A/N: Thanx so much for the great reviews!!!! I really appreciate them =) I
really enjoyed writing this chapter because I could finally put Hwoarang
into the story. Oh yeah, I have to put a warning on this chapter: TORTURE
included! If you don't like anything like that, you better not read this.
Its also rated PG-13 for a little bit of language. That's all!
*~*~*~*
*LING XIAOYU'S LOG* *290314*
CURRENT LOCATION: STILL SEOUL (BUT WE'RE NOT LOST ANYMORE, YAY!!)
TIME: APPROX. 10 O CLOCK (GIVING US A GRAND TOTAL OF 3 HOURS TO FIND HWOARANG!! PANIC!)
DETAILS OF NEW MISSION: TO INVESTIGATE HWOARANG'S DISAPPEARANCE (I'M NOT HAVING ANOTHER FRIEND DOING A DISAPPEARING ACT ON ME!)
BAD NEWS! HWOARANG IS NOWHERE TO BE SEEN. WE HAVE TO FIND HIM BEFORE 1AM OR BEFORE THE KOREAN MILITARY DO. IF WE DON'T FIND HIM, I MIGHT NOT GET TO HEAR IF HE HAS ANY NEWS OF JIN! AND WE HAVE ANOTHER PROBLEM - HWOARANG MAY NOT BE ABLE TO COME WITH US, IF WE EVER DO FIND HIM, BECAUSE WHO WILL LOOK AFTER CHO-JUNG AND MIN-YOUNG?? ARRGGH, WHY IS THIS TURNING SO COMPLICATED?? THIS IS ALL JIN'S FAULT FOR RUNNING AWAY IN THE FIRST PLACE!
Our heroine put her travel size diary back into her jacket pocket. She and Julia were now out on the busy streets of Seoul searching desperately for clues and asking as many people as they could if they knew Hwoarang.
Finally, a boy of Hwoarang's age gave them information, "Hwoarang? Yeah, I know him. Ain't many people with his name around. Anyway, he likes to hang out at that bar there."
Hurrying to the aforementioned bar, Xiaoyu and Julia scanned the place frantically.
Julia suddenly caught a glimpse of unmistakable red hair.
The boy it belonged to was just leaving from the door on the opposite end of the bar.
"Hwoarang!!" yelled Xiaoyu maniacally, scrambling past tables and knocking over drinks in her hurry to get to the door, with Julia trailing behind her and apologising to random people along the way.
The back door of the bar led out into a damp alley. The redheaded Korean had walked around the corner, into the next street. Julia and Xiaoyu raced to keep up.
Panting for breath, they could hardly speak when they finally saw it was indeed Hwoarang, who at that moment was gunning up the engine on his motorbike.
Before they could call his name, an army van rode up. Several soldiers swarmed out. Catching the Korean off guard, they attacked Hwoarang to the ground and forced him into the van with them.
"Noooooo!!!" shrieked Xiaoyu angrily at the retreating van. "Hwoarang," she whispered, quieting down as the realisation that her friend was in great danger sank in.
"They better not hurt him," she said to Julia, "come on, we have to follow them."
"How? We'll never be quick enough on foot," said Julia, crestfallen.
"Aah, Hwoarang left us a present," Xiaoyu pointed to his motorbike, still on the ground, "besides, he'd want us to make sure we didn't just leave his beloved bike in an alley. Do you know what that thing means to him?"
Julia was just staring at her horrified. "We don't know how to ride a motorbike!!" she shouted, "You don't have a license. I don't have a license. We'll both be arrested!"
Xiaoyu had already reached the bike. She turned to Julia and said sadly. "They've taken Hwoarang. If it were you they'd taken, I'd do anything I could to make sure I followed so I could save you."
Julia looked down. "Fine, Xiao," she murmured quietly, then smiled, "let's do it your way."
"Yeeaahh!" shouted Xiaoyu, hopping onto the bike, with Julia behind her.
After a wobbly start, they got the engine running and the bike leapt into life; shooting forwards with both the girls clinging on for dear life. "There's the van up ahead!" pointed Julia; she had to shout for her voice to be heard against the speed they were going at.
Xiaoyu smiled and started toward it, weaving in and out of cars along the way. "Crazy woman driver!" cried a male pedestrian that Xiaoyu had just shot straight past.
"Uh, Xiaoyu, I think you need to slow down!" yelled Julia anxiously.
The van suddenly took a sharp turn left into another back street, forcing Xiaoyu to do the same thing.
"Where the hell are the brakes on this thing?" Xiaoyu screamed. Julia saw a pile of trashcans up ahead and could do nothing but bury her head into Xiaoyu's back, muttering vaguely to herself about how they were going to die.
As the bike collided into the garbage pile, both girls shot off the bike and tumbled down on the other side of the trashcans.
Groaning, Julia rubbed her head, wincing painfully. "Xiaoyu, get off," she hissed, "I can't feel my legs!"
"Sorry," Xiaoyu crawled off her friend absentmindedly, as she searched for Hwoarang. The van was parked nearby and she saw one of the last soldiers closing a door behind him that looked like it led into a dark abandoned building.
"They've taken him in there," Xiaoyu pulled Julia to her feet. Creeping stealthily along, they entered the building and hid behind large wooden crates of boxes whilst making sure they kept to the shadows.
Xiaoyu felt herself burning with anger when she saw they had tied Hwoarang's hands behind his back, whilst he was being held in-between two soldiers. How dare they treat her friend in this disgusting way.
A very stern powerfully built man approached Hwoarang. "Alright, Sarge?" Hwoarang smirked, "Long time no see, huh?"
The back of the sergeant's hand met with Hwoarang's cheek. Julia could see Hwoarang bite back a cry of pain.
"Always the same good for nothing delinquent," the sergeant snarled, "but now you're finally at our mercy." He smiled a nasty grin that made Julia's blood run cold.
But, Xiaoyu was glad to see Hwoarang smirk again. "Stooping to assault, Sarge? I'm very disappointed in you."
The sergeant's face contorted with anger when he couldn't see any fear on his victim's face. "Remove his shirt," he spat. "By the end of this," the sergeant leant close to Hwoarang's face; "we'll have you screaming like a girl."
With that, Hwoarang's shirt was pulled roughly over his head, revealing his toned muscular chest.
"Aah, I see pretty boy here works out," the sergeant smiled wickedly as two soldiers shackled Hwoarang's hands from chains that fell from the ceiling.
Hwoarang thrashed wildly, but it was no use, he was completely immobile.
"How dare they," hissed Xiaoyu, next to Julia.
"Oh my god. Look what he has in his hand," Julia whispered, wide-eyed.
From behind his back, the sergeant produced a leather whip embedded with sharp nails.
Xiaoyu saw a brief flash of fear flicker across Hwoarang's face, but he regained himself quickly. "Why, Sarge, if I knew you were into that type of thing . . ."
"Shut your mouth, boy," boomed the sergeant, then smirked, "I'm going to have some fun."
And without warning, the obscene piece of torturing equipment was rammed into Hwoarang's chest, immediately drawing blood from his soft skin.
Hwoarang had to bite down his cry of anguish. He wasn't about to succumb to the pain and show it to that son of a bitch.
"Those creeps. They're not getting away with this," said a seething Xiaoyu and she quickly hurried away. "Xiaoyu, don't go anywhere," hissed Julia, but it was too late. Xiaoyu was already out of the door.
The sergeant, meanwhile, was getting more and more angry when Hwoarang wasn't appearing to be screaming in agony. He struck again, this time with more force and succeeded to tear Hwoarang's delicate flesh further. Julia could see the pained expression in Hwoarang's eyes, but the proud Korean still managed to glare defiantly at his assailant.
Suddenly, there was a very loud crash outside that echoed around.
The soldiers stopped dead in their tracks. "There's someone out there," said one soldier. "Go and check what that is," hissed the sergeant. The soldiers left the room.
Julia knew that Xiaoyu had caused the distraction. Now it was up to her to take out the sergeant.
