Track 161 | 8 LETTERS by Why Don't We

“I want either yours, or Baekhyun’s.”

Like puppets being manipulated, Rara and Baekhyun stiffly turned their heads and looked at each other. Haoran was first to react by shouting, “Don’t!” He knew this was going to happen if either of them placed all their cards on the table. It was a mistake to be the first one to offer.

Luhan held him down one more time with telekinesis, while Tao stood up for more precaution. Haejung felt that Haoran was likely to interfere so she said, “Luhan, Tao, take Haoran out for a walk down the hallways of the castle.” She ordered. “He seems to be needing a bit of fresh air.”

“Luhan! Don’t!” Haoran argued, trying to struggle free from the invisible force that made it hard for him to move. Luhan’s clothes weren’t drenched in water, but it felt heavy as he stood up, like gravity was pulling him down. He looked at Haoran with deep regret and guilt as he kept the concealed iron hold on him. It also didn’t feel right for Haoran to ask this of Luhan, because in the very beginning, he did wash his hands off this matter. When this day was to come, he was not to have anything incriminated against him, and while Haoran respected that, it didn’t hurt to try and convince him.

Haoran’s feet were a few inches off the ground; he floated, following Luhan and Tao from behind, and in a minute, the younger members of Aima Lamia were nowhere in sight. It was just Haejung, Bora, and Hyorin now.

“So,” Haejung said, breaking the silence. “who will it be?”

“Stop!” It was Jaehyun’s turn to in. “Just let them go! Let me be the dead man the world that believes that I am in exchange for having your hooks off their lives!”

“It doesn’t matter anymore, old man,” Haejung replied in a sing-song voice as he turned to her. “Even if you offer your life in exchange, I’m still at a disadvantage.” She then diverted her eyes to Chansung’s rigid body. “I only want either of these two; is that too much to ask?” She cooed, trying to make fun of the whole situation.

“They have children, for pete’s sake!” He retaliated.

“And so do you, and you’re willing to die.”

“But they’re—”

“Just kill me now, Haejung.” Rara snapped. “But I need to see you release my great grandfather and see my dad alive agai—”

“Hell, no.” Baekhyun retorted. “Who decided that?”

“Your opinion is out of the question.” Rara said angrily.

Baekhyun furiously grabbed her by the shoulders and said, “You’re not going to sacrifice yourself!”

“You don’t get to decide that!” Rara flared as she removed his grip from her body. “Don’t interfere, Baekhyun!” Rara started walking towards Bora, who outstretched her arm, holding out her hand, with an entertained smile. However, Rara didn’t even make it that far before Baekhyun caught her by the arm and took her back to his side. “Wait just one second, Rara!”

Once again, Rara found herself trying to wriggle out of his hold. “Will you stop—!” She hissed. “Will you stop holding me ba—!”

“It seems that a decision could not be made.” Haejung said exasperatedly.

“Because no decision should be made!” Jaehyun replied furiously.

“No decision should be made by any of us, but them.” Haejung responded, a cunning smile surfacing on her face. “So let’s allow them to settle the score.” She said. “How about you guys fight for the vacant spot I’m offering at the afterlife in exchange for securing your loved ones’ places here on earth?” She asked nonchalantly. Jaehyun looked at her with wild eyes, totally ratified by her suggestion. In the worst-case scenario, Baekhyun and Rara would kill each other.

Rara shrugged off Baekhyun’s grip vigorously. “Fine.” She grunted, glaring at Baekhyun with mad eyes and in return, he looked at her heatedly.

“I don’t want to fight you, Rara.”

“I don’t want to either.” She replied, determination evident on her face. “But I have no choice.” She fumed. “Between the two of us, the answer is obvious—you’re the one who has to live.”

“And you think I’m just going to agree to those terms and let you die?” Baekhyun spat bitterly. “I can walk in the human feet of the original Little Mermaid for as long you want me to, but for me to let you die—you gotta be kidding me, Rara.”

Rara internally winced at what Baekhyun said; in the original Little Mermaid, every step she took on those human feet felt like walking on knives. She felt herself caving in; Baekhyun knew words turned her into mush. A small flicker of rage turned into wrath as she thought about how it was so easy for Baekhyun to aim for her weak spots. Offended by her own thoughts, she grabbed him by the shirt and drove him to the nearest wall with superhuman speed; the walls cracked and debris fell from the high ceiling resulting from the severe damage from the brisk impact.

“Ouch.” Haejung commented in an apathetic tone.

Jaehyun gasped at what just happened; Rara really did such a thing. She’d really hurt him enough just to prevent him from dying.

But despite the powerful collision between the ancient wall and his back, Baekhyun’s expression remained undaunted, his eyes focused on Rara’s. “Don’t you even think for a second that you can talk me out of this, Baekhyun.” Rara hissed, her red eyes glowering at him. “I need you to live.” She stressed. “So give up.”

Baekhyun looked down and laughed in a silly way. When he looked up at her, his own eyes changed in color. Rara wavered a bit as a trickle of blood ran down on one side of his head. “Haven’t we gone over this, like, a million times?” He said, his hands slowly enclosing on Rara’s. “I need you in order to live.” In a blink of an eye, he unlatched Rara’s crumpled fists that held a fistful of his shirt and charged towards her, slamming her downward, crushing her back, leaving an enormous dent on the marble floor. Jaehyun helplessly watched the fight unfold between his two eyes; he was sure that the reason Chansung came was to prevent this from happening but given his current condition, he failed to do one of the things he came for. The old man can only tighten his fists to contain his anger and his frustration about the fact he could only sit and watch. No amount of talking won’t work; if Rara won’t listen to Baekhyun, then it’s futile as it is.

Rara tried to squirm away from Baekhyun’s grip on her wrists. Whether it was on her or on their relationship, his hold had always been firm and skintight.

“Calm down, Rara.” He growled. “You’re smarter than this. I don’t want to hurt you.”

“You already sent me crashing against the floor.” She clamored; instead of struggling to get back her control over her arms, she gathered the strength to reverse their positions. Now, she was on top of him. As soon as Baekhyun let his guard down, she raised one arm up. “Might as well hurt me all the way.” A burst of blue flames appeared in her fist and she directed it towards Baekhyun’s face, and he missed it by a fraction of an inch by