[FEATURED ON WATTPAD ×12]
▬▬ 𝐒𝐎𝐋𝐔𝐒 𝐒𝐍𝐈𝐏𝐏𝐄𝐓𝐒
'𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐬 𝐚 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧.'
-𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐮𝐬 𝐙𝐮𝐬𝐚𝐤
I had met him. Taehong, I mean. Not once; not twice. But three times...
It had been quite long since I've gotten inured to observing them, move about like pawns. It's the same thing every day - wake up, eat, do something recreational, go back to sleep. It was like watching a documentary, except... My sole source of diversion was the soul attached to the boy.
Wan Taehong.
He was coping quite well, given the situation he had been trampled under. And I was rapt. A young boy, coupled with such trauma, only gave result to a debacle. In most cases. But he was different. Distinct and atypical. Most people carrying the burden of losing their loved one in the most unexpected of ways would've flicked their senses out the window. I was more than glad; his smiles weren't just a jocose allusion.
"Fores? Is this yours?" Taehong asked, loud and clear, and that was when my attention flicked to the small black notebook in his hand.
The gold border around the taut black leather gave off a peculiar vibe. Such notebooks were queer. Outlandish, even. Things that time were all in small screens, and not paper. Tablets or touch screens, they called it. It looked magnificent, but it ruled their lives and seeing a notebook in the world full of just pixels was aberrant. Seemed like someone did hold on to their roots.
Taehong smiled, and said, "Who even carries notebooks now?"
His inquisitiveness got the best of him. Before he'd even gotten Fores' reply, his digits were flipping the pages that had been thumbed at the edges. The pages had been tainted a slight beige, with a smooth modulation into brown at the edges.
"Hmm?" Taehong hummed as he halted his motions and his finger landed right at the word 'vengeance'.
'I've watched it with my own two eyes. How they go about on their duties, I mean. It's despicable to see that they'd go to such an extend to watch anything crumble down to bits. My home was a castle, with a courageous king, an indomitable queen, and two genteel children - a prince and a princess. But it all stumbled down the moment checkmate happened, and everything was lost. I'm the only one left and I'm going to get it. My vengeance.'
Taehong 's eyes grew wide as he read each and every word with his undivided attention. He'd known about Fores' unspoken past, but he hadn't known anything more about it.
"What are you doing?!"
To say I hadn't been startled by the sudden noise would be a fib. Taehong, as well as I, looked to the source of sudden disturbance - Fores. I watched his eyes go back and forth between the book and her rigid frame, not knowing how to answer.
