Beauty And A Beast

Chapter 21

Tzuyu

"C'mon guys, the edge is near." Jihyo urges us to move on. The sun is slowly setting and, when it does, the first Challenge will officially be over.

Sana quickens her pace, obviously eager to get out of here as fast as possible. I can't blame her, especially after her injury and the fact that she saw me kill Eunha, something I wish she hadn't seen me do.

We come out of the alley and into the main road since that's now the only way to reach the edge. I turn around when I hear someone mumbling.

"What's wrong?"

Sana shakes her head, eyes darting to every corner of the alleys connecting with the main road. "I have a bad feeling about this."

I scoff. "Only about this?"

She rolls her eyes. "How are you so relaxed?"

"I'm not."

"Yes you are! Look at you, you're walking like you're in a runway!"

I look down at my feet. "No I'm not."

"How can you be so chill when you might die today? Or I might die today? Even though-"

"Darling, that's the only reason I'm not chill."

Sana's blue eyes meet mine for a long moment. She doesn't talk. She just stares, the fire in her gaze slowly melting my icy walls. I've worked hard for years for those walls, those masks. And there she is, with just one look, putting all my hard work to waste.

"Shit."

Both Sana and I quit on our staring contest and glance towards Jihyo and Jay. They've moved further on the main road and, just a few feet ahead of them, a girl that's too familiar for me is standing, giving them a mocking smile. I can't help a curve of my lips when I notice she's limping slightly on her right side. Where Sana shoved a knife in her stomach.

"Hm, I forgot to thank you Tzuyu. You know, for ridding me of Eunha. Alliances do ruin all the fun." Elkie says with a grin.

I open my mouth to say something really bad but, to my surprise, Sana beats me to it.

"I would say I'm happy to see you're alive but I've been told that I'm a horrible liar so I'm not going to bother." she replies with a smirk. A smile is quickly plastered on my lips but disappears just as soon.

People are watching.

"You killed Eunha?" Jay whispers in my ear. I choose not to reply and simply nod.

Just then, Kai comes panting out of an alley. He looks awful and it's not just the gash I gave him on the shoulder. His right eye is black, he's got cuts all over his face and he's limping quite visibly on his left leg.

"You two did Kai good I see." I mumble in Jay's ear and he snorts.

"What the hell is he doing?" Jihyo asks. All three of us follow Jihyo's eyes and we realize she's talking about Kai who's walking confidently towards Elkie.

"He wants a key." Sana mutters. At that moment, my eyes land on a figure coming from another alley, running. I recognize Jackson while Yuto and Yuta are chasing behind him.

"Tzuyu, I'm going to help him." Jay says and runs to Jackson. I don't reply. I'm already charging at Yuto.

When I catch up with him, I jump at him and throw him rolling at the ground. With a groan, his eyes meet mine but then they meet one of my fists. It takes him two hits to come to his senses and start blocking me. He dodges one of my hooks and sends a roundhouse kick to my head which misses me just for a little. His next hit finds me right over my diaphragm, sending me stumbling back breathless.

"What's all this for Chou?" he yells so he can be heard through all the bustling. "Angry that I shot your girlfriend?"

Anger and fury cloud all my emotions and that has me trying everything to land a punch on Yuto's stupid face. He dodges my hits too easily and pushes me with a foot on the same spot, throwing me to the ground this time, coughing and gasping for breath. He stands over me, looking down with a smirk.

"Look at you. Caring for her has made you weak."

"A Chou is never weak. Not because they are born strong, but because they are made, in one way or another, immune to other people's weaknesses. If they're not strong, then they're not worthy of being called Chou."

My father's words echo in my head. He made me what I am, he made me immune to weakness, to emotional pain, to expressing what I feel.

I sweep my leg, hitting Yuto's ankles and sending him facedown to the ground with a loud thud. He groans when I land a strong kick on his ribs.

And then my eyes search around for her, my weakness, the bane of my thoughts, the reason why keeping my mask on and my walls up seems like a struggle.

I'm weak. But not physically.

I'm weak. Only when it comes to her, to what she wants, to what she thinks is best. Because what she thinks is best is so much better than me. She is so much better than me.

She's the embodiment of everything bright, colourful, happy, beautiful, everything I can never deserve.

Her brown hair is falling wavy over her shoulders. Her blue eyes shining brighter than ever in the glimmer of the setting sun. And when they meet mine, I feel my entire world falling apart. My masks shattering, my walls crumbling. My insides are burning, and that's only because of her gaze.

I can't prevent the smile that forms on my lips. It feels foreign, yet welcome.

I can't prevent the beats my heart skips when she smiles back. I feel like I'm going to have the best heart attack of my life.

"I guess I'll know who to kidnap if I need money now."

The smile disappears from my lips and my mask is back on when I face Yuto. He has the nerve to laugh after saying that, something which just adds more force to the jab I throw at his face. And the next one. And the next one.

But that just keeps on reminding me.

The beast doesn't get the beauty.

I get off Yuto, who is coughing out blood, with heavy pants. And when I look at her, she's hiding with Jihyo, talking happily. Laughing while I am almost killing someone for her.

The sun goes out of sight, and everything turns darker. A loud bell is heard from the edge of the village where more people have now gathered, muttering and pointing.

The first Challenge is over.

A/N:

Hey guys, I managed to get another chapter in, to conclude the first Challenge and give Sana, Tzuyu and all the others some rest before the second one
Hope you are enjoying so far
Don't forget to leave votes and comments for me🤗🤗🤗