𝑹𝑰𝑵𝑮𝑺𝑰𝑫𝑬 | 𝐊. 𝐆𝐖 - 𝐢𝐢𝐢. 𝐀𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝

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(𝑖𝑠𝑛’𝑡 ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑜 𝑑𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑚𝑦☺️)

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“Is Woo-jin okay?”

Geon-woo hummed softly, rather absentmindly with Nari curled up into his chest. His arm had long grown numb, her head found home in its crook while her fingers drew inattentive shapes on this lower stomach. Their legs were entwined beneath the cool sterile hospital sheets. She tapped against his abdomen to catch his attention; trying to ignore the IV drip bandaged to her hand which had begun irritating her skin.

Geon-woo’s eyes were closed, his hold on her never wavering while the monitor beside them beeped lowly. The sound of her heartbeat brought a sense of relief and consolidation he had been  craving for. To him, he was not about to let go of her now, not when he had her back, not while she was safe in his arms.

“Have you slept properly?” she asked, her head lifting to rest her chin upon his collarbone. She noticed his heavy eyebags, dropping down his cheeks like purple curtains and he looked plain exhausted.

“I can now” he whispered; his tone soft in assurance while his hands tucked her hair behind her ear. ” Sleeping wasn’t easy but you made it better” he told her. 

It had been a few days since she had awoken and Geon-woo had not left her side. He was always touching her, keeping her close and had to be physically torn away from her to freshen up and eat. When he slept however, wanting to not part, he’d make room in her bed, and she’d curl up to him. Nari never said anything when in the middle of the night, he’d tug her closer and keep two fingers on her wrist at all times to assure himself that she was indeed alive.

It broke her heart in more ways than one.

It was only later, when Nari had settled and she was to be discharged at the end of the week did she get the courage to speak about what happened.

She had asked about Mr Choi first.

This was the conversation Geon-woo had agonised over for weeks while she slept. And as much as if pained him to say, when she was out, it may have been the last amount of peace she would feel than when she awoke to pain and lamentation. He wanted to hold out as much as possible before it would ultimately shatter them completely.

“He didn’t make it” Geon-woo had told her painfully and Nari’s heart, already in tatters splintered into finer irreversible fragments that seemed to burn into fine ashes and flutter in the wind for one final goodbye. She shut her tearful eyes and her heart mourned for Hyeon-ju who had begun spending more of her time by Woo-jin’s side.

Geon-woo never asked about Mr Hwang and Mr Kwan. He had seen their dead bodies, and he felt his entire world collapse, he could not bear to imagine how Nari had felt in those moments where she had to watch them be ripped away from her. So, he let her talk when she felt comfortable. He didn’t pry, he didn’t tell her to stop, he just held her until she was ready.

” They always protected me” she said, her voice shaking. ” But I couldn’t protect them”

His heart mourned for her broken one. The tears that fell from her eyes, crystal shards of grief tore him apart.

“What did I do to deserve this” she had mewled after, holding him close and desperate. ” I didn’t do anything”

She had not deserved this, he had lamented. She did not do anything to warrant such cruel and vile hatred from Kim Myeong-gil to ruin her in the way that he did. And yet, he continued to make a mockery of her, watch her ruin and have the audacity to smile and praise her for it.

He was a horrible man and Nari became his favourite.

Nari did not save the people she loves. But she hoped that maybe, with a sliver of hope, she had done some good to potentially save her uncle and his wife and soon child.

So her question came out desperate ” Did I save them?” she asked, and Geon-woo, who turned his head to face the wall, unable to meet her eyes and to hide the swell of tears in his own, felt like a coward. ” Is uncle Lee and Mi-kyung alive?”

His composure severed when he had to tell her no.

Nari felt like a failure when the simple word left his lips like a morose call of death. You did not save them, the words echoed. You let them die. You weren’t fast enough.

You are a liar.

She had promised to keep them safe. She had promised to protect Mi-kyung and ensure Du-yeong became a father. To watch as he held his little bundle of joy in his arms and to live a life away from all this. A life of happiness, of love, with his wife and child. She was supposed to ensure he lived. But he didn’t, and neither did Mi-kyung or her baby. They had all died because she lied. They had died, probably thinking she would save them.

