**Warning: Slight gore

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The first thing that came to Jungkook's mind when his arm was slit by Yugyeom during their spar was Chaeyoung.

Her worried face. The curve of her brows. Her lips parting, letting a nervous sigh to escape. The softest touch of her fingers. Her tenderness while attaching her palm to his skin. The downturn of her lips. Her little pout. The gentle way of her telling him to always be careful. Her cool tears. The grief in her ocean blue eyes.

Jungkook gritted his teeth, suppressing the moan of agony as he tried to catch his breath. Yugyeom, like always, had panicked, apologized and hesitated for another attack when he had all the chances. Jungkook had nodded his head to encourage because this time, deep down in his heart, the roughest fight would be the biggest help in preparing himself for the worst in his future days.

He longed for Chaeyoung. Not her healing, but her presence alone. Out of all the days he had longed for her, this was the day he thought as the hardest for him to bear. Out of all those days, it was that day, that moment when he felt the strongest yearning for her.

But he had no other choice. He had to make sure they stayed away from each other. He had to make sure that she was safe from being a target if Hanbin and his friends were to make a return. He might be wrong. It might be something else. Hanbin might not be the threat that was coming. But his intuition seemed too strong that it was hard not to trust in it. His worry over the thing that had not yet happened only developed with time.

It hurt, at every moment, when the last look Chaeyoung gave him flashed in his mind. The disbelief, the deepest disappointment, the hurt, the anger; everything was in full display. They flashed and flickered in her eyes. Her eyes, that were like the calmest days of an ocean turned hard and cold, like an ice.

Despite his need to reach for her, to pull her into his embrace when she began to walk away and to tell her that he couldn't bear seeing her with someone else, it pierced his heart painfully that he couldn't do any of those. He had to let her go.

Jungkook wished it was easier to tell her. He knew that he was easy to read to her, but there were times when he needed to let words out of his mouth. Yet, doing so would only make her worry, would only make her choose to stick around him to provide him with any kind of protection that she could when all he wanted was to protect her. Doing so would only put her in a danger that she should not be in since she was never related to the issue between him and Hanbin.

If something bad ever happened to her, Jungkook would never forgive himself.

Jungkook scrunched his face lightly when he tried to take off the Newcomer's outfit he was wearing. The friction between the outfit and his injured arm made him wince for a second, never expected that it would be as painful as it was. Was he becoming weaker? He grunted, hoping that it was not the case. Eventually, he gave up on taking it off, deciding that he would do it once he reached home.

His eyes narrowed when his ears registered the faint sound of footfalls. It had been quite some time since he was last followed home. For some reason, warning began to knock on his heart.

The sun was about to set. The sky amber, making him more aware of his surroundings. Jungkook stopped walking, made sure that his breathing was calm so as not to make a lot of noise, trying to focus on where exactly the sound came from.

His ears registered different sounds. More movements. Lazy yet somewhat careful steps. Faint hushes. The lightest sound of flames.

Jungkook took a slow, deep breath. He was ready.

He curled his fingers into a fist. He waited. He counted. One, two, three, four. Four flying flames from far away. He pressed his lips into a thin line, his jaws tightened.

He counted. One. Two.

The flames were only a meter apart coming from four sides.

And he recited in his mind the last number; three.

Jungkook ducked with a speed so fast the dirt underneath him flew upward and sideways. A loud thud created as soon as he met the ground. Jungkook flexed both of his arms, made himself a shield when another set of fireballs sent his way.

He rose to his feet in an instant after the fireballs exploded into smokes. He shot larger and faster fireballs toward all the senders. Three hits, one miss. He heard the loud groans, the cry of pain, the yell of agony. He heard shifting behind him and without missing a beat, Jungkook readied a new set of his weapons to be released when a familiar face came into view.

Jungkook's eyes flinched. His throat tight. His stomach lurched.

Standing calmly a few steps ahead was Kim Hanbin, smirking at him while clapping his hands ever so slowly.

"We meet again, Jeon."

The flames covering his arms and body disappeared. His mind that was initially occupied with the determination to defeat those who dared to mess with him now swapped with his nightmares, his last memories of Hanbin and the pained and angered face of his grandfather treating him with every kind of herbs. The areas in his body where Hanbin had scarred with his violent attacks had already been fully healed. But the pain came again, like the first time he felt his flesh tore painfully and his blood gushing out.