"What's the matter, boy?" laughed the sergeant cruelly, "Aren't you having fun?" And as he slapped Hwoarang hard across his face, Julia jumped into a kick aimed at the sergeant's head. She caught him round the neck with her foot and drove his head down with a crash, rendering him unconscious.
"Julia!" Hwoarang exclaimed, "What the hell-?"
"We'll explain later," Julia said quickly, checking Hwoarang's shackles and hoping she could break them apart.
"We?" asked Hwoarang, but Julia was too busy forcing the shackles open. With a cry of effort, she finally managed it. "Damn, girl. You MUST work out," he looked at her, raising a delicate eyebrow.
As soon as Hwoarang was free, he collapsed on his knees as a sharp pain shot across his chest from his wounds.
Julia helped him up, half carrying the Korean out of the building.
An anxious Xiaoyu was waiting for them. "Hwoarang!" she threw her arms around his neck.
"Oh, god. Not you," he groaned, "as if the day couldn't get any worse!"
"See, Julia? Didn't I tell you he'd be happy to see me?" Xiaoyu grinned; knowing Hwoarang was only joking.
Suddenly, the shuffling sounds of the soldiers returning echoed around the alley.
"Quick, come on," Xiaoyu held onto Hwoarang's other arm for extra support and both girls led him over to the motorbike, which was still lying pitifully in the trash.
Hwoarang bit back the urge to swear profusely. "What the hell did you do to my bike?!"
"It was all Xiaoyu's idea," Julia said quickly. Xiaoyu glared at her.
Hwoarang raised his eyes to the heavens. "THIS is why I say girls shouldn't drive."
Julia and Xiaoyu rolled their eyes, picking the bike up.
Hwoarang got on, luckily there was enough space for Julia and Xiaoyu behind him.
"Let me show you girls how to ride a real bike," Hwoarang smirked back at them both, gunning the engine and racing off down the alley.
"Hwoarang, slow down," Julia cried, "You're just as bad as Xiaoyu!"
Xiaoyu, meanwhile, was having the time of her life and squealing delightedly at the fast pace Hwoarang was taking them down the glittering main streets of Seoul.
* * *
*~*~*~*
*LING XIAOYU'S LOG* *290314*
CURRENT LOCATION: STILL SEOUL (BUT WE'RE NOT LOST ANYMORE, YAY!!)
TIME: APPROX. 10 O CLOCK (GIVING US A GRAND TOTAL OF 3 HOURS TO FIND HWOARANG!! PANIC!)
DETAILS OF NEW MISSION: TO INVESTIGATE HWOARANG'S DISAPPEARANCE (I'M NOT HAVING ANOTHER FRIEND DOING A DISAPPEARING ACT ON ME!)
BAD NEWS! HWOARANG IS NOWHERE TO BE SEEN. WE HAVE TO FIND HIM BEFORE 1AM OR BEFORE THE KOREAN MILITARY DO. IF WE DON'T FIND HIM, I MIGHT NOT GET TO HEAR IF HE HAS ANY NEWS OF JIN! AND WE HAVE ANOTHER PROBLEM - HWOARANG MAY NOT BE ABLE TO COME WITH US, IF WE EVER DO FIND HIM, BECAUSE WHO WILL LOOK AFTER CHO-JUNG AND MIN-YOUNG?? ARRGGH, WHY IS THIS TURNING SO COMPLICATED?? THIS IS ALL JIN'S FAULT FOR RUNNING AWAY IN THE FIRST PLACE!
Our heroine put her travel size diary back into her jacket pocket. She and Julia were now out on the busy streets of Seoul searching desperately for clues and asking as many people as they could if they knew Hwoarang.
Finally, a boy of Hwoarang's age gave them information, "Hwoarang? Yeah, I know him. Ain't many people with his name around. Anyway, he likes to hang out at that bar there."
Hurrying to the aforementioned bar, Xiaoyu and Julia scanned the place frantically.
Julia suddenly caught a glimpse of unmistakable red hair.
