Reprisal

자유 True Beauty
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Reprisal [riˈprīzəl] n. - Retaliation for an injury with the intent of inflicting at least as much injury in return.

 

The first thing Mihyun noticed when she returned to the cage was the absence of Jongin. She and Sehun had been gone for a majority of the day, making sure that Kyungsoo’s body would receive the proper treatment it deserved, and that he would be placed in hands unwilling to give into Chando’s pressure.

Night had already fallen by the time they returned, and the cages were dimly lit by the cheap light bulbs that hung above. The pair had walked into a completely silent room; the only sound that filled the air was the soft singing of Baekhyun as he gently ran his fingers through a sleeping Luhan’s hair.

“You two are back,” Chanyeol acknowledged their presence with a nod, rubbing a hand soothingly against Baekhyun’s back who still possessed dried tear streaks across his face.

“Where’s Jongin?” Mihyun asked with furrowed eyebrows as she glanced around the room.

“He got angry and stormed off again,” Chanyeol responded bitterly as he clenched down on his jaw.

“And you didn’t go after him?” Mihyun stared blankly.

“No, he was being an to everybody,” Chanyeol growled under his breath, sneaking a peek at Baekhyun - who had been the target of much of Jongin’s harsh words - out of the corner of his eye.

Mihyun immediately opened to scold the taller, but reluctantly pressed her lips together. Scolding him wouldn’t solve anything, and it would only result in them all being even tenser than they already were.

“I’ll go out and look for him,” Mihyun sighed as she wrapped her scarf tighter around her neck before making her way back to the cage entrance.

“I’ll come with you,” Sehun immediately added as he quickly followed her.

“Stay here, Sehun,” Mihyun responded as she tossed a meaningful look to Luhan who was beginning to stir in his sleep. “I’ve been too greedy lately, and have been hogging you all to myself.”

Sehun opened his mouth to protest, but stopped when he felt a light tug on his shirt by a now half awake Luhan.

Mihyun gave Sehun a reassuring smile before she left the cages to seek out Jongin. She hoped the other wasn’t out looking for trouble, for she didn’t know what he was capable of in a state as delirious as he currently was.

She treaded the hallways quickly, opting to stay silent rather than call out Jongin’s name. She knew the other would much rather spend his time to mope alone, but she couldn’t take the risk that he was out causing mischief. She wouldn’t lose another one of them. She refused to.

After searching the hallways of the vast Noye house, she decided to try her luck searching for Jongin outside. The dim sky provided her with barely any light, so she made sure to be twice as cautious as she normally was. She folded her arms together to project warmth against the nipping cold, and continued her search for Jongin. There weren’t many Noyes outside, for almost all of them had retreated to shelter against the chilly night.

Her ears perked up at the sound of a running liquid as she neared the guard house, and she squinted into the dim light to see if she could make out any figures. Despite taking self defense classes as a child, she wasn’t prepared to journey into the dark corners by herself. Her eyes caught onto a familiar tuff of messy hair, and she let out a sigh of relief now that she had discovered Jongin’s whereabouts.

“Jongin, it’s cold out here, please come back insi – Kim Jongin what the hell do you think you’re doing?” Mihyun hissed in disbelief at the sight of the empty gasoline bottles that were littered around Jongin’s feet.

“I’m giving those bastards what they deserve,” Jongin growled under his breath as he continued to splatter gasoline all over the walls of the guard house.

“Jongin, stop this!” Mihyun cried in a silent voice, not wanting to alarm anybody of their presence.

“No!” Jongin’s eyes flashed dangerously as he turned to stare at her, and he threw the now empty can down at her feet. “They deserve this. They deserve more than this for what they did to Kyungsoo hyung!”

“Jongin, this isn’t right. Do you know how many lives you will steal if you do this?” Mihyun asked as she stood beside him.

“I don’t care, they all deserve what they have coming,” Jongin spat as he ripped off the cap of a new gasoline bottle.

“What if you get caught? They’ll kill you, Jongin,” Mihyun pleaded as she tugged on his shirt.

“Then let them kill me!” Jongin shouted angrily, tears beginning to sting his eyes as he stared at Mihyun.  He turned his back to the girl to prevent her from witnessing the sight, and stared hard at the gasoline splattered walls. “Let them kill me, let them. It’s the least I can do for Kyungsoo Hyung. If you’re not going to help than get the hell out of here.”

There was a long pause of silence, and Jongin almost thought that the girl had left him until he heard the quiet words of, “I understand.”

Mihyun’s small hands snatched the gasoline bottle from Jongin, and he narrowed his eyes in anger. He parted his lips to shout angrily at Mihyun, but his words got caught in his throat when Mihyun continued to splatter the gasoline against the walls.

“Y-Yah, what are you doing?” Jongin asked with furrowed eyebrows.

“I’m helping you,” Mihyun explained as she moved further down the house to cover areas Jongin had missed.

“Mihyun, stop it and go back,” Jongin growled as he wretched the bottle from her hands. “It’s okay if I get caught, but you can’t, Mihyun. Sehun would kill me.”

“He can’t kill you if we’re already dead, right?” Mihyun shrugged as she moved on to uncap yet another bottle of gasoline.

Jongin’s jaw dropped in disbelief, and he kicked over the can to send the gasoline spilling onto the ground before Mihyun could pick it up.

“What are you doing, Jongin? You’re wasting time,” Mihyun scolded as she quickly picked up the bottle to salvage what was left.

Jongin let out a small growl, and pulled the bottle away from the girl’s hands to continue splashing its contents onto the walls. “You’re right, we are wasting time.”

Mihyun mentally swore when she saw that her tactic wouldn’t work on Jongin, and decided to change gears. She clasped her hand around Jongin’s wrist and pulled him forward to face her.

“What are you doing?” Jongin’s eyes flashed dangerously as he glared at her fingers. “You better let go, Mihyun, I’m not in a good mood.”

“Is this what you think Kyungsoo wants you to do?” Mihyun stated firmly, no longer trying to salvage Jongin’s delicate feelings. “Do you think he’s proud of what you’re doing right now?”

Jongin scoffed loudly at her words, and he yanked his arm out of the girl’s grip, causing her to stumble forward to the ground. She let out a low hiss when the skin of her knee tore from rough contact with a rock, but she quickly stood up to face Jongin again. “Don’t do this, Jongin. Kyungsoo wouldn’t want this.”

“Yeah? And how the hell do you think you know what Kyungsoo would want?” Jongin hissed, ignoring the guilt that was creeping up from the sight of the girl’s fresh injury.

Mihyun paused in silence for a few seconds, before finally slipping her hand into the pocket of her dress. She pulled out a tiny piece of paper before slipping it into Jongin’s hand.

“What the hell is this?” Jongin scoffed as he threw the garbage down on the ground.

Mihyun stared down at the paper that was thrown away before lifting her gaze up to Jongin. “It’s a piece of the map. It’s small, useless, and it looks like trash, but that’s what Kyungsoo put his life into protecting. It’s that tiny piece of paper that let Kyungsoo leave the world with a smile on his face. It’s that piece of paper that shows that Kyungsoo was willing to discard his life in order to protect the dream that we all created together; the dream that you’re throwing away.”

“Kyung…?” Jongin spoke quietly, his tensed face immediately softened at her words. His eyes darted down to the paper that was about to catch the wind and fly away, and he quickly snatched the paper up in his hand. He pressed down on its wrinkles, and desperately tried to smooth it out as nicely as possible. “Sorry Hyung, I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” he murmured under his breath as he tried in vain to brush away the gasoline that had stained the parchment. “I’m sorry.”

A few minutes passed in silence, and after trying to clea

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Aishmin
I have a huge project in the works for True Beauty that I am excited to share with you all soon. In the mean time, keep up with me by following me on Instagram @prisssyla!

Comments

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Zndjcjaj #1
❤️❤️
Beloved_1230 #2
I remember buying this book years ago when I was in middle school….And how I couldn’t stop crying about Haru. I suddenly remembered his character and sad death at work. Your book, I’ll always carry the memories.
Ekale_erie
#3
Chapter 70: Amazing story !
Loves reading it.
There are some issues, not exactly like 'Noyes' but still familiar in our society. I don't understand why this society doesn't consider humanity above all these stupid titles. You wrote an amazing book author. I hope more and more people could read it and understand that humanity is above all.
Thank you author !
❤️
Ekale_erie
#4
Chapter 62: This is really horrible. But she has to save the lives of the others too. My prayers are with those girls. I hope they'll find their own 'Mihyun' too.
Ekale_erie
#5
Chapter 59: So cute ! 🥰😘
Ekale_erie
#6
Chapter 56: She likes him ❤️
Ekale_erie
#7
Chapter 53: I... I.. I'm at loss of words
Ekale_erie
#8
Chapter 52: This girl is on fire 🔥
Ekale_erie
#9
Chapter 49: I hate that old bastard !!
Go to hell you dumb ing old haggard !! 😡
Ekale_erie
#10
Chapter 48: That was so emotional.

Han Miyhun... It's really hard to understand the character. She's wise, good natured, polite, strong, charming and everything. But there's still something about the girl that I can't pinpoint. I guess if the story was from her view point then I would have been. But, on the otherhand, what essence of story would be left if there was no mystery ...