There was an eerie silence in the abandoned shack at the end of the dirt road. Baekhyun had been sitting in there for fifteen minutes at most, but he was already pacing back and forth. Each step he took created the repeating sound of leaves crunching under his feet. It seems like hours since he has seen Jongdae and Chanyeol, but it has barely even been a half hour. They could be on their way back already, but he has no idea. The army is still searching and shooting anyone left in the village, and they could be on their way to the shack. It just didn’t feel right to Baekhyun to stay anymore.

            Chanyeol specifically told his boyfriend to stay put in the house, and Baekhyun wanted to do that, but he felt like a sitting duck just waiting to get shot. Not only that, but Jongdae and Chanyeol can be in great danger cornered by the soldiers or already dead. There was no point in just sitting in this hell hole anymore. Baekhyun gathered what was left of the blankets, food, and clothes that his dead best friends had brought the day prior. He was going to find his boyfriend and best friend.

           Despite the dirt road being a bit more risky, Baekhyun began to run down it to get to the medical office faster. Chances are the army is still going through town square, searching every side road and building for people hiding. Only three minutes had past of Baekhyun running before he could see a row of some twenty men marching forward searching the road. They all saw the young man almost instantly and lifted their guns to start shooting. With fear consuming his body, Baekhyun ran towards a side street on wobbling legs. All he could hear was gun shots and dirt being kicked up near him from the flying pieces of metal. Thankfully, a road was just before him and he turned to run as fast as he could.

           His legs were moving him faster than he had ever ran before, until Baekhyun tripped on something and smashed his knees against the pavement. There was so much velocity left in him that his head followed quickly connecting to the concrete face first. Everything went black and it felt as if his brain had smashed into the front of his skull. Slowly, he lifted his head and saw a blurry picture coming back into view. Blood poured out his nose and from his split lip, but Baekhyun had to keep going. Sure the pain was almost impossible to deal with and he may have a concussion, but it’s more important to find Chanyeol and Jongdae. As he stands to his feet, Baekhyun could feel the throbbing in his knees and at the ankle that tripped over whatever it was that stopped him.

           Before he ran off again, he turned around to see what exactly it was he tripped over. It was the body of the coffee shop owner. That man was nearly like an uncle to Baekhyun, so tears instantly began forming in his eyes. The shouting from soldiers just around the corner made a moment of mourning cut short. He let his hurting ankle guide him towards the medical office that was a couple of feet away. When he was inside, it was so quiet that Baekhyun could hear each movement of the fabric in his jeans. A nurse was sitting behind the table, with her once beautiful face now blasted to bits against the wall behind her. It was repulsive, and the little bit of food in his stomach almost came up. Chanyeol and Jongdae maybe in the back morgue quiet with sorrow.

            Baekhyun opened the doors expecting to see two men turn around and smile at him saying Minseok’s body was now at rest. But it was a dead body, still bleeding with a fresh bullet wound to the head that greeted him instead. It was Jongdae now lifeless and alone with his once lover in a cold morgue. This was the breaking point for Baekhyun. Another best friend was gone, killed in cold blood by the demands of his own father. He dropped to his knees screaming in horror. Baekhyun pulled Jongdae into his arms, crying hysterically and brushing his hair to hide the bullet wound.

“I’m so sorry. Please forgive me Jongdae, please.”

           He repeated how sorry he was for nearly five minutes before an important realization was brought to his attention. Chanyeol wasn’t in the room. Not even a body or trail of blood to follow was there. Baekhyun needed to find his boyfriend before he was murdered by the army. The only way to stop anymore death was to find the president. Baekhyun had to find his father before it was too late.

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            The fountain in town square was a lot smaller than Chanyeol had remembered. Maybe it seemed so large with the water pouring out of it, but now it was off. There was no more clear water following through Bongha. It was just blood now. If he could guess, there were about fifty dead bodies of villagers who once lived a peaceful life. Elder, students, even children laid lifeless on the ground. It was terrifying sight to have to stare at, but Chanyeol didn’t have much of a choice. His hands were handcuffed in front of him as he sat on his knees in the center of the destruction.

            Escaping was a plan that would be sure to get him killed. Instead of fighting his fate, Chanyeol listened and did everything the soldiers told him to do. If he tried to run off, they could just shoot him and end it all. A man in perhaps the most handsome suit he had ever seen began to walk towards him. The man looked almost identical to Baekhyun, with a more aged face of course. He smiled kindly at the helpless young man before speaking to him.

“Hello Chanyeol,” the president spoke. “How are you today?”

“…”

“How is Jitae doing?”

“He only goes by the name Baekhyun,” Chanyeol said quickly.

“Oh that’s right. Thank you so much for informing me. It’s important to get to know my son after all these years. You got to keep him from me.”

“I didn’t keep him from you! He wasn’t even trying to hide from you for all that time! Someone kidnapped him and brought him here! You killed the whole ing village because you think someone purposely took your child! Get your facts straight you dense idiot!”

“Is that really how you feel Chanyeol? Well let me show you how you’re going to repay for this.”

            Three soldiers walked out dragging Chanyeol’s mother who was kicking and screaming to let her go. They looked liked they wanted to let the woman go, but it was against orders to do something so humane. She stared at her son helplessly who sat on his knees with tears pouring from his eyes. It takes so much to drive Chanyeol to tears, but when it comes to his family, nothing is more important to him.

“Now young man,” the president began. “Your mother, who stands before us, is the only family member you have left. Your brother and father are dead somewhere in that pile of bodies over there.”

            Chanyeol let out a whimper of sadness as the tears continued to pour down his face. His mother shook her head knowing exactly what the president was doing. He was going to torture her son until the absolute breaking point. Suddenly, the older man slammed Chanyeol’s face into the pavement with a kick to the back of his head. He continued to beat him with fists and kicks to the face and all over his body. It was as if the nineteen years of frustration of living without Baekhyun was being let out on Chanyeol. After five minutes of nothing but straight beating on the young man, the president stops and gets a good look at the damage he has done. Chanyeol’s eye is swollen shut already forming dark bruising and his nose looks nearly broken. The entire time, his mother watched in silence.

            A few hundred feet away, Baekhyun ran around the corner seeing his boyfriend beaten to a near pulp with his mother crying while being held by soldiers. His father was standing in the center of scene, smiling and saying something he couldn’t hear from so far away. Baekhyun went to scream stop because this was just too much now. There was no point in bringing Chanyeol’s mother into this mess. The sound of his words was blocked by the loudest gun shot he has ever heard before. The president lowers a hand gun as the body of Chanyeol’s mother hits the ground. Chanyeol screams loudly at the sight of his mother being shot to death for no reason at all.

Almost as quickly as she hit the ground, the president slammed the gun into Chanyeol’s temple knocking him to the ground. Baekhyun watched frozen in fear. His boyfriend was being tortured slowly and cruelly by a man who gave him life. The dreams of meeting his father were nothing like this moment. Baekhyun had dreamed of himself meeting his parents after years of searching, but not meeting his father because he had his son’s entire village killed. His father was now reloading the gun and pointing it at Chanyeol’s head. Enough was enough. Baekhyun snapped out of his frozen trance and ran forward. There was one way of stopping the president from shooting, and that was the element of surprise.

“Appa,” Baekhyun screamed running up to his father.

“Ji-Jitae is that you,” he replied staring at the young man before him.

“Appa please stop. Please don’t do this to Chanyeol. You’ve killed everyone I have ever loved, don’t take him from me. Chanyeol is my everything…”