Chapter sixty-nine: Yoona regains her memory

The eerie night looked disturbing while embracing darkness. The moon hid itself behind the cloud probably lazy to shine.

Dark silhouettes waded through the darkness seemingly floating in the air while maintaining an organized order. Dressed in black garments , they wallowed in darkness depending only on their heightened sense to seek direction.

The house of interest looked desolated and silent. Isolated from the rest of the world , it looked like an island.

The men received a signal and waited on their leader to execute her first plan. like a formless void, she stealthily walked into the compound and into the particular room she ventured into last time. The only difference now is that she's aware of the hidden danger there.

Contrary to her expectation, the room looked empty too, the bed unmade . Before she could process the information in her head , she felt an incoming danger.

Swish.

An arrow flew past her and grazed her cheeks. Shaken by the near death experience, she didn't observe the arrow that nearly killed but the assailant who stood outside and was drawing another arrow, aimed at her heart.

Adrenaline kicked in and sent her flying out of door with the man in hot pursuit. The hidden men nodded to each other and ran towards the compound.

The strategy the leader proposed was to lure out the man with martial arts, then create a free and easy opening for a smooth assassination.

They ransacked the whole building and found no one in the house, the beds looked unkempt signifying that someone was lying on it. One of the men touched the bedspread and felt some warmth on it.

"Find them... they couldn't have gone far".

The men dispersed to many directions looking for the disappeared people. What they didn't know was that inside the cupboard sat the girl and her maidservant who pressed their mouth with their hands to stifle a scream while peeping at them from the keyhole.

Jae joon felt a heavy feeling of bloodlust and ordered them to hide in the cupboard while he ran away from them to hide in a corner where he can get a vintage look of the whole compound.

The young girls listened around their surrounding to make sure they were gone before coming out to make a run for it.

A groan was heard at the next room drawing their attention. They looked at each other and walked towards the direction of the sound to know what happened.

Shocked at their finding, they almost screamed in surprise. The Panja man who has been unconscious for a while has woken up , looking disheveled and confused. He seems to be trying to recollect something.

Touching his body, he found out that his wounds has almost healed and is already scabbing. An exasperated whisper brought to his attention two young girls who were watching him cautiously.

"Hey girls! where am I?"

They scanned him again and whispered something among themselves before giving him an answer.

"Agassi! we should leave now before those men come back". One of the girls told the other.

Men? What men? Are they looking for him? But how did they know where he was. He clenched his fist and looked around.

"Girls? can I get a sword? a spear or even a club?".

They shook their heads indicating they had none while drawing back fearfully. He saw their apprehension and smiled.

"Not for you, but for the men ..."( looking for me). The girl that looked like a maid produced a kitchen knife from her sash and gave it to him from a distance.

Before she could turn back, the man lifted the knife and threw it at her . Shocked beyond comprehension, she closed her eyes and waited for the impact but none came. What she heard was a sharp groan behind her .

On opening her eyes, she saw the groaning man with his hand raised with a sword while the other one clutched his stabbed wound.

"Not totally useless, but comes in handy". The man lazily dragged himself from his bed and weakly walked to the man .

Withdrawing back the knife, the man fell backwards and laid in the pool of his blood.

The surprised girls screamed and ran towards the man when they saw the black clothed men back in the compound.

When they saw their comrade on the ground, fire and brimstone erupted in the form of anger in their body and sent them flying to avenge.

The Panja soldier dodged their attacks at first before he disarmed one of them . The girls couldn't watch the scene unfolding before them and flee the compound.

Two men ran after them while the Panja soldier engaged in a combat against the remaining two.

The fleeing girls were cornered at the forked road separating the village from a hidden cave where the rest of the family are.

Mr Kim had agreed to come there on the request of Jae joon who insisted that they should believe him. Together with the rest of the family, they came here to stay for one night.

On the way coming, Yoona remembered that she forgot her box of medicine at home and insisted on bringing it with her in case of snake bite or injuries.

Her father who felt no need on not allowing her get back home , especially as he felt no danger ,let her go against the protest of her mother and Jae joon. But on seeing her adamant look, Jae joon followed her home, to protect her against any danger which brought them to the current situation.

The two assassins surrounded them and struck a sword at Yoona which Seohwa blocked with her body.

"Seohwa!!!" Yoona cried while holding unto the falling body of her best friend. The scream brought Yoona's father to the place as he was outside the cave in the expectation of their coming back.

Seeing the crimson colored blood flowing on the ground, he rushed towards one of the men and fought.

Yoona held tightly unto the gasping Seohwa, her tears flowing freely. "Agassi... I'm... sorry... I... have... to... leave...first "

"No Seohwa, please stay with me. I need you". Seohwa's tears blinded her eyes making her unable to see her miss's face clearly, but she knows her face has become reddened due to tears.

"Forgive.... me". Her hands fell to her sides and her eyes closed. What to do? Seohwa has died leaving her miss bawling her eyes out in tears.

A grunt distracted her a little and she saw her father clutching his arms. Laying Seohwa carefully and temporarily on the ground, she rushed out to save her father.

"No... run away Yoona... run away my child". Her father roared while shooing her away. She ignored her father and attacked one of them who kicked her away with a single strike. She fell head first on the ground eliciting a painful cry.

The men surrounded her and tried to attack when .... swish... swish... swish... theirs bodies were cut down by the guerrilla warrior who didn't look too good himself.

With this distraction, Yoona got up and ran towards her father but fell down, her head hurting like hell.

Flashes, broken images, scenes all flooded her mind and sent pains all over her body. The faces of those that betrayed her, hurt her and broke her all came rushing towards her mind and body.

"Choi sang-min! Choi Soon!... " she screamed before falling backwards into the arms of someone due to mental exhaustion.

Like lightning, Jae joon flashed before them and beheld the face of his beloved lying on the cold ground. Anger, sadness, pain and vengeance clouded his vision and sent him out of control.

Swish.

Swish.

The heads of the remaining assassins wiggling on the ground fell off from their shoulders.

He turned back and grabbed Seohwa from the ground, letting out a pained howl.

"Seohwa! I'm sorry I failed to protect you"

While crying and screaming, he had only one regret. He never told her he loved her very much.

"I love you Seohwa". He wiped out a dry caked blood from her face and kissed her forehead.

"I love you alot".