Six
Four Shots
YONGGUK POV
Just as the lead Wolf is in flight, forelegs spread and metal lips curled back from glittering teeth, aimed straight at Jongup, it was knocked out of the way, and sent sprawling on the ruined pavement. The Wolves snarl, more of suprise than anything for their leader to be sent to its knees. A boy flew with the leader, a black hoodie and jeans all we could see as he rolled, nimble on his feet. He sprang up, hair flying, and pulled a large cutting knife seemingly from nowhere, holding it so the hilt was sideways in his fist, the sharpened edge pointing towards the nearest Wolf. His eyes were wide and wild, and a crooked grin had made its way to his face as he faced the Wolves, alone. I would've backed up, ran, but the Wolves were still surrounding us and they were still, alert, snarling at the newcomer.
The only sound for a second was the wind, high and whining, and the lonely caw of a single crow scratched at the silence. And then the leader dragged itself up with a muted scrape of metal against metal, gathered its mechanical strength, and barreled straight for the boy. His smile not falling from his face, but was instead gaining a wicked tinge, the boy turned, the knife still held fast in his hand. He slammed the blade against the leader's exposed throat.
The metal bit into the plates like it was soft cheese instead of metal, and the "fur" tore away from the retreating knife like it was poison. The outer layer of metal raced away from the knife, peeling away to reveal the complex gears, mechanics inside the Wolf's body. Without hesitating, the boy twisted the knife a single time in between his fingers and drove the tip into the bare insides of the suprised Wolf. The Wolf bared its teeth, and met the boy's eyes with its own acid green orbs. It shuttered once, and growled, low and hoarse. The boy only smiled and twisted the knife a bit deeper. The Wolf shook again. The boy stepped back, his knife detaching from the metal. The Wolf collapsed with a harsh clang in a heap of metal on the cracked, dirtied pavement.
The boy snarled, animal-like, and turned to the other Wolves. His expression, and the drawn knife in his hand said it all. The Wolves backed away, slowly, lips peeped back to return the snarls, but they didn't attack him. They just kept going, kept retreating until the buildings hid the view of them, and the wind masked the slight creaks of metal.
And we were alone again, the only sound the wind whistling through this empty place. And then the boy turned, his eyes still gleaming, his face still alive, to meet my gaze.
When I realized he was waiting for something, I offered him what I thought he wanted to hear. "Um. Thanks?"
The boy widened his eyes in exaggeration. "Well, you're welcome. I just risked my , and, not to mention, my awesome freak murdering knife, for you people." He snorted. "More like, 'thanks so very much for saving our lives, Youngjae.' Humph."
"Thanks so very much for saving our lives, Youngjae," Daehyun repeated, his tone coated in obvious sarcasm.
Youngjae met his gaze with a twisted smirk and slid his "awesome freak murdering knife" into his boot. "Well, we've a sarcastic one over here." Daehyun only lowered his eyelids to slits at Youngjae. I coughed, and Youngjae turned to me. As he did, his eyes caught the light, and I realized they were a strange blue, turquoise and clear like the surface of a glacial lake. His hair was blond, straight, falling to just above his strange eyes, and the fading light only made his round cheekbones more prominent.
"Anyway. Do you know any place with food or anything?" I asked him. Youngjae studied me with those bright eyes, then swept them over the rest of us; Himchan and Jongup, who were standing next to each other with respectively curious and blank expressions, and Zelo, who was still staring at him with a faintly alarmed look. His gaze locked with Daehyun's for a second, fire in his tropical gaze, before they joined with mine again.
"Yeah, actually," he said, and started to walk away. When the five of us just stared at him, he twisted back to look at us, and with another wry smile, he said "you coming?"
Zelo turned to me, his eyes wide, and I paused for only a second before nodding. Zelo returned the nod and started to walk after Youngjae. Daehyun, after shooting a dark look at me, followed. Jongup did too, picking his way over to the dead Wolf, sparing a single glance at the body before joining Daehyun as they walked the ruined road after Youngjae. Himchan paused as he passed by me, and tilted his head, his voice low even though Youngjae couldn't have heard us if he was listening.
"Are you sure this is a good idea?" He asked me, and truthfully, I wasn't. I wasn't sure. But this was my burden; and I have to do what's best for us, and this guy is the only thing we have to an alley.
