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"Let go of me!" Mari yelled, kicking and squirming in her captors' grasps. They were much stronger than the girl physically, holding both of her arms behind her back to render her nearly completely useless. They tried to keep her quiet, constantly trying to cover her mouth to muffle the fits and screams of pure anger that came from her. However, Mari would bite towards them if they even tried to lay another finger on her and she knows they'd much rather the whole set of ten on them. "I said let go of me or I'll make you do so."
She could have sworn saw them tremble at the thought and relished in the feeling of them being intimidated by her. Though her quick victory was cut short when she heard heels clicking the ground, echoing through her ears and immediately sending her into defense mode. "Look at you," Jaerin's voice spoke, the arrogance in her voice even more prevalent than normal, almost as if her voice was bass boosted into her ears. "The big and strong Mari fallen and alone."
The girl looked up with her jaw clenched tightly and her eyes growing wide with rage as the Lee Faction girl stood above her. On her left hand was the golden snake ring she had stolen, glaring at her with disappointed eyes as if she has willingly given up a belonging so personal to her. "It's a shame you just didn't do as I said at the manor, it wouldn't have had to turn out like this. We could have come to a compromise and you would have gotten your ring back." Jaerin commented, admiring how the snake ring decorated her dainty hand, "What a pretty ring it is indeed."
"I'd rather die than do what you ask of me!" She growled, trying to wiggle her way out of her captors' grasp. The girl lunged forward, shoving all of her weight to her chest and practically throwing herself towards Jaerin. The captors must have let go of her at the last second, watching her stumble and fall from overestimating just how much weight she was using and landing at Jaerin's feet. Though Mari quickly recovered, her nails like cat claws as she swiped towards her legs.
Though Jaerin simply disappeared from her sight, her hands phasing through the girl's ankles as if she was a ghost. Mari frightened herself at the sight, quickly crawling away from where the Lee Faction girl once stood as she tried to process what had just happened. She yelped when she felt her back hit something solid, only to find the girl standing over her once again with a mocking smirk on her face. "Oh I know you'd rather die but that's no fun, is it? I'd rather watch you scream and weep instead!"
Her laugh echoed across the walls, bouncing from place to place as it gradually began to become louder than before. Mari covered her ears in retaliation as the sound slowly descended into one mimicking nails on a chalkboard, screeching a horrible and ugly sound so deafening that the girl could barely hear her own thoughts. "Lee Jaerin!" She yelled, unable to muffle the sound. "What the hell are you doing? Stop it! Stop it right now!"
Mari was on the verge of begging, laying out on the ground with her hands clamped desperately over her ears. The ear splitting screech was enough to make tears start to well up in her eyes, blood threatening to fall from her eardrums at the disarming noise. Yet just as the screeching from her laugh started, it stopped. The room she was in had gotten completely silent, even Jaerin's odd ghostly figure nowhere to be found.
All that's left was the sound of her ragged breaths, her fast beating heart, and the single teardrop that had fallen from her eyes in the whole process. The adrenaline pumping in her veins left her lying there for a moment, wordless and shocked, before her hands crawled up her shoulders, hugging herself tightly as she tried to calm herself down. She was tired, she was alone, and she was petrified. She didn't understand what was going on, she just knew that Jaerin was able to bring bad luck to Mari just by standing near her.
Though the girl looked up from where she laid, her arms still wrapped around herself when she saw a necklace drop into her line of sight. It was a shiny piece of jewelry, almost glowing in an iridescent light she couldn't exactly spot. On the necklace were two charm-like objects: a silvery lock and key that were connected to each other by the chain they hung on. The jewelry was familiar to her, she just couldn't exactly place where she had seen it before. It was blurry in her mind, no matter how hard she tried to recall any past memories of it in her life.
She reached out towards the necklace, her hands trembling slightly from the experience beforehand. Though she immediately retracted her hands away from when another pair scooped it up in theirs, dangling the lock and key charms in her face as if it was taunting her. "Have you made your decision yet?" Yeosang's voice asked, much softer and lower than Jaerin's loud and conceited one. The boy was looking down on her, his stone-cold eyes burning holes straight through her skull and into her soul.
