<---GIVE ME BACK MY HUSBAND!!! Part 5
In high school, I wasn’t really the best runner, just an occasional leading in a track event makes me one of the prominent figures, a promising athlete in the school’s eyes. I can throw spears, and jump an impressive amount of length too, but I was careful not to drive myself too far, to draw too much attention than it was good for me. The last thing I would want to happen was having eyes boring on my back wherever I go, and have sponsors running after me to get me to agree with their endless promotions. I was careful not to get anyone too close, no one else than my close friends, those who had known me since forever. I’d never give out much about myself, just things that normal people would have known even if they didn’t ask themselves- my age, my gender, where I came from originally, tops. Nothing more than that. Now, suddenly I’d regret my decision. If I had just taken up sports and just be good and busy with my trainings, then I wouldn’t have met Taemin uppa, and we wouldn’t have fallen for each other and get married. And all of this would be nothing but a bad dream, not reality.
I used to love the feel of adrenaline gushing through my veins every time I run, as if I had liquid lead in my body instead of blood. I would spend even at least an hour each day to give myself a time to find peace by running. I enjoyed the feel of air rushing past me as I tried to defy the odds and save myself an amount of gratitude with speed. Now, I’m not so sure if I could really make it. There’s no sense of victory that seems to hang in the air for me this day.
I stared, my eyes empty, outside the window as the trees rushed by in a green blur. The uppas were crammed in the backseat, silently preparing them for the worst. I knew what they must be thinking, and believe me; I was just as worried as they were. But the ringing of the silence stopped us from discussing the possibilities any further. At this point of time, I thought, even a small piece of luck would do.
Closer and closer, and finally, as if a day had gone by instead of a few minutes, we reached the foot of the building. The entrance was blocked by iron gates that leaned over us, perfectly covering us from the scorching sun in its shadow. It was held close together by a long piece of silver chain, but wasn’t locked. This made me surer that I wasn’t heading to the wrong direction. If we were lucky enough, we might find Victoria up in the roof, waiting for me to get this over with. But indeed, that would need me a big chunk of frigging luck to get Victoria to let that happen. She wouldn’t want the exciting game to end too abruptly before causing me much hurt than she wanted to.
Onew uppa stepped before us and pushed the iron gates slowly. The silver chain that linked the gates fell to the concrete ground with a loud ring that seemed to echo in every direction.
“I’ll go on my own now,” I said without turning my back to face them.
Just as I was about to set my right foot into the entrance, a hand grabbed me by the shoulder, locking me in its tight grip. I struggled to keep my balance as he turned me backwards to face them all, right into the exasperated faces of the uppas, eyes boring on me, flaming with anger. Anger for not letting them in and lend a helping hand. Anger for not believing.
I shrugged off his hand and made an attempt to sound stern, but my voice sounded more like a whimper. “You heard her, she wants me here alone. No company.”
“That’s what she says. She might not be alone herself up there. Suppose she has someone else with her, one whole gang, they can easily take you down without a fight,” Minho uppa glowered above me, “We know this is not going to be a fair fight from the start, Soo-Jin. They’re going to make the situation favorable for them in any ways. You need us there, no buts.”
When they start making their decision, there was no way that I could make them change it. So I just let them tag along, or it was me that was given the permission to go with them, I don’t know.
The tower had long been abandoned, and clearly neglected. There was no hope to get the elevators working in a building that had been left for more than 8 years by the time, so we had to take the stairs. All 24 levels. And the uppas didn’t even let out a pant.
As we reached the 23rd floor, I couldn’t get my nerves to rest. I was practically jumping in my boots, the exhaustion drained out of me in a flourish. My cheeks were flushed from the exercise, my jacket drenched with sweat. I sprinted up the stairs to the 24th floor, and halted at the door that led to the rooftop, my hand gripping the doorknob, a sudden wave of fear flooding me. Key uppa was the first to keep up with me. He loosened my tight grip on the doorknob and my hand fell to my side. Whatever there was that lies waiting for us behind this closed door, I wasn’t ready for it. I couldn’t bear with the possibilities of what might lie ahead for us- a death trap? A gaping hole, waiting for us to plunge into the darkness, and never come out again? Taemin uppa, his skin as cold as ice, the blood and life drained out of him, beaten to death?
“Stay behind,” Onew uppa whispered in my ear, and one by one, they stepped before me in a protective way, concealing me from what was waiting out the on the rooftop for us. I didn’t hesitate this time. For the first time in my life, I let my fears overcome me.
The door opened a crack. A swoosh of air escaped from the small opening, icy against our skin. Assured that there was no axe-murderer hiding behind the walls waiting to pounce on us, Key uppa nudged the door open wider, and stepped out into the cold. As expected, the air was unbelievably cool. It swooshed by, attacking us with sudden heavy gusts, came and went hauntingly. My hands felt clammy despite the weather. I didn’t realize that I was clutching for dear life on Onew uppa’s hand until he made a move to push me further behind him, motioning me to steer clear out of this, to stay behind and let them carry on. But I didn’t want to. I summed up whatever courage that was left in me and shook my head, my eyebrows furrowed in determination. “I can run if anything happens,” I assured him, and Onew uppa turned his attention back to what lay in front of us, not willing to start another argument.
We could see the rest of Seoul high up on this tower. The wind carried the buzzing of life that lay under us. I could hear the sound of the vehicles on the streets; it was peak hour of the day. Distant conversations, laughter, shouting. The scent baking bread from a nearby bakery. The smell of bouquets of flowers being arranged by expert hands at a nursery not far from where we were standing high up in the air. This was the closest we could get to safety, if it wasn’t for the thought that someone might be hiding here, awaiting, searching for a hole in our defense, ready to stab the life out of us. Where are you, Victoria? I whispered to myself. I’ve come now, so just get out from wherever you are hiding.
“Nothing. No one here, I guess.” Key uppa gestured that it was safe enough for us to step ahead, and we did. The rooftop spread wide before us. Now that I’d noticed, the sky was getting darker by the minute. We scanned the rest of the place, spotting something very unusual but couldn’t really get a finger on it. For a place that was abandoned for more or less 8 years, the place was unusually pretty.. Clean. If it was the right word to describe it. Beside from the rusting antennas that laid scattered on the floor and a beaten, old Ford Fiesta perched at the corner of the skyscraper, there was nothing left to describe the rest of the place.
And old car, that was making this whole thing unusual. An old car… on the top of the roof?
Onew uppa spotted the old thing before me and was already making his way to the car, with slow, curious steps, with the other uppas trailing behind him. I followed them, my lips sealed shut, my tongue frozen in its place. If there was someone waiting to kill us, running could even be a challenge for me. My legs were so wobbly that it felt like jelly.
We crept closer to the car, the small details of it got more clear and visible now that we were standing at such a short distance from it. The white spots where the paint was peeled off, the rust that had made a hole in the bodice of the car. Onew uppa stepped closer and finally reached it. His back was hunched as he bent down to look through the window that was shrouded with mist, his eyes peering, eyebrows furrowed. For a minute, his face was expressionless. Minho uppa immediately flanked himself to Onew uppa’s side, knocking him away as he tried to figure out what was waiting in the car himself.
Something was not right. I looked at Onew uppa, searching for at least a tinge of emotion that could suggest what it was in the car that could knock him into such a trance. Agony. Pain. Confusion. They were pooled in, mixed in a jumble of knots in Onew uppa's cold stare.
“Uppa? Is everything… alright?” I croaked. I started to step closer to them, my feet making baby steps on the concrete ground, shaky and frightful. What is it? I wanted to scream to them. Tell me what it is!
Onew uppa looked past me, I knew that he was trying to telling Key uppa something from his glare. But I didn’t care what they were talking about in their heads. I wanted nothing but to have a look for what there was in the car myself, to see if my nightmare was really coming true. If he was really there, just as I feared and hoped he would.. either dead, or alive.
“Key! Take her away, now!” Onew uppa bellowed. “Now!”
“What is it?! Let me see it myself!” I screamed. Key uppa was already standing behind me, his hands locked at my sides, pulling me away from the car as I struggled to get myself out of his iron grip. He was holding me too tight. So tight that he must’ve stopped the circulation in my hands, but that did nothing about my fastened heartbeat, the constant thumping in my chest that just got louder and louder. My eyes were locked on the car. Whatever it was that they wanted to hide from me, they’re not going to succeed in doing so. So I fought.
It was such a weak action, I know, but it was the only resolution I could find to get myself out of Key uppa’s tight embrace. Cursing myself for having to take such action, I drew a deep, ragged breath, and plunged my face onto Key uppa’s bare arm that locked me in a tight hold, and bit, as hard as my strength let me.
Key uppa screamed in agony and automatically, his hands fell, accidentally releasing me. Once freed, I sprinted right next to Minho uppa, a flood of emotions engulfing me. And I finally see it. What it was that laid waiting for me in the car, what Victoria had arranged for me. My heartbeat seemed to stop. My eyes widened in terror. My arms fell limply to my sides. Bile rose from my stomach, into my mouth, threatening to spill out.
“Minho! Get her away from here!” I heard Onew uppa bellowed behind me. Steel hands grasped me from behind, but this time I didn’t fight them off. Not that I didn’t want to, but I couldn’t find the strength in me to do it. I was still as a stone, as the reality of was I saw in the car settled in my mind. One by one.
I knew this was coming. I knew what was waiting for me… there.
The blond hair, the cracked lips. His eyes bulged in their sockets, a sign of pain and terror at the last seconds of his life. The bludgeoned body, spilled with blood. His head was tilted to the side, his mouth open to a gaping hole. He must’ve been screaming, calling for help as they tried to kill him. The seats, the vinyl covers- they were all soaked in the sickly red liquid. His clothes were nothing but shreds that fell off from his shoulders, exposing his bare chest. But that was just it. There, in his chest, where his heart was supposed to be, was nothing but a gaping, bloody hole. Empty.
It took me less than a minute to let it register into my mind. And then my eyes finally saw through the dead body, the agonized face frozen since the time of his death. I recognized who this was, and then I saw not the corpse that we couldn’t save, but the image of his face smiling down at me on my wedding day, handing me the bouquet of flowers and pecking me lightly on my forehead. The very same face that used to smile soothingly at me before.
I was knocked out of air. My lungs felt empty, parched, burned.
I plunged myself to him his dead body, my mind momentarily lost.
“Uppa!!”
In high school, I wasn’t really the best runner, just an occasional leading in a track event makes me one of the prominent figures, a promising athlete in the school’s eyes. I can throw spears, and jump an impressive amount of length too, but I was careful not to drive myself too far, to draw too much attention than it was good for me. The last thing I would want to happen was having eyes boring on my back wherever I go, and have sponsors running after me to get me to agree with their endless promotions. I was careful not to get anyone too close, no one else than my close friends, those who had known me since forever. I’d never give out much about myself, just things that normal people would have known even if they didn’t ask themselves- my age, my gender, where I came from originally, tops. Nothing more than that. Now, suddenly I’d regret my decision. If I had just taken up sports and just be good and busy with my trainings, then I wouldn’t have met Taemin uppa, and we wouldn’t have fallen for each other and get married. And all of this would be nothing but a bad dream, not reality.
I used to love the feel of adrenaline gushing through my veins every time I run, as if I had liquid lead in my body instead of blood. I would spend even at least an hour each day to give myself a time to find peace by running. I enjoyed the feel of air rushing past me as I tried to defy the odds and save myself an amount of gratitude with speed. Now, I’m not so sure if I could really make it. There’s no sense of victory that seems to hang in the air for me this day.
I stared, my eyes empty, outside the window as the trees rushed by in a green blur. The uppas were crammed in the backseat, silently preparing them for the worst. I knew what they must be thinking, and believe me; I was just as worried as they were. But the ringing of the silence stopped us from discussing the possibilities any further. At this point of time, I thought, even a small piece of luck would do.
Closer and closer, and finally, as if a day had gone by instead of a few minutes, we reached the foot of the building. The entrance was blocked by iron gates that leaned over us, perfectly covering us from the scorching sun in its shadow. It was held close together by a long piece of silver chain, but wasn’t locked. This made me surer that I wasn’t heading to the wrong direction. If we were lucky enough, we might find Victoria up in the roof, waiting for me to get this over with. But indeed, that would need me a big chunk of frigging luck to get Victoria to let that happen. She wouldn’t want the exciting game to end too abruptly before causing me much hurt than she wanted to.
