Scene 1. A Transaction in Blood
The banquet hall held its breath.
"Kill you."
Ian's words spread between the lanterns. The guests froze. Someone knocked over a chair. A woman fainted. A man stumbled backward.
Only Count Yi was smiling.
"Kill me?"
The blade moved. Another line of blood ran down Yeonhwa's neck. She swallowed her breath. Her shoulders trembled.
"You?"
"Me?"
Ian took one step forward.
"Stop."
The blade dug deeper. A muffled sound escaped Yeonhwa's lips. Small. Strangled. But to Ian's ears it rang like a scream.
He stopped.
"Smart boy."
Count Yi gripped Yeonhwa's chin. Lifted it. Her neck was bared. The line the blade had left was visible. Blood ran. A red stain bloomed on the white collar of her wedding gown.
"So this girl is your weakness."
Ian's hands trembled.
"I knew. That you were living with this girl in Changsin-dong."
His fists clenched.
"That you picked up a bomb for this girl."
His nails drove into his palms.
"So I brought her here. To use as your leash."
Count Yi smiled. It was a father's face. A father's voice. But the eyes were a merchant's. Eyes that appraise goods. Eyes that set prices.
"You are my creation, Ian."
"A perfect creation."
"You cannot run."
Ian clenched his jaw.
CRACK.
His jawbone ground. The joint that had healed crooked twisted again. Pain climbed through his skull. It didn't matter.
"Let Yeonhwa go."
"And if I say no?"
Count Yi's hand moved. The blade pressed deeper into Yeonhwa's neck. Blood streamed. Tears fell from Yeonhwa's eyes.
"Ian…"
Yeonhwa called out.
"Run…"
"Please…"
Ian's feet moved.
One step.
"I said stop."
Two steps.
The blade flashed. Count Yi moved to slit Yeonhwa's throat.
Ian lunged.
Scene 2. The Crying Tiger
———
He kicked off the carpet.
Three strides compressed into one. Count Yi's eyes widened. The blade left Yeonhwa's throat. Ian's hand shot forward.
It didn't reach.
Something black flew in from the side.
The shadow.
A kick crashed into his ribs. Ian's body was hurled through the air. A table shattered. Glasses broke. His back slammed into the floor.
CRUNCH.
His ribs rang. Broken bones failed to find their seats and meshed at wrong angles. They pressed into his lung. Breath stopped.
He stood.
The shadow was blocking his path. Bandages wrapped around its shoulder. The place Ian had bitten. Blood was seeping through. But its stance was undisturbed.
"You don't catch me twice."
Ian charged.
A fist swung. The shadow dodged. He aimed for the ribs. Blocked. A knee rose. Parried. An elbow flew. It grazed Ian's temple.
He staggered.
CRACK.
His neck vertebrae ground. His brain shook. His vision swayed. He saw Yeonhwa. Held in Count Yi's arms. Trembling.
He bit down.
He charged.
The shadow's blade flashed. He didn't dodge. He gave it his shoulder. The blade sank in. Hit bone. It didn't matter.
He seized the shadow's throat.
Lifted it.
"Grrrrrr…"
Slammed it down.
The floor cracked. The shadow coughed blood. Ian raised his foot. Aimed to crush the skull.
Then.
"KHK—!"
Not Yeonhwa's scream.
The sound of blood being coughed up.
———
He turned his head.
Yeonhwa was collapsing. Slipping from Count Yi's hold. Toward the floor. Her knees buckled first. Her hands hit the ground. And then.
She vomited blood.
Red poured over the white wedding gown. From her mouth. From her nose. Yeonhwa's body convulsed. Her eyes lost focus.
"Yeonhwa—!"
Ian ran.
He stepped over the shadow. Vaulted the table. Kicked a chair aside. He sprinted to Yeonhwa.
Just before he reached her.
Heat erupted from his flank.
The sutures Doctor Jang had sewn ripped open. Blood sprayed. The wound gaped. Regeneration chased after it. Flesh knit. But slowly. Slower than usual.
It didn't matter.
He dropped to his knees before Yeonhwa.
He reached out.
A broken arm. Bone jutting through. He didn't know when it had broken. It didn't matter. With that arm, he held Yeonhwa's shoulder.
