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Once upon a time, a young woman fell in love with a man. She went on to marry that man. Their family soon grew to be four and they lived happily.
For a time.
But as some men are wont to do, he grew tired of her. She had given him her youth and her heart, but it was not enough. He still left her and ran off with someone younger and more beautiful. With someone who had no premature white hairs or wrinkles around their eyes.
She screamed and cried for him not to go. She begged him to think of their children. Of the life that they had built together, but he didn’t care. He was a callous man, always had been, but she had been clouded by her love for him.
Afterward, she sank into deep despair. She lost all will to live. Her village had tried to help her, they fed the children and tried to give her food, but she wouldn’t eat any more than a few bites throughout the day.
Sometime later word got to her that her ex-husband had married that girl and that she was willing to take in his children. Which meant that she would be all alone in her misery. Rage flowed through her like a fire through a forest. It energized her, it blinded her.
When she came to, she found herself in a river soaking wet and breathing hard. Just a way off she saw the bodies of her children face down in the water quickly floating away from her. Realizing what she’d done she tries to go after them, but no avail.
The current was too quick, and they quickly disappeared from her sight. Overcome with grief she let the current take her under too. Her last thought was that it was finally over.
But it wasn’t over for her.
Legend has it that La Llorona’s children's souls never made it to the Gates of Heaven. When La Llorona arrived at the Gates to be judged by St. Peter she was condemned to wander the Earth to find her children. She would know no peace until her children had been returned to God’s embrace.
And there she remains. Always searching for her children. Screaming “Mis hijos, mis hijos.” Should you ever find yourself out late at night and by a body of water, you may just hear her cries for them. But be careful because she may just mistake you for her lost children and take you away with her.
*
Jun Myeon can’t help but be grateful that the concert went as smoothly as it did. That’s not to say he didn’t freak out a little inside when the music cut off in the middle, but the fans singing along made up for it. He was even worried about the effect the change in altitude would have on the member’s stamina. It was made even better by the fact that the fans didn’t throw any underwear.
Again.
A shiver runs up his spine just thinking about it.
He shakes his head and burrows himself deeper into the bed willing sleep to come to him quickly. His body becomes heavy and his breathing begins to slow down. The sound of water running from the bathroom lulls him slowly into sleep.
When suddenly a scream rings out through the room. Jun Myeon shoots up from the bed and looks for the source of the scream. The door to the bathroom opens and outruns a very wet and very naked Se Hun.
“Hyung! There’s someone in the bathroom,” he exclaims pointing to said room.
“What,” he asks. “That’s not possible. And cover yourself.”
Jun Myeon gets up from the bed and walks over to the bathroom. Shooting a glare to Se Hun for having woken him up when he was so close to falling asleep. Inside the bathroom he sees their toiletries spread across the counter, the shower still running and puddles of water on the floor. But he doesn’t see anyone else.
He sighs and turns to Se Hun who has come closer to the bathroom.
“There’s no one here, Se Hun-ah,” he says, exasperatedly.
“But, Hyung, I saw her she was there,” Se Hun says pointing to the shower.
“Se Hun-ah,” Jun Myeon says exasperatedly. “You’re just tired and-”
Se Hun stomps his foot. “I am not tired. I know what I saw, Hyung. Someone was in here. At first, I thought it was you, so I didn’t think anything of it. But then she was inside the shower with me, Hyung.
“I don’t know how she got in there, but she was here, Hyung. You have to believe me.”
A series of hard knocks at the door causes them to freeze. Jun Myeon turns back to Se Hun. “Put some clothes on, for all our sakes.”
Se Hun huffs before walking to his suitcase to get a pair of pants to pull on. Jun Myeon looks through peephole seeing that it’s their manager and a member of security.
“Jun Myeon-shi,” his manager calls out. “Can I come in? The other members heard a scream come from your room.”
Jun Myeon curses under breath. He hadn’t realized that Se Hun’s scream would have been loud enough for others to hear. He looks back to make sure that Se Hun at least has a pair of pants on before he opens the door. Their manager and the security guard walk in and take stock of the room.
“So, what was with all the screaming. Even I heard it down the hall. Hell, I think the guests opposite us heard it,” he says chuckling.
