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Nari’s head rolled tiredly, one eye bruised and shut, the other lidden and red rimmed and everything really fcking hurt.
“Try aiming a little more to the left” she choked out, turning her head with effort for emphasis. Blood had coated her face, dribbling down her neck and over the bruises. Her arms were strained to the point she couldn’t really feel it anymore. Her ribs pulsated and she was certain one or two may have been broken. Her breaths were coming out in uneven pants but that didn’t stop from watching as the men in front of her began losing their temper at her derision. She loved watching them get wound up.
A bat crashed into her shoulder, and she sucked in a harsh breath, blood sliding down her throat as the pain burst in waves from where it hit her upper arm and rocketed through the rest of her body.
“Shut up bitch” the man spat. He’d been a repeat offender in the hellhole she’d been imprisoned in for the past couple of hours. He had horribly stringy hair matting his hair in weird shapes as if the barber just stopped halfway. His arms were lankly and his facial hair did nothing to hide his yellowish teeth. He’d made her his personal punching bag after finding out she was the one who put his two friends into the hospital. He hasn’t left her since. ” I’ll rip off your hands for what you did to Yeong and Ha-joon” that was their names apparently.
Nari lifted her head, eyes locking on his cold and furious ones as another just stood idly by, leaning against the wall and watching everything unfold. He made no move to stop his companion and made no move to help her either. He just stood there and watched.
Nari leaned forward, chin tilted upwards and then she smiled. The man, who’s name upon being overheard a couple of times through murmurs was named Nam-bok, stilled at her sudden movement.
“You know what happened to the last people who said something similar” Nari said and she enjoyed the way he frowned, her lips pulling into a sick grin, teeth red.
“I put them in the hospital”
His face crumpled at her taunt, his hands curling around his red speckled bat and his shoulders shook with rage. Nari laughed and the sound carried through the walls.
“You bitch!” he spat, and Nari chuckled, sinking back into her chair and preparing for another beating.
She was not going to give them the satisfaction of seeing her weak, not again. If she was going to go down, she was taking them all down with her.
Her thoughts trailed to Geon-woo and the rest. Wondering how they must be feeling. She knew by now they’d be worried, Geon-woo probably tearing the city apart because she couldn’t go five minutes without his worry much less hours. They would notice she was missing and apart of her was assured that they’d come find her, somehow. She had faith in them. But for now, Nari couldn’t hold onto the hope that they’d come for her, she had to get out of this mess before she really did end up dead. And what was the most stupid way she could think of- aggravate her captors.
“Takes one to know one” she bit back and Nam-bok growled and raised his bat until another voice chimed from the side. Nam-bok stilled at the order, sparing her a withering glare before reluctantly dropping his arm and moving to join his companion by the wall with a grunt of disapproval. He wanted to bash her head in.
Nari chuckled, head resting on her shoulder as the familiar figure, adorned in a new suit strolled in.
“I must say, you should really teach your men how to throw a proper punch. If you’d like, you can untie me and I can show you” she chimed, gesturing to her hands clasped behind her back.
“I see you’re still in high spirits” Myeong-gil noticed, making sure not to dirty his boots with her blood on the floor as he came to stand in front of her. Nari merely pursed her lips into a fake smile.
“Only cause I keep coming up with new ways to skin you alive” she smiled sarcastically. ”Flaying is always an option”
“Charming” he muttered, seeing her bloody grin. ” Well, I’ll let you keep pondering but for now I think it’s time we got into contact with your friends. I’m sure they miss you”
Nari’s retort died on her tongue at the mention of her friends. Her jaw clenched and Myeong-gil noticed the change in her attitude. His smile that followed stirred something unsettling in her chest. Her frown deepened as she tried to pry her eyes wide enough when Myeong-gil let out a sharp whistle and a scuffle broke out. The door slammed open and two men holding onto a weakly struggling Mr Oh came staggering in.
Her lips parted when they pushed Mr Oh towards them. His eyes and mouth had been duct taped shut, hands bound behind his back and he had bruises and cuts across his body, white t-shirt matted with dirt and grime and blood. Her fury came quick when he was pushed to his knees beside her.
“Careful you asshats!” she yelled, her warning loud and furious. Mr Oh’s head weakly piqued at the voice, ears straining and dread filling his veins if the voice he recognised was in fact someone he had hoped was far away from this. They had caught him off guard and his only solace was that they were far away. If he was hurt, he didn’t want to know what Nari looked like.
“Bring another chair” Myeong-gil ordered and one disappeared and returned with a chair in hand. Hands roughly lifted Mr Oh from the ground and settled him on the chair beside Nari.
