The Substitute - Chapter 18
The SubstituteAfter locking up the doors, Sungyeol made his way to the back of the club where his car was parked. The moment he stepped in the back street, he noticed patches of blood on the ground. He didn't think much of it since people getting into fights and such was not an uncommon occurrence. He took his keys out from his pocket and looked towards his parked car. That was when he noticed a figure sitting on the ground, leaning back against his car with his eyes closed.
"Hey, buddy!" he called out. "Would you mind not-" His words came to a halt when he recognised the face of the person sitting there.
Upon hearing Sungyeol's voice, Myungsoo opened his eyes and looked at him.
"Hey kid, what are you doing here?" Sungyeol asked. "Didn't I tell you not to come here anymore?"
"I'm just resting for a bit. I'll leave in a minute," Myungsoo replied. "I won't bother you."
"Why don't you go home and rest?" Sungyeol asked.
Home is not an option right now, thought Myungsoo but he remained quiet.
It was only when Sungyeol approached closer did he noticed the beads of sweat on Myungsoo's forehead and how pale his face looked. "Are you okay? You don't look too good."
Myungsoo managed a weak smile. At that moment he felt blood trickle down the side of his mouth. He quickly turned his head away and wiped it with his sleeve, hoping that Sungyeol did not see it.
But Sungyeol did. He crouched down beside the boy and grabbed his arm and saw the blood on the sleeve. "What happened? Did you get into a fight again?"
Myungsoo grimaced and clutched at his stomach.
Sungyeol knew something was wrong. He pushed away Myungsoo's hand, which was attempting to cover his stomach and opened Myungsoo's jacket. To his horror, he saw Myungsoo's blood stained shirt and the knife which was embedded in his stomach.
"You've been stabbed!" Sungyeol exclaimed in shock. "How can you just sit here? Let me take you to the hospital."
"No!" Myungsoo protested. "They'll find me."
"Who? The ones who did this to you?" asked Sungyeol. "Just tell me who they are and I'll deal with them."
Myungsoo shook his head. "They're not people you can deal with."
Instinctively, Sunggyu stepped in front of Woohyun as if to shield him from the group of men that surrounded them.
"Gentlemen, lets be civil about this," said Sunggyu, raising up both hands out in front of him. "If you want our wallets, we'll hand it over. We don't want any trouble."
"We'll, that's too bad," said one of the men.
"Sunggyu!" Woohyun called out.
In a flash, the man held out a sword and struck it down towards Sunggyu. In that split second, Woohyun pulled Sunggyu back, away from the blade which narrowly missed him. Ignoring the shocked look on Sunggyu's face, Woohyun stepped in front of him, shielding the older man behind him.
"They won't listen to reason," said Woohyun with a serious look upon his face. "They're not thugs. They're not here to rob us."
Sunggyu looked at the boy. From Woohyun's words it sounded as if he knew who they were. "Do you know them? Who are they? What do they want?"
"To kill me."
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