nightingale ↜ hhj

eleven ☾

Hyunjin and Maru met each other again the night after. The meeting was different, it was full of silence. None of them talked, their eyes spoke a thousand words but none came out of their mouths.

The winter wind wasn't even cold, they were both numb from the pain they felt inside. The only topic in mind was about her identity but yet neither of them had the courage to bring it up.

"Hyunjin I-"
"How do you know my name?"

Maru was startled, she shut her mouth. For a while she became silent again. Inside, she panicked but then she realised she had no reason to. Hyunjin already knew the ugly truth about her, and she wouldn't want to lie to him anymore.

"I'm a witch remember?" She answered with a soft laugh, but it somehow seemed a lot more painful than when Hyunjin called her by that title before.

"I'm sorry." She paused for a while, refused to look in his direction. "I'm sorry for lying to you, for tricking you. You don't deserve any of it." Maru stopped, she had a lot to say but she couldn't arrange it orderly to properly tell him.

"Maru, let's run away."

"What?" Her eyes rounded as she looked at Hyunjin. Every time, he never failed to make her heart skipped a beat. Either it was from his affections toward her or was it from his kindness. She truly didn't deserve him.

"You said if you didn't kill me the witch will do it herself, then let's escape. We go somewhere she can never find us." Hyunjin said, as he took her hand. His tone was serious. He meant every word he said.

"Hyunjin, it's not that easy." Maru placed her other hand on top of his. "She's much more powerful than me, she knows everything." This time, she looked right in his eyes. Her voice was softer than before, she wanted Hyunjin to escape, she wanted him to be safe.

"Then, we'll fight her. She can't be immortal. I don't want you to live this way, I want you to be free. Let's be together and escape all of this." He insisted.

"You can't, I tried before and she was indeed much more powerful than I am." She sighed. "You know what's funny? When you said I resembled a nightingale, I thought of my father. He once called me that as well, until he died." She said, there was sadness in her voice.

"He always called me his nightingale and told me to sing often, he was the only one who appreciated me and I never found anyone like that anymore, until I met you." Maru explained, and looked at Hyunjin. She saw how he had his eyes fixed on her.

"I'm grateful to have met you, I've never encountered anyone who was ever so sincere in anything he does. You saw me for who I am, and I am forever in debt-"

Without her being able to finish her sentence, Hyunjin kissed her on the lips and wrapped his arms around her. He had a feeling, he might not have the chance anymore. Maru held on to him as she shed tears, her heart was aching.

She felt warmth embracing her upon the kiss. It wasn't just him, it was his whole self. He was indeed a warm person, the kindest she had ever met, she had ever loved. It was breaking her that she can't be with him.

Both of them broke the kiss, and Hyunjin felt sorrow to see her crying once again. He wiped her tears and looked down on her. "Why are you crying?" He asked but he didn't get an answer, instead Maru hugged him.

"I truly love you and I'm sorry." She sobbed.

——— ☾———

Hyunjin woke up to a commotion out of his room. He recalled of what happened with Maru, but the loud voices of people outside were far more distracting.

He walked out of his room to see what was happening, only to see his whole family was gathered in what seemed like a tensed situation. He was confused, everything seemed fine but their faces said the opposite.

"What's going on?" He asked as a yawn escaped his mouth, he was feeling sleepy for the first time. Which was strange.

"The whole village is surprised with a new death at the Centre."
"What?"

Hyunjin was in shock, somehow he felt uneasy. Wasn't he supposed to die? He didn't know if it meant a good thing or not that someone else died. He caught Minho's eyes who was thinking the same thing as well.

"I have to go." Hyunjin said, he had to see it for himself. If that was the case, he and Maru could finally escape. They have one whole year to spare and prepare to get rid of the witch. He was determined to help her out of the curse.

"I'm coming with you." Minho said and the two brothers left the house. For certain reasons, Hyunjin was keen to see the situation himself.

It was wrong for him, he shouldn't feel happy for someone else's death, but this only meant he had a chance to save Maru from her cruel fate. This might be the last opportunity they had.

"Hyunjin, I don't think-"
"I have to see it for myself." Hyunjin insisted, it was weird for Minho to suddenly stop him. "No, you don't understand. The dead person-"

Minho didn't get to finish his sentence when Hyunjin started to run towards the Centre. He hurried after his brother as he had an uneasy feeling himself. Although he had not see it, but the rumours sounded awful especially for Hyunjin to see with his eyes.

As he caught after Hyunjin, he saw how stiff his brother was standing from the back as he faced the Centre. The low platform had a tall tower. People was crowding the platform. He stood on the tip of his toe to see what was on the platform.

A woman, dressed in black was lying down in a pool of blood. Her hands were wrinkled, her face was full of scars. It was horrendous and she looked awfully wicked. Not only that, her head was detached from her body. The death was similar to what the Captain once told on how a witch killed a villager before.

Minho's eyes darted to the tower. The tower was an attraction indeed when outsiders visited this village. The tower was tall and had a sharp point at the end, it was majestically beautiful but now it was a horror.

Up above, there was a body hung lifelessly. A rope was attached to the sharp point of the tower, connected to her neck. Her body was stiff, but yet she looked pleasingly beautiful. Her dress was a light blue, which was worn perfectly on her petite body. Then, Minho's eyes caught something.

The coat and the boots she was wearing was awfully familiar. It was then he realised, he saw Hyunjin with it once. His eyes darted from the girl and to his brother, he wasn't moving. Barely breathing, was this Maru?

——— ☾———

🐾Well, well a cliffhanger.
BRUH I DIED WITH GRRR AND THE MIXTAPE WAS FUNIFNF ON FIRE 🔥
im updating this from 6 feet under btw 💀