The boy it belonged to was just leaving from the door on the opposite end of the bar.
"Hwoarang!!" yelled Xiaoyu maniacally, scrambling past tables and knocking over drinks in her hurry to get to the door, with Julia trailing behind her and apologising to random people along the way.
The back door of the bar led out into a damp alley. The redheaded Korean had walked around the corner, into the next street. Julia and Xiaoyu raced to keep up.
Panting for breath, they could hardly speak when they finally saw it was indeed Hwoarang, who at that moment was gunning up the engine on his motorbike.
Before they could call his name, an army van rode up. Several soldiers swarmed out. Catching the Korean off guard, they attacked Hwoarang to the ground and forced him into the van with them.
"Noooooo!!!" shrieked Xiaoyu angrily at the retreating van. "Hwoarang," she whispered, quieting down as the realisation that her friend was in great danger sank in.
"They better not hurt him," she said to Julia, "come on, we have to follow them."
"How? We'll never be quick enough on foot," said Julia, crestfallen.
"Aah, Hwoarang left us a present," Xiaoyu pointed to his motorbike, still on the ground, "besides, he'd want us to make sure we didn't just leave his beloved bike in an alley. Do you know what that thing means to him?"
Julia was just staring at her horrified. "We don't know how to ride a motorbike!!" she shouted, "You don't have a license. I don't have a license. We'll both be arrested!"
Xiaoyu had already reached the bike. She turned to Julia and said sadly. "They've taken Hwoarang. If it were you they'd taken, I'd do anything I could to make sure I followed so I could save you."
Julia looked down. "Fine, Xiao," she murmured quietly, then smiled, "let's do it your way."
"Yeeaahh!" shouted Xiaoyu, hopping onto the bike, with Julia behind her.
After a wobbly start, they got the engine running and the bike leapt into life; shooting forwards with both the girls clinging on for dear life. "There's the van up ahead!" pointed Julia; she had to shout for her voice to be heard against the speed they were going at.
Xiaoyu smiled and started toward it, weaving in and out of cars along the way. "Crazy woman driver!" cried a male pedestrian that Xiaoyu had just shot straight past.
"Uh, Xiaoyu, I think you need to slow down!" yelled Julia anxiously.
The van suddenly took a sharp turn left into another back street, forcing Xiaoyu to do the same thing.
"Where the hell are the brakes on this thing?" Xiaoyu screamed. Julia saw a pile of trashcans up ahead and could do nothing but bury her head into Xiaoyu's back, muttering vaguely to herself about how they were going to die.
As the bike collided into the garbage pile, both girls shot off the bike and tumbled down on the other side of the trashcans.
Groaning, Julia rubbed her head, wincing painfully. "Xiaoyu, get off," she hissed, "I can't feel my legs!"
"Sorry," Xiaoyu crawled off her friend absentmindedly, as she searched for Hwoarang. The van was parked nearby and she saw one of the last soldiers closing a door behind him that looked like it led into a dark abandoned building.
"They've taken him in there," Xiaoyu pulled Julia to her feet. Creeping stealthily along, they entered the building and hid behind large wooden crates of boxes whilst making sure they kept to the shadows.
Xiaoyu felt herself burning with anger when she saw they had tied Hwoarang's hands behind his back, whilst he was being held in-between two soldiers. How dare they treat her friend in this disgusting way.
A very stern powerfully built man approached Hwoarang. "Alright, Sarge?" Hwoarang smirked, "Long time no see, huh?"
The back of the sergeant's hand met with Hwoarang's cheek. Julia could see Hwoarang bite back a cry of pain.
"Always the same good for nothing delinquent," the sergeant snarled, "but now you're finally at our mercy." He smiled a nasty grin that made Julia's blood run cold.
But, Xiaoyu was glad to see Hwoarang smirk again. "Stooping to assault, Sarge? I'm very disappointed in you."
The sergeant's face contorted with anger when he couldn't see any fear on his victim's face. "Remove his shirt," he spat. "By the end of this," the sergeant leant close to Hwoarang's face; "we'll have you screaming like a girl."
