Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It wasn't far into the new school year. Summer was just coming to an end and along with it came the greying clouds of autumn. The cold winds and dying leaves. All serving as a reminder of how miserable the past months had been.

Things were starting to get better though... or that was what Felix told himself. He'd learnt to accept it when they ignored him as he passed in the halls. He'd learnt to accept it when no one called him at 2am. He'd learned to accept that, while still present around him, they were no longer part of his life. He could live with that. He could finish his time at school still somewhat happily and move back to Australia when he was done. By then the longing in his heart would be gone...

Besides, he had the film club now. It kept him occupied. At least he was so caught up in his new projects, that he didn't notice the still silence of his apartment whenever he went home. At least it was quiet now... It's not like he missed their loud, obnoxious, contagious laughter... He could live without it.

Felix walked into the classroom. Escaping the eager crowd of students heading home or to other clubs. The grey light from outside was seeping in slightly through the half-drawn blinds, giving the room a miserable, dreary look. Such uninspiring weather, but at least they didn't have to make anything today. They only had to watch something someone else had thrown together. Or that was what Felix guessed based on the way the projector was set up and pointing at the screen at the front of the room.

At least he would have some peace today. He could relax after playing video games all night and then coming to school.

He slumped down in his chair and sighed. Planning on using his bag as a pillow and sleeping a bit until the club president got there. His bag was very soft; he didn't like to carry books around after school unless they were for homework. It made a very cosy, warm pillow...

"Did you hear about that accident?" One of the girls in the corner asked.

Her and her friend were members of the film club. And Felix suspected that this was their classroom, since they were always the first ones here and were always sitting int the same seats; talking about all kinds of things.

"I did! I couldn't believe it when I first found out!" The other girl said, lowering her voice dramatically, even though it was still loud enough to be heard clearly.

"He was always so scary; I didn't think he would ever do something like that." The first girl said.

"Are you talking about that upperclassman?" A boy said as he walked into the classroom.

"Yes! It's such a terrible thing to happen." The girl answered.

"Meh. You can expect it with the kind of crowed he was involved with." The boy shrugged while pulling up a chair to sit with the girls.
"I wouldn't be surprised if one of the rival gangs planned it." He added.

Felix's ears perked up at this. In all honesty, he hadn't heard about any accident that had happened. Let alone gang activity in the past few days. He knew there were gangs. A few students around were even part of them, but he wasn't aware of there being any trouble surrounding them at the moment.

"I don't think so." The second girl said. "Everyone is saying he just walked out into the road."

"Suicide!?" The guy exclaimed. "That guy!?"

"Well after what happened last year..." The first girl said, and Felix took notice of the awkward silence that settled over them. As if the girl didn't dare go on...

What did she mean, 'what happened last year?' Nothing happened last year. No big events. No massive fights. Nothing ever happened around here. So, what could she possibly be talking about...!? Unless she was on about that...?

Felix frowned into his backpack, still too tired to open his eyes, but unable to stop himself eavesdropping.

"What happened last year?" The second girl asked, sounding confused.

"Apparently the guy had a fight with his friends, and they all stopped talking to each other." The boy answered.

It made Felix's eyes go wide, and his heart pick up pace. What were they talking about again? They couldn't possibly mean him; Them? What was this about an accident?

He continued pretending to sleep, while listening closely to the conversation.

"You think he tried to kill himself over that?" The second girl asked.

"They were all really close. You saw them remember! They were always playing basketball or hogging the roof. He was one of them." The first girl said as silence fell again, but this time Felix felt their eyes on him and felt the pace of his heart hammering against his chest. What had happened!?

"Do you think he's asleep?" The second girl whispered after a moment.

"Do you think he knows?" The first girl asked back.

"Are you sure he was friends with that guy? Look at him! It's hard to believe Lee Minho was friends with someone like that." The guy said.

Felix's stomach dropped. His body began to shake, and it took all of his effort not to go over and shout at them for information. What had happened to Minho-hyung? What accident? What-What suicide!?

"I'm sure. There was a whole group of them. They acted like stray children; always so loud. Then one day they all showed up to school and stopped talking to each other. They've all kept to themselves since, but I guess whatever happened must've been terrible if it was enough to drive someone to suicide." The first girl said, her voice a little clearer since she thought Felix was asleep.

"I wonder if that Minho guy will wake up. I hope he does! He was really handsome." The second girl said.

"I doubt it! But if he does don't get your hopes up. The guy's face is probably mangled." The boy chuckled softly.

Felix looked down at the table, feeling tears well up in his eyes and having to cover his mouth with his hand. Minho-hyung had been in an accident!? Suicide!? What!? Why-why had no one told him? Why had no one even opened their mouth?

He stood up. Chair scraping on the floor and body trembling. The group in the corner went quiet, all staring at him. But Felix didn't care. How could he? How could they be so insensitive!?

Without a word he stormed out of the classroom and out of the school. Tears streaming down his cheeks as he ran all the way home. Unable to believe what he had heard. Minho-hyung... Why? Why!?

Chapter Text

"My dad was called to the scene. He said there was blood everywhere."

Changbin stared as the boys walked out of the locker room. His hands shaking as they held his jersey. This whole day... He had gone this whole day not knowing anything, and then as they were changing, someone finally brings it up...

He had no idea. No clue... He thought everything was normal. He thought everything was fine. Why!? Why wasn't it fine!? Why didn't someone say something!? Why didn't he say something!? Why did no one talk to him!?

He buried his face in his hands, feeling the rush of emotions come over him as the locker room stood empty. He thought he hated it the most. The radio silence from all of them over the past few months. Watching from a distance, as the people he'd once loved more than anything else in the world, changed in front of him. Even after everything they had said, even after everything that had happened, he still would've been ready to take them back. To have his friends again.

"Minho-hyung... If you were suffering..." The words escaped him before he could stop them. Voice trembling as the tears threatened to spill out. He couldn't believe it.

Attempted suicide is what everyone was saying. That or one of the other gangs did it. When did Minho even join a gang? When did loveable, weird, protective Minho-hyung become a thug?

Changbin rubbed his face to stop himself from crying in school. He needed to go home, otherwise he would be locked in for the night. 

So, he grabbed his stuff, slung his bag over his shoulder and exited the locker room, into the gym hall. And just as he thought he would make it out of there fine, a memory flooded over him. A memory so strong it made him fall to the floor and sob. He sobbed so hard that he felt sick, because as he lay in that empty gym in the middle of the basketball court; all he could remember was them...

Their big stupid grins. It wasn't even that sensational. It wasn't like they had just won some big game. They were just throwing stupid orange balls at a hoop and hoping for the best. But... Minho's face when he finally got one in and Jisung's reaction. Tall, perfect Hyunjin out preforming Changbin himself, at the sport Changbin was on the team for. Channie-hyung was good too, though he mostly carried Felix around on his shoulders while they played. And Jeongin and Seungmin, they didn't care about the game. They were just happy to be there, but Jeongin's smile when he finally got a goal and Seungmin passing out water to everyone... 

Changbin wailed. It hurt... It hurt so bad he wished something would come and swallow him, so he didn't have to feel the pain anymore.

What had happened to them...?

---------

Seungmin stared up at the sky. His notepad open on his lap, but with nothing written on it. It had been a long day. Too long... 

All the rumours, all the talking, the questions. He'd had enough. How was he supposed to know what had happened? No one had told him. He didn't know anything about the accident until he arrived at school. Probably because he wasn't important enough to know. Probably because Minho just thought of him as a nuisance and didn't want him knowing. It's not like they had been best friends just months ago. 

It's not like he cared... 

Seungmin's lip trembled as he tried to convince himself of that. He wasn't going to cry. They hadn't spoken in months, how could he cry!? But he wanted to. Oh, did he want to. He wanted to scream so bad his throat ached. But he held it in. He held in his feelings, because he was afraid of what letting them out would do.

"What a miserable day..." He mumbled as the grey clouds continued to float past and fill the sky. "It's like the world wants to make my mood worse."

He covered his eyes with his arm and sighed. Not much could make his mood worse. Not much could hurt him more than he already was.

As he sat there, on the roof of the school, his mind wandered. Going further and further back through the days until finally landing on that day... The day everything went wrong. He regretted saying those things. He regretted all of it. But most of all, he regretted the fight he had had with Minho. The fight that may have been the reason everything ended.

Seungmin couldn't help but wonder if maybe... He was the reason for this. If he was then it was just another thing to add to all the reasons he hated himself. Why couldn't he stop being a fucking asshole once in awhile!?

Tears welled in his eyes again and this time he couldn't stop them from falling. The guilt was eating him alive. Tearing him apart from the inside. It was his fault this had happened! His fault! What the fuck was wrong with him!?

"Hey kid! What are you doing up here?" An old voice called and Seungmin looked over to see the wrinkly old janitor standing in the doorway to the stairs.

"I was just taking a break from my club." Seungmin sniffed, trying to hide the fact that he had been crying while also scrambling to pack up and grab his stuff. The janitor just tutted.

"Clubs finished 30 minutes ago. You're lucky I checked up here or you would've been locked here all night." He said, holding the door open as Seungmin made his way over.

"Yes, thank you." Seungmin bowed, still sniffing and trying to avoid eye contact. The janitor watched him closely then sighed. It was a deep, saddened sigh.

"I'm sorry about your friend. I'll prey he makes a full recovery." The old man said. Making Seungmin's eyes go wide and well with tears. 

The boy couldn't say anything. His throat felt swollen and dry, so all he did was bow and scurry out of the school before he fully broke down. Hearing them still being referred to as his friends made something else break inside him. Something that stabbed him in the heart as all of it's pieces fell... It wasn't that they were just friends, they were practically brothers...

Chapter Text

The room was cold. Void of all colour except for the murky blue blanket and curtains. There were white walls and a white tiled floor. Metal tables and beeping machines dotted around here and there. The boy lay silent, unmoving, only the slow rise and fall of his chest letting people know that his heart was still beating within him. But not on its own...

Apart from him, no one was in the room. He had no parents to mourn for him, and he had no friends that truly cared for him anymore. So, Minho lay in the hospital bed, comatose and alone as his days grew more and more numbered.

Well... That was what it looked like on the outside at least.

Despite not being able to open his eyes or breath without a tube, Minho was fully aware of what was going on around him. He was aware of the tube, aware of the temperature, the beeping of the machines, the nurses chatter. He heard it all. Yet he couldn't do anything...

"Lee Minho; attempted suicide, 2 days ago. Been in a coma since with no signs of any significant improvement. Nurses have been keeping an eye on him. Needs a ventilator to breathe and scans have shown only mild brain activity." Someone said to themself as they entered the room.

Once again Minho found himself wanting to scream. Attempted suicide? They all had it wrong. The road was clear when he had stepped out. Not only that, but it was late and the road was hardly ever used because of all the pot holes. Why the fuck would he have gone there if he wanted to kill himself?

But of course, no one could hear him. No one would look closer at what happened. From what the nurses say, the cops were still investigating. They wouldn't find anything. There was nothing to find. No one would know the reason why this happened and if he didn't die here, it would just find him again...

That night, when he stepped out into the road, he was heading somewhere. Somewhere important after discovering something truly terrifying. He needed to tell someone, because he knew he had limited time. It knew he had figured it out. So, it was going to kill him. He just didn't realise how soon.

That night, under the moonlight of a new autumn season, Minho stepped out into a dead road. Not the same road he took home, but one he had walked across many times. That night, Minho intended on warning them, intended on giving them a chance... 

But before he could get there. Before he could save them. Lights appeared, blinding, terrifying, all consuming. He wouldn't have been able to escape even if he had tried. He didn't have time to move out of the way. They appeared. He turned. The car made a beeline for him. Just before the two collided Minho caught a glimpse of the drivers seat.

It was empty...

"Nurse! Nurse! He's seizing!" The voice from earlier screamed and suddenly Minho was aware of extreme pain.

Insane beeping bounced off the walls. His body felt rigid. His lungs felt empty. His mind spun and over and over again that same image of the empty drivers seat flashed in his head... But the more it showed up. The more he tried to fight it away. The clearer the image got... 

That night, he had been so caught up in the lights and the car, that he hadn't noticed it before... Behind the car, standing off to the side, stood a dark figure wearing a hood. The moonlight glistened off of them, casting a shadow around them and the only thing visible, was the terrible, mangled, pale face of it... of him...

"So now you remember me?" 

Beeeeeeep~

"Somebody bring me a crash cart!"

Chapter Text

"What were you trying to say, jackass? I couldn't hear you with all that shit in your mouth!" 

Once again they grabbed the back of his hair and forced his neck back so that he would look at them. 

He hated this. All he wanted was to help some girl he thought was in trouble and now he was having the living shit kicked out of him. What's worse, the girl fucked off about 45 minutes ago and there was no sign of any help coming.

The group of guys laughed.

"Dude looks like he's gonna cry! Hit him again!" One of them said and soon after a fist connected with his stomach. He coughed.

As if this week hadn't been bad enough. He was just going home, and then he heard the girl scream. The thing is, he doesn't even know how to fight. What the fuck was he going to do when he came face to face with these people?

Get beaten up apparently...

He coughed again as someone else punched him in the gut. Then groaned as he rolled onto his side. That last one hurt like hell...

"What's the matter pretty boy? Can't take a couple of hits? How about we fuck up that face of
yo-"

"That's enough, assholes. Go home." Someone yelled from a distance making the entire group fall quiet.
"Leave him alone or I'll tell your mothers you spend all your lunch money on weed."

The group quickly scrambled and dispersed, leaving him gasping for air on the floor. Once they were gone, footsteps approached and he opened his eyes to see a familiar figure standing over him.

"Oh... Hyunjin, it's you..." He grumbled as he rolled onto his back and clutched his stomach.

"You know, Jeongin, you could at least seem a little grateful I helped you." Hyunjin sighed, kneeling down next to the younger boy.

"I didn't need your help." Jeongin spluttered, trying to sit up but failing and laying back down.

"So you were fine getting your ass kicked?" Hyunjin asked with an eye roll, but deep down he felt a little hurt. 

Jeongin just sighed and lifted his arm up to cover his face. He didn't know what he wanted. He was tired and in pain, and defiantly wasn't in the mood for anymore problems with Hyunjin. He couldn't go through that again, especially now...

"It's been a rough week..." He whispered as Hyunjin took a seat, cross legged, next to him. Hyunjin also let out a sigh and covered his mouth with his hand.

"You heard about Minho-hyung then?" The older boy asked, making Jeongin such in a deep breath.

"Yeah..."

"Some people are blaming us. They're saying it was some kind of gang feud and that we planned it." Hyunjin continued to Jeongin's annoyance. He didn't want to talk about it.
"It's stupid really, we're not even a gang. We're just some guys who ride motorcycles and-"

"They're saying he's going to die." Jeongin cut him off. Growing more and more frustrated as Hyunjin talked. 

