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Till was tired.
He clutched the mic in front of him with quivering hands. Till tries to sing, but no harmonies or tunes leave his throat.
He was so tired.
Till wanted nothing but the sweet release of death right now. Ivan was singing perfectly beside him, Till can’t bring himself to look at Ivan right now.
His breath hitches, and before he knew it— the crowd was staring at him, waiting for him to sing. Till does not.
“May they linger on your tongue,”
Till clutches the mic, he wanted to drown in Ivan. He can’t wrap his head around why. All Till knows, is that— only one of them will be walking out of this stage alive.
It would not be Till.
“You can break me apart.”
The grey-haired man sighs, he knows this was Ivan’s line— but he needed to do this, right now. If it meant the guarantee of Ivan’s survival.
”Notice my pain, and mend me right now.”
Ivan let out a soft gasp in amusement, he turns to his opponent, Till. The opponent in question was stealing Ivan’s lines, Till shut his eyes and kept singing.
“To quiet my fears i’ll drown in you.”
Till did not want Ivan to think he was purposely trying to lose. This was the only way, Till forces his expression to look more lively and fierce. The aliens stared at him with both awe and sneers, the sneers directed at him were definitely the supporters of Ivan.
”Sick of these nights to come,”
He makes his voice higher, Till knew that no matter what, Ivan was still going to pull that stunt.
Till remembers being drugged in the casino by Urak, he was starting to wake up, but his eyes did not lift. Till felt gentle hands cup his cheeks, it was a touch he was familiar with.
It was Ivan’s hands, “I’ll save you.” Is what Ivan whispered, thinking Till was unconscious.
That night was what made Till decide on this. Till knew he admired Mizi, but at the same time— he knew his feelings with Ivan were deeper than with Mizi’s.
Till regrets not being able to know whether or not Mizi was alive. But he had already decided.
“To be engulfed in silence,”
Ivan started harmonizing with Till. That was bad, Till stopped singing when Ivan’s voice pitched with his perfectly. Till was aware of what happened during round one, the first song to be in complete harmony. The aliens loved it, but Till would rather his score not tie with Ivan’s.
“In your gaze where i am seen.”
Till knows how low his points were, but he needed to prove to Ivan he wasn’t trying to lose, although he full well… was trying to lose.
As the round went on, they were both practically battling for lines. Till kept interrupting Ivan and stealing his lines, while Ivan kept silent during Till’s.
Till looked at Ivan with a grin. Ivan’s eyes widened for a second, before he hesitantly started smiling as well.
He needed to distract Ivan.
Till noticed that the song was about to end, only a few more lines before it was completely over and the loser was decided.
He takes one quick deep breath, Till throws his microphone stand, but not the mic itself on the floor and approaches Ivan. Ivan was visibly very confused.
Till did not want to go without regrets.
Till regrets not knowing Ivan better.
He takes Ivan’s cheeks and pulls him in to his lips. Ivan’s eyes became impossibly more wide. Till clashes his teeth against Ivan’s, it was by no means a gentle kiss.
Till remembers Ivan asking to practice kissing on the mouth with him.
Ivan’s hand hold’s Till’s hand and reciprocates the kiss. Till wanted to cry, he had Ivan distracted. This was definitely in the violation of rules, if he could just make Ivan bleed a little…
Till bites Ivan’s lip, and blood starts to drop. Ivan flinches, but does not pull away despite the pain. Till’s pulls away with a smile. He and Ivan both grab their mics.
“Consume me, yes me, oh, oh…”
The climax of the song was here, both of their harmonized in this one— this time. Till turned to his side to look at Ivan, unsurprised that Ivan was already looking. Their eyes met.
Till purposefully missed the correct pitches and notes at the last second.
Ivan smiles at him, exhausted and Till smiles back.
A tear falls from his eye.
A loud gunshot disrupted their hearing. The crowd gasps as a pool of bloods spills on the floor.
Till gasps loudly, the aliens must have a personal vendetta against him— did they just use a bomb on him or—
Till’s entire eye was gone, shot off— bombed off, he really doesn’t know. He feels all the blood inside his body spill.
It hurts.
His eye was blown off.
Ivan was staring at him.
His mouth was wide open.
Till stares back.
Ivan was rushing to his side.
Before Ivan could fully reach Till, another shot fired— straight into Till’s neck. He gasps a gargle of blood, he feels like he had been burned.
He was starting to lose consciousness, His head was on Ivan’s lap. Ivan must have cushioned his fall, Till tries to smile. He fails.
“…C-cheer up…”
Till whispered as Ivan held his cheek, Ivan’s hand was on his neck— trying to stop the bleeding.
“Please…. Till.. Don’t leave me, please..”
