The Most Painful Battle

. . .

"That's it... I'm taking you out of this place."

Jin pulled himself up but Zeirenne dragged her back down to his seat, "Wait!"

He flopped on his seat before anchoring his daggers towards Zeirenne who already had her seat closer to his. She leaned forward to whisper in his ears while gripping his arm tightly.

"Come on, Jin. This is not just about me. There are other lives put into this. How can you possibly make me turn my back on them?"

"I don't care about anyone. You're all I ever need and want to save."

Zeirenne rubbed her forehead as she ruffled her hair. This was Jin's very logic that she could never get herself to understand. The fact that he always puts her first in everything was one of the greatest wonders of her world.

She turned her face away from his vision to take a deep breath, muttering to herself, "You got this..."

She faced him again, "You promised me, didn't you? We made a pinky promise that you won't save me if I ever get kidnapped," she slammed her hands together, "We made a pact... a PACT."

"I thought that pact was cancelled the moment you took your necklace off," Jin turned his body to face her, ready for an argument, "It was a breached contract from that moment on."

"Urgh I know. That's why I didn't say much about you being here pretending like a middle-aged doctor, okay? But that's it. That's only how far I can tolerate. Let's call it quits. Now you're here and you'll stay with me... but you can't take me out of this place."

Jin eyed Zeirenne and she clashed with his stares.

"Stop me if you can."

Zeirenne almost screamed his name out. Good thing, she was fast enough to cover her mouth.

"Wait!"

She pulled him back down again.

Jin spared her one last look. She marbled her eyes with its best sparkle, trying convince him in her own way--pleading eyes as her last resort.

Most of the time, this assault would work, but this time it didn't. She sighed in surrender.

"Fine. We'll have to settle this with a Death Match then. Tsk."

Intrigue polished Jin's features. He paid her some attention for the last time," Death Match you say? Fine. I haven't played it in a long time though. My luck must've ran out."

Zeirenne smirked before inching her game-mode face--whispering threateningly in his ears, "Don't blame your luck for being bad at it. There's no way I'd let you win."

There inside that grand dining hall, with all the people enjoying their dinners, a hot and cold feeling seeped through everyone's skin.

"Close the door. It's cold outside," one of the servers said.

Another server went to close the door. Upon stepping out, he shook his head with furrowed eyes brows before pulling the doors together, "The wind outside is not that cold--oh what's that? It suddenly feels hot around here."

In the middle of that turmoil, the two competitive spirits inside that room started their warm-up exercises.

Zeirenne gobbled her food down in an instance. She felt energized right after finishing everything served on the table. With a colorful table napkin, she wiped her mouth before popping her knuckles.

Jin also did the basic stretches. He flexed his arms and popped his neck. All the girls would have found this enticing if he was not in his current disguise.

After some funny bone-cracking sound, with the intensity built up to its peak from the heat of competitiveness emanating from their eyes, their battle began.

They looked into each other eye to eye, "Should we bring this match outside, Miss Lynn?"

Zeirenne shook her head, "Don't delay your loss any longer, Noob. This is a good place for your defeat. All these delicious food are on my side. They'll bring me luck and bestow your doom!"

"We'll see about that," Jin tossed his arm in a full swing, and this almost caught Zeirenne by surprise. Fortunately, her mind and body coordination was fast enough to counter his schemes.

"This man dares to pull a sneak on me!" She gritted her teeth before fixing her gaze right through his soul.

"Rock-Paper-Scissors!"

All the diners inside the hall brought their gaze towards the two voices that echoed around the four corners. Some of them had their eyebrows arched from curiosity, but most shivered from the intensity they felt.

"I've never seen Rock-Paper-Scissors being played with such tenacity," a prime-aged man said and his wife nodded, "Youngsters these days are too passionate. Way too passionate." They shook their heads before going back to their fillet mignon.

Zeirenne aggressively stood up—her chair fell down on the carpeted floor from her sudden jolt.

"Aha! I won!"

Triumph was written all over her face for a few seconds before being replaced with embarrassment. Different tables were clapping their hands from her joyful announcement. She didn't notice they were attracting too much attention.

With flushed ears, she bowed her head in front of everyone while mouthing her apology and cringed gratitude.

Her crunched smile went into a full grin as she brought her eyes back to her defeated enemy. She stooped on his level to mock him better with her hands clasped behind her back. She hovered her face around his ears. "I won ahahahaha."

Jin gripped the mantle beneath his hand. He hid his face away in disappointment.

"Now if you'll excuse me, Doctor Gomez," Zeirenne said mockingly, "I'll have to get going. It has been an exhausting journey. I better get myself some rest. Bye! Ahahahahaha"

With her arms wide open as if she owned the whole world, she walked out of the dining hall with valor.

When she was no longer in sight, Jin was left on his demise. He failed once again. He was not worrying over a single loss. A deeper realization of painful truth struck him again after a long time.

"Tsk. I can never seem to understand what's running inside your mind, My Stubborn Butterfly. Where do I look... and when will you let me see through them? Or would you... ever let me in?"

He smiled bitterly.

. . .