𝗬𝗔𝗡𝗚𝗗𝗘𝗥𝗘 ─ 𝗬𝗔𝗡𝗚 𝗝𝗨𝗡𝗚𝗪𝗢𝗡

XXV. Malevolence

Levi ran as fast as he could. Minji's weight however slowed him down drastically. If he were running alone, he would have been long gone already.

With every sprint that he took, he felt his legs giving up. At this point, he definitely cannot keep this up. He had to go find a place where it's impossible to find them.

Levi looked back as he ran, seeing that only 2 people are after them. Jay being a few steps behind them, and Heeseung at the same position as Jay, but right across the street.

Heeseung tsked, disappointed that he's running slower than he expected. Maybe he shouldn't have skipped leg day.

Crossing the street wasn't easy for him either. Trying to cross the street while he was in a state of panic would cause serious injuries. And it didn't seem like there would be no cars in the street any time soon, so Heeseung just followed them while being in the opposite side.

Jay however, lacks emotion. Unlike Heeseung - whom you can see the anger and concern in his eyes - Jay just had his eyes locked on to them like a target.

As they were running, Levi saw a park in the distance - a really big one. Without second thought, he entered it.

The birds on the floor suddenly flew away as Levi run past them. Even the bystanders by that area looked at Levi holding Minji - but none of them decided to interfere.

The park isn't actually an ordinary park, it's actually a park connected to the forest. The local government decided to adopt and take care of the forest as part of their deforestation program.

Levi saw it as the perfect place for them to hide. Surely the two men behind them should get lost in the woods.

There were two paths going into the forest - Levi chose to go to the right path.

Jay was right behind them, still chasing them - running at full speed like a crazy bounty hunter.

Meanwhile Heeseung who just got into the park gate, was not able to see where Jay nor Levi and Minji went.

He quickly brought out his phone to call Sunoo, but the person at the other end of the call didn't pick up. He tried calling Niki, but he got the same response.

Thankfully, Jake was able to pick up Heeseung's call.

"Heeseung hyung?" Jake asked. He didn't expect a call from his hyung.

"Jake where are you right now?" Heeseung asked, him panting heavily.

"I-I'm at a police station with Sunghoon. Are you okay?? What happened???" Jake asked.

He was definitely concerned upon hearing Heesung's heavy breathing.

"You're at the police station, good. I'm at the Seoul Conservation Park, go here now a-and bring a few cops with you."

"Cops??!! Hyung are you okay???"

"I-I'm fine, but Minji was kidnapped by some boy, so get here as fast as you can....please."

The 'please' in his sentence sounded really desperate. He wants to do everything he can to make sure Minji is safe and sound.

"Okay okay, will you wait for us??"

"There's no time. I think Jay would need help chasing them down, I'm going to help."

"Wait Jay's there too??!! Okay okay, we'll get there as soon as we can. Stay safe."

Heeseung dropped the call and continued to run towards the forest part of the park. He assumes that that's the only place that they could have gone.

He was unsure as to where to go. There were no foot prints or any clues that can help him decide which way to go, so he just relied on his guts and went to the left path.

---

Levi's body ached as he carried Minji while running. Not only that, but he was also panicking a bit, that he didn't even notice the root of a big tree.

He tripped on the root - sending himself flying and Minji flying even further.

Levi's head hit another tree - giving him much more pain. And on top of that, his arms had scratches and a few bruises.

He hissed at the pain. But right now, that is the least of his concerns.

He slowly crawled his way to Minji, but he stopped when he saw that he was too late.

Jay had was already standing right in front of Minji, checking if she was okay.

"I don't know who you are or what you want from this girl, but I need her more than you."

A female voice spoke. The wind blew stronger, carrying leaves along the trail.

"I should thank you though, you made it much easier for me."

The voice belonged to a female who suddenly appeared from behind the tree.

That female was Katsumi.

Levi looked at her in confusion and panic. Hearing her words - he automatically knew that the woman has ill intentions towards Minji.

He reached for the pocket in his jacket, but his hand came out empty handed.

"Looking for this?" Katsumi asked with a giggle. In her hand was the butterfly knife that was originally inside Levi's jacket pocket.

The knife had fallen out of his pocket when he tripped.

"I don't want to hurt you, and you don't want to hurt me. Why don't you just go home little boy?" Katsumi said with her sultry voice.

"What are you going to do with her? Why are you kidnapping her?" Levi asked, eyes squinted and fists closed.

"You? Ask me that?" Katsumi laughed.

"Didn't you kidnap her first? You're funny." she added, laughing even more.

"I didn't kidnap her. That boy was trying to harm her, I'm just trying to help her." Levi said as he pointed at Jay.

Jay still looked lifeless - same as he looked earlier.

"Hmm? And why do you say that?"

"I'm not stupid. I know when something is off. And that guy's eyes...something's wrong..."

Katsumi glared at Levi. It seems that this boy has an idea of what is happening.

She changed her mind. She can't afford to let a witness go so soon. If anything, she can't allow him to go at all.

"You should have left when you had the chance."

Jay started walking closer to Levi, and the younger automatically knew that he'd have to fight his way through this.

"One henchman. Fine. I can do this-" Levi said confidently, readying himself and his fists.

Suddenly, two other boys appeared from behind the same tree Katsumi came from.

Levi looked at the two boys in confusion. He's seen these faces somewhere. And he's seen them recently.

The two boys were Sunoo and Niki. And just like Jay, they were under Katsumi's control.

"I think..."

----

author's note:

did anyone notice the new book cover? 👀👀 i tried changing the cover to match the events of the story :>>>