He didn't want to hear it. He didn't want to hear anything about what they had been doing after the fight. He didn't want to know that they had moved on, he didn't want to know that things had changed. He didn't want to face the fact that everyone had moved on and he was still stuck...

"Yeah..." Hyunjin mumbled, his voice going flat. "I heard."

"Then why are you talking to me about stupid motorcycles and gangs? Have you heard any of the rumours? Do you know what the police and doctors are saying it was?"

"Jeongin I..." 

"They're saying he did it to himself... They're saying he tried to kill himself. And do you know what everyone's saying the reason is? They're saying it's because of us... They're saying Minho-hyung is dying because of us! How is the guilt not killing you!?" His voice broke at the last sentence and tears trickled down his cheeks, onto the concrete floor.

Hyunjin watched Jeongin cry, feeling his own tears bud at the corners of his eyes. He's been trying not to show it, because he felt he had no right to cry if he was the reason for it. But it was hard acting like he was fine.

"I'm going to go." He said, wiping away the tears and standing up. Leaving Jeongin laying on the floor, sobbing.
"Make sure you get home safe..."

With that Hyunjin left. His motorcycle engine thrumming away in the distance, while Jeongin cried. Things would never be the same again... Not after this, not after what they said. Their friendship would always be like this... Broken. There was no going back...

Chapter Text

The flowers rustled in Jisung's hand as he pushed the door to the room open. He barely took any notice of the rhythmic beat of the machine as he walked over to the side of the bed. 4 days had passed since that night and from what the nurses and doctors say, Minho-hyung was only getting worse...

'He had a seizure on Thursday.' 

He remembered one of the nurses saying that. It made his heart hurt. Minho had always been so strong. Jisung hardly ever saw him cry. In fact, in all their years of friendship, he hadn't seen him cry once... But he did when they all fought. Jisung remember Minho screaming at them to stop while tears streamed down his face. That was the only time... He had only cried because he could see their friendship was coming to an end. He had only cried over them... Not even when he was laying on the ground, bleeding...

Jisung drew up a chair, leaning carefully on the edge of Minho's bed, while the older boy's chest rose and fell. He'd look so peaceful if he didn't have all the wires attached under his shirt or the tube going down his throat. He'd look normal if it wasn't for that.

"Hyung... What happened?" Jisung breathed softly, reaching for Minho's wrist and checking for the pulse. It was soft.
"Where did that car come from?"

He thought back to that Tuesday. A normal day from any normal stand point. Jisung had gone home from school and spent his afternoon hanging out around town. At some point, him and a couple of classmates went to the arcade. One of the guys' brother managed to get them a few bottles of soju. Jisung only had one. Then he went home.

All the buses were off the road since it was late and he didn't have any money to call a taxi, so he just decided to walk. It wasn't far by any means. Through a few back streets in town, across pothole road, past Felix's street, then Seungmin's, another one and he was home. Jisung wasn't drunk either, he was just tipsy, so it was a piece of cake.

What he didn't anticipate though, was that someone further up the road was heading in the same direction as him...

Jisung waddled over the potholes, his slightly out of it brain making it like a game to him. One foot. Two foot. JUMP! Both feet. Hop. One foot. Leap. Two foot. Hop- In his moment of distraction, he didn't notice the bright car headlights shining from further up the road. He only heard the harsh screech of tires and that horrible sound of metal hitting something.

He froze. That pleasant daze of booze leaving him instantly and being replaced with fear. Further up the road, the car had come to a stop. It's headlights still glaring brightly and illuminating the shadowy figure on the floor. Even from that distance Jisung could see the uniform and it made his heart drop. They were a student from his school...

"Hey! Are you okay!?" He yelled, sprinting towards the wreckage and the unknown figure on the floor.

But as he got closer, the more he felt dread creep into him. The figure starting looking familiar. He knew the dark hair and frame. The side silhouette of the face that was cast in shadow... He recognised it... He just wasn't ready to accept it...

Without him needing to think, his legs sprinted faster. His heart hammered. His lungs ached. But he just needed to get there. He needed to see if that person was okay and then the person in the car. He needed to get there and quickly.

Thanks to the new speed, Jisung made it to the wreckage in seconds. Coming to a halting stop when the denial could be denied no more... He really did recognise them.

"Minho-hyung!?" He wailed, dropping down at the side of the older boy who was panting and coughing.
"Minho-hyung, can you hear me!?"

Jisung leaned over him, trying to get the attention of the wandering eyes. Minho was short of breath. Bleeding from several wounds and Jisung could only suspect internal damage.

"J-Jisung?" He coughed weakly, earning a weak sigh from the younger boy.

"Y-Yeah. Just hang on a second, hyung. I'll call an ambulance." Jisung said, grappling to pull his phone out of his pocket and fumbling so much he dropped it.
"Shit!" He yelped, then picked it back up and began dialling.
"H-Hello!? M-My friend has been hit by a car. I need an ambulance." He stuttered after a minute.

Minho continued to groan and cough, on the floor. A deep, sharp pain shooting from his chest and into his throat. It hurt so much he could hardly breath and it made his body feel stiff. So... stiff... He tried to suck in a breath, just as Jisung finished on the phone and put it off to one side.

"They're on their way hyung. Just hold on." Jisung pleaded looking down, only to see Minho turning white. His body going from tense, to limp before his eyes.
"Hyung? Hyung!?" Jisung shook him harshly, but this did not have the desired effect.

Instead of coming to, Minho only rolled onto his side weakly and coughed. The sound was throaty, dry. Painful just to hear. And then with another cough, blood came up. Dripping out of his mouth, just as Minho's body went limp again and this time his breathing becoming shallow.

Jisung panicked. His own breathing and heartrate skyrocketing as soon as he saw the blood. And as the fear took over his brain, he stood up and looked around. Screaming, begging, hoping someone would hear him. That someone would come and help. Please... just don't let him die...

"Help! Please! Please help us!" Jisung sobbed, his tear filled eyes catching the tail end of a figure in black clothes going further up the road.

But the figure didn't turn around and so Jisung sunk to the floor. Crying as he waited for what felt like hours for the ambulance to show up.

He remembered it all so vividly...

"Hyung... Please don't die." Jisung whispered into the stillness of the hospital room.

Just then the door slid open, making the young boy's eyes dart over and meet another pair of brown ones. The new comer froze for a second, startled by the presence of another, before he slowly reached up and peeled the headphones from over his ears.

"I didn't think anyone would be here." Chan said softly.

"It's fine. I was just leaving." Jisung mumbled, standing up and grabbing his back before walking past Chan and out into the hall.

He didn't even give the older boy a glance as he walked past and he knew it was petty, but he really just didn't want to. He didn't want to make any kind of effort in that situation. It was too hard and he was too drained.

Jisung continued along the corridor, reaching the stairs and making his way down the staircase when the lights began to flicker and a chill ran down his spine. He paused... Why did it feel like someone was behind him?

"Because there is..."

Chapter Text

Chan sat down in Jisung's now vacant chair, just as the lights flickered slightly and a slight breeze ran through the room. He shuddered. Then looked down to notice the goosebumps across Minho's arm. He reached for the younger boy's hand.

"Sorry I scared Jisung off." Chan said with a sad smile on his face as he ran his thumb over Minho's knuckles.
"But its not like any of them will stay in a room together anymore." He sighed.

The goosebumps on Minho's arms were gone now. His hand had no reaction to Chan's. He was warm, but not in a comforting way... It felt wrong.

The older boy lowered his head, while he felt his heart pang. However he forced the tears down. He needed to be strong. For Minho at least. Everyone else at school, in town, they'd given up hope. So he needed to be the one to have it. In order for Minho to make it through.

"I made a new track." He croaked, lifting his head and forcing a bright smile.
"Here, I'll show it to you. Maybe when you wake up, you can help me write lyrics for it."

Chan reached into his bag and pulled out his laptop. Placing it on the table normally used for food trays. The metallic keys clicking away as he loaded up something, a quiet hum escaping his throat.

If he hadn't been busy. If he hadn't taken away his hand. Then he would've noticed it...

The slight twitch. The small frown. The one breath deeper than the rest... And the millisecond where Minho's eyes opened and stared straight at him...

"There it is! You ready?"

When Chan looked up from his laptop, Minho was the same as when he looked away. Still, slow breathing, a shell of a person. No sign that anything else was going on. Only the light flickered.

"They should really change that bulb..." Chan mumbled, then smiled and pressed the play button.

The quiet room filled with sound. A pleasant sound. A gentle tune that radiated from the silver laptop. Then slowly the tune began to build and the chorus was clear. Chan bobbed his head to the steady beat.

Once the song came to an end, Chan closed his laptop and stared at the boy who lay in the bed. His face falling and heart feeling heavy again.

He had read that sometimes music helps bring people out of comas, and even though it was the first time, he had hoped that maybe his new track would somehow bring Minho back...

But... If Minho did wake up... Would he come back? Would this fix their friendship? Chan could spend hours here, sitting with Minho and it could mean nothing when the younger boy wakes up, because there was no forgiving what they had said.

Jisung was a classic example of that... None of them could stay in a room together. Deep down, Chan knew that the only reason he was there now, was because Minho was unconscious. He didn't need to feel the guilt of the argument, because he just felt sad about what had happened.

Would he even be able to face him if Minho woke up?

A ping sounded from Chan's phone. His mother. She wanted him home for dinner. The boy let out a sigh and stood up. Packing away his laptop and putting on his headphone, before glancing at the bed and walking out of the room...

He'd be back again tomorrow...

-End of Word of Mouth-

Chapter Text

Felix lay in his bed; The only place he'd been in all weekend. Too tired to move. Too tired to eat. Too lost to know what to do. He'd grown numb from all the crying, all the thinking, all the pretending... Finding out in the middle of the week was exhausting. Having to go into school for the next 2 days while pretending he was still somewhat okay was awful...

And now here he was... Sunday afternoon, wrapped up in bed, eyes bloodshot and throat sore from a weekend of crying out everything he tried to keep hidden. Now he was numb... Though that might be a good thing. At least he wouldn't break down in the middle of the classroom when he went back to school the next day.

Fuck he hated Sundays...  

Just then his stomach let out a monstrous sound, combined with a shooting pain and a churning. Felix groaned. Being emotionally numb didn't stop his body from effecting him. He hadn't eaten since Friday and he was now realising why that was a mistake.

With all his strength, Felix forced himself to roll out of his bed. His blanket cover still draped over him as he wobbled his way towards the kitchen to make some instant ramen. He didn't have the energy to cook anything else. Not that he had any ingredients because he hadn't gone shopping.

Felix grumbled to himself lowly as he cooked. Cursing himself for being so lazy, even though he had his reasons for it. He knew grief was no excuse for treating his body poorly. He remembered Seungmin saying something like that, back when his grandmother had died...

---------

"Yeah I'm sad. But Nana would come back and kill me if she found out I wasn't taking care of myself." The puppy faced boy said as he picked at the plate in front of him.

"Damn right! I'd come back and throw you in the air fryer if you did something like that over me!" Minho tried to yell through a mouthful.

"Why the fuck are you throwing him in an air fryer of all things?" Hyunjin frowned. "He won't even fit!"

"It's pretty easy to make people fit actually. Want to help me demonstrate?" Minho said, a slightly terrifying grin on his face as he looked down the table at Hyunjin.

"I'm fine thanks hyung." Hyunjin lowered his head sheepishly with a small smile on his face.

"Too bad." Minho shrugged, then went back to eating.

---------

The memory made Felix smile a little. The numbness melting away slightly as he carried his ramen back to his bed. He really missed the old days. When they sat around one of their tables and teased each other endlessly. He missed their laughs. Especially Jisung and Hyunjin's...

Everything fucking sucked...

Felix gasped suddenly as a pain shot through his toe and his ramen almost fell out of his hands. His stupid bedframe being the reason he was now limping. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid... He inwardly cursed, like it was actually the beds fault despite the fact that it had not moved an inch since he left it.

"Fuck sake!" He groaned, clutching his toe once he was sat on his bed. His ramen momentarily placed on his draws next to it.
"Like everything couldn't any worse!"

He stood up again. A sudden wave of anger coming over him and making him kick the frame again. It moved several centimetres at the impact. But Felix was too busy wailing in more pain to notice. Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! Who kick a metal bedframe without fucking shoes on!? 

He was so pissed off that he almost did it again. Almost. Instead his stomach growled again and he took that as his sign to drop out of this fight in favour of eating his ramen while it was still warm. 

Slumping down with his bowl in hand and foot placed up on a pillow. Felix began munching away. Watching random YouTube videos on his laptop as his ramen slowly disappeared. His anger simmered down, but the numbness wasn't quite back. He was in that sweet spot. Momentarily caught up in the videos that he had forgotten everything else around him.

That was until he got up to take his plate back to the kitchen and noticed one of the boxes under his bed was sticking out. The lid only half covering the contents and revealing a cheap old camera. He froze, staring at it, remembering it... It had been so long since he had used it...

After taking his plate out and lifting the box onto his bed, Felix began inspecting the camera. It was dusty. The lens was also cracked, though he didn't remember ever damaging it. When he flipped the small screen open he realised it was on half battery and it's storage was full. Of course it was...

---------

"You said you wanted to join the film club. So, we all chipped in to get you this. It's not super good or anything, but we thought it would be a good start!" Chan said with a kind smile. While Felix just stared at the birthday gift he had unwrapped.

"T-Thank you..." He spluttered, tears pricking the corner of his eyes.

---------

That was ages ago. But the camera had held up for years and Felix continued to use it even after acquiring better quality ones. It was special to him. He didn't use it for projects or anything like that. But every time they went out, every time they adventured and laughed; It was always with him. Preserving the memories they shared so that they could relive them at any time... Except now there was no one to watch them but him...

A few minutes later and a cable connected the camera to Felix's laptop while the Australian boy loaded up the old files. Curiosity had gotten the better of him. That combined with the deep need to see his friends being his friends again.

It wasn't long until he was curled up with his blanket over his head, watching as video after video played on the screen. A bitter-sweet feeling ran through him. He wanted to smile and enjoy what he was watching, but the happiness didn't make all the way. Part of him just grew more sad, tears even welling up in his eyes.

"Stupid..." He sniffed, whipping a tear away as it travelled down his cheek.
"It wasn't even a proper shot."

He glared at the younger version of himself, being carried around on Chan's shoulder on the screen. The dumb naïve grin on his face while everyone around them celebrated the basket he had just made.

It was during the Jeongin's first week in high school. Changbin had accidentally gone to basketball practice even though it wasn't starting until the following week. When he realised, he texted their group chat. He invited them to have a game. Felix had ditched film club for it and at some point Jisung had gone in his bag and retrieved his camera. That was how Felix had the video now. Though Jisung's camera work was all over the place... Changbin had always loved that memory...   

