Twenty Five
Remnants Of The Heart
Watching Dara’s eyes slowly closing snapped made Jiyong’s inside numb. Everything inside him felt ice-cold that even if he had this weird and absurd urge to tear up, nothing was happening. He was merely frozen inside. He slowly stood up, his arms, where Dara fell into felt lifeless. He couldn’t even bring himself to blink his eyes to try to dispel what had just happened. He stared blankly at the tangle of limbs in front of him, deaf to the growling and hissing of the other two. It was as if all he could hear was Dara’s fading voice whispering his name. It invaded his mind that nothing and no one else seem to matter at that moment, not even himself.
He walked blindly and slowly towards where Seunghyun and Minwoo were, he was moving as dictated by his instincts. Seunghyun was on top of Minwoo, trying to take him over while Minwoo looked as if he found the former funny and ridiculous as he didn’t exert that much effort in fending for himself. Jiyong reached out for Seunghyun’s collar and lifted him off of Minwoo as if he was weightless when in fact, Seunghyun was heavier than him.
“Take Dara away,” he said.
Seunghyun froze and stared at Jiyong, his eyes wide. “Jiyong,” he gasped. When Jiyong briefly glanced at him and repeated what he said, it only made his eyes grew wider while it made Minwoo laugh his head off. Seunghyun opened his mouth to say something but the words froze in his throat from fear. He wasn’t sure if the person standing in front of him was Kwon Jiyong, the guy who kept on bullying Dara but got that tender look on his face everytime he stares at her when she wasn’t looking. His face right now was way off far from tenderness. It was even far off to be called a human expression as it was most likely close to. . . evil.
He was paralyzed from fear. He wanted to move, to run away but he just can’t move a muscle. “I’ve been waiting for that,” Minwoo said in between his fits of laughter while standing up. Jiyong then looked away from Seunghyun and it was the only time that the latter started breathing again. He wasn’t even aware that he was holding his breath. When he started feeling his limbs, he immediately ran towards Dara’s unmoving body.
Seunghyun’s blood turned ice-cold the moment he saw Dara lying on the floor with her eyes closed and a trail of blood on the side of . He even went colder upon seeing how pale she was and the pool of blood forming on the floor.
“Glad to see the real Jiyong back,” he heard Minwoo said from behind him. He sounded far off but Seunghyun didn’t really care. “The last time I saw you like this, I ended up being in coma for more than a year,” he finished with a laugh.
“Why?” Jiyong asked in a low voice that sent shivers down to Seunghyun’s spine but he tried to ignore it as he slowly and gently started carrying Dara out of the place.
It proved to be difficult for Seunghyun to have such task. His nerves weren’t in the right place, his head was spinning and his body was still suffering the aftermath of what he’d seen in Jiyong’s eyes a while ago. The memory of it made him feel sick but Dara’s small body in his arms kept him going. He was trying to go at his fastest, being a thief that he is, he was quite used to it but he was scared that if he’s going to go as fast as he can, it might in a way, harm the little body in his arms. His hair was sticking to his face same as his clothes as he was drenched with sweat.
“Dara. . .” he breathed but the girl remained limp in his arms. A spring of hopelessness was starting to plant itself inside him. He was in the middle of nothing but towering trees. He stopped for a moment and looked down at Sandara. She looked like a baby sleeping. Despite the growing hopelessness inside him, he carried on, silently praying that he was taking the right trail.
Jiyong spit something red to the ground as he leaned his hand against the wall. Minwoo was laughing through the bubble of blood in his mouth as he leaned against the wall; not attempting to stand up as the bones in his left leg was all broken. “I was starting to get worried, you see. You seem to have become softhearted eversince the mission of killing Sandara Park was given to you. Oh no, that’s not where it started. It started when I almost had that doll you’re keeping burned to ashes. What’s so special about that doll, hmn?”
“Don’t talk about Dara’s belongings.”
There was a pause, nothing was heard but their harsh breathing and soft clicks here and there from the rodents and tiny insects. A deep chuckle echoed through the hall. Minwoo closed his eyes shut as he grinned. “I’m so disappointed with you,” he said.
“I don’t really care how you feel.”
“Of course you don’t!” Minwoo laughed. “She’s going to choose him, you know.”
“I know,” he answered. “I’ve known her ever since we were kids.”
“Then why? Why are you protecting her?”
“You won’t understand,” Jiyong hissed.
“Try me.”
A bitter laugh escaped from Jiyong’s mouth. “I did before, remember? But it didn’t go well, did it?”
“Just so you know, after this, I’m going after her to kill her. Wait, I don’t even think she’ll survive right now. She’s as good as a dead corpse rotten ten feet under the ground.”
A hiss came through Minwoo’s mouth when he heard something snap followed by a pounding and numbing pain on his other leg. He felt his hair being pulled up, almost being scraped off from his scalp. Something wet and soft landed on his forehead followed by the words, “goodbye, brother.”
Jiyong, with his hand on Minwoo’s hair, started banging the latter’s head against the wall. He didn’t dare pause even if he heard something crack.
Seunghyun could not believe his eyes. He thought it was already impossible but there up ahead of him was a road. It was quite untimely but he suddenly had the urge to burst into tears with relief. However, the moment he stepped on the solid road, the relief washed off of him like a tidal wave. He fell down to his knees at the hopelessness of everything. He can never get Dara to a hospital. He cradled her body close to him and kissed her clammy forehead.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered, choking on the words. “I’m so sorry, Dara. I’m sorry. . . .”
Just when all hope was gone, he started hearing something. His ears picked the sound of what seem to be a car slowly approaching. He looked up in anticipation only to hesitate once more upon seeing that it was a police car. He knew he was on the hit list of the authorities, plus how can he be sure that the person inside the vehicle was a real police or one of Jiyong’s uncle’s minions? But then, he doesn’t really have a choice right now but to take a risk. Maybe he can just. . .
The vehicle stopped just a few feet away from him. He looked down at Dara and made a resolve upon seeing her pale face. He slowly stood up and bravely faced the officer who just stepped out of the car. He was momentarily taken aback upon seeing the officer’s face. He blinked several times to make sure he was seeing a guy, not a girl; that he was seeing an officer, not a student dressed as a police. He can tackle him to the ground but he didn’t do that.
The other person looked surprise upon seeing him as well and Seunghyun could just make out the thought forming in the officer’s head. “Choi Seunghyun,” the officer uttered in a deep voice, which surprised him again as his voice seemed to not match his gentle features.
“I’ll surrender willingly,” he quickly said. “I promise I won’t escape just help me bring her to the hospital first, she’s loosing so much blood. Please.”
The guy blinked at him then his eyes flew to the body in his arms. His eyes widened a bit and he looked back at him. Seunghyun took a quick second to look at the officer’s name - Kim Himchan. “Officer Kim, please,” he begged.
“Get in,” he nodded and motioned his head towards the car.
The officer was driving at an impossibly speed that although Seunghyun was grateful, he can’t help but fear for their lives as well. “I’ve always wanted to drive this fast,” the guy said. “I just never had the chance to until today.”
Seunghyun glanced at him and saw him smiling. If it was any other day, he could have laughed at the officer but it wasn’t any other day. Dara is. . . if he was being honest to himself, he thinks she could never make it. But there’s just this tiny ray of hope inside of him that he can’t let go.
They arrived at a hospital in less than five minutes. Seunghyun immediately got off the vehicle and ran off to seek help. He was well aware that the officer was closely behind him. After all the commotion, Dara was taken away from him and was brought to the operating room. He paced back and forth several times before leaning his head against the wall and giving it a punch. “Damn it, damn it, damn it!” he sobbed.
He wasn’t really sure when he started crying or how long he cried but he eventually gone dry of tears. He squeezed his eyes tightly then took a deep breath, slowly releasing it. He then stepped away from the wall and faced the officer. With a sigh, he held out his arms towards him. “You can arrest me now,” he said. The harsh and cold edges of the handcuffs dug into his skin but he didn’t really care anymore.
“Do you have any idea of the consequence of what you did?” he asked in a transactional voice.
Seunghyun can’t help but smirk. “Are you interrogating me now? We aren’t in the interrogating room yet. But don’t worry, since you helped me, I’ll tell everything you want to know and things you don’t even want to know. Officer Kim, there’s a bigger world than what your laws can cover out there.”
“We’ll see,” he simply said.
They stepped outside of the hospital and was on their to the police car when Seunghyun suddenly stopped. He looked around and can’t help but notice how still the air seemed to be. A bitter smile crept to his lips while his heart pounded hard against his chest. “Officer Kim,” he said. “Before everything else, thank you for helping me.”
A frown marred the officer’s forehead. “You’re not really planning to escape, are you?”
“No,” Seunghyun smiled. “I gave you my word. But I think this is how it’s supposed to be. I just want to ask two things from you. First, please go after Lee Sanggun. Second, Dara. . . look after her.”
“What do you mean?”
Seunghyun pulled up a memory of Dara in his head. Then it happened. He didn’t hear any loud explosion, just the sound of something going his way and then – nothing.
Himchan scooted down upon watching Seunghyun’s body fall to the ground flat dead with a bullet in his forehead. His eyes were closed and the ghost of a smile in his handsome features can still be seen. He hissed a curse under his breath as he looked around for the hit man.
Meanwhile, inside the operating room, Dara’s eyes suddenly opened wide and stared up blankly. She was blinded by the white nothingness. It was too much for her to take that her eyes shut closed again and her body went limper in the operating table.
Hours, days, weeks went by casually. A young guy entered a white-painted room quietly. His eyes immediately landed on the girl lying in the bed. She was still in the position that he left her a few hours ago, still in the same condition. He went towards the chair located beside the bed and just sat there, staring at her. He stayed there, watching – he watched, watched, watched, watched. It was as if he was waiting in vain, that he’ll be left to wait forever but then, he immediately straightened up when the person lying almost lifelessly in the bed showed signs of being alive. Her fingers moved slightly same as her eyes started blinking open.
He immediately leaned forward, his heart pounding inside his chest when she finally opened her eyes. He was greeted by the all-too familiar gorgeous brown orbs and he can’t help but sigh in relief. “S-seunghyun?” she softly called, a smile in her face. He noticed how raspy her voice was so instead of answering, he went to get her a glass of water.
“Here, drink this.” She swallowed an ample amount of water before pulling away and shaking her head. “How are you feeling?”
“Floating,” she answered. He responded with a chuckle. “My head hurts. How long have I been gone?”
“A few weeks,” he answered cautiously.
“Oh, I see,” she nodded then went silent, watching him. A smile then curved her lips again. Then it disappeared when she saw the look in his eyes and his clothes. “Why are you wearing mourning clothes? And why do you look so sad? Did something happen?”
He sighed and palmed his face. He wasn’t sure if it was the right time to tell her but he wasn’t really the type of guy who would hide from timing to not tell something that might hurt her. “I went to attend the burial of a friend.”
“A friend?” she asked, her eyes widening. “Do I know this friend?”
“Yes,” he answered honestly. “Yes, you do.”
She went silent for a moment and went to bit her lower lip down. “Who’s that friend, Seunghyun?”
“Dara, Jiyong’s –,” he started but stopped upon seeing the look of confusion in her face, his brows furrowed deeply.
“Jiyong?” she asked. “Who’s Jiyong?”
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A/N:
Don't you just love me?
wahehehehehe
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