“It was just Se Hun. He thought he saw someone in the bathroom,” Jun Myeon says, head nodding to the room in question.
“What,” their manager's jovial disposition disappears. “How?”
Jun Myeon shrugs his shoulders.
“It’s true, though,” Se Hun cries. “There was a lady in there by the mirror. I thought it was, Hyung. When I turn around, she’s behind me in the shower. So, I ran out. And that’s when I screamed.”
Se Hun hangs his head in embarrassment.
Jun Myeon looks at his manager and rolls his eyes. “I checked in there. There was nothing in there except for a ton of water on the floor.”
“I’ll go check with security. See if cameras caught anyone coming up here that shouldn’t be here.”
When their manager comes back, he says that there wasn't anything on the security cameras.
“Of course, there wasn't anything,' Jun Myeon thought. The manager looks lost as to what to do next. They already have security outside their door. There was nothing caught on camera, therefore, there hadn’t been anyone in the room, aside from Jun Myeon or Se Hun.
Se Hun, meanwhile, dares to look like everyone is wrong. As much as Jun Myeon loves Se Hun, his childishness can become grating at times. He doesn't say anything when security and their manager leave. Not a thank you. Not a sorry for the bother. Nothing. Jun Myeon feels his anger begin to bubble over, so he leaves the room. He takes the elevator down to the pool. It's late and no one is going to be there anyway. It'll be a nice reprieve from everything that's happened that night.
But it looks like the Universe is just not on his side tonight. The pool area has a gate that's been locked. There's fencing that he could easily jump over, but he scoffs at the thought. He's already wasted a ton of energy dealing with Se Hun, he wasn't going to waste any more on jumping a fence.
Or maybe if he was just a tourist and not one of the biggest idols in Korea and all over the world he would have jumped. But he isn't just a tourist. He's an idol. He's EXO's leader. He can't be so irresponsible. The little joy he'd get out of it wouldn't be worth the shit storm that would happen if fans found out.
He looks back at the still pool one more time when he sees her. Or rather sees her head. It's bopping up and down then suddenly goes under. He figures it's just another guest who dared to break the rules, but when they take minutes to come up, he feels a jolt of fear shoot through him once he realizes that they’re drowning.
"Shit."
He looks around frantically looking for anyone but no one else is out there at that time of night. Jun Myeon knows he should get some help, but the girl came back up, face down. He can't waste any time, he thinks. So he finally jumps the fence, runs to the pull and jumps as close as he can to the girl.
The water is freezing, causing his blood to run cold. He begins to shiver uncontrollably, but he's only arms way away from the girl, so he swallows his fear and swims over to her.
'She's not breathing.'
He reaches out to her turning her around pulling her close to him, but the moment he has her close she begins to shake with such a force that he can do nothing else but let go. There's water splashing all around him, even into his eyes making it difficult for him to see.
Suddenly, he's pulled down underwater. He begins to thrash around trying to swim up for air, but he’s weighed down by something. Sharp nails dig into his arm and forcefully turn him around to face the girl. But it's no girl, not anymore. It's a demon. She, it, smiles deviously at him, eyes open wide. She has a grasp on him that doesn't allow him to move, but he continues to struggle.
The realization that he is at death's door hits him and fills him with dread. His lungs are burning from the lack of air. The girl is still there but now even she's calmed down. She's just watching him drown. Her mouth turns up into a small smile. Almost as if she's happy that he's dying.
He can't fight it anymore. His chest is convulsing, his lungs filling with water. Jun Myeon knows he's done for. The last thing he sees is the girl reaching out to him with a loving look on her face.
*
The next morning, Se Hun wakes up to Jun Myeon not having come back to the room. He thinks, no he knows, he should apologize but it's too hard. Especially when he knows that he’s right. So he goes about his morning like normal, putting it off for as long as he can. He tries to do his morning skincare routine but finds it to be too much of a hassle. The clothes that he had set out to wear to the airport are stuffed into his suitcase haphazardly in favor of one of his oversized tees and sweatpants.
A knock comes from the door and when he looks through the people sees that it's a hotel employee with a food cart.
"Buenos dias, Señor. Traje su almuerzo."
He opens the door and lets the man in.
