Seoul, South Korea: A once thriving city was now a ghost town. It was covered in ruins, and the air was thick with the rotten scent of death. The survivors of the nuclear war were split into two groups: Citizens and Aristocrats. I, Min Haeun, was just a normal Citizen, who lived and survived on my own. My parents had sacrificed their own lives for the sake of mines, and I’m extremely grateful for them. The other Citizens were kind people; they always lent me a hand whenever I needed it. Although I missed my mother and father greatly, I knew that I had to continue living my life, instead of constantly whining about their death. My life was laborious, but somewhat peaceful, until...

I was kidnapped.

I was taken away from my small establishment, and given to an Aristocrat. Apparently, I had caught his eye and he wanted me to be his bride. His name was Seo Minwoo, a sly and evil man, who I didn’t want to have any relations with. Unfortunately, I did not have much of a say in this. It was either: marry Minwoo or die miserably. The correct choice was pretty obvious. I am Min Haeun, once a free Citizen, now the imprisoned fiancee of Minwoo. I had become an emotionless human, incapable of expressing happiness, or even sadness. I did not love Minwoo, and I had a feeling that I never will. I thought my chance to escape was lost forever, but a glimmer of hope appeared when Minwoo and I were out on a walk.

One of Minwoo’s arms were wrapped around my waist as we strolled through a barren wasteland. His henchmen were following closely behind him, making sure that we were kept safe from any surprise attackers. Just then, a black car screeched to a sudden stop in front of us, causing my eyes to widen in surprise. I could hear Minwoo’s henchmen preparing to attack the owner of the car, but Minwoo raised his hand, and they all backed off immediately. A stranger stepped out of the vehicle. He had dark brown hair with slight tints of red in it and he was wearing a leather jacket over a black wife-beater, along with a pair of dark green army pants and black combat boots.

“Ah, if it isn’t Jo Jonghwan.” Minwoo smirked, “I see you have recovered from your previous injuries.”

Jonghwan’s intense stare could almost burn holes into Minwoo’s face. I was slightly taken aback when he suddenly switched his gaze to me. Instead of looking away, I kept eye contact with him, secretly hoping that he will see what situation I was in.

“Jonghwan, I suggest you stop staring at my woman. If you want one so badly, you should go find one on your own.” Minwoo snapped.

“She didn’t go to you on her own, didn’t she?” Jonghwan replied, frowning.

I breathed a small sigh of relief.

“Do you see me like this, Jonghwan? As a man who will steal instead of earning what he deserves?” Minwoo said, a tone of mock hurt evident in his voice.

“Don’t act all innocent with me. You remember my sister, right? Jo Hwangmi? You took her as your bride and in the end, she hated you so much that she--”

“Killed herself. I know, Jonghwan. She would’ve had a great life if she had just married me.” Minwoo sneered.

Jonghwan’s fingers curled into a tight fist.

“Well, I suggest you watch your back. You may just breathe your last.” He turned away and began making his way back to his car.

Minwoo let out an obnoxious laugh.

“We’ll see how you do that. One little mistake and I’ll make sure you reunite with your sister.”

Minwoo turned around, taking me with him. I turned my head and stared at Jonghwan. Even though he had not spoken a single word to me, I knew that he will try his best to save me from the mess I was in.

I could see it in his eyes.

…

That night, I laid in bed and stared at the ceiling. For many nights, I could not sleep, for I had developed a terrible case of insomnia. Even though the chance of escaping has increased, I still thought of the negative. What if Jonghwan fails? Will I die? Will Jonghwan die? Thoughts plagued my mind to no end. I was tired. So tired of the life I lived. I sometimes wondered that if I just closed my eyes and slept, would everything go back to normal? Will I be back at my own house, living a happy life? I tried so hard, but in the end, sleep never came to me. It’s as if something is telling me that no matter what I do, I can never turn back time.

A tap against my window pane caught my attention. Getting out of bed, my jaw dropped when I saw Jonghwan standing outside of my window, on the balcony. I slipped outside as quietly as possible.

“What are you doing here? What if we get caught?” I whispered.

“You’re Min Haeun, right?” He replied.

“How did you know my name?”

“I used to live in the same apartment building as you, before the war happened. I always wanted to be friends with you, but you never seemed to notice me...” Jonghwan said, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.

An awkward silence settled between us before he cleared his throat slightly.

“Well, we should probably escape now, before Minwoo finds out.”

“Good idea.”

Jonghwan carefully threw a rope ladder over the balcony and we both climbed down quickly and quietly. When we reached ground level, we heard a voice shout.

“Hey! There’s intruders in here!”

“.” Jonghwan muttered, “Run!”

He grabbed my hand and yanked me towards the exit. The both of us ran as quickly as possible. My heart was pounding violently against my chest and adrenaline coursed through my whole body. The bottom of my feet were being cut by sharp rocks, but we were running so fast that I could barely feel the pain. I bit my lower lip in anticipation as I saw Jonghwan’s car coming closer and closer. Just then, two guards blocked us from getting any further. Jonghwan secretly slipped two daggers into my hand and muttered,

“Can you fight?”

“Yeah?”

“I’ll take one, and you take the other. Go!”

Jonghwan charged towards one guard and took him down with his bare fists. With scarily accurate precision, I threw a dagger and it hit the other guard straight in the heart.

“Quick! We gotta go before the other guards catch up!”

We dashed towards the car and got in rapidly. There were three other men in the car; I assumed they were acquaintances with Jonghwan.

“Rockhyun, start driving! Changbum and Chanyong, load your guns!” Jonghwan ordered.

With a harsh screech, Rockhyun made a sharp turn and drove away from the premises. However, there were still several cars coming after us.

“Chanyong, aim at the tires!” Changbum shouted.

“Got it.”

Chanyong, who sat in the back seat with Jonghwan and me, rolled down the window and leaned out, taking a few shots at the enemies’ tires with his handgun. Most of the cars went down thanks to his skilled shooting accuracy. I turned around and saw that one car was still chasing us down. My eyes widened.

“Jonghwan! Minwoo is in the last car!” I warned.

“Changbum, hand me your rifle!” Jonghwan exclaimed.

“What?” Changbum said, turning around from his place in the passenger seat.

“Jonghwan, he keeps avoiding my bullets!” Chanyong said.

“Give me the rifle! Now!”

Changbum handed Jonghwan the gun. He rolled down his side of the window and leaned out, taking his time to aim correctly. Just then, one of the wheels went out.

“Yes!” Chanyong exclaimed in success.

Jonghwan’s finger rested on the trigger. His breathing was ragged and I could tell that he was a little scared. He had only one chance to kill the man that caused his sister’s death. I watched him, worried about the outcome.

“This is for Hwangmi.” He muttered under his breath.

He pulled the trigger and a loud sound of glass shattering was heard. I closed my eyes tightly, silently praying that Jonghwan was successful. Jonghwan sat back down in his seat, the rifle slipping from his fingers.

“Is he...?” I began.

“He’s dead.” Jonghwan replied.

For once, a smile appeared on my face. The many emotions that I had locked deep in my heart was set free.

I had finally regained my freedom.

Author's Note:

Sorry for the weird formatting. I typed this up in google docs and pasted it here. OTL Anyway, comments are appreciated and thanks for reading!