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“What was that?”
Nari made her way through the stores, stepping carefully over pieces of left over debris while Hyeon-ju trailed after her, the event of what she’d witnessed her friend do still reeling in her mind.
“I don’t know what you’re taking about” Nari dismissed, her tone clipped as if to tell her to drop it. Hyeon-ju pushed her feet faster, rounding in front of Nari who stopped with a deep irritated sigh as the shorter woman blocked her from brushing past and continuing on her way.
“Hyeon-ju” Nari warned but the woman in question shook her head adamantly.
“What happened back there?” Hyeon-ju persisted, her hand outstretched as if to physically stop her from pushing past.
”Does it even matter? ” she muttered. Hyeon-ju raised her brow, stance firm and Nari bit back a retort. ” Look, I understand they’re pieces of shit, but don’t you think it was a little bit too far.”
Nari scoffed, loud and offended, and Hyeon-ju was startled to see a rather dark look in Nari’s eyes. ” A bit too far. You heard what they said right? And you think I took it too far. ” she took a step forward, her voicing raising and Hyeon-ju found herself taking a step back.
“Do you think it was too far when Myeong-gil and his men destroyed Geon-woo and his mother’s cafรฉ? Do you think it was too far when they not only ruined yours, Geon-woo’s and my life? Do you think it was too far when he killed your grandfather? When he killed Mr Kwan and Mr Hwang and made me watch as they bled out and I could do nothing to help them? Do you think it was too far when his men stabbed Woo-jin three times over and then burnt your house to the ground? Do you think it was too far when we watched everyone we love die because we didn’t want to go too far”
Hyeon-ju watched, eyes wide and tearful as Nari heaved with an anger she’d never encountered before blackened her gaze. She was towering over Hyeon-ju by now, so close and her words like knives in her heart. She had never expected Nari, her Nari, her kind and caring, jovial best friend to ever say such things to her. Hyeon-ju couldn’t believe her eyes that the Nari before her felt like a broken shell of the woman she’d befriended long ago.
” There’s no such thing as too far. Not anymore” Nari said, her words coming out low and firm.ย
Nari held her gaze for another long moment, neither of them saying anything in the silence until loud voices and commotion brought them out of their plight. Hyeon-ju finally released the breath buried in her throat when Nari turned, her knuckles whitening around the bat in her hand, her bloodied knuckles popping as she made her way into the atrium.
Something irreversible had broken in Nari and Hyeon-ju was terrified it may never be fixed again.
Woo-jin and Geon-woo were swarmed but it was no doubt that the men and In-beom were shocked to see how strong they had become. Geon-woo and Woo-jin weaved effortlessly through the men, dropping them with one blow much to their surprise. Yet every time one fell another rose and soon they would be overpowered.
Woo-jin turned when a man fell at his feet with a heavy thump. His gloved cladded hands were raised ready to swing before he stopped short at the familiar figure.
“Sure as hell took your time” he said and Nari bit back a snarky grin, readjusting the bat in hand before swinging it into the gut of a man approaching from her left side.
“I had to make a dramatic entrance didn’t I ” she teased and he let out a hearty laugh before jumping back into action. Hyeon-ju emerged from the shadows with blue sparks appearing and disappearing as men seized and fell in intervals. She had her baton in one hand and taser in the other as she weaved through the swarm.
It was only when arrows started flying from the sky did the men believe they were way in over their heads. They started screaming when arrows started lodging into their thighs, their arms, their shoulders and their torso. They all dropped to the ground writhing, clutching onto their now arrow protruding wounds.
Amongst the chaos Nari noticed Jung running up the escalators, calling out to Woo-jin she gestured to the man. Nari knew what it was like to want to avenge oneself, she knew what would become of Jung was up to the one person of whom he hurt. Woo-jin nodded gratefully and took off. It was nobody but Woo-jin’s battle to face.
Nari had one of the men’s arm in a hold, twisting as he cried out in pain when she noticed Geon-woo stalking towards In-beom. A dark look overtook his features, his posture firm and unintimidated, a stark difference from the first time she had met him. He was staring In-beom down with a look that sent shiver down her spine. They marched at each other head on. In-beom, arrogant, powerful and confident and Geon-woo, determined, angry and vengeful. What happened next was a move no one had expected, not even In-beom.
The tall beast of a man, an immovable fortress careened to the floor, clutching his jaw and blinking dazed after one blow from Kim Geon-woo. Everyone on the ground floor seemed to still, pause and witness the monumental downfall of Kang In-beom.
He was laying on the floor, mouth bathed in blood but Geon-woo remained unwavered, staring him down heatedly. ‘What are you doing? Get up” he barked and Nari bit back a smile, punching the lights out of the man in her hold until he was a heap at her feet. She wiped the blood from her lips, not having been unscathed during the ordeal as In-beom scampered to his feet.
The two went back and forth, grunts and groans amidst the ruckus of blows being exchanged filled the desolate mall. Nari and Hyeon-ju were finishing up the last of them, the final one dropping to the ground after spasming as Hyeon-ju’s taser pressed against his ribcage.
Nari heard a sharp inhale and a grunt. Her head whipped to where In-beom had Geon-woo pressed against a pillar, his large hands clamping around his throat and a strange wash of dรฉjร vu sent her hurtling towards them. She had picked up a metal pipe and swung with as much force as she could muster. It bounced off his back and In-beom growled like an animal but his hold weakened enough for Geon-woo to break one of his arms free and slam his fist into In-beom’s nose.
Geon-woo managed to drive him into a stack of crates and it was as if it was the night in the storage room all over again, his vision blurred and his fist connected with In- beom’s face over and over again. Only this time, Nari was not going to stop him. She watched as In-beom’s head whipped from side to side and back before bouncing forward. Blood spilling from various wounds on his face before he eventually slumped to the ground his eyes falling shut.
“Feels good right” Nari said, her eyes trained on In-beom’s beaten figure and Geon-woo’s heaving breath was all she got in return. He remained silent, just staring at In-beom’s defeated and unmoving body but his silence was all Nari needed to know.
He hated to admit that it did.ย
Geon-woo was so hot for that move fr. ๐คญ
Anyway my house nearly burnt down AGAIN. Istg this is a yearly thing now ๐ญ๐ญ๐ญ
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