'ιт тσσк σиℓу α мσмєит σf мємσяу вєfσяє ѕнє ∂яσωиє∂ ιи тнє тι∂є σf вℓυє σи¢є мσяє.'
She's over him. Right?
...
Not everyone can be an S-rank.
E-ranked Dae jong-in is the failure of her family. The younger sister of the 'ultimate soldier', she serves...
She paused, her hand on the doorknob. She'd forgotten how much she hated this smell. The way it permeated everything her mother touched. The way it clung to Dae's skin, heavy and cold as her mothers' expectations of her.
She breathed in. Breathed out.
The click of the door's well-oiled hinges echoed throughout the apartment. The five suit-clad figures seated at the table whipped around, tensing as Dae smiled, all teeth.
"Hey."
The silence fell like the thickest of blankets, smothering even the breathing of those around the table. Her mother's pair of red eyes widened, followed by those of her father's; frost-white, following every move she made. He swallowed, opened his mouth. Closed it again. Breathed in, his surprise dissipating.
"Dae."
Not a question, yet neither a statement, hovering there in the air between them, the man's voice as blank as his gaze. Dae confirmed it with a lazy nod.
She surveyed the room, taking notice of the three high-ranked hunters sitting at the table,their food now forgotten. Her eyes flicked to an open door in the corridor.
Her old room had been... renovated, it seemed. The walls; once a deep ocean blue, had been repainted with that lifeless sea-grey that covered the rest of the house's interior. In the centre of the room she could glimpse a large, ostentatious bed with gilded sheets that glinted dimly in the flickering light of a real chandelier. (Gods, what a fire hazard.)
Pretty, yet shallow. Lacking in personality, just like the people who dwelled in the house.
It reminded her of her cave, the opposite of this house; the sunken area worn in the floor, just large enough for a large dragon to fit her wings around three fast-growing hatchlings and a human. The wall that was covered in Li-ra's strange, detailed carvings. The divot that Chin-hae had melted out with her flames that served as their waterhole, the stone cavern never cold.
The air was cold in here, though. It tasted of ash despite the rose-scent that drifted through the building.
"Miss me?"
Dae sighed. Noted her parents' expressions. "Obviously not."
All of a sudden, it got under her skin. She'd been so sick of this, so tired of it all, and she'd just ignored it.
And in that moment, she made a decision- fast, un-thought-through, probably idiotic. "I just came back to inform you that I'm alive, but I'm not coming back."
Dae stopped herself before she could begin rambling and took one step back out of the doorway, turning her back on the goings-on in the room, then paused.
"Sorry for wasting your time."
And as she left, she realised that she had nowhere to stay the night.
☆★☆★
Dae yawned, mumbling to herself as she turned a corner. The police station was close, and there she could retrieve her wallet and phone. She could find a new job and a small apartment to rent near the place where Chin-hae was confined. She could slowly figure things out, she reassured herself. It would be okay.
She froze, someone's breath warm against the back of her neck. Dae twisted, her eyes wide. The man before her grinned.
"Got any money, sweetheart?"
Damn. So cliche.
She counted; two, five, six people. Not new to their business, heavily tattooed. Leaning forward, she whistled appreciatively. "Nice tattoo you've got there, mr..."
"Jacob," The man supplied reflexively, frowning, peering down at her face. "You look familiar. Television, maybe? Do you have a brother?"
She shrugged. "Can't remember seeing you anywhere before. And I'm broke right now, so if you'll excuse me..."
'Jacob' shook his head. "That's what they all say, girly. Hand it over, yeah? Any jewellery?"
"No, sorry."
The man shook his head. "Search her."
Dae held up one hand. "Gimme a sec, won't you?"
She stretched, the vertebrae in her back cracking, then grinned; A shark faced with easy prey. She stood unnaturally still, watching the six figures approaching her.
And when one of them took both her arms, making to push them behind her back, she wrested them from his control, stiffening two of her fingers, and dug them into the pressure point at the base of his collarbone, throwing a lazy jab at his throat.
Why should she bother using her power when she felt like a good fight?
They piled atop her, fists and knees bloodying her face. She shrunk back against the wall, then dropped. Crawled beneath their feet. Pushed herself back up, threw a hit at the back of the largest man's head, sending him toppling into the fray.
And she was gone around the other corner by the time the four remaining gangsters turned around, leaving the mess of people behind her, sprawled upon the concrete.
'Jacob' stooped, panting, digging in his pocket for his cigarettes.
His eyes widened.
His hand came up empty.
☆★☆★
Dae dropped the cigarettes in the nearest bin, shaking her head.
"Can't have you ruining your lungs, Mr. Jacob."
☆★☆★
Just some aimless violence because I felt like it. Don't mind me.
What do you think of Dae's reaction to her parents? Did she overreact or was it valid? Their past will probably be explored next chapter or the one after- sorry if it is a little unestablished or confusing.
