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The air inside the old mill was thick and heavy, sticking to his skin like a damp blanket. Dust floats in the dim sunlight seeping through the dirty windows, and dark clouds seem to press against the glass from outside.
Footsteps echoed, breaking the silence. The clicking of a gun followed. He made sure he didn't leave any tracks, or at least he thought. Perhaps someone leaked his whereabouts, but he doesn't have time to wonder who, why, what, or how.
Hwang Intak holds his breath. He puts both of his hands in the air and slowly turns back.
A familiar, stern face greets him. It's just Jiung, whom he hasn't seen in a year.
His expression changes to a relieved one. "Jiung! I almost thought you were dead-"
The gloomy sound of thunder has no effect in silencing the bang upon firing.
The moment Hwang Intak realises Choi Jiung had pulled the trigger on him, a rare, unexpected feeling of numbness surges over him, before anything else other than shock. Not sadness, nor any sense of betrayal.
A sharp ringing fills his head, but a strange wave of confusion envelopes him. He doesn't immediately run or dive for cover, like how he was taught. He only stumbles back a few steps.
He should've seen this coming. The running joke of Intak survived missions through pure luck, and only someone who knew him well enough could actually kill him, which came true, much to his demise.
Only when his vision begins to blur, nausea hit, and the pain only spreads and worsens. With much effort, his hands reach to cover the wound right at his heart.
Jiung's past words were used right against him. Their brief dialogue echoed in his brain. "Don't let down your guard at any time. What if someone was ordered to backstab you?" Intak had laughed. "It won't really matter to me unless it's you that kills me." Jiung probably commented about it being a gross response, but Intak didn't have time to recall those times.
People always said you saw your whole life before you died. Intak wished that had happened, because then he wouldn't feel the lukewarm fluid seep between the gaps of his fingers, or the dooming feeling of his knees slowly getting weak. Beyond his blurred vision, he sees Jiung aiming for him again. He really wants me dead, huh, Intak thinks.
The feeling of shock soon overwhelms him. Seconds felt like hours, as if everything was happening in slow motion, and his senses were numbed yet stretched. It really only makes it worse.
He's more shocked that this moment would come so quickly. Intak likes to think about a lot of things about the future, from what to eat tomorrow to retirement plans, even though many have said his ideals were too straightforward, too positive for a position like his. He would only laugh it off.
Intak waits for the second shot, but it never came. As Intak stumbles to the floor, his hand still pressed to his wound uselessly. The gentle sound of rain beginning to hit the glass panes comes at what Intak would usually say is a horrible timing. Not like he could hear it anymore.
Would things have changed if he hadn't held almost every relationship he had so dear? Perhaps Jiung's method of acting close yet keeping distance would have allowed him to live longer. But Intak would probably die from that feeling of constraint and loneliness anyway.
His hands tremble, he almost feels his skin grow cold, and his head slowly falls as he gradually loses control of his muscles. He sees Jiung part his lips, about to say something, but as expected, Choi Jiung swallows the words back into his mouth. He never liked Jiung's habit of locking his inner self so deep inside, almost unreachable. Intak never had the courage to confront his senior.
If he had the strength to, he would laugh. Or at least say something to ease any guilt he was hiding behind that disguise.
But his consciousness slowly fades before he could think of the right words. He seems to be unable to die without regrets.
Until a world of silence welcomes him.
He bleeds out. His blood doesn't dye the concrete floor red, but the last wish Intak makes is that perhaps the scene of his corpse would appear different to Jiung compared to the dozens of people Jiung had to kill.