Chapter Text
Baby had just gone for a walk.
Nothing more, just a walk.
It was about nine o’clock at night, he was exhausted from the day he had. Using the cool night air to ease his state of mind, and give his lungs fresh air to breathe in.
He had been on a solo schedule, something about their managers needed more pictures of him to further advertise his recent success. The Saja Boys had released a new single not long ago and fans loved it. Especially Baby’s part. So their team took that and ran with it. Continuously drawing out Baby’s talents to keep the fans entertained.
And the fans loved it! Some saying how happy they were to see Baby more in the spotlight as opposed to the other members.
However, the fans who didn’t love it, really didn’t love it.
——
Baby sighed, it was now closer to midnight and he was still just walking.
His eyes scanned the scenery of Seoul’s nightlife.
He could hear the bass of some club’s music pumping and making vibrations radiate through the soles of his shoes. There were LED lights and signs hung up on the outer walls of skyscrapers, the messages they told alternating between Korean and English. There was even a billboard that used him as the model. It was for some skincare company that Baby had to pretend to love in front of the camera.
The tallest skyscraper of them all was the one that had the Huntrix logo on it. Baby could confidently say he didn’t miss when those three girls wanted them dead. Sure, they weren’t exactly friends with the hunters, - they hadn’t even spoken to them once since they were reincarnated, for goodness sake - but at least they weren’t actively trying to destroy each other anymore.
Baby will never forget the day when he was reincarnated. He remembers watching as his patterns melted off his skin and his claws retracted to fingers. It was the best feeling.
As Baby turned the corner, he couldn’t help but be a bit sad when the pebble he was kicking fell into the flood drain.
The street that he turned onto was completely empty, save for a shadowy figure on the opposite end. It was a little eerie. What made it worse was that he couldn’t see a new rock to kick.
Baby would be lying if he said the he wasn’t a bit nervous to walk past the figure. The clothes they wore were fully black with a few tears in them, they were shoved between two closed stores and facing the wall. Probably drunk or high on some sort of drug.
He pushed those thoughts out of his mind, and told himself to stop overthinking it. The figure was probably just another person clearing their head just like Baby was.
He kept walking.
Until-
“A-Are you B-Baby from the S-Saja Boys?” The voice was dry and hollow, it almost had an edge of anger?
Baby turned around and saw that the owner of the voice was none other than the figure that had disturbed him just a few seconds prior.
He laughed nervously, really not wanting to talk to this person. “Uh… y-yeah, that’s me.”
They gritted their teeth. “An honour.”
As the person took a step closer to him, Baby took a step back.
They began mumbling something as they kept moving closer to Baby. The only words that Baby could make out were ‘undeserving’ and ‘should be dead’. That terrified Baby. Why would they be saying that if they were just saying that they were honoured to meet him?
Baby’s feet shifted beneath him awkwardly. “Uhm… so, it was… nice meeting you-
Crack
The fist on one of their hands connected sharply with Baby’s nose, the other hand was frantically digging around in their pocket.
Baby felt blood seep from where he was punched, it was warm and wet. The red fluid stained his pale skin as he tried to run, desperately trying to get away from this creep.
But they were faster.
He grasped Baby’s clothes and pushed him to the ground, his hand had retreated from his pocket. The blade of a knife caught in the moonlight.
Baby’s eyes widened and his breath quickened, he tried to shout for help, to scramble away, to do anything, but he was firmly pinned to the ground. He was completely helpless. He was going to die.
The killer roughly turned Baby so he was laying on his stomach with his face to the ground, it send a new wave of pain though his broken nose.
They knelt down, placing their knee between Baby’s shoulder blades. Baby whimpered as they fisted his hair, using it to pull his head up.
He tried to turn over, he tired to get up, but he was no match for the other’s strength. “G-get off me!” He shouted.
That was their final straw.
“SILENCE!” They leaned in closer to Baby, making sure their breath tickled the shells of Baby’s ears. “You don’t deserve ANY of the fame you get.” The knife they had drawn from their pocket sliced through the skin on Baby’s back and the fabric of his hoodie like it was butter.
Pained tears slip down Baby’s face, mingling with the former blood and sweat.
“You aren’t needed in the group.” A second stab. “You’re taking attention away from the people who actually deserve it.” A third stab. “Why… WHY SRE YOU STILL BREATHING!?” The fourth stab was the most painful, but Baby was too focused on the words the person had said. Baby had thought similar things about himself before, but hearing it come from a fan was a different kind of pain. A pain that no knife could ever dream of causing.
They tossed the knife, Baby was fragile enough to be able to be killed with just their bare hands. The knife clattered against the concrete before coming to a skidding halt. Probably leaving a trail of Baby’s blood behind it.
Baby was still squirming, trying to free himself, but he was too weak and the other’s hands were too strong for him to move more than an inch.
Baby mustered up all his strength to plead. “Stop! Please! I- what did I do?”
This only made the abuser laugh evilly. “So naive, boy.”
They finally stood up, making Baby a bit more free to move, though the injuries still held him back. He received one more punch before hearing the person leave.
He waited until he heard their footsteps fully fade before letting himself be fully vulnerable. Letting himself cry, scream, move, just do anything.
Baby felt the wind dry his blood and the disgusting feeling of his torn flesh. He was struggling to breathe, and starting to get overwhelmed by all the things his body could feel. Pain and confusion being the strongest.
He was still conscious, but barely. He needed his boyfriend, Abby.
Baby whimpered helplessly and turned his head. The overhead moonlight making a pane of glass visible from where he lay.
His phone.
It must have fallen out of his pocket when he was pushed. Baby had never been so grateful for dropping his phone before.
Using the little strength he had left, he reached out, attempting to grab his phone. He was successful.
Phew.
“Hey Siri… call Abby.” Baby managed.
Ringing…
Ringing…
Ringing…
“Hey babe! You okay? It’s midnight.”
“Ab… it- I- hurts.” The tears wetting his cheeks were almost audible when he spoke.“Can’t… breathe.”
Abby was heard gasping on the other end of the call. “Sweetheart, what happened?”
“Can’t… Abby- help-”
“Baby! Talk to me!” Abby panicked.
But Baby wasn’t talking. He couldn’t. His eyes were squinted, staring off at nothing. A thick fog of nausea made his heart rate plummet.
He distantly heard Abby’s voice, slightly muffled by the poor speaker quality of his phone.
“BABY!?” Was the last thing that followed him into the dark abyss.