That's why I want to die.
✧
Jisung was five years old when his mom died.
He remembered sitting on a large chair, tucked away in the corner of the room, while the adults discussed what to do with him.
Nobody wanted him, and Jisung knew that. Yet there was nothing he could do, so he just sat there silently hugging his cat plushie, round eyes staring at the people whom he once called family.
He saw his grandpa, hunched over his cane. He saw his aunts and his uncle. All these people he thought loved him, but it turns out they didn't.
"I don't have long to live. Typically, you're the ones who-"
"Still talking about that?" His uncle interrupted him, taking a drag of his cigarette. "We have already settled the matter." He pointed next to him, where his wife stood, cradling their newborn baby in her arms.
It was his mother's funeral. They wanted things to be dealt with and settled as quickly as possible, but it was difficult because Jisung was alive.
Jisung's eyes traveled across the room. They used to be filled with joy—the happiness he felt when he spent time with his mother. Everything had been taken away from him, and the world was too big for him to figure things out alone.
He stroked the fur of his gray cat plushie. He inhaled the scent of his mother's perfume, which it carried.
He drowned out the voices, too many overlapping. He just wanted to be home; he wanted his mom.
"I feel bad for him, but.."
"It'll be best for him if you two..."
✧
Jisung didn't know how long he'd been crying, but at some point he'd fallen asleep. His first instinct was to go back to the festival; that's where he was supposed to meet Setsu later. Unfortunately, it seemed too late to go back, and he didn't want to head home early either.
He wiped his runny nose with the sleeve of his yukata. The garment was completely ruined, but he'd deal with the consequences later.
The marsh was quiet; not many people or animals were out; it looked like it was only him. Across the water, he could see the neighboring town. There were lots more buildings, and even a lighthouse.
Why am I stuck in the wetlands? A place where most modern inventions hadn't even come to.
It was only when Jisung heard rustling in the bushes close to him that he stood up, brushing off the sand from his yukata.
"I'd better get home."
He pushed his way through the tall grass, beginning to climb back up the sandy dunes. Then, he paused. There, a few yards away from him, was Changbin's boat, the oars neatly stacked in the center of it.
That was odd. Normally the boat was tied up to the dock, so what was it doing on the outskirts of the marsh?
"Did someone row it here?"
No, that was impossible. He remembered seeing Changbin and Yongbok at the festival; they were busy making out; obviously, they didn't have time to—they were making out?! Jisung recalled seeing them at the shrine, bodies pressed together and all.
He was going to question them about that later, but for now, he was trying to figure out how the boat had gotten so far out.
Carefully, he made his way back down the sand dunes, over to the area where the boat was.
Jisung looked around to check if anyone was there, but no, he was alone with the boat. It was a stupid idea; really, only a fool would do something as reckless as that. But Jisung wanted to be a fool; at this point, he had nothing to lose.
He looked over at the house, then back at the boat.
Screw it.
Jisung grabbed the sides of the boat with both his hands, trying to pull it closer to shore so he could easily climb in. But of course nothing went according to plan, and Jisung found himself face first in the water, having completely missed the boat.
It was okay; he'd try again. He'd managed to pull the boat a little bit closer and decided to make a jump for it. It shook from the force of his body, rocking side to side as he scrambled to sit up right.
He was officially inside the boat! Now he just needed to figure out how to row it.
✧
Rowing the boat was a mess. At first, Jisung thought it was pretty straightforward—just push and pull, easy, right? Wrong. The oars managed to slip from his hands multiple times; thankfully they were light enough to float, so he didn't have to go diving for them, but at one point one had floated so far away that Jisung thought he was going to be stranded again.
Jisung had come up with a very smart—totally not dangerous—plan. He was going to go to the mansion. In the middle of the night. Alone, because why not? If he wanted to die anyway, why not have some fun with it?
He peered over his shoulder, taking a good look at the mansion behind him. It looked even more beautiful under the moonlight.
Then he saw it. The light in the same second-story window flickered on. Then another, then another, until all the lights in the house were turned on.
Jisung stopped rowing. His body went cold, and his jaw slacked. He couldn't believe his eyes. The lights were on, all of them. Setsu had told him it was abandoned, so how could this be explained?
Whatever it was, Jisung wanted to get the hell out of there. His grip on the oars tightened, and he pushed forward, away from the mansion. But nothing happened. So he tried again, but still nothing. The oars were stuck.
Shit shit shit shit shit.
Jisung didn't know what to do, so he screamed.
"THEY'RE STUCK!"
The boat was moving closer and closer to the mansion, and Jisung had no way of slowing down. The ghosts in that place really wanted to kill him.
He prepared for impact, holding his knees closely to his chest, and he buried his face in the yukata. He couldn't look.
Jisung was too busy hiding himself to notice what was going on around him. There was someone on the island. He heard the pang of the gate smashing against the pillars, and he heard the rushed footsteps of someone running across the platforms.
Jisung turned around, and there he was, the boy from his dreams. Mr. hot-jacked-blonde himself.
His silky hair was blowing in the wind, and the white glow of the moon cast shadows over his sharp nose and jawline. His eyes were wide, and his brows furrowed as he spoke. Jisung couldn't even comprehend the words he was saying; he was too focused on the bunny teeth that stuck out from behind his upper lip. His lips, wow.
"Throw me the rope!"
End of Chapter 8
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TBC c:
authors note 1/6/23:
short chapter but they finally met ><
im writing as much as i can before school starts again