"Gracias," he says, as well as he can, giving the mand a tip.
'Good thing manager-Hyung had us get some pesos,' he thinks.
He eats his breakfast in silence. Usually, he and Jun Myeon would be having breakfast together and talking about last night's concert or their plans for the day. It's lonely not having him around.
A knock on the door brings him back to reality.
"Jun Myeon-Hyung," he calls out.
"Se Hun-ah, it's me," his manager calls out. "It's time to go to the airport. You and Jun Myeon need to head down to the vans."
Se Hun's eyebrows furrow. He walks over to the door, pulling it open. "Jun Myeon isn't here. He left last night and never came back. I figured that he slept in someone else's room."
"What? What do you mean by he never came back? Why did he leave in the first place," he says frantically as he enters the room and looks around? He almost expects Jun Myeon to pop out at any second, saying it’s one big joke. But he doesn't.
"He was angry at me for last night. I thought he would just take a walk around and come back. It got to be later and later until I finally just went to sleep. He's probably with Jong Dae-Hyung or Min Seok-Hyung."
"He's not. Everyone but the two of you are down at the lobby with their stuff." Their manager turns around and walks out of the room. Se Hun hears him get on the phone talking in hurried and hushed tones to someone. The words "Jun Myeon" and "gone" ring loudly in Se Hun’s mind. He can't be gone. Jun Myeon would never leave and not tell him.
*
Se Hun was right. Jun Myeon wasn't gone. He was missing. They checked all the security cameras and while there was footage of him in the elevator and of him in the hallways walking to the courtyard, there are none of him ever getting there. Or of him going anywhere else. The CCTV cuts off just as he enters the pool area.
They try to keep the fact that anything's wrong quiet; but, when the fans find out that they missed their flight, they become curious. It becomes even messier when they realize that they didn't even leave their hotel. The police become involved, but even they are stumped as there are no leads.
They are at a standstill until one of the staff comes forward with a strange find. Jun Myeon's slipper. It was in the pool they said, but only the one. Then another break. A guest comes forward reporting that they saw someone in the pool and that he jumped in shortly after. They didn't see either one come up for air, but he figured that they were just playing around. Like in the movies.
After that, it becomes impossible to keep it a secret any longer and to expect any results. So, they announce it to the world in the hopes that more people come forward. The reaction from fans was something never seen before. Se Hun had heard and seen how crazy the fans could get on social media when they made a comeback, but this was nothing like that. It blew that out of the water.
Everyone was talking about it. Fans and non-fans alike. Korean and Mexican news sites. Heck, even a news site in Nigeria covered it. But still, Jun Myeon wasn't found. And the rest of EXO along with their managers was forced to go back to Korea without him.
*
It happens again when Baek Hyun and Chan Yeol are at the gym. They’re in the sauna relaxing after a tough work out. Tough for Chan Yeol, that is. Baek Hyun did some light weights and fooled around most of the time. It was distracting at times, but it was nice to have someone there trying to make him smile after the shitty day he'd had.
SM had shut him down, again, when he'd proposed one of his composed songs. They said he wasn't ready yet. Almost a decade spent training and honing his craft and he wasn't ready, as if. And Jun Myeon was still missing.
"Chan Yeol?"
"Hm."
"Feeling better?"
"No. But thanks for trying, Baek Hyun."
Baek Hyun shoots him a sad smile. "It's getting a little too hot in here, don’t you think?”
Chan Yeol doesn't respond. He never does when he gets like this. So, he just leaves him there and goes to the front desk to get some water.
"Thank you," he says in his cute voice.
Ever since Jun Myeon's disappearance he finds himself using it more. He's not sure who it's for. For himself or those around him. He just wants everything to be okay, so maybe by doing his happy, cute voice, it’ll feel like it is. Honestly, it's exhausting. He knows that if Jun Myeon would come back that he'd be fine. That they'd all be fine.
When he gets back to the pool, he finds Chan Yeol gone. But their stuff is still there. His heart begins to race as he looks all around him, hoping that maybe he'd missed him, even though the room is empty and void of corners.
'Maybe he went to the bathroom. Yeah, the bathroom.'
