Vengeance

“Yooyeon-unnie come on. We’re gonna miss it.” I hear her running up the hills.

“We’re not gonna miss it baby, calm down.” I say, struggling to walk up the hills.

As I get to the top, I pant hard before settling down next to her. She smiles brightly while looking at the sun slowly setting. A smile creeps onto my face as I see her beautiful face.

“You’re staring unnie.” She says, blushing while still looking at the sunset.

I chuckle before tackling her onto the ground and tickling her. She laughs loudly with so much life. Our laughter fills my ears as joy envelops my heart. We both pant as our gazes meet.

“ I love you Yoon Seoyeon.”

“I love you too unnie.”

We both lean into each other as our lips collide. I hold her waist with one hand and her neck in the other. She pulls me closer with her arms. As we make out, I feel something was off. I pulled away from the kiss to see her bleeding from her stomach.

“No no no, please God no.” I say, putting pressure on her stomach with my right hand as the other caresses her face. She extends her bloody hand to my face to caress it. I could feel tears running down my face as I screamed out for help.

“Unnie…” She says weakly, making me pay attention to her.

“ Promise me…don’t…do it.” She whispers to me. I close my eyes as tears run down my cheeks onto her body.

“I…I promise.” I say to her.

She smiles and shakes her head, “You’ve always been…a terrible…liar.”

As her hand falls onto the ground, I lean into her body. The warmth was gone, replaced by cold emptiness. Her sparkling eyes were now lifeless obsidian orbs. I scream loudly into sky before…

I’m awaken by the phone ringing. I knew who the caller was before I even answered. I stood up and took a deep breath before answering.

“Hello my lovely bunny.” She says making me scoff before answering.

“Kim Nakyoung.”

“Oh come on bunny. We have history together. Why so formal?" Her nonchalant tone was slowly pushing my buttons.

“What the fuck do you want?” I say snapping at her.

“Jeez why are you so rude. Just wanted to drop a call to see how my lovely bunny was doing.” I groan loudly before saying to her.

“Cut to the chase Nakyoung. What do you want?”

There was silence for what felt like hours, before she finally responded.

“You know you won’t get to me Yooyeon. You’re not going to touch me at all.” She says with a darker tone than before.

“Do you really believe that? After what you’ve done to me? After what I’ve done for you and your family?” I say laughing sarcastically.

“You love me Yooyeon. You love -” I cut her off before she finishes.

“Love? I never loved you Kim Nakyoung. You only used me for you own sick and twisted pleasure.” I say snapping at her.

“You do Yooyeon. You love -” I cut her again.

“You wanna talk about love? Did you forget what your parents did to me? I’m grateful that they took me in. But torturing me and turning me into their personal killer isn’t love Nakyoung. Using me to fulfill your filthy fantasies and then guilt tripping me when I refused isn’t love as well.” I say to her, making her snap back at me.

“Fine. If you want to die than so be it Yooyeon.” She says before cutting off the line.

I take a deep breath and look at my table. My past was staring back at me. I take my time to prepare. I’ve already calculated how much time it would be before her men would storm my house. As I finished putting on my gear, I watch the camera of my front house.

After a few minutes, they had arrived. I counted twelve men, maybe more. I walk towards the breaker and cut all power from my house. I walk slowly upstairs with my gun cocked and ready in front of me. I could hear them break off into groups. I notice one of them breaking off alone and killed him with my knife. As the other founds him, I shot him dead.

All hell breaks loose as they try to shoot me. What they didn’t know is that I had already gotten out of the house. I pulled out a switch from my pocket. Once I was far enough, I clicked it and the house exploded. I got into my car and drove off into a safe house.

I turned the car off and quickly got inside. This location was probably compromised so I grabbed all the weapons and ammo that I can before driving off to meet a friend.

I parked behind her house and got out. I opened the door slowly, the gun still in my left hand. I look around carefully around the house when a cocking sound enters my ear. “It’s me.” I say to her. “Kim Yooyeon.” She says, touching my back and allowing me to turn around. She sets the shotgun on the wall before pulling me into a hug. “Glad to know you’re still alive unnie.” She says smiling bitterly. “Thank you Nien.” I say to her.

She tells me to sit whilst she grabs a couple of soju from her fridge. “I assume you know why I’m here.” I say taking a sip of the soju. “Nakyoung right? You’re sure you wanna continue this?” She says, a hint of hesitance in her voice. I look down at the bottle before taking a deep breath. “I don’t know what else I would do Nien.” I take a big gulp from the bottle. “Alright. She’s in her family’s bunker. Here’s the location.” She says, handing me her phone. “Thank you.” I say, before standing up to leave. “Unnie.” I turn back to her as she gives me another hug. “Good luck.” She whispers in my ear. I nod on her shoulders before getting out of her house.

