Dawn

Given too freely and with a little pinch of too much trust. Abused and manipulated. That was the only love Doojoon knew. He’d begun to view love through frosted eyes, uninterested and pessimistic to the entire notion. If anyone took a moment to look back at his love history they’d only find an icy road with nothing but battle scars littering the way.

Long fingers twirled a diamond ring around and around, admiring it from every angle. It was marked with small scratches, abused by a hardened heart and an unforgiving floor. The amount of times he’d thrown it at the ground left uncounted but another was added that night. The abandoned ring lay in the small grace of moonlight that entered his room.

‘Screw this,’ his deep voice echoed through the hollow room. Hands, dusty from work, cupped his face, before ruffling dark hair in irritation. His harsh personality was like winter - cutting right through to the bone, his heart like a snowy ocean.

With a drained sigh he fell back on his hard bed and stared at the empty ceiling. Slowly, as sleep took over him, images floated in front of his vision. Memories that had cursed him for the past two years back once again to haunt him through the night.

Four years. Four years since they’d started dating. Four long, beautiful years that had caused him to forget what life without her was like. A warm smile gifted Doojoon’s face as he ran a hand over the wooden jewelry box he’d carved out last night. Intricate designs of flowers were carved into the top and inside lay his heart.

Doojoon had never thought proposing would be quite so hard. With quick steps he’d walked into his workshop, he’d promised a client the new table he’d made but hadn’t had the time to pick it up the day before.

His long strides fell apart when he reached the clear glass door that lead to his main workroom. For a moment confusion flickered over his face. He was sure he’d locked the door.

With cautious steps he walked into the room, thankful that his door didn’t creak and betray him. Two bodies, melded together in an all too intimate fashion, especially considering one of them had sworn their heart to him. The wooden jewelry box fell too the floor, breaking in two and allowing the diamond ring to roll out to rest in between them.  

The sound caused the two bodies to stiffen and turn to face him. The girl tossed her hair over one shoulder, ‘damn,’ she whispered while straightening her shirt. Without a care for the man behind her she reached up, kissing the stranger on the lips and, with a seductive smile whispered, ‘I’ll see you later gorgeous.’

The man smiled, not even sparing the feelings of Doojoon. Instead he walked past and, when he was passing the older man whispered, ‘Tough luck, mate.’

Then it was just the two of them.

Without looking at him she took two steps forward and bent down. A fragile hand picked the diamond ring up. Twirling it around the cold eyes observed it with visible amusement. Meeting his eyes she raised her eyebrows, ‘Was this for me?’

His jaw hardened. Without responding he watched as she slipped it onto her ring finger. With a cold heart she admired it on her finger casually and finally shot him a smile. ‘It’s beautiful, baby. I think I’ll keep it.’

She crossed the distance between them and patted him on the cheek, ‘Thanks baby.’

‘Dawn,’ his hand reached up, blocking the doorway. Suddenly hard eyes shot lighting at him, ‘what was that?’

‘What was that?’ Dawn’s head was down, the straight black hair obscuring her vision but the tremor in her voice was clear, ‘That.’ She slapped his hand away, ‘was what you did to me.’

Shock caused him to take a step back. ‘Me?’

‘God, yes!’ She spat, jabbing a sharp finger into his chest, ‘You.’ She pushed past him, the diamond ring flashing in the sun that slipped through the windows, ‘Work, work, work! Have you ever done anything other than work?’

Doojoon advanced upon her, roughly twirling her around to face him, ‘Do I look like I was about to work?’ He rasped, nodding towards the ring.

Her gaze remained steely, ‘Then why did you come here?’

Caught red-handed he let her wrist go but didn’t move away, ‘Do you love him?’

An exasperated laugh left her, ‘No.’ Dawn’s hands rose to press against her forehead as she paced around the workroom.

‘Do you love me?’

The footsteps stalled. With her back to him her words floated across the room, ‘No.’

Smashed. Just like that his heart broke into pieces. The past four years had come down to nothing. He stood, frozen as she walked past him, her scent whiffing around him. Even when the screen door slammed shut his feet couldn’t seem to lift of the ground. Run after her. Beg her to change her mind.

That’s when the anger started to boil.

‘Wait!’ His request went ignored, the two figures only moving further from his sight. Fury rushed through him when her hand slipped over and entwined with the strangers.

With red in his vision Doojoon grasped the closest thing to him and bellowed, ‘Wait!’

Something about the way he said it made the two turn. The first thing Dawn saw was the chisel held menacingly in his hand and the darkness that had taken over his face.

‘Doojoon.’ Her eyes flickered from his face to the chisel, ‘What are you doing?’ Her answer was silence. The two stumbled back, nerves heavily seeding themselves in their stomachs. The next time Dawn spoke her voice was shaky. ‘Doojoon, stop.’

‘Shut up!’ He shouted as he raised his hand.

Blood. That was the one thing he remembered. Blood. Red. Crimson. Haunting. Occasionally he could hear a scream echo through his head that sounded so similar to Dawn’s that he shocked him.

Worse than that though – worse than the stink of blood that still evaded his senses and the sticky feeling as it ran down his arms and face was the dreams. His own voice; screaming, hollering at the man who’d been murdered that day. Words like bastard, scum – die. Words that he couldn’t take back any more than he could the life he’d taken. 

Court was nothing like he’d thought it would be. Cold. Hopeless. The gavel had slammed down. Ten years. She’d never visited once. Slowly his wounds were becoming an illness. His work, the one passion of his life, had been cruelly snatched away. The person who’d been his sunshine has disappeared behind the clouds. In an instant he lost the light inside of him.

Love, Doojoon decided, was simply the delusion of a hopeful heart. 

Hey guys! I'm so, so, so sorry for the incredibly late update - and a short one at that. I've been so busy all year with assessment and uni. I hope this semi makes up for it and as I go into holidays I hope I can update you with more stories! Thanks for all the support and love <3 xoxo