His mind is calm, but his body reveals otherwise. Baek Hyun runs out of the pool room and to the locker rooms. "Chan Yeol! Chan Yeol!"
The locker rooms big and open; more so, at this time of night, they're quiet too. He slams open each bathroom stall. If one is locked, he looks under the doors for Chan Yeol’s shoes.
"Chan Yeol?!"
Nothing. His mind races and his breathing is erratic.
'I must have missed him on his way back.'
'There is no other way back,' a tiny voice in his head answers.
"No," he exclaims. "No!"
As quickly as he came, he goes back to the pool. He finds it empty. Void of Chan Yeol except for his slippers and towels left by the benches.
'He's gone.'
Baek Hyun breaks down crying at the thought. His cries reverberate throughout the room. Suddenly, he feels hands slide up his back. He tries to turn around to see who it is, but before he can do that he's pushed into the pool.
It is not that deep of a pool. It's only five feet deep with a bench all along the rim so that people could sit there and relax. Yet, Baek Hyun can't feel the bottom. Nor can he go up for air. He struggles to breathe when in the corner of his eye he sees something floating in the water. He turns to face it and there, just beyond him, is a black-haired woman in a tattered dress that floats around her. She comes closer and closer with a wide smile and big round eyes that look happy. He can feel himself struggling to breathe and struggling even harder to get back up for air. But he can't.
'Is this what Jun Myeon-Hyung felt? Is this who took Chan Yeol?'
He wants to feel anger, but he begins to see spots dance across his eyes. His throat is burning, and his chest convulses trying to get some air in being only met with water. Baek Hyun succumbs to the darkness assured that wherever he's going he's sure Chan Yeol is there.
*
No one notices that Baek Hyun and Chan Yeol are missing for a while. Ever since Jun Myeon's disappearance they've been given time off. It isn't until Chan Yeol's mom goes over to her son's apartment and finds it empty and covered in dust. As if no one has been there for days. He hadn't been there in a week.
They realize that Baek Hyun is missing when he fails to respond to the group message that the managers sent out to them about Chan Yeol's disappearance. They blow up his phone but to no answer. Finally, someone thinks of the bright idea of going to his building to look for him, only to find out that he hasn't been seen in a while either.
The police interview the security guards, but they all say the same thing. About a week ago Baek Hyun and Chan Yeol left the building dressed in work out gear. They assume they went to the gym and when they arrive the people at the gym say that while they saw the pair check-in, they never saw them check-out. They also find that their belongings are still in the locker that Baek Hyun and Chan Yeol shared. The lock wasn't tampered with and their belongings hadn’t been ransacked.
The police were stumped, again. The fans were worried about what was going on. Rumors abounded. Maybe a saesang had taken things too far. But that was ruled out as no one out of the ordinary was caught on CCTV.
And so, two more members went missing.
*
The rest started dropping like flies.
Jong In went missing after having gone out with Tae Min and Won Sik. They had been drinking and Jong In had gone hard and fast. Shot after shot of Soju down his throat. He became drunk very quickly. Tae Min and Won Sik not so much. They were there more for support than they were to get drunk. It happened as they were walking Jong In home; which was a challenge as he was pissed drunk and kept running away from them. It also didn't help that it was raining hard.
They had the forethought to bring an umbrella but Jong In wouldn't stay under it. He kept running off ahead of them, twirling and dancing. Tae Min and Won Sik watched as Jong In danced through the streets. They knew it was from the drinking, but this is the liveliest they've seen him in weeks so they figured they should just let him be.
It all went wrong when he turned a corner. They heard him exclaim 'Oh look a puddle.’. They knew what would come next, he'd jump in the puddle and make a big splashing noise. But this time they didn't hear anything. When they turn the corner, they find the puddle largely undisturbed and Jong In was gone. Fearing the worst they start calling out his name.
"Jong In! Jong In where are you," Won Sik calls out. Meanwhile, Taemin is running around looking behind every pillar hoping to find him slouched and asleep from having drunk too much. But their calls go unanswered and they never find him.
*
That same night Jong Dae is out having left his girlfriend's apartment to go to the corner store to pick up some beer and snacks. He was on his way back when a car sends a wave of water over him. When it crashes down Jong Dae is gone and all that’s left is the bags of beer and snacks, along with his credit card. A homeless person finds it and begins to use the card without realizing who it was.
