13th July
2012
Seonghwa stuffs laundry into the washing machine. It's just his own and Hongjoong's clothes, yet why does it feel like way more? He could swear that Hongjoong purposely wears extra outfits whenever it's Seonghwa's turn to do the laundry.
The door to the utility room suddenly flies open and the boy jumps in his spot, only to relax when he sees that it's another SS member. "Is there something wrong?" he asks, making it clear that he doesn't really feel in the mood to talk to any of the members right now. The task of doing the laundry provides him with a much needed sense of peace.
"I just wanted to let you know that Jaehyun and the others are going somewhere today, so guard the house well with your brother and the girl," he barks before leaving. Seonghwa shakes his head to himself as he shoves more clothes into the machine. A lot of the newer members mistake him and Hongjoong as brothers, which makes sense as Jaehyun likes to refer to them as his sons.
He never formally adopted them, yet he still sees them that way. Seonghwa finds it endearing. Being a son to Jaehyun and brother to Hongjoong isn't that bad at all. He smiles as he holds up one of Hongjoong's jumpers. He really does feel like his older brother in this situation.
The door opens again, and Seonghwa doesn't even bother turning around. "Yeah I got it, you want us to clean the house too right?" he calls out, very much used to this trend. Whenever everyone leaves the house, they like to get the cleaning done by the youngest boys too.
Hongjoong complains about it every time, saying that he's a literal gang member and has better things to do. Seonghwa, on the other hand, doesn't mind at all. Lately doing chores like this proves to be a nice hobby for him, a nice way to take a break.
Get others' blood on his clothes by night, do the laundry by day. It's a perfect routine to him.
Harin is usually on duty too, and she takes great pleasure in doing the housework in the presence of Seonghwa.
And the exact same girl stands awkwardly at the entrance of the utility room. "It's actually me!" she chirps.
Seonghwa's heart jumps and he turns around with rosy cheeks. "How are things going?" Seonghwa asks while returning to his task. It's an everyday thing at this point. When Seonghwa is doing anything, Harin randomly pops up and the two spend hours talking. Sometimes about her training, sometimes about random things.
"Things are going good! Also there's something I need to tell you," she timidly announces. Seonghwa nods. She says this every single day, and then explains something random every time. Seonghwa can't deny that he finds it incredibly cute.
"Seonghwa...I think I like you," she squeaks out in nearly a whisper.
Seonghwa drops the scoop of detergent he was holding in shock and fully turns around. He tilts his head out of confusion, but his heart starts beating faster. This isn't some sort of joke, is it?
"You what?" he asks, in a state of disbelief. "I said I really like you," she repeats with more certainty and confidence this time, shuffling her feet nervously with her hands fidgeting behind her back.
"I-I'll go now," she stutters, slowly stepping back out of the room with her head still ducked. "Wait!" Seonghwa shouts. He places his hand on her shoulder and leads her back into the room while placing his second hand on her other shoulder.
"You really mean it?" he whispers, his face now much closer to hers. She gulps and nods slowly, her eyes going everywhere except for his face. He smiles and leans closer. "So do I," he breathes.
Seonghwa's face inches closer to hers, and she also gets closer to him. Their eyelids flutter shut together slowly.
But then Harin's eyes open.
They get closer and closer and the girl's hands start sweating behind her back. She screams at herself in her mind and her arms finally start to move towards the front.
Until she physically can't.
Just as their lips are about to touch, a deafening gunshot causes Seonghwa's eyes to fly open. The gunshot was merely a shock, but what sends goosebumps all over his skin is the blood curdling scream that comes from the girl in front of him, who collapses at his feet.
She sobs frantically while clutching the side of her waist. Seonghwa can't seem to find the air in his lungs to breathe in that moment as his mind tries to process what's in front of him.
Harin writhes in pain on the ground, her own pool of blood curling around the dagger lying beside her.
Wait- dagger?
Seonghwa's eyes whip up at the opened door of the utility room and starts shaking with rage. "Joong? Why?" he simply asks with plenty of emotion behind his voice. He hesitates in going to help the girl until he gets a reason from Hongjoong. Even now, Seonghwa trusts Hongjoong more.
Hongjoong tucks his gun away again and steps in with silent darkness swirling in his eyes. He stares down at the girl on the ground and blinks blankly at her.
"She was about to kill you," Hongjoong states in a hard tone, pointing at the dagger in the pool of blood on the white tile. Seonghwa's eyebrows furrow and he quickly kneels down in front of her. His fingers uselessly clammer over the slippery dagger handle and he holds it up to her face.
