The Burning Lives

Tainted Blood

Suggested listening: ATEEZ - Still Here

While Jin and Hwoarang were trying to fix the kitchen table's leg before Eun-jung returned home from her afternoon trip, she was quietly sipping a milkshake at a cafe with her friends and boyfriend.

-...and so papa Jin lifted me in the air and made me spin and again and again! It was so unexpected of him, in a Courthouse, in front of a Judge. He must have been very, very happy.

-I would let your papa Jin lift me wherever he wanted, Eun-jung.

-Ichi!

-Just sayin'. You know I dig your papas. They're the epitome of handsome. And strong. And cool.

-Okay, okay, I got it. No more adjectives, please. I fear your mind.

-Let her have her fun, nabi. It's harmless, in the end.

"You know what is not harmless? Me."

-Oh, no.

-What?

-I... I forgot something at home. But it's no big deal, actually. Katashi, can you finish my milkshake? It's too much for me. And I need to go to the bathroom.

"You can't hide from me, little girl."

Eun-jung ran to the toilet while Katashi, Ichika and Anri looked at her funny.

-Is she okay?

-I don't know, Anri. She was acting weird. Plus, she can usually drink two of these. I will check on her in some minutes if she's not back.

She was sitting on the closed water closet, holding her head as if an enormous migraine hit her all of a sudden.

"You have forgotten who's in charge here. Time for a little reminder."

-Not now, not here, please... not in front of them!

"Scared to show them the truth? The little butterfly is actually a Devil. What a surprise for your sweetheart. I'd love to see that. Wouldn't you?"

-Please, please, please...

A couple of minutes passed, and nothing happened. No voice answered. Eun-jung looked at her arms, her face in the mirror, and everything was as it should be: a normal teenager, looking at herself. She sighed, and returned to her place among her friends. Katashi gave her a hug.

-Everything okay, nabi? You seemed worried.

-Yeah, no, everything's okay. Don't worry. As everyone is finished, can we go out and breathe some fresh air?

-Sure thing. Let's go for a walk.

They were slowly enjoying a stroll under the trees, talking about school and professors, when Eun-jung felt a hit deep inside her stomach. She stopped, holding her belly and letting out a painful sigh.

-Nabi! What is it?

Another blow hit her, this time accompanied by an electrostatic discharge which went through her whole body, to the tip of her fingers. She fell to the floor on her hands and knees. Her vision became blurry.

-Eun-jung! What's happening? Do we call an ambulance?

"For whom?"

Eun-jung threw her head behind her shoulders, her eyes white, her arms open on the sides, and she started floating in the air in front of her speechless friends. That's when her transformation started. First, the tattoos appeared on her body and face; then, the eyes turned glowing yellow, her finger to deadly stilettos, the gem emerged in the middle of her head and, at last, the horns and wings made their appearance. Katashi, Anri and Ichi couldn't believe their eyes.

-What... what is this?

-This is your nabi, only in her ultimate version. I bet she didn't talk about this, did she?

-I-I... I don't...

-Don't worry. Once I'm finished with you all, she will have troubles recognising you too. I've been waiting too long for this, what moment would be better than this one, when she's happiest?

-You're... monstruous. Evil. Give us our Eun-jung back!

-She's here, somewhere, witnessing what I'm about to do. But she can't stop me. No one here can. I will do as I please, unfortunately for you. And I will start from you, young man.

Katashi looked at the Devil with horror as it drew nearer with her stilettos pointed at his face. He was pinned against a wall and was ready to feel the slashing pain on his own flesh, when the creature before him started convulsing and shrieking. He tried escaping, but the Devil shouted, pinning him again against the cold rocks.

-NO! You won't escape! You both! AAAAH!

It slashed Katashi's cheek with the index finger, then it started convulsing again, this time falling to the ground and holding its head. Then, the stilettos slowly started to flash back into regular fingers, the tattoos faded, the horns and wings shrank, the gem disappeared and the eyes went from yellow to their normal, beautiful amber colour. Eun-jung looked at Katashi with begging eyes, and they spoke of forgiveness, but he just ran away from her, too scared to think of anything but to go home, and so did her friends. Eun-jung remained alone, in the middle of the street, crying and begging to wake up from this nightmare. When she regained some mental strength, she called her father.

-Papa, can you come pick me up, please?

-Hime, are you crying?

-Yes. I will explain. Not on the phone. Please, come quick. I'm at the park near school.

Jin, for once, drove like Hwoarang would and arrived in way too little time. He found a crying Eun-jung, smudged make-up all over her face, torn clothes and no friends in sight.

-Come, hime, you're safe. We're going home.

She told him everything that happened, included the fact that no one gave her the opportunity to at least try to explain what they saw. She felt guilty, helpless and alone. She also feared Katashi wouldn't have anything to do with her after what happened that afternoon.

-If he really loves you, he will come through. He will give you the chance to explain. And your friends will too. Now they're scared by what they just went through, you have to give them space and time. But eventually, everything will be okay. I promise.

-What did papa Hwoarang do the first time he saw your Devil?

-Well, I almost killed him. So, he asked his master to train him even harder because he wanted to beat the Hell out of me. You know, classic Hwoarang reaction.

Eun-jung laughed softly. -I want my life to be just like yours with papa.

-Don't think for a moment it was easy, hime. You hear the easy and sweet part maybe, but it had a lot of bumps and roadblocks too. At the beginning, and along all the way. No love story is ever easy. You have to work on it and earn the easy parts, you know what I'm saying?

-I think so, yes. Thank you, papa, for always encouraging me.

-I wouldn't be a good papa if I didn't. Look, we're home. Go tell Hwoarang what happened, you'll see he will say the same things I did.

Eun-jung hugged Jin tight and kissed him on the cheek, before running inside to his worried papa and telling him all about her complicated afternoon.

"I'm sorry, hime, about everything. The cause of everything is my tainted blood, and you have to suffer for it. I will never be sorry enough about it. Never."