"My... decision?" Mari asked him, trying to force herself off of the ground but not finding the energy in her body to do so.
The lock and key began to drip with a crimson red, splattering the floor in little tiny droplets of the Consigliere's son held them away from her. "You don't have much time left, sooner or later you'll be forced to decide, and there will be no one there to help you." After a few moments of confused silence, the boy crouched to the ground beside her, letting the chain drop into its own puddle of blood and making direct eye contact with her. "You trusted them both with such open arms, and look where it got you. Now you have to decide if you are going to be their savior or not, and you can only take one."
When Mari didn't answer him, unable to understand what exactly the boy meant. He smiled. It was as if his stone exterior began to crack, showing off this sickening and dangerous smile he had hidden under a mask. "Mari, this," Yeosang spoke, his smile sending chills down her spine. This wasn't her Kang Yeosang, this was someone completely different from the Consigliere's son that she knew. "This is where doubt truly comes in."
And then she woke up.
Mari woke up in a cold sweat, her hands tightly gripped around her own wrists for comfort. Her breathing was heavy and off balance, probably a side effect from such an odd dream. Well, she wouldn't call it a dream, but she wouldn't call it a night terror either. All she knew is that this was the second time such a strange occurrence had happened to her while she slept.
She forced herself up from her lying position, stretching her tight muscles and taking note of the fact that she was sleeping on a couch instead of a bed. Mari definitely didn't feel at home either, an emptiness and unfamiliarity surging her thoughts as she tried to gain an understanding of her surroundings. She had forgotten for a moment that she was in the hotel room that the Lee Faction had offered to the Seo Family as compensation for their heir's actions. Though Mark felt like she was in an overwhelming flashy apartment, like the type of apartments celebrities would find themselves in.
The Lee Faction had lots of money on their hands, so of course, they were able to afford a hotel room of such caliber. It wasn't that hard for them to find one either, seeing as the Seo Family only really consisted of two people now.
Her father wasn't in the room at the moment either, now that she noticed. The light from the windows was a mix of burning orange and bright yellow, indicating that she has probably woken up around sundown or so. Her father must be out and about conducting whatever business in the faction he had to attend to. That was more important than waking Mari up to tell her he was leaving. Though she guessed that the man left without telling her was better than having to awkwardly face him and explain why she didn't catch Jaerin. Nor did she want to explain why she didn't have the motivation to go after the Kim Faction's assassination group either.
She had completely cut off contact with Hongjoong after the attack on the Seo Faction, and it felt like months since she had last seen or spoken to Hongjoong now that she thought about it. The girl was purposely avoiding him like the plague, refusing to answer the millions of calls that blew up her phone and refusing to even attempt to return to that devil's palace they called a school. If Mari told him right now, she wouldn't know what to do. Not a word would leave her mouth, not a movement would be made, not a thing would be thought. She would be like a living breathing statue, unable to move and think for herself, but able to see and feel all on her own.
"Look who is alive!" San's voice chirped, usually preppy and happy for this time of day. She had completely forgotten that they had let the boy in the room, Mari was completely clocked out of reality until now. She couldn't help but be so, not when three of some of the important people had exited her life nearly all at the same time. The boy fell onto the couch cushion beside her as pure warmth radiated off of San as if he was the sun. "I was beginning to think coming here was a bad idea, you went to sleep almost as soon as I arrived here earlier. It's really rude to fall asleep on your guests by the way."
Mari turned her head towards him, trying to find the exact way to reply to him and give San the same energy he was exerting back. But the girl couldn't help but let her mind wander and think aimlessly when she looked at him. It had been two weeks or so since the Seo Faction had been infiltrated and relocated and only now had she noticed San had suffered a few injuries from the fight. Nothing major like how he was when the Kim Faction ambushed him, a few bruises that dotted around his face were healing and the wounds he had suffered around his body were bandaged and healing nicely as well.
She wondered, where exactly had they come from? When Mari had seen him during the attack, he was practically unscathed, in perfect shape even. He must have gotten into some sort of skirmish once she left. Maybe he was hit involuntarily, maybe he had battled it out with a Kim Faction member. God forbid that he might have come into contact with one of the assassins the Kim Faction had, knowing how quickly the trauma could render him useless in a fight. "Mari, are you listening to me?"
"What?" She responded, blinking her eyes absentmindedly as she focused back on the boy. San's expression was full of worry as his attempts of starting a conversation had gotten completely overlooked once again. It's not hard for him to raise someone's spirits but Mari's overall demeanor wasn't letting him work his magic. "What were you talking about?"
He frowned at her response, growing frustrated with how she kept willfully ignoring him. The boy rested his head in his palms as he spoke in a pout, "You're thinking again, aren't you?"
"When am I not anymore?" Mari told him, staring off into the void. She couldn't help but think now, her mind turning gears big and small as she recalled moments she had so easily overlooked, not to mention the odd dream she was debating on whether or not she wanted to avoid or not. She was already preoccupied with one thing, she didn't need another confusing thing to torment her mind.
There were so many times Hongjoong had practically revealed his true identity to her, nonchalantly mentioning it and then proceeding to cover it up was silvery, weak lies even Jongho could see through if he was paying attention enough. Yet Mari had bought into every single one of them without question. He was telling the truth about one thing at least, he does tell lies all of the time. "All I can do is think at this point."
"All this thinking is blinding you from reality," San argued. "You've been so out of it, you've barely taken note of the changes around you. I mean, have you noticed that Jongho doesn't come around anymore?"
"He doesn't?" Mari questioned him, finally realizing that their doe eyed friend was nowhere to be seen. She thought he was just busy running around the Lee Faction like always, being sent off to do work as a part of his contribution to the alliance that was the Lee and Seo Faction. But if the former fighter wasn't coming around anymore to even greet her despite her dazed demeanor, that only meant one thing. "The Lee Faction—"
"They left," San nodded. Mari felt her heart drop as if it could drop any lower than it already was. Yeosang, Hongjoong, Jongho, all gone before she even had a chance to blink and process what was going on around her. "He tried to say goodbye since we didn't know if we'd ever see each other again, but you were too preoccupied with your own thoughts to notice. That's too bad... I was actually growing fond of him too."
Mari was ready to drown in a pool of self pity, just wanting to roll up in a bed that was actually hers and never rise from it again. Though San cut straight through her thoughts, taking his chance to talk to her while he still had her attention. "So, what's the topic in your brain this time then? Yeosang ignoring you? That Hongjoong kid? Or is it Wooyoung's disappearance? All of those would take a toll on one person's mind so I only assumed."
"Can I say all of the above?" She asked him, watching as San expressions continuously shifted into a look of even greater concern than before. "They're all connected, I can't help but think of them all at once. I don't know the exact location of Wooyoung's whereabouts, Yeosang refuses to assist me in my efforts to find him, and Hongjoong lied to me. He gained my trust and lied to me."
"To be fair you did the same thing," San pointed out. "You both lied to each other to gain each other's trust, so you can't really pin the blame on him."
Mari's blank stare spoke volumes, resulting in San immediately trying to apologize for his actions. To her this was different, if they had found out about each other's origins one day they could have talked it out. But there was simply more to the boy than the fact that he's in the Kim Faction and she had to hear the words coming straight from Jaerin's mouth. It would have made a completely different if she heard it from Yunho or Seonghwa or Mingi or Hongjoong himself. But from Jaerin? While she was in the middle of playing with a precious belonging to her? Mari couldn't help but react the way she did.