It was a good night for the homeless person, but a terrible beginning for everyone else. The cops monitor his credit cards and find him three days later at a mini-mart, trying to buy more beer. They interview him but he’s of no help except for telling them where he found the card.
This time the CCTV cameras work. They show him walking down the street walking along when a car passes by and the wave going over him. But they deem the CCTV tapes to be compromised because all they show is the wave coming down and him disappearing. The only way they can explain it and to cover for their incompetence in the eyes of the world is to say that it was broken. They add his name to the ever-growing list of EXO members missing.
*
Kyung Soo and Min Seok go missing in the same week. Kyung Soo is reported missing after not showing up for a casting and several meetings for upcoming movies and tv appearances. Min Seok is reported missing by his football club members. They find his stuff in the locker rooms while the shower he had been in still running.
All that are left is Se Hun and Yixing. SM and the authorities’ figure that it would be best for them to stay separated and isolated. That whoever was behind this would be hard-pressed to get to them both if they didn’t know where they were. But Yixing was stubborn and foolish, he figured that putting on a brave front was one of the best options. So he continued being active at dance practices and fan signs.
He has guards around him all the time and he’s never alone in his home. Unless he’s taking a shower that is. Lately, he’s been in there longer just to relax and to enjoy some alone time.
His disappearance is the strangest of all. Yixing, his manager, and his mother are all in his home. He’s even gotten into the habit of announcing himself in rooms because the last time he was quiet and not where he said he was going to be his mom freaked out and called the police. Having his mother berates him in public for being a bad son, accusing him of almost giving her a heart attack was and seeing her tears roll down her face in real fear was enough to change his ways.
That night his manager was in the living room watching TV while his mother was in the kitchen cleaning up after dinner.
“I’m going to take a nice long bath in the master bathroom,” he had called out.
“Okay, be sure to leave the door open!”
“Mom! Please. I’ll be fine, I’m just taking a bath,” he reassures. “Besides, I need to relax. It was a mistake for me to undertake so many schedules.”
Seeing the pain in her son’s eyes made her heartbreak. She knew they were close and that he considered them to be great friends. To lose them so quickly and so closely must have compounded the pain.
“Alright,” she says. “Go on, before I change my mind.
Yixing smiles and kisses her on the cheek. After adding Epsom salt to his bath he’s finally able to sink in and relax. It’s quiet in the bathroom. He closes his eyes and tries to relax. To let his body rest. But all he can feel is an ache building in his chest, becoming harder and heavier.
Yixing had been shocked to hear that Jun Myeon had disappeared. It brought to the forefront the worry that someone may try to hurt them or kidnap them. He remembers how close Lu Han had been to getting into a similar-looking van all those years ago. After that, they had been on high alert, but with time the worry had lessened. While they had the anti’s and saesang’s to contend with they’d never experienced anything like this.
It shook Yixing to the core knowing that someone, or something, was able to pick them off like flies.
Finally overcome with emotion he lets out the tears he’s been holding on these last few weeks. He prays to whatever higher power is out there that they come back safely. He hates the sounds he makes when he’s crying so he slips into the water. It’s peaceful, not hearing his sniffles and snorts.
That peace is shattered when he feels two arms wrap themselves around his chest. He jolts up but the grip on him is tight. From the corner of his eyes, he sees pale skin and black hair floating in the water.
Se Hun had told him about the girl he saw in the mirror and then in the shower with him. Black hair. Pale skin, with a tint of grey. And a ragged dress. While he couldn’t get a clear visual, he knows that Se Hun was right. He’s also overcome with anger realizing that it’s come for him and that no one will have any idea who had taken him or where they’d gone.
Yixing feels a body push up against his back, lips touching his ear.
“You and Se Hun are the last ones. Come Yixing. It’s time to go.”
The arms around him tighten their grip pulling downward. The light from the bathroom diminishing more and more until darkness surrounds him. Then, finally, unconsciousness.
*
Upon hearing of Yixing’s disappearance from inside his bathroom, everyone was shaken. With the two being the last members still around SM, along with the Seoul and Beijing Police had put the two under twenty-four-hour surveillance along with armed guards outside their door. Se Hun though was left feeling shattered and empty.
Se Hun is terrified of what it was. Ever since the Mexico stop, he had been searching non-stop for what it could be but had been coming up short. He along with SM had looked through all the saesangs that EXO had but none matched the girl Se Hun saw. While everyone else continued to investigate the dangerous people, he had moved on to something else.
He’d never been superstitious, but his parents were. Jong Dae-Hyung had been as well even if that was only a result of his faith. While he believed in a higher power, he wasn’t certain that it was the one doing this.
No, he was certain that there was something supernatural about it. So he went looking and what he found killed his spirits.
La Llorona. A woman who searches for her children and haunts the waterways of Mexico for their lost souls. How she got to Korea is a mystery to him. Even more so why she would want them. So, he decides to find out.
Once he is finally left alone in the apartment, he fills his tub with water and settles in. If she came to him once, she’ll come again, he reasons. He doesn’t have to wait long.
She appears across from him in the tub. Pale, grey skin and dripping wet hair that frames a smiling face. It’s off-putting but Se Hun holds down his scream.
“Why are you doing this,” he asks.
“I’m your fan. Well, EXO’s fan. And I want you with me. Always,” she says in a sweet voice.
“Where are the others? Are they dead?”
La Llorona nods her head. “Yes. And no. I merely kidnapped them. I can do that you know. I used to do it trying to find my children and get into Heaven, but who needs Heaven when I can have all nine of you just to myself?”
“Can we come back?”
She vehemently shakes her head. “No. I do not have the power to bring people back. Only to take them to St. Peter. But you won’t be going there! No, he’d take you away from me. We’ll go somewhere just the ten of us, where we can be happy. To sing and dance. We’ll be so happy.”
“You said you wanted to get into Heaven. Do you not want that? Eternal peace?”
“I don’t need Heaven if I have you. You and the others are all I need. So come along the others have been worried about you.”
Se Hun isn’t given a chance to retort. La Llorona wraps her hands around his ankles causing him to go under the water. He sees her above him and then he sees darkness.
When he comes to, he’s surrounded by his Hyungs.
“Se Hun, what happened?” Jun Myeon.
“How did she get to you?” Jong In.
“Are you okay?” Jong Dae.
“I’m fine. I talked to her and I realized that she wouldn’t stop. I came with her, at least I intended to. She pulled me down into the water in my bathtub and I blacked out. Next thing I know I’m here with all of you.”
“Why the hell would you do that,” Min Seok asks with anger tinging his voice.
“I figured I should meet my maker. And to get to you guys.”
“You said you talked to her,” Baek Hyun says. “What did she tell you?”
“That she’s a fan. And that we’ll be together forever. To sing and dance.”
“Great. Just when you think saesangs can’t get any worse, we just had to have supernatural one,” Kyung Soo remarks.
“Well, now that we’re all together we need to find a way back,” Chan Yeol interjects. “If she brought us here then there has to be a way out.”
Se Hun hangs his head. “We can’t leave. Wherever we are, we’re stuck here. Forever.”
“What? That’s not possible,” Lay says, desperation marring his voice. “There has to be a way out!”
“There isn’t. We’re dead.”
The boys stand around him taking in all the information. Slowly any last bit of hope they had to escape dies. The idea that they’ll spend eternity being some ghost’s plaything is just beginning to settle in when a bright light arrives.
La Llorona who had been celebrating getting all the members together lets out a shrill scream. “No. How did he find us?”
The light fades and in its place is an old man wearing a white robe, with light beaming bright behind him.
“Did you think Heaven would let you get away with it? You are not the only ones to care for these boys. Their friends and family did, and they prayed to God for their safe return. It came as quite a shock when we realized what you were doing.
“But now it's over. And you will never see them again.”
“No! You can’t do that! They are mine. Mine,” she screams. Her anger causes everyone, but the old man to cower away.
“I’m a Saint, with the power of God within me. I can best a spirit like you in my sleep. That is if I did sleep. I gave you one task and yet you could not fulfill it. Even with your eternal peace on the line, you couldn’t do the right thing. You still haven’t found your children, have you? Were you even still looking?”
