│█║▌║ʏᴏᴜ ᴅᴏɴ'ᴛ sᴇᴇᴍ ᴛᴏ ᴋɴᴏᴡ ᴍᴇ.║ ▌║█│
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Hyun-ho got up slowly, cursing himself in his head for not being able to climb onto the bed before he fell asleep.
He reached for his phone and opened the chat.
He remembered how they had been screwed. He remembered how they had voted out a civilian.
It didn't feel good to be responsible for someone's death. Especially if it was someone in his class. Someone he met on a daily basis. They may not have talked that much, but they saw each other every day.
This game was too sick.
Hyun-ho sighed wearily, then turned around.
He saw Na-Hee stretching, so he took a small breath and began to relax. They were safe, they weren't being attacked by the mafia.
His gaze then drifted to Dong-Hyun, who was still sleeping the dream of the righteous.
Hyun-Ho allowed himself a few moments to watch the most important people in his life.
When he noticed something, the air cleared from his lungs. His heart clenched painfully, and disbelief tore at him.
Dong-Hyun's chest did not rise and fall.
He did not breathe.
Then came the announcement that crushed Hyun-ho's soul to the ground.
𝙳𝚞𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝, 𝙺𝚒𝚖 𝙳𝚘𝚗𝚐-𝙷𝚢𝚞𝚗 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚎𝚡𝚎𝚌𝚞𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚢 𝚖𝚊𝚏𝚒𝚊.
𝙺𝚒𝚖 𝙳𝚘𝚗𝚐-𝙷𝚢𝚞𝚗 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚌𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚕𝚒𝚊𝚗.
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Na-Ri rubbed her eyes as she heard Hyun-Ho sobbing in the hallway.
"Dong-Hyun-ah, don't do this to me. Please get up. Dong-Hyun-ah. Please." Na-Ri couldn't listen any longer.
As she walked with unsteady steps, she looked through the broken door.
Jang Hyun-Ho swayed back and forth, embracing Dong-hyun's lifeless body as he pleaded with him.
Na-Ri wondered what they could have done?
What had they done to make them suffer like this?
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Yeon-Woo listened sadly to Hyun-Ho's crying, sobbing, pleading.
Hyun-Ho was taller, Yeon-Woo shorter.
Hyun-Ho was more athletic, Yeon-Woo was not.
Hyun-Ho was more outspoken, braver and more honest. Yeon-Woo was only brave, outspoken, honest with his friends.
Yeon-Woo didn't mean that he was a liar at heart.
By that, he means that he did not express his true opinions in the first place. Or he just obfuscated them.
He told his friends what was on his mind without any guile. What he thought about whom.
He might even go into the fire for his friends.
Anyway...Yeon-Woo was implying that he and Hyun-Ho were different in many ways.
A frightening amount.
But they had one thing in common. Something that connected them.
They both loved their friends as much as their stubborn hearts would allow.
Yeon-Woo's heart was already bleeding.
Losing Eun-Ha was a deep wound, and not just in his heart. Eun-Chan's heart, too.
Three of them were as thick as thieves.
They did everything together. Everything.
Now there were only two of them, and Yeon-Woo felt as if he'd lost a limb. They had been three for so long that now that there were only two of them, the world seemed a different color.
But at least there was still color in the world.
Yeon-Woo was sure that if he lost Eun-Chan too, the world would be grey.
Colorless, heartless, cold, cruel, miserable.
And everything else that goes with it.
He and Eun-Chan walked away from the room.
Their shoulders rubbed against each other, which was annoying at other times. But now, it strengthened them both, reassured them.
That they still had the other.
Their shoulders bumped harder when Hyun-Ho stopped begging Dong-Hyun to open his eyes.
All they could hear now was the heartbreaking sobs.
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Kyung-Jun looked with furrowed brows at the wall, on which the following words were written in some kind of yellow substance.
Kim Yeon-Ju was is a civilian.
Jang Hyun-ho is is a civilian.
|Police
He put his hands in his pockets and leaned against the wall.
