The Aged | Gyuhao (Sequel to Youth)

- 13

| Chapter Thirteen — Seen u before |

Eunchae feels tired.

She's been sitting here for God knows how long, forehead glistening with sweat from the ungodly heat radiating through the room. She's been glaring at the guard assigned to watch her, silently pleading to be let go— only to fail with each bat of her eyelashes.

Her spine is killing her, bones threatening to throb from the lack of movement in her limbs. She's tied to this chair so tightly that with even the slightest movement, she can still make out the red rings around her wrists.

As soon as Mingyu had left this morning with the rest of Carmine, Eunchae's been stuck here, locked away with a guard that didn't even bother to try and hold a conversation or anything, just sitting still and acting like she's not even there.

Eunchae licks her chapped lips, dehydrated.

"Can I get some water?" She asks.

The guy shakes his head, "No."

Eunchae squeezes her eyes shut, "I'm dying of thirst, Ahjussi, please." Her tongue is really dry. It feels like sandpaper. And she's hungry too. This wasn't really a good combination considering what she's gotten herself into.

"No." The guy doesn't even look up, scrolling through his phone mindlessly.

Eunchae smacks her lips, sagging into the chair in a fit of exhaustion and defeat. They had promised they wouldn't hurt her. And by giving her nothing to eat or drink, they were basically starving her to death, her soul chipping away with every passing hour.

It had only been a day.

They'd be here. Cerise would be here.

Eunchae hasn't given up yet.

But by day 2, she begins questioning her worth.

And by day 3, she can't even cry anymore. She just lets the tears build up in her eyes without letting them spill, staring down at the floor as she zones out, clearly disoriented.

Nobody was watching her anymore, it seemed as if every single person they sent in here to do so got bored as soon as they stepped a foot inside, eventually leaving her alone to rot in this hot and smelly room, starving her to death and making her forget what water tasted like.

Eunchae's head bobs back and forth on the 4th day, her body slowly failing from every type of deprivation she can think of.

She hasn't slept much, hasn't eaten, hasn't drank a sip of anything, hasn't washed up. She looked a mess, she looked a worn down and exhausted mess but nobody cared.

They only let her leave to use the restroom.

At least they have that mercy.

Did she matter? It didn't seem so anymore.

Eunchae thought she meant a little something to someone. Just one person, even?

Maybe?

Yeah?

No. No, she didn't. She was still here. A hostage that everyone forgot about.

On day 5, she thinks she's hearing things when a loud alarm suddenly rings through the air. She can feel her ears vibrating from the sudden blare of noise, the volume blurred in her ears.

She blinks slowly, squinting her eyes in hopes to see whoever enters the room.

She can feel hands on her face, can hear the desperation in multiple voices as they try to make sure she's okay.

"She's so out of it," Riki looks at Zhang Hao in worry, "Hyung, what do we do? What do—" He trembles, lightly shaking Eunchae by the shoulders, "Chae, snap out of it."

"Let's untie her." Zhang Hao falls to his knees, loosening the restraints on her legs.

Riki keeps his eyes on the girl, all whilst unraveling the ropes confining her wrists, "Hey," He says when she finally seems to realize that someone's next to her, "Hey, we're here. It's okay."

Eunchae takes a shallow breath, head bobbing to the side, "What took you so long?" She whines.

Riki frowns, "We had to relocate. I'm sorry we kept you waiting all this time." He apologizes. These past 5 days have been absolute hell and Riki's been losing his mind with each passing second, minute, day— He's sure he's been going insane, "It's all gonna be okay now."

Eunchae chuckles dryly, energy drained, "Yeah?"

"Yeah." Riki nods, tossing the rope aside.

"There," Zhang Hao throws his away as well, taking Eunchae's hand as they both try to help her up, "Can you stand? Eunchae?" He calls out, only receiving a puzzled look in return.

Eunchae blinks when Riki holds a hand to her forehead. The boy hisses, "She's burning up."

"Jesus, did they just toss you in here?" Zhang Hao checks for any injuries on the girl as soon as they get her on her feet. She's swaying a little, gripping their arms for leverage.

"Home—" Eunchae's lip wobbles, "I wanna go home, sunbae, I wanna—"

"Soon. We'll go home soon, I promise." Riki smiles as he nods, patting Eunchae's head, "We're just paying Carmine a little visit. Here, I'll stay with you until everything's over, yeah? How does that sound?" He's already walking them over near the corner of the room, both of their backs against the wall. It was definitely more comfortable than that floppy wooden chair she's been sitting in.

Eunchae immediately slumps into the floor, head rolling to fall on Riki's shoulder.

Riki lifts his head, "I'll meet up with you later," He tells Zhang Hao, "Be careful."

"As long as you do." Zhang Hao nods his head, jogging out of the room, not without hesitating a bit at the sight of their worn out maknae.

Riki presses his earpiece, "Hyung."

Minghao's voice echos through the receiver, "What's wrong? Have you got her?"

"They hurt her." Riki grits his teeth, "Hyung, she's barely alive."

Across the building, Minghao kicks down the door to Carmine, fuming at the fucking bones and tasting blood on his lip as he bites down so hard in pure rage that red clouds his eyes.

"I'll kill you, Kim Mingyu." He says, "I promise."