Uluwatu Temple, or Pura Luhur Uluwatu, was renowned for its magnificent location, perched on top of a steep cliff approximately seventy meters above the waves.
A small forest surrounded the temple where hundreds of monkeys dwelled.
They were believed to be the loyal guardians of the temple.
It was already afternoon when you and Jungkook arrived at the area of the temple.
Both of you had finished walking around the Jimbaran beach area, before rode the car to head to the temple where the fire dance would be performed.
Four months being in Bali, but the Kecak and Fire Dance was something you had overlooked.
Most of the time you were too tired to go out during your day off, preferred to relax in your brother's house instead, or took Ayumi for shopping.
Now since Jungkook was with you, it seemed like a good chance, you've been wanting to watch it before.
You just prayed that it wouldn't rain today, otherwise you would have to leave halfway of the show.
Both of you sat at the bottom of the concrete steps, circling the stage in the middle of the arena.
Facing the gate of the temple, the venue overlooked the cliff and the vast ocean as the backdrop.
It was four thirty in the afternoon, and the sun was still up at the horizon.
Unlike usual, today's show wasn't really packed, which a plus point for you.
Weather was also very nice, not too hot nor raining.
You could see various ethnicity here, from asian, caucasian, and african american.
Bali was where you could really blend into multi race diversity.
"What's the story of the show?"
Jungkook asked you while looking around the arena.
"You have the booklet, you need to read it."
"Why do I have to, when I have you here?"
You hit his shoulder with the paper, he didn't really pay any attention.
Most of the time he would tease you or making dry jokes.
"I'll tell you while we are watching."
The show was opened by around forty five barechested men wearing checked sarong, sitting cross legged on the floor while doing the repetitive chanting that form into rhythmically tunes, accompanying the dancers depicting story of Ramayana.
The dance was derived from an old Balinese ritual called the "sanghyang", in which in its ancient form, it communicated the wishes of the gods or of the ancestors.
While chanting, they would also move their bodies to the left & right. The rhythm was a combination of slow & fast. When it sped up, they raised their arms & hands trembling in the air, rhythmically. No musical instruments were used & the vocal chanting of "Chak Chak Chak" was like an acapella.
The story began with Sita and Rama's exile in the jungle of Dandaka.
The performance reenacted the appearance of the Golden Deer that lured the beautiful goddess into the arm of Ravana, the giant with ten faces who fell for her beauty.
Then followed by the search for Sita by a white monkey-Hanuman, and ended with the battle between Rama and Ravana.
As the sun started to set during the performance, and the sky darkened, the story built to a climax - a moment when the monkey king set fire to the castle.
With the orange flames and embers in the middle of the stage, it was a dramatic moment.
You watched the whole scenes with awe, the heat from the fire in contrast with the breeze around you, the love story sent your imagination to wander away, and again, it was him that came to your mind.
Obsession and infatuation, often entangled in between love itself, making the line sometimes really blurred.
Had Yoongi ever really loved you?
He had never said 'I love you' before.
But you knew his desire had overpowered his logic and common sense.
Just like in the story, Ravana was too enamored with Sita, that he decided to take her away from her husband.
You wondered what would happen if only the goddess fell in love with the giant instead, maybe there would be no happy ending in the end.
Almost similar with what happened to you, only that in your story there was no knight in shining armor.
You had to save yourself from falling in love with the devil.
Being with Jungkook for the past two days only made you thought about Yoongi even more.
You stole a glance to Jungkook, who was watching the scene in front of him intently.
The orange shadow from the fire cast on his face, you could feel the heat since you sat at the front row.
The chanting was still continuing, now the scene was displaying Hanuman being tied up in the center to be burned alive.
You were half in daydreaming, your train of thoughts sent you to another world that you started to hallucinate.
The state of mind that made you saw a man who looked like Yoongi, at the opposite area a few meters in front of you, two staircases above the row where your seat was.
It was vague because of the smoke from the fire forming a sheer curtain that hindered your sight and the sky was dark orange.
You shook your head, you really needed to try harder to chase away the memories of him.
It was like his shadow followed you everywhere.
The man was wearing a black long sleeve shirt and dark pants, his diamond studs that glistened on his lobes were the thing that made realization finally dawned on you.
Despite the strong denial tried to make its stand inside your brain, you knew for sure, it was indeed him.
"Jung...Jungkook?"
"Hmm?.."
He looked like drowning in his own thoughts.
"Yoongi -.. he... he is here."
Your voice was stuttering, and you didn't know what to call this feeling.
There were a strange mix of sensations washed over you, fear being the dominant part of it.
He must have joined the show at the very last minute, otherwise you would have been able to recognize him and plan your escape earlier.
Jungkook was instantly snapped back to reality, and followed your gaze to the front side across your seat.