"Did you write this down?" he asked, his eyes drifting to Yeon-Ju's figure. "How do we know the real policeman wrote it?"
"He's right. You could have faked it, just for your innocence." Jin-Ha stood beside him, Seung-Bin looked at her with raised eyebrows.
That made his unconsciously tense shoulders slump a little.
It was good that his idiots believed his word without a doubt. It was good that they stood by him.
"When was I going to have time to write it down? We just woke up!" replied Yeon-Ju, her offended gaze looking over everyone.
"She's not lying, she was with me." Ye-Won said. "We hid together." she explained.
Kyung-Jun just shook his head. "We still don't know if the real police wrote this." He said, and Seung-Bin groaned beside him.
"Aish...police reveal yourself! Have you even done anything yet?" he snapped, glaring sharply at everyone, trying to make an impact with his words.
There was a lot of mumbling silence hovering around them, and Kyung-Jun was getting the fuck out of this game.
He could feel the nervousness and uncertainty surging through his veins. His body itched to do something. Anything.
An image of a sow dancing in his mind's eye disturbed his thinking again.
Soft skin beneath his lips, breath catching, hitting his ears.
A hand gripping his.
Kyung-Jun's throat suddenly felt dry, and his mind went off again.
He hated what that memory had done to him.
"It doesn't make sense." he grumbled, then walked away from the others, deliberately kicking a trash can that clattered loudly on the floor.
He knew that several of them flinched, a small smile spreading across his lips.
Some things never change.
And for that, he was grateful, because he needed something familiar to prove that he knew himself after all.
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Da-Beom watches thoughtfully as the hatred of his life walks away from them, and from the writing that has thwarted their plans.
Now, how could they blame Yeon-ju? He glanced at Woo-Ram and crossed his arms.
There were only four mafia left. They had to be careful, because there were still at least two civilians per head for each of them.
Something deep inside him stirred. Did he really have to kill them all to live?
But a larger part of him suppresses that tiny voice.
This part thirsts for their suffering.
It thirsts for tears and sobs and blood.
They've seen him suffer, haven't they?
And yet they've done nothing.
Da-Beom shouldn't feel guilty just because karma is finally collecting its debt on them.
It's none of his business.
Two figures walked past him, Ji-Soo was chatting to Na-Ri about something, which she was listening to.
His gaze wandered, unable to tear his eyes away from the strawberry-haired girl.
On second thought, there was something he had to do.
As they began to disperse, Da-Beom started after Kyung-Jun.
Time to start giving Go Kyung-Jun back for the experience he gave him. He could help the karma work faster.
As a start, maybe he could show how much he doesn't deserve the girl he loves.
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He took a deep drag of the cigarette, the burning, acrid sensation that hurt his throat was familiar, as was the slightly bitter taste.
He exhaled, watching absently as the smoke almost danced in the air.
His tense features gradually softened, he was close to looking relaxed.
He raised the cigarette close to his lips again, the ash falling to the ground.
He noticed movement at the edge of his vision, someone approaching him.
A hunched, contracted gait, a fearful look...
Kyung-Jun hummed with interest. It was rare for Da-Beom to come to him or his idiots on his own, but not unusual.
"Da-Beom-ah~" he spoke, his voice syrupy, too sweet, almost sinister. His hand itched slightly to nudge him, to hit him.
He raised his hand, sneeringly slapping Da-Beom's face.
"How can I help you?" he asked, but they both knew what he was really asking. What was he doing here, why was he looking for trouble if it would leave him alone for once.
Kyung-Jun forced himself to ignore his heart, which kept beating at how upset the strawberry-haired girl would be with him right now.
How disappointed she would look at him.
He saw a nervous, fearful look in front of him, and the calmness the cigarette gave him intensified.
"J-just....you really..." his voice was shaky, Kyung-Jun had to listen hard to understand what the loser was saying.
"You really...think you have a chance with Na-Ri?" Kyung-Jun didn't realize when, but at some point his hand began to grip the neck of Da-Beom's uniform.