Onew uppa stepped before us and pushed the iron gates slowly. The silver chain that linked the gates fell to the concrete ground with a loud ring that seemed to echo in every direction.
“I’ll go on my own now,” I said without turning my back to face them.
Just as I was about to set my right foot into the entrance, a hand grabbed me by the shoulder, locking me in its tight grip. I struggled to keep my balance as he turned me backwards to face them all, right into the exasperated faces of the uppas, eyes boring on me, flaming with anger. Anger for not letting them in and lend a helping hand. Anger for not believing.
I shrugged off his hand and made an attempt to sound stern, but my voice sounded more like a whimper. “You heard her, she wants me here alone. No company.”
“That’s what she says. She might not be alone herself up there. Suppose she has someone else with her, one whole gang, they can easily take you down without a fight,” Minho uppa glowered above me, “We know this is not going to be a fair fight from the start, Soo-Jin. They’re going to make the situation favorable for them in any ways. You need us there, no buts.”
When they start making their decision, there was no way that I could make them change it. So I just let them tag along, or it was me that was given the permission to go with them, I don’t know.
The tower had long been abandoned, and clearly neglected. There was no hope to get the elevators working in a building that had been left for more than 8 years by the time, so we had to take the stairs. All 24 levels. And the uppas didn’t even let out a pant.
As we reached the 23rd floor, I couldn’t get my nerves to rest. I was practically jumping in my boots, the exhaustion drained out of me in a flourish. My cheeks were flushed from the exercise, my jacket drenched with sweat. I sprinted up the stairs to the 24th floor, and halted at the door that led to the rooftop, my hand gripping the doorknob, a sudden wave of fear flooding me. Key uppa was the first to keep up with me. He loosened my tight grip on the doorknob and my hand fell to my side. Whatever there was that lies waiting for us behind this closed door, I wasn’t ready for it. I couldn’t bear with the possibilities of what might lie ahead for us- a death trap? A gaping hole, waiting for us to plunge into the darkness, and never come out again? Taemin uppa, his skin as cold as ice, the blood and life drained out of him, beaten to death?
“Stay behind,” Onew uppa whispered in my ear, and one by one, they stepped before me in a protective way, concealing me from what was waiting out the on the rooftop for us. I didn’t hesitate this time. For the first time in my life, I let my fears overcome me.
The door opened a crack. A swoosh of air escaped from the small opening, icy against our skin. Assured that there was no axe-murderer hiding behind the walls waiting to pounce on us, Key uppa nudged the door open wider, and stepped out into the cold. As expected, the air was unbelievably cool. It swooshed by, attacking us with sudden heavy gusts, came and went hauntingly. My hands felt clammy despite the weather. I didn’t realize that I was clutching for dear life on Onew uppa’s hand until he made a move to push me further behind him, motioning me to steer clear out of this, to stay behind and let them carry on. But I didn’t want to. I summed up whatever courage that was left in me and shook my head, my eyebrows furrowed in determination. “I can run if anything happens,” I assured him, and Onew uppa turned his attention back to what lay in front of us, not willing to start another argument.
We could see the rest of Seoul high up on this tower. The wind carried the buzzing of life that lay under us. I could hear the sound of the vehicles on the streets; it was peak hour of the day. Distant conversations, laughter, shouting. The scent baking bread from a nearby bakery. The smell of bouquets of flowers being arranged by expert hands at a nursery not far from where we were standing high up in the air. This was the closest we could get to safety, if it wasn’t for the thought that someone might be hiding here, awaiting, searching for a hole in our defense, ready to stab the life out of us. Where are you, Victoria? I whispered to myself. I’ve come now, so just get out from wherever you are hiding.
“Nothing. No one here, I guess.” Key uppa gestured that it was safe enough for us to step ahead, and we did. The rooftop spread wide before us. Now that I’d noticed, the sky was getting darker by the minute. We scanned the rest of the place, spotting something very unusual but couldn’t really get a finger on it. For a place that was abandoned for more or less 8 years, the place was unusually pretty.. Clean. If it was the right word to describe it. Beside from the rusting antennas that laid scattered on the floor and a beaten, old Ford Fiesta perched at the corner of the skyscraper, there was nothing left to describe the rest of the place.
