New World | SOOKAI

Chapter 19

I was so cold, all warmth had left me and my body shivered violently as I sat beneath the tree, unmoving from where Taehyun had dropped me. The tears I shed had dried upon my cheeks, having no more left to cry. With the absence of hope within myself, my mind had become a numb, black sheet of fog; I couldn't see beyond it. I had fought, tooth and nail to climb out of the 6-foot deep hole of my life with Soobin's own existence to help me out of it. But death had been following me silently this whole time. It stood before me again and it was impatient now, tired of all my tricks and shenanigans to avoid it. It wouldn't leave empty-handed this time. Death waits for no one.

The night air was quiet and still. Taehyun and Beomgyu didn't speak. The latter of the two was still upon the ground from where the red-head had slammed him down. I had lost all concept of time but I knew I had been seated in the same spot for what I presumed was close to an hour, with how numb my legs were. I stared over the top of Beomgyu's unmoving form to gaze at Soobin not too far from him.

I.. wished he were dead, already. I didn't want him to wake just to endure further pain and die, anyway. If it could all end right then and there and not a second longer, I would have been somewhat happy. But Taehyun wasn't going to allow that and I had brought it upon us. It seemed that even though I had discarded my own wings to stop myself from flying too close to things, pain still found me upon the ground, regardless.

You are cursed, Kai. Happiness was not made to fit you regardless of how much you tried to squeeze into it, anyway.

My eyes wandered back to Beomgyu with the fresh memory of my last failed act of defiance and freedom. He slowly began to finally sit up with a soft groan, his back to me. Taehyun peeked his head out from behind the tree I was seated against and began silently walking over to the other vampire to stand before him.

"Stand up," Taehyun said in a surprisingly soft whisper to the other.

It took a moment for Beomgyu to respond but he eventually lifted himself to his feet, his hand clutching his injured shoulder from where Taehyun had forced him into the ground. I blinked for the first time in what felt like far too long as I watched Taehyun take Beomgyu's chin in his hand and kiss him. He was so soft and delicate with the other, like Beomgyu was a fragile, withering flower, being careful to not let his petals fall. Their kiss ended after a small moment and Taehyun moved his head around to look at me over Beomgyu's shoulder as he whispered some words against his ear that I couldn't hear. All I could tell was that he was talking slowly to the other with the delayed movement of his lips and jaw.

Beomgyu eventually looked back at me with something Taehyun had said and his blank expression morphed into disgust. I didn't know what was said, but my instincts told me Taehyun was filling Beomgyu's head back up with the hateful resolve that I had almost drained out of him entirely.

I looked away down into my lap. I had been so close. But the stark reality was, even if I had succeeded in rendering Beomgyu unconscious, Taehyun likely would have found me escaping with Soobin shortly after, anyway. What had I been thinking, playing a vampires game as a human? Maybe I should have let Beomgyu turn me as I had so boldly asked him to. But I had... wanted that task to be one for Soobin to follow through with. I belonged to him and him alone.

I looked back up as I saw Beomgyu now approaching me once more, but I could tell it was out of instruction through Taehyun with the way the other just stood back and watched, seeming to judge every step he took towards me like a ballet teacher watching you attempt to pirouette correctly. Beomgyu reached my feet and kicked the side of my thigh with the tip of his boot. It would have hurt more if I had any feelings in my legs, but I still felt it bruise my flesh with the force.