INSEPARABLE

Chapter 51

The words echo in my mind, a chilling realization that claws its way through the fog of confusion. The drum. The darkness. The heavy, suffocating pressure.

With the sudden realization, I begun to feel the water, cold and damp, against my skin. It's everywhere, pressing against me.

"Bear?!" My mind screams in panic as the sound of Seulgi's heart-wrenching sobs continues to pierces the air.

Each cry twists like a knife in my heart, echoing my own fear. I can't stand the agony of her distress.Those monsters lurk nearby, and instinct screams that I must protect her at all costs. I won't allow them to close in on Seulgi. No, I refuse to let them take her.

"You ugly monster! Wake my Sooyah up! Why did you put her there while still asleep? She'd drown! Did you skip biology class? Didn't your teacher teach you that humans aren't fish? We don't have gills, you know!"

"Oh, the other kid is awake already? You kid with snake-like eyes, shut up! Or else I'll force you to take a nap. Kids don't like naps, right? So better close your mouth, or you'll be sleeping like your sharp-tongued friend! Maybe I'll even give you a little bath while you're at it. You know, like a fish."

"What the hell is the kid talking about? Did you put the other one in there unconscious?! Are you an idiot? We can't kill one of them!"

"But they almost escaped! That one is too smart. He was so calm while trying to get away from me, it was creepy! And his sharp tongue is getting on my nerves!"

"You're an idiot! We can do whatever we want to those brats, but we can't kill them! Remember, those traitors promised us a huge money for this job, and then they double-crossed us. We need to get a ransom for each of these kids. Their rich families will pay us a lot more than those traitors promised. Luckily, we didn't trust them enough. Kidnapping one of the traitor's kids was a smart move. Now listen to me. Wake that kid up and move them back to the room upstairs."

Their conversation hammered into my head, a cruel reminder of our situation. How could I have forgotten? We've been kidnapped for days. Now it seems this isn't just a simple ransom scheme. There's something bigger going on. These monsters are just pawns in a much larger game.

But the question is, how did I end up here? In a drum?

The memory comes flooding back.

Seulgi, the others, and I were all in the same room earlier. I tried to escape, to find some food, but one of the kidnappers snuck up behind me. I collapsed. Everything after that is a blur. I have no idea how I got here. But how did Seulgi got involved? She wasn't supposed to be here!

Wait. What does Seulgi mean? Why are they talking about waking me up? Why would they need to? I can hear them perfectly. It's just that I can't see anything.

Am I... am I half-conscious?

"Bear? Where are you?!" The words tumbled out, a desperate whisper swallowed by the darkness again.

The thought that I was half-conscious, trapped in this darkness, tore through me like a jagged shard of ice. I had to do something. I couldn't let Seulgi face those monsters alone. The thought of them hurting her again, of her small, fragile body being subjected to their cruelty, was unbearable, a weight crushing my conscience, suffocating me as surely as the water surrounding me.

I had to get to her. I had to save her.

"Seul!!!" I tried again and again, my throat raw with exertion, but Seulgi's sobs had faded, swallowed by the darkness as well.