Array
(
[text] =>
______________________
He couldn’t breathe. Dammit, he couldn’t breathe.
She was there one moment and then she was gone. It was the incident all over again. She was with him one moment, in his arms, smiling and laughing and the next she was in his arms but cold and dying.
Now, now he had no idea where she was. She was here with him and then she wasn’t.
Nari was missing.
It had been a little over three hours and she had not returned. He had decided to go look for her instead. She had messaged him an hour and a half ago to say she was on her way back with food and a smiley face and then that was it. His messages went unopened and unread, his calls went to voicemail, and she was just not answering.
Woo-jin and Hyeon-ju tried and failed to soften his worry, saying she was probably fine despite their faces betraying their own concern. Da-min offered a lousy joke saying she may have run away to get away from all the clinging they were doing. The joke fell flat, and she remained silent for the rest of the night opting to just watch them pace and mull over her whereabouts.
His nails were bitten down to its nubs and then he couldn’t take it anymore. He rushed out the apartment and down to the lobby and out the door until halting in place, he nearly flew forward from how quick his sudden abruption was. Geon-woo couldn’t describe the emotion he felt when he glanced down and at his feet was cold spilled food and a cell phone, cracked across the screen but untouched.
He had stumbled against the wall, phone pressed against his chest and head whipping from side to side in hopes to catch even the slightest glimpse of raven hair. But there was nothing, nobody, the streets were quiet and he cursed because for once he was relying on the bustling streets of Seoul to protect them and not curse them.
“fck” he cursed, and he squeezed his eyes shut, hoping the tears in his eyes would not seep out. “fck fck fck” he let her go again. He took his eyes off her, he let her leave his sight because she assured him she needed some space and she had disappeared again. She could very well, and probably is, it was the only reason that made sense, in Myeong-gil’s clutches. – the one man he vowed to protect her from.
Geon-woo let out a loud yell in anger. How had he messed up so bad. Were they waiting for her, for him, or them as a whol? How long had they been tailing them? What if it wasn’t just Nari they wanted? What if it was only Nari they wanted? What if it was just dumb luck, they saw Nari unaccompanied and thought it the perfect moment to get back at them for burning the safe and foiling Myeong-gil’s plans once again.
The thoughts swarmed his head as he staggered into the apartment. He accidently stumbled , slamming into the door and punching in the code sloppily and frantically before tripping over his feet.
Woo-jin turned upon hearing his arrival, getting to his feet his brows furrowed at the distress on his friend’s face. Hyeon-ju glanced up from the counter where she was gathering the plates in hand and Da-min looked up from her laptop when her door was slammed open. She went to chastise him, but her words turned to lead on her tongue at the look on Geon-woo’s face.
They were silent for a while, Geon-woo lifting his eyes from the phone in his hand with a tremor.ย His composure wavered and when he saw their concerned faces, his own crumbled and the tears he had tried to keep at bay finally fell.
“Geon-woo” Woo-jin jumped forward, catching his friend who faltered in his step “Holy shit. What happened?” he asked, eyes wide, holding onto his friend.
Unintelligible words jumbled in one breath. But when Woo-jin strained his ears to hear him his face fell along with his hands.
She’s gone. She’s gone. They have her. She’s gone.
He kept on muttering and that’s when Woo-jin caught a glimpse of the phone in his hand. He yanked it out of Geon-woo’s weak fingers as Da-min stood up and guided Geon-woo to a chair.
Woo-jin pressed the power button and it switched off just as fast when the two familiar faces stared back at him. It was definitely Nari’s phone.
“fck” he swore defeatedly and then the anger settled in. “fck!” he screamed. “How the fck did they know where we are?”
“What is happening?” Da-min asked innocently, eyes bouncing between the two men, one enraged the other practically dead and unhelpful.
“Woo-jin” Hyeon-ju called his name firmly and the man turned, eyes lit aflame. “What the hell happened?”
“Nari’s gone” He spat but there was a heartbroken undertone.
”Well, we know that-” Hyeon-ju went to interject but Woo-jin shut her down faster than she could finish her sentence.
