Ten
Remnants Of The Heart
*banner by mbie07! thanks!
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Jiyong heavily sighed for the nth time. He tried so hard getting at least a five-minute nap but that did not happen. His mind won’t just let him rest. The fact that he can feel the girl’s perks did not help at all. For some reason, the girl always ends up cuddling close to him even if he already pushed her away several times. She wasn’t just cuddling to him, she was hugging his arm like some sort of a cuddly bear. He placed an arm on his forehead and stared up at the darkness above him. A small smirk played along the corners of his mouth. He couldn’t help but find himself in the most ridiculous situation that he could probably ever have in his life. He failed for the first time on something he could say he was the best of; he was foolish enough to think she won’t run away; he compromised his position with his uncle; he saved her from Minwoo; his life is now in danger because betrayal like this was something his uncle could never tolerate and now, he couldn’t sleep because of the girl.
He couldn’t really tell why he’s doing this. He couldn’t say he’s tired of doing what he had known doing for most of his life – ending other people’s existence. He actually missed the thrill of it. With another sigh, he started pulling his arm away from the girl’s embrace but the girl made a whiney sound and held on tighter to him. He glanced sideways and glared at her sleeping face, trying to pull up all the negative feelings he could muster. At the end of the road, he knew she’s going back to Seunghyun. So why was he bothering in keeping her alive and risking his own life for her then?
The frown in his face eventually disappeared as he stared longer at her. Slowly, he reached out to caress her cheek with his free hand. Dara let out a sigh and for a moment, he thought she smiled a little but when he looked closer, the smile wasn’t there. That’s his problem – Dara’s smile.
When she smiles, he couldn’t help but feel like. . . like. . . no, he can’t describe it but if Superman’s weakness is the kryptonite then that’s probably his – her smile.
Catching himself, he chuckled. “What the ing hell are you saying, Kwon Jiyong?” he asked himself and shook his head. With extra effort this time, he was able to disentangle himself from her. He then stretched his arm, feeling like the circulation stopped from the tightness of her grip.
He went to sit on the chair. It would be easy to end it, especially now that her eyes were closed and she’s not aware of her surroundings. He could just shoot her there and then or he could just leave her here right now. Yes, it would have been easy if only the girl was not Sandara Park.
With another sigh, he stood up and bent down to pull the chest when he stopped and noticed something. A small frown marred his forehead. He slowly reached for it. Upon realizing what it was, a bubble of laughter started inside him. Oh, he’s going to have the time of his life when she wakes up.
Dara woke up hearing someone whistling. She bolted up right at once but then, upon realizing it was just Jiyong who was sitting on the chair with her underwear on the table, she calmed down and was about to go back to sleep when she straightened up again. Looking closely, Jiyong was smirking at her and she could feel her blood boiling up to her face.
“KYYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!” she screamed at the top of her lungs and lunged for her underwear but he was too quick for her. Jiyong tiptoed and waved her up in the air, laughing crazily. She started jumping for it but she can’t reach it. She bit her lower lip and took a huge jump. She underestimated her strength that she ended up bumping against his chest. It probably took him by surprise as well that by reflex, he pushed her away. Dara, on the other hand, out of fear, grabbed the thing in Jiyong’s hand to prevent herself from stumbling backwards. But Jiyong was holding it quite tightly as well that she bounced back against his body.
Jiyong then stumbled backwards, bringing her with him. So she ended up lying on top of him with her underwear lying oh-so-innocently right in his face. She didn’t know how it ended there as well. She quickly grabbed the offending thing and was greeted by his grinning face.
“You smelled sweet,” he said, winking.
She could feel steams coming out from her ears and nostrils from too much embarrassment. She was too drowned in it that she didn’t notice how he wrapped his arms around her waist; she didn’t notice when he lifted his head up to reach for her lips.
She only became aware that they were kissing when she started responding to him by slipping in her tongue inside his mouth. The awareness brought an onslaught of unknown sensations that it scared her. What was she doing? This wasn’t supposed to happen. But how can a killer kiss as softly as him? How can a coldhearted murderer laugh at her embarrassment?
No, this person wasn’t her killer. This person’s the bully of her life. Just like before, the result was always the same – he would always win.
He always wins.
At the back of her mind, there was this nagging voice ordering her to stop. The voice was totally shoved out of her mind when he flipped and changed their positions. She revered in the feeling of having this supposed to be cold-hearted person being oh-so-gentle with her. She lifted her arms and placed them on his head, bringing him closer. But then, he pulled away. The action was too sudden that a purr of protest escaped . She heard him chuckle and the sound made her then realize what’s going on. She gasped out loud and pushed him away from her. She jumped to her feet, breathing heavily.
“H-how could you. . .?”
He raised his brows. “If I remember it right, you’re the one who shoved your tongue inside my mouth.”
