Btob- Irresistable Lips

Chapter Three

When I opened my eyes, I was lying on my own bed. I caught sight of Myungsoo resting by my bed, his head propped up on his arms.

His eyes were closed, his lips slightly parted. His hair fell to his side. His face looked so serene up close, so calm, like there was no care in the world.

Now that I looked really closely, he looked really handsome. I lifted a hand, caressing his smooth, porcelain skin.

My heart started to thump loudly in my ears, and it was starting to get so loud that it felt like there was only Myungsoo and I in this whole world.

It was only a whole ten minutes later that I realised what I had been doing. I quickly retrieved my hand, clearing my throat.

It was then that Myungsoo shifted in his position, frowning as he opened an eye. “Sungyeol, you’re awake,” He stated, getting up.

“Ah… yeah,” I agreed, not knowing what to say having almost been caught. “Why am I here?” I asked.

“You don’t remember? That Sungjong guy hurt you,” Myungsoo growled, his eyes narrowing. His sudden change of tone astonished me a little. “…And I brought you back here,” He stated.

The memory flashed in my mind again, causing me to grimace. “I- I remember,” I stated bluntly.

“Myungsoo… can I tell you something?”

The shorter nodded, turning to look at me.

“You know… that day… you were gone? When you went to buy the popsicle?” I started, a little nervous. I was risking, but I needed to tell someone.

Myungsoo continued nodding, probing me to continue.

“I witnessed a crime,” My voice dropped into a whisper, my words hanging in the air like icicles. Cold and deadly.

The next day at school, I didn’t see Sungjong. Which was a great relief, because I was worried he might do something worse.

I told Soojung everything that happened, but after that, she seemed quieter. Like she was lost in another world.

She dropped her textbooks countless times, and had tripped over her foot for the nth time.

“Soojung,” I shook her shoulders, but the girl did not respond. “Soojung. Earth to Soojung!”

She finally snapped back to reality, blinking rapidly. “H-huh?”

“School’s ended~” I did a show with my hands, hoