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“Are you okay?”
Nari glanced away from the warm cup of tea in her hands, which she had made for herself and Hyeon-ju upon their arrival at one of Mr Choi’s hidden warehouses in the more latent parts of Seoul. A place far away from prying eyes and ears.
Woo-jin and Geon-woo entered the room, relatively unscathed but definitely somewhat nervous. It had been a night unlike any the four friends had been on and one could tell the night had not been so kind by the barely noticeable tremor in their hands.ย Her wary eyes raked over their bodies for any flag of injuries, her stare lingering on Geon-wo who didn’t shy away from the woman as he too scanned her from head to toe to ensure there wasn’t so much of a scratch on her.
“We’re fine. You?” Nari answered as Hyeon-ju joined her side. Geon-woo nodded and she let out a relieved sigh in return. “That’s great, where Jang-do?” she asked.
“Downstairs with Mr Hwang and Mr Lee” Woo-jin informed before returning her question with equal trepidation. “Kim Jun- min?”
“We got him” Nari answered, glancing at Hyeon-ju who smiled lightly.
“She’s pretty bad ass” Hyeon-ju complimented. Nari flushed, bumping her shoulder with the woman as she dismissed them.
“I can imagine” Geon-woo muttered beneath his breath, his eyes sparkling as they usually do, and Nari felt her flush deepen.
“So, what happens next?” Nari asked, trying to divert the attention that was suddenly centred around them. Both Woo-jin and Hyeon-ju were smirking widely, glancing at each other with knowing stares. It was embarrassing how dense their friends were.
“Mr Hwang asked for salt, do you know where it is?” Woo-jin asked and Nari nodded.
“I saw it earlier” she said, opening a cupboard where a heavy bag of course salt rested. “Why do they need salt?” she asked and all three shrugged simultaneously.
“I guess we’ll find out” Nari concluded and Woo-jin took the salt bag from her hands, while Geon-woo found a bucket which was apparently supposed to be used to make salt water. What for, she wasn’t so sure. But she followed after them as they filled it and emptied the bag of salt into the bucket before lifting a tarp to where Yang-jung and Du-yeong had finished strapping a squirming Im Jang- do to a chair. Both his eyes and mouth were taped shut, arms tied tightly behind his back and ankles to chair legs. He was grunting, jostling and probably slewing them at the same time.
Nari had an uneasy feeling in her chest when she noticed the man entrapped before them. Both Du-yeong and Yang-jung suddenly looking like completely different people than how she usually viewed them. Her gut twisted when Geon-woo placed the bucket before them.
“Sit down and watch” Yang-jung instructed, not glancing at the four of them as he swished his hand in the salt water, giving it a deep stir that only fuelled Nari’s wariness.
Du-yeong couldn’t meet Nari’s eyes. He had openly objected to Mr Choi’s order of having them stay and watch. He had made her witness him kill someone already, he did not want to scar her from having to see someone being tortured alive next. But orders were ordersย Yang-jung had muttered, himself uneasy but his sense of duty overruled his confliction. They had no choice. If this is how they were to continue, they needed to know exactly what it took to be a bloodhound.
Yang -jung slowly placed his fingers into black gloves, eyeing I’m Jang-do with distaste as if he was a mere inconvenience. ” My pet peeve is people not talking when they say they’re going to” he said “that means you’ll nod your head only when you have something to say to us” he blowed into the other glove, his tone low and threatening and a chill ran down Nari’s spine. She didn’t know what they were going to do. ” Because if you nod and don’t talk, I promise I will cut your lips off” Nari believed him.
Nari felt bile rise in her throat, taking a step back when Du-yeong lifted a machine, the blades whirring to life and spinning so violently and loudly it overpowered Jang-do’s confused murmurs. His hands too were covered in protection and her suspicions were true when he suddenly pressed it down onto Jang- do’s thigh.
The man twisted in anguish, thrashing to his best ability, everything was tied down to the chair and all he could do was wiggle and let out of muffled grunts and screams of pain.
Nari winced as the stench of flesh hit her hard, it didn’t help when Yang -jung reached into the bucket, his hands soaking in the salt water before placing it on the raw, open and bleeding wound. Jang-do’s muffled cry was disastrous.
Hyeon-ju looked away but Nari couldn’t tear her eyes from the scene. She felt sick. Hearing their stories versus seeing it was two entirely different experiences. Her chest rose with each large inhale as she tried to simmer her erratic heart. All four of them were struggling to keep themselves composed.
Geon-woo glanced at her, sensing her distress, he himself was struggling to stomach the events before him. His hand slowly reached for hers and Nari swallowed thickly, her eyes watering before she let him encase his warm hand in her shaky ones. They held their conjoined hands behind their backs and returned their focus to Jang-do’s torturous screams.
They repeated the process over and over again, each time Jang-dos muffled wails grew and his thrashes became more violent. Nari lifted her hand to her mouth, her stomach churning and she simply couldn’t watch anymore. Hyeon-ju looked worse, gagging with each scream she couldn’t handle it when Yang-jung dumped a heap of salt onto Jang-do’s flesh wound.
Hyeon-ju ran out of the tent, stumbling as she did so and Nari wanted to follow. She glanced at Geon-woo and both turned to Woo-jin who nodded. He’d see this through for them.
Geon-woo and Nari tumbled after Hyeon-ju who curled into herself, puking whatever was left in her body onto the side of a graffitied wall.
“I can’t go back in” Nari said trembling. “I thought I could handle it but I can’t. I can’t see them doing that and I can’t unhear his screams” Nari cried, tears rolling down her cheeks as her breathing picked up.
”Then don’t. I’ll go back in. You go sit upstairs, we’ll come when it’s over” he told her, gently cupping her cheeks as he swiped his thumb over and under her eyes, catching the droplets before they’d fall further.
“Do not force yourself” he whispered, before shooting her a comforting smile. “Go, before they call us back”
“Will you be okay?” she asked, her teary eyes meeting his. She knew he felt just as disturbed as she did, his gut wrenching at every second he was in there, but he had been a little stronger than she was or rather he hid it better. He would push through to ensure she wouldn’t have to. But it didn’t mean it didn’t pain him any less.
”I will, now go. I’ll check on Hyeon-ju and we’ll be back” he said, and she nodded reluctantly, shooting Hyeon-ju a worried glance but he merely weakly smiled and slightly ushered her up the stairs to escape this nightmare.
He stayed rooted to his spot until she disappeared but no matter how far Nari ran, she would never be able to rid herself of Im Jang-do’s screams, no matter how much he and his comrades had taken from her.ย
I’ll double update as compensation for not uploading yesterday ๐ญ
You all know what’s coming up next ๐
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