In the next video they were at the beach. Felix was showing the camera the sandcastle he and Seungmin had made when Hyunjin came sprinting past, screaming his head off. Soon after Changbin came chasing after him holding something in his hand. Later on it was revealed that it was a carrot stick.

Then it cuts to them at a pool. Some of them sitting off to the side while others raced each other in the water. Chan and Hyunjin's match was the key point of the whole day. Though Felix remembered being proud of how well he did when he finally handed the camera over the Minho and had a match himself.

The video changed again. Over and over. Different memories playing on the screen. The same faces smiling and laughing with each other. Picnics, games, camping, sleepovers, video games... So many things they had done together and yet that wasn't even all of them. There were some Felix didn't get on video and those tended to be the ones he held closest to his heart. Like those times they would lay in one bed, their exhaustion taking over as their quiet conversations lead them to finding more and more out about each other...

He sighed as another video came up. The sun had gone down and he was starting to get tired. Without paying much attention to what was on screen, Felix reached to close his laptop, but then the video buffered.

He paused in his action, waiting for the screen to go back to what it was doing. Hoping that all the files from the old camera hadn't crashed his laptop. Thankfully, after a few seconds the video began playing again, but something felt off.

Felix stared for a moment. Unsure of what was wrong. Everyone on the video seemed fine. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. They were by a small river. Some of their clothes were soaked through, their hair damp. Jeongin was backing away from Jisung who was dripping wet. Felix knew it was because only seconds before, Jeongin had shoved Jisung back in the river and then ran off. It had only taken place last summer...

Felix continued to watch the video for a bit longer. The off feeling not going away even as he examined everyone's faces. That was until he reached Minho. The older boy was standing towards the back. His back to the camera as he stared at something behind them. The others were messing around a lot in front, so Felix didn't notice him before.

What was he doing?

Felix leaned forward to get a better look at the screen. His eyes following the direction Minho was looking at an then... His heart dropped...

"Holy fuck!" He screamed slamming the laptop closed and retreating up the bed to put some distance between them.
"Holy fuck! Holy fuck!" 

His heart hammered in his chest. His blood ran cold. His breathing out of control. 

He had not just seen that... He hadn't... It-It wasn't real...

"Shit... Shit! Shit!" He climbed out of his bed and ran hands through his hair, needing to put more distance between him and the thing he had just seen. But there was no getting rid of it... It was burned into his brain now whether he liked it or not.

A pale, mangled face covered ever so slightly by a large black hood... Its eyes nothing but black holes... The sides of its cheeks gone so that the teeth were revealed. And it was smiling... Smiling as it dragged the black bag full of bleeding human limbs down to the river... The river they had just been in.

Felix felt like he was going to throw up...

He'd caught a murderer on camera! They were there while a murderer was trying to hide bodies! They'd been fucking around in a river where someone was dumping bodies! He'd just seen dead bodies... He'd just seen dismembered limbs... It wasn't like in movies. You felt detached when seeing them in movies because it wasn't real... but this!? They'd been there! Felix had caught it on camera! And he was the only one with access to it so there was no way it was edited. 

"Oh my god..." He ran back to the laptop and opened it again. The video resuming where it had left off and the person was still dragging the bag of limbs to the river.

How had they not noticed!? How!? It was right there! They were right fucking there!

Wait...

Felix's eyes landed on Minho who was staring at the murderer one second and then turning back to them. A smile on his face that didn't meet his eyes as he suggested going to get something to eat. Within minutes they were all in the car and Felix felt his heart sink, going back to the point just before Minho spoke.

He didn't look at his hyung this time. But that the hooded figure in the back. A hand reached up to his mouth...

For a second... Such a brief second. Jeongin had let out a high shriek as Jisung grabbed him and ruffled his hair roughly. The sound... caught the attention of the figure and it glanced up... Dark black holes fixing on Minho who immediately turned his head...

"Oh my fucking god..." Felix breathed. His heart beat almost deafening him.

It had seen him...

---------

"Why go to pothole road of all places? It's not like cars go down there at that time of night." A guy said to his friend next to Felix's locker.

"I guess he was just lucky. Stepping out into the middle of a dead road intending on killing himself and getting hit by the only car that was on the road all night." The friend said.

"Almost sounds planned." The first guy snorted.

---------

"Oh shit..."

Chapter Text

Felix didn't sleep all night. The horrible face was etched into his brain and he saw it every time he closed his eyes. But at the same time, as he lay awake in the darkness of his room, he kept hearing things. His brain was playing tricks on him. A low, hollow voice kept calling his name. Yet he couldn't pin point where from.

The next day at school he felt like shit. So dazed and tired that he was practically a zombie as he made his way to his first lesson and sat down his chair by the window. First class on a Monday was always English and the teacher was some old guy with shit eyesight. On top of that Felix sat closer to the back of the class. So, with the comfort of people around and the dull murmur of chatter, Felix let himself drift off to sleep. It's not like he would miss much anyway. He was fluent in English after all.

As soon as he was in that lull, the comfort of rest, of drowsiness of sleep, wore off. Yet Felix was too far gone in uncontiousness to do anything about it. He was awake within his mind. Stuck in a place he couldn't escape from as images repeated over and over again of that face...

The mangled twisted face...

The bodies...

The limbs...

Minho-Hyung...

"It's almost like it was planned..."

What if it was? What if what happened to Minho-Hyung, was because of what he saw?

"Felix!?"

His voice rang out. Fresh. The same way Felix remembered from all those weeks ago. Minho's voice...

"Felix!?"

There it was again. The same voice. Desperately trying to reach for someone who was too far away. Felix felt the adrenaline run through him. Felt the pain. He couldn't reply. He couldn't call back. He was paralysed; listening to the voice of a person who may never speak again.

"Felix!? Felix!? Felix! Felix!!"

His voice grew louder. Pleading. Practically begging. Then morphing. Morphing into something sinister. Deep. Bone chilling...

"Felix. Felix. Felix. I'm coming Felix..."

"Felix!"

His head shot up. Eyes wide and damp. His heart racing, his hands trembling. Something had been slammed down on the desk infront of him; startling out of what could only be explained as a lucid nightmare mixed with sleep paralysis.

His mind was still running. The adrenaline within him clouding his mind so much. It was like he was still in the dream. He was still there listening to Minho-Hyung and that voice calling for him.

Except it wasn't them. It was the person in front of him. The one who slammed the book down on the desk. The foreign voice just barely managing to break through his panic. Felix glanced up at the figure. Immediately wishing he hadn't as he fell onto the floor, scrambling backwards to get away.

Away from it... Away from the grin on the horribly mangled, place face...

Holy shit... Holy shit...

"Yongbok." Something grabbed his shoulder. Something made him snap out of whatever terrified daze he was in.

It took him a moment. Blinking away the burn from his eyes being open wide for so long. Felix sucked in a breath. Looking around, until his eyes finally landed on the figure again and he saw his teacher staring back at him. The man's face filled with concern.

"You alright kid?" The teacher asked, his voice laced with worry.

Felix gulped down the lump in his throat and glanced around the class, only to find that it was empty. The bell must have rang...

"I-I'm okay..." He breathed. His voice came out far to shaky to be convincing, but his teacher didn't seem to want to push him too much.

"Are you sure?"

Felix nodded. Casting his eyes down for a moment so that he could attempt to regain his composure.

"I just had a bad dream..." He mumbled. His teacher gave him a sympathetic look.

"It must be hard for you. I know you were close with Lee Minho." He said and Felix's eyes watered again, but he fought down the tears.

"Yes, sir."

"Don't push yourself Felix. My door is always open if you need to talk or some quiet space. If there's anything you need please talk to someone." The man said. Gently grabbing Felix's arm to help him up and pack up his things.

"I will sir. Thank you."

Felix through his bag over his shoulders and made his was out of the classroom. Heading to swap his books in his locker.

His mind still spun. That dark voice repeating over and over in the back of his mind. He didn't recognise it. It was completely new to him. Yet the fear it instilled felt like it had been there for years. Like it had been festering since the very day Felix was born.

The boy opened his locker, too lost in thought and shock to even realise someone was storming towards him. A look of pure thunder on their face.

"What the fuck is this!?"

His locker was slammed shut before it had even been fully opened. Dark brown eyes full of pure fury staring into his very soul.

"It's not funny Yongbok! If this is some kind of sick joke, I'm going to beat the shit out of you!"

"Jisung- what?" Felix blinked, feeling even more confused as to why the other boy was suddenly having a go at him.

"Don't play fucking stupid! You're the only person I know who's voice is deeper than fucking Satan's and can speak English." Jisung said. "Seriously, it's fucked up! I can even tell this is your fucking hand writing!"

He slammed a piece of paper into Felix's chest. Still seething even as the Australian boy examined it.

It was a letter. Small and made from old paper. He opened it only to see 2 words scrawled on it in big red letters and in English...

I'm coming

Felix snorted. Now sure that Jisung was the one messing with him because he had heard Felix murmuring in his sleep during class.

"Fuck off. I didn't write that." He passed the letter back to Jisung who only glared at him.

"If you didn't who did? I'm not stupid Felix-"

"Did you even check with those stoners you call friends? This sounds like something they would enjoy." Felix cut him off harshly, also glaring back at him.

"They don't fucking know English." Jisung snapped. Earning a less than amused laugh from Felix.

"Right, because their either too drunk of high off their faces to pay attention during class." He said, turning his attention back to his locker so that he can finally swap his books.

Jisung grumbled something under his breath at that. Turning to look back at the letter in his hands for a moment. He had more things that pointed to Felix.

The voice in the hospital being one...

But he didn't know if he should admit to going to the hospital. Did he even have the right to visit Minho-Hyung.

Just then Felix opened his locker, pulling his bag from his shoulders when something fell on the floor. Earring both of their attention unwillingly.

Jisung watched as Felix bent down to pick whatever it was up and froze when he recognised it... Felix seemed to stop too.

Although that was after he opened the small letter and fouc the same scrawl of red words written on it... Except this time his blood ran cold...

I'm coming

The dream... The face... The video... Minho-Hyung...

Without realising what he was doing Felix raised the paper to his nose. A dim thought taking control over his body.

It couldn't be... It really couldn't be... Except it was...

Red ink was such a strange colour... Especially when it was in a shade almost identical to dried up blood...

The gag caught in his throat, startling Jisung, just as the bell rang...

Chapter Text

"Shit! What the hell!?" Jisung gasped as Felix collapsed to the floor with his hand over his mouth.

He swore more out of concern than anything else, because one second Felix was sniffing his letter, for some fucking reason, and then collapsed like he was going to throw up. Jisung had never seen him like this before. It was concerning to say the least. Yet not one person spared them a glance as they bustled their way to their classes. 

Jisung had no plan on going after them. He already his lighter and smokes in his back pocket, with no interest on sitting through chemistry. But now he was even second guessing ditching to get somewhat high, because Felix looked that bad.

Should he take him to the nurse?

"Felix, hey, you okay?" He crouched down next to the still gagging boy, softening his voice a little. 
"We should get you to the nurse-"

"It's blood!" Felix cut him off for the second time that day, but Jisung didn't seem to realise.

His heart skipped a beat, he stifled a gasp, his hand stopped just before reaching Felix's shoulder.

"What?"

"The writing- The ink- Smell it." Felix's eyes watered and Jisung didn't know why he listened when the other boy's reaction was that bad, but he did it.

Lifting his letter to his nose, he sucked in a breath and there was no mistaking that scent... No mistaking it after so many years of cuts and bruises and what happened the other night... Last week... 

Metallic. He could almost feel how sticky it would've been to write with, how warm it would've been. He felt ill...

"Jisung?" Felix's voice called out to him, yet Jisung couldn't reply. He didn't know what to say. His mind felt blank yet it should be swarming with questions. Like why he had been sent a letter written in blood saying that words 'I'm coming'...

"Han Jisung..."

"Jisung!"

He was looking at Felix before the boy had even called him. His eyes fixed and fearful.

"Was that you? Please tell me that was you." His voice was far too calm for how fast his heart was beating and for the expression on his face.

Felix didn't answer for a moment, a look of understanding crossing over his face that only freaked Jisung out more. Because how could Felix understand!? How could he possibly know what he was on about!? How the fuck did he know about the voice!?

"You hear it too..." Was all Felix said his own voice too steady compared to the look on his face.
"We... need to talk."

---<~>---

Jisung sat on Felix's bed after school was over. They'd both been too unnerved to do anything but show up to class late and stare their day away. The didn't talk to each other on the walk either. And for some reason they both understood, they took the long way home rather than crossing over Pothole Road... 

Still neither of them spoke. Jisung just watched as Felix began fiddling with his laptop and the old camera he always used to carry around. Did it always have a crack in the lens?

Eventually Felix stopped messing with the cable. Finally pulling up some files and reading over them. It was then that Jisung spoke up. He didn't understand the point in this and it was getting more and more confusing, the more Felix clicked buttons. He said they needed to talk! So what was taking him so long?

"What are you doing?" He asked, not earning a glance from the silver haired boy.

"Looking for the video." Felix answered. Jisung frowned.

"I thought we were talking?"

"I need to show you this first."

He didn't like that answer. What kind of video explained why they were both hearing voices that could or could not be the same voice? What kind of video explained them both getting the same notes written in blood, that may or may not be human blood? What kid of video-

"Here it is." Felix clicked on one, then made it screen sized so that Jisung could see it better.

But what he saw only made his chest ache and anger flare up in his brain. 

"I'm not interested in watching this crap! Stop messing around!" He exclaimed, watching as their faces came into view. All of them... at that stupid fucking river...

The thing he hated more than being confused and somewhat scared, was being reminded of that time. The time when they were all together and happy and stupid and loud. When Changbin's laugh was beyond contagious and could send him spiralling into fits of giggles on and off for hours. When Jeongin still had on his braces and Hyunjin wasn't this tall, untouchable wannabe gangster... He hated watching it so much...

"Turn it off." He mumbled, reaching to press the power button himself, but being stopped by Felix.

"Just watch. I'd skip ahead, but I can't remember when it showed up."

"When what showed up?"

"Just watch."

So he did. Silently telling himself it was hate that he was feeling and not whatever broken emotions that wanted to eat him alive. He couldn't let Felix know. He couldn't show how lonely he really felt.

Felix didn't watch the video. He glanced at it now and then, but never stared like Jisung did. For a brief moment he wondered if maybe Felix couldn't bring himself to watch it for the same reasons as Jisung. He wondered it this was actually some elaborate ploy to get them to talk to each other again. A part of him hoped that maybe that was the case. He knew deep down he'd forgive him in a heartbeat, because being friends with Felix again was way better than getting high or drunk with people who didn't really care about him.

