Crushed
Tears of a Phoenix
‘Are you sure? You won’t trick me?’ you ask, your brain whirring with all your wishes. The voice chuckled again. ‘You have my word,’ it whispered. You slowly turn around with your eyes closed, bracing yourself for whatever could happen. After a few moments of silence to get ready, you open your eyes.
There was nothing there. You blink repeatedly, scanning the area before you but there is nothing. The voice laughs loudly; a booming laugh that echoes among the trees and sends a breeze that rustles leaves. ‘You really are stupid,’ the voice cackled. Furiously, you look around, yelling: ‘Once I get my hands on you, you will die!’
‘Really, now? How frightening,’ the voice says, mocking a fearful tone. ‘I guess I have no choice but to show myself or else someone might get even angrier.’ You hear a rustle of leaves to your left, as if a wild animal had fled after knowing it was in danger. You swiftly turn, looking for any abnormalities.
Your lips curve into a smile as you see who it is. ‘Jongup,’ you smirk. ‘I’ve been waiting for you.’ Jongup walks towards you, scars from the black phoenix still glossy on his skin. ‘And so have I,’ he replies, smiling wickedly.
A plan forms quickly in your mind. You want Jongup dead. He looks unarmed. You will throw yourself onto him so he hits a tree and blacks out. During that time, you will find all the weapons you can to try and kill him. You take a deep breath; it is a risky plan with too many loopholes. But that’s all you can manage by yourself. It’s time to take your plan into action.
‘Long time no see,’ you smile, striding up to him. ‘I see you are still quite healthy,’ you add, throwing him a punch in the stomach. But Jongup barely shows any signs of pain as he strikes back. ‘Why, you look quite stunning today, princess,’ he smirks, retaliating with a punch on your shoulder.
You feel like half of the bones in your arm were crushed into tiny pieces. ‘Why you!’ you scream, hitting Jongup wildly. He simply stands on the spot, smiling maliciously, taking in your blows stealthily. But soon, the pain in your arm is too much and you sit down, holding back tears.
‘You’re barely alive,’ Jongup smirks. ‘Then I guess I’ll just leave you here to die.’ He turns his back and steps away. You gasp in air, cursing to thin air as the pain simply gets worse. After half an hour of attempted struggles to sit up, you hear a crunch of leaves. ‘Who’s there?’ you ask. ‘Show yourself! I’m armed!’
‘I’m armed?’ laughed a familiar voice. ‘I’m armed, said the person who was lying on the ground with broken bones.’ You don’t really know why, but you feel really excited. As the crunch of leaves gets closer, you recognise who it is. ‘Daehyun!’
He sits next to you and begins to bandage your arm wordlessly, chuckling at his own joke. ‘Why… how…? Where…? Daehyun. Why…’ you stutter. ‘I was actually following you,’ Daehyun begins as he tightens the bandage and steps backs. ‘I saw Jongup follow you as well. He got really strong! I saw him testing himself by punching a tree, and the tree toppled over after one blow!’
You raise your eyebrows as you finally sit up. Daehyun’s vibe feels different. He feels more playful and… unnatural…
Do you question him? Or do you ignore this tiny difference and ask something else?
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