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"We don't need to keep this going, Dae-jung." The rumble of the melodic voice calls into the chill air, echoing back.
The rotting wood rattles as a blue-haired figure leaps over the gate, placing some distance between himself and the raven behind him. The raven flips over the gate with ease, not even needing to catch his breath before giving chase once more to the man.
"You and I both know you won't be able to go much longer, my love."
And Dae-jung knows he's correct. For as long as they'd been dancing together, Ye-jun had always had better stamina than him. Than all of them in STAR*STRUCK. He always had perfect control of his breathing to keep up the flow of their choreography and looking amazing while doing it. Sometimes, it didn't even look like he broke a sweat at all. And even now, he doesn't look exhausted. While Dae-jung can feel his lungs bordering on collapsing in upon themselves.
There was never a world in which Dae-jung would have been able to outrun Ye-jun.
Dae-jung snaps his head to the side and pulls down the wooden palette leaning on the wall, blocking the path behind him. Then with a leap forward, he's sprinting once more, leaving the irritated man behind him to destroy the well-placed palette.
Regardless of whether or not Dae-jung can actually make it, he has no intention of giving up so easily.
Ye-jun's demands are not one that he can risk succumbing to.
Once distance has been put between them, Dae-jung ducks himself down into a moldy, crumbled room, leaning down behind an old locker to catch his breath while he can. Thankfully, the sound of the generator running across the room is loud enough to drown his panting while he rests.
He knows it won't be long until Ye-jun is after him once more. But even a minute of rest in the round is valuable. The smallest bit of stamina recovery can make or break his situation.
He leans his head back on the locker, hearing the red paint crumble off of the rusted metal against his hair. His eyes flicker close, lashes kissing the top of his cheek delicately.
While they were working together in STAR*STRUCK, Dae-jung never imagined that it'd come to this scenario between them. With all members of their group gone at the hands of Ye-jun himself, Dae-jung is the last one who can escape Ye-jun's plans.
Had he been younger, he'd have dreamed of walking along side Ye-jun, hand in hand to face their future together. Yet instead, here Dae-jung is, running for his life against the man he once admired and even loved. Running from the fate that awaits him at the end of that bloody hammer. With no power and no strength, he can hardly fight back when Ye-jun is present in his round.
Any other killer, Dae-jung may have a chance, but with Ye-jun...
"Dae-jung, my love? I know you're nearby. You couldn't have gone far. I can feel you." Ye-jun's voice echos from the hallway, causing him to tense up against the locker. His shoulders push up and he presses his back to the metal, quieting his breathing down.
Ye-jun will always focus on him. As soon as he catches wind that the idol is in the same round as him, Ye-jun will ignore all other survivors in favor of reuniting with his beloved in hopes of finally fulfilling his one desire.
And while that makes it a very easy round for other survivors to fix the generators to power the gate, it leaves Dae-jung having no choice but to run from Ye-jun for the entire 15 minutes of the round. And it is exhausting.
"You can't hide from me forever, Dae-jung." He flinches as he hears that Ye-jun's voice has come closer. He has no more time to rest. He needs to be ready to move.
With the generator burying the sound of his shuffling, Dae-jung pushes himself to his feet, looking around at his room to see what he can work with. There's a broken wall he can use to get to the room next door. That'll be a good escape.
He reaches down to his belt to pull up the small tracker that he has attached to him. An item all survivors in The Mist were given to progress their rounds. There are only two generators left to complete and Aaaqil is on one of them. It won't be long before the gates are powered. He should start making his way outside to get to the gate.
As expected, none of the survivors have been injured thus far. He's thankful for Ye-jun's predictable nature, at the very least. If him keeping Ye-jun on his tail is what is needed in order to possibly save the lives of the rest of his teammates, then so be it. The sacrifice of one to better the majority.
Even if that sacrifice may very well be Dae-jung's very life.
"Found you, my love~."
Dae-jung leaps away from the locker just as the sharp end of a hammer lodges into the metal, barely inches away from where his head was previously. How had he managed to close in on Dae-jung like that without him noticing?
Dae-jung turns and sprints to the next room over while Ye-jun unlodges his hammer from the already crumbling metal. He gives the hammer a flip, before gripping it in his hand loosely, and giving chase once more to the idol in the next room. After all, he had no intention of actually hurting Dae-jung. How could he ever?
... Well... maybe just a scratch. The Mist will punish him if he doesn't harm anyone at all. Something of a... free round... bores The Mist half to death. He loves Dae-jung with all his heart, but the risk of The Mist possibly seperating them forever... He'll just have to give Dae-jung a bit of a poke. He doesn't have a choice.
"Come on, Dae-jung... You know I'd never hurt you."
"You're a liar! I don't-- I don't even know you anymore."
Dae-jung sprints up the stairs of the fire exit, gasping for air already. The rest was hardly enough for him to regain all of his stamina. However, he no longer has time to run.
"Well, even if I did, I know you're strong, love. You could bear with it." That's enough proof of his bad intentions. Ye-jun could never keep his word.
He leaps over the metal gate blocking the stairs and continues up before ducking back through the broken window to return inside. Shouldn't fire exits cover all floors? Why doesn't this go all the way to the roof?
"You're getting tired, my love." He's right. Dae-jung can feel his heart beating out of his chest. He can hardly feel his legs anymore and he wants nothing more than to sleep.
"Stop calling me that!" Dae-jung calls over his shoulder, ignoring the chuckle behind him to focus on finding his way through this maze of a hospital to the main staircase.
