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“Ah hyung, stop trying to get me to join your weird cult!” Sanghyuk whined, trying to escape the embrace of his clingy friend.
His action earned him a neck chop from Hakyeon instead, who scowled and let go of him. This drew the attention of quite a few people in the coffee shop, but they returned to their business soon after. “It’s not even a cult…I mean, not really. Just show up for once, it’ll be fun!”
Honestly, it was simply a club on campus like any other, so Hakyeon didn’t understand why the freshman was so adamant about not joining. Having known Sanghyuk since his childhood, Hakyeon found it an obligation to mother the kid and help him make some new friends, despite his constant protests. Besides, it wasn’t his fault that the club always started in October, since that was when the workload for the club leaders lightened up. And he didn’t know the one time Sanghyuk decided to show up unannounced, he’d witnessed them dancing in a circle and chanting in a foreign language.
Okay, so maybe it was a little cult-like.
“Wonshik-ah, help me out here. You’re his favourite hyung.” Hakyeon turned his attention to his next victim, who had been standing to the side quietly in hopes of not being spotted.
He stepped forward and cleared his throat, choosing his words carefully under the stare of Hakyeon and his too bright smile. “Right. It’s a good opportunity to make friends, too. I mean, Taekwoon went and it helped him purge his soul.”
“It looked more like the cult sucked his soul out of him,” Sanghyuk muttered. “You’re no longer my favourite hyung, Wonshik-hyung. I thought you’d take my side.”
Wonshik looked at Hakyeon and shrugged as if to say I tried, but looked a little hurt at Sanghyuk’s declaration. “Dropped for Hongbin. I can’t even believe this kid.” Sanghyuk stuck his tongue out at him childishly, earning him a smack on the head.
“Where are the others anyway, why am I stuck with you two, geez.”
The comment nearly made Hakyeon kill him on the spot, but Sanghyuk hid behind Wonshik, who held up his hands in defence.
“We’re here! Sorry for the wait, the bus was late and Taekwoon-hyung found a stray cat and started petting it and…yeah, that made us miss the next two buses,” Jaehwan explained hurriedly in one breath as he arrived, bells on the door chiming loudly as the other two entered with equally wind-whipped cheeks.
Hongbin slid into the seat next to Sanghyuk, which made him abandon Wonshik in favour of leaning towards his favourite hyung. Hakyeon rolled his eyes at no one in particular, huffing as he crossed his arms. “Why does no one in this family appreciate what I do for them? I just want you kids to make friends with other kids? Is that too much to ask?”
“Ah, he’s doing that thing again,” Hongbin muttered to Sanghyuk, who nodded in agreement. “Who’s gonna tell him one day that we aren’t actually his kids?”
“I heard that, Lee Hongbin,” Hakyeon said sternly. “You are all my children and I love you, even if none of you appreciate me.” He wiped away an imaginary tear dramatically.
“So, what is it this time?” Taekwoon, who had been silent thus far, asked his boyfriend while rubbing his back in consolation.
“I just want Hyukkie to join the club, but he keeps insisting that it’s a cult and won’t even check it out. If anything, he’d fit right in as the demon child he is,” Hakyeon replied, still sulking.
Taekwoon’s face darkened for a moment when the club was mentioned, but schooled his features into indifference quickly. “Right, Hyukkie. You’re already a demon child so you’ll be right at home,” he said, flinching slightly when Sanghyuk narrowed his eyes and leaned forward. It was one of those moments that he wished he’d been harsher with the kid when they first met, just so he wouldn’t be this disrespected now that he’d grown up.
“Just once, okay? Next Tuesday, 3:30pm in the performing arts building. You know the room number, right?” Hakyeon implored for the last time.
Sanghyuk was unimpressed, but he agreed anyway, if only to shut him up. “Yeah, of course. Hard to forget 444. Are you sure this isn’t a cult? Because it seems like you’re desperate to gather members to feed the energy of your undead goddess or something.”
Hakyeon neck chopped him over the table.
~
“Nope. Nope, nope, nope.” Sanghyuk backpedaled out of the room as soon as he saw the decoration inside. Unfortunately, Hakyeon’s grip on his arm was firm, and along with Wonshik, he managed to pull Sanghyuk back in.
Everywhere he looked, the room was covered in dark red and black ribbon, with skulls and spiderwebs hanging from the ceiling. Candles were being lit in each corner, flames flickering eerily in the full wall mirror facing the door. Members of the cult - er, club sat in various groups, applying dark makeup on each other that looked suspiciously like occult symbols, and all of them were dressed in dark red.
“What - don’t look at me like that. The power went out earlier.”
“Mhm, sure,” Sanghyuk replied to Hakyeon’s explanation. “Can I leave now? I really don’t think the cult life is for me, thanks.”
Hakyeon sighed. “This isn’t a cult.”
“I gotta say, hyung, for someone who claims that they aren’t part of a cult on campus, you seem very insistent on saying this isn’t a cult. Even the number of times you’ve had to say that is suspicious, already,” Hongbin chirped. Hakyeon hadn’t even noticed him standing in the corner.
“You weren’t even invited. But now that you’re here…” he smiled cheerfully.
“This was a mistake. You’re on your own, Hyukkie. Bye!” Hongbin darted out of the room faster than the speed of light. The traitor.
The leader of the cult stood up suddenly, clothed in a flamboyant red dress that fanned out at the end. She clapped her hands to get their attention, and Hakyeon moved to get into position, while Wonshik and Taekwoon followed at a much slower and not as enthusiastic pace.
“Just sit in the corner and watch,” Hakyeon hissed out of the corner of his mouth before smiling sweetly and facing forward like nothing had happened.
Sanghyuk tried to make a run for it, but the door was already closed and locked. He was about to knock on it when he remembered that the room was soundproof, and chosen for that very reason. Having no other choice, he sulked near the back of the room and tried to look as insignificant as possible in case they want a human sacrifice, or something. The students in the cult were eccentric and often unpredictable, after all. He pulled out his phone, only to find that he had no signal, and shoved it back into his pocket in frustration. Honestly, which college building didn’t provide wifi connection?
The next hour and a half crawled along like the students moving through exam season, and he was barely surviving. There was more of that ritualistic dancing in circles and chanting, this time to actual songs being played out of the speakers located in the corners of the room. The echoing effect added to the overall ominous atmosphere, and Sanghyuk was actually starting to get concerned. Cult or not, this was starting to get terrifying.
When the dancing ended, Hakyeon sauntered over to where he was sitting, and he mentally groaned again. Really, out of everyone in the world, why did he have to get stuck with the most clingy, persistent mom friend there was? At least the door was opened again, and the sight of the normal college hallway helped him breathe a little easier.
“See, it’s not that bad. Helps get the blood moving,” Hakyeon began, wiping sweat off his brows. Unlike the others, he hadn’t dressed up besides abiding by the unspoken dress code that everyone had to wear some sort of red, which looked unsettling in the candlelight. “Maybe you should join us for the next session.”
“Taekwoon-hyung looks dead. Wonshik-hyung looks like he’s halfway there, and he’s actually good at dancing.”
Hakyeon frowned. “You don’t have to be good at dancing to join the club, Hyukkie.”
“Hyung, I don’t think you understand. Salsa just isn’t the right thing for me, okay?”