Page 48 of The Last Tiger

Eunji

Everything comes clear now. The way that Kenzo so easily won over the police officer in Kidoh. The way he quelled my panic in the forest. How he knew about the tiger’s cave before I even mentioned it.

And that kiss —

“Did you use your powers on me?” I whisper suddenly to Kenzo. “Is that why I was…feeling…?”

“Feeling what?” Kenzo raises an eyebrow.

The two of us are lying side by side. Around us, the menacing white fog swirls on, shrouding the world beyond our little corner of the mountain ledge in darkness. The rough rock upon which I’m leaning juts into my back. I shift uncomfortably, trying to find a better position.

“You know ,” I hiss, frustrated. “In the cave, and—the capital—did you…” I don’t dare finish the sentence.

“Oh.” Kenzo’s mouth widens into a long smirk, amused laughter returning to his eyes. He speaks at full volume as he says, “Are you saying that you’re attracted to me , Eunji-ji?”

I glance toward Seung. His head is tilted the other way, his chest rising and falling at an even pace. Please be asleep.

“No,” I say sharply.

“Really?” Kenzo replies liltingly. “Might I remind you, I can feel everything you feel…”

My cheeks burn.

“Honestly,” Kenzo continues, “I’m offended by your mere suggestion that I’d have to resort to using ki for that.” His chuckle only furthers the heat creeping down my neck.

“I’d tell you both to shut it, but I won’t lie: I’m entertained,” Jin mutters, lying on her back, her head resting on her palms with her elbows jutting out on either side.

I still feel a jolt of fear when Jin speaks; my wrist tingles of its own accord. But the rebel girl seems to have calmed down—for now. With Kenzo and me totally under her control, she’s more dispassionate and unafraid, speaking with a coolness that totally belies her earlier fit of rage.

“Thank you,” Kenzo tells Jin. “Maybe you could reward us for the entertainment by releasing us. Or untying me.”

“I’ll consider it,” Jin replies, flicking a pebble toward his face. Kenzo flinches as it bounces and rolls toward him, pursing his lips and attempting to blow it out of his vicinity.

Come on, Eunji, I scream silently. Sit up. Run. Fight. Kick. Do something . But Jin’s spell continues to hold an iron grip over my body.

“You can struggle as much as you want,” Jin says, “but you won’t break free. You’ve totally lost your resolve.”

“What are you talking about?” I snap. “I haven’t—”

“Isn’t it obvious?” She snickers, then shrugs. “You’re just a tool. The governor-general’s hired weapon. You don’t have any clue what you’re doing.”

“You don’t know me,” I huff, turning away—so she can’t see the red rising in my cheeks.

Seung—awake, evidently—shifts to face me. Our eyes meet for a brief second, and then he’s rolling the other way again.

He saved my life today. Twice in one day, actually.

But is it because he truly cares for me?

Or simply because I could be useful to him—yet again?

The distance between us feels so large. Although he’s lying right there, so close I could reach out and touch him, it feels like I hardly know the Seung in front of me, who he’s become. Is he still the boy who took me out to the marketplace?

I almost wish that Seung and I could somehow switch powers for a moment, if only so that I could get a glimpse inside the heart of the boy who once broke mine.

I awaken with a start.

I’m free of Jin’s control. I’m certain of it.

I glance over at the rebel leader. To my left, Jin’s head bobs downward as she sits cross-legged, her back leaning against the cliff face; the softest of snores escapes her. She’s fast asleep, her chest slowly rising and falling deeply. On the other side, Seung twitches briefly in his sleep.

Jin and Seung agreed earlier to sleep in shifts. Each was supposed to rest while the other kept us subdued under their powers. Evidently, one of them has fallen asleep during their waking shift.

The fog still hasn’t let up around us. Overhead, a soft glow emanates from a distant moon obscured by the thick, milky clouds.

I can’t see the moon itself from here, only the halo emanating from somewhere far above us.

Beside me, the gentle white light illuminates my three companions and the tiger, all fast asleep.

This is my chance. I won’t get another one.

I sit up silently, reaching over to awaken Kenzo—when I hesitate. My hand hovers just over his arm.

Why is Kenzo here?

To protect you, he’d once said.

Come to think of it, since when has Kenzo ever been the protective type? There’s still so much about him that I don’t know. What is really driving him?

Does he really care about me?

Who’s to say that he doesn’t intend to use me—just as everyone else in my life seems to have relished? Who’s to say that the second we capture the tiger, he doesn’t plan to push me aside for his own purposes?

