but, more important than that, a phone in her hand.
"안녕하세요." Just imagine the dramatic way in which my mouth dropped when I heard him speak. (Hello.)
The girl looked up and looked taken aback. I felt like I knew what Nicolas was doing, so I took a step back and let him work the girl. "안녕." She bowed her head and smiled back, eyes kind.
"언니와 나는 길을 잃었다. 전화 좀 빌려 주시겠습니까? 제발." Still, I smiled at the way his Italian accent mixed with the foreign words. It made them sound oddly charming. (My sister and I got lost. Could you lend me your phone? Please.)
The girl looked to me and smiled, bowing her head slightly. She looked around and back at Nicolas, who, by the way she smiled shyly, surely gave her a charming smile. Those of his that could just kill you right then and there. I nearly leaned forward to get a glimpse of it, but managed to keep myself rooted to my spot.
"알았어, 문제없어. 들어오시겠습니까?" She smiled at him shyly again before clearing her throat. Wow, he was good. The girl didn't have a chance against him. I bet he told her some bullshit like we're related or something to keep me out of the picture so she could fantasize. (Okay, no problem. Would you like to come in?)
Sex appeal was a wonderful thing.
"정말?" He seemed surprised. "고마워, 그럴게."
He turned to me. "She asked if we wanted to come in. I said yes. She's gonna lend us her phone."
I nodded, "perfect. We should call our phone number. Make sure they are okay."
He nodded and we walked inside. The girl gave us her phone and I dialed the number. When the other side picked up, it wasn't the voice I was expecting.
"We have your men...again. I'll give you three hours to come to a direction I will send over text message. You won't want to be late." Myung hung up before I could say a single word.
***
We didn't even have time to fully reach the direction they were taking us because we were ambushed five minutes away. Full spectacle. Guns pointed at our head, cars surrounding us, lights blinding us, all that jazz. It was starting to get repetitive.
Nicolas and I didn't protest as they hauled us into the cars and drove away. I didn't bother trying to figure out where we were going because they made no effort to hide it from us, which could only mean the place is meaningless. We didn't leave the rural are. There were no signs of city where we were going. After a long time, we entered a forest type territory. I felt the hairs in my arms and neck stand. I don't like places like these.
I didn't know the men who had picked us up, so I didn't bother speaking. Instead, I closed my eyes and crossed my fingers that Gabriel held onto that phone.
When the car came to a stop, I opened my eyes. It was a very small cabin, probably the size of a trailer. The men dragged both of us out of the car and into the cabin. The only thing I managed to see was the downward slope that started behind the cabin.
We were instructed to sit as soon as we were inside. There were two chairs for Nicolas and I, a small coffee table and two more chairs in front. Ye-jun was sitting in one of them, his eyes bloodshot and his fists clenched to the point they looked white. The other seat was empty. I felt myself gulping hard. It was probably Jung-hee's chair. Myung stood to Ye-jun's right, arms crossed. To my left were Gabriel and Ash sitting on the floor. They weren't tied, but didn't move. Two guns were pointed on each head. I was shoved roughly to my seat, but didn't say a word. It felt like a good moment to bite my tongue.
"내 동생은 죽었다." Ye-jun began, his voice low but not in whispers. His voice dripped with power and fervor. Myung made a motion to translate, but Ye-jun held his hand up. Myung stood quiet. (My brother is dead.)
"그는 우리가 너를 믿어야 한다고 말했다. 그는 그것을 증명하기 위해 개인적으로 갈 것이라고 말했다. 그는 확실히 뭔가를 증명했다." He looked between me and Nicolas, eyes practically shaking in anger. I couldn't say anything; not only because I didn't understand what he was saying, but because I understand the pain. I understand that when you lose someone that close, logicality and understanding don't come. Anger and frustration mixed in with the grief are the only feelings to exist. (He said we should trust you. He said he would go personally to prove it. He certainly proved something.)
"우리가 아니었다. 우린 아무 관계도 없었어요, 성 선생님." I was once again surprised to hear Nicolas speak. His voice resembled the understanding I felt. The softness and pleading of it. They say there is no room for heart in this line of business, when there's too many occasions in which heart is the only way. (It wasn't us. We had nothing to do with it, Mr. Seong.)
I huffed. This was fucking ridiculous. "We didn't do it." I looked over to Myung. "Tell him we didn't do it. You saw! They were shooting at us, too. We didn't have anything to do with it."
"I already told him that," Myung said. "He doesn't care."
I gave up, standing. Guns pointed at my head, but I walked up to Ye-jun. "I know you understand me, so listen. Your brother's death wasn't our fault. This is part of their tricks, they are turning us against each other. Veronica, Nicolas' sister called us. She said someone helped them escape. She also said there was a Korean girl with them. I'm positive it's Aera. They are headed here as we speak and we need the phone to communicate. Unless you never want to see your daughter again, believe us."
Ye-jun stood up, towering over me by God knows how much. "Myung," he waited and looked me dead in the eye. They looked dead. "Hang her."
I felt my eyes widen as he said the words. I turned to Myung, who stepped up immediately. His movements were hesitant, but obedient nonetheless. He walked to me slowly, face emotionless.
