MY JEKYLL & HYDE

"Guilt is the thief of life" - Anthony Hopkins

He had to take his chances. Escape… he needed to do it fast.

“Ha-hhyde ssi”

Sobs... sobs....

“Hy-hyde ssi” Kibum mumbled the words again trying to gain the deaf man’s attention. His throat hurt too badly from all the crying, begging... . He coughed a bit tasting the rusty bitter taste and gulped to ease the burning urge to feel some moist pass his throat.

If only... if only he had the money he needed... none of this would’ve happened.

“Hyde”

 “Oh?”  Kibum flinched back as Hyde snapped in to his senses and bolted up on to his knees. Whatever the he thought as courage he had in him dissolved in to nothingness the very second his stood up. He was a fool to call him. A big ed up fool. He shut his eyes tightly fearing an explosion.

“OH! Oh my god! Oh my- wait I’ll- I’ll do something”

Was he hearing correctly? That wasn’t an enraged voice... or was it? Did he really hear a hint of worry in that voice? Did he...?

He opened his eyes feeling Hyde’s fingertips running on his wrist delicately. What was this? Was he hallucinating? Hyde was looking at his wounds closely... worried?

“Um- do you, do you have the keys to these? I mean- do- do you know where the keys are?”

Kibum blinked his mile-wide eyes in disbelief. Hyde was the one who brought him here with the bloody handcuffs on and now he has no idea where they keys could be? How was he supposed to answer?

“You... um- don’t know where the key is right... it’s... okay... I’ll- I’ll find it uhh...” Kibum watched in utter confusion as the man turned the room upside down mumbling to himself, pulling drawers and throwing clothes in the air looking for the non-existent keys.

“I can’t find they keys. I will- I will try pulling it oh. Don’t worry”

Kibum flinched back once again when the man slowly got on to the bed to try pulling the cuffs off. The monster from last night seemed to have calmed down but Kibum couldn’t say when he’d jump on him again. It could be now or the next second or any moment. He wasn’t sure, Not at all. Kibum knew better than to trust these miraculous transformations.

 “Oh my God… It’s so tight. I’m so sorry I did this. I’m really... very sorry... OHH! Wait I’ll try something else”

What on earth was this? Kibum couldn’t stop his blinking eyes seeing a pair of worry filled brown orbs start to well again. Those tears... seemed real... This… this wasn’t something he awaited. This was the polar opposite. Hyde jumped off the bed and ran outta the room disappearing behind a wall before Kibum could think of anything more. He didn’t know what to believe anymore. Believe his eyes and ears?  No, He wasn’t sure if his mind was playing some dirty tricks on him.

It didn’t take much long for the man to return to the room wearing a pair of big round specs and holding a small wire like thing in his hand in a childish manner. Kibum could have panicked seeing the small tool but for some reason he didn’t. He plainly kept staring at the man who was struggling with a tool to unlock the suffocating handcuff around his wrists. Those eyes focused on his wrists suddenly looked very different from what he had seen before. The damp hair on Hyde’s forehead, those specs, and the small tears that were still lingering in those puffy sockets... it all looked eerily different. And those thick crimson drops seeping out from his nostrils-

“Blood”

“Huh???”

CLICK!

“OH!!! It opened! It opened!” Hyde shouted almost jumping on the bed like an idiot making Kibum’s jaw slack witnessing the scene.

As if to match the perfect timing, Hyde’s eyes landed on Kibum’s face that was gazing at him like he was a dim-witted fool. He coughed awkwardly and cleared his throat trying to fix his ruined image.

Hyde wasn’t a clumsy like this. He couldn’t let down his guard around this stranger despite the fact that he did something so terrible to him.

“There! Now you’re free.”

Kibum felt like an animal that was used to please its master and finally being released when his purpose is served.  He sighed averting his gaze from the man who finally released him from the agony he was suffering. He should be thankful... he wasn’t going to be locked up, chained and abused to death. This man released him. He should be thankful, he really should be...

“Tha-nk you” Kibum’s eyes travelled back to the man who was now staring at a wall, sitting on the edge of the bed away from him.

“Huh? Did you say something?”

“Thank you”

“Oh....”

The blood! Another red line seeped and painted Hyde’s face. Kibum couldn’t help but wonder if the man really couldn’t feel the thick liquid sliding down. It was very disturbing to see that beastly man bleeding from his nose. It made him look weak and that didn’t make any sense, at all!

“Blood”

“Huh?”

“You’re bleeding- nose”

Hyde’s hand immediately ran to his nose as if to confirm the words he just heard. Kibum saw shock scream on Hyde’s expressions as blood from his nostrils stained his fingertips in bright red.

“Ah- That’s-you don’t have to worry about that” Hyde muttered wiping the blood off with his bare hand.

“So- sorry” Kibum cursed himself in his head. Why did he have to run his big mouth all the time? Why did he point that out to Hyde? He should keep his mouth shut and stay silent without angering the man.

“Eh? No! You’re the one hurt here! OH! Oh my god... I’m so sorry I couldn’t think of it before. What- what should I do now? Should- should I call for an ambulance...”  Hyde stood up from his place and hurriedly and started scratching his head and wiping off the fat drops of sweat that