They had died and she had lived.

“She didn’t know anything” Nari cried, her back to the floor with Geon-woo hovering over her with equal tears falling down his face as he tried to coax her from the ground while doctors and nurses swarmed around the pair. “She didn’t know anything” she repeated over and over again, rocking back and forth with ripples of pain shredding her apart. ” They were to be parents. She was going to be a mother. He was going to be a father. They were going to be happy.”

She had failed them all. They protected her even in death and she could not do the same.

Nari held onto Geon-woo, whose mouth moved on mute. She could not hear anything, not as he barked for the doctors to stay away, not as he tried calling her name. She merely clutched onto his forearms, her eyes distant but the beginning of a fire, so hot and vengeful, burned in her chest.

She would kill Kim Myeong-gil. For everyone they had lost.

And she would relish in his blood on her hands. Because Nari was tired of losing.

It was time she took matters into her own hands- for Yang-jung, for Du-yeong, for Mr Choi and Mr Kwan. For Mi-kyung and the child that never was.

She would do it for them.

Nari was not about to let Myeong-gil win, not while she lived.

“It took us nearly dying for you two to finally get together”

Nari smiled for the first time after the news of her loved ones at his sarcastic, yet jovial voice that caught her attention.

Woo-jin was sat, rather uncomfortably in a wheelchair with Hyeon-ju standing behind him, her hands clenching around the handles. The whole picture was oddly unsettling. None of them ever thought they’d end up like this. 

Nari noticed how he shifted slightly, hiding his wince but brushing his discomfort with his signature teasing smile. His curly had was ruffled, scars streaked white and healed across his face and a blanket was draped around his waist.

“Genuinely thought I would die before I’d see the day and well hey, I nearly did. So I guess the saying works” he chuckled, and Nari smiled, gently untangling herself from Geon-woo’s side as she stood on wobbly legs. Nari flung herself at him, Woo-jin catching her with equal strength. HIs arms tightened around her weakened frame and held on just as taut. 

“I’m glad you’re okay Woo-jin” she said lowly, her voice filled with relief as he clutched onto his best friend.

” You can’t get rid of me that easily Riri” he mused, and she held onto him a little longer before she broke away, keeping him close as her eyes softened affectionately.

” Just like a cockroach” she recalled fondly, her eyes sparkling bemused and Geon-woo laughed knowingly from behind them while Hyeon-ju looked confused and Woo-jin’s face contorted into offense.

” Nothing” she laughed heartedly, squeezing his shoulder. ” I’m just glad you’re okay” she told him. Her eyes gently lifted to Hyeon-ju who was shuffling, her pupils quivering and Nari found herself holding back another fresh round of tears.

She hobbled around Woo-jin and in one quick movement, Hyeon-ju and Nari collapsed into each other’s embrace. Words of apologies and assurances, forgiveness and hurt blurred together as the two women held each other like lifelines. Their hearts aching to heal together and their arms tightening in consolation, unrelenting and never wanting to be torn apart again.

“I’m so so sorry” Nari cried into her shoulder and Hyeon-ju nodded into hers. The two friends mourned and Hyeon-ju wanted to slap her for how much pain she put her through while Nari didn’t let go of her friend as she sobbed into her arms.

Geon-woo and Woo-jin watched with heavy hearts, two brothers united by loyalty and friendship mourned the two sisters bound by tragedy and love.

They’d come to realise it would be the four of them against the world. And they would finish what Mr Choi, Mr Kwan, Mr Hwang and Mr Lee started.

They would do it- the four of them. As it always had been. 

I’M BACKKKKKKKKK BABY !!

Did I come back because I was seeing all yalls threats and pleadings (yes), did I enjoy keeping the angst ( most definitely).

Anyway update everyday is back WOOOO. 🥳🥳

Also omfg Wattpad today has been a BITCH. I was fearing for my life that I’d lost all my books because NOTHING was working. 😭😭

Thank the heavens that got sorted out.

Also Nari goes through the most man😔

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