"Yeonhwa."
"Yeonhwa, open your eyes."
Yeonhwa's eyes opened. Unfocused. Drifting. Blood smeared at the corners of her mouth. Her pale face had gone paler still.
Her lips moved.
Without sound.
'Why.'
'Why did you come.'
Ian's hands shook.
"I came to get you."
"I promised."
Tears spilled from Yeonhwa's eyes. Mixed with blood, they ran down her cheeks.
Her lips moved again.
'Fool.'
Yeonhwa's hand rose. It touched Ian's cheek. It was cold. Far too cold.
'Run.'
The hand fell.
Yeonhwa's eyes closed.
"Yeonhwa—!"
Scene 3. Equivalent Exchange
———
Ian's hands cradled Yeonhwa's face.
Cold. Like ice. Whether breath still clung to her, he couldn't tell. He tried to press his hand to her chest. The broken arm wouldn't rise.
"Yeonhwa…"
Her heart was beating. Weakly. Irregularly. But beating.
Alive.
Light returned to Ian's eyes. The amber deepened. He moved to lift Yeonhwa into his arms.
Footsteps rang.
One. Two. Three. Four.
Soldiers. The ones who had followed the shadow in. Blades drawn. Rifles raised. Surrounding Ian.
"Seize him."
Count Yi's voice.
"Don't kill him. He has value."
Ian set Yeonhwa down.
Slowly.
Carefully.
He smoothed the hem of her wedding gown. It was soaked with blood. His or hers—impossible to tell.
He stood.
CRUNCH.
His kneecaps ground. Healed at wrong angles. They screamed with every step. It didn't matter.
The first one charged.
A blade came down. He caught it in his hand. The edge split his palm to the bone. It didn't matter. He twisted. The wrist snapped. He took the blade.
Drove it in.
The second raised his rifle.
Too late.
The blade flew. It buried itself in the throat. The rifle clattered. The man fell.
Third. Fourth.
They came at once.
Ian leapt. Stepped on one's shoulder. Seized the skull. Twisted. The neck broke. He landed and drove a kick into the other's knee. The bone bent the wrong way. A scream rang out. He stepped on the throat. The scream stopped.
CRACK.
A sound from Ian's arm. The broken bone had shifted again. Regeneration couldn't keep up. Flesh half-knit, half-raw. Bone jutting through.
It didn't matter.
The shadow was getting up.
Coughing blood. Staggering. But rising.
Ian charged.
"Grrrrrr…"
A fist flew. The shadow blocked. A bone broke. Not the shadow's. Ian's.
He didn't stop.
He drove his forehead in. The shadow's nose flattened. Blood erupted. A knee drove upward. The crunch of ribs breaking transmitted through the joint. The shadow crumpled.
Ian heaved for breath.
He turned.
To Yeonhwa.
———
Then.
"KHK—!"
Yeonhwa vomited blood again.
More. Redder. A pool formed on the floor. Yeonhwa's body shook. Convulsed. Her eyes rolled back.
Ian froze.
His heart seemed to stop.
"Yeonhwa…?"
He tried to run to her.
Fire bloomed in his flank.
A blade was buried there. When it had gone in, he didn't know. The shadow. He'd thought it was down. Thought it was dead. It had wrung out its last strength to swing the blade.
Ian pulled the blade free.
Blood sprayed.
He looked down at the shadow.
Raised his foot to crush it.
"Stop."
Count Yi's voice.
"One more step."
Count Yi was holding Yeonhwa by the hair.
"And I cut this girl's throat."
Ian stopped.
CRUNCH.
He ground his teeth. His jawbone creaked. The amber eyes blazed. Darker. Hotter.
Yeonhwa convulsed.
She vomited more blood.
Count Yi smiled.
"Do you see it now?"
"The stronger you become."
"The faster she breaks."
Ian's eyes went wide.
"That is the tiger's blood."
"You and that girl are connected."
"The more power you use, the more of her life is shaved away."
Ian looked at Yeonhwa.
The white wedding gown drenched red. Her face drained of color. Her lips blue. Her breath growing shallow.
"That is the truth."
Count Yi said.
