Give & Take

Tearful Rouse

"Are they gone?" the child asked as his mother entered the room. Minhyun moved out of the way as she nodded and sat down beside him on the bed.

"Yes. There's nothing you have to worry about. Your father and I dealed with it."

"Mum... Am I... Really a monster?"

"No, Dongho. You're the sweetest boy I've ever known." She held his hands and gently kissed them. "You're not a monster." She held his cheeks and gently caressed them. "I promise you I'll protect you."

"Really?"

"Yes. I won't let anyone hurt you. I won't let anyone have you. I love you, Dongho." She pulled him into a tight hug and he returned in. His father stood by the door and pursed his lips. Minhyun didn't like the look on his face, knowing that it only held regret and disappointment for being unable to cheer his son up like his mother.

~~~

Baekho's eyes shot open and he gasped sharply. He blinked furiously as he realised that he was awake. For real. He was back into reality but how? When? He sat up and groaned, immediately realising that he wasn't in Minhyun's room. He was in the room with the anti nullifying magic. Was this what had break him out from the nightmare? But what was he doing in here? Minhyun. Did Minhyun put him in here? He looked at his leg and gasped. No, no, no. He grasped at the cuff on his leg, feeling a wave of deja vu hitting him. It was just as unpleasant as the first time he had been chained in Minhyun's room but somehow part of him just knew that this wasn't Minhyun's doing. He got off the bed, not bothering with the pain that still coursed through his body. He tried to reach for the door but knew he couldn't reach. Then he started yelling.

"Minhyun! Minhyun! Please! If you're out there! Please!" He pulled at the chain and somehow the nightmare memories flooded his system. Actual real tears flowed out as he continued screaming for the hero.

"Please! I need you!"

~~~

But peaceful times were over.

That very same night, Minhyun heard loud thumps. He got up and walked through the walls until he was outside. He gasped as he watched the villagers storm up to Dongho's home with fire in their hands. Bad feelings grabbed his gut as he hurried back inside.

"Burn them! Burn them all alive!" Screams echoed from the outside. "Burn them as they sleep! Let none of them escape!"

Dread filled Minhyun's system but there was nowhere to go. Nowhere to run.

"Dongho, wake up. We have to leave now."

"Hnn? Mum... But it's so late."

"I'm sorry, Dongho. We have to go." Minhyun watched as the mother carried her sleepy child. His father joined them in the living room but the fire had already started, burning the sides of the house.

"From behind. Maybe we can still make it."

But it was too late. Fire raged from the back, smoke filled their house and suffocated their lungs as they coughed. If only I can heal, Minhyun thought. He could have saved them. He could have changed their lives. He could have but there was no changing it.

"Mum? Dad? What's going on?" Dongho wailed as he started being more conscious by the second.

"Shhh... My child. You'll be fine. You'll be fine," his mother said while caressing his cheek.

"No, mum! Tell me what's going on. The fire. Why is there fire?"

His mother collapsed onto the floor while hugging him tightly. "We will be fine." She cried while his father tried to find something to put out the fire or even break a wall so they could run but the fire spread fast mercilessly as the wind was strong that night. There was no escape and Dongho could only cough while holding onto his mother.