I shrugged. "What other choice do we have?" I asked him, and after a pause he nodded, accepting that as a reason I've decided to trust Youngjae. He started walking, his pace quicker than everyone ahead of him, and I joined him until we caught up to the others, just as the road turned a corner. Youngjae was still a pace ahead, leading the way, and he looked back once, just once, and gave me a sarcastic smile, that I didn't know the meaning of but he did, and turned back to face the setting sun.
➻➻➻➻➻➻➻
"Here," Youngjae waved his arms dramatically at a cave entrance, swallowed deep in the forest, "is the place." The sun was all but gone, but the blackness surrounding us didn't compare with the pure black that yawned in the cave.
Daehyun squinted at Youngjae, not making his distrust hard to see. "You sure?"
"No, I just forgot where the food was so I decided to lead you people to an endless hole in a cave where you'll fall to your deaths," Youngjae snapped. Daehyun rolled his eyes but didn't move. When none of us made a step towards the cave, Youngjae lifted his eyes to the sky, like what the hell am I doing with these idiots?
"Seriously. Do you want me to go first or do you all just have an overwelming fear of caves?"
"Well, since you're the psycho with a knife, it would probably be good if you go first," Daehyun muttered under his breath, but Youngjae glared at him, hearing the words all the same.
"At least I don't have a big- gun," Youngjae tossed over his shoulder as he strode into the cave. Jongup looked faintly insulted, but said nothing.
After a pause, I stepped forward, figuring as the leader I needed to lead, and cautiously tested the earth just beyond the cave entrance with a foot. When nothing moved or collapsed, I took a step, and another, until I was fully submerged. The air tasted stale, and the only sound was the faint drip of water and my shuffled feet. I heard a few frantic whispers from behind me, and the sound of a protesting Zelo being pushed into the cave after me.
When I had gone maybe a yard or two, I stopped and blindly raised my hand to the ceiling. To my suprise, the wet rock was just the barest centimeter away from my head, and behind me I heard Zelo yelpin pain, accompanying a rather painful sounding thud, and I winced in sympathy.
In front of me, deeper into the cave, I heard rustling, a muttered curse, and finally, the sound of a match being lit, and a small flare flickered to life. The little light exposed Youngjae's face as he beckoned to me, and I crouched down, shuffling to his side.
"Here, hold this," Youngjae said, his voice loud and cutting in the muffled silence of the cave, and handed me the flickering match. "Hold on," he muttered, after both of his hands were free. From the little light, I could see his shadow as he dug through something for a minute, and successfully pulled out something. "Finally," he breathed, and took the match from me, dipping it into whatever he had in his hands. Zelo, his long limbs folded like a collapsed lawn chair, plopped down next me with a sigh, and I heard Himchan, Daehyun, and Jongup slowly making their way towards us, like moths drawn to light.
A larger light burst up suddenly, and managed to eluminate the cave so that we could see each other's faces. Youngjae grinned in triumph.
"There," he said, proud, and leaned back so his back hit the rock wall, looking happy with himself. "There's food in the bags, and I have some medicine and bandages too. There's a river over there," he said, gesturing to the left of us. "It's a running stream, kinda cold, but I have some blankets if you need to dry off and its clean, so you can drink it."
Letting out a relieved whoosh of breath, I sagged against the wall. We had food, and water, and medicine. This was better than we had hoped, and I could tell everyone else was happy too. Jongup immediately took charge, ordering all of us to go to stream to wash out our cuts me scrapes as he set up the first aid supplies by the light of the lantern. The water was indeed cold, and Zelo let out a very unmanly squeal as he stepped in up to his waist.
"Cold. Coooolllllddd!" He shrieked, but I just laughed and blocked his way, forcing him to stay in the groundwater stream. In response Himchan pushed me in from behind, landing me face-first in the water. I found my footing, surging out of the water even as a smile, a real smile, found its way to my face.
"Oh, you wanna get in too?" I threatened Himchan, and he backed up, but not quick enough. I managed to grab his ankle and drag him into the freezing water with us, accompanied by his indignant yell and a burst of laughter that cut off as his head submerged under water, his mouth still open, laughing.
Maybe I can do this. Maybe we can do this.
Maybe we can make our way out of this mess alive.
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And heeeerrrree is Youngjae! And I made him a kinda diva just 'cause.....
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