Ivan’s tears started to fall on Till’s cheeks. His entire right eye was blown off, and they decided that wasn’t enough. They shot his neck too. Till closes his eyes with Ivan in thought.
Till feels a bright light blind his eyes, although they were closed. He groans in frustration, did he just wake up before being cremated?
”Turn the fucking light off, man.”
”I can’t, this shits automatic.”
Till’s eyes snap open, what the fuck? It was a female voice, and a voice he had not heard in a very long time.
”Sua?!” He yells, sitting-up. It was Sua, indeed. She was wearing the same white dress in round one, stained with gallons of her own blood.
”Great to see you, Till.” Sua rolls her one singular eye, the left side of her face was bleeding all over— and her left eye was gone. Wow, did she die the same way he did?
Till’s eyes flicker around the place he was in. “Damn, where am i?” He mumbles.
”The afterlife, dumbass.” The girl shakes her head. “I did not know you liked Ivan like that— i saw that stunt you pulled, by the way.”
Till rolls his eyes, “Don’t even start.” He yawns, “Can dead people feel sleepy?” Sua nods to his dumb question.
Till stood up, feeling a dull pain in his chest. He looked down, there was a small hole from a bullet. Okay, was the alien a fan of Ivan?? Why did they keep shooting him even after he died??
“Your right eye is literally gone, by the way. And your neck is still bleeding. They stop hurting the moment you die, but you’re stuck with those injuries till the end of time.” Sua explained for him.
He nodded, “Right.”
”… Do you actually love Ivan?”
”If i didn’t, why would i purposefully lose? Let’s put our thinking caps on for a second.”
Sua huffs, “whatever. Oh, and for confirmation, the alien who shot you was indeed a die-hard Ivan fan.” Till groans, he stands up.
He looks around, the place was white, and ridiculously bright. There was a huge television in the center, with a giant sofa in front.
”Does the afterlife always look like this?”
”This is where the souls who haven’t moved on stay.”
Till nods, he already knows that Sua was waiting for Mizi. Those two were inseparable, and Till was stupid for not realizing their love for each other earlier.
”Oh? Sua, who’s that?”
Sua and Till turned around, the childish voice belonged to a kid with tanned skin, grey eyes and brown hair. He was also bleeding very heavily in the head, noted.
Sua smiled, “Hyun-Woo! This is Till, one of my friends. Till, this is Hyun-Woo.” She introduced them, Hyun-Woo died at a young age— much was obvious.
Till crouches down to meet Hyun-Woo’s height, “Hey,” he smiles, and Hyun-Woo reciprocates.
“I’ve seen you on the Television, i really liked your performance!” Hyun-Woo happily giggles. Till looks at the child in awe, he was so adorable. Till pats Hyun-Woo’s head with a warm feeling in his chest.
”You’re a cute kid.” Till comments, making Hyun-Woo pout in embarrassment.
Till stared up at Sua, “To be sure, you didn’t let him watch the deaths or round six, right?” Sua nods.
”I covered his eyes the moment you and Ivan decided to get intimate on stage.” He rolls her eye, to be fair— Till wouldn’t be okay with literal children watching as he kisses his opponent and dies brutally.
”How long has it been since i got here?” He asks Sua.
”I think round seven will start soon, i don’t know. Time works quite differently in this place.” She replies, Till stands up immediately and walks to the television. He takes the remote and turns on the screen.
Sua and Hyun-Woo follows Till and sits beside him.
”Well, crap… round seven is starting.” Till mumbles. Ivan was in a white shirt with rips on the sides— he was also wearing ripped jeans. Which psycho does that? Ivan’s hairstyle also looked awfully similar to how Till wore his hair in round six.
”Place your bets, who do you guys think is gonna win?” Till screams, startled— he looks behind him and freezes.
”Oh, hey Till!”
It was the contestant Till was up against in round two.
”Don’t mind me, i just want to watch too.” He mumbles, Till nods. He was going to apologize later. Although it may be too late.
It showed Luka next, he was in all white too. What is up with these idiots and the color white? Till shrugs it off. Luka was wearing a slip-on suit, his front and back had windows, that revealed his bare chest and back.
”Fuck this dumbass, get him off the screen!” Sua yelled, throwing a potato chip at the television. Right. She saw round five too.
Till sighs, he wants to see Ivan.
Ivan and Luka were practically just having a who-can-piss-the-other-off first the whole time they were competing. Hyun-Woo kept laughing his ass off, and Sua was barely holding in her laughter.
“Oh, in a blink gone!”
Till won’t lie, the music and vocals were absolutely bomb. Like, not that bomb that killed him, but bomb, as in it was fucking amazing.
Ivan looked determined, but Till could see the effects he left on Ivan after dying. Ivan’s eye-bags got extremely worse, it looked like a first time make-up attempt. Okay, moving on—
Luka was composed the whole time, giggling his ass off. Till ignores the sharp but sad glares Hyun-Woo sent Luka’s way.
They were enjoying the show, until—
”Okay, what the actual fuck?!”
Sua and Acorn were basically holding Till back.
”Shit bro, calm down!” Acorn desperately yelled. How was Till supposed to chill out?
Luka was grabbing Ivan’s cheeks like how Till did, and that old bitch had his thumb pressed on Ivan’s lips. Ivan loses his composure, he visibly panics.
”Can i murder Luka? I’m gonna fucking—“
Acorn and Sua’s grip on him loosens.
”What the crap.” Sua gasps, Acorn just stands there dumbfounded.
In the big screen behind Ivan and Luka, there were multiple pictures of Till being displayed— it made Till’s anger grow, adding fuel to the fire, huh?
In the first picture, Till’s hair was messily covering his right eye, he was staring with one eye fiercely. Till remembers now, the pictures he was forced to take.
The second picture just pissed him off even more.
It was Till crying after his whole entire eye was blown off, he was hunched down with an unfocused look.
”Yes, Till. Go murder that bitch!” Acorn yells.
Till clicks his tongue, he watched as Ivan is visibly unstable and disturbed by his death. The cutting point was when Ivan’s nose bled, Luka lifted Ivan’s chin while imitating Till.
”Okay, i’m strangling him. I am going to march my shoe-less feet down these clouds and shove it inside Luka’s mouth.”
Hyun-Woo holds back a laugh.
Ivan’s eyes were terrified, a teal color started forming on his eyes. It was the color of Till’s eyes— teal. Sua was patting his back while holding back herself as well.
Till can’t let Ivan die— but he could clearly see the votes behind them, it was very close— but Luka was still on top.
Ivan’s eyes suddenly light up when he stares at somewhere in the crowd.
Sua paused, “Oh my gosh.. Mizi!!” She screeched, the building literally started shaking with Sua’s scream alone.
”Where?!” Sua pointed at the hooded figure in the crowd amidst the aliens.
Ivan started to fight back against Luka.
Till sighs in relief.
Mizi was alive and well— Till smiled.
Mizi seemed overjoyed, she pushed the crowd away and ran forward. He stretched her hand out for Ivan, and Ivan did so too. His face seemed extra relieved.
”Oh no.” Hyun-Woo whispers, he points at Ivan’s back.
Luka won.
They shot Ivan’s neck, Mizi starts crying as she begged for him to live. She was sitting beside him, trying to stop the blood.
Till falls silent, “Ivan….” His voice was barely above a whisper. He covers his mouth in shock.
He breaks down the moment Ivan’s leg fell limp.
“—-awake.”
”—-waking… up!”
Ivan felt like the sun was burning his eyes. He was clearly killed by the bullet, what’s happening? Where was he? He slowly opens his eyes and saw the blurry figures of four people.
What the heck?
Ivan rubs his eyes, the pain in his neck stopped hurting. He gasps when he realizes who it was looking down at him.
He disregards everything and pulls that person in a tight hug.
”Till!”
”Ivan.”
Ivan starts crying, was this really Till? He pinched his arm— yep, definitely real. His arms around Till tightens as he sobbed. He thought Till was gone— he couldn’t understand.
”I missed you.”
”I missed you too, weirdo.” Till chuckles, hoarse.
“Wake up, homosexuals! Welcome to the after-life!” It was a child’s voice.
”Hyun-Woo, where did you hear that from?!” Hell, was that Sua? Ivan’s gaze flickers from Sua, Hyun-Woo and Till.
Oh, right. Bullet in the neck, he was dead.
Hyun-Woo laughs, “From you!” Sua freezes in embarrassment. Sua scolded the child, telling him not to repeat her words.
The fourth person left the room a while ago.
Till kissed Ivan’s cheek. “I saw your round.” Till whispers, “I’m sorry, i didn’t consider how much my death would affect you.”
Ivan softens, “You’re my star, Till. I will be affected by everything you do.” Till chuckles, ruffling his hair and calling Ivan a sad sap.
They were all blinded by a bright light.
”Mizi?!?!”
”Sua?!?!?!”
Why the hell was Mizi here?? Ivan swears she was just alive a few seconds ago—
“The dumb aliens shot you??” Sua screeched, Ivan cursed under his breath. He forgot about the ear-defeaning screams Sua had.
Sua cries and sobs into Mizi’s shoulder. “I missed you so much…”
”wahh!! Sua, i missed you everyday, i thought of you every single day!!” Mizi shrieked. Yea, and Mizi’s equally annoying screams.
Ivan kissed Till’s lips, “I’ll make it up to you.” He whispers, making Till blush.
”Get a room!”
Well, at least they were all in one place.