"The sharper your fangs become, the shallower her breath grows."
Scene 4. The Beast's Tears
———
Ian's feet stopped.
He hadn't tried to stop. His body had stopped on its own. When he saw Yeonhwa vomiting blood—when he heard something sever inside his heart—his legs rooted themselves to the floor like stumps driven into earth.
The amber light was going out.
On its own. Slowly. Like a candle melting down. The ember that had burned inside his eyes was turning to ash. Ian felt it. The sensation of his eyes growing cold. The heat that had boiled through his blood settling. The tiger's blood falling asleep.
Yeonhwa was dying.
The stronger Ian grew. The harder Ian fought. The more Ian stood up. The shallower Yeonhwa's breath became. That fact burned through Ian's brain. The hands that had been tearing enemies apart a moment ago hung limp. The throat that had been growling a moment ago made no sound.
"Now do you understand?"
Count Yi's voice came from far away. Muffled, as though his ears were filled with water. Ian did not raise his head. He couldn't. He was looking only at Yeonhwa. At Yeonhwa, collapsed on the floor. At the white wedding gown soaking red. At the lips turning blue.
"You cannot run."
Footsteps drew closer.
"And you cannot fight."
Count Yi stood before Ian. Ian did not look up. He had no strength to look up. His knees were shaking. Even standing was more than he could bear.
"All you can do."
Count Yi's hand pressed down on Ian's shoulder.
"Is come back. Obediently."
His knees buckled.
———
The floor was cold.
When his kneecaps struck the stone, pain should have come. It didn't. He felt nothing. His entire body seemed to be submerged in ice. Only his heart was beating. Slowly. Heavily. As though calling Yeonhwa's name with every stroke.
"Good boy."
Count Yi laughed. The laughter struck the ceiling and bounced back. Like an echo. Like mockery.
"My son, after all."
A hand gripped Ian's jaw. Lifted. Count Yi peered into Ian's eyes. Ian looked into his father's eyes. No father was there. A merchant was there. Eyes that appraise. Eyes that price. Eyes that calculate worth.
"Those eyes."
"Perfect."
"Better than your mother's."
The light had vanished from Ian's eyes. The amber remained. But there was no flame. No burning. Only ash. Wet ash. Damp ash. Ash sodden with tears.
No.
Not tears.
What ran from Ian's eyes was red. It was hot. It traced his cheeks, hung at the point of his chin, and dropped. A red dot bloomed on the floor.
Blood.
From the amber eyes, red blood was running.
———
"Take him."
Count Yi withdrew his hand.
"Lock him underground. Stronger chains this time."
The shadow rose. Staggering. Bleeding. Clutching the shoulder Ian had bitten. But it rose. It approached from behind.
Ian turned his head.
He looked at Yeonhwa.
Servants were lifting her. Arms hanging limp as a doll's. The hem of the wedding gown dragging on the floor. Her head tilted back. Her neck exposed. The mark of the blade visible. Whether breath still clung to her, he couldn't tell. Whether her chest still rose and fell, he couldn't tell. He couldn't tell.
His lips moved.
"Yeonhwa…"
No sound came. His throat was blocked. Something was lodged there, choking him. A mass he could neither swallow nor spit out. Whether it was a sob or a scream, he could not tell.
The shadow's blade flashed.
It went through Ian's back. Out through his chest. Blood sprayed. Ian lowered his head. He looked at the blade tip protruding from his chest. Red. His own blood. It didn't hurt. He felt nothing.
He raised his head.
Yeonhwa was growing distant. The servants were taking her away. Toward the end of the corridor. Into the dark.
He saw Yeonhwa's wrist.
A bracelet. A silver bell hung from it. It was swaying.
Ting.
That sound remained in Ian's ears. Remained in his heart. Remained in his bones. It would not fade. It would never fade.
Count Yi turned.
"The wedding will be held again tomorrow."
He walked.
"Take the bride."
He stopped.
"The groom goes underground."
He glanced over his shoulder at Ian.
"The sharper your fangs become, the shallower her breath grows."
He smiled.
"Don't forget."
Darkness crashed in.
Ian's eyes closed.
From the amber eyes, red blood ran.
The beast was weeping.