Dara’s face reddened in anger. It was the truth and she can’t argue with it. She was then caught up in a dilemma to act nonchalant or fight him with it. She decided to do both “Well,” she shrugged. “It was just a kiss anyways. Besides, I was thinking of Seunghyun the whole time.”
For a moment, she thought he was going to pounce on her as she saw a flash of anger in his eyes as he stepped forward. But when she looked closer, the look in his face was nowhere closer to anger. He looked sarcastically amused. To her surprise, she didn’t like it. Jiyong being sarcastically amused made him look more like the cold-hearted person he turned out.
With a smirk, he shook his head and looked away. Dara balled her fists as he started walking towards her. But then, he just walked past by her. She exhaled – not even realizing that she was actually holding her breath. A frown marred her forehead. She couldn’t pinpoint the reason behind the act of holding her breath and balling her fists as he walked past by her and she was just too tired of reasoning with herself.
She just stood there, not really moving. She didn’t even look back to see what he was doing but she was sure he was doing something as she could sense and hear him move around. She took a deep breath and turned around only to find him walking out of the room.
“Hey!” she called out. “Where are you going?”
He didn’t answer. He went on his way, freshly dressed with a black backpack on.
“Kwon Jiyong!” she called out but he ignored her. She ran after him until she was able to grab his arm to stop him from further walking. “YA!”
He pulled his arm quite roughly from her grip. He then looked at her with boredom. “I’m leaving,” he said. “You can go on your way and I’ll go on my way. I have enough of your presence.”
“Look, if this is about a while ago, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to insult you but that’s how I –”
He chuckled. “Are you really that bigheaded?” he asked quite insultingly. “Did you really think I’m leaving because I was insulted? WOW!”
She flinched.
“FYI miss-oh-so-great, I’m leaving this place because sooner or later, the others will be here to blow this place up. And oh, I’m not insulted at all. I’m disgusted!”
“Disgusted?!”
“YES!” he hissed. “I’m disgusted kissing a lying mouth!”
“A liar?!”
He just shook his head, turned around and started walking.
“What did that mean?” she asked but he didn’t answer. Instead, he started running. Upon seeing this, Dara started running as well. But he was too fast that when he turned to the left, she started panicking. Upon turning left, she stopped. Jiyong was nowhere to be seen and there were three tunnels in front of her. Her heart started beating hard against her chest. He’s just playing with you again, she thought. Calm down.
She chose the one in the middle since it’s the most innocent-looking out of all three. Now, she’s not really sure if there’s such a thing as innocent tunnel but it seemed fairly lit compared to the other two. As she walked into the middle tunnel, she started humming to the birthday song under her breath. She walked and walked until her footsteps started to falter. It was getting darker and darker as she walked deeper into the tunnel. Still, she tried to calm herself down and walk for a few more minutes until she finally stopped. Her heart started beating really fast inside her chest as she started feeling weird. In front of her was probably the darkest path she ever encountered and her imagination was not helping to calm her erratic heartbeat.
It was so dark that she started having goosebumps. “La la la. . .” she sang to the tune of a nursery rhyme this time as she started taking steps backward. “La la la. . . .”
A cold wind blew and she thought she saw something moved in the darkness up ahead of her that she bolted around and ran for her life. Feeling as if someone or something was chasing her, she started screaming as she ran as fast as she could. It was probably not the best move she made but she didn’t care. She was scared as hell.
She only stopped screaming and running when she realized she was back to where she started a while ago. Tears sprang to her eyes and she wiped them angrily as she took the tunnel to her left. “Jiyong!” she called out. “This isn’t funny anymore!”
No one answered. She silently cried as she went on her way. After a few minutes, she was greeted by a dead end. She retraced her steps and was back to the starting point. Wiping her tears angrily away, she took a deep breath before heading to the tunnel on the right.
“Aww!” she winced as something pricked her foot. She looked down and only then noticed that she was actually barefooted. She balled her fists, trying not to cry anymore but the tears just won’t stop. “I hate you, Kwon Jiyong! I hate you so much!”
She limped her way forwards. She didn’t really have the time to look at her surroundings as she was too preoccupied of getting out of the place. And besides, there’s nothing much to see. The tunnel looked every inch of a tunnel that can be seen in videos.
Time ticked by. Then, she finally noticed how the place seemed to get. . . lighter. She started walking faster. Then, she saw it – an opening, far right up ahead of her. She started running towards it, not mindful of how her feet hurt. She cried in relief when she was greeted by the sun and the trees in the forest but the relief was soon replaced by something so strong that she could not find the words to describe it.
There he was, Kwon Jiyong, leaning against a tree with his head up in the sky and his eyes closed. He then opened his eyes and sighed, as if he knew what’s about to happen now that she was able to find the exit. Slowly, he turned his head towards her.