I entered the coordinates in my GPS and start driving. It’ll take me about three hours to get there. There weren’t many cars on the highway so I speed up to make it there faster. I arrived at the foot of a hill and shut the car down. I reach into the glove box and grab the photo inside. I lean back on my seat and stare at the photo. She looks so lifely and joyful. I kiss the photo before going out back to prepare myself. I opened the trunk and set the photo beside my bag. I stared at both of my pasts for what felt like hours. I close my eyes and let the memories flow.

I had just finished another job. As I walked in the corridors, my head suddenly felt like it throbbing from the inside. I tried to ignore it but it hurt so bad that I collapsed. The next thing I knew is I was inside an apartment that’s not my own. I feel a wet towel on my head and a thermometer in my mouth. I opened my eyes and see her. Her hair tied into a messy bun as she jotted down notes.

She turned around after hearing me groan. Before I could stood up, she pushes me down to lay on the sofa. “Don’t get up yet. You’re still too weak right now.” The way she said it with so much concern surprised me. “Where am I?” I asked her. She explained that I was in her apartment. She saw me on the floor and took me in.

“Look I’m grateful but you need to stay away from me.” I said trying to stand up again. She pushed me down on the sofa harder this time. Her look of concern turned into something more stern. “ I said no. Now shut up and rest.” Her tone was stern but caring. I sighed and laid back down. “Thank you…” I said to her and she introduced herself, Yoon Seoyeon.

I woke up the next day feeling much better. I take a deep breath and noticed a wonderful smell in the room. I stood up to find her cooking something. “Thanks Seoyeon, you didn’t have to do any of this.” I say to her. She turned around confused, before saying “Nonsense. When people are in need of help, others will help.” I stood there for a while before turning around to leave. She quickly turned the stove off and pulled me onto a seat. “You really have no manners do you. Sit and wait. The soup will help with your recovery.” She said scoffing at me before going back to finish the soup.

I tried the soup and my eyes grew wide. I didn’t notice her looking at me with a big smile on her face until I finished everything. “Damn, did someone starve you or something?” She said, laughing at me. I could only sat there, muttering out a thank you at her. “Do you want more?” She asked me and I nod at her. She brought another bowl for me to eat, looking at me with the same smile until I finished everything.

Once I finished two more bowls, she lets me out of her apartment. As I arrived at my apartment, I quickly wrote the mission report for my last job. Afterwards, I laid down on my bed and closed my eyes. I contemplated what my life had been so far. I had been raised and trained to kill they wanted me to kill. It didn’t matter to me, if they wanted someone dead then they’d die by my hands.

Once I started to reminisce about Seoyeon, I shook my head. ‘No, she doesn’t matter. She’s only a hindrance.” I hear a voice in my head said. But I also heard another voice. It was her voice. Her voice was warm in my ears. Her tone, steady and caring. She was a beacon of life among the darkness that was my life.

Over the next few weeks, it was always the same routine. I regularly meet her in the hallway after I’ve done my job. She always greeted me warmly, while I just walked away. Soon…I realized something. Maybe there was more to this life then just death. I gave it a thought for a few days. And decided to tell the higher ups that I wanted to quit. Suffice to say, they didn’t take it lightly. But strangely enough, they actually made a deal. One final job. Eliminate the entire family of their rival in one night and I’d get my freedom.

The job was insane to anybody else. But if it’s my only way out, then I’d do it anyway. It took a lot of planning and effort. I still remember it as clear as the dawn that settled after the carnage. I was soaking in blood but it was done. I had earned my freedom. The higher ups were pleased but I could tell they’re still angry to lost their best asset.

None of that mattered anymore. For the next few months, I began to get closer with her, Yoon Seoyeon. She was a nurse in training. I figured she’d work in the medical field since the first day we met. She was bright, as bright as the sun. The way she’d laugh heartily at my corny jokes. The smile she had when petting cats was wonderful.

It took a few days of preparing myself but I confessed to her. It had been six months after I quit and this woman has become the center of my universe. I thought this was it. This is my happy ending. Maybe I was too naive to think of that.

Three months after I confessed to her and we moved in together, I got a call. They needed me back, saying this was urgent and that only I could do it. I told them no of course, stating that I had left that life behind. They didn’t take it lightly but they didn’t press on. I should’ve known that all actions have consequences.

She’d over heard my conversation that day. I almost passed out when she asked me to tell the truth. I told her everything, about my life, all my job, all the blood that’s stained my hands. I’d accepted that she would leave me. Yet she didn’t. I cried in her arms as she tells me that she won’t leave me. “I may not know who you truly are unnie. But I believe my heart. And my heart tells me that deep down, you are a good person.” She whispers in my ears.

It was a month after that call. I’d purchased a house for us to live in. I remember driving home after a grocery run and seeing a lot of fire trucks driving past me. It was only until I noticed the smoke that I panicked. The house had been burned down. A lot of people tried to hold me back but I managed to get in. Her body was right there in the middle of the room when I walked in. I could see it clearly. A knife wound on her abdomen and an emblem right beside her head. Everything afterwards was a haze.