You accuse me of acting in my own self-interest as if it’s a crime, but Eunji-ji, that’s what we’re all doing…That’s how the world works. Everyone does what they have to to survive.

Spirits below. He warned me himself. I should’ve known. As I stare down at Kenzo, it hits me smack in the face.

I’m on my own out here. And I always have been.

I pull back from Kenzo, formulating an escape plan. Jin is the one I really have to fear. Thankfully, she’s still asleep. If I can take her out first, I can probably manage Seung on my own—especially if I pit him and Kenzo against each other, should that be necessary. And then the tiger’s mine.

I glance around, searching for a weapon, a boulder or something—something that’ll get the job done in one single blow. I won’t have a second chance. My eyes fall to the knife strapped to Jin’s waist.

No. I refuse to be responsible for another life.

I’ll need something else, something much less lethal. Like…

A few small rocks sit just at the periphery of the circle of fog. Perfect.

Standing now, I slink on tiptoes toward the cliff’s edge, where the perfect stone—dull and smooth, just large enough to fit comfortably in the palm of my hand—awaits me.

I sink slowly down and carefully scoop up the rock.

Then I step silently back into the center of the clearing, raising it high as I approach Jin—

And nearly scream as a hand curls softly around my wrist—

I crane my neck to see Seung standing behind me, shaking his head slowly, his eyes red at the corners.

No, he mouths. Please.

The sight of him breaks something within me. The last time I saw that look, what feels like a lifetime ago, we sat together, side by side on the roof of an old abandoned palace. I’m swept back to that moment in an instant.

I remember the delicate, pink flower petals dancing in the wind above us that night. In my memory, one of the petals catches in his hair.

Seung’s fingers soften around my wrist.

Eunji, he mouths, seemingly heavy with disappointment.

That one look throws a shroud of shame over me. What am I doing? Attacking a sleeping girl with no way to defend herself? This isn’t how I want Seung to see me. This isn’t me—

Or is it?

You’re just a tool. The governor-general’s hired weapon.

I lower the rock, taking it in two hands, and press it forward against Seung’s chest, forcing him to grab it. Then, without saying a word, I whip around and disappear into the mist.

It’s not like I have a plan. But I certainly can’t stay here.

Lowering myself down, I slink across the rocky surface on my palms like an animal, feeling my way through the darkness, moving with extreme care to ensure that I’m not about to plummet to my death.

After I crawl aimlessly for several minutes, the ground gradually morphs from rocky path to grassy knoll.

I surrender to the plush stretch of earth, tucking my knees in and curling myself into a ball, wishing everything would just go away.

The fog is so thick around me, and the night so pitch-black here, that I can’t even see my own feet.

There’s little to no difference in light when I shut my eyes.

I’m lost. Completely lost. In more ways than one.

“Eunji.” Seung’s voice comes from just a meter or so away.

“How did you find me?” I whisper into the darkness.

“I followed you.”

“I can’t see anything.”

“I can,” Seung says. “I can see you. Or feel you.”

Right. Tiger ki and whatever.

“Well, that’s not very fair,” I reply.

“You followed me first,” Seung says. “Halfway across the country. I guess now we’re even.”

I bite my lip. “I don’t know about that.”

We fall silent, listening to the twittering of spirit insects. Somewhere far away and overhead, a bird releases a strangled cry that I don’t recognize. I hear some shuffling. Then Seung’s voice appears again, closer than before.

“Eunji, let’s talk.”

“What is there to say?”

“I want to understand what you’ve been thinking,” Seung says evenly. “And I want you to hear me out too.”

I can feel the heat of his body now, from somewhere in front of me. I uncurl myself and sit up. It’s so dark and foggy that I still can’t see him.

“How do I know this isn’t some other mountain spirit tricking me in the dark, using your voice?” I reply, avoiding the conversation. “Show yourself.”

“It’s pitch-black. How am I supposed to show myself?”

“I couldn’t trust my eyes with the gumiho. I certainly don’t trust my ears now,” I reply stubbornly.

“The what?”

I sigh. “While Kenzo and I were tracking you. There was a spirit that appeared to me, pretending to look just like you. Then it tried to kill me.”

“Wha—Eunji. It’s me .”

“Prove it.”

A beat. Then finally: “Fine.”

The heat grows as Seung scoots closer in the blackness.

I reach forward through the fog until my fingertips touch warmth, worn cloth, a strong arm beneath.

Seung’s hand settles on top of mine; a thumb runs over my palm.

His hand gently pulls mine in and up, running my fingertips over coarse, curly hair…

eyelids…a nose…then lips, soft and slightly parted, chapped.

It certainly feels like Seung.