Thorn Year (가시연) (ENG)

(천애둔략) Reduced Horizons: Prequel - CHAPTER 11

It was 20 minutes since that kid had went out of the house. The time taken to and fro from the convenience store was only 5 minutes, but that kid had not returned as expected. I did not have a good feeling about this, he should be all right, while holding onto my head and blaming myself, the sky had turned dark for some time.

The weather was slightly chilly; I did not bother to wear something to warm and got out of the door hastily. My hands were holding onto the kid's cell phone.

I was in front of this road. Like a neurasthenic, I was avoiding this road which my hyung died. Still, I had to find Jaejoong. If I wanted to keep away from the zebra crossing, I had to walk for a long distance before reaching the opposite side of the road. I did not have the time for that, thus I pushed behind the possible dangers and crossed the road.

I called out Jaejoong's name impatiently, like a parent who had lost his child. Despite that, I was unable to locate him. Where are you? Out of a sudden, I had a bad premonition. I was running and sweating from head to toe. Nam Hun was the only image that flashed through my mind.

Please, no matter what happened, do not let what is worrying me happen to Kim Jaejoong. I ran and ran.

Just when I was ignorant of my surroundings, I noticed Jaejoong. Even though it was expected, he had suffered assault, in complete darkness. His hair was all in a hideous mess; clothes were torn, even though his face was spelling terror, still, in order to protect himself, he emitted a unpleasant aura. He believed that I would come. That silly brain must have resisted countless times to gain more time. The torn clothes revealed his fresh wounds and his trousers were taken off and stepped onto. All of the details greeted my eyes. I was unwilling to let what Jaejoong had encountered to enter my thoughts.

I threw the cell phone I had held onto, and coincidentally, it landed onto one of the bastards' head. The cell phone then landed on the ground, scattered and disunited. That rascal immediately crouched and covered his head with his hands. "Yunho-ah, Yunho-ah..." I exploded while listening to the kid's sobbing. I dashed, there were five of them and I was not even sure of winning. 10 scornful eyes were staring at me. I wielded my punches to deliver my wrath. One by one, teeth dropped out of their mouths and nose bridges were broken. There were two of them who fled from the start.

"Urg, ah, ah... Hu....!!"

I breathed in rapidly, but still unable to vent my hatred. I delivered more punches on the rascal's stomach. I walked to the kid, he slightly raised his head to look at me. His eyes were bloodshot and the left side of his face was swollen. He bit his lips, trying hard not to cry. Nevertheless, his tears still dripped down when I helped him with his uniform.

I really wanted to seal up this sobbing mouth, I did not want to hear the kid's cry.

I picked up his trousers and helped him put it on, then carried him on my back and walked the long way avoiding the zebra crossing and back to the house. The kid did not speak a single word; I could only hear his sobs throughout the time. I was angry with myself, and also with the kid.

I let him go and he landed on the toilet's floor. He rubbed his shoulders while looking at me with anger.

I was feeling devastated enough, why do you have to behave like this too? The pair of eyes, which suffered from injustice, continued to follow me. His actions only made me felt angrier. In the end, I tore off his dirty and untidy uniform. I wanted to wash off this dirty and messed up look and I would not want this accident to happen again again.

"Cold!!! Ah... Huhuhu... don't!!"

The kid's body huddled up suddenly, he was crying while cold water was splashing on him. As I was washing him with huge force, he cried even harder. He pinched me and tried pushing me away. I fully understand, it was just that I am angrier and hating you more than just now... fuck.

I pulled Jaejoong to the bed even before he could wipe the water droplets off his body. The kid then used the blanket to cover himself up. He was shivering with cold and his teeth were fighting against each other. His bloodshot eyes stared at me. If I was to give you a punch to this beautiful face, will my heart eventually feel better? Jaejoong-ah.

"If you hate them, just scream it out. Did you use your smile to seduce them again?"

"I had already told them but they refused to listen! Do you actually think that bunch of bastards are you?"

"So? You should ask yourself why you looked so disgusting right now! I was always worrying about you till my heart broke, this is insane!!!"

... Silence weighed down with pressure, we kept silent for a long time. I knew I had chosen the wrong words, but I did not know how to apologize.

"...Bastard. It was you who said I'm beautiful..."

His tears dripped to the blanket, it hurt me just seeing this sight of him. I really wanted to hug him, but my heart was still fuming like the chimney. I hated myself, I felt depressed and grieved.

"You should say what you wanted to. You are only great at crying and creating troubles!!!"

"Fuck... what happened. Huhuhu... yes, it's true that I only know how to create troubles!! What about you, you only know how to scream and shout at me!!"

"Fuck... it's because I'm angry!"

I could not control my temper and pulled my hair. Profanities kept coming out from my lips. However, why do I actually felt like crying? Kim Jaejoong, why...? Why?

The moment I sat on the bed, the kid curled up and tempted to stay away from me. He knew that I was still angry. He knew that in this given situation, I would have already beaten him up.

I held out my hand; however, he only looked at my palm and me repeatedly. He did not want me to hug him. I sighed.

My anger slowly descended. He too, had stopped sobbing, he was hugging his knees and gazing at me. His eyes were blinking, telling me that I could get near him now.

I crawled to him. Taking off the blanket, I spread out his knees; it did not seem that he had any serious injuries or was being violated. When I found him earlier, he still had his briefs on, even though his pant was being taken off. Still, the small wounds were on every part of his body, he was weakly telling me not to look at them.

"Where had those bastards touched you?"

"I don't know... I hate you... You screamed and even scolded me."

I placed Jaejoong on top of my knees, one of my hands was around his waist, and another was touching his body. There shouldn't be any serious injury right?

"I'm in the wrong. Look at me... See, there's a cut on your face."

"Fine, take your hand away... Since I'm so ugly now, it would be fine if you don't look at me..."

His hands were circling around my neck. You were telling me not to look at you yet forcing me to otherwise. I was about to be suffocated to death, little kid. I hit him gently on the arm, he then let go of me, looking at with those innocent eyes.

"You are a bastard."