One by one of his attackers earlier came out into view. Chanwoo growled in pain as he dragged himself to stand just behind Hanbin, one arm injured. Yunhyeong's hand clamped against his bloodied waist. Donghyuk limping toward Hanbin with scrunched up face, hissing as he tried to stand up straight. Jiwon came a little later, unscathed.

Jungkook had expected this to happen. He wasn't surprised over this reunion. It was the terrible incident that never stopped to bother his mind, causing him to freeze over nothing as Hanbin continued to smile at him like he had just won something.

"It has been long, hasn't it?" Hanbin let out a chuckle, crossing his arms over his chest. "I'm glad that you actually made yourself better than the last time. I remember you could only run and avoid when we sparred long time ago."

When Jungkook stayed silent, Hanbin's smile only grew wider on his face. "It's a good improvement, Jeon. At least, you are far more interesting now than you were before."

Jungkook felt his chest burned so passionately inside, his resentment over the older male only grew stronger at each insult.

"What do you want?" Jungkook gritted.

"Ah... Glad you asked. You see," Hanbin began to step away from his friends and began to walk slowly toward him. "I have been locked up in that bleeding cell for skies know how long. Not even a day I was able to train myself. I'm certain that my skills are rusty now. So, as my previous partner, would you take the honor to have...maybe a round of a spar with me?"

The way Hanbin talk made him sick in his guts, made him loath him even more at the hidden meanings, made him want to slit his throat to satisfy his own rage. He would agree to the sick offer, yet, his grandfather's request for him to not involve himself in things like this resurfaced in his mind. His advices made ways to his head.

Jungkook took a deep breath. "If you wish," he loosened his fist for a moment, "we may spar during the training session."

"Oh, it takes away the thrill if we are confined inside the training ground," Hanbin reasoned. He turned his head around, gestured with his arms. "Isn't this place just fine?"

"Tomorrow at the training session," Jungkook insisted and he could see the change in Hanbin's expression. From the teasing and provoking face to something else. The patience that was evident in the older male's expression seconds ago vanished, leaving him with a dangerous gaze as he looked at Jungkook dead in the eye despite the fixed smile on his countenance.

"If I said I want it now, what is the bleeding problem?"

Jungkook did not answer. His grandfather's voice repeated in his mind.

"Alright," Hanbin nodded with a scoff. "Well, how about this? Take your time to consider the offer. And while you are at that..." he trailed off and turned to his friends, signaling them with a gesture that somehow made Jungkook's heart suddenly begin to pump restlessly.

Jiwon whistled to his right, facing the woods and cheered, howling with the rest when two figures moved in the dark. Jungkook squinted his eyes and as soon as the two came out of the dark, his heart pounded so loud that his ears were deafened to any sound at all.

His eyes widened and his heart was about to fall off his chest at the sight of Jinhwan pushing Chaeyoung while also holding onto her tied wrists behind her back.

"While you take your time thinking, I will have fun with this beautiful Healer."

Chaeyoung was crying. And it was so clear of how frightened she was when their eyes met. Her blonde hair was a mess. The pale skin of her face had burning red at her cheek, the size of a man's palm. There was a cut on her other cheek. A rope was tied into a ball, stuffed into her mouth.

"Let go of her!" Jungkook yelled. He leaped toward Hanbin but was stopped by two men whom he didn't realize had already readied themselves on his sides.

Hanbin cackled as he made slow steps toward Chaeyoung.

"If you touch her, I will kill you!" Jungkook growled. "Let her go!"

Hanbin stood behind Chaeyoung after Jinhwan stepped away. Jungkook's veins on his forehead and neck popped as he yelled profanities to Hanbin when the latter slowly held Chaeyoung's waist after taking out the ball of rope stuffed in her mouth. Chaeyoung's whole body was trembling terribly when Hanbin's arms surrounded her, his chin rested on her shoulder.

"I never expected a female Healer would ignite something in me," Hanbin said with a disgusting smirk while he pressed his face against her shoulder. "Maybe she is an exception."

"Get your filthy hands off her!"

"Or what?" Hanbin questioned. "Are you going to kill me?"

"You are going to die."

"Ooh," the older male laughed with his friends.

"You know, I have been waiting for this day to come. I have been waiting for the day I can finally tear you apart with my own hands, Jeon. I have been waiting for the day when I can take away your life," Hanbin's playful eyes instantly changed, venom filling his two burning eyes, "just like how your father took my father's life."

Jungkook's ears began to burn. The shame that stuck to him for years began to visibly form on his face. He hated his father. He hated him for what he had done. Thousands of years might pass, and he would never forgive his father.

