Around fifteen minutes pass before an eight seating black car pulls over to the side of the road where Y/n and Saeran are subdued. Rika greets the driver with a confident grin, her hands joyfully clasped behind her back. "Throw MC into the truck and give me your gun."
"Yes, my Savior," the burly man responds with a small bow as he gets out of the driver's seat. He procures the weapon from his pocket and places it in the grinning woman's waiting palms.
As the believer peels MC's groaning form off of the ground and lugs her over to the popped trunk, Rika struts behind Y/n's slumped form and presses the barrel of the pistol against the back of her head. She doesn't flinch at the lick of the cold metal. Out of curiosity, Rika lifts Y/n's disheveled hair out of the way and takes a peek at her eyes. She thought that the girl might've cried herself to sleep, but on the contrary, her eyes are wide open and unmoving. The believer finishes his task of throwing MC in the truck with a thud and Rika promptly gives him his next instruction. "Untie Saeran. He won't act up with Y/n's life on the line, no matter how much of a terrible person she becomes." Y/n's eyes burn and tears melt off of them. She doesn't move.
"Yes, my Savior." The burly man takes a switch blade from his pocket and rips through the rope securing Saeran's body to the trees thick trunk. The believer then removes the rope tying Saeran's ankles together, being sure to leave the one wrapping around his foot that Rika used to stop his bleeding. It's only a moment before the burly man gets the rope on Saeran's wrists undone as well, allowing him to rip the gag from his mouth.
"Y/n." Her name is light and pure as it lifts from Saeran's lips. Her body jumps at the sound and her chest tightens with its weight. She doesn't budge. "Y/n, please look at me. Let's face this together."
Her teeth sink into her lips. Rika keeps a steady hold on the gun and laughs, "Saeran, my love. Get in the car." She uses her free hand to motion to the idle cloaked believer. "You, help him. Don't let his wound get any worse."
"Rika," Saeran growns as the taller man hoists him up from the bottom of the tree and slings his arm around his shoulder. "Please let Y/n go. She shouldn't have been mixed into any of this—"
"No." The man covers Saeran's mouth, muffling him as he folds him up and puts him in the back seat. Rika taps Y/n's head with the gun. "Stand up, darling." Rika drops her head down to Y/n's ears, her blonde hair falling around the pair's faces like a curtain. "Give up on Saeran and I'll consider not giving him a cleansing ceremony for destroying my sweet paradise. You've heard what happens at those right?"
Y/n's lips purse, it's wispy breath forming the most airy of whispers. "I am the one that blew it up."
"Don't lie."
Y/n falls silent.
"Stand up and get in the car." The pool of blood at the foot of the tree that Saeran was tied to catches Rika's eyes, adding an immediate edge to her voice. "Unless you want him to bleed out and die."
The soles of her feet's find solid ground and her knees creek with sudden movement. Her body is jerky, but Y/n makes it onto her feet with a start and settles herself into the vehicle. Rika shuts the door behind her with a slam.
Saeran sits beside her. His calloused palm rests on top of hers. Y/n flinches at the touch. His brows knit together in a frown while a faint smile crosses his lips. It's for her. "This isn't your fault." The car doors slam and Rika and her believer pile into the car, the latter starting the engine. It does nothing to pull away Saeran's attention. "We're alive, Y/n. That's what matters most."
Her knees bunch into her chest, her dirtied but intact feet coming to stand on the cushion beneath her. She faces the car door, away from Saeran, and nuzzles her head against her shoulder and the armrest. Saeran locks their fingers as the car pulls off, back in the direction of the crumbling cult. "We are going to be okay, I promise."
Rika's gaze watches the couple all of the ride back. Rather than applying pressure to his own wound, her misguided son is far too focused on comforting the girl beside him. She doesn't face him once. The Savior grins. Y/n may be ready to take over the cult sooner than she thought.
The believer stops the car and jumps out first. Rika's command slips from her lips like honey. "Drag the boy to ceremonial room." Y/n's entire form jolts. "Call a doctor to treat him there. 'This ceremony will be a long one so I need this done as soon as possible."
No. It's a thought. Just a whisper within her head. No.
The door is thrown open sooner than Y/n can process. She sits up properly and for the first time her gaze meet his. His hands squeezes hers back. "No, Saeran. No, NO!"
"The believer's arms shoot into the car and wrap around Saeran's chest and shoulders, ripping him out, not caring for the odd angle of his foot. "I'll be okay." His hands release hers, one latching onto the handle above her head and the other to his collar. The strength of his grip on the car is enough to prolong the believer by a few seconds. Saeran yanks off something from around his neck and places it in Y/n's hand. "Hold onto this for me—" The believer rips at Saeran's frame and his body lurches with a grunt. "I love you."
Another tug.
And he's gone.
They took him.
Y/n's lip quivers. Only when her hands clench does she remember what's inside. It's Saeran's ring. The one that matches hers. Tears fall onto the glossy surface. Her thumb strokes the engraving. 'Hers.'
Lead fills her lungs.
Her hands going to her throat.
It's no use.
The strangulation darkens the edges of her vision.
A drop of his warmth remains with her in the ring.
Her body gives way.
She has failed again.