And old car, that was making this whole thing unusual. An old car… on the top of the roof?
Onew uppa spotted the old thing before me and was already making his way to the car, with slow, curious steps, with the other uppas trailing behind him. I followed them, my lips sealed shut, my tongue frozen in its place. If there was someone waiting to kill us, running could even be a challenge for me. My legs were so wobbly that it felt like jelly.
We crept closer to the car, the small details of it got more clear and visible now that we were standing at such a short distance from it. The white spots where the paint was peeled off, the rust that had made a hole in the bodice of the car. Onew uppa stepped closer and finally reached it. His back was hunched as he bent down to look through the window that was shrouded with mist, his eyes peering, eyebrows furrowed. For a minute, his face was expressionless. Minho uppa immediately flanked himself to Onew uppa’s side, knocking him away as he tried to figure out what was waiting in the car himself.
Something was not right. I looked at Onew uppa, searching for at least a tinge of emotion that could suggest what it was in the car that could knock him into such a trance. Agony. Pain. Confusion. They were pooled in, mixed in a jumble of knots in Onew uppa's cold stare.
“Uppa? Is everything… alright?” I croaked. I started to step closer to them, my feet making baby steps on the concrete ground, shaky and frightful. What is it? I wanted to scream to them. Tell me what it is!
Onew uppa looked past me, I knew that he was trying to telling Key uppa something from his glare. But I didn’t care what they were talking about in their heads. I wanted nothing but to have a look for what there was in the car myself, to see if my nightmare was really coming true. If he was really there, just as I feared and hoped he would.. either dead, or alive.
“Key! Take her away, now!” Onew uppa bellowed. “Now!”
“What is it?! Let me see it myself!” I screamed. Key uppa was already standing behind me, his hands locked at my sides, pulling me away from the car as I struggled to get myself out of his iron grip. He was holding me too tight. So tight that he must’ve stopped the circulation in my hands, but that did nothing about my fastened heartbeat, the constant thumping in my chest that just got louder and louder. My eyes were locked on the car. Whatever it was that they wanted to hide from me, they’re not going to succeed in doing so. So I fought.
It was such a weak action, I know, but it was the only resolution I could find to get myself out of Key uppa’s tight embrace. Cursing myself for having to take such action, I drew a deep, ragged breath, and plunged my face onto Key uppa’s bare arm that locked me in a tight hold, and bit, as hard as my strength let me.
Key uppa screamed in agony and automatically, his hands fell, accidentally releasing me. Once freed, I sprinted right next to Minho uppa, a flood of emotions engulfing me. And I finally see it. What it was that laid waiting for me in the car, what Victoria had arranged for me. My heartbeat seemed to stop. My eyes widened in terror. My arms fell limply to my sides. Bile rose from my stomach, into my mouth, threatening to spill out.
“Minho! Get her away from here!” I heard Onew uppa bellowed behind me. Steel hands grasped me from behind, but this time I didn’t fight them off. Not that I didn’t want to, but I couldn’t find the strength in me to do it. I was still as a stone, as the reality of was I saw in the car settled in my mind. One by one.
I knew this was coming. I knew what was waiting for me… there.
The blond hair, the cracked lips. His eyes bulged in their sockets, a sign of pain and terror at the last seconds of his life. The bludgeoned body, spilled with blood. His head was tilted to the side, his mouth open to a gaping hole. He must’ve been screaming, calling for help as they tried to kill him. The seats, the vinyl covers- they were all soaked in the sickly red liquid. His clothes were nothing but shreds that fell off from his shoulders, exposing his bare chest. But that was just it. There, in his chest, where his heart was supposed to be, was nothing but a gaping, bloody hole. Empty.
It took me less than a minute to let it register into my mind. And then my eyes finally saw through the dead body, the agonized face frozen since the time of his death. I recognized who this was, and then I saw not the corpse that we couldn’t save, but the image of his face smiling down at me on my wedding day, handing me the bouquet of flowers and pecking me lightly on my forehead. The very same face that used to smile soothingly at me before.
I was knocked out of air. My lungs felt empty, parched, burned.
I plunged myself to him his dead body, my mind momentarily lost.
“Uppa!!”
1 comment:
asal citer ko gory sgt!!!!
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