Yoongi was still on his seat, now he moved forward, both elbows rested on his knees, he rubbed his lips with his forefinger, narrowing his eyes and cocked his head a little to the side, a signature move of him whenever he was thinking or planning on something.
Only this time, you knew he wasn't thinking.
He was planning to hunt.
"Shit! I...I don't understand. Just a few days ago I was with him at the night club, and .. and he was with a woman.
There was no sign at all that he is still interested with you."
"What... what should I do?"
"Run Yuri..now! I'll try to buy you some time from him."
He didn't need to tell you twice.
You hastily got up and ascended the concrete stairs up to the back of the row, frantically weaved your way passed several people who still seated watching the show, mumbling some apologies to them, running towards the exit.
Passing a bridge overlooking a small river and forest, you ran through the gate.
Your car was parked approximately three hundred meters from the entrance gate, you prayed that you could be there before him.
Glancing to the back, no one trailed on you, only a few of the locals hung about the food stalls around the ticket counter, but no sign of him chasing after you.
When you were close enough to your car, there were two guys wearing black bomber jacket, stood leaning to your car, and once they saw you, they ran towards you.
You changed your direction, accelerated your speed, and ran past the parking area.
You had to make the eleventh-hour decision, chose to go straight to an empty road, turned left and continued running without really knowing the right direction.
Row of trees on both sides of the road were like looming around you as you tried to find a way out.
The sun was about to set, and it was started to get dark, the orange hue from the sky being the light to your steps.
You hoped you could find a house, or a small stall nearby, or anything that you could use as a temporary hiding place.
There were several men with their footsteps heard behind you, trying to catch you up.
Of course he wouldn't be alone, probably Sejin or Jimin was with him too.
You saw a grove of tall trees that you thought might be a perfect shelter.
You ran through it, keeping your pace until you reached an empty grass field.
Your feet started to hurt from the running in gladiator sandals, the scattered twigs and branches poked on your skin.
Decided to keep running, you thought maybe you could reach the street on the other side.
Around half kilometer ahead, you had to stop once you reached the edge of the landscape, it sloped down to a cliff, overlooking the vast ocean.
You could see the crashing waves on the reef down there, with the view of the beautiful sunset over the horizon.
You had nowhere to go.
Turning around, you saw six men, all of them wearing the same jacket, one of them was talking on his phone, his eyes were focused on you.
They walked towards your spot, closing the distance between you and them.
You stared at them with constricted chest, breathing labored from the sprinting, the wind swept your hair while you tried to brush it away from your face.
Where could you go?
Maybe you could jump into the ocean instead, then swim to the nearest beach, your delusional mind tried to form a hopeless solution.
Shifting your sight towards the cliff, you were nearing desperation, tears started to form in your eyes.
"I won't do that if I were you."
That was the voice that filled your mind from time to time.
You would recognize his voice even if the memory was years away.
Yoongi walked past the barricade of his men, proceeded with relaxed steps directed to you.
You didn't see him clearly at the arena, but now his figure would probably stay forever in your mind.
He was thinner, you saw the more pointed jawline and cheekbones, and his shirt that was hung slightly loose on his torso.
There was a certain aura on him that distinguished the man you knew before you left and the man that was now standing in front of you.
His eyes looked rather dark with a glint of viscious nature, it looked forbidding under the glow of the sunset.
A devil so beautiful that his prey would probably be enraptured over him.
You could almost tell yourself that there was a slight happiness in you to see him here, if only the fear didn't overpower that feeling.
"How ... how did you find me?"
"It doesn't matter Yuri. Didn't I say never try to hide anything from me?"
You gasped and you felt the tears running down your cheeks.
"My... brother.."
He stepped forward and stood next to you, hands in his pocket pants, gazing at the view in front of him.
"Do you know what amaze me about you, Yuri?"
He turned his head to you, and for a moment, his eyes softened, before it darkened back with promising threats.
"Your sensible way of thinking.
The thing that prevented me to hurt your brother in order to have you by my side."
"Please, don't...."
Your voice almost like a whisper, masked by the feeble wind blowing around you.
Reaching out, his fingers tucked a knot of your hair to the back of your ear, then caressing your cheek that was wet from the tears.
"Let's go home, sweetheart. Sejin will leave your brother's house once you board the plane with me."
This song was famous in Tiktok sometime ago.
No, it's not about cult.
It's about toxic relationship.
Thank you for all the reads, comments and votes.
I'll try my best to reply to each of it, but if I can't, just want to let you know that I appreciate all of them.
Thank you so much.
I will be quite busy during Christmas, so the next update will be around a week.
Merry Christmas and Happy Holiday!
My heart swell with pride over BTS immense achievements.
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