"What did you say?" he asked. Honestly...he was amazed at himself. It had taken a tremendous amount of self-discipline not to slap him, so goddamn right.
"D-don'to you see...it's the way you treat me. The way you treat everyone else." His whispering voice was getting louder, almost shrill. "That's how you'll treat her, don't you think?"
"I'd watch my mouth if I were you, Da-Beom-ah." Kyung-Jun said as he dusted off Da-Beom's uniform, perhaps sweeping the material harder than he should have.
Da-Beom remained silent, then spoke again.
"You know that. That's why you're so tense." Kyung-Jun could feel his vision blurring with anger.
"I saw you two yesterday." He couldn't control it, the stunned look creeping over his face, and it vanished in vain the moment it came over his face, it didn't matter. Da-Beom had already seen it.
"In the corridor, by the wall. The way you tackled her. Do you think you won't hit her sooner or later? You hit everyone else, including your own friends." Kyung-Jun really didn't get it, he just felt it. Raising his fist in a punch, Da-Beom raised his hands to his face.
To the surprise of both of them, Kyung-Jun didn't hit Da-Beom's face, he aimed for the wall.
Plaster was spattering where he hit, but neither of them paid it any mind at the moment.
Both of them knew that that punch should have landed on Da-Beom's face. As it always had.
Kyung-Jun took a deep breath and stepped back from Da-Beom, the pain on his knuckles sobering.
"You can't tell me she really...changed you that much?" the incredulous whisper that escaped Da-Beom's lips hit something in Kyung-Jun.
He hadn't changed.
He hadn't.
"When did little Da-Beom learn to talk back like that?" he panted, a dangerous smile forming on his lips.
"Aren't you ashamed of yourself?" he asked as he spat at Da-Beom in a blind rage.
"Watching other people like some pervert. Bet you were drooling, weren't you? Fucking disgusting is what you are, otaku."
Kyung-Jun Da-Beom stepped up beside him, his hand roughly grabbing his hair.
Kyung-Jun was reluctant to admit it. Even to himself.
But when the loser started laughing, Kyung-Jun shivered. There was something psychotic about him, something that made his grip on Da-Beom's hair loosen.
"You only do right by me, with everything you do." Da-Beom breathed heavily. "You're just an abusive bully, you don't deserve her." He panted, Kyung-Jun looking him in the eye.
They twinkled, with a boundless glee that made Kyung-Jun feel something sick inside.
What the fuck was up with this crippled loser?
"You don't know what you're talking about." He said coldly as he watched Da-Beom. "Just stay the quiet, obedient, otaku that you are, okay?" he smiled away, covering up what was going on inside him.
Apart from anything else, Kyung-Jun knew the miserable loser was telling the truth.
There was no guarantee that he wouldn't hurt Na-Ri at some point.
There was no guarantee of that, because of course Kyung-Jun was Kyung-Jun.
A faint joy coursed through his veins as he watched Da-Beom, who was gasping for breath in fear.
"And do me a favor, okay?" he asked mockingly as he loosened his grip.
"Don't stick your nose where it doesn't belong, Da-Beom-ah." He said while punching Da-Beom in the face. Three little slaps.
"I'm gonna end up thinking you care about the one who I care."
With that, he walked out of the buffet. But he couldn't stop thinking about what happened.
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Na-Hee was worried.
Hyun-Ho had been in a catatonic state since morning.
He had been nervously rummaging through his hair, muttering to himself.
But he did nothing else.
He didn't move from Na-Hee's side, but he didn't even acknowledge Na-Hee's presence.
And Na-Hee didn't know what to do.It was the first time either of them had really allowed themselves to grieve.
"Na-Hee. Can you do something for me?" A hoarse voice broke the awkward silence between them.
And though Na-Hee didn't answer him, Hyun-ho lifted his teary red eyes to her.
"Can you check Go Kyung-Jun's occupation for me?"
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She was walking down the corridor when she saw Kyung-Jun's back.
