Circus Monster | ANNYEONGZ

II.

               Warm lights illuminated the area, as the large circus tent up front started to light up with its bright, cheerful lights. With even just the slight change in luminosity, the beasts in the fenced area stirred from their slumber, and looked upon the oncoming men with fear.

        They entered the area with their whips and nets, looking upon each beast with scrutiny and not an ounce of remorse. To them, they were facing animals.

        Unlucky ones were whipped by the cruel men and netted by the neck to stand up, and then were brought to the back door of the circus tent. Whenever a staff came near, all the beasts would cower away, and the men would smirk, enjoying the sense of power it gave them.

        Wonyoung was at the opposite end of the area, where the lights barely reached her. Whenever men came particularly near, she would crawl away, hiding in the darkness of the shadows. She tried to make herself as small as possible, hoping that perhaps the searching eyes of the men would not catch sight of her.

        Alas, they were hawk-eyed.

        Inevitably, one man that came near noticed her, shriveled up in the corner. The man grinned wickedly, walking up to her and lashing his whip at the air. At the sound of it, she flinched, and the wood of the fence pierced dully into her aching bones as she tried fruitlessly to back away more from the man.

        He kicked at her, and prodded her, as he tried to loop his net through her head. Wonyoung, with what was left of her energy, tried her best to stay curled up and avoid the man's attempts to get her, ignoring her body that was screaming in protest as he lashed his whip once at the back of her head.

        "Jackson! Let's go!"

        The man turned his head, looking behind him to see that the other staffs were leaving the area. One of his colleagues had called out to him, gesturing at the other writhing beasts that were getting dragged across the dirt by the others.

        "This is enough!"

        Jackson turned back to Wonyoung once again, spitting on her in distaste. With a final kick to her waist that was more of a stomp, he turned around and left the girl unable to control her groans of pain.

        She sniffed and loosened, the intense pain of her body leaving her with no more energy to even try and tense. Her left ankle was bent at a slight angle, a clear result from the man's kicks. Her whole being was throbbing, and she could do nothing but close her eyes and take in shaky breaths.

        The area slowly started to quieten down once again with the absence of the men's voices. Wonyoung was left listening to the sounds of the other beasts moaning in pain, in a similar state as her. She thought that, maybe, they had suffered less than her, as she could not even manage to vocalize her pain. Moving her mouth made her lips jolt, and even taking in small gasps of air made her feel like she was inhaling sharp glass, instead.

        She tried to fight off the darkness that was slowly closing in, tried her best not to faint. It would only give the men what they want, and for once, she wanted to rebel. She didn't know why, but suddenly she wanted to actually hate them, loathe them, and strike back at them.

        But she couldn't do even this one simple act of defiance. For now, she couldn't. Perhaps, she thought, next time, she could succeed with the help of a certain someone. Slowly, with the image of a certain wolfish grin lingering in her mind, she fell unconscious.

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        Yujin stiffly handed the circus ticket she had stolen a while ago to the staff manning the entrance. He raised an eyebrow as she lowered her face and tried her best to subtly hide it within the shadow of her cap, but he let her pass.