"Hyuk?!" exclaimed Reno, shocked at the sight presented in front of him.
The younger officer had dragged another figure out of the tent which he had just gone into.
It was still dark outside and the silence that shrouded them was immediately broken by Reno's shout. Even Yeonwoo wanted to say something, but he was so surprised that no words would even come out of his mouth. Even though neither Reno nor Yeonwoo explicitly brought it up, internally they had resigned to the fact that they were the only remaining members of the group.
However, unlike Reno or Yeonwoo who were pretty much unhurt except for their tied-up wrists and swollen eyes due to excessive crying, Hyuk was battered and bruised up. The youngster was bleeding from his forehead as if he had been hit on his head by a heavy object. The blood had flowed down and was dripping off his face. His left eye was completely shut as blood ran over it and he was barely able to open his right eye as it looked like he struggled to maintain consciousness.
As Yeonwoo's eyes trailed down, his eyes widened even more in shock. Near his leg, another pool of blood was forming. The younger officer looked at Yeonwoo a tiny smirk on his face as he rubbed his rifle and blew on it. Hyuk had been shot in the leg.
Despite his injuries, Hyuk looked at Reno and Yeonwoo and a small spark lit up in his seemingly lifeless eyes. He looked like he was on the brink of tears. "Reno! Yeonwoo!"
His voice was hoarse which made sense considering the state was found in. The officer coldly stared down at him but clearly didn't want to stop Hyuk from talking. The more Hyuk talked, the more pain he'd go through.
Yeonwoo looked at the sadistic officer and as if almost reading his mind he said, "Hyuk, you're hurt stop talking. It's okay, we're here and we're not going anywhere."
Hyuk was about to open his mouth to say something but a quick 'don't' from Reno and he stopped midway.
"Tch." Said the officer as he turned his glance towards the older officer who was making his way towards them.
The older man seemed to have already made the preparations to leave as he appeared to be more neatly dressed with his cap on. Was it time to leave?
"Minjoon, go clean everything up. Do it fast though, we don't want to make the truck guys wait." He then turned and looked at Hyuk and sighed. "Give this guy first aid as well. I get that our job is to dish out these rats, but these guys are good products. You just can't go around damaging them. Not to mention there was that girl as well…honestly, your performance today has been disappointing,"
Hah, so that asshole's name is Minjoon, thought Yeonwoo but before he could add that name to his mental death note, his ears had caught onto another detail. Girl? Did they just say girl? What did that mean? Did some other girl from their group manage to survive? Yeonwoo had so many questions in his mind, but he knew better than to voice them out. He'd never get answers anyways and in retrospect, he might even end up revealing more than he should. Although his curiosity made him restless, he decided to reel in it. Maybe one day he'd get the answers to his questions.
Minjoon curtly nodded but his eyes did not match his actions. There was resistance in his eyes as if he didn't want to quietly listen to his superior's words. Almost as if all he wanted to do at the moment was kill everyone on sight. The ferociousness in his eyes was in stark contrast to his rather feminine face but in hindsight it also made him look even more fierce that before even the superior took a small, although barely, noticeable step back.
Minjoon propped up an almost unconscious Hyuk on his shoulders. As time passed by, the youngster lost more and more blood and although a shot on the leg wouldn't be the cause for immediate death, Hyuk could very well lose his life if he continued losing blood at this pace. As Minjoon dragged Hyuk back to the tent, a trail of blood followed and both Reno and Yeonwoo exchanged worried glances. Even though they barely knew this young officer, the sparse interaction with him was enough for them to realize that he was nothing a cold-blooded monster, hungry for blood. Although, he was ordered to give first aid to Hyuk by his commander, the ferocious look in his eyes said otherwise. It was a given that they both would be worried in this situation.
The older officer shook his head. "I hope they never place that bastard in my platoon ever again. Always making things difficult for me by acting like a blood thirsty mutt." He muttered under his breath as he looked up at the dark night.
Yeonwoo looked up at the sky, following his gaze. It was an incredibly boring sky with only one or two stars in sight. The night was dead silent and there was not a single indication of the events that had just occurred. No one had any idea of how much he had lost today. A single tear fell down his face despite his eyes being almost burned out from crying earlier.
There was not a single indication of the horrors that had just passed by. Not a single indication that in this night, Yeonwoo had lost his family for the second time.
No indication that his life was about to completely change.
