The residents are never sad. They never cry. Never mourn. Never mad.
That is Omelas, the place where happiness last forever. Travelers from far away found it intriguing, but never questioned it. Happiness is their core. That is theirs and theirs alo...
Monday. The guards were still chatting idly behind the thick doors. My legs felt like it has rotted away after days of sitting with them tucked under me, my hands tied behind me.
But Jimin was silent beside me. Silently sitting there, face scrunched up in concentration. Diligently sawing the ropes binding us to the pole.
"Nami, look what I found." Jimin poked my ribs one day during breakfast, in the storeroom. I turned to face him and saw the mirror shard in his grubby palm.
The shard changed hands and I hid it in the folds of my shirt when the guards turned to glare at us. I smiled sweetly at Jimin and fed him another piece of bread. "Good, isn't it?"
Blinking innocently at me, Jimin nodded and ate another piece. The bristling guards by the door was forgotten for a moment.
The shard was nothing. Smaller than half of my palm and reflect light like a freaking disco ball. But it is one thing.
Sharp. That's all we need now to escape.
As I shifted my eyes from the door to Jimin's hands, I heard him wince in the dark. "What's wrong-"
His hands were sticky when I touched it.
The room was cold.
"You cut yourself." A inhale of oxygen entered my lungs. "And from the blood, it's a big gash."
Still silent, Jimin is. I grasped his bloodied fingers and he yelped in pain. "Stop. Let me do it."
"But Nami will get hurt." He retorts, but I snatched the shard from his fingers anyway. It was slippery from his blood and sweat, but I gripped it tight and started sawing.
The ridges dug into my skin, opening my flesh and mixing my blood with Jimin's on the shard. But I sawed and sawed and sawed. This is our chance to escape. We must do it now.
The door swung open and I stopped. A guard walked in and dropped a tray in front of us. Shit, it's dinner! Never have I hated a mealtime so much in my life. He then glared at me before moving behind us to untie Jimin.
Everyone didn't dare to untie me now because the incident of me punching Hongdae last time. Blame him for being a prick. They will untie Jimin first then he will open my ropes.
"What the..." He noticed the gash on Jimin's hands. I'm sorry. My feet unfurled from under me and shot out in seconds, hitting him smack on his nose. The guard fell down like a log, then go still.
"C'mon Jimin. We have no time to lose." I continued sawing before yanking the rope around my hand. The last few strands snapped away and I face planted into the cement floor. Scrambling to my feet I untied Jimin and pulled him off the floor.
"We're running out of here. Okay?" Our hands were cold and bloodied, the blood dripping to the floor. Yet Jimin grasped mine as I twined my finger to his and squeezed.
"Let's go." Jimin took the stale bread as I picked the tray with one hand. I shouldered the door open and looked around. "Coast is clear. Let's run... Now!"
And we shot off like two shooting stars, twirling in the dark sky. Ran away like two birds, finally free of its cage. Feet pounding against the floor, hearts beating erratically, breaths intermingling, blood dripping.
No one saw us. We made it to the back door and burst into the evening, the golden sunset glow shining a halo over the two of us. I scanned the area and pulled Jimin behind a bush. "Stay hidden."
And we started running again.
I think I lost my shoe somewhere during our run. When my left sole was pierced by one slightly sharp pebble, I kicked the other sneakers and pulled Jimin along with me. He still didn't let go of my hand, and I didn't want him to either. I'm afraid that if I let go, Jimin will be separated from me.
Now both of our feet and hands were bloodied from the path of jagged stones and thorny bushes. I stopped us at a small creek and washes the blood from Jimin's hands. "Hold still."
I tore the bottom part of my skirt, washed them with the water and wrung it dry before wrapping his palm with it. Jimin stared at his hand as I worked and looked around the darkening evening sky in awe. That's when I realised.
It's the first time he ever get out of the underground cage. Jimin never see a sunset before, never breathed a lungful of fresh air. He looked back at me, his eyes still full of amazement and whispered, "Beyutiful."
"Yes." I smiled up at him for the first time in months. "It's beautiful."
After I has finished wrapping both our feet and hands with patches from my skirt, which now has shortened almost above my knees, I pulled Jimin up to his feet. "Can you go? Can Jimin walk for a little bit more?"
He changed his right hand with his left one, holding my left hand and squeezing them with a smile. "If Nami is there, Jimin can go anywhere."
"Cut it out." I pushes his shoulder playfully, and Jimin giggled. His eyes crinkled like two crescent moons when he smiled brightly, and I loved that.
Also because when he smiles like that, he wouldn't see my blush.
"Come on now." I tugged him towards the forest and we slipped inside.
---
"How can she escape?!"
The guards said nothing, having no real excuses to back them up. Junghan slammed a fist down to his desk, rattling the sturdy oakwood.
"Find them. And shoot them on sight. I don't care if anyone saw them dying or what, as long as they didn't get to leave Omelas." He whirled his chair towards the window, staring coldly at the twinkling stars in the sky. When from door closes with a dull thud, the mayor was left alone with his thoughts.
Which never ended well if you're seething mad that your plan was almost foiled.
Hands forming fists again, Junghan screamed in pure rage at the wind, sending his attendants scurrying away from his office door, the need to call the mayor down for his dinner disappearing in a flash.
=×=×=×=
Yep. Our bois are back with IDOL. Yep. The disaster duo is out of the dungeons. Yep. My pathetic ass will be back to college in a week. Yep. Yep. Yep. Yep.
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