Doubler || NCT || Completed

27

"Have some tea", Taeil's mom, Hyunsook auntie, told Yujin.

It was a warm autumn day and lazy rays of sunshine painted the kitchen cabinets with soft stripes of light whenever they found their way through the clouds.

Yujin smiled at auntie before sitting down.

"This isn't tea, auntie", she noted, confused, when she looked down to the dark, thick liquid in her cup.

"And I'm not auntie", cold voice answered.

Yujin looked up.

Auntie was gone.

"You", Yujin whispered.

The woman tilted her head, her face painfully similar to Yujin's own. The  smile on her lips was empty and her eyes reminded Yujin of an abandoned house with wind howling in its corners.

"Now, now, is that a nice way to greet your mother?" the woman in front of her questioned.

Fear pooled in Yujin's stomach but she tried to push it down.

"You - you can't do anything to me anymore", she tried to sound brave. Her grip of the cup was so tight that it hurt her fingers. "I won't let you or anyone hurt me. I'm... I'm stronger now."

Mom chuckled. "That's sweet."

Her eyes drifted away from Yujin as she focused on something else.

"It's a pity that your strength doesn't save anyone else", mom continued. Yujin's brow furrowed in confusion, and mom nodded behind her.

Yujin turned around and blood in her veins froze.

First thing her eyes set on was Taeil's cold, dead body.

"No one can hurt him!" Yujin said quietly but her tone was certain. "He's too strong."

Mom laughed.

Yujin noticed other bodies behind Taeil.

Her breathing became shallow.

It was Jeno.

"No one would - he's not... I won't - ", Yujin stuttered, unable to tear her eyes away from Jeno's lifeless face. The sight tortured her.

"Are you really naïve enough to think that anyone close to you will stay alive?" mom sounded curious, almost surprised.

Yujin saw the third body.

"Dad", the word came out as a pathetic whimper.

Mom huffed.

"See? The rest of them will die just like your father did", she said, her voice detached. "While trying to protect something that's not worth it."

Yujin was still staring at her dad's lifeless body.

"Don't worry, the fun doesn't end there", her mother's voice was filled with cruel glee, and when Yujin blinked, the floor of the room was filled with corpses of dead children. "Look at the mess you've made, sweetie!"

Yujin couldn't breathe.

"I didn't - it's not - ", she tried to get herself together. The walls of the room started to tilt towards the floor. "It's not my fault", she whispered.

"Oh, but darling, it is your fault", mom commented, her voice sickeningly sweet. Yujin turned to look at her but she was gone. "The weak ones aren't meant to live. And if they survive, someone else dies instead", her voice echoed from the walls.