the naked face || bts

twenty-two

The sky was spinning in wet circles overhead and something was pounding at him, tearing his body apart. He tried to see, but his eyes were swollen shut. A fist smashed into his ribs, and he felt the agonizing splinter of bones breaking. He could feel Areum's hot breath on his face, coming in quick, excited gasps. He tried to see her, but he was locked in darkness. He opened his mouth and forced words past his thick, swollen tongue. 'You s-see,' he gasped. 'I was r-right... you can- you can only hit a man- when he's down ...'

The breathing in his face stopped. He felt two hands grab him and pull him to his feet. 'You're a dead man, Doctor. And I did it with my bare hands.'

Yoongi backed away from the voice. 'You're an- an a-animal,' he said, gasping for breath. 'A psychopath... You should be locked up... in an... insane asylum.'

Areum's voice was thick with rage. 'You're a liar!'

'It's the t-truth,' Yoongi said, moving back. 'Your... your brain is diseased... Your mind is going to... snap and you'll be... like an idiot baby.'

Yoongi backed away, unable to see where he was going. Behind him he heard the faint hum of the closed pipeline, waiting like a sleeping giant. Areum lunged at Yoongi, her huge hands clutching his throat. 'I'm going to break your neck!' Her enormous fingers closed on Yoongi's windpipe, squeezing. Yoongi felt his head begin to swim. This was his last chance.

Every instinct in him screamed out to grab Areum's hands and pull them away from his throat so that he could breathe. Instead, with a final tremendous effort of will, he put his hands in back of him, fumbling for the pipe valve. He felt himself beginning to slide into unconsciousness, and in that instant his hands closed on the valve. With a final, desperate burst of energy, he turned the handle and swerved his body around. A tremendous vacuum of air suddenly blasted at them, trying to pull them into the vortex of the pipe. Yoongi clung frantically to the valve with both hands, fighting the cyclonic fury of the wind. He felt Areum's fingers digging into his throat as she was pulled towards the pipe. She could have saved herself, but in her mindless insane fury, she refused to let go. Yoongi could not see her face, but the voice was a demented animal cry, the words lost in the roar of the wind.

Yoongi's fingers started to slip off the valve. He was going to be pulled into the pipeline with Areum. He gave a quick, last prayer, and in that instant he felt her hands slip away from his throat. There was a loud, reverberating scream, and then only the roar from the pipeline. Areum had vanished.

Yoongi stood there, bone-weary, unable to move, waiting for the shot from Nick. A moment later it rang out. He stood there, wondering why Nick had missed. Through the dull haze of pain, he heard more shots, and the sound of feet running, and then his name being called. And then someone had an arm around him and Jungkook's voice was saying, 'Jesus Christ, look at his face!' Strong hands gripped his arm and pulled him away from the awful roaring tug of the pipeline. Something wet was running down his cheeks and he did not know whether it was blood or rain or tears, and he did not care. It was over. He forced one puffed eye open and through a narrow, blood-red slit, he could dimly see Jungkook.

'Hoseok's at the house,' Yoongi said. 'Areum's husband. We've got to go to him.'

Jungkook was looking at him strangely, not moving, and Yoongi realized that no words had come out. He lifted his mouth up to Jungkook's ear and spoke slowly, in a hoarse, broken croak. 'Hoseok... he's at the... house... help.' Jungkook walked over to the police car, picked up the radio transmitter, and issued instructions. Yoongi stood there, unsteady, still rocking back and forth from Areum's blows, letting the cold, biting wind wash over him. In front of him he could see a body lying on the ground, and knew it was Nick Vaccaro.