With that, Hwoarang's shirt was pulled roughly over his head, revealing his toned muscular chest.
"Aah, I see pretty boy here works out," the sergeant smiled wickedly as two soldiers shackled Hwoarang's hands from chains that fell from the ceiling.
Hwoarang thrashed wildly, but it was no use, he was completely immobile.
"How dare they," hissed Xiaoyu, next to Julia.
"Oh my god. Look what he has in his hand," Julia whispered, wide-eyed.
From behind his back, the sergeant produced a leather whip embedded with sharp nails.
Xiaoyu saw a brief flash of fear flicker across Hwoarang's face, but he regained himself quickly. "Why, Sarge, if I knew you were into that type of thing . . ."
"Shut your mouth, boy," boomed the sergeant, then smirked, "I'm going to have some fun."
And without warning, the obscene piece of torturing equipment was rammed into Hwoarang's chest, immediately drawing blood from his soft skin.
Hwoarang had to bite down his cry of anguish. He wasn't about to succumb to the pain and show it to that son of a bitch.
"Those creeps. They're not getting away with this," said a seething Xiaoyu and she quickly hurried away. "Xiaoyu, don't go anywhere," hissed Julia, but it was too late. Xiaoyu was already out of the door.
The sergeant, meanwhile, was getting more and more angry when Hwoarang wasn't appearing to be screaming in agony. He struck again, this time with more force and succeeded to tear Hwoarang's delicate flesh further. Julia could see the pained expression in Hwoarang's eyes, but the proud Korean still managed to glare defiantly at his assailant.
Suddenly, there was a very loud crash outside that echoed around.
The soldiers stopped dead in their tracks. "There's someone out there," said one soldier. "Go and check what that is," hissed the sergeant. The soldiers left the room.
Julia knew that Xiaoyu had caused the distraction. Now it was up to her to take out the sergeant.
"What's the matter, boy?" laughed the sergeant cruelly, "Aren't you having fun?" And as he slapped Hwoarang hard across his face, Julia jumped into a kick aimed at the sergeant's head. She caught him round the neck with her foot and drove his head down with a crash, rendering him unconscious.
"Julia!" Hwoarang exclaimed, "What the hell-?"
"We'll explain later," Julia said quickly, checking Hwoarang's shackles and hoping she could break them apart.
"We?" asked Hwoarang, but Julia was too busy forcing the shackles open. With a cry of effort, she finally managed it. "Damn, girl. You MUST work out," he looked at her, raising a delicate eyebrow.
As soon as Hwoarang was free, he collapsed on his knees as a sharp pain shot across his chest from his wounds.
Julia helped him up, half carrying the Korean out of the building.
An anxious Xiaoyu was waiting for them. "Hwoarang!" she threw her arms around his neck.
"Oh, god. Not you," he groaned, "as if the day couldn't get any worse!"
"See, Julia? Didn't I tell you he'd be happy to see me?" Xiaoyu grinned; knowing Hwoarang was only joking.
Suddenly, the shuffling sounds of the soldiers returning echoed around the alley.
"Quick, come on," Xiaoyu held onto Hwoarang's other arm for extra support and both girls led him over to the motorbike, which was still lying pitifully in the trash.
Hwoarang bit back the urge to swear profusely. "What the hell did you do to my bike?!"
"It was all Xiaoyu's idea," Julia said quickly. Xiaoyu glared at her.
Hwoarang raised his eyes to the heavens. "THIS is why I say girls shouldn't drive."
Julia and Xiaoyu rolled their eyes, picking the bike up.
Hwoarang got on, luckily there was enough space for Julia and Xiaoyu behind him.
"Let me show you girls how to ride a real bike," Hwoarang smirked back at them both, gunning the engine and racing off down the alley.
"Hwoarang, slow down," Julia cried, "You're just as bad as Xiaoyu!"
Xiaoyu, meanwhile, was having the time of her life and squealing delightedly at the fast pace Hwoarang was taking them down the glittering main streets of Seoul.
* * *