CHAPTER 20: BIGGEST OF ALL MESSES

“What are you waiting for?” Yikyung’s piercing voice broke the silence. “Kill them.”

Her words were echoing in the dark room for a few long seconds and I felt like I was in a trance. I looked around me, and as everybody started to move, it seemed like everything was in slow motion. The way Minhyuk rushed towards Sanha, the way Bin took the first punch at Eunwoo, it all was so blurry. I tilted my head, frowning. This was the worst situation I could’ve ever imagined. I cared for every single person in this room, counting out Yikyung. I didn’t want them to hurt each other or get hurt themselves. With narrowed eyes I stared at the mess around me. Then the trance finally stopped and the sounds of a fight entered my ears. My eyes widened, my muscles got tense, I was finally getting alert, like my senses had just now awakened.

I turned around to stare at Yikyung, grimacing at her. Her smirk hadn’t withered one bit and it made me furious. I rushed towards the woman with all the speed I could and kicked her in her stomach. The woman hadn’t expected the sudden move and she fell to the floor, letting out a breathy yelp. Frowning, I got down, sitting on top of her and started punching her face continuously. Finally, I got to let the three-year-old rage out on her. I didn’t think of anything; it was just punch after punch.

The whole room was a big mess. Sanha was lying on the floor, Minhyuk punching him in the same position as I was. Eunwoo and Bin looked so blinded by their instincts they clearly didn’t even think, they just fought. The battle between Myungjun and Jinwoo, anyhow, looked different. It looked somewhat coordinated. They were pretty equal in terms of power and skill so I couldn’t really tell if either of them was winning or losing.

I took a small break from punching Yikyung and a loud yelp by Sanha got my attention. I turned to take a glance at the boys. I couldn’t help but to feel incredibly bad. Sanha might have been a lot taller than Minhyuk but he was so lanky and thin he looked very weak lying on the ground. He wasn’t very experienced in fighting, I knew that. In that sense, the situation was unfair for him.

I looked at Yikyung who was lying on her back, breathing heavily under all the blood that had smeared on her face. I quickly got up and rushed towards the two young boys fighting. I gently pushed Minhyuk further away.

“That’s enough”, I said breathily. “Minhyuk, free Chanmi from those ropes and take her somewhere safe.”

Minhyuk nodded and obeyed right away. He rushed away from me and Sanha, who was quickly trying to get up and go after him. I grabbed the boy’s shoulders. His face looked horrible. It was bloody and I could swear his nose was broken. I felt bad for him.

“Sanha!” I snapped at him. “Get out of here.”

The boy looked so confused by my words he didn’t even resist as I pushed him out of the room and locked the door in front of his face. I let out a deep breath. Now I could at least save him.

I couldn’t rest for long as Yikyung had gotten on her feet and approaching me. The kick she aimed at my side got me surprised and letting out a cry, I fell onto the floor. I was back on my feet very quickly, pushing back against the woman. She punched me in the face and I let out a groan.

“You were planning on burning us?” I hissed at the woman. “You’re the witch here.”

The woman grinned at me and honestly, it was the most terrifying sight I had seen. Her face was all covered in blood, I had basically destroyed it. And seeing the woman still grinning at me, she looked like a monster from a scary movie.

“I am going to kill you. Burning, dismembering, choking, I want to do it all”, she let out a voice that sounded inhumane. The sound and the words disgusted me, but they also scared me. She was definitely insane. She had mental problems.

I had to stop staring at her face so I just kicked her in the knee, making her fall off her feet. Once she was about to get up, I kicked her again, this time the location was her side. I didn’t know if I was capable of killing her – the idea terrified me. But if possible, I’d make her death slow and painful to remind her of me and Chanmi’s pain; and to revenge our dad.

Once the woman stopped squirming around, I stopped kicking. I was out of breath. I didn’t want to look around me because I knew I’d see my friends fighting. But I could hear the sounds. I could hear Eunwoo and Bin arguing in between the punches and kicks. I couldn’t recognize any words though, so the reason to their hate was still unknown for me.

“You look like your father”, Yikyung suddenly croaked from the floor. I turned to look at her, confused.

The woman sat up slowly, trying to hide her pain. She was letting out a hoarse laugh. “You’re just as bloody as he was.”

My eyes widened. Sure, my face was probably just as bloody as hers. I probably had bruises all over my body. I did feel the pain, but I was starting to get numb. I rushed towards the woman, punching her in the face again to make her fall down again. I was panting in rage, and the only thought I had in my mind was that I needed my revenge. “You murderer!”

“Yes!” the woman yelled at me. “I’m a murderer! I killed your father and I, oh, so liked it.”

I let out a cry and started punching the woman. I didn’t notice the noises around me getting a little bit quieter. Eunwoo and Bin were still deeply immersed in their rage. Jinwoo, anyhow, just stopped the fight and turned around to stare at us. Myungjun seemed a little bit confused about his opponent’s actions and just stood still as well. Jinwoo took one, two shaky steps towards us, tilting his head, looking unbelieving.

“What?” he asked quietly.

I looked at the boy in distress. His face had just a small wound, and the corner of his mouth was bruised – his and Myungjun’s battle had been more concentrated on kicks and punches on the body rather than face. But still I could see right now he was hurting a lot more than the others. I understood him. He hadn’t known about the fact about his beloved chief. That his beloved chief was in fact a cold blooded murderer and that she had killed the former chief, the one Jinwoo respected more than anyone in the world. He was probably feeling like the world was crumbling under his feet.