"Tell me, Jeon," Hanbin said, his face too close to Chaeyoung's that Jungkook wanted to lunge at him and destroy the man with his own hands. Hanbin untied her wrists but quickly caged her again with his arms. Chaeyoung squirmed in Hanbin's hold, desperate to get herself away from him. "Do you want to know how it feels to have the people you love taken away from you?"

Jungkook's eyes burned. His mother's and grandmother's faces flashed in his mind.

Hanbin's fingers curled around Chaeyoung's neck. Jungkook saw Chaeyoung's struggle to breathe as her fingers desperately spread, palm facing down before she changed direction and he realized how she was trying to find any source of water around. Jungkook felt his stomach tightened, realizing that there wasn't any source of water around that area.

"Let go of her," he growled. He swallowed the hard lump in his throat, fists clenched on his sides. Chaeyoung let out a choking sound and Jungkook felt his eyes sting. "Please."

Hanbin hooted. "If I knew that it takes this Healer to hear you beg, I would have done it sooner."

"She has nothing to do with this." Jungkook could feel the itchiness to release a huge flying sword toward Hanbin yet doing so would harm Chaeyoung as well. "You want to kill me. So, please leave her alone. Let her go and I will do anything as you wish."

The long stare Hanbin shot him obviously had nothing to do with him contemplating over the offer. When Hanbin released Chaeyoung's neck and let a cunning smile painted over his features, panic once again began to surface within Jungkook.

"Let her go?" Hanbin chuckled, brushing Chaeyoung's hair softly. "Wouldn't it be a waste?"

Jungkook's breath stuck in his throat.

"My friends have just as much vengeance as I do." He looked at the rest of the men. "Remember, I want him alive. He's mine to kill. But only bring him to me after I am done having a little fun with this beautiful Healer." Hanbin's hands began to move from her neck down her arm when he locked his eyes with Jungkook as he said, "You know how lonely I felt during my prison days."

Jungkook's arms formed blue flames after releasing himself from the tight hold of the two men on his sides. Chanwoo and Jiwon backed away just for one second before they jumped on him. Punches covered with flames were thrown at him. Jungkook managed to avoid and attack everything successfully until he caught a glance of Hanbin laughing at him while he nuzzled his face against Chaeyoung's neck while she tried to get away from him.

The sight distracted him that he was left frozen in panic, giving his opponents huge chances of slicing through his already injured arm with their own swords of fire. Jungkook yelped in pain and heard Chaeyoung's scream of his name. He heard Hanbin's threat against her and when Jungkook opened his eyes, he saw Chaeyoung trying to punch Hanbin. Hanbin pulled her hair that her head was jerked back, his other hand gripped her face brutally, but not before she succeeded to scratch his face near his eye.

Without thinking, Jungkook rose to his feet. It was with struggle, but he managed to escape from the incoming attacks of Hanbin's men, throwing his signature curving daggers to those men. He reached Hanbin and his fist landed square on the male's face, causing him to stumble back, losing his hold on Chaeyoung and fell. Jungkook jumped on him, pressing Hanbin's face to the ground before releasing quick yet heavy punches onto the male underneath him.

He got off from Hanbin and quickly reached Chaeyoung. Her hands were fluttering, her body trembled as she tried to hold him. Jungkook held her arms, his eyes widening. "Leave this place. Now."

Her eyes went wide and her mouth opened to say something but Hanbin's hands were quick to grip Jungkook's neck from behind while at the same time, Jiwon dragging Chaeyoung away before pushing her roughly by her head to the ground. Jungkook was pulled back with force and a few men jumped on him at once. Jungkook used all the energy he had to push each of them off him, making a shield stronger than he ever made that the men were thrown away. It was something he learned from his grandfather only few days back.

Hanbin was the only one who got up easily from the attack and tried to charge toward him again. Jungkook dashed forward toward him. His hand quick to grapple Hanbin, pushed him down. He produced his own form of sword made of blue fire and tried to stab Hanbin in his face. Yet, his hand grew weak that his sword vanished when a flaming hand that was not Hanbin's tightened around his throat, yanking him backward, throwing him off of Hanbin's body.

Jungkook held his burned throat, his eyes watered as he tried to draw in his breath when he saw Jinhwan smirking above him. Soon, Hanbin roughly pushed Jinhwan away, anger was evident in his voice when he yelled, "He's mine to kill!"