And she thought, maybe this was the right time to discuss yesterday's... events. So she walked towards Kyung-Jun, her hands nervously adjusting the bottom of her sweater.
"Ky-Kyun" Na-Ri didn't like the way her voice was shaking, so she took a deep breath and tried to put on the mask that had hidden her emotions at the beginning of the trip. The look of not caring on her face.
"Kyung-Junh-ah!" her voice sounded more confident, her face expressionless.
The boy stopped but didn't turn around, nervousness building in Na-Ri's stomach.
"Kyung-Jun-ah..." she licked her lower lip nervously with her tongue.
"Can we talk about what happened yesterday-?" her question was interrupted as Kyung-Jun continued walking.
He didn't even listen.
"Kyung-Jun-ah...." followed him. She wanted an answer, because she could still feel his lips on her skin, the soft grip of his fingers on her hand, the way he pressed her against the wall.
She didn't want an answer. She needed, needed an answer.
"Yah, Go Kyung-Jun!" she grabbed Kyung-Jun's hand.
Then it all happened again too fast. Her back slammed against the wall, Kyung-Jun was too close again.
It could have been a replay of yesterday's events. But there were subtle differences between the two scenes that made Na-Ri's heart beat faster, not because of excitement.
Kyung-Jun's hand was on her wrist, their fingers were not intertwined.
His other hand was in his jacket pocket.
His eyes did not search her freckles gently, but looked at Na-Ri's face with a sharp gaze.
"Can't you see I'm not in the mood for you?" Kyung-Jun was not necessarily friendly with Na-Ri.
But his tone when he commented had never been like that before.
So cold, so malicious.
It's as if Na-Ri was just bothering him, annoying him.
Na-Ri's poker face cracked, her eyes watching Kyung-Jun's face in confusion, slightly hurt.
"I just want to talk about yesterday, I-" Na-Ri continued, her mind momentarily blanked by the fact that they were in a deadly game, that they had voted out the wrong person, that any one of them could die at any moment. Her stubborn, idiotic heart made it her first task to talk about yesterday's events.
"It was just a bad moment." Kyung-Jun said, then leaned away from Na-Ri, his hand releasing Na-Ri's wrist. Na-Ri's eyes looked at Kyung-Jun, her weak heart clenching painfully.
It couldn't be just a bad moment.
"If that's all you wanted, I'll consider yesterday's events closed." Kyung-Jun tossed the words carelessly, and Na-Ri's shoulders slumped.
She couldn't let this go.
"No, we need to talk about this properly-"
"We just did." Kyung-Jun cut Na-Ri off again.
"Stop interrupting me!" snapped the strawberry-haired girl, stepping forward, the distance between her and Kyung-Jun rapidly closing.
A contemptuous smile formed on Kyung-Jun's lips as he leaned closer.
"Let me try again." he whispered, the warm air coming from his mouth catching Na-Ri's ear.
"If you don't want everyone to know your occupation, you'll leave this alone. You pretend it never happened." Na-Ri couldn't believe her ears when she heard this, blinking and feeling her poker face shatter, crumple.
"You can't be serious." Her lips quivered as she tried to hold back the trembling of her vocal cords, the flow of her tears.
"You can't be like this." Na-Ri whispered.
For she had felt Kyung-Jun's gentle touch, felt the kisses of his lips on her neck.
They were tender, they were soft.
Now, how could those lips have spoken such words? Words that pierced Na-Ri's soul like a knife?
"You don't seem to know me." she heard, causing a tiny tear to stream down her cheek.
That one sentence hurt more than anything Kyung-Jun had ever done or said.
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𝙶𝚘 𝙺𝚢𝚞𝚗𝚐-𝙹𝚞𝚗 𝚒𝚜 𝚊 𝚌𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚕𝚒𝚊𝚗.
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ʏᴏᴜ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ʀᴇᴀᴄʜᴇᴅ ᴛʜᴇ ᴇɴᴅ ᴏғ ᴛʜᴇ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ.