Dead End | Jun-ho

8 | The Theme of Vulnerability

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Oceanic air lightly blew into the sun-lit room through the slightly ajar bi-fold doors. Raes of sunlight created windows of golden around the area. The finely-grained sand mixed with the salty ocean as it crashed against the rocks, the peaceful noise being lightly heard from the room.

The man's mind was far from the tranquility around him. His head was in his hands, the left side of the bed dipped where he was sitting. Feet firmly on the floor; thighs separated; back slouched.

To say the least, he was worried. Whilst being his usual obnoxious self and shouting at Aera, her abrupt fainting had startled him. The guard had a rough idea on why she'd fainted. Although, it could have been more than one thing.

He's taken her up the back route, not wanting to draw any attention to himself and the girl he was carrying, all the way up to his room.

In the room where the second game had taken place, no guard had looked up. However, any lower status than the squares had been told to mind their own business and carry out their duty.

He wasn't supposed to be doing this, and he knew it.

Being a square-mask had its advantages, one being staying in a much nicer accommodation than the triangles and circles. Each square-mask had a large apartment, all to themselves.

The man placed his hand on his lower neck, taking a deep breath in before returning to fiddling with his hands in his lap. He'd been waiting ten minutes for her to wake up, ten minutes too long. His nervousness grew more and more by the second.

He shifted more onto the bed, turning his head around to gaze at her sleeping frame. His expression transformed to awe as he realised how peaceful she looked. All he wanted to do was lay down next to her and hold her close to him.

He lightly touched her forehead, stroking the small baby hairs out of her face and behind her ears.

"Please," For the first time in a very long time, the guard had finally shown some vulnerability to something, "Wake up."

That powerful façade had left him.

But only for now.

The man closed his eyes for a few seconds, taking in a small breath. He lifted up his mask and then softly placed a small kiss onto her forehead.

He'd wanted to do that for a while.

He wanted to touch her over and over again.

But when she was awake, Aera was like the devil in disguise.

She definitely wouldn't allow it.

A slight smile appeared on his face, staring at her once again. Her eyes flickered a little as the tiniest noise came from her mouth, signalling she was soon about to wake.

In a swift move, he moved back to the edge of the bed. He pulled his mask back down, ensuring she wouldn't see his face.

The large windows emitting the bright light made Aera's eyes wince as she finally woke up. Although feeling groggy, she was quick to notice him sitting on the bed, casually looking towards the floor.

She quickly averted her eyes from him, more concerned for where she was. A bedroom: plain and simple with a running theme of the beach. The door was wide open, looking out to the glowing outside. Aera felt as if she'd turned into a vampire, with her not been exposed to daylight for a couple of days.

"Where am I?" Aera swiftly sat up, reaching over to shove his shoulder to grab his attention.

The guard stared out of the large windows, almost as if he were pretending not to hear her, "You're welcome." he simply replied.