“What did you say?” he asked again. His voice got even quieter.

“You heard me”, Yikyung hissed. “Fool, why did you stop fighting?”

“You killed him?” Jinwoo’s voice cracked a little bit. He just couldn’t believe it.

“That’s what I said”, Yikyung shouted out. “Now, continue your fight unless you want to die too!”

With wide eyes Jinwoo took a step backwards. I glanced at Myungjun who was standing behind him. He was clearly hesitating. He seemed to understand the boy was very shocked and didn’t want to hurt him. He glanced at me, narrowing his eyes. I shook my head slightly. Jinwoo would be so shocked fighting wouldn’t probably be an option right now.

We needed a miracle right now. Minhyuk was struggling to get rid of all the duct tape and ropes around Chanmi so the escape didn’t go as quickly as we had planned. Getting out of the room would probably be hard anyway, since I had locked Sanha out – he had probably alarmed other people there so if we opened the door, we’d probably get killed. Myungjun was confused, Jinwoo was unable to think clearly and the two other boys were fighting with such passion it almost scared me. I was starting to get desperate.

Then my eyes landed on the holster on Yikyung’s waist. It had a gun, firmly placed in. My eyes widened a little bit. This was my chance. Yikyung seemed to notice my intentions, anyhow, and with narrowed eyes, grimaced at me as I was rushing towards her. She punched me in the face, slowing me down a little bit, but I managed to keep my balance and punch her in the side – I was pretty sure she had a broken rib there. The woman let out a yelp and fell, and right at that moment, I was able to grab the gun.

For my luck, it was loaded. I pointed the gun at the ceiling and pulled the trigger. A loud sound of a gunshot echoed in the room, making everyone stop in their tracks, staring at me. With enlarged eyes, I stared at every single person in the room.

“Stop”, I said. “Just stop. The mission has clearly gone wrong in every possible way. So let me ask you a question.”

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes for a second. I felt somewhat dizzy. “Jinwoo, Eunwoo. Is this witch worth the fight?” I asked, nodding at Yikyung. Then I turned my eyes from Eunwoo to Myungjun. “Am I worth this fight?”

Jinwoo still couldn’t get a word out of his mouth. He was opening and closing his mouth, staring blankly in front of him. Myungjun took a step forward, clearly about to say something, but decided to stay silent. Eunwoo and Bin were having the staring battle of the century but at least I had been able to stop them from fighting. I heard Chanmi coughing and turned to glance at her. Her hands and upper body had been freed and Minhyuk was sitting beside him, working his best to get her lower body free of the ties. Looking away, anyhow, was a big mistake.

Yikyung rushed on her feet as quickly as she could with her injuries, fast enough for me to not notice, until she had kicked me onto the ground from behind. I felt my chin hit the concrete floor and let out a cry. The pain made me feel stars and I knew it already I was bleeding a lot. I tried to grab the gun that I had been holding in my hand, but Yikyung kicked it away. She grabbed me from my arm and forced me to stand on my feet. Suddenly I felt a cold edge of a knife pressing against the skin of my neck. My eyes widened. I could hear Myungjun and Eunwoo gasping and taking a step towards us.

“Nobody moves!” the woman shouted out and then turned to hiss into my ear, pulling my head backwards from my hair. “You were too concentrated on punching me earlier… I got your knife.”

My knife. It was the one I had attached to the waistband of my jeans. I had completely forgotten about it. I cursed myself in my mind. If I had remembered it, I’d have won the battle against this woman already. Now I couldn’t even flinch or I’d die.

“How fitting”, the woman chuckled. “I slit your father’s throat… and I shall do the same for you.”

I pressed my eyes tightly shut. I didn’t hesitate to believe the woman’s words at all. I knew she was serious; I knew she’d kill me. I felt my heart beating so fast and strong I was afraid it’d break. I was starting to feel very dizzy.

Then the situation turned around. I heard a loud groan and opened my eyes. Myungjun pushed Jinwoo out of his way, rushing towards us in the speed of light and jumping. The fly-kick was so quick and unexpected Yikyung didn’t even realize it happened until the powerful kick hit against her ribcage from the side, and letting out a cry, the woman fell down, her hold on me loosening. I quickly got away from the reach of her hands, panting heavily.

“Are you alright?” Myungjun asked, and I could see his eyes looked a bit teary.

I nodded, not able to speak right now.

Suddenly the door was thrown in with force. It startled me so badly I jumped towards Myungjun, who grabbed my arms. I had locked the door and it did look very heavy, but still it seemed to be breakable. The person breaking it, anyhow, surprised me the most. It was Sanha, his fist bloodied, panting. The lanky boy had managed to break down the huge door on his own. I stared at him with wide eyes. For my relief, he hadn’t brought anyone with him. I turned to look at Minhyuk.

“Take Chanmi away, now!” I shouted out.

The boy nodded and as the last pieces of rope fell on the floor, he grabbed Chanmi on his arms and stood up. Finally the situation seemed to lighten up a little bit.

“You can’t!” Sanha’s cracked yell broke the relief. “The police are here.”