"Is that true?" he questions with a shaky voice. She won't stop crying loudly and avoids answering the question. Hongjoong kneels down too, snatches the dagger from Seonghwa's hand and forces the girl's fingers away from her wound. He then proceeds to rest the tip at the entrance and brushes it over the bleeding wound.
She shrieks once again. "Yes! Yes, it's true," she screams before clutching her waist again. Seonghwa's arms drop to his sides in disbelief and he feels like his soul has left his body.
"B-But I did truly love you, I really did. I had to convince myself really hard to actually go ahead with it, but even then I couldn't do it," she rambles, but every word falls on deaf ears. Seonghwa's eyes also go blank and he stands up slowly.
"I'm sorry Seonghwa! I promise I'm telling the truth, I wasn't going to actually kill you, it was just the initial plan!" she begs more. While Seonghwa doesn't move an inch, Hongjoong grows interested.
"Plan? Who sent you here?" he demands. "Do you promise to let me go if I tell you?" she croaks. "I'll leave you to die here if you don't."
The two men now stare at her with expectant eyes.
"MX sent me here to kill Seonghwa, but I changed my mind! I regret even thinking about killing you today and am willing to leave MX forever and stay here, please give me another chance," she cries again.
The mention of MX makes both of the boys' blood boil. But what's more, is that Harin successfully fooled Seonghwa this entire time and he feels sick to the stomach for that. Never before has Seonghwa felt so much anger.
"Why don't we send MX a little gift in return for their kindness then?" Hongjoong smiles while pulling his gun out again and aiming it to her skull. "That gift being your pathetic little corpse."
Only more tears leave her. At this point, she has accepted her fate. It looks like there's no way to escape her death, and maybe she's earned it. She feels sad that her final moments will be in pain. And she feels even more agony whenever she catches a glimpse of Seonghwa's pained yet apathetic expression.
"Stop."
Hongjoong turns to his friend with a raised eyebrow. "What do you mean?"
Seonghwa bends down and makes sure his face is close enough to Harin's for her to see his threatening expression.
"Get out of my sight. Forever. If you ever come near me again, I'll make sure that you'll die the cruellest death imaginable," Seonghwa states in a cold voice.
His hand reaches into her pocket and he pulls out a phone and turns the screen to the girl. She uses a wobbly finger to input her password, blood smearing all over the screen. Seonghwa searches through her phone until he finds Hyungwon's number.
He dials it, and as soon as the other picks up, Seonghwa speaks. "She has about ten minutes left before she has no more blood left in her body. Send someone to collect her if you want her alive," Seonghwa utters before cutting the call.
"You can't just let her go like this, she deserves death!" Hongjoong complains, finger itching to pull the trigger on his gun again. Seonghwa scoops the girl up and steps out the door. "Joong, just concentrate on cleaning the blood off the floor and walls," he orders. Hongjoong rolls his eyes but decides to get wiping anyway, deciding to allow Seonghwa to do what he wants for now. He's way more hurt from this than Hongjoong, so he feels that his friend deserves to take his own revenge however he wants.
Seonghwa wants her dead, but at the same time he recalls the intensity of the feelings he had only hours ago for her. He feels urged to give her a small chance to live for now, but he isn't willing to give her anything more than that anymore.
"Seonghwa, I'm so sorry, I changed my mind last second, I wasn't going to kill you after all," she speedily apologises again. "Stop talking, I'm already annoyed as it is that your blood is getting on my clothes."
Harin gets a sinking feeling in her stomach as Seonghwa leaves the SS house and slowly sets the girl down in front of the gate. "Pray a random person saves you first in case Hyungwon doesn't make it in time," are the last words he tells the girl before abandoning her.
He feels that he's actually doing a pretty good job at controlling the anger he feels in the moment. But he's afraid this is going to bottle up.
All the feelings of betrayal and heartbreak roam around freely inside him. He doesn't feel as sad though, mostly angry. How dare she play with his trust like that?
He re-enters the utility room and watches Hongjoong scrub at the red stains on the floor.
"I'm sorry I didn't listen to you before. I'm back now," Seonghwa smiles before joining Hongjoong on the floor with the cleaning. Hongjoong glances up and he knows instantly what Seonghwa means.
His friend is finally back to being how he used to be. Ruthless and unforgiving.
A/N
This is completely unrelated to the chapter but ATEEZ JUST ANNOUNCED THEIR NEW TOUR DATES FOR EUROPE??? AND THEY RESCHEDULED IT FOR A DAY THAT SUITS ME THIS TIME...I'M OVER THE MOON YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND