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Hyuna watched the round from behind the scenes, putting pressure on her wound and making sure Mizi stayed all at the same time. She knew how important Till was to Mizi, and Hyuna considered him important too, but she couldn’t risk her sisterly love for him letting her go rogue.
Till…wasn’t doing so hot to put it lightly. As much as Hyuna enjoyed his music and singing, his visible depression was making him fail compared to Luka.
Luka was so calm and graceful as always, the lights making his eyes shine as if they were the suns of her universe. Hyuna felt her stomach churn from that thought, shaking it out of her head.
She tried to focus back on the task ahead, but she couldn’t help but wonder what went through that beautiful, revolting man’s head.
Luka kept his composure, as always. If only Till could say the same.
Luka watched him out of the corner of his eye, his depressed and tired look clear to even the aliens he was sure. It was pathetic, if Luka was to be honest, but he couldn’t help but feel it was a shame.
Till’s rebellious spirit in the past reminded him of Hyuna. They were both so passionate and more than willing to put up a fight. Luka admired that, for he knew he never could.
His body was proof of that, he knew his bones were visible underneath his skin because he was forced to look in the mirror before every performance. Luka hated that, he hated how he looked. He despised looking in the mirror, despised how his owner treated him like a glass doll for him to dress up as he pleased.
That’s why he let Mizi beat him up in round 5. In fact, he relished in it, feeling satisfaction from his owner’s distraught. As his owner went on a tangent about that “dreadful pet”, all Luka could think about was how good the pain had felt, how much he enjoyed his perfect, sick body getting ruined.
Luka wouldn’t consider inflicting pain on himself as rebelling, but it was the closest thing he could do. He had been hoping Till would beat him senseless, beat him to a pulp in a blind rage on Mizi’s behalf.
But he didn’t. Till’s eyes were empty, he was trying not to feel anything at all. That disappointed Luka.
Luka knew Ivan’s death had left a great mark on Till, whether he reciprocated his love or not. So he pulled the same tricks he did on Mizi.
A part of him knew it would work, but another wished it’d put the fire back in Till’s eyes and make him go violent.
But no. He just stared in terror, Luka able to violently remind someone of a past someone once again.
Oh well.
Luka would miss Till. He’d miss the man that resembled Hyuna, he’d miss the fire in his eyes. He even pulled off eyeliner just as well as Hyuna, but his eyes would be gone now.
Luka didn’t even bother in looking at the scores behind him, he knew he was going to win.
“You’re almost done, right?”
“Yes,” Hyuna reassured, tempted to keep one hand on Mizi so she wouldn’t fulfill the temptation she could tell she had and run to the crowd. That’d be too risky.
Hyuna had managed to go into the points system, and Luka was in the lead.
Hyuna took a deep breath, trying to ignore the shaking in her hands as she went to Luka’s slider.
She knew what dragging it down to zero would do. Luka would be eliminated, he’d be gone for good. She wanted to be happy about this, she wanted to be able to cheer and spit in his face for what he had done.
But she couldn’t. The good memories they had shared long ago consumed her, and, as much as she hated it, she couldn’t stop admiring his beauty on stage. He was a graceful angel, a musical god.
Hyuna knew deep down they were all victims here, even that man without a heart. Maybe if things were different, if they had all been raised well, Luka would be a good person, the person Hyuna had thought he was so long ago.
“Hyuna!”
Mizi’s voice made Hyuna jump out of her thoughts. She knew she had to do this, Till deserved to live more than him. Even if losing Luka would still hurt.
She slid Luka’s slider down all the way to 0.
Mizi sighed with relief, hugging her from the side before rushing off. Hyuna couldn’t even process it, her body shaking even more as she slid Till’s slider all the way up for good measure.
Hyuna collapsed against the chair, her wound’s pain seeming to only amplify as she tried not to hyperventilate.
As much as she tried to deny it, she had sacrificed a god.
Luka had wondered if Hyuna was watching this round, he had seen her in round 5 after all.
As the song came to a close, one look behind him had confirmed she had been.
How else would he have 0 points and Till 100?
Luka did enjoy Till’s music, but there was no way he could’ve beat him when his passion had been all gone. Hyuna had rigged it.
His gorgeous Hyuna had killed him.
Luka couldn’t help but smile. Her rebellious spirit hadn’t faltered, she went as far as to kill her god.
The love of his life was killing him. Luka couldn’t help but laugh from that.
He ignored how Till and all of the aliens looked at him in horror, their confusion being only amusing to Luka.
Sure, Luka had always fought to survive, but he would embrace death. He wasn’t going to be pathetic and sob, he wasn’t going to try to fight against it.
No, he’d let Hyuna crucify him.
Luka turned to Till, he could tell he was being reminded of round 6, of an old friend dying right before his eyes. For some reason, Luka found sadistic joy in that, and he approached Till.
The thought of kissing him goodbye just like Ivan did passed him, but he decided against it. No, even Luka had some limits. That’d be too far for even him.
Instead, Luka merely hugged him, squeezing the confused man tight. He put his hand underneath the green tank top, feeling the black binder’s strap underneath it. At least Till was free to be the man he was, Luka hadn’t been free at all.
Luka whispered directly into Till’s ear.
“Thank you, Till. Thank you for being my last opponent, for being the last human I shall see.”
Till was too stunned to speak, but Luka didn't mind. He expected it, and a part of him even preferred it.
Luka stayed hugging Till until he was shot in the head, the god getting a quick death. The fresh corpse collapsed onto the ground, Till quickly dropping him.
Till instinctively let go of Luka, horror consuming him. He was gone. He was really gone.
Fuck.
Why? Why did people keep having to die right in front of him, as they’re holding him tightly?
Till could feel himself start to hyperventilate, the new trauma mixing in with the trauma from the previous round’s. Sure, he hadn’t reciprocated Ivan’s feelings, but he had been a friend in some twisted way. Of course he missed and grieved him.
Till never got to know Luka well, and even if he had despised him for his tricks in round 5, he still found himself grieving him. He seemed so willing to die, just like Ivan had, it sickened Till to his core.
For a second, he thought he might vomit from it all, all of the emotions and lack of air making his stomach churn and his guts beg for release.
But then he heard a familiar voice, someone in the crowd cheering.
Till turned to see Mizi. For a second, he was ecstatic, beyond relieved that she was safe and ok.
But that quickly vanished as he heard her words, as he realized what was happening.
“YEAHHH! YOU WON, YOU BEAT HIM!”
Till couldn’t stop himself from collapsing to his knees, unable to tear his eyes away from her.
Was she really cheering for Luka being dead? Sure, she of all people had every right to loathe him, but it still rubbed Till the wrong way. It felt so…off from the Mizi he knew.
Did he know her at all?
She had her eyes closed the whole time she was cheering him on, and it made him remember something—no—someone important.
Sua. The loser of round 1, the girl who’s death brought Mizi to her knees and the girl Luka had made her remember in round 5.
Maybe Till was overthinking it, but the way Mizi refused to open her eyes as she cheered him on, how she had beaten Luka bloody in a fit of rage in round 5…
He couldn’t help but wonder if she was visualizing Sua winning instead of him.