Tale of Our Love // Pucca (EXTENDED)

Chapter 8

"Ring-Ring!"

A booming voice that was filled with absolute malice and rage broke the happy memory that they had into pieces. Ring-Ring's obsidian eyes went wide in fear, and her whole body stood frozen on the shrine grounds. Everyone else who had something to do with the scene could only hang their heads, much to Pucca's confusion. Even Ching, Abyo, and Garu weren't looking at wherever that blood-curdling voice came from. They hang their heads in silence, dreaded eyes looking at the ground beneath them. Pucca realized the source of the voice, and realized why everyone was filled with a sense of despair.

Dong King had seen Ring-Ring playing with the rest of them. He was going to think of it as a matter of his daughter betraying him once again, and for that reason, he was going to torment her when they reach home. If the other villagers dared defy him now, he was going to attack them back. He'd even try to destroy the whole village because that's how his pride shaped him to be. Fearful of that, the rest of the villagers shrunk back. All of them knew what Ring-Ring was going through, but none of them could do anything about it.

"F-Father..."

"I was so worried about you!" Dong King expressed. "I'm so glad you're okay."

The other villagers were disgusted. It was fabricated. It was all an act. It was all an act so that people around him won't be able to show proof that he was an abusive man who only cared about himself. Young as she was, Ring-Ring wouldn't be able to understand that. She would think that her father truly did care about her, that he was worried because she had disappeared so suddenly. Only for them to come back home, and he'd show his true colors again.

Because she thought of it that way, she leapt into her father's arms. There were many people in the area who wanted to stop her, to drag her away from her wicked father's hands, but there was nothing that they could do. Dong King knelt down onto the floor, and was pulled into an embrace by his 'beloved' daughter. They sat there embracing each other, but many people knew that it was all a fabrication. An act. Behind that fake smile of Dong King's was a wicked one only suitable for that of a demon.

He picked up his daughter from the ground, causing her to ride in his embrace. She held her little arms around his neck, laughing like you would expect any normal child to laugh. She was happy... because she thought her father had finally become the father who loved her so much. Once she arrived back home, she was going to face the same, horrible abuse that she got from him daily. Dong King stood up from the ground, looking at the hopeless villagers standing before his eyes. No one spoke a word to him. They could only look, not even remembering to blink.

"I'm sorry, were you all having fun with her?" he asked them. "So sorry, but she needs to go home now! I'm her father. We need to head home now, because it's time for her bed time!"

None of the villagers had any say to that. They didn't want to let Ring-Ring go, but if they tried to stop Dong King now, their entire village will be destroyed in seconds. The same will go for them. Defy Dong King was basically committing suicide. So... they couldn't say anything... not even for the sake of a child.

"Let's go, Ring-Ring!" Dong King said to her. "We're having your favorite tonight!"

"Really?" The little girl said happily. "Thank you, daddy!"

"No problem, my dear."

The other villagers could do nothing but watch as he 'happily' walked back to his house, carrying his daughter by his hand. Once their shadows faded off into the distance, not even a single trace of them could be seen by anybody. Pucca couldn't even believe it. With just one man, the happy moments that they spent were ruined. Even as the both of them left, the villagers all cursed their powerlessness. Even Pucca did.