“They are gone! They are beyond my reach. Why can’t you understand that? Why can’t you let me be happy? You denied me my happiness in life and now you deny it to me in death?”
“You could have had Eternal Peace within the Kingdom of God. That is what I promised you for the return of your children’s souls. But what do you do? You instead cut these boys' lives short. You, in turn, denied them their happiness,”
“No,” La Llorona screams. Her already haggard and worn appearance is getting worse. Her hair is flying all around her and her face contorts unnaturally when she talks. Or rather screams.
“Enough,” St. Peter exclaims. “I have entertained you for long enough. Now you will be sent to where you belong. Hell.”
The moment that he utters the word, a column of fire rises from under La Llorona. She screams in anguish, begging her to not be separated from EXO. The members watch as the column of fire gets smaller and smaller until nothing and no one is left. They look at St. Peter in awe and fear. Jong Dae is the one to break the silence.
“St. Peter, does this mean we can go back now?”
He looks at them and his face, once fierce and intimidating becomes soft and warm. “I’m afraid not boys. Although, there are no bodies left behind on Earth you are all dead. There is no going back. But God will open his gates to your souls so that you may bask in his love and be at peace.”
“Um, St. Peter? I’m a Buddhist. What will happen to me?”
“Ah, Jun Myeon. Yes, well per your beliefs your energy will be released and sent back to earth to be reborn.”
“And if say some of us are Atheists or not of the faith or gay, what will happen to us,” Min Seok says, making his eyes wide and a pout on his lips. The man sure knows how and when to bust out the cuteness.
“In this instance that won’t work against you. Or your families. You all will see each other in death. As for the gay thing God doesn’t hold that against anyone. As much as some may say it’s a mistake, God does not make mistakes.”
“He let La Llorona stay on Earth and here we are,” Chan Yeol deadpans.
“That was not a mistake. Merely an unfortunate circumstance,” St. Peter responds sheepishly.
“I still don’t understand why we can’t go back. It’s God we’re talking about, surely he can do something,” Kyung Soo asks, tone irate.
St. Peter sends him a sympathetic look. “He wants to. He does. He had plans for all of you. He had blessed you with talent that would make the souls of people know peace in their lives. You were to bring them happiness. It hurts him to know that your time was cut short. He is just as upset as you are.”
“If he has so many plans for us, he should send us back! It’s only been a few weeks, surely it can’t be that difficult for GOD to send us back,” Se Hun says, voice breaking as he tries to keep his composure.
“It would upset the natural order of the world. I’m sorry, but there is nothing he or I can do.”
Seeing no way out of this already terrible situation everyone gives in. Jun Myeon looks around him, looking at his group mates one last time.
“It was an honor and a privilege to have gone on this journey with you. Although our time was short, we accomplished a lot. I’m sorry that we couldn’t do more. Be more. Hopefully, our next lives will be peaceful and happy. Goodbye, everyone.”
Light begins to rise from within Jun Myeon, encompassing him, to the point where it becomes blinding and the members need to look away.
“Now the rest of you come to me. I will take you to Heaven’s gates where you will pass through. You may be scared, but several people will be delighted to see you.”
The faces of dead relatives race through each member's minds and happiness blooms in their hearts. For the first time in a long time, they think that things just might work out fine.
*
Once Se Hun’s disappearance becomes public the whole world goes into collective shock. Again the police are unable to pinpoint who it was that kidnapped him or how. They search for months, but with no leads, the case goes cold. Fans swear to never stop searching for them, but they too, eventually, stop. With a few exceptions.
The families feel the brunt of the pain. With no answers to their son’s disappearances, they are left with nothing but a hole in their hearts. For some the loss becomes all-consuming and they stop living. Viva Polo shuts down, as Mrs. Park is unable to work in the restaurant, what will Chan Yeol’s face smiling at her constantly. The drawings and photos are stored away and every now and again she pulls them out. The other families do similar things. Others get rid of their son’s apartments as they no longer need them.
Time passes and while the pain is not gone, it dulls. For everyone. EXO, one of Korea’s greatest idol groups becomes legendary. Family, friends, and fans carry them with them in their hearts. So, while they may be gone, they are not forgotten.