In the worst of times, the seconds seem to pass by slowly, until they are not seconds so more as minutes, hours, days, of unending torment. In the deepening night, Ryo Ji-Hun felt, in a sort of oxymoron-like statement, the hours getting longer as his life shortened before his eyes. Blood streaked in front of his eyes, blurring his vision so that he could no longer make out the moving figure with twinning bright lights speeding towards him.
Car, his brain helpfully supplied, just as the vehicle struck him in the side and sent him flying, tossed like a toy a spoiled child no longer wanted to play with, as they had already found something better, newer, and more deserving of their interest.
The impact hurt. It ached more than everything he’d ever hurt in his entire life, combined and salted, and tripled with time. But despite the impact and the blood rapidly gushing out of his currently prone and rattled form, he was alive. More importantly, he was alive, and several alarmed citizens were currently walking towards him to check on his health, no doubt calling an ambulance. Or worse, the police. His limbs, currently twisted in directions he was sure they were not supposed to twist in, were of no help at all.
He dimly realized the fact that he was still standing confirmed what he had already guessed about himself, though he had more important thoughts than that. Namely, the police, who had likely been called. He stood up, then felt a sense of nausea overcome him, forcing him to sit down.
There’s no time for this, he thought. A crowd was already being gathered at the edge of the car wreck. In the alley, several people rushed by where he had been thrown, and he shrunk deeper into the darkness to hide. He needed to get to a better hiding place. The scent of blood was a sweet stench, dripping all over. He touched his forehead, feeling it come back wet and sticky and coated with a red substance. Apparently he could still bleed. Maybe he could have waited it out, but he was losing blood by the ounce. Replenish it. Tantalizing smells wafted through the air as searchers swept past.
Ryo couldn’t stay here for long, otherwise he’d do something he’d regret. Carefully, he picked himself up–ignoring the sickness that clamped around his currently-empty stomach–and slid through a small gap in the alley. It lead out, surprise surprise, into another alley and that alley into another and that into another and that into another.
Ryo squeezed through the dark alley, wincing whenever the edges of his jacket touched the walls of various buildings. There were probably all sorts of nasty gunk that he’d rather not like to get on his clothes, thank you very much.
Though, it’s not like it matters now… he thought, wincing as he checked the stains on his clothes again; the bloodstains mixed in with dirt and gravel and–wait, was it wet? Ugh… I’ll have to clean all this once I get back home…
He made a mental note to head straight for the shower as soon as he got home. The heat of the water would give him a warmth that didn’t exist in his own blood, and maybe he’d feel like the human he was supposed to be again.
He was still daydreaming when the world shook, and his head was still in the clouds when it was speared clear off of his neck.
He woke up, not for the first time, in a grimy alley, body shoved in between several trash cans and squeezed between the cracks like he was made of putty. Pain radiated through every bone in his body, and he was sure that all of them were cracked in some way. He groaned as he shifted his limbs, stopping suddenly when he heard his own voice reflect back at him through an echo.
Wait.
Where was he?
Ryo bit his tongue to stifle any noises of pain he’d make, and slowly opened his eyes, squinting them open to get used to the bright light.