Just before Jisung got too caught up in his thoughts, the screen began to buffer, finally earning Felix's attention. Yet when the video started playing again, Jisung didn't spot anything different. Something defiantly felt different... But he couldn't place what...

"Look at what Minho-hyung is looking at." Felix muttered, his eyes glued to the screen.

Jisung frowned then scanned the rowdy faces of his old friends before landing on the back of Minho's head. Minho was the only one not watching as the Jisung on the video wrestled and chased Jeongin around. Instead he was looking behind them, at the river, at-

"Oh my god!" Jisung gasped loudly a lump forming in his throat. "Are those- Is that-"

"Y-Yep..." Felix seemed like he wanted to be sick again and quickly turned his head.

Yet Jisung couldn't take his eyes away. It was surreal really, watching someone in a hood appear out of no where and start dragging a bag of bloody limbs towards the river behind them. Not one of them noticed except Minho... Not even the figure... What the hell?

"Why didn't hyung say anything?" Jisung mumbled, leaning forward.

"Keep watching." Was all Felix said, just as Jeongin let out a shriek when video Jisung finally caught him and ruffled his hair.

Jisung did keep watching. Feeling his heart sink when the sound finally caught the figure's attention and he saw the face look up directly at Minho. That was when the surrealness wore off. At first it was like watching a horror movie. It didn't even register with Jisung that he had been there when this had happened and not realised. Seeing broken bodies and limbs were normal in gory stuff and he watched a lot of that when he was stoned... Yet when he saw the face and the way it looked at Minho, it all went away...

Then, the video buffered again...

"Was that it?" He asked Felix, who's head spun around as soon as the noise stopped. A new look of fear filling his face.
"What?" Jisung asked.

"This didn't happen before. Minho-hyung was about to ask if we wanted to eat something." Felix explained, fiddling with the laptop for a moment before the screen went black and the boomed back to life and horribly synthetic ringing echoing from it.

Both boy's covered their ears as the sound pierced through their brains. Screwing up their eyes from the pain and unpleasantness. 

"What's wrong with your fucking laptop!?" Jisung bellowed over the noise.

"Nothing! It was fine!" Felix yelled back, opening his eyes to check. Then he nudged Jisung, making the other boy open his eyes and glare at him. Though soon his attention was back on the screen.

"WHAT THE FUCK!?" He screamed grabbing Felix and pulling him away from the bed, both of their eyes fixed on the image on the screen.

"That didn't happen when I watched it!" Felix spluttered, his voice several octaves higher.

"It didn't happen in real life!" Jisung said back. His hands were shaking, his body felt numb, his throat felt dry.

There on the screen, stood Minho, his face so close. Stock still. Eyes fixed forward. Face as pale as it was when Jisung visited him in the hospital. A hand reached over. Gnarled, inhuman and so pale it was almost pure white. Black veins ran down past the black sleeve on the arm. The nails long and grey. It grazed Minho's cheek gently. Ever so softly. The boy did not move at the touch. Not a single reaction or blink. The hand stroked him again.

Subconsciously Jisung pulled Felix in close to him. Something screaming at him that they needed to get out of there. But neither of them could move either from fear or from being transfixed as the hand went to touch Minho's cheek again. Gently... Almost gracefully...

And then it changed course.

The horrible bony fingers wrapped around the boy's neck and only then did Minho show a reaction. Instantly. His eyes went wide, blood seeping into the whites of them. The skin on his cheeks sunk in. His face turned purple. The blood in his eyes leaking down like tears. The hand squeezed harder. The two boy's heard the crunch of bone. Yet Minho didn't fall. He only screamed. A long and terrible scream that made the room shake and lights flicker.

As he screamed the camera panned out. Zooming away from Minho and the mangled face to show their surroundings. To show the felid just before the river. The river that was red and the grass that was red and the- the-

Minho finally fell when the hand let go of his neck still screaming in agony as his body rolled and rolled on the floor. Twitching, shuddering, snapping. Screaming... More voices. More snapping, twitching bodies wailing in pain on the floor. Clothes soaked in blood. Grass soaked in blood... All of them...

"I found you."  The figure turned his head to look into the camera. The black holes where eyes should be sending shivers down both of their spines. 

It wasn't looking at the camera... It was looking at them!

Chapter Text

A hand shot through the screen of the laptop, causing glass to fly all over the bed and some on the floor. Its long bony fingers lashed at air, soon being followed by the rest of the arm that was covered in a dark sleeve.

Jisung screamed. A wail of a sound he didn't even know he could make. His grip was so tight on Felix's arm that it felt like he could snap it. Yet Felix didn't say anything. How could he when he was screaming just as loud as Jisung was. Both boys watched in horror as this perfectly solid arm forced its way through a tiny screen, actively searching for something that was most likely them.

The lights flickered. The room shook. The windows cracked. It was only when the sound of glass breaking did they snap out of their pure terror. Jisung letting go of Felix and stumbling backwards, his jaw clenched to stop another shrivel scream escaping his mouth. As soon as Jisung let go Felix almost fell, but quickly steadied himself. In a moment of adrenaline he searched the room, eyes landing on his lamp and picked it up. It was a weapon.

"What the fuck are you doing!?" Jisung bellowed at the other boy, only stealing glances in his direction because now a shoulder was coming through the screen and wind seemed to be whipping around them.

"It's going to kill us!" Felix yelled back, eyes locked on the laptop and the body, yet Jisung could tell he wasn't thinking straight.

"What's a fucking lamp gonna do!?" 

"You got any better ideas!?"

Jisung was about to answer back when suddenly the laptop and limb rolled forward, off the bed and towards them. They back away, a new look of horror crossing their faces and spiralling through their bodies.

The face. The hood. It was making its way through the screen. Dragging itself. Reaching for them. In the close proximity they could see the missing skin on the cheeks. Make out the yellow shade of the teeth. See clearly that the black holes where eyes should be were exactly that... Except they were bloody hole where eyes should be... and no face should be that sinister. That scarred.

"I'M COMING FOR YOU!" The mouth opened. It opened so wide with the loud cackle that the skin just behind the teeth ripped and began bleeding. The other arm forcing its way through the screen at them. The grey nails almost reaching Felix's trouser leg.

"Fucking run!" Jisung grabbed Felix, dragging the boy by his shirt, out of the bedroom and towards the front door.

The whole apartment seemed to be falling apart around them. The cracks from the windows chased up the walls. Dark stains seeped through the paint. Wind spun around them. Glass everywhere. Lights still flickering.

And then there was a laugh...

So spine chilling that it made Felix's knees feel weak.

So sinister that it made Jisung want to cry.

Before they could stop themselves the boys found their heads turning in the direction of the bedroom. The door was still hanging open. The laptop still on the floor. But standing over it, shoulders hunched and hands balled, was him... And he was staring straight at them... Smiling...

"Lix, let's go!" Jisung screamed. Practically begging Felix to hurry up and open the fucking door, while he watched the figure take purposeful steps towards them. 

"I'm trying!" Felix wailed. Tears streaming down his face as he slammed his body against the door that wouldn't budge an inch.

Fuck... They were really going to die... It was going to kill them... He was coming for them...

Felix threw himself at the door again, but when it didn't open yet again he couldn't stop himself. His body slumped against it, sobs escaping him; Not for his own life but for Jisung's and Minho's and possibly the others. He regretted so many things. He regretted saying everything in that fight. He regretted not going back to them. He began to realise how weak he was. How dependant on them he was. He'd been depressed and denying it for months. He hated himself yet kept living for months. He was going to kill Jisung all because he couldn't keep his mouth shut or open a fucking door. He was a useless piece of shit.

"That's right Felix, you deserve to die."

"Felix!" Jisung yelled, watching as the other boy began breaking down. Slamming the back of the door over and over. Sobs escaping his throat and air not making it to his lungs.
"Felix!? Hey, get up!"

"I'm sorry!" Felix sobbed a hand reaching to clutch his chest. 

The air still escaping him with every passing second. Jisung was about to ask for what, when suddenly the figure laughed. It's eye holes fixed on Felix and ever without eyeballs Jisung could sense the glee in the stare. It was doing this. It was in his head!

"Lix don't listen to it!" Jisung crouched down, ignoring the fact that it was steadily getting closer and that the door still wasn't opening.
"Felix!? Felix, c'mon look at me!"

"Felix. Felix. Felix. What a worthless waste of space you are... It's no wonder why they abandoned you. So clinging. So dependant on them. So stupid that you couldn't even realise they didn't want you around. Nobody wants you around. Not even your parents. That's why you're here. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid Lee Felix..."

"Shut up!" Jisung screamed, his own tears filling his eyes as Felix started to go into a full on panic attack.
"Yongbok-ah don't listen! C'mon get up! We can open the door! Just get the fuck up!"

"There's no point in trying. He's a lost cause. All he knows how to do is smile and point a camera anyway."

---------

"All you know how to do is smile like a fucking idiot and point a fucking camera! Seriously, do you have any thoughts of your own!?" Jisung roared at Felix, shoving him out of the way after the boy got in between him and Hyunjin.

---------

"Shut the fuck up!" Jisung screamed again. This time grabbing Felix and forcing him onto his feet to look at him.
"It's not true! It's not true, it's just trying to fuck with you!" He said, shaking the boy's shoulders firmly.
"You need to zone it out or we're both going to die, okay!? We need to get out of here or it'll go after the others!"

Felix sucked in a breath and nodded quickly. His eyes still had tears falling from them but he seemed okay enough. He was able to breathe properly again. 

Jisung nodded back at him before positioning himself to ram into the door. Felix doing the same. No words were needed between the two of them. They understood each other all too well. So with one small glance, just as the figure appeared inches behind them, the charged.

The door flew off it's hinges, but both boys didn't spare it a glance as the began racing down the corridor and out of the apartment complex. 

The figure let out a guttural howl behind them. Causing the whole building to shake, yet neither of the boys stopped running. They had no idea where they were going. Probably to Jisung's house. Their hearts were hammering in their chests. The evening air freezing their lungs. Tears streaming down their faces.

It wasn't over yet. It wouldn't be over until they were safe. Somewhere that wasn't Felix's apartment. Somewhere where the figure couldn't find them... Somewhere where it wouldn't find them...

Chapter Text

"Han Jisung!"

They froze, seeing the hooded figure staring at them from the entrance of Jisung's street. They couldn't go down there. There was no way they could go down there.

"Shit!" Jisung yelled, eyes darting around. They had nowhere else to go. They were out in the open. They were screwed.

"Move!" Felix yelled, grabbing Jisung's arm just as the figure started sprinting at them.

"Where do we go!?" The slightly older boy asked, stealing a glance behind.

"Anywhere but on the road." Felix answered and holy fuck was he fast. Jisung had a hard time keeping up.

The two boys continued sprinting. Past the entrance of the street just before Jisung's when a sudden idea popped into Felix's head and he grabbed the other boy. Pulling him down the next street, dragging him along with one last spurt of energy, until they heard another roar and the figure was gone. Just as the reached the end house.

"Is... Is it gone?" Jisung panted, his lungs aching.

"I..." Felix heaved in a breath. "I think so... It... It was struggling to keep up... I... I don't think it can stay around... very long..."

"Like a ghost?"

Felix nodded and all Jisung could do was nod back, because of course it was a ghost. Of course it was something unexplainable. Of course it was something the cops could do nothing about. And of course it was trying to kill them.

But none of the was important. No. What was important, was why the fuck were they here?

"Why... Are we here?" He asked and Felix sucking in another breath before standing up and walking over to the door.

"I couldn't think of anywhere else." He mumbled before knocking.

"He's not going to let us in."

"We don't know that."

"Then he's defiantly not going to believe us-"

"Believe what?"

Jisung was cut off when the door opened, to reveal a tall boy with brown hair and round glasses on. He was wearing a light blue hoodie and some grey pyjama bottoms. Looking somewhat surprised and sceptical to see the two boys standing there. Felix gulped.

"Sorry for just showing up like this, Seungmin." He said, flashing a small smile that looked more like a grimace on his tear stained cheeks.
"Do you mind if we come in for a bit? We'll explain everything, I swear."

Seungmin frowned, but stepped aside to let them in all the same. As they passed a glint of concern even flashed in his eyes when he got a better look at them. Shaking... Struggling to get in air... Still in their uniform that was a mess... Tear stains on their cheeks...

They'd been acting weird in school too...

"Seungmin-ah, who's at the door?" His mother called from the kitchen, making both boys shoot wide eyed apologetic looks his way.

Seungmin only shook his head at them, before answering his mother.

"I forgot to tell you? I invited Jisung and Felix over." He said and they all heard the tut from his mother.

"Aish- If I'd have known I would've bought more beef! Those two haven't been over in ages!"

They hadn't realised the tension in the room had risen until it disappeared when she said that. Her tone was only fake annoyed. A tone they all knew well from all the times she used it on them in the past. Other than that she sounded excited and kind. Just like how they remembered.

"It's okay Ma, we'll just have ramen or something later. We're going up to my room now." Seungmin smiled, then turned back to the other two who began making their way upstairs.

Once in Seungmin's room the boy locked the door and turned to glare at the two on his bed. Both of them shuffled nervously. How the fuck were they going to explain this? 

"So what? Are we just going to act like nothing happened, and you'll all start showing up at my house randomly with no warning? I'm sorry but that's not going to work. I only let you in because you look like you've seen a ghost. This doesn't mean I've forgiven you." Seungmin said, his eyes darting between Jisung and Felix. Yet neither of them could make eye contact.
"Well?" He prompted.

"It's hard to explain." Jisung started, stealing a glance at Felix.

"Would you believe us if we told you we're being hunted by a very angry ghost?" Felix asked, a pleading smile on his face.

Seungmin just blinked at him. For long second all he did was stare and blink. Then looked at Jisung. Who blinked back. Then went back to Felix.

"I'm sorry what?" He snorted. "Holy fuck, did Jisung give you mushrooms? Are you two high? That explains why you were so spacy at school and why you came to chemistry together. Shit, Felix I didn't think you'd be one for that stuff."

He laughed, yet the humour didn't meet his eyes nor the full extent of his chuckle. He actually seemed pissed. Yet so was Jisung. He knew Seungmin wouldn't believe them and now he was being made fun of for enjoying a bit of escapism... He shot a glare at Felix.

"Seungmin, we're not high! I mean it! I was just watching some old videos off of my camera and this guy appeared and he had a bad of body parts and he was taking them to the river- Then we got letters in out lockers that were written in blood and we were hearing this voice- And I had a dream- The voice was in it- So was Minho-hyung's- Then I showed Jisung the video and the guy just came out of the screen- And then it- It chased us here..." 

