Six
Remnants Of The Heart
*banner by aranayad
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She was sobbing now. Her cheeks were wet with unshed tears and her feet hurts, they hurt as hell that she was sure they were bleeding without even looking at them. She was alone in the middle of a dark forest, alone and cold. For some unexplainable reason, she wanted to turn back and curl up in the arms of her would-be killer.
Escaping in the middle of the night was such a tempting and good idea a while ago, but now, she wasn’t so sure. To add to her frustration, she just realized how stupid she was for thinking something so daring without really having a concrete plan. She paused for a moment, nibbling on her lower lip. She was suddenly torn in going back or moving forward. She closed her eyes and tried to imagine what would happen if she’s going to choose the former. A shudder ran through her just at the memory of his eyes, Jiyong’s eyes on her. No, she would never be able to look at him directly again. She’d gone this far without him following her. That would only mean one thing: he trusted her enough not to escape.
In all honesty as well, she didn’t want to die. Eventhough he said he’s not going to kill her yet, he’s still going to do it, eventually. For some weird reason, she didn’t find it odd thinking of him killing her. What would that mean then? Did she really think Jiyong is as black as a burned charcoal that she could not really find it in herself to be surprise with everything he told her?
She shook her head to clear her thoughts. Why was she trying to analyze him anyways? She sighed. She wasn’t sure of the answer herself, which she find weird as well. She bent forward, her palms resting on her knees as she tried to steady her breathing. There’s no need to woe over something that cannot be undone. With a deep, steady breath, she straightened up and started moving forward, wincing every now and then as her feet would touch something sharp.
The night seemed to stretch in front of her as she walked endlessly through the path. The night sounds of the creatures didn’t help her not-so-steady nerves that she tried distracting herself by humming something tunelessly under her breath. As if it would go on and on, she started noticing change in the landscape. The slope started to go downwards and if her ears were not playing a trick on her, she swore she just heard a sound of car whizzed by from a distance.
Her heart started beating so loud in her chest that she started panting even before she started increasing her pace. She started to jog until she eventually broke into a run. She expelled a harsh breath upon landing on something rough yet flat ground. She half-cried and half-laughed upon seeing herself at the edge of the park facing a road, taking a deep breath again, she started to think of what she should do next.
She almost laughed at the question of what she should do next when there’s no other option but to keep running. She looked around the dark street. The world was still asleep, if not for the light coming from the street lampposts, she would probably think she’s inside a dark tunnel or cave with no exits.
She should continue on walking but then, she was really tired and thirsty. She slowly walked towards the park where she saw a bench. She threw herself in the bench, slightly grateful for the slight darkness that concealed her presence. She leaned her against its coolness and closed her eyes. Her feet were starting to numb. She didn’t bother having a look at them. She could just imagine what they would look like right now. Slowly, she started drifting off to dreamland.
“You’re a flirt!”
She frowned. “I’m not a flirt!”
“Yes, you are!” he argued. She held her tears back. Kwon Jiyong was a bully. He was the greatest bully among them. Even as a kid, he bullies everyone he wants to bully. He can even annoy the pants off his elderly. That’s just what he is. As much as he bullies everyone, his favorite subject was her.
“I am not!” she cried in her child voice.
He glared at her. “You always run to Seunghyun! You’re a flirt!”
He suddenly became blurry and the scene changed into a different day, but still the same scene: Kwon Jiyong bullying his favorite bully victim, Sandara Park.
“You know what?” he said. “Seunghyun will always see you as a little sister! You’re like an ugly duckling! You will remain an ugly duckling forever!”
“You’re uglier!” she said, sticking her tongue out at him. “You’re a frog that will never turn into a prince!”
He started moving forward, making her step back. Then, she turned around and started running away, calling for Seunghyun.
She woke with a start, a rough and calloused hand caressing her bare arms. Her eyes flew open and she was greeted by a face she did not recognize. The person was grinning. “Are you cold, sweetheart?” he asked. “I can warm you up.”
A shiver of disgust ran through her. Instinct driven, she kicked him straight in the gut and started running away. She heard the guy swore loudly. It was still dark but early signs of the sun rising up where showing already. Running proved to be a difficult task as she can’t help wincing very now and then. She bit her lower lip down; she bit it so hard that she started tasting the metallic taste of her blood in her own mouth.
She gave a startled scream when she felt a hand pulled her hair to stop her from running. “Not too fast little girl.”
She started screaming for help.
“Need some help with that?” a voice joined in. They both stopped. Dara froze upon seeing who it was. It was the person whom Jiyong protected her from. He was wearing an all-black attire: black shoes, black pants, black coat and a black undershirt.
“Who are you?” the guy who was holding Dara’s hair asked.
No Minwoo smiled. “If I were you, you should be asking for me to let you go.”
“You should not meddle in somebody else’s business!” the guy shouted.
“I’m being meddlesome, aren’t I?” he softly chuckled. “Oh well, if only Jiyong killed that girl.”
