Chapter Thirty. Fear
After Wo Ryung was done healing Alicia's wound,he looked at her not understanding between two people. This woman looked just like Alexia, his beloved Alexia. But also he could tell she wasn't Alexia because of her clothing. Alexia would never wear anything like that. But who was this woman then? He didn't feel so alien towards her. It felt like he might have met her before but he wasn't so sure. Could it have been at the house of the.... No. It couldn't be. She looked nothing like them. Not to mention she looked just like Alexia and Alexia was such a sweet and decent woman.
Then where could he have met her? He was sure he knew her before otherwise she would be dead by now. And when he had hugged her, his body reacted to her contact with his. His nails had disappeared completely in no time compared to how it often took him.
"Who are you?" he asked her determined to get to the bottom of things but the woman glared at instead. He couldn't believe he even helped her but she didn't even thank him! He smirked once again. He never acquainted himself with the humans and the first one he had shown just a glint of mercy was so ungrateful! She continued to glare at him for some time,at some point he thought she was even going to roll her eyes at him but she seemed to stop herself.
"Go back home little rabbit" he growled. lest you are waiting for me to change my mind" he threatened but she wasn't shaken. She didn't even look scared at all. But there was anger in her eyes instead. He really thought he had met a brave one today.
"Huh"she finally made a sound. "You don't even know whom I am!" she was smiling mockingly and he studied her face. There was completely no difference between her and Alexia except for way of clothing. "You are cunning, aren't you?" she complemented lifting the corner of her lips. Then she strode out of the room. But when she passed by him and raised her hand to straighten her dress at the shoulder,he suddenly had something like a memory flicker in his head. Like he had met her before and she had....struck him! She really was unbelievably ungrateful. Does she always react by hurting others who helped her? ' Interesting' he thought to himself and his feet moved to catch up with her at the door. Without farther thought,he grabbed her by the waist and leapt into the air as she gasped with something like both alarm and surprise,but then the alarm was gone and replaced by the glare earlier. ' Too quick' he thought to himself regarding the way her emotions changed so quickly.
"What are you doing?"she asked agitated. "Put me down or else...."
"Or else what, little rabbit?" he asked, bemused meanwhile cutting her off and agitating her even farther.
"You won't like what I will do to you" she threatened between gritted teeth and it just bemused him even farther.
"I said let me go" she argued and then....
"Sure... as you wish" he complied and let her go without out a care that they were very deep in the forest and very high in the air. She started falling with her eyes wide as she screamed without stopping and then.. she closed her eyes as though accepting her fate. But he wouldn't let her die so brutally like that. Something within him just refused to let her and he quickly followed her, catching her when she was only a few meters above the ground. Her eyes remained closed all along, amusing him even more and his laughter reverberated through the whole forest.
Alicia opened her eyes when she heard something like so many ghosts laughing. She was totally sure it could only be him,Wo Ryung the gumiho,her previous acquaintance who had now become something else completely. She couldn't deny he was staring to scare her and her heartbeat thundered so restlessly she wondered if he could hear it as well.
"What?" he asked sounding more than just happy with himself. "You were so brave just a moment ago!" he exclaimed as his laughter died down in the forest. Only one thing hadn't changed about him and that was his charm. He still looked so breathtakingly beautiful. Everything remained so beautiful about him even as he acted like a devil,he still looked like an angel. But that couldn't make her forget he almost killed her just a moment ago.
"That wasn't funny!" she spat but he only looked unfazed and seemed to be enjoying her predicament. "What even happened to you?" she asked feeling anger boil her blood. She had earlier ran from a wolf towards him but he surely was a wolf himself even more than the previous one. Had he always been playing games with her? she felt her agitation escalate at the thought and she turned to leave him and head home. She couldn't fathom how her day turned out to be this bad all of a sudden. Just what more was going to happen to her in a single day?
She turned around only to take two steps and feel his grip on her wrist.
"Huh uh. And where do you think you are going?" He asked. She could tell he was smirking even before she could turn to look at him.
"Let go of me" She demanded feeling more than agitated right now.
"Sure. But am also sure you know better than to say that from your past experience just a few seconds ago,or could it be minutes?" he asked her back
"I said let go of..."she realized midsentence that there were unusually long and sharp thorns in front of her and she gasped already sure he would let her go and he did. Due to the force of pull created between them because he had been pulling at her hand, she ended up running her way towards the thorns at full force and she gasped as she hit something hard head fast. The man was really intent on killing her!
She froze at the spot feeling very scared and she realized she was shaking all over. Was this man even the same Wo Ryung that she was used to know before. She gingerly pulled her head from where she collided with all the fear in her whole body and heart. But as she pulled herself, She realized that the thing she just collided into was hard but not as hard as those hideous thorns and at some point,it was a bit soft. Softer than a thorn would be that is and she pulled herself up only to see his face hovering over her head. But he didn't look bemused this time. He looked something between lost, agitated and worried. But Alicia refused to take his facade for anything else again and be fooled. She pulled herself away from him and...
SLAP...
she slapped him hard on the face without holding back and he was taken aback. But she didn't wait to him to retort this time as she felt hot tears streaking down her cheeks before she dashed away from him. Leaving him standing routed at the spot, frozen and his previously bemused self completely gone.
...
Wo Ryung stood frozen at the spot as he watched the woman leave in tears and he felt his heart twist in pain for some reason. He hadn't planned to let her go but at some point, her hand that she had been wriggling slipped from his as he had been not holding her that tightly. His only intention had been to scare her but she had ended up trotting towards the huge thorns and he had been quick to stand between her and the thorns ending up making her collide into his chest rather than the thorns. There had almost been no difference between the loud thumping of his heart and his as he stood still ignoring the long thorns mercilessly poking into his back.
And right at that moment,he had seen vivid visions of himself removing a smaller tiny thorn from one of her toes and then he saw her having milk coffee with him right here in the forest as he looked greatly happy in her company and then he had seen himself with her in something like a human house as they used water to clean dishes and a shard had pricked her finger which he had healed himself. It seemed he was acquainted with her and always felt good in her company but he couldn't completely remember whom she was. Could it be that he had played with a wrong person?
He decided to leave her be for some time as he leaped and went to sit quietly and get a grasp of what all this was about. She was human but she had even penetrated his forest and even his impenetrable circle and got to him! not to mention she wasn't scared of him but rather his advances plus she had the audacity to slap him. No one ever did that to him in forever! and he caressed his cheek that had been slapped just a moment ago. How comes his barriers couldn't keep her away and why did she even resemble Alexia?
And as he sat down and pondered on it for some time,bits and bits of memories started to come back to him. It must have been caused by his mid interrupted deep meditation that he suddenly forgot about her. He knew he had hurt her and he got up quickly to go and look for her not knowing if she was even going to let him get close to her again. He had hurt her so much and something in his heart clenched.