Felix fell silent when he realised both of the other boys were staring at him. Jisung because; Felix hadn't mentioned the dream or anything about Minho except for what happened in the video. Seungmin because he thought Felix was going crazy and Jisung was going along with it.

"I'm sorry what?" He repeated, stealing a glance at Jisung who had his mouth open, then looking back at Felix.
"You're fucking insane-"

"No!" Felix yelled. "Really! Seungmin, please believe me! It's going to come after you too! If I'm right, then its the reason Minho-hyung is in hospital right now! Its coming after all of us!"

"Like hell-"

"Wait. You didn't say that about Minho-hyung." Jisung cut in, eyes staring straight into Felix's soul.

"I was going to, but then shit happened-"

"No." Jisung cut in again. "It makes sense..." He mumbled and now it was the other two's turn to stare at him.
"The hood... The walk... Holy shit..." He breathed. "Holy shit!"

"What!?" Seungmin took a step away, looking seriously concerned now.

Jisung turned to Felix. Eyes unfocused as all the puzzle pieces slotted together. 

"It was there!" He said. Felix frowned. "It was there that night! When Minho-hyung was hit by the car! I saw it walking away! I called for it! I asked it to help!"

"Jisung wait! Slow down!" Felix grabbed him by the arms to get him to focus. "You were there that night!?"

"I called the fucking ambulance!" Jisung yelled. "I-I..." He struggled for breath, because holy fucking things were making too much sense and it scared him.

"Sit him down." Seungmin said gesturing for Felix to lower Jisung back down on the bed.
"Jisung, think about what you're saying."

"I... Minho-hyung... I was on my way home from the arcade. It was cold so I took a short cut... Across-"

"Pothole Road." The other two said in unison. Understanding all too well because they used to do the same thing.

"I was a little drunk. I didn't notice the lights at first." Jisung continued. "Then there was this screech and I ran. The car was still. No one was in the driver's seat and Minho-hyung- He was on the ground... I called the ambulance and they were on there way, but then hyung started coughing up blood and I didn't know what to do. So, I just called for help, and there was this guy in a black hood, but he just walked away..."

Tears stung the corners of his eyes and he quickly wiped them away. He didn't want to cry again.

"Then is visited him in the hospital and the light flickered and it felt like someone was behind me... and then I heard the voice..."

He looked at the other two who were both staring at him with wide eyes. They didn't say anything for a moment. Then Seungmin ran a hand over his mouth and sighed.

"This has to be some kind of PTSD." He mumbled.

"It's not." Jisung spat, glaring at him. "How else do you explain this shit?"

He reached in his pocket and pulled out the letter from earlier, passing it to Seungmin to examine. 

"Go ahead. Smell it."

"I'm coming? What is this, some kind of declaration of heat?" Seungmin grumbled, staring at the red writing before lifting it gingerly to his nose to sniff. His face went pale immediately and he had to fight down a gag as he passed it back to Jisung.

"It's blood." Felix said plainly. "I had one too, but I left it at home."

"That's all kinds of fucked up." Seungmin mumbled. "But still, a ghost, really?"

"Look, we can't prove anything right now but-"

Something slammed against the window of Seungmin's room. Making all of them jump. The grey sky from outside casting just enough light to show a shadow through the curtains. Felix and Jisung scrambled to their feet. Ready to grab Seungmin and run if they needed to.

Seungmin, however, walked towards the window and lifted back the curtain. Freezing on the spot when he saw what was outside.

A bloody handprint pressed against the glass and several printed photos of what could only be Felix's apartment and the river. Right in the centre of the pile, in Seungmin's back garden, lay the broken contents of Felix's camera and laptop...

"I'm coming... I will finish the job..."

...

"Seungmin, did you call for me?"

"N-No Ma, you must've heard me wrong."

"Alright then. Make sure your room stays clean!"

Seungmin turned to look at the other two, his throat dry and hands shaking.

"See? We're not high." Said Jisung.

Chapter Text

"This is insane..." Seungmin mumbled after almost collapsing.

Both Jisung and Felix had to catch him and set him on the bed. While he just gaped like a fish out of water. Then after a few minutes of processing, he finally asked them to explain. Which they did. Going over every detail each of them could remember from their own experiences.

Aside from the hand on the window and the voice, no other strange or terrifying things happened. Though neither Felix or Jisung were ready to go home. Felix wasn't even sure it was safe for him to.

Thankfully Miss Kim was more than willing to let the boys stay over. Going into the cupboard on the landing and pulling out blankets and pillows so they could make beds on Seungmin's floor. It was almost normal. Like they'd gone back in time to when they did this same thing every weekend.

Seungmin only lived in a 2-bed house. Yet more often than not 7 additional people would be crammed into his room, creating a blanket of bodies on the floor and a rather large, 3 people bump in the double bed. They'd be up for hours too. Sometimes until early hours of the morning. Or sometimes they'd be too tired to even eat. Passing out the minute they got in, still wearing their uniforms or whatever clothes they had on that day.

Miss Kim loved having them over. She took to mothering all of them as soon as Seungmin introduced them to her. And she became even more doting as time went on. They became her boys. They loved her more than their own families. Then it just stopped...

"It's nice to see you boys again." She smiled as she passed a blanket to Felix.
"I missed you, you know? Especially after what happened..."

She looked down at the floor for a second . Tears sparkling in her eyes. Then she heaved in a breath and smiled at them.

"I'm glad you're back." She sighed, cupping Jisung's cheek and patting Felix on the shoulder.

They went back into Seungmin's room after that, both with glum expressions on their faces. Neither of them really felt that they deserved Miss Kim's kindness after what they had said. Yet they couldn't bring themselves to leave. They felt safer there than anywhere else...

"Are you going to tell the others?" Seungmin asked from where he lay in his bed. The other two curled up on the floor. Yet not one of them was sleeping.

The moon shone in through the curtain. The shadow of the bloody handprint serving as a reminder that none of what had happened was a dream or a nightmare.

"They might already know..." Jisung mumbled, his voice rough.

Silence fell over them again as them mulled over that possibility. Not only that, but also the paining possibility that they might go into school tomorrow and learn that another of their old friends had been targeted by the thing... Hat one of them might actually be dead this time...

That might actually happen... That was a real possibility... They were being hunted...

"Do you think Minho-Hyung was coming here before he got hit?" Felix breathed, because they thought had been plaguing him.

"Why do you think that?" Seungmin asked and they could all practically hear the frown on his face.

"Pothole Road..." Felix replied. "He lives in the opposite direction."

"Why would he be coming here though?" It was Jisung's turn to ask the question now.
"None of us have spoken to him in months."

"You don't think he was coming to warn us, do you?" Seungmin piped in. Smart as ever.

"Why us though? Why not one of the others?" Felix.

"Well, the 3 of us live closer together than any of the others. Maybe that was his logic? Tell as many people as soon as possible?" Seungmin, sat up and looked over the bed at Felix. Jisung stared too, also wondering what was going through the boy's mind.

Felix didn't talk for a moment. Something about Seungmin's explanation didn't sit right with him. Something about everything didn't sit right with him.

Why was Minho first?...

Why was he coming to them?...

Who was he going to first?...

And why did the Ghost wait until now to go after them?

"Felix?" Jisung called his name, forcing him out of his head.

He stared back at the brunette. Still unsure of where his thoughts were taking him but knowing that dwelling on it after the day they had just had, was not the best idea.

"Sorry, I guess I zoned out. I must be tired." He said, closing his eyes and sighing.

He was tired... He just couldn't get his brain to shut off.

"We should sleep. There's school tomorrow." Said Seungmin.

Jisung quietly agreed. Settling back down in his makeshift bed and staring up at the white ceiling that was shadowed in darkness.

"It's gonna be okay right?" He asked, that fear still deep within him.
"We're all, Minho-Hyung included, going to be okay, right?"

"I hope so..." Seungmin breathed. His eyes closed and head nestled into the pillow, but also feeling the same fear Jisung was.

"Were we ever okay, though?" Felix voice rang out against the nervous silence of the room. His question hanging on the air.

A question they didn't dare ask because of what it meant unpacking...

Were they ever, okay?...

Chapter Text

Hyunjin stood with his back pressed against a locker. Who's locker, he had no idea, but its not like he cared anyway. Some of the guys were talking. Shin, an upperclassman in Chan's year, was teasing one of them. Probably poking fun at their height or their stature like he always did. One of the other guys was getting something out of his own locker. Taking his time too because he's been at it for several minutes. 

Hyunjin wasn't paying attention though. Sure, he'd been growing impatient with waiting for awhile now, but then they walked in. Through the clear door entrance of the school and into the hall. Into his direct line of sight. The 3 of them, in a line, talking to each other. Paying direct attention to each other. Interacting with each other. All annoyance he felt towards the guys by the lockers faded. Instead he felt anger, confusion, even jealousy bubble up inside him at the sight of the group of 3.

Since when were they friends again?

"Hwang!"

Hyunjin jumped as the locker he had been standing next to slammed closed and the guys around him started laughing. He turned his attention back to them, noticing with mild surprise, that Shin's face was inches away from his. The older boy's eyes dark with annoyance despite the grin on his face.

"Yes, hyung?" Hyunjin said, fighting to keep his voice somewhat neutral. Like Shin's stare didn't bring a nervous sweat over his lip. Shin just sighed.

"First you ditch us and now you're ignoring us. I hope this won't become a regular thing, Hwang." He tutted, leaning away with a mock shake of his head.

Hyunjin had to suppress the urge to swallow. It had been a few days, but Shin still wasn't letting it go and if Shin wasn't it meant the others weren't allowed to either. He was still pissed about Friday; when Hyunjin went off on his own after seeing a girl crying on the street, only to find Jeongin getting beaten up in a multi-story car park. 

He didn't give them any warning. Ignored all of them when they called after him. Then went straight home, after the exchange with Jeongin, and turned off his phone. Shin had tried to get into contact later that night. Hyunjin saw the call log the next day which only made him feel unreasonably anxious. When he tried to call back to explain, Shin refused to answer. All of them did. They ignored him all weekend as a kind of punishment and then on Monday Shin had a go at him.

Things were better now though. The others seemed to be allowed to speak to him. Though Shin was still monitoring everything he did and nit-picked at the smallest things. Like now...

"It won't." Hyunjin said, his voice a little too quiet. He cleared his throat. "I was just trying to help a girl." He added.

Some of the others snickered. Kang Jeong, Shin's oldest friend, rolled his eyes. While Shin barked out a laugh. A teasing, almost superior, laugh that had a slight hint of amusement in it. Hyunjin forced a nervous smile. At least he was laughing.

"You're such a night in shining armour, Hwang! Still, she must've been a looker to catch the attention of a pretty boy like you." Shin said eyeing Hyunjin darkly as he said the last part. "Did you get her number at least?"

"No... She ran off before I could ask." Hyunjin lied, knowing that if he told them about Jeongin, they'd just get pissed off. They all burst out laughing.  

"That's too bad!" Jeong chuckled, whipping his eyes behind his glasses. Shin held his own stomach.

"No wonder you didn't come back! You must've been humiliated!" He bellowed.

Hyunjin lowered his head. This was what it was like now. The teasing was constantly at his expense. He wasn't allowed to have his own opinion. He was punished for things outside of his control. He had no escape. It was the same everywhere around him. At home, in school, in his free time... He was everyone's punching bag. And no one cared that he was hurting... No one was there for him to talk to. He was stuck, alone in a world full of people, pretending he had no feelings.

The bell rang. It's loud tinny sound drowning out the laughter of the group, until the eventually came to a stop themselves.

"Alright, let's get going fuckers." Shin sighed, waving them all away for their classes. "Don't forget, we're going for a drive tonight. Meet at the garage after my shift. Hwang, no ditching to get laid again!"

Hyunjin pretended to laugh at his words, grabbing his bag and watching as Shin and Jeong's backs retreated down the hall. The others were long gone. He looked around. half expecting to see the other group, the group of 3 boys, still talking by one of their lockers. But they were gone too. Probably already at class. 

What if they were sitting together?

Upon entering the room where the young math teacher taught. Hyunjin learned that they were in fact sitting together. Jisung, Felix and Seungmin, sitting in a row. Not paying attention to whatever the teacher was saying, but stuck in a whispered conversation. They didn't even spare a glance at him when he walked past.

Typical...

Of course they wanted nothing to do with him...

Chapter Text

That afternoon Hyunjin finished the school day feeling the most miserable he had felt in his life. Watching his 3 old friends hang out and talk like nothing had ever happened made his head hurt. On top of that, Shin was determined to make his life hell. The guy knew how to hold grudges like no one's business. Constantly making jokes to put Hyunjin down and getting the others to laugh. 

All he wanted to do was sleep.

Hyunjin climbed onto his motorcycle as the crowds of students started spilling out of the doors. He didn't need to wait for anyone. He wouldn't piss anyone off if he went now. Shin and Jeong had work, the others had clubs, he could leave. Yet he didn't. He never did. He'd sit there, acting like he was on his phone and wait until the crowds came out. Waiting to see them. All of them. That was his way of checking in. 

Before the accident he'd wait until Minho came out and got on his motorcycle, with the rest of his gang. That was when Hyunjin would take his leave because he didn't want to cause trouble, but now Minho wasn't there. He could stay as long as he wanted. The guys from Minho's gang didn't care about him.

"Anyone know if Lee Know is awake yet?" 

Hyunjin stole a glance at the group around the other bikes. He didn't like to eavesdrop, but he knew that was Minho's nickname and he only had limited information on his condition so he couldn't help it.

"Nah. Rumour is he's not going to wake up." One of the muscular ones said. His voice was bitter. Similar to the one Shin used when he was holding a grudge. The one he'd been using when he was alone with Hyunjin. It made his hair stand on end.

"Fucker." The first guy swore then spat on the floor. "Thinks he can run off like that, get the easy way out? I swear if he does get out, I'll kill him myself."

"Damn, hyung. What's got you so pissed off?" A different guy asked, perching himself on his bike and grinning at the older.

"He had a spat with Lee Know and then the jackass walked off."

"Fucking coward! Thinks he can talk to me like that and get away with it." 

Hyunjin gulped where he sat. He could feel the aggression coming off the group and really didn't want to get noticed. Seriously, if he so much as looked at them wrong he was sure they'd come for his blood. Maybe they even knew he had a past with Minho. That defiantly wouldn't be good.

"Hwang, what are you still doing here?" 

Fuck... of course Shin was still here.

"Oh, I was just sitting here. I didn't want to go home yet." He answered as casually as he could, noticing immediately how the other group had stopped talking.

"Yeah, yeah, bet you're waiting to see if that girl comes out." Jeong chuckled.

The two of them, Shin and Jeong came round and began getting their bikes ready. Jeong using some sort of band to secure his glasses, while Shin pulled on his leather jacket. Both of them chattering and paying no attention to the other group. Hyunjin put on a face.

