In Paragon
Searching For Avalon"Come in."
Joon took a deep breath and entered the room, bracing himself for what lay on the other side of the door. The sound of coffee being poured into a mug, the crinkling of the butler's clothes as he bowed deeply and exited the room, the brush of his shoes against the lush Persian carpet, the soft creak of the wooden tiles as he walked on them...
It was too silent.
"Sir." Joon bowed and fiddled with jacket, removing his sunglasses and hooking them to his collar. The man sitting on the leather chair circled his coffee mug with his index finger, taking a sip then placing another cup in front of him.
"Take a seat Joon. Don't be so stiff around me."
Despite the reassuring words, Joon knew better than to take them for granted. He mutely bowed and swiftly sat on the chair, taking a light sip of the coffee. He resisted from wincing. No sugar, unacceptably strong. Just like the General liked it.
"You did a good job out there," the General started, his husky voice warmly embracing the young man's frozen senses. "You did whatever I told you to.
"Now tell me Joon." The General leaned forward, his eyes narrowing in curiosity. "And tell me honestly. Did you sincerely try to bring her back?"
Joon shifted at this question then softly rubbed his finger against the bruised nose. He had knocked himself against the wall enough times to make it look real. "I did, sir. That man... was ruthless. I was scared that --"
"--if you hit him hard," the General completed, "he would have something worse done to Kairi."
Joon curtly nodded. The General nodded in understanding and crossed his arms against his buff chest. The medals on his uniform noteably impressed upon it's viewer the status of the man, what all he had done to be where he was. It was a history, a trail of all the blood he had shed--both his and others.
"You're the only one who knows, right?"
Joon nodded. "Only I was there sir."
The General nodded again, this time with finality. "You can leave now."
Joon bowed, this time more deeply than before and tried not to look like he was rushing out of the room. The General in the meanwhile pinched the bridge of his nose and shifted towards his bookshelf. He traced his fingers against a copy of The Art of War and waited for the artificial bind to crack open and reveal a page. The General unfolded the sheet and under the bold letters 'Avalon', sighed.
"It's good I didn't tell you," The General murmured, going back to the moment when a mysterious figure had knocked him out. His subconscious memory sent shudders down his spine as he remembered Kairi's cries as they took her away. He then faltered upon the recent memory of telling Joon to suggest a case of elopement.
They won't hurt her now, he thought to himself and couldn't help but smirk. And even if they did, he knew Kairi could stand it. She was part of their family. She was born to fight, born to stand for herself...
"It's for Paragon, my dear," he murmured.
Kairi would understand, the General thought. She would understand the sacrifice he wanted her to make.
HOYA
Woohyun knew the General was playing games with him and that it had been the old man's idea to bring in the topic of elopement. This strengthened his resolve and everyday, for at least half an hour, Woohyun would sit in the common room and interrogate Kairi.
All of us were quiet spectators, what with Woohyun non-verbally vowing to tone down his temper. Despite his previous attitude, Woohyun too could not hide his shock when Paragon easily let go of Kairi and followed up on news reports that tarnished Kairi's image for eloping at such a young age. The whole situation was getting mnore and more suspicious, but as weeks passed and no answer for Avalon emerged, Woohyun gave up.
Kairi on the other hand was slowly breaking apart. Nicole had personally told me that the helpless girl's stance would loosen up around me and Hara, making both of us frequent satellites around her. In the morning I would eavesdrop on Hara trying to cheer up and make conversation with the girl, to no avail. When nothing worked with an effort, not making an effort was a small crime.
With no information on Avalon, no family to claim her and her home having disowned her.... Kairi was in limbo.
I could only hold my breath and watch her.
KAIRI
Joon wasn't there for me.
Nor was father.
And Paragon?
I muted out Seohyun's voice as she spoke about the innocent guitar battle she had with L, about the previous week when Sungyeol had thrown a tantrum for having only two cups of coffee and when Amber accidentally cursed in Korean, throwing the whole family into a tizzy.
Family.
"We're here!" Seohyun waved towards a small cave-in that served the purpose of the common bathroom. The steam from the hot spring became a premonition of my actions and the darkness strengthened my determination.
Seohyun handled a bundle of clothes to me, hanging the towels on a wooden bar next to the small pool and slowly dipping inside with a look of relief on her face. She waved me for me to join her and I nodded, removing my clothes and sinking in.
I watched as she hummed a melody I had heard earlier from her, scrubbing her arms with the water and smiling. The moment came when she dipped her head under water.
I quickly stretched my arm and grabbed hold of the knife from my jean pocket, tucking it behind me when Seohyun resurfaced.
"Waah!" she exclaimed. "That felt good! Come on, our time is up!"
I closed my eyes moved the blade towards my wrist.
WOOHYUN
I entered the common room to investigate what the ruckus was all about.
"YAH!" I shouted.
SungGyu and Sungjong, who were in the middle of an argument, froze and turned to look at me, the remnants of their frustration on their faces. I threw my jacket on the couch and heaved out a sigh.
"What the hell is going on?"
Sungjong pointed at SungGyu and whined. "Hyung lost the kitchen knife! The one we had to sneak out to town for!"
"No I didn't!"
"Yes you did!"
"Shut up!" I interrupted. "It's just a knife?"
"Just a knife??" SungGyu widened his eyes (was that even possible?). "Woohyun, you know how much trouble it takes for us to go out to the neighbouring town and not be suspected of our origins. We can't go there more than once in three months for supplies, you know that!"
"Then why did you lose it??"
"I didn't! The last time I saw it--"
SungGyu's words trailed off and his face paled. He gulped and right at that moment, Seohyun ran inside, her wet hair flailing around her.
"K-kairi, she...." Seohyun collapsed before completing her sentence and I turned to SungGyu, terrible intuition ringing in my ears.
"SungGyu," I murmured, slowly backing away to the tunnel Seohyun had run out from. "Who was the last person to use the knife?"
SungGyu shifted his gaze to Seohyun, then mumbled, "Kairi."
I sprinted.
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