𝑯𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝑰𝒔 𝑶𝒖𝒓𝒔 ✓

Chapter 23

"HAND him over now," Mal snapped, glaring at the two men. They happened to not even give her a glimpse of attention, like they did a few moments before, because their eyes rested on the black suitcase, with the stacks of green dollar bills built neatly inside it.

"Give me my husband back!" She yelled, snapping them out of their thoughts.

The three men then glanced at the shaking boy, then at each other.

Then, in the back seat of the black van.

"Shall we?"

The other two grinned, "we shall."

Hyunjin took a glance at his wife, who was standing at a fair distance away from him, then put his hands together to mouth a small 'please'. She nodded with pure sympathy in her eyes.

One of the men then made a single, quick move to reach for whatever they were looking for earlier in the back seat.

And got out a significantly small, black box.

Hyunjin's eyes widened while his legs bounced up and down in anxiety. "W-What are you d-doing?"

"Be quiet, slut," the man ordered, causing Mal's eyes to widen in disbelief. She repeatedly shook her head just as they opened the box, revealing a long syringe.

In the moonlight, she spotted its sharp tip oozing with white, almost transparent liquid. The syringe's body was filled halfway with the same liquid.

The sight made her shake her head in horror as she shook her head once again, taking occasional glances at her terrified husband. The boy continued to shake his head, putting his hands together as he muttered pleas for mercy.

And was taken aback by the other two men grasping him by his two, skinny wrists, the movement causing him to fly off the ground. The two men smirked once again and with the help of their other, free arms, they grasped the boy's thighs and squeezed.

"N-No!" Mal yelled, tears running down her face at the sight of her husband in distress. "Hey—you got what you wanted! Please, let him go!"

The boy continued to struggle and thrash his legs in different directions, his mono-lid eyes turning into balls of fear as the syringe inched its way closer to his left thigh.

"No! Please, no!"

The men continued to glance at each other, faint smirks of evil covering their mouths. The first man continued to drive the syringe closer to the boy's thigh, eventually hitting the soft skin.

And stabbing it with all his might.

Hyunjin let out a blood-curdling scream, causing Mal's body to jolt a little while she shook her head, allowing tears to pour down her face.

"Please! Just let him go, please!" She screamed, watching her husband's tears streaming down his face while screaming out pleas for mercy. "You got what you wanted! Just send him over here so we can leave, please!"

The men's expressions changed into frustration. Injecting the liquid into the younger's body, the first man then ripped the syringe away, resulting in the two other men shoving the boy away from them.

He stumbled a bit, reaching down to grasp his now aching thigh. He took a weak step forward, his eyes fixated on his wife, who was standing away from him with open arms, nodding lightly as a form of encouragement.

"Go, slut!" A man screamed. "Unless you've suddenly changed your mind."

Never. The boy immediately thought. Never in a million years.

"You can do it, pretty..." She muttered, high enough for him to hear. "I'm here. I got you. Just... Come over here, okay? You can do it."

His vision blurred. His grasp on his thigh tightened as he stumbled forward slowly, away from the evil men. His legs ached for rest and his muscles uncontrollably relaxed.

"No," he pleaded, tears escaping his eyes and glistening under the moonlight, "please..."

"You can do it, beautiful! Please, only a few more steps, okay?"

He let out soft, audible sobs as soon as his stomach heaved. The familiar, hot, golden liquid streamed between his thighs, eliciting a soft groan from the back of his throat. His body ached and he stretched his arms for a few, brief moments to catch up to her. His vision blurred once again, this time the green-grassed ground swayed beneath his weak feet.

"I-I'm a m-mess," he stuttered, his voice shaking with pain, "D-Dizzy... So dizzy."

"It's okay, beautiful," she shook her head in reassurance. "It doesn't matter. You're almost there, honey. We get to be together again. Just like that, my beautiful baby."

He took a few, weak steps closer to her. He was almost there, he assured himself, only a few steps away from the woman he had loved to death. He could do this, couldn't he?

"Y-Yeah. Almost t-there."

He stumbled forward once more, a few steps closer to his target. "G-Gonna pass out..."

She shook her head, "just a few more steps, okay? Please, baby, for me. For me."

Anything for her, he immediately thought, taking more large steps close to the end of the lawn. He was only a few feet away from her now. The men were watching his every step, probably thinking about ways to ruin his life further.

"F-Freezing..." he weakly muttered, the cold air hitting his hypersensitive body from every direction.

"Please, baby..." She begged, her voice echoing through his now throbbing head. "You can do it."

A few steps closer. That was it.

As soon as he was around five feet away from her, she hurried towards him and dragged him away from the men, eventually engulfing him in a tight, long-awaited hug.

He fell to his knees almost immediately, and she soon followed. She hugged his waist as tightly as she could go just as he broke down into loud, weak sobs.

"Shh," she cooed, "it's okay, beautiful. You're here, safe with me. I won't let you go, ever."

His palms turned into fists while he held onto her shirt, tears streaming down his face and lightly wetting her cotton t-shirt.

"I-I..."

"Shh, pretty. It's okay."

She snuggled his weak, shivering body against hers tightly. It was only then that she realized how cold he actually was. His body continued to tremble and shiver beside hers while he sobbed, his muscles aching once again.

"It's okay..."

She then shoved him away gently, then took off her long, black coat and wrapped it around his torso. He muttered weak apologies and repeated words of gratitude.

"You can come out now." She darkly whispered.

And since he was too focused on hugging her, he couldn't bring himself to care. The couple watched the three men smirk and wave at them, then make their way inside the black van.

"You're safe with me, beautiful," she whispered. His eyes rolled back in his head and his vision blurred.

"J-Jagiya... I'm d-dizzy."

She shushed him once again and squeezed his body closer, eventually planting kisses on his forehead and his soft, damp hair while his body turned limp between her arms.

"Police! Put your hand behind your head!"

That was the last thing Hyunjin heard before he gave into the darkness.