“What are you talking about?”
“That girl you so wanted to should have died already but since my sweet little rival got some stupidity going on inside his head, he didn’t kill her. If you value your life, you should let her go and start running away.”
“You’re crazy!”
Minwoo chuckled again and fish out his phone. He paused for a moment. “Hello there, sleepyhead!” he said. “Just in case you didn’t notice, the tiny girl is no longer. . .” he chuckled. “She’s actually here in front of me, being held by some guy who wants to her. Should I let him? Aww. . . . now don’t be like that. Hahaha, nice one. I’m doing you a favor here, Kwon. . .”
Something dark his handsome face. He then shook his head, amusement lighting his face now. “He’s been putting the phone down on me a lot lately.”
He sighed, pocketed his phone back then pulled something from behind him. It happened so fast that Dara got confused at first. A loud bang echoed and she felt the grip on her hair loosened. She stared wide eyed at Minwoo who held a gun in his hand. A small smirk curved his lips. “Easy squeezy,” he said in a bored tone.
Slowly, Dara looked behind her and saw the guy lying on his back; his eyes wide open with a blank look, glassy look in them; a hole was in his forehead, blood pouring out from it. Belatedly, she realized it was a bullet buried deep in his forehead, not some dark hole. And she screamed.
Seunghyun heard the sound of the gun first as the car he was riding was running along a road a few blocks away from where the sound was heard. Then, a scream followed that made him straighten up. There was something familiar in that scream that alerted all of his senses. His heart started beating hard against his chest. Teddy was driving the car and he told him to drive down to the source of the scream.
“Are you out of your mind? We should not meddle –”
“I knew that voice,” he interrupted. Yes, he did. He heard her call out for his name everytime Jiyong bullies her and she could no longer fight back or was at loss of words to return. “Step on the pedal,” he said, with more urgency this time.
The car zoomed past a few blocks. It turned sharply around the corner and Seunghyun felt as if his heart has been taken out from his chest upon seeing her, standing there like a small child with her eyes wide opened in fear as she stared up at the guy holding a gun straight at her.
“Run into him,” he hissed at Teddy and pulled out a gun himself. At the corner of his eyes, he saw the others did the same.
He lowered the window down and aimed at the guy. As the headlight hit his frame, he looked sideways and with almost a bored expression, he redirected his gun towards the car. Before Seunghyun could pull the trigger, somebody else already did the same time the guy pulled the trigger of his gun and jumped towards Dara to avoid the car. Panic kicked inside his chest that he flung the car door opened and jumped out of the running car. He didn’t bother to look who among his companions got hit but he was attentive enough to see that the guy got hit in the shoulder with a bullet.
He rolled over the rough ground. But he didn’t mind if he’d end up having bruises or scratches. He wasn’t that skilled in using a gun but he was pretty decent about it. As soon as he raised his head up, the guy was already pointing the gun at him. Then, a tiny little thing suddenly clung to the guy’s arm and buried her teeth in, making the guy flinched.
Swearing, Minwoo backhanded the girl that it sent her body flying away. A loud bang sounded again and he felt the bullet buried itself deeply in his thigh. With a sigh, he started sprinting off. Why bother getting the girl? It’s supposed to be Jiyong’s mission. It’s not his responsibility anymore if the other party will get the girl back. Let Kwon Jiyong solve his own problems, he thought.
Seunghyun scramble to his feet, his hand losing hold of the gun. He didn’t pick it up again when it fell to the ground. He ran towards the girl he’s been searching for who knows how long. The sight of her small, fragile body curled up in a defensive ball weakened him that he fell to his knees beside her. Anger started beating inside him upon seeing her injuries, most especially her feet. With all the gentleness he could muster, he slid his hand under her body and slowly pulled her closer to him.
“Dara?” he whispered. But he received no response. He silently inspected her and was glad to know that she was still alive, breathing, but unconscious.
“Seunghyun, we need to go!” Seungri shouted. “CL’s bleeding!”
Seunghyun pulled himself up, with Dara in his arms. He carried her over the car and gently placed her in his lap and let her head rest in the crook of his neck. He heard the engine revved up. He then glanced at the others. “How is she?” he asked, referring to CL.
“Just a minor wound,” she said.
“You’re bleeding!” Seungri incredulously said.
“All wounds bleed,” CL said with a hint of impatience. Seunghyun could just imagine her rolling her eyes at Seungri. “It’s painful though, but nothing that I cannot endure.”
Seungri and CL started to bicker as the car started to back down the park. He sighed in relief. CL bickering with Seungri was a proof that it was just a minor wound. His tensed frame started to relax as he pulled Dara closer and planted a soft kiss on her forehead.
The car suddenly stopped, almost pushing them forward. They all looked up and saw that another car almost bumped into them. The other person started pressing the horn impatiently. The headlight coming from the other car was too bright then Seunghyun shied away from it. As Teddy started maneuvering the wheel to the right, it was then when the person climbed down and Seunghyun looked up. He froze the same time the other person stilled upon seeing him through the opened window of the car.