"If she does, I haven't seen her yet." He said, earning a sympathetic pat on the shoulder from Jeong while Shin laughed. 

"Why wait for that girl? You're a pretty boy Hwang, you have the pick of the litter." Shin said, then scanned the crowd. "What about that bird? She's pretty hot. I might go after her myself."

"She's off limits." 

Hyunjin's heart sank. Fuck. Fuck. He turned to look at the other group, seeing all of their eyes staring straight at him, Shin and Jeong. Again a nervous sweat began to coat his lip while Jeong lowered his gaze to the floor. Shin, however, snarled at the other group. Crossing his arms defiantly over his chest.

"Says who?" He asked with an edge to his voice.

"Says me." 

Hyunjin let out a sigh when the muscular one for earlier answered. He took a step forward, anger evident in his every movement. Still Shin didn't seem bothered. Typical of him, not understanding when he was outmatched.

"And why should I care what you say?" Shin glared at the other guy. Hyunjin took note of a black tattoo running up his neck from under the collar of his too tight shirt.

Shin was about to be fucking murdered if he didn't shut up.

"Because the bird you just pointed out, is my little sister." The guy answered and holy fuck did his voice start getting low. Hyunjin swore it was lower than Felix's...

"Well if all goes well, you and my buddy might just end up being in laws." Shin said and Hyunjin's head shot in his direction. There was no way that jackass just dragged him into it.

"Is that so?" The big guy raised a threatening eyebrow at Hyunjin who could almost feel his hands begin to tremble.

"No, it's not. I was waiting for someone else. I don't even think she goes here. We were just talking." He tried to explain, but Shin just scoffed at him.

"Have some back bone Hwang, what's this fucker going to do? Bitch slap you?" He said.

Suddenly Hyunjin felt himself fill with anger. He didn't want a part in this. He didn't want to be dragged into anything and yet here Shin was, with a knowing glint in his eyes. The asshole was still punishing him, still making him pay for ditching them on Friday, because Hyunjin had purposefully gone against what he had said.

"You're a fucking dick, you know that?" He swore at the older boy, making his mouth drop open. The muscular guy snickered.
"If you're pissed off at me, tell me outright and stop being a child."

With that Hyunjin started his motorcycle and took off before anyone could say anything. He had a habit of doing this; taking off before things escalated. He knew he was in for it the next day. There was no way Shin was going to be lenient with him after that. Still it was better to pretend nothing had happened while he still had the chance.

He wound down road after road. There was no way he was going home. Until finally he made it to the outskirts of the town. It was where the abandoned buildings were. Where a lot of underage people came to drink and do drugs. But it was quieter than most places and if you were brave enough to risk going into some of the older buildings, no one was ever going to disturb you.

Hyunjin learned this years ago, back in the early days of their friendship. When it was just the 4 boys in the same class against the world... To think that they had been the ones to start and end it all. To think that he was the only one left coming back to this place. It wasn't fair...

It's not fair...

He skipped over a hole in the ground of one of the buildings. Then scoured the staircase he had sloppily fixed up over the past few weeks. The second floor was mostly undamaged, unlike the rest of the building. No one would've know about it if 4 boys didn't take the chance and explored the place all those years ago.

Most of the rooms smelled though. A lot of them were damp and small. All, except one. The biggest room on the floor. The one that looked used and warm despite also having damp patches on the ceiling and walls. That was their room.

There were old couches and arm chairs dotted around, circling an old fire pit. A few boxes, wobbly tables and blankets were also there. Wrappers from junk food littered some areas. Games and other crap were set on surfaces. A lone baseball bat and balls lay in a corner. Old polaroid photos on strings hang from a wall. 

Everything was covered in a layer of dust, except for the large green couch that sat in the middle of the room. Hyunjin made his way to it, throwing his tired body down and burying his head in the blanket bunched up at the end. He did this regularly, this place was more like a home to him than his house. But he still needed to eat, so he had no choice but to return after a few hours. It was still comforting to be there while he could though... 

Sometimes he could still hear the conversations they'd have around the fire... It wasn't cold enough to start lighting it again, but Hyunjin could practically feel the heat just from the memories. God he missed those days...

Why did they stop again?

Oh yeah... He and Jisung got into a fight and everyone just turned on each other... In that very room.

He lifted his head to stare at the corner where the baseball bat and balls lay. He'd cleaned them up since, but he could still remember where each ball fell after the hours he'd spent throwing them at walls after everyone left. Back then he had cried and screamed for hours... He didn't do that now.

"There's no point." His voice echoed off the walls as the words slipped out of his mouth. "Crying won't fix anything."

True, but still, it's not like crying was a terrible thing. It's not like it made him feel weak or anything like that. He just, couldn't... He couldn't sob anymore, he couldn't scream anymore, not like how he was back then. Now he was lucky if he could even coerce a tear out. Crying would make the pain in his chest hurt so much less.

---------

"Drama llama. You make it seem like the world is going to end." Chan's voice sounded as warm as the fire. His embrace even more so.

"That's how it feels!" Hyunjin cried, hiding his face in his hands as another round of tears threatened to spill out.

It was the day his parents told him they were getting divorced. The day he found out his mother was a cheater and his father was a gambling addict. The day all stability he's had disappeared. But they were there. All of them were willing to hold him together in his time of need. Not one of them ready to leave his side until he was ready to let go.

"Do you really think we'd let that happen?" Seungmin rolled his eyes, but his tone was kind. "If the world ended we'd be the ones fighting tooth and nail to make sure we all survive. No one's getting left behind."

"Yeah! Just because your parents are splitting up doesn't mean everything is going to change!" Minho chimed in.

"We're all still gonna be here." Changbin patted his head. While Chan gave him a tight squeeze.

"I know! It's just... hard..." Hyunjin sniffed finally giving in and resting his head on Chan's shoulder noticing how the soft smile crept onto the older boy's face.
"I feel like everything is slipping through my fingers and I can't hold onto anything. I don't want to lose anything."

"That's a given in situations like this." Jeongin placed a hand on his knee as he spoke. "You'll lose some things that feel like they mean the world to you. But, we'll still be here hyung."

---------

"Liars... If that were true, where are you now?" Again the words escaped from his lips absentmindedly. 

He had moved from the couch. His heavy legs taking him over to the wall of polaroids. A slender hand reached up and plucked one of the photos down. His dark eyes staring into the picture like he was reliving that very moment.

Felix and Jisung's joint 14th birthday party... almost 2 years ago. They were all so young back then...

He picked another one.

Changbin, Jisung and Chan all pouring over something on Chan's laptop. Jeongin pulling a stupid face behind them. They were so invested they didn't even notice Felix taking the picture with the flash on.

He reached up and picked another one.

Minho teaching Felix and Seungmin to cook...

Another one.

Hyunjin's first time on a motorcycle with Minho...

Carefully he put all the pictures back on their pegs. The last photo having been too much for him to see. It made him reflect too much on recent events. Thinking about how the hell he ended up hanging out with Shin and how Minho was now in hospital... The boys in those photos had no idea how shit their futures would turn out. Hyunjin felt sorry for them.  

"Hyunjin?"

He froze eyes scanning around frantically. There was no way he had just heard that. There was no way he was here. How could he be? 

"Hyunjin run!"

"Minho-hyung?" 

What the fuck was happening? Where the fuck was that voice coming from?

"GET THE FUCK OUT OF THERE!"

He didn't know why, but his feet moved automatically. His legs carrying him at full speed out of the building, down the raggedy stairs, over all the holes in the floor and to his motorcycle. The engine began thrumming, he had his helmet on and was about to pull off. Then, one by one, every single window in every building along the street smashed inwards. Including the one he had just been in.

Hyunjin looked up, shock making him falter in his attempts to leave. He couldn't believe that had just happened. What the fuck had happened? Was there some sort of gas or problem with the structure of the street that set that off? How had he heard Minho's voice?

If he had been in that building he would've been killed; stabbed by glass...

"What the hell?"

"Hyunjin-ah! Are you okay!?"

Chapter Text

His head darted in the direction of three figures running towards him. The dull light of dusk casting hazy shadows over them. Even in that lighting he didn't need to be a genius to figure out who they were. Not when he knew their outline, footsteps and voices better than he knew his own.

"What the fuck are you doing here!?" He gaped. Completely forgetting everything else around him, while he watched Jisung's stupid brown hair flap around as he ran.

The three stayed quiet. Probably because they were too focused on running. Their uniforms were stuck to their forms from all the sweat. Their faces were flushed like tomatoes. Hyunjin watched them draw closer. His still thrumming bike long forgotten. The windows long forgotten...

CRASH!

The sound was deafening.

His hands shot up to cover his ears on instinct. His body slid off his bike and onto his ground for protection. As he went, he caught a glimpse of the other three throwing themselves onto the floor for cover. Just as thousands of tiny shards of glass shot down like bullets from inside the buildings. It was constant. Those that didn't shatter on impact with the ground, ricocheted off of it. Going in all directions. Flying around the bodies trying to protect themselves.

"Hyunjin!" Seungmin's voice screamed over the crashing and shattering of glass.

It was closer than were they were before, but muffled. The three of them had probably taken cover somewhere safer while Hyunjin was cowering behind his bike. He didn't dare shout back or look for where the voice had come from, because he was afraid he would get stabbed by one of the tiny transparent flying knives if he did. Still, they called for him.

"Hyunjin come on!" Jisung yelled. Poking his head out just long enough to see a glass shard puncture a hole in the tire of Hyunjin's bike.

They were getting closer to him and the stupid idiot wasn't noticing because he had his hands over his ears and his eyes closed.

"He won't. You know what he's like when he's overwhelmed." Felix said with a note of worry in his tone.

"He needs to move or else he's going to get stabbed to death!" Jisung growled through gritted teeth.
"Hyunjin-ah!!" He called again.

"What if one of us went out and got him?" Felix offered, earning wide eyed looks from the other two boys.

"Are you insane!?" Seungmin gasped. "Did you forget about the millions of flying knives, or do you want to be fucking murdered!?"

"What else is there!? You're supposed to be the fucking smart one! You come up with something!" Felix yelled back. His anger rising with his growing panic.

"Guys..."

"I'm trying! But it's really hard when we're under the threat of death!" Seungmin shot back.

"First timers." Felix snorted.

"Guys."

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean!? In case you forgot, it was only yesterday when you guys were attacked and came crying to me for help! You're not all that experienced! And I'm still harbouring your asses!" Seungmin bellowed.

"That's not what I-"

"Guys shut the fuck up and look!" Jisung roared over them. His face was pale, hands shaking, breathing unsteady.

Both Felix and Seungmin stopped their quarrelling immediately at his appearance. Each of them taking a step forward to peek around the corner of the building they were hiding behind, to look at whatever Jisung had seen...

In the dim dusk light. In the swarm of flying glass shards that glowed under the broken streetlamps. In the haze of movement; Stood one thing that was unmistakable... That was terrible... That was mangled and dressed dark. That was humanoid but not a person... That's dark bloody eye holes stared straight at the cowering blonde form of Hwang Hyunjin...

"Shit..." Felix muttered, nudging Jisung aside to get a better look at it. 

Seungmin backed away. A hand over his mouth and his body trembling. His brown eyes shook from fear. His lungs burned for more and more air. That was it... That was him...

It was really... real...

"Seungmin!" Jisung appeared in front of him. His gaze fixed on the younger boy's face.

Behind him, Seungmin saw Felix's form disappear around the corner of the building; into the disaster they had been hiding from. He was as good as dead... They were all as good as dead...

"We're gonna die!" He grabbed Jisung's arms tightly. Shaking the other boy harshly. 
"We're all gonna die! There's no fucking way we can escape that thing!" 

"Seungmin, calm down." Jisung tried to reason, clutching his arms equally as tightly.

"No. No. That things not fucking natural! Something like that shouldn't exist! Nothing should be able to do that! Jisung. Jisung! It's making glass fly! It came out of a fucking laptop screen! Jisung it's going to kill us!" 

Air... Air... He needed some fucking air. It felt like his head was going to explode. It felt like his mind was shutting down. It knew where he lived... It knew where he went to school... It came out of screens and killed people with cars! They had no hope. They had no chance. It was all over...

"We should just kill ourselves now..." He gasped through staggered breaths.

"Exactly."

Something cold ran down his back. It felt like ice water that burned like fire. Both giving moister to and sucking it out of his throat. Choking him slowly and painfully, but constantly giving him that hope for a breath. His knees buckled under him. His body sank to the floor. And all that could be heard was a high pitched ringing in his ears...

But...

It wasn't ringing...

It was screaming...

His screaming...

"What happened Seungmin? Did your fragile little mind finally snap? Are you finally showing the weak child you kept hidden within you? What will they think, now that they're seeing the real you? I'll tell you what they're thinking. They're thinking you're disgusting for being such a coward. They're thinking of how selfish you are for breaking down like this. They're feeling sorry for your mother. For raising a boy alone only for him to turn out like his scumbag of a father!"

---------

"You really want to know what I think!?" Minho screamed. Picking himself up off of the floor and glaring at the boy who had just pushed him... Seungmin...
"I think I feel sorry for your mother; Spending most of her life raising a child only for him to turn out like a selfish asshole. It's no wonder your father left. She probably didn't want someone like that rubbing off on you... Yet here you are... Turning out EXACTLY like him!"

---------

It was funny how those same words were repeating now like they had in the past. Preying on his insecurities in a way that could literally slash his heart open. He never opened up about them, but anyone who was close to him would've been able to tell. Anyone who knew his mind as well as he did would know. Strange how two very different people, who had two very different ways of knowing his deepest thoughts, chose to use them as a weapon in the same way...

It was true though...

He was selfish and an asshole like his father... Someone Seungmin didn't think deserved a place on this earth after what he had done to his mother. His kind, sweet mother, who deserved nothing but kindness and love in return. 

If he really was like his father, and he didn't think people like his father should be allowed to live, wouldn't that make him a hypocrite if he kept living? Wouldn't that make him a hypocrite if he kept taking advantage of his mother's kindness? She didn't deserve a son like him...

"Snap out of it!" 

Pain shot through his face as he was thrown to the side. His body rolling from the sheer force of whatever had hit him. Stars flashing behind his eyes. He groaned, clutching his cheek and staring at Jisung in shock. Jisung, who was clutching his hand and gasping in pain himself.

"Fuck!" He whined. "I didn't mean to hit you that hard."

"I think I have a concussion." Seungmin grumbled from where he sat on the floor.

"Well if you had woken up when I slapped you, we wouldn't be in this situation." Jisung spat. Then took the time to examine Seungmin with his eyes. Focusing longest on his face.
"You okay now? He's not in your head anymore, right?"