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In the darkness, the corridor seemed endless. The candles lit along the path were feeble barely emitting as light as they seemed to slowly fizzle out. The silence was heavy and almost crushing as if even a single step forward would open up a world full of chaos. An atmosphere that would make even ordinary person think twice before making a sound.
The man, who had a hood over his head, looked back at the corridor. A shiver went up his spine as he felt a sense of familiarity creep up to him. Weird. This was the place he was supposed to hate but why was he feeling this sort of familiarity to the place?
Shaking his shoulder and deciding not to dwell on emotions which he couldn't place a finger on, the man slightly shook the bag on his shoulder as if to confirm whether the items he had stolen were in place or not. Stealing from the palace was a brazen move but he was the ace of thieves so there was no way he'd get caught. Or so he thought.
Shaking a bag full of stolen items in a completely quiet corridor was clearly a shit move. The silence surrounding him made the echoes of items clashing against each other resonate even louder.
"Shit," he muttered under his breath. "Could I get any dumber?"
Not wanting to risk his chances of getting caught, regardless of whether someone was chasing him or not, he found himself sprinting towards the exit window. He peeped outside and grinned. His night vision had always been good but with the help of these night googles he had bought some time back; his life had just become a whole lot easier. He was on the third or fourth floor. Although this palace had over 30 floors, it was just his luck that the storage area was in the lower floor. Probably because transportation of goods was easier when it was lower.
Thump, thump, thump, the man heard footsteps of patrolling officers get closer and closer. He stared at the ground outside the window. He quickly eyed the area around it. The bush over there looks sturdy enough, and without any mental preparation he jumped into the bush.
Of course, jumping into a bush regardless from any height would create any noise. As soon as he landed in the bush, the leaves rustled, and a loud thud was heard.
"Fuck," he swore. "That hurt. These branches poking into me hurt much more than actually falling."
In a second, he saw another head peeping out of the head out the window he just jumped from.
A guard in an olive-green uniform, an officer from the imperial regime's special force, shouted. "Hey! There's an intruder who just jumped off the fourth-floor building! Quick, get reinforcements. And do not wake up the king."
The man, whose face was covered with a mask, looked up and smirked. So much for being an imperial regime officer. The man was too much of a pussy to even jump from the fourth floor.
"Hey, all that training and you can't even jump from the fourth floor. What do they pay you for?"
The man's face became bright red as his nostrils flared up in anger. "You impudent little—"
"More action, less talk baby."
The officer looked down the window again, the anger making him consider jumping down just to prove a point. He put his foot on the windowsill and steadied himself by placing him arms on the side of the window. He just needed a moment to build up the courage.
The man laughed, "Oops, you took too long. Bye!" and without another word, he sprinted off into the dark night. He ran so fast that he was out of sight within a mere couple of seconds.
The officer who was almost about the jump stood frozen at his spot. His anger at the insolent behaviour of this commoner was consuming him to the point where he couldn't do anything except take deep breaths in order to calm himself.
A subordinate officer came running with reinforcements in tow. They stopped once they saw their leader halfway out of the window.
"Sir!" said one of them. "It's too young to die!"
The senior turned around and glared at the junior officer. "Do I look like I want to commit suicide? You better keep your mouth shut if you don't want to die. Or else one day in the basement is enough for you to want to die."
The subordinate immediately shut up not wanting to anger his clearly agitated senior. On a clearer inspection it was obvious that his boss had called reinforcements to catch someone who had escaped from the window. The officer went red in the face, not from anger but rather from embarrassment.
The senior backed away from the window and ran a hand through his hair. Although he was a pretty young officer, the stress from his job had clearly taken a toll on his body. He had visible eye bags which contrasted with his handsome face and his lack of personal care also resulted in small hairs growing on his face. Subconsciously, he rubbed the stubble on his chin.
He turned towards his subordinates and with a stern look in eyes he said, "Don't tell anyone about this. If the king finds out, it's going to be our heads on a spike. Got it?"
The subordinates gulped and nodded their heads fervently. They may be part of the imperial regime force but deep down they found themselves being more loyal to the leader than to the King. After all, the reality was that only a few really supported the King in this country.
Who would ever support a man who forced their way to through to the throne and stripped them of their rights?
"Yes, sir!" they said in unison.
"Dismissed."
Quietly, the officers dispersed, and the corridor was silent once more. The older officer found himself staring in the direction of the way the man run. Although his anger had calmed down, his annoyance was still evident on his face.
He turned away from the window and marched down the corridor.
"These fucking Panchen!"
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