Top looks at GD before holding my arm. “Let’s go find the president.”

“But Top—“

He tightens his hold on my arm, and GD purposely looms away. My dragon. And then Top drags me towards the other side, as I stare at GD walking back where we came from. His footsteps are heavy, and every step he takes echoes with my heart. We move east, with Top dragging me, because I’m too down to even walk.

CL sighs and says, “I’m starting to feel bad for my brother.”

“Bull.” Top replies.

“I feel guilty for not telling him to take his Esurient off.” I start, now walking slightly. “But he loved it so much that I can’t even bring myself to tell him.”

Top mutters another curse under his breath, but I haven’t had the chance to decipher because it was too low to be even audible. We continue walking east, our path lit by automated lamps. My earpiece is buzzing with orders—the others are now evacuating with the saved monsters and have given us the duty to find the president. YG told me he found GD with Kwon Henry’s corpse, and that he made him go to the clinic.

But I know more than his wounds outside was his wounds inside, which are probably deeper. I wish I could explain everything to him, and then we can live together for eternity after, but it wasn’t that simple. Nothing was ever simple since October 31^st.

The pathway leads to a large control room, which was a dead-end. There were no more paths leading out, nor windows (as if there would be underground).

A chuckle echoes throughout the room and the three of us look around. I grab my gun from the inside of my pocket, and all of us raise our weapons, ready in case of sudden attack. Top looks upwards and we followed him. Someone is falling from above, his body straight.

We disperse, forming a triangle to corner the figure, and he lands in the middle, perfectly on his feet. It must’ve hurt, but you wouldn’t know with monsters. They trained hard to do even a perfect landing from fifty feet above.

He raises his head, and I immediately frown—who wouldn’t, seeing the sinister smile of the person who brought this war. The president chuckles as he looks around and comments placidly, “Well, you all look great.”

“You’re—“

Before CL can even end her sentence, the president lashes out, shooting at her. The blade didn’t hit her, but it successfully slashed her left arm. If the president had been a couple of degrees more with his turn, CL’s heart could have been hit. “Didn’t I tell you? I can kill you before you can even Go die.” He says, looking amusedly at CL’s wound.

I reach inside my jacket, looking for the injection with my wound inside. Top counts through the earpiece. One. Two. Three.

We all run towards the president. Top and CL had their guns ready, while I take priority with the injection full of blood. The president wasn’t overwhelmed at all, and even had the time to snicker. But YG told me that if I let him play with my mind, I would end up losing. The president had that kind of power.

Taking another gun out using his free hand, the president shot Top on his right thigh and using the other one, shot CL on her shoulder. I already reach the president, considering the time Top and CL gave me, but he was too fast with his reflexes. Both of his hands aim for me, and he shoots both of my thighs.

I fall down right in front of him. I can’t feel my legs, and I can feel that almost all of my energy has left my body in one swoop. The president looms over me, his guns pointed at my torso. He shot me near the heart, but it contacted with the bulletproof vest instead. Clearly disgusted, he shoots again but the vest protected me again.

Top grunts behind him and aims for his arm. Since the president was preoccupied with me, Top had successfully shot his arm. The president turns around and shoots Top on his back. I gasp as Top falls unconscious. CL on the other hand is already unconscious—she’s been shot before now.

The president aims again on my torso and counts his fires. The vest isn’t completely invulnerable and can only hold a limited amount of bullets.

“Two. Three. Four. Five…”

As he counts, I reach up to his leg with the injection. I only have twenty bullets left.

“Six. Seven. Eight. Nine. Ten…”

With my hands shaking, I lift up his pants slightly.

“Eleven. Twelve. Thirteen. Fourteen. Fifteen. Sixteen….”

My hand is losing strength, and I drop the injection.

“Seventeen. Eighteen. Nineteen. Twenty. Twenty one. Twenty two…”

I successfully grab the injection again and aim it on his skin.

“Twenty three.”

I stick the needle inside him.

“Twenty four.”

I push the suction.

“Twenty five.”

The shoots died as the blood from the injection empties. The president stoops and regards me with a sly smile. “Did Esmeralda tell you about my powers? I won’t kill you Sandara Park but before I die, I’ll make sure you won’t wake up either.”

I stab his leg using the injection needle since I’m too weak to say anything. He smiles and aims his gun at the slightly vulnerable spot of my vest. The president shoots and I welcome a painful screech from my mouth as the bullet passes through my side.

“I will put all my remaining strength into this spell and I’ll make sure you won’t wake up ever.” He places his palm on my forehead. “Like my wife, you’ll live all your life sleeping. Maybe even down below like her if you’re lucky. Besides, the only one who has the power to end it is already dead. Kwon Henry is already dead.”

I can’t feel anything more than the bullet wounds on my thigh and side, until the president collapses beside me, dead and unmoving. After he had collapsed, I feel a cold sensation on my head, as if I’m being preserved in negative temperature. My senses have become numb and I feel my eyelids slowly dropping.

Shuffles. Top comes into my view and asks, “Dara, please don’t. I can’t live if you’ll go too!”

I smile, even though that would use up much of my energy. I forgot again that Top is only trained to suppress his emotions and not feel at all. Even though he have told many times that guilt is bull, Top feels guilt himself more than we could ever feel.

But Top, I’m just going to sleep and not die. Maybe for eternity—I wouldn’t know. Kwon Henry, the only one who can cure this, already died. Maybe it has been decided I’ll be asleep forever. Like someone who’s caring but would never have the chance to show it. Like someone who loves but would never have the chance to give it. Like GD before I met him, who already decided for himself not to love. But the difference is that he did and I am uncertain.

As Top holds my hand as he mutters the prayer I taught him before, my life flashbacks again in my mind—this time, it’s already real. It’s so real I can almost feel each emotion again.

And for the last time, I see GD’s face, smiling every sweetly at me.

“I love you.”