Seungmin shook his head, but immediately regretted doing so. The stars reappeared behind his eyes and he had to blink to get them away.

"He's gone... But..." Seungmin looked down at his hands, unsure of what he really wanted to say. If he even wanted to say anything at all.

"The damage is done?" Felix's voice offered and Seungmin looked up to see him and Hyunjin now standing with them.

Both looking out of breath and cut up, but fine otherwise.

"I guess..." Seungmin nodded.

Chapter Text

As Seungmin backed away, Felix took a step forward. His brown eyes locked on the figure. Then darting to look at the still oblivious Hyunjin, hiding behind his motorcycle with his hands covering his ears. What would happen if it got his hands on him? If Hyunjin didn't move? Would it be the same as Minho?

That was all he needed to fuel his footsteps. To fixate his mind on one thing. No one stopped him. Sure he was developing some sort of saviour complex. But no one was stopping him and no one would be able to, because he had decided that no one else was going to be hurt by that thing.

He ran from behind the building, into the dangerous street with a tornado of flying glass, and towards where Hyunjin sat... Shaking...

"Hyunjin!" He yelled, voice straining over the twinkle and shattering. The older boy didn't hear him, so he called again.
"Hyunjin-ah!"

This time his deep voice seemed to break through. Hyunjin opened his eyes. Hands coming away from his ears slightly when he saw Felix coming towards him. When their eyes met, Felix felt his heart skip with relief for a brief second. 

That was until the pale face and yellow teeth caught his eye. Suddenly appearing in front of him. It's freezing breath on his face as it opened it's mouth; the thin skin on each cheek shredding and a rattle echoing from it's throat.

"Boo!" 

Both boys screamed. Felix slipping and falling onto his ass, while Hyunjin pushed himself further against his bike. The figure stood tall. Bloody gaping eye holes bulging while it stared down on the now fallen Felix. Fraying cheeks pulled back in a spine chilling smile. 

It was that expression that clued Felix in. It was the way it took a step towards him and when the shards of glass stopped surrounding Hyunjin. He realised why it, why he, had taken his time; simply set on tormenting the boy by the motorcycle, while the other three hid. It had been a trap...

"What do you want from us?" Felix asked, his voice steady even as he skuttled backwards. The glass shards were now surrounding him and the figure. The clinking and jingling drowning out any sound from the outside. 

Where were the others? Surely by now they would've come out for Hyunjin while it was distracted... Unless it was keeping them away somehow.

"I want... To finish the job..." 

What job? What did that have anything to do with them?

"Why are we involved?"

It didn't say anything, only taking another step forward as it's eyebrow bones furrowed into a frown. A black tongue could be seen running itself along the inside of the teeth. The eye holes bore into Felix's soul and then... suddenly... oh so softly... Felix felt an emotion that wasn't his, generate in his chest.

It wasn't fear. It wasn't desperation or anger or loneliness... It was a sickening, deep... need for revenge. A need that ran so thoroughly through his body that it made him want to rip apart every living breathing thing he saw. It made him want to make them suffer twice as much as he had. It made him want to kill... to torture... Yet at the same time it elated him. It gave him life...

"Felix!" The screech broke him free from his mind. Pulled him away from the feeling that disappeared almost as soon as it appeared. 

Hyunjin's long blonde hair filled his vision. His black tie slapping Felix in his face, while a thin wrist rammed itself into the side of the figure's face. Due to the missing skin in the cheeks, they both saw as teeth flew out. Yellow and tainted with blood. They both also saw the way the figure staggered back. Away from the mere inches it had been to Felix's face. He hadn't even realised because he was so caught up in that feeling.

Hyunjin was kneeled in front of him; arms outstretched like a shield. Felix could see the light speckles of blood and rips in his white shirt from where he ran through the wall of glass shards. His chest heaving for from running and fear. Still, Hyunjin stood his ground and protected Felix, who was still laying on the floor.

The figure stumbled again. A bony twisted hand coming up to it's mouth and pulling away to reveal dark blood dripping from it. Far to much blood to be from only loosing teeth. Both boys stared at it, unsure what to think. But before either of them could even remotely come up with something to do, the glass shards were raining from the sky and the figure disappeared into thin air.

"Shit, watch out!" Felix screamed, using his arms to cover his head and any other weak spots as the glass came pouring down. Hyunjin did the same, pressing his forehead to the ground while emitting small whimpers.

When it finally stopped, the two of them got away with minor injuries. Nothing a few stiches couldn't fix and it was easy enough asking Miss Kim to do that. Still, despite being mostly unharmed physically, there was this darkness over their heads. 

Hyunjin didn't say anything. He didn't ask questions when the two of them walked over to where Jisung and Seungmin were. His eyes didn't wander to shoot sceptical looks at Felix. He just kept his head down and walked on wobbly legs. 

Felix didn't speak either, because his mind was spinning. A thousand questions were going through his head. A thousand reasons popping up and getting set aside. He thought back to that feeling he had while he was on the floor. The one that wasn't his. If it wasn't his who's was it? Surely... It had to be... The thing's... But why? Why did it feel that way? And why could Felix feel it too?

They rounded the corner just in time to see Jisung sucker punch Seungmin across the face in the same way Hyunjin had done to the figure. Then Jisung was whining that his hand hurt and Seungmin seemed dazed; mumbling about a concussion. It was then that Felix realised why they hadn't come to help, because he had been through it too. The fist time he saw the figure... The first time it messed with his head... He would never forget the feeling of everyone single one of his insecurities eating him alive.

"He's gone... But..." Seungmin began, looking down at his hands like they held the answers.

"The damage is done?" Felix finished a tiny, sympathetic smile on his lips. Seungmin nodded.

"I guess..." 

Chapter Text

Hyunjin is in trouble...

Get him out of there...

Run...

Call... Scream... Reach out and do something!

GET THE FUCK OUT OF THERE!

A tiny sound escaped through the tube shoved down his throat. The essence of a groan. But it was enough to startle Chan out of whatever he was doing. The older boy sat up immediately, his face looming inches away from Minho's face as the boy's chest rose and fell. No sign of life in the slowly thinning face. 

Chan sighed, his eyes losing their hope once again as he sat back down in his chair and turned back to his laptop. He was back to convincing himself that he was hearing things. He was growing delirious... Maybe he shouldn't visit this much... He clicked on something on the screen. Then clicked something else. Ignoring whatever tricks his mind was playing on him because Minho wasn't making any sounds and he wasn't moving and... That fucking light would not stop flickering!

"Fucking hell! Haven't the nurses noticed that yet!?" Chan huffed looking up at the thing in question.

Then, out of no where; The vase holding the newest bouquet of flowers on Minho's night stand, tumbled off and crashed on the floor. The shattering sound making Chan jump in his seat.

"Shit!" He cursed. Wondering if he had accidentally done that with his chair or when he stood up to check on Minho.
"I need a nurse." 

He wandered out of the room, sliding the clear door closed behind him as he went. The curtains covering it swaying from the movement before settling back into place. It was then that the bulb in the light finally decided to go dark. 

"He found them." Minho's voice echoed around in the darkness of his own mind. The feeling of fear tightening in his chest as he could only wonder what it was doing to his friends now. 

He could feel it. There was some sort of sick connection between him and the figure that let him know when it was near the others. He felt the disgusting pleasure it felt when it was in their heads or when it was hurting them. And he knew it felt both his physical and emotional pain and that it relished in it.

Still, at least in his time trapped bonded to this thing he was learning how to reach out to the others. He could at least give them warnings, even if it meant using all of his strength. At least he was able to get Felix, Jisung and Seungmin to Hyunjin before the figure got to him first. Hyunjin was saved from the same fate Minho was living...

A fate that consisted of terrible visions, immense pain, and that knowledge that he may never be able to escape it. A part of him wished he had died that night when the car hit him. He would be free then. But at the same time, more than a few of his friends would be gone by then too.

The strength he had used while reaching out to Hyunjin and the others made the form of himself, in his mind, tired so he sat down on the pure black floor. His knees pulled up to his chest and back pressed against a vast expanse of nothingness. Somewhere in the vast distance he could hear the beeping from the hospital room, but it was too far away... He was sinking deeper and deeper into this shadow of mind. Soon there would be no way out...

"You warned them." The voice was in his ear, but also echoing all around him. Cold breath fluttering on his cheek, but also on his back and just Infront of his face.

He didn't know how much time had passed, but it must have been enough for one of the others to have either been killed or they chased the thing away. He preyed it was the latter.

"I'm not going to let you kill them." Minho breathed into the darkness, knowing the figure could hear him despite being swallowed in the surroundings.

"You should not interfere." The horse voice croaked, making Minho grit his teeth.

He could already feel the pull. The clawing around his whole body as the darkness tried to pull him away and into another one of those visions. Visions of what the figure saw; what the figure wanted to create. He closed his eyes in acceptance.

Almost instantly he was transported into a new place. The middle of a street with abandoned buildings lining both sides. Old lampposts flickers as the moon rose higher and higher into the sky. Insects swarmed under their light, the mild buzz of electricity and their wings unnerved him. The fact that he could hear that from where he was standing several feet away meant that it was too quiet. Unnaturally quiet...

He never liked when these things started out quietly... 

It was as if the figure had heard him. But he knew to think better of that. He always had worse reactions when things were quiet. The figure liked it that way. He knew what would happen before it did. Still, that did not stop him from screaming as the windows of the buildings around him exploded.

He threw up his hands to protect his head, letting his legs give out underneath him while tiny piece of glass after tiny piece of glass embedded itself into his skin. Pain, prinking from one side of his body to the other, enveloped him. Some pieces dug in and stayed there. Others shot out, through and through, like bullets. It wasn't like normal pain. It never was. Not when the figure controlled the entire situation. If he wanted you to suffer and wail, over and over again, like your whole body was being ripped apart by burning fire, then he would make it that way. He had control. Minho had gone against that control...

"I'd do it again!" He screamed, refusing to let the figure have the full satisfaction of what he wanted.
"I'd go through this as many times as I have to, if it keeps them away from you! You fucking scumbag!"

Click!

He was falling. The floor vanished from beneath him. The air whipped him in the face. It's force shoving what was left of the glass deeper into his skin. No end in sight. Only darkness, pain and whooshing air. How long he was falling for he had no idea. Hours, minutes, seconds? Time was not a construct where he was.

Then he met something solid. Something cold, somewhat squishy and disgustingly pungent. Something so familiar it made his skin crawl before he even opened his eyes. With hesitance Minho placed a hand under himself, pushing himself up enough to plant the other hand down. That was when he felt it. The large bump the smushed with a crack under his weight. It rolled a little, he realised the bump was not attached to something flat. He felt around. The bump had holes. Just a little below to holes... There was teeth.

He jolted back with a scream, eyes snapping open to reveal Changbin's bloody body that had just been beneath his. The boy's eyes were covered by his bloodstained bangs, but Minho could see them open; gazing upwards... empty. His mouth was agape, almost like he had been saying something or was shocked when he died. But that wasn't the worst of it... Of course it wasn't. This was meant to be torture after all.

Changbin's head was facing upwards. While his body... faced the floor...

His neck was twisted like rope...

Minho was going to be sick and before he knew it a long, agonising scream left his mouth. Tears spilling down his cheeks.

Chan sprinted back into the room, along with several nurses. He'd been minutes. Only down the hall when the machines started beeping and Minho's ear splitting scream filled their ears. He raced to him, terrified out of his mind. When he made it into the room, Minho's body was flailing. The nurses were trying to pin him down, while his hands clawed at his chest, his throat, his cheeks, his eyes. The nails dug so deep they left marks. The machines beeped so much they were practically one single high pitched note.

He watched as Minho wretched, back arching, sounding like he was choking as another painfilled scream filled the hospital room. His nails digging so deep into his skin it drew blood this time. The nurses couldn't do anything... Chan could see them struggling to administer any kind of drugs because Minho was moving so much.

The scene had changed. Over and over again. More and more of them dead. Changbin's neck snapped. Jeongin's chest ripped open. Seungmin's form floating. Hyunjin's jaw gone. Jisung's whole body mangled. Felix's eyes missing. Chan's face mangled. Over and over again. Every second a different on of them was in front of him. Their eyes open, but nothing behind them.

Changbin. Jeongin. Seungmin. 

He could touch them. Feel their cold skin.

Hyunjin. Jisung. Felix. Chan.

Dead. They were all dead. Over and over again like some sort of sick carousel.

Changbin. Jeongin. Seungmin.

Hyunjin. Jisung. Felix. Chan.

Dead. Dead. Dead.

"Dead."

He was falling again, but not for long. He plunged into something fluid, unable to stop himself breathing in the liquid. His lungs burned without air. Trying to force the substance back out by coughing yet only causing him to breath more of the stuff him. It was agony. His vision was blurring. He was losing consciousness. Almost unable to feel the hand on his ankle, dragging him down further and further into the darkness. Almost... He wasn't gone yet.

So he looked down. Only to see the figure's mangled snarling face staring up at him. The disgusting fingers wrapped around Minho's ankle in a vice grip.

"Tie his hands down!" A nurse bellowed over Minho's screams and choking.

"Hold him still!"

"He's going into cardiac arrest!"

Chan felt tears sting his eyes, while his hand reached up to cover his mouth. He had never seen anything like this before. He'd never heard screams so terrifying. It was horrifying. Especially when it was someone you knew... He felt helpless.

Minho fought. He wriggled, kicked and clawed in the water, while still struggling for air. Throat burning, lungs begging for air, heart skyrocketing. He fought so much that the figure rolled his eyes and let go, disappearing into the darkness. The water drained, Minho collapsed onto his knees, coughing and spluttering for air. The pain so extreme he felt like he was going to actually die.

As he struggled, greying, flaky feet appeared in his view. He looked up. There stood it. Yellowing teeth, black hood, bloody eye holes, mangled face, gnarled fingers. It gazed down at him, then clicked two of its awful fingers and pain erupted through Minho's body again, as all of the remaining glass shot out of his skin. He couldn't even bring himself to scream before his eyes drooped. His body crumpling beneath him.

In this place... It is in control. In this place, it can do whatever it wants with no effect on itself. This is its world...

"Clear!" 

His body jolted but remained still...

"Clear!"

Another shock. Chan was fully crying now that Minho's heart had gone flat and his body had stopped moving.

"Clear!"

Last one. Thankfully Minho took in a gasp, though his eyes remained closed. The nurses all let out sighs of relief. Then sorted everything out. Getting Minho's bed and gown fixed. The tube back in his throat. One offered Chan water which he accepted. Then, he sat down in the chair, clutching Minho's wrist, feeling the pulse. Weak... But still there...

"Dead..."

Help them...

Chapter Text

"What the fuck..." Chan mumbled stepping out of his car to look at the thousands of pieces of glass and then at the group of four standing a few meters away.

They all seemed dazed, faces pale and eyes glassy, like they were all deep in thought. Hyunjin and Felix were both covered in cuts, their shirts torn and Seungmin was sporting a brand new bruise. Chan could only wonder what the hell kind of trouble they had gotten themselves into.

"Thanks for coming." Felix spoke up in English. His voice all too steady and formal for the Felix Chan knew. But he was like that over the phone too. To the point where Chan wouldn't have suspected anything was wrong if Felix hadn't been calling him directly. They hadn't spoken in months after all...

"What happened? You look like shit and you're hurt!" Chan said in Korean, his tone laced with concern so that the others could hear. 

They all avoided his gaze. Felix mumbled something about it being hard to explain and Jisung muttered something about a fight. Chan wasn't believing it. Not after what had happened in the hospital...

"Minho flat lined again. The nurses just managed to bring him back before you called me." He said and suddenly they were all staring at him. Their eyes so filled with emotions that he couldn't decern a single one.

Hyunjin's hands shook. Jisung exchanged a look with Felix. And Seungmin's shoulders slouched in what could only be described as defeat. Chan studied them. He watched their reactions and interactions. 

He understood that Hyunjin wasn't as big a part in this as the other three were. He understood that Seungmin was fighting something within his mind and therefore didn't have anything left to give right then. He saw the cogs turning over and over in Felix's brain, going a million miles a second. And he felt the pain emanating from Jisung.

Something had happened... no... was happening and they all knew more about it than he did.

"Get in the car." He said gesturing with his thumb to the vehicle. "Let's go for a drive."

"My bike-" Hyunjin began a little half heartedly.

"Leave it." Jisung cut him off. "The tire is fucked anyway."

That was all it took. Soon they were all piled in their seats. All subconsciously taking the ones they always used to sit in, back in the days when Chan used to drive them everywhere. Hyunjin behind the driver. Felix in the middle. Seungmin by the other window. Jisung in the passenger's seat, in charge of the music. Only this time... there was no music...

"Speak." Chan said as he started to drive away from the carnage of a street they were just in. "I've got time. I don't care how long the story is."

He noticed Jisung's knee start to bounce. He saw in the mirror as Felix played with his hands and looked down. How Seungmin stared absently out the window. The way Hyunjin pulled his knees up to his chest. They weren't going to say. He knew from all the years they'd spent together in the principles office that their lips were sealed. Fine... he had ways around that.

"Anyone want a milkshake?" Chan had to fight down a small smile as all four boys looked at him. The same as ever.

Chan drives down a few roads and pulls up outside the small milkshake parlour they always used to go to together. They all get out of the car and walk in silently. The younger boys were all clearly still shaken and didn't even notice as the old lady greets them with an excited smile. They used to be regulars there and then one day she stopped seeing all of them... She never thought she'd see them again... but now is clearly not the time for her to catch up with them.

"Our usuals, please Mrs Kang." Chan says with a smile to the old lady and she nods and gets to work, still having all of their favourite orders memorised after all of these months.

Chan sits at the table with the others and takes a look at each of them. He's starting to grow frustrated with the sombre and secretive tension going around. He's sick of all these secrets he can tell they're keeping and his mind is still spinning from what happened to Minho in the hospital. He wants answers.

"Alright I'm sick of this. Tell me what the hell is going on. I know it's something and I know it's not normal." Chan gives them all a hard look one by one and crosses his arms. Felix lets out a sigh.

"Hyung-"

"Don't try and brush this off. I know this has something to do with Minho because since the accident you all have started talking to each other again. And after what I saw today I'm starting to suspect that this isn't just some surface level car accident. Vases don't fall on their own. People don't scream like they're being tortured when they're supposed to be having a seizure." 

Chan says and his words draw all of their attention. They stare at him for a long time; mulling over what he said, trying to figure out what to say in their heads. It's not long after their milkshakes get delivered that Jisung finally speaks up. He and Felix explain everything to both Hyunjin and Chan. Once their finished everyone's finished their milkshakes and sitting in complete silence again.

Chan takes a deep breath.  

"It is coming after all of us?" He says softly spinning his milkshake glass around with his fingers.

"Yes." Jisung nods and bounces his leg from anxiety and fear.

"Why?" Chan asks.

"We don't know." Seungmin answers this time.

"This is insane." Hyunjin whispers and pulls his long blonde hair from stress.

"It is." Chan agrees and stops spinning his glass. He just stares at it for a few seconds. "But we need to tell Changbin and Jeongin about this no matter how insane it is. No one else can go through whatever the hell Minho is going through..."

Chan clenches his jaw and thinks back to how he watched Minho rip his skin open with his nails as he screamed in pure terror... No matter how insane it is, he'll believe it. He'll believe anything that explains what happened... Something has always felt off to him anyway...

Chapter Text

Changbin laughs, relishing in the moment as his team wins their practice match and gets to bask in the glory of not having to clean up the gym. All thanks to him too. Not to pat himself on the back or anything but if Changbin hadn't been channeling his inner Kuroko, then he's pretty sure they wouldn't have been able to pull off half of the plays they did today. Now Changbin gets to grin and go home while the other half of the basketball team, the ones wearing blue bibs (the side that lost today's practice match), cleans the gym. He might just treat himself as a reward for his good work...

Changbin walks through the bright streets to his home, happily chewing on a pastry he bought from the local bakery as he goes. Changbin lives in the nicer side of town. It's kind of close to where Chan lives, maybe a little closer to the heart of the town. Changbin's parents are all about image and how they present themselves. So, they'll live in the most impressive area with the nicest house they can afford... even if they themselves are hardly ever there. Changbin's parents stay at two locations; one in the main city and one in their hometown. Changbin sees them for about half a year at a time, but he doesn't mind. His parents aren't bad people, they're just busy people.

It's been a weird day for Changbin. It started with a pounding headache and then he got to school only to see Felix, Jisung AND Seungmin hanging for the first time in weeks. Then as the other students were leaving and Changbin was going to basketball practice, he saw Hyunjin get into a disagreement with a bunch of the other guys in motorcycle gangs. He's been more aware of his old friends today, than he has been since their group split up... Which is probably why he decided to take a different route home.

The colours of the different on either side of the street are warm and welcoming. There are bright signs and everyone passing him has a smile or contempt look on their face. This is the kind of atmosphere that can only really be found near the heart of the town. But he also used to have that atmosphere whenever he was around the stupid giggling faces of his old friends... Speaking of which, Changbin lets out a huff of air through his nose as he passes the brightly coloured milkshake bar he and the others used to frequent.

He doesn't look at it as he walks past. He's in a reasonably good mood and that will just bring up painful memories of things he wants back. Instead, Changbin keeps his eyes forward and head high, humming a soft tune into the cool autumn air while he walks with his hands in his pockets.

However its as he rounds the corner of that street, still humming that tune, he stops and completely freezes where he stands because at the end of the street in front of him, standing in the phone box on the corner. Is Hwang Hyunjin and just outside that phone box with his fingers fiddling together in what Changbin knows is anxiety... if Felix...

Neither of them clock him. But both of them look dishevelled and cut up. Hyunjin looks like he's on a phone call kicking his feet about with the phone held up to his ear... Based on the look on his face its probably not going well. Even from this distance Changbin can tell when Hyunjin rolls his eyes. 

He goes to turn around. Kind of terrified at the prospect of running into his old best friends who he misses all the time. He might miss them but he doesn't know what to say to them. How do you explain saying such horrible things without it sounding insincere.

'Hey I'm sorry for using your biggest insecurities against you, but it felt like my body was possessed and the word vomit just spewed out.'?

Yeah that'll go over great. Totally not insincere sounding at all even if thats exactly how Changbin felt when the big fight happened. Hyunjin and Felix probably ran into each other by coincidence and are probably talking about Minho, no need for Changbin to get involved. Nope none. Even if he wants to talk to them so bad.

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Felix waits outside the phone box as Hyunjin calls his mother and lets her know that he won't be going home that night. Felix can practically hear the bullshit she's spouting down the phone about Hyunjin just wanting to stay at his father's and how he should just live with him full time and not bother coming back because he clearly doesn't love her anymore. Felix didn't realise how bad Hyunjin's home situation got in their time apart.

Its as the situation starts escalating and Hyunjin's voice starts rising, does Felix glance around awkwardly and catches a glimpse of the back of a very familiar figure in a basketball jacket for their school. Felix gasps, his heart thumping in his chest. He glances at Hyunjin who is still trying to calm his mother and decides he won't be missed for a few minutes. So, Felix sprints down the street after the figure he knows is Changbin.

However when Felix gets around the corner, to his surprise, he isn't just met with the sight of Changbin, but also Jeongin. Both of which are in an awkward kind of stand off that only gets worse when they both see Felix approach.

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Seconds before

Changbin walks at a quick pace with his head down and his hands in his pockets, too caught up in his thought to pay attention. Its as he plows ahead, does his distraction make him pay and he collides with someone taller than him but with a smaller build. immediately Changbin's head shoots up and he grabs the boy's arm before he can fall over. 

"Shit, I'm so sorry."

He says with an apologetic smile, steadying the boy and glances up at his face. Then Changbin's smile falls and his eyes go wide with shock... Jeongin stands in front of him looking just as surprised, with a fresh looking black eye blooming on his face. And the kid also looks like he's cradling his arm... like he's been beaten up... It makes Changbin's long forgotten hyung sense kick in and he's about to go off asking questions about it, when Felix rounds the corner and stares in surprise at the both of them...

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Bumping into Changbin was bad enough. But running into Felix and being dragged to the milkshake shop where the others were, was a whole other level for Jeongin. Jeongin sits, squeezed between Changbin and Felix awkwardly with his shoulders brought up to his ears and his eyes fixed on his lap. The others around him are silent, they have been since Felix dragged him by the wrist into the shop.

"Okay. So... What's going on? Why are we all here?"

Changbin asks with his arms crossed over his chest and a slightly confused, slightly cautious tone to his voice.

Jeongin feels Felix shuffle uncomfortably on the other side of him. Its so awkward, but what makes it worse is that the others are all exchanging these knowing looks with each other every time Jeongin looks up. Its like they don't know he and Changbin seeing them do this and it makes him feel more exiled than he was before.

"Really no one?" Changbin asks again when no one answers his first two questions and Jeongin can hear the agitation in his voice now.

"Its kind of hard to explain." Jisung sighs and rubs the back of his neck nervously.

"You say that every time." Seungmin mumbles under his breath and takes a sip of his milkshake. Chan slaps him on the arm and Jisung lets out an exasperated sigh.

"I'm sorry. But you try explaining to people that some weird fucked up ghost thing with freaky ass powers is trying to kill us all because we caught it on video!" Jisung whispers shouts at him and the huffs in annoyance.

Jeongin looks up from his lap with his mouth half open only to shut it quickly after because his jaw hurts from where he was beaten up earlier. Next to him Changbin frowns, clearly annoyed, Jeongin can feel the anger coming off of him in waves and its making him uncomfortable and a little afraid Changbin will lash out.

"What the fuck?" Changbin's voice is cold. Jeongin curls in on himself more and leans closer to Felix, who surprisingly puts his hand on Jeongin's arm as if to comfort him...

"It's a long story, and it sounds far fetched, and it's totally understandable if you find it unbelievable... But after everything I've seen today when I was visiting Minho and the state this lot were in when I picked them up, you should hear them out." Chan says, his voice sincere.

Jeongin watches Changbin's face in the corner of his eye, not wanting to look directly at him but still wondering if he'll listen. He does, it like going back in time and watching Chan talk Changbin down when he got high strung. It makes Jeongin want to cry a little, so he looks down at his ripped trousers again and plays with the thread on one of the holes.

The group starts explaining...

When they finish Changbin has a look of disbelief on his face and Jeongin feels like he can't breath... Ghosts were real? That meant-

"That was such bullshit, I can't even believe you guys just tried to spout that shit to me." Changbin scoffs and gets out of his seat with a unimpressed smirk on his face. Jeongin recoils slightly so that Changbin doesn't accidentally touch him and get pissed off about him being in the way.

"Changbin, it's not a lie. I swear." Felix gets up too grabbing Changbin's arm so he can't leave.

The youngest sits there, between them, as Changbin tries to pull away and Felix pleads with him. He was already on edge just being there... then they mentioned ghosts and it turned into anxiety... Now the harsh movements and raising voices of the entire group are making it hard for him to breath. Fuck, he never used to be like this, he used to be able to put up with this, but the last few months of getting bullied constantly have seriously fucked with him. He wishes they would just stop! Why has everything got to be a fight!?

"Ghosts, you're trying to convince me ghosts are real! We're not kids anymore guys. We don't need some stupid excuse to go on adventures again! If you want to do that just say sorry and I'll fucking forgive you, but don't create some stupid lie because you're too afraid to admit what we all said was wrong!"

Changbin's yells make Jeongin's hands shoot up to his ears and his breathing become difficult. He can't relive that day again, watching them all fight for no reason and getting ripped to shreds by their words for simply being there.

"Yes! Okay it was wrong! But this isn't so fucked up story Changbin! Minho is dying because of this, do you honestly think we'd make something up about that!?" Seungmin yells back his voice hard with suppressed emotions.

"Ghosts aren't real!" Changbin yells back in frustration.

"Yes they are we've seen it!" Jisung yells back.

Jeongin grits his teeth and screws up his eyes. His anxiety is starting to mix with anger because none of them know anything. Their shouting makes him uneasy. Their words make him frustrated. If anyone knows anything about ghosts it him and this creature does not sound like a fucking ghost.

"Then where is the proof!?" Changbin demands.

"Look at us! Look at fucking Felix! It almost killed us an hour ago!" Jisung pulls his hair in frustration, but the sheer inaccuracies of his words make Jeongin snap.

"Ghosts can't fucking hurt people, its a damn curse!" Jeongin yells over the top of them and stands up between Changbin and Felix, his breathing still unsteady.

They all look at him in both confusion and shock, before Chan clears his throat and gestures for them all to sit back down. They follow his lead, including Changbin with some reluctance. As they do Chan gives a small apologetic smile to the woman behind the counter for their little argument. She nods in forgiveness.  

"How do you know that?" Seungmin asks once they're all sat. They're all looking at Jeongin now, who find the attention uncomfortable so he goes back to looking at his lap.

"My grandma is spiritual remember? She tells me all kinds of things..." Jeongin mumbles plainly, hoping to god they accept that reason and don't push him for more because he really doesn't want to talk about the fact that he used to see ghosts as a kid. That was what started the bullying.

"So... It's a curse?" Felix breaths thoughtfully and absentmindedly takes a glance out the window at Hyunjin still in the phone box. He goes back to thinking for a second, when suddenly his head shoots back around. He can just tell from Hyunjin's expression that something is wrong.