"뭐 하는 거야?" Nicolas stood up, the chair flying behind him and slamming against the door. He didn't move another inch before two men grabbed him from each side and pressed a gun at the center of his forehead. (What are you doing?)
I turned back to Myung just in time to see him grab me by the throat, his hand big enough to nearly wrap around my entire neck. He pulled me back and didn't let go despite my kicking and wheezing. I couldn't think straight, too busy trying to breathe. The screams and chaos in the back was mere background noise the sound of my heartbeat in my ears, slowly increasing to the point I felt even more spent from its speed. To the point I felt it all the way to the tips of my toes and fingers.
My hands grabbed at his, doing my best to pull his fingers away. It only made him tighten more, creating a pressure in my head and eyeballs that had me gaping like fish. When I tripped, he didn't let me regain my balance, instead just held me tighter, lifting me the best he could from his hold on my throat. I had no time to react when my head slammed to the wall because he pressed me against it, using it as support to lift me until my feet were off the ground. I didn't even have enough air to wheeze at this point.
"하지마!" Nicolas screamed. With one movement from Ye-jun, he was kicked in the chest, falling to the floor from the impact. I watched in agony as he coughed and groaned. He touched the spot where his wound was and I kicked Myung upon seeing the tips of his fingers covered in blood. (Stop it!)
"이 전화기?" Ye-jun took out the phone from his back pocket and slammed it into the table. There was a determined anger to his gaze when he met my eyes. "이게 너의 전화기니?" I watched, teary eyed and on the verge of passing out as he took out his gun and aimed it at the phone. "내 동생이 죽었는데 네가 전화 얘기를 하는구나!" Every movement of his looked crazy. The flailing of his arms and the shining in his eyes. The way he yelled at nothing, looking up as if he was asking someone other than me. Had I not been in the situation I was in, I would have felt for him. (This phone? / Is this your phone? / My brother's dead and you're talking about the phone!)
I blinked away the tears pooling at my eyes, hoping they somehow appealed to Myung. Hoped he had a child or sister or daughter or wife that he could see in me. Maybe if he had one, he would loosed up a bit, let me take a single breath of air. Or maybe if I looked him in the eye, he would hesitate again. A single second window could help me.
But he didn't. He didn't look me in the eye or loosen up. I quickly forgot about the plan, however, something else taking my entire attention. It was far away, barely audible. I nearly missed it, but it's persistent relentlessness made my ears perk. It wasn't a good sound at all.
A ticking sound.
I listened for a little longer, thinking maybe it wasn't what I thought it was. Maybe it was the wind knocking something over and over again. But it wasn't. I knew it wasn't.
I gathered some strength and tried taking a breath, which only led to a scratchy sensation in my throat that had me on the verge of coughing. It managed to catch Myung off-guard and he loosed a single half-second.
"A bomb," I wheezed out. His head snapped up to look at me.
"What?"
His grip loosened on my throat and I took in a mouthful of air. "A bomb. Listen."
He stayed silent, focusing despite Ye-jun's recurrent screams. It was impossible to miss once it was pointed out. His eyes widened and he let go off my throat, my body dropping to the ground.
"폭탄!" He yelled, running to Ye-jun and grabbing him by the shirt. Ye-jun dropped the gun as Myung dragged him out and opened the big window on the side, pushing Ye-jun out of it. "나가!" One by one, the men ran out, leaving Gabriel and Ash confused. (Bomb! / Get out!)
As I managed to lift myself, I saw Nicolas crawl to me. His shirt was damp, his wound slowly bleeding. I saw as Gabriel and Ash approached me and I waved them away. "Get out!" I yelled with all the power in my lungs, feeling them pain. "Now!"
Nicolas didn't listen, instead crawling faster to me. He slung my arm over his shoulder and got us up. I held onto him, doing my best to walk as fast as I could. We made it to window, seeing Myung stand ready to help out whoever was coming out next.
I gasped, "the phone!" I turned around and saw it still resting on the table.
"Get out!" Nicolas yelled. He made a move to go for the table. In a completely fucking rational--for once--wave of worry, I pulled his arm and pushed him out of the window. His scream filled the dead silence in the cabin and far away chaos as I ran to the table. Not wasting a beat, I grabbed the phone and turned around, throwing it out the window. It traveled faster that way.
In an intense surge of anxiety and raw fear, I ran to the nearest window just a few feet away instead of the one everyone else escaped from. I pushed it open as I jumped out, realizing in that exact moment why this wasn't the window Myung used. It was the downward slope.
I shut my eyes, readying myself for the pain. Not two seconds later after I jumped, I felt the pressure of the blast followed by the sound of the explosion.
***
We reached 10k on BBotFC!!
You guys are literally so awesome for sticking by me and this story and these characters! I know sometimes you want to rip your hair out (like right now probably. Cliffhangers, am I right?) with the story and the characters, but nevertheless you all stick by their sides. Thank you. Here is a show of my gratitude to you.
I present to you, the cringiest fucking video in the existence of planet earth. It is a trailer I made for Queen of the Underworld years ago. I recently found it and wanted to inflict self pain by sharing it with the world.
Enjoy my
✨ E M B A R R A S S M E N T ✨
The things I do to myself for you people ugh.