Nari glared dangerously at Myeong-gil who moved forward, and patted Mr Oh’s cheek. The elderly man flinched and Nari’s furious insults and warnings went ignored.
” I need to check on something but when I come back be prepared to smile for the camera” he said and then beckoned the men in the room to leave with him. Nam-bok shot her a glare, the other just strolled out the room without another glance and Myeong-gil flashed a smile before locking the door behind him.
The room was silent for a couple of minutes. Nari heaving with anger and she didn’t want to turn to Mr Oh, to have to face him knowing that she’d failed to rescue him and her promise that they would all be okay was just empty words and a hopeful dream. She mulled over her guilt but then noticed he was shaking and she found herself trying to shuffle her chair closer.
“Mr Oh” Nari called softly yet he stayed silent, shaking his head as if by her addressing him personally, his worst fears were suddenly real. “Mr Oh, it’s Nari”
He knew it was her, but it didn’t stop the fear from racking his body. He wanted to cry. He had promised Mr Choi to look after his grandkids and here was one, one of whom he cherished most, most likely worse than him and he wasn’t so sure of either of their futures. He’d failed Mr Choi once more. Nari could see his face crumble behind the tape, and she rapidly shook her head.
”Mr Oh, don’t worry it’s okay. I’m, I’m okay” she assured, despite the blood creeping into her every word. She swallowed it, hoping he didn’t hear the slight gargle in her throat. ” I’m fine. I was just stupid. The others are okay.” She told him and his shaking was still evident and she knew he was trying to calm himself down.
“I met your granddaughter” Nari eventually said. ”She’s a real spitfire. Looks just like you too according to Woo-jin. She has your loyalty and determination.” Nari’s voice was low. ” She came with us to save you. I tried to stop her, but she was so adamant to save her grandfather. ” Nari inhaled, her ribs hurting when she did.
” Mr Oh, we never stopped looking. We weren’t going to stop till we found you and we were so close.” She said and then the guilt came. “I’m sorry we took so long” her voice cracked at the end. When she had seen his state, it felt crushing to know what he’d endured. Mr Oh didn’t deserve it, it was their fight and he’d been so insistent to not be apart of it and here he was, beaten, bruised, hopeless and defeated for a fight he wanted nothing to be a apart of. It was their persistence, their actions that had led to Mr Oh’s capture and now he would have to live with it for the rest of his life.
Mr Oh tried shaking his head in denial but Nari was blinking away tears. Myeong-gil could return any second and she didn’t want him to walk in on her so defeated. She had put up a good front in the time she was here and while her insides were slowly breaking, her will slowly wavering, it didn’t show on her face. She wanted nothing more than to return, go back into Geon-woo’s arms but she couldn’t, not while she was trapped in this dingy room and clinging for survival.
” I’m going to get you out of here” Nari affirmed, her head nodding in finality. ” I’m going to get us out. The others will come, I’m sure of it. But I won’t let them hurt you anymore” he knew what that meant. It meant for his safety she was willing to take double for him. He tried to protest but Nari was adamant in her reply. “He’ll pay for this Mr Oh, I promise you” she said and then the door squeaked open and in came Myeong-gil, waving his phone in hand.
Nari straightened upon his arrival, harshly glaring at him through red eyes as he grinned at the two, his scar straining across the side of his face.
“You ready” he said. “I mean you could’ve looked a bit better but we can’t have it all can we” he said, poking fun at her.
“You know what’s funny Myeong-gil” Nari suddenly piped up, catching his attention, but Nari wasn’t smiling, not anymore. She was serious in her words.
” Someone once told me people with grit could do anything. And you know what, I kind of agree with him. ” his eyebrow raised but Nari’s eyes held something so dark, he came to realise that something had finally snapped in her. He had severely underestimated them from the start, but Nari, Nari was a wild card he never expected. Her eyes were a reflection, a gateway into how much he’d broken her and in it, he saw his demise. Her promise. Those would be the eyes that would end him, the last ones he sees before he leaves the word. He would die by Byun Nari’s hands.
“I’m going to watch you and your empire burn to the ground all with a smile on my face” she said and Mr Oh shuffled in his seat at her words, his concern spiking and as he had never expected Nari, sweet, soft and kind Nari to ever say something so dark and twisted and meaningful. She had every intention to go forward with it and Myeong-gil noticed.
His frown came and went and he hid his surprise with a faltering smile. ” You can try but for now, smile for the camera”ย
Nari is the definition of fck around and find out๐
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