Jiyong’s eyes moved from Seunghyun down to the person in his arms and a dark shadow fell on his face. “Teddy, revved up! He’s one of them!”
The car zoomed. But even through the rumbling of the engine, his scream was heard. “Sandara Park!”
In his arms, the girl jolted, her eyes flying wide open and she started gasping, panting for breath. A loud noise made them all ducked down. Weird noises then started invading their senses.
“Oh !” Teddy cursed. “He shot one of the tires! We won’t last long!”
His arms tightened around Sandara, who seemed to be awake but asleep at the same time. Her eyes were wide open, staring blankly up at the ceiling of the car. The vehicle started to slow down until it eventually stopped. With another curse, Teddy kicked the door open, pulled his gun out and started shooting relentlessly. Seunghyun’s heart ached as he saw Hanbin climbed down the car and did the same. Seungri and CL were already out as well.
“Get her out of here!” CL shouted.
“Seunghyun!” an angry growl came from not too far behind him but he didn’t look back. He ran as fast as he could with Dara in his arms, her eyes still wide opened. “Give her back to me!”
Two vans suddenly came into his vision, one black heading his way while the red one stopped just beside their broken vehicle. The door of the van that stopped in front of him slid open.
It was Dong Wook. “Get in!” he ordered.
Seunghyun climbed inside the van the same time he heard footsteps behind him. He took a chance to peek and saw his friends heading his way, all of them were running with their heads ducked. The other van seemed to contain armed men, who were shooting nonstop at Jiyong’s car. When the others were able to climb in with them, Teddy reached for the van’s door and started to close it when he suddenly pulled his hand back and started swore.
He leaned forward to see that he’s been shot in his arm. Unable to stop himself, he looked back. What he saw surprised him more than anything else. Out of all the armed men drilling Jiyong’s car, only one was left. Then, he eventually stopped, his body staggering forward until it slowly slid down to the ground.
Jiyong then emerged. He could tell he was injured but he started chasing the van. He raised his arm bearing the gun. Seunghyun’s eyes widened as he saw him aiming for the tires again. “He’s aiming for the tires!” he shouted in panic. The van suddenly swerved to the left the same time the trigger had been pulled. Unable to take his off of Jiyong, Seunghyun just stared and watched as the other went on chasing them. He swore he saw Jiyong pulled the trigger again but nothing happened.
Jiyong threw the useless gun aside. This event was going to be featured in the news, he knew that. He ought to be going back now as the sun already started to rise. He would not be able to afford for someone to see his face. But something was driving him to keep on going. At the corner of his eye, he saw a motorbike. He stopped chasing the van and went to the motorbike parked near the road. Of course, there was no key but then, he was not trained for nothing. As he undid some wires, twist them, peeled the rubber protection, he sparked them up for the engine to come alive.
Without any helmet, he started to chase the van again. He could still see its outline from far up ahead. With sheer determination vibrating off him, he sped up. Logic was telling him he would never catch up. But he wasn’t being logical right now. First, who in their sane mind would try to chase a van without any weapons at hand?
“He’s catching up!” Teddy hissed.
“Shoot him,” Dong Wook said, who was now driving the van.
Sandara blinked, as if coming to her senses. She tried straightening up but Seunghyun’s arms were making her lie back. “Don’t,” she croaked. “I don’t to have more lives wasted because of me. Just shoot the tires.”
“But he’s after you and he might kill you –”
“The tires, please.”
“I’ll do it,” Seunghyun volunteered. Dara’s eyes flew to him, her face questioning. He just gave her a tight smile before sliding the window. He peered through it, slid his arm as well and aimed at the tires of the motorbike getting closer.
“Choi Seunghyun!” Jiyong growled loudly enough for him to hear. “I’m going to get her,” he shouted. “I’m going to get her from you.”
Seunghyun then pulled the trigger. A bullet escaped its confinement and buried itself in the front tire of the bike. He could not believe his eyes as Jiyong still pushed the bike to move. He pulled the trigger the second time and it hit home, making the bike swerve.
“You can run away from me today, Dara. But I will find you, I will always find you. And I will never stop going after you!” he shouted after the van.
“Where are we going now?” Sandara asked softly, her mind in a daze.
“I know a place,” Dong Wook answered. “It will be far away from the city.”
“You're safe there,” Seunghyun said.
“He'll find me,” she said. “You heard him. He will find me.”
That's the truth, she knew that. Even deep inside her, a voice was saying that he will eventually find her. The only thing she could wish is that when that time comes, she’s already ready. But she didn’t have to worry about that right now. She was safe, at least for the meantime and Seunghyun’s arms were around her. His arms around her felt so familiar, it was like home.
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a/n:
SORRY FOR THE LONG DELAY!!!
AIGOO!!!
But here ya go!
Ooooh, received a gift and a letter from generous hearts!
Thank you so much for your generosity, lemonfresh and dorememe
I luv them!!!
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