”Kim Myeong-gil has her” Hyeon-ju blanched at his words, her throat dried and eyes widened
“What?” she exhaled, and Woo-jin sighed, running his hand through his hair frustratingly.
“They must’ve caught her off guard” his voice was less angry more scared now. For Nari, for what lay the rest of them if they managed to get her. “They could’ve gotten any of us”
“But that doesn’t make sense” Hyeon-ju spluttered. ”Were they just tailing us. Waiting for one of us to let their guard down. I don’t-“
“I don’t know” Woo-jin muttered in defeat. “I really don’t”
“We need to find her” Da-min said, glancing down at Geon-woo who was staring at his lap, his hands clenching into fists and then sighing and unclenching them. “She may be in the same place they have grandpa. If we find him, we’ll find her” she offered.
” But we don’t even know where Mr Oh is” Woo-jin rationalised. ” Gang-yong-“
“We can’t wait for the police anymore!” Da-min exploded. ” They have Nari. What do you think they’ll do to her the longer we sit back and let the cops handle things. If Myeong-gil is as dangerous as you say, he probably has people everywhere including the police which is why we haven’t heard nothing from them. ” she said. “We have to find them on our own.”
“And how do you suppose we do that?” Hyeon-ju snapped, her tone rising. She was angry. Angry that Nari had to go off on her own and get kidnapped. Angry at herself that none of them went with her. angry that the last thing her and Nari had said to each other had been filled with disagreement.
Nari was her sister by choice. Her family. She did not like fighting with her but everything changed when the rest of their family had died. Their views shifted and so did their morals. Hyeon-ju never expected Nari to be the one to fall to temptation. Hyeon-ju was always the harder one, the cynic, the morally swayed-not Nari. Not kind and compassionate, loving Nari who looked after her when she was drunk. Not the Nari who stayed with her until the early AM. Not the Nari who always protected her. But then again, that Nari died when she watched her family be slaughtered in front of her. Hyeon-ju had to find Nari before it was too late. She needed her sister back and she needed to apologise. Nari supported her even when she wasn’t entirely in her right mind- Hyeon-ju would, should’ve done the same. Hyeon-ju had to bring Nari back. She had to.
They spent the next few hours doing whatever they could to find even the slightest bit of information of where they could’ve been, going as far as even to recruit Jae-myeong to help them. Their eyes were burning from the screens but they weren’t giving up. Nari wouldn’t have given up on them if the roles were reversed.
“Dammit. Where the hell are they”! Woo-jin cried bitterly, slamming his hands onto the table in agitation. “We’re getting nowhere. For all we know she and Mr Oh could very well be dea-“
Woo-jin was suddenly grappled, his words were lost in the wind when hands lurched for his shirt and pulled his torso over the table. Geon-woo’s fingers were tight around his collar and Woo-jin realised those were not the right words to have said in this situation.
”She’s not dead” Geon-woo gritted out. His hands which were wrapped around Woo-jin’s shirt was shaking and Woo-jin never realised how red the lines around Geon-woo’s eyes were until they were inches from each other. The last time they had gotten physical this way was in the ring at the KBF tournament as strangers years ago. Woo-jin realised he messed up, his eyes softened and he patted Geon-woo’s wrist twice.
“I’m sorry” he apologised softly. “I shouldn’t have said that”
”She’s not dead” Geon-woo repeated, this time less forceful and more weak and pleading. He was trying to convince himself that she wasn’t because he couldn’t handle it if she was. But the hope that was lighting up the flame was dwindling but he wouldn’t give up. Nari wouldn’t. She would’ve fought tooth and nail for him and he would do the same for her. He hoped Nari, wherever she was, was fighting as well
He released Woo-jin, muttering an apology as well and sunk back into his chair.
It was done now, Myeong-gil was a dead man walking. He’d solidified his fate the second he laid his hands on Nari. When Geon-woo sees Myeong-gil again it was on sight. He was not walking out of this alive.ย
Can you believe this book is almost over. There’s like 4 chapters left๐ญ๐ญ๐ญ
[text_hash] => d5a9b3f3
)