Disenchanted

Bound Together

Nari could do nothing but stare at him in stunned silence. He made no move towards her, nothing that might indicate that he wished her harm. Rather, he seemed confused. He looked down at his hands and turned them over and over as if they were foreign to him.

"What happened to me?"

That wasn't a question she could answer. She was just as lost and confused.

His attention shifted to the room around him, his eyes darting every which way. Nari just clung to her still bleeding arm, wondering if she could get up and run. Would he chase her? She wondered. Could she make it to the hatch and down it before he caught her?

When he turned back to look out of the stained glass window, she found her opportunity to test her limits. Nari slowly, painfully, pushed herself to her feet. Unfortunately, the old floorboards beneath them alerted him to her movements with a loud, complaining moan.

"Your arm," he said, planting his hands against the floor as he also rose to his feet. When he took a step towards her, Nari jerked backwards in a panic as her mind ordered her clumsy feet to run.

She collided with a tall stack of boxes, knocking them over and falling with them. Among all the clutter and clatter, she fell on something warm and firm. She could feel its warmth even through her clothes, as if it were something living.

One look down confirmed her suspicions. Another body had appeared in her path, cushioning her fall. She pushed off of its shoulder with a bloody hand and did the only thing she could think to do.

She let out a terrified scream, then she fainted.

~~_/\_~~

The first thing that registered in Youngjo's head was the smell of old books and dust. He knew that smell, and he knew where he was. But he didn't know how he got there.

Next came a scream, ringing in his ears like a loud siren, then shouting from a voice he knew well.

"Gunhak?" His eyes fluttered open. Every limb felt stiff and immovable. It took every ounce of strength and will power within him to push himself upright.

"Hyung, what the hell happened to us?" Gunhak's panicked voice bounced off the rotting walls around him. "What are we doing here?"

"There's blood on your face," Youngjo furrowed his brow. "Why is there blood? We don't bleed."

"It's not mine, it's--" Gunhak trailed off, wiping at his face with his hand, smearing crimson across them both. He pointed with his now bloody hand at a girl lying unconscious just a foot or two away from where Youngjo woke up. "It's on you, too. Here." Gunhak pointed to the space between his shoulder and neck.

Youngjo was about to question why she was bleeding, but the answer soon emerged from a nearby stack of books.

"Toto," he blinked at the large black dog. "Do you know what happened to us?"

The dog's head moved up and down in a sort of nod. He understood them as well as one human could understand another. They just couldn't understand him as a dog.

Toto gave one loud bark, then trotted to the other end of the attic to start digging at a pile of old clothes. Gunhak knew there was something there they needed to find, so he went to help Toto dig immediately.

Under the dresses, fur coats, and tee shirts, he found another familiar face. Another was uncovered soon after.

"Hwanwoong? Keonhee?"