If he was not Kwon Jiyong, Dara would have thought that he’s waiting for her or maybe he was. But then, she was just too overwhelmed with her feelings that she didn’t really give a damn about it. She ran to him and punched him in the haw. It hurt her fist but she didn’t mind. After punching him, she went on slapping him left and right while calling him vile names. When she got tired of slapping him, she balled her fists and started hitting his chest with them.
“I hate you!” she cried. “I hate you so much. . . I hate you! I . . . hate. . .”
He just stood there, not even bothering to stop her from hitting his chest. After sometime, she stopped hitting his chest and wrapped her arms around him instead and cried out hard, his tears soaking his shirt. Her feelings were so contradicting that it confused her as well. At one moment, she was so sure she’ll never stop hitting him but she eventually stopped. It never even crossed her mind to hug him and cry with her face buried in his chest but she was doing it now.
He didn’t hug her back – to which she was grateful as she had this feeling that if he did hug her, she’ll start freaking out again. But he didn’t push her away as well – to which she wasn’t sure how to feel about.
As her tears subsided, she then pulled away from him. With her head slightly bowed down, she whispered, “I hate you.”
Without looking up or anything, she turned away and started walking away from him. She wasn’t sure if she’ll be able to do it on her own but she knew she has to. Jiyong was right, she’s not his responsibility. He pointed out several times that he’s not going to help her in any way so why was she still following him around?
Her relationship and feelings towards Jiyong is very contradicting. She would even think that he felt the same way as well. Why, he left her all of the sudden but then, she found him waiting for her right outside the exit. He allowed her to hit him without even attempting to stop her. He allowed her to hug him even if he didn’t hug her back. She, on the other hand, knew how mean he could be but she always found herself following him and talking to him.
She just had to find Seunghyun now. Afterwards, they can hide somewhere no one else knows but the two of them. In that way, Jiyong can hide himself as well and save himself from being killed by his uncle. She was immersed in her own world that she didn’t notice the branch protruding from the ground. She tripped and a sharp pain hit her shoulder the same time she heard the sound of the gun. She gasped as she fell forwards and looked sideways to her shoulder. It was bleeding – with a bullet buried in it. Her eyes darted around, looking for the culprit. But before she could even find who it was, she felt herself being hauled from the ground.
“Dammit!” she heard the person hissed. The familiarity of Jiyong’s voice made her feel safe which she found weird. Nevertheless, at least, she was not alone. There was another loud bang and she tried to feel where the bullet hit this time but she didn’t feel anything. She looked up at Jiyong and saw how his face stretched from pain for a moment, emphasizing the cuts and bruises in his face. She didn’t really pay attention to it before but she just noticed that he seemed to be badly hurt by his uncle. She remembered how she punched him and slapped him left and right when his face was already all-wounded up from the beatings he got previously. And now, he’s actually saving her, again.
She suddenly felt guilty. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.
He didn’t say anything but just dragged her up to a large tree and pushed her down in a sitting position. He was holding two guns in both hands. He fired the gun on his left then hid himself in the large tree afterwards, breathing hard.
Her eyes widened upon seeing his shirt being slowly tainted by blood. “You’ve been shot!” she gasped. The sight of it made her dizzy that she didn’t really understand what he was doing when he started taking off his backpack.
Jiyong started talking but the girl’s eyes were unfocused. He swore under his breath and grabbed her shoulders, shaking her head. “Listen!” he hissed. She blinked and looked up at him. “Take this,” he said, shoving the bag to her. “A small amount of money, a map, a mobile phone, and other useful things are in here. You have to run in that direction, understood? It will lead you to the city. There’s a list of all the hospitals and their numbers in the bag as well, you can look for Seunghyun that way,” he ordered urgently, pointing at a direction 45 degrees to where they were at.
She shook her head.
“Take it, dammit!” he angrily snapped. At that time, a gun-bearing person suddenly made its appearance, making Dara scream. Jiyong made a turn, kicking the hand of the person holding the gun. Then, he shot him straight in the forehead. Dara’s eyes widened as she watched the person’s body fall to the ground. Now this isn’t the bully Jiyong she knew, this is the cold-hearted person he became.
“I’m going to cover you and fend them off,” he said. “But you have to run as if your is on fire, understood?”
“I can’t she whispered hysterically.
“Well, if you want to find Seunghyun, you have to run. If you’d rather die with me here, then by all means, do nothing and stay put.”
“I. . . I have to leave you?” she heard herself asking. She blinked up at him when the signs of a smile threatened to lift the corners of his luscious mouth. She then realized the stupidity of her question. Wasn’t she leaving him a while ago?
“I have to take them down first, sweetheart and you, being here while I do that is not a good idea,” he said. “Now, let’s go.”
He grabbed her arm and pulled her up. “Ji. . .”
“Just stay behind me,” he said. “I’ll cover you. but when I say run, you have to run as fast as you can.”
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