protension | Private Court Thread

Private Court Thread

[ There aren't a lot of empty places around the Court, and definitely not many good ones to lock up victims to torture without being overhead. That's the only thing that has kept Kitae even remotely safe, and even then safe is a subjective term... None of his bones have been broken (yet), though he has been hit several times. The bruises on his body that were finishing the healing process are now going to replaced by a new set thanks to Insik.

Insik... Kitae glances at Insik pacing across the small floorspace of the abandoned hut he'd managed to find. It won't be adequate for long, and Kitae can only imagine that Insik plans to drag him back to Seoul. He doesn't know how easy that would be to do, but he doesn't want to stick around in this shack long enough to find out.

It's been a long, long night from having been ambushed by Insik, to having been dragged here. He can't imagine it'll be too much longer until the sun is up, and he knows that the following day will be the best chance he has to get away and get help. Insik didn't want him around people, which means Kitae needs to put himself smack dab in the middle of the largest crowd he can find.

There are people at Court who are stronger than any human has the right to be, and those people are the desperate hope that Kitae clings on to as he glances between Insik and the door while he bides his time. ]

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[ The situation would be kind of laughable if it wasn't so awful. If Insik hadn't physically and sexually abused Kitae every waking moment of his miserable existence it'd be something to sigh in exasperation over. What Kitae did to Insik was truly heinous, and the desire for revenge makes sense, but it doesn't make it right. What Insik did to Kitae in return was every bit as heinous, and heartache was the least of Kitae's worry.

He can't be upset at Suah for feeling exasperated about all of this, however, not when she's actually here, right on the other side of that door, trying to save him.

Kitae wants to scramble towards her, to fling open the door, grab her arm, and run as fast as he can away from Kang Insik, but he can't. While Insik holds onto him like this, a hand clamped firmly over Kitae's mouth, all Kitae can do is squirm in Insik's hold looking desperately at the door in front of them.

Can she actually break it down? There's no way, right? But what can Insik do about it? If he breaks down a wall to get them out he'll still expose them both, and Kitae knows Suah. She won't give up that easily. It's too close to daybreak for Insik to get far either.

Kitae's heart hammers in his chest as this all flits through his head. A rescue... an actual, honest to God rescue from this bastard Insik for the first time since someone came to steal him away from the warehouse and bring him to Court in the first place. ]

[ Insik's ideas about Kitae are so solidly ingrained in his head that the fact that Kitae was only an awful person to him holds no water to him. How could Kitae be tolerable to anyone when all he ever gave Insik was mountains of anxiety and fear. But it also just hurts to think that Kitae had so many friends supporting him when his main method of entertainment was beating Insik into the floor.

It sucks. It sucks that people will chase Kitae down to the ends of the earth and beyond, but nobody ever offered him the same kind of assistance.

But Insik has something else to focus on now. Focusing intently on how much he can't stand Kitae makes it so much easier to swallow the despair he feels over his wasted life and total unfair treatment. Thinking of Kitae as something other than human makes him feel much less like he was abandoned by his classmates. Kang Insik is long dead now though, and all the unfairness of his life is something he left behind in favor of just being angry and taking it out on Kitae so it feels justified.

He shies away from the door a little more with every one of Suah's bangs; he doesn't want to face her, but more importantly, he doesn't want Suah to see him. He doesn't want her memory of Kang Insik to be the monster that Kitae turned him into, and something in his chest seizes at the thought of Suah seeing him now.

And even though he's the one in control here, even though he's stronger than Kitae and Suah combined, her voice makes him almost loosen his grip on Kitae, faltering slightly in his strangle hold. ]

[ Maybe this is impossible. She doesn't know how Insik managed to keep Kitae captive for so long before - since apparently that's what happened, according to Kitae. Maybe this time it's a similar deal here, maybe they have food inside and whatever else they need to be able to stay in there for much longer than Suah could keep up staying here at this door until she'd get hungry or need to sleep. It doesn't seem like she's going to be able to bash the door in at the very least.

But that thought doesn't stop her. It's Suah, after all. Very little stops her, especially when it's something as important as this. Even if she has to stand here in front of this door all day, she will. It's not like she has anything better to do here in Court, after all, and at the very least she is 100% sure that those two guys are right behind this door, inside this shack.