An awkward silence fell over the two, Mari's mind occupying itself with thoughts full of self pity and San unable to approach the conversation any more than he had tried. He wasn't Yeosang, he couldn't read directly into her and pick apart exactly what was eating away at her and figure out a solution of some sort. He was just a soldier to the Seo Faction, who had just lost a close friend of his and gone under the pretense that Mari could have ended up dying when the Kim Faction attacked. He wasn't really in the position to be helping anyone either.
She needed to get her mind off of things, her judgment had been clouded for too long and her mind was covered in rose tinted glasses. Mari needed to think about something else, in fact, she needed to stop thinking in general. The girl wanted to back to being clueless and dumb yet happy. But there was just no way she was going to return to normal anymore. Her life was forever in ruins, and she was forced to piece it back together with broken shards. "What am I going to do, San? What is there for me to do?"
He seemed intrigued by what she said, crossing his arms and listening to her silently. "I can't go to anyone for help anymore, the people who were my main support systems are gone. Not exclude you or anything San but..." She trailed off, trying to keep her thoughts together as much as possible. "Yeosang has so much power that I haven't even begun to grasp. He's the only reason I've gotten this far and within him, I can't do anything without going through my father and I know he's not about to help me go searching for Wooyoung. And god doesn't get me started on Wooyoung! I've never felt so guilty... so horrible about something that's happened to him in my whole life."
"Wooyoung's a tough guy," San reassured her. "He'll stick it out until the time is right and the Faction can attack the Kim Faction once again."
"But I was practically right there," She argued, picturing the scene in her mind as clear as day. "If I just hadn't stormed off without him, he wouldn't have disappeared, he wouldn't have been kidnapped. I could have stopped all of this from happening and I didn't. Now, look at me! In his true time of need, I'm powerless, completely powerless. All I can do is sit and hope that Kim Faction doesn't kill him before I can see him again."
He gasped out loud, catching Mari off guard with his sudden strike of pure genius. "Actually, you're not as powerless as you make yourself seem. You've got one thing that's keeping you away from Wooyoung but keeping him alive and breathing for another day."
The girl thought about it for a moment, unsure of what he meant before it finally clicked in her head. "Are you talking about... Hongjoong?"
"Precisely!" San exclaimed, clapping his hands and like a clown. "As much as I don't like that boy for making you sad and gloomy, he's your one way ticket to Wooyoung and getting him out of there. I mean... he is the heir to the Kim Faction right?"
"I mean... yeah..." She mumbled, unsure about the conclusion the boy had come to. "But we haven't really spoken since the attack on the Seo Faction. I mean, things happened and words were said and I've been avoiding him since then... I don't think now is the right time to ask him for anything."
"Mari," San began, crossing his arms in annoyance. "You want to save Wooyoung, don't you? He's sitting somewhere with the Kim Faction and we don't know how he is right now. He could be in perfect shape or he could be on his deathbed. They could be leaving him completely alone or they could be torturing Wooyoung to squeeze every little bit of information out of him, we just don't know. Hongjoong could be the only way you can find Wooyoung and save him because only heaven knows when the Seo Faction will be ready to attack the Kim Faction."
If you don't take a moment to rest for once in your life you're going to destroy yourself or get yourself hurt from the consequences of your action, that's what Yeosang had told her. Not to mention the Yeosang in her dreams seemed to be warning her about the things to come. She needed to set back and decide whether she was going to heed the boy's advice or just headfirst into the danger just like she had done before. This was her decision and it was a decision that would decide her and Wooyoung's fate for what could be the final time.
"So?" San asked her, glancing up at her with an expectant gleam in his eyes. "What are you doing to do Mari? Are you going to wait till the last moment or take the chance you have now?"
She was silent for a moment, a storm cloud of thoughts engulfing her mind as she thought long and hard about what to do next. "Well... Yeosang told me that I needed to rest or I'd get myself into more danger than what I've already gotten myself into..." Mari commented, before scoffing quietly to herself. "But I think going to a dinner party would be a good rest for me, don't you think San?"
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this is so rushed
and messy and even
more confusing but
I absolutely refuse to
let school stop me
from posting