At that moment, Jungkook's head briefly turned to Chaeyoung who was writhing in pain on the ground, choking for air a second before Jiwon gave her gut another kick. Jungkook's fists curled, sending ten daggers toward Jiwon. He didn't see what happened next, realizing Hanbin towering over him. Without hesitating, Jungkook growled as he jumped upward, his move fast that Hanbin stumbled to the back after his chin met with Jungkook's head.

Jungkook once again shoved Hanbin to the ground, his hand curling around the latter's throat, imitating Jinhwan's move on him earlier.

Hanbin was quicker, always a step ahead of him. He clawed into Jungkook's abdomen with his scorching fingers and Jungkook could feel each of his fingers, like thick thorns, piercing into his flesh painfully, curling inside of him, clenching around him that he failed to hold his fire for long, his hand around Hanbin's neck loosened.

Just as he thought Hanbin was going to pull his fingers out of his flesh, Jungkook's eyes enlarged, his breath faltering as his mouth opened and closed, the pain doubling when Hanbin thrust his hands further into Jungkook's already torn abdomen. His shriek of pain invaded the already chaotic surrounding.

Hanbin was not even gritting his teeth. He was laughing, like he was possessed.

Jungkook fell onto the ground holding onto his abdomen with a deep grunt after Hanbin pushed him off.

"Jungkook!" Chaeyoung cried in horror and just in time when Jungkook turned his body weakly on the ground, six huge spears of fire came down on him.

He produced a shield, but it was weak that one of the spears was able to stab into his chest near his heart and another to his already injured arm. Jungkook's mouth gaped open, air leaving his body in a rush as the spear slowly disappeared into smoke. He heard faint sound of cackles as he rolled on the ground weakly, grunting. He heard Chaeyoung's desperate cry of his name. And it took him seconds to rid the blurriness for him to see Chaeyoung crying on his side before one of the guys pulled her up harshly by her hair.

Chaeyoung yelped in pain, holding her head desperately and Jungkook's trembling arm lifted when all the men's attentions were on her. Her name came out of his lips in broken voice. He formed his daggers underneath his shaky palms and after a hard swallow, he released the daggers speedily, each aimed toward each man.

Jungkook couldn't see where the daggers landed, but he heard loud groans and he could tell that Chaeyoung was released from their grasp. She was on his side in an instant, her sobs were making her words unclear to his ears.

"Ch- Chaeyo – "

"Stay," she sobbed, and he could tell how hard she tried to form her sentence clearly. "Stay w-with me. Please. Stay." She placed her trembling hands over his abdomen. An attempt to heal him.

Jungkook felt his own body shook. He coughed out blood. He felt the rush of his blood coming out of his torn fleshes. "Run."

"I won't leave you," she cried harder. "D-don't leave me."

When he managed to speak again, it was a broken whisper. "R-run."

Two men approaching them. Hanbin and Jiwon, he could tell.

He only could hear himself screaming 'run' in his head. He could mutter a word no longer. With all the might he had left, he launched his last attack, a very weak one.

The men were able to avoid each, and they only scoffed as they approached closer. He wanted to push her, yell at her to run as fast as she could while he grabbed them to stop them from chasing after her, but none of those was something he could do at that moment as he lied helplessly on the ground, bloodied and weakened to the core.

Jungkook heard Chaeyoung's gasp next, a loud explosion and the men's chaotic voices screaming words that suddenly became incoherent.

Jungkook felt his eyelids heavy, darkness began to loom.

He thought of his grandfather. He couldn't leave his only family member behind.

Yet, as he coughed for the last time, he could feel his soul crawling up his throat. His heartbeat became a lot slower, his breath even shallower than before.

He remembered how it felt when his heartbeat stopped the first time he kissed Chaeyoung. He remembered the time his heart stopped when she admitted her own feelings for him. He remembered the time it stopped when they made love in the pond.

Perhaps, this time when it would stop and never beat again, it wouldn't be so bad at all. Just like all the previous times.

Because when his eyes were slowly closing, he could only see Chaeyoung's face before he could see nothing but darkness, he could only hear Chaeyoung's voice before it slowly faded, and he could only feel Chaeyoung's touch before he could feel nothing at all.

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♬ 𝒑𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒆 - 𝒂𝒅𝒊𝒆𝒖 𝒎𝒐𝒏 𝒉𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒆

a/n:

HORRIBLE CHAPTER, JESUS. i can't write a damn fight scene! this chapter was written last year and lots of editing done ever since and it's STILL garbage so i gave up. sorry that it's not an epic battle scene it's shitty asf ugh i'm disappointed in myself lmao fantasy is SO not my forte