So no matter how quiet Insik is being and no matter how quiet he's keeping Kitae for now, the banging on the door doesn't stop. Suah just keeps kicking and hammering with her fists on the door, alternated with an occasional "open up!", and finally putting all that energy she has inside of her to a good use. ]

[ It isn't fair. It's not that Kitae isn't deserving of people who love him and want to help him, that isn't the unfair part. As horrible as Kitae can be, and he can be to more people than just Insik (even if Insik got the worst of it), he is just as capable of love and loyalty as anyone else. No, the unfair part in all of this is that Insik never got the same unconditional love that Kitae got. Insik never, ever should have suffered the way he did for the injustices lobbed at Kitae himself. He deserved to be cherished, and surrounded by people who cared about him. Kitae targeted him, and in doing that made everyone else at school draw back from him in fear of suffering the same fate. As unfair as how Kitae was treated in his own home, and as unjust as what happened to Kitae at Insik's hand afterwards was, Kitae still was one of the worst things to ever happen to Insik, and while the retribution is disproportionate, it is hard to blame Insik for his hatred and disgust.

It isn't hard to blame him for what he's put Kitae through, however. At least, Kitae doesn't have a hard time blaming him.

The minute that Insik's hold on his falters Kitae wastes no time grabbing Insik's hand and ripping it away from his own face. ]

SUAH!!

[ The urgency and desperation in his voice rings out clearly. He pushes forward towards the door. He's not as fast as Insik, but he wants to get to the door somehow and open it up for her. He wants her to grab his hand and pull him out. In his state of frantic hope it almost seems like if he just lets Suah grab his hand that he'll be safe. It's an irrational thought, but he's desperate for anything right now. ]

[ Of course Suah wouldn't just give up hearing Insik's silence and forced-silence inflicted upon Kitae. Suah has never been the kind of girl who would just throw in the towel when something ahead of her got in her way--hell, that's most of the reason Insik was so enamoured with her in the first place. She doesn't just give up in the face of bleakness, she powers through and kicks bleakness' ass.

And right now, she's going to power through the thin door that keeps them apart no matter what it takes. There's no way she's going to leave quietly and give up before she gets Kitae back, and that's what terrifies him so much. Kang Suah isn't going to leave without Kitae, and Insik can't leave without Kitae... so Kang Suah is going to break in here, and see what it is that Insik became...

He lets go of Kitae. Doesn't even bother to go after him. Having Kitae is one thing, but being exposed by Suah is another. He can't let her of all people see what happened to him. Anyone else but her.

While Kitae surges for the door, Insik heads the other way. Suah can have him, he will find a way to get Kitae back eventually. ]

[ At least she knows there's worse things she could be hearing from inside than silence. If it's silent, then at least Insik isn't doing something to Kitae (although the very thought of that still feels ridiculous, given the way she remembers Insik being - the thought it could happen at all is only given life in her mind by Kitae) since there's no way that could happen that silently. And as long as Kitae is still alive, there's still hope she can somehow get some sense into both of the boys' heads.

The moment she hears Kitae's voice though, Suah quickly reacts to it. It doesn't seem like Insik is very inclined to listen to what she's asking him here, so she might as well try to get some information out of Kitae instead about what's going on there while the other is speaking, even as she's still banging on the door. ]

Kitae-- can you open the door?!

[ In his desperation Kitae hasn't even noticed that Insik let him go. He should have, especially because in a normal situation the only reason that Insik would have let Kitae go was because he knew that he could let him have a moment of hope before dashing it completely.

A small voice in the back of Kitae's mind reminds him of this fact though, and that vague feeling that this could all end in more tears as Insik drags him off makes Kitae that much more frantic to escape while he can.

He fumbles with the lock on the door. It should be so easy to open, but he's a bundle of nerves right now, and doing a pretty piss poor job actually getting it unlocked. ]

I'm trying!

[ It takes three attempts to get his sweaty fingers around the lock and twist it open, and another couple of seconds to grab the doorknob, and jerk the door open with all his might. ]

[ Insik is already gone. He doesn't have much left anymore, but he'll protect what happened to him with what "life" he's got left.

He strongarms his way out the back of the hut; the tingling burn of morning slowly approaching is nothing compared to what he'd feel if he actually showed himself to Suah. There's no way in hell he's letting Suah see him the way he is now. ]

[ The moment the door opens, Suah doesn't really think - it's all instinctive actions. No matter what Kitae said to her before in this place, the first thing she does is latch onto the other boy, wrapping her arms around him and pulling him so close to herself she's practically squishing him even with the height difference.

She doesn't lose herself in the relief of knowing Kitae seems more or less alright right away though, quickly peering into the hut to find Insik just in case he somehow did get dangerous and could do something...

