Bloodbath of the Fallen Crown

26

The moment the plane landed, the tension in everyone's bones heightened. The air thickened and no one seemed aware of the situation. Myung, a man of many talents, landed the plane safely. I found out on the ride to Busan Port, that he was an ex-pilot turned right-hand man of one the most dangerous men alive. Life, huh?

We stopped in a field, taking a car that was called previously called for on our ride here. It took us straight to the port. Port of Busan was huge, in a way that felt unnerving. You can't possibly make sure every inch of this place is safe. Apparently, however, Ye-jun owned nearly every worker, but that did little to reassure me. 

As soon as we got off the car, one of the workers led us to an office. On the way there, the only thing that could get me to put aside my unease was the blatant nervousness that Nicolas displayed. "She'll be okay. You'll see her in half an hour. Breathe for a moment, God. Your face is all purple."

He sighed and cracked a smile, rubbing his hands on his pants. "I know, but..."

"But what?"

He huffed and ran a hand through his face. "Fuck, I don't even know. I feel like if I look at her and see a single bruise on her face, I'll go ballistic. I can't help but feel--"

"If you say guilty, so help me God. I'll throw you into the water."

He laughed, but his face shifted back into agony right after. "I can't help it. I do. For both Vee and Aera. I just feel like I should have done... something. I don't know."

"Well." I didn't know what to say. Fuck would I say? "No use thinking about that now. You got them back. In... twenty two minutes you'll see them both again."

"Yeah," he sighed. "I guess."

We followed in silence after that, not really doing much other than walking and breathing. I, too, felt a weight of guilt in my chest at them both being taken, more Vee than the other girl if I'm honest. Kiara, or Katerina-- whatever the fuck her name was, came from a bloody past of mine. Nicolas had always made sure Vee was kept far from their reach and now look what happened. Aera, unfortunately, was caught in crossfire.

"Come in," Myung gestured inside the small room when we reached it. Nicolas let me go in first, following right behind me. We sat on a small, foul smelling couch. 

One of the workers began speaking in Korean, which left me the only one staring clueless at him. "What did he say?" I nudged Nicolas in the thigh. 

"Oh, shit, right. Um," he seemed to process the information for a second, then began translating. "He's saying that they got a call from a one of the cargo ships saying that there was extra merchandise aboard, which he's saying is the code for things like that. He said it isn't often that they involve themselves in trafficking like this, but when it reaches their borders, they have codes to get the people off safely. The ship arrived minutes ago and they're unloading it. As soon as the girls are off, they will bring them all here. As well as the man who had them."

Good. I want to have a talk with him.

"Did he say how long it will take for them to get the girls here?"

"Like twenty minutes to an hour."

The man spoke a few other things that Nicolas must not have found important enough to translate and left. With every passing second, the tension only seemed to rise higher. Myung wasn't even speaking to be a complete asshole, which was surprising.

I continued checking my watch as time went by. It was slow at first, seconds ticking by at their leisure, not caring for the events unfolding. Then time seemed to become aware, making the minutes scramble and tumble over each other. One on top of the other they ticked until forty seven minutes had passed and a knock on the door made us all tense even more. All four of us could have easily shattered in that moment.