A whispered groan left Jin's mouth as his body horridly punched the hard ground. He winced painfully and did not move for a few seconds—paralyzed.
His entire body ached after dropping from a height in dread, but he should be grateful for not losing consciousness.
He attempts to lift his lids open but only manages a half. He felt terrible when he sees the tree in front of him have two more beside it in a stir blur.
He is dizzy.
He impatiently waits for his eyesight to recover and turns his head to his side. He thought he had fallen from the cliff. Where . . .
His lips parted.
All the colors drained from his face as he pushed his forsaken body to rise and pull himself away from danger—from the steep possibility of almost throwing his life away like what he had feared.
What vicious schemes must he have committed in his past life to be played by fate like this?
He was lying at the edge of the cliff, clueless.
The gods have played him well.
He looks down and frowns.
The clothes he is currently wearing must have cost a fortune. But unfortunately, this day had led to a mess even after the efforts of a lurid amount of people that troubled themselves to put it on him.
Looking at himself, he is nowhere near lavishing but a similar picture of a filthy and pitiful pup that discovered his first muddy puddle.
He rubs his dirty palms against a clean area of his trousers. He eventually finds his equilibrium and stands on his feet with the help of his hands holding the tree for support.
Fatigue caught up to him.
Well, he is still alive . . . surprisingly.
He glimpses at the large house. It was towering over him and the tree, a place like hell. He recalls what Joe ahjussi said, and slowly he starts running in the opposite direction.
He would never forget how it looked.
He was not shaking anymore.
Well, perhaps just a bit.
He studies his surroundings while tossing aside the feeling of distress that was persistently trying to resurface in him. He bit his lips. He was hesitant to take a step from where he was standing.
He checked from left to right and desperately repeated doing so up to the mountainous areas, but it was impossible to spot a lone light.
He lifts his head and looks up at the cold forest. It was staring right back at him.
He always finds it eerie.
Its intimidating darkness glowers over him, and he cowers under its pressure. The crickets were chirping loudly, and the breeze was gushing in his direction as if something was warning him off.
He could not dare guess what creatures lurk within these woods.
But where will he go?
"You little shit!"
Jin turned his head behind him, his cheek tightly pressed against his shoulder, and a muttered gasp left his lips. Scared, his body had moved on its own. He sprints and scrambles through his closest escape—into the embed woods.
The strong waft of cold crisp sea breeze kissed his face as the smell of the timbered forest and dead leaves flicked unpleasantly through his nostrils.
His wide amethyst eyes trembled when the bleak darkness shrouded his body and sight.
Adrenalin courses through his veins. He does not know where he is heading, but thinking of being dragged back and confined into that suffocating room left him on the verge of tears.
His thin legs mettle the uneven soil and hardened roots. His toes have been numb.
He could not feel them at all.
His lungs squeezed painfully within him, asking him for a deep need for air. He was palpitating.
Confounded with bitter luck, Jin winces when something stalled his foot, causing him to trip and fall forward, landing with a bad crash.
It was a rock.
His heart fell.
Sensing the gruesome sting on his left foot, he heard dead leaves creak not far from him.
His world crumbled.
"You're dead once I get the hold of you!"
A voice roars from only a few distances behind him. He hears dogs barking and more fused voices of men approaching.
They are catching up to him.
Panic ruined and saved him. He got up and did not bother anymore about the directions.
Jin continues to escape despite how wretch the wounds on his feet grew worst. He did not stop. He ran desperately—away from the cliff, the house, and the people hunting him.
But he was tired.
Please . . .
Unshed tears hug the corners of his eyes.
A sound of a hound wailing in distress and wood branches breaking erupted somewhere in the area close by before everything was clouded with silence. At the same moment, Jin stops when he sees a light from a distance ahead of him.
He glanced back in his tracks. There was nothing. He listened to his surroundings, confused.
No footsteps. No numbing sound of crickets.
And nor the sound of rustling leaves.
It suddenly turned quiet.
Jin quietly walks towards the light. He cannot stand the darkness any longer. After pushing one last bush to the side, his lips part at what he sees.
It was a lake.
He found a lake. Its clear waters shimmered beautifully against the clear full moon watching over him. Its reflection was beautiful in the waters.
The tears he had been holding fell from his eyes.
He winces and pulls the edges of his trousers. His feet felt like it was about to burst, some part of his socks are smeared with blood, and his ankle is beaten.
It was swollen.
Would he still be able to run in this state?
A faint wind brushed against the back of his neck, and the sound of bushes rustling near him startled him.
No.
He pales.
Amidst the quiet and long night, a clear pair of eyes stared back at him.
Author's Note:
Ready for the next chapters? :)
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Captivated (BL) || V2: A New Beginning ||
Romance|| VOLUME 2: A New Beginning || "I will be with you through the roughest waves ahead. Your name alone is all I shall speak until my very last breath." In every calamity there is, I oath to lay my life before you. "Though the sea gushes and rises...