... but there's no one else there. Not the Insik she remembers, and no other Insik either. Almost as if Kitae just locked himself into a shed without anyone else involved if it wasn't for the fact she really did hear something that sounded like Insik's voice earlier. She hoped to find him to at least make him explain some of this, considering she's very likely to get a one-sided version of the story anyway with how Kitae feels about the boy, but.. he really is gone.

It makes her blink in confusion for a moment or two before she snaps out of it enough to check back on Kitae instead, looking the boy over to see if he's injured - still more or less running on the adrenaline of the moment. ]

Are you okay?

[ Kitae doesn't stop to check what Insik is doing even once. Even a moments hesitation could lead him to being dragged kicking and screaming away from Suah, and somewhere more isolated where he would have very little chance of actual escape. This opportunity for freedom is being handed to him on a silver platter, and he'll be damned if he's going to ruin it.

That is, he doesn't look back until Suah's got her arms around him. Caught up in the moment as he is, Kitae actually wraps his arms around Suah as well, holding her close for about a second, before he finally twists his head around to look back into the shack.

No Insik... but Kitae does spot were Insik shoved boards aside. They'd fallen partly back into place, but there's a gap letting in weak light to a building that was almost entirely dark before.

His heart hammers in his chest as his mind reels to come up with a reason for it. Insik could have grabbed them both easily, he didn't have to run. Was he scheming something? Was he letting Kitae really think he was safe before he zipped around the side of the building to grab them both?

With that thought in mind Kitae jerks back, but grabs onto Suah's wrist, trying to tug her away from the building. ]

No! We have to go!

[ Even though Suah doesn't exactly have a lot of time to check up on Kitae's current state with how frantic he's being right now, at least the fact he's still moving and talking means he's at least somewhat okay - and that's enough for the moment. Enough to at least not protest when Kitae tugs on her wrist or struggle against the grip, anyway.

Instead she just lets herself be dragged along, making sure to keep up with her part of the running - she's pretty athletic, so at least that isn't much of a problem. The only thing slowing her down is her glancing back a few times to see if Insik really isn't over there somewhere. (Not even really out of fear like Kitae, but maybe more something that edges closer to curiosity, wondering what could have happened to the boy to make him snap as badly as he had according to Kitae's story.)

There's nothing to be seen though, and so she instead turns back to Kitae as they move. ]

Do you think he's still there? [ Considering he's so frantic to get away right now. ]

[ Kitae refuses to look back. If Insik comes at him he doesn't want to make eye contact, knowing that Insik can freeze him in his place. If Insik comes at him it doesn't matter anyway, there's no way he's going to be able to escape. So he might as well continue to give himself a little hope that he'll actually escape by only looking forward.

Even when Suah asks him all he can do is shake his head. He doesn't know, and he doesn't want to find out. He hopes he is... or maybe he hopes that he's run somewhere far away. He doesn't know why Insik would, but he hopes that's the case still. He never, ever wants to see that face again. ]

[ Well.. she probably won't get a full answer out of Kitae right now, but at least it's understandably so this time. If all of that stuff with Insik did happen, and if Insik had managed to keep Kitae captive again, then it's only logical Kitae would want to get the hell out of there.

Not that it means she knows on how long he's planning to run, but.. whatever. She's in good shape thanks to always playing sports, she could probably keep up running longer than Kitae himself could. So Suah grows silent for a moment, just letting Kitae drag her to wherever he feels safer. (Although she definitely does look back while running a few times - just to make sure.) ]

[ Suah could definitely outrun Kitae. He's not in good shape, he wasn't before he was kidnapped, and it only got worse after being kept locked up for months at a time. Even his time at Court hadn't actually done much to get him back in any type of halfway decent health. The only thing that's keeping him going right now is the intense fear that drives him forward past the pain in his legs and lungs.

He does finally stop running once they've made it back to a more populated area, slowly to a jog, a finally a complete stop. Now that they're not running for their (Kitae's) lives (life) he's going to take a moment to lean forward, wheezing heavily as he tries to get oxygen back into his lungs.

God... he really is out of shape. ]

[ At least exhaustion isn't really a problem for Suah here. She can obviously read it off Kitae though - his whole body seems to scream exhaustion, especially when he starts slowing down.. It's easy to catch onto those signs, especially when you're a type as active and sporty as Suah is. But she just slows her own pace as well, making sure to stay just a little bit behind Kitae the whole time - just in case.

And it also means she stops when he stops. Definitely without the lack of air problems, and something twists a little in her stomach to see Kitae this exhausted because of the running. It's not like she isn't aware she could outrun her best friends at least three with how she seems to run on thrice the amount of energy any normal being does, but this is even worse than usually. Worse than what she knows. Kitae looks like he might pass out, and even though it's not the worst problem ever (even if Insik did show up, she'd just throw Kitae onto her back and try to disappear into the crowd if Insik tried to take him again - no matter how ridiculous the sight would be with her and Kitae's height difference) but it still makes her feel bad.

Because it's still Kitae, but he's so broken and fragile-looking in a way that she always tried so hard to keep him from ever having to feel like.

She isn't even sure what to say for once (she knows Kitae enough to know he wouldn't want the pity), so instead she just turns her back on him for a moment to try and make sure she doesn't spot Insik's face among the crowd anywhere. ]

[ When he was living with his mom and the shitty man he was forced to call father things weren't healthy on an emotional level for Kitae, but he did get to eat three square meals a day, and exercised regularly. He wasn't the athletic type, and he never could best Suah at anything sporty, but he was in decent shape. After all the time he spent under Insik's control, however, he lost a lot of muscle and never ate as much food as he really needed.

Even being in Court for a few weeks hasn't been enough to really help him fully recover. At the very least he's eating better than he used to, but there was a lot of damage done that'll take a lot of time to repair.

It's upsetting that Suah is seeing him this weak though. He might not ever have been as athletic as her, but he as never pathetic like this before. He hates everything that Insik made him into. The bastard ruined Kitae's body in more ways than Kitae can count.

He takes one last shaky breath as he straightens up, and looks around them to decide if he wants to go back to his dorm or somewhere else. The dorm, at least, will be full of people. ]

Come on.

[ He sounds slightly calmer now, but still on edge and five seconds from breaking down. ]

[ It doesn't sound like Kitae will even make it that far - if not physically, then just plain emotionally. Not that she can blame the other with Insik really getting a hold of him again and all, but it means Suah isn't too sure if just walking there while Kitae sounds like he's about to lose it is the best idea.

And while she still doesn't feel anywhere close to okay about the way Kitae treated her earlier, Suah is the type that can shove that aside for the moment when there's a situation that's much more important. Like making sure Kitae doesn't get hurt.

So after glancing at him for a moment-- ]

.. Just step on. It'll be easier.

[ She gestures at her back to make it obvious what she's aiming at. Sure, Kitae is definitely taller than her, but he looks so thin right now that Suah doesn't even doubt she could carry him with a piggyback ride. She's always been strong anyway. ]

[ Suah always has, and probably always will be a much better person that Kitae is. She might be willing to turn a blind eye to someone's suffering if it's her friend that is causing that suffering, but it doesn't mean she goes out of her way to hurt people. She's also a hell of a lot more loyal than he is... he thought he was, but he turned on her and blamed her for things that weren't her fault.

He let himself believe everything Insik told him, even though he knew how insane Insik was. He let his hurt get the better of him, and he feels a strange mix of emotions right now about the situation, and about her in particular.

He doesn't know where to start with a conversation, but he knows he's not ready to have one until they're somewhere he feels safer. The dorm it is then...

For a brief moment he really does debate getting on her back. He doesn't have a lot of shame if it means keeping himself safe, but right now he decides that getting to a specific place is more important than just getting away, so he shakes his head and points in a vague direction to the right. ]

You don't know your way around here. Just follow me.

[ And fast, please. He's doesn't wanna stay here for long. ]

[ Suah's instinct is to get huffy - she's offering help here, after all, and even though giving help to Kitae would usually be normal, it's a little more difficult when he was so mean to her when they met before. And despite all of that, helping out Kitae does still feel pretty natural in a situation like this, she couldn't just leave him somewhere by himself for Insik to come and get him again right away. But she's definitely still going a little more out of her way than usually, and then he's just turning it down like that!

Even if it's for a logical reason, that doesn't matter. It still hurts her pride, and she frowns - almost pouts, but she at least stops herself from that at the last moment. Suah might be instinctive and emotional, sure, but she does know the occassion doesn't really allow much time for her to throw a fit.

Her hands form fists, nails digging into the palm of her hand, but she nods even while she's still frowning. ]

Fine then, just hurry already!

[ Even under normal circumstances where their relationship wasn't as strained as it is now, Suah probably wouldn't like Kitae treating her like this, would she? Ah well, it's not like Kitae has a lot of choice right now. He needs to get them to relative safety, because he doesn't know how long Suah's presence is going to actually manage to keep Insik at bay, and he doesn't want to find out.

He'll worry about trying to soothe her ego (maybe) later. Right now he just nods curtly, and walks quickly in the direction of the dorms. That's going to have the largest number of people at any given time probably. It's the safest place to be right now. ]

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Private Court Thread

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