"There's no need to run, darling. You need to rest. Just come into my arms and I'll let you catch your breath. We can continue afterwards." Ye-jun tilts his head, his lopsided grin peeking under his dark hair.
"As if!" Dae-jung sharply turns into the stairwell, his sharp footsteps echoing on every step he jumps up. He's so close.
As if on cue, his tracker lets out several sharp beeps from his hip, indicating that the gate had been powered. Once he can get to the roof, he can escape. However, it also alerts the killer behind him.
"You don't need to go into that, Dae. Stay a bit longer. We have so much to talk about." They have nothing to talk about. But the desperation has become clearer on Ye-jun's expression, because he seems to be taking each step much further now. Had he been holding back on Dae-jung all this time?
He has no time to linger on his thoughts. Ye-jun is quickly catching up now and Dae-jung is tiring out. He might not make it to the final staircase on the helicopter pad at this rate. He can practically feel Ye-jun's breath on his neck, sending a shiver through his spine. He squeezes his eyes shut.
"Dae!" A feminine voice calls from above him. He snaps his eyes open and looks up the staircase, locking eyes with a brunette standing above him, clutching the railing. More importantly, his eyes land on the electric blue softball bat coming towards him. Mamo! He's so glad to see her here.
He might just make it after all.
He reaches out his delicate hand for the bat, and weakly clutches it in his hand. His grip is loose, causing it the top of the bat to hit the concrete floor below them. He doesn't have time to properly adjust his grip though. He'll listen to Mamo's scolding about his position later.
He brings another weak hand around his previous one, then changes his footing on the staircase, spinning around and blindly swinging the blue bat behind him. And thankfully for him, the edge of the bat collides with the ribcage of the killer behind him, making a rather sickening thud against him. Ye-jun, robbed of his breath, steps back from Dae-jung and clutches his side, gasping for air.
Dae-jung hesitates in that moment, fearing that perhaps he had severely hurt Ye-jun with his unprofessional swing. Killer or not, Dae-jung can't bear the thought of hurting anyone that easily. He lowers the bat down to one hand, but before he can make any move to check on the raven, a strong, calloused hand grabs his free wrist and pulls him up the stairs.
He turns his focus back into his path up the stairs as Mamo drags him up, saving him a bit of effort. "I know you're a softie, but we don't have time to worry, man!" They truly don't. Because as they reach the top step, Ye-jun had already regained his bearings and is leaping up the stairs four steps at a time, grinning at Dae-jung with an ominous chuckle spilling from his lips.
"Haha.. hah... I love it when you act tough."
Dae-jung shivers as the cold air from the roof seeps through his shirt. The last staircase is right there, and he can see the mist from the escape gate seeping over the edge of the helicopter pad like waterfalls. He's so close.
He takes the steps up to the pad two at a time with Mamo guiding him. At the top, Kelvin and Arlo are waiting to make sure everyone gets in uninjured. He's reached safety at last. He can finally catch his breath.
"Dae-jung!"
Against all better judgement, the idol looks back through the gaps of the metal platforming to meet Ye-jun's gaze as he rests his hand on the railing of the final staircase leading up to him. However, he doesn't take the first step up. It's as if Ye-jun already knows he's been defeated.
Instead, he only watches Dae-jung with eyes of adoration.
"You'll come back, I know it. And when you do, I know you'll see it my way, my love!"
It's a statement that is completely unfounded. They will meet again, The Mist will make sure of it. But Dae-jung will never see the world as Ye-jun does. He will never love Ye-jun again, nor will he ever give himself up to him.
"Dae-jung! It's time to go! Come on!" Dae-jung glances back to Arlo standing behind him, frantically pushing Mamo and Kelvin into the exit.
They'll meet again. And when they do, this chase will begin once more.
Dae-jung turns his head back to Ye-jun for a final glance and is quickly met with those emerald eyes widening in surprise, leaving the killer below him looking shocked. Dae-jung doesn't have time to figure out why that is as he turns back to the escape, stepping away from the edge to make his way over to Arlo.
He misses the way that Ye-jun's grin widens to show his sharp canines, the flush rising to his cheeks.
"I knew it! You still love me, Dae-jung!" He's completely delusional. Dae-jung will never love him again. Not like this. "I'll see you again soon, my darling!"
No amount of punishing from The Mist after this round will take away the pure ecstasy that Ye-jun feels at this moment. This is the flutter in his stomach that Dae-jung has made him feel time and time again. He'll never forget this feeling.
Nor will Arlo ever forget the terror that washed over him as he watched Dae-jung turn around, walking past him and disappearing into the escape. Arlo quickly follows behind him, the escape closing behind him, leaving Ye-jun Im alone on the roof of the hospital.
His legs give out under him as he sinks to the floor, clutching his chest to slow his racing heartbeat with one hand. The other palm presses to his burning cheeks, covering his mouth before he can drool at the mere thought of his next meeting with his beloved Dae-jung Pak.
-
Arlo would never bring it up to anyone, not even to Dae-jung himself. But that day, he came to a chilling realization about the beloved idol that lives amongst them in the survivors' camp.
Because the manic grin that was on Dae-jung's face when he turned around is unmistakable.
Obsession.
Dae-jung is no innocent damsel in distress. He's so much more than the kindhearted idol that does his best to raise morale and treat injuries in the camp.
This game of cat and mouse he has with the killer Ye-jun Im is exactly what the idol seeks out anytime he is placed into a round. That day, Dae-jung got to be the cat in their little game.
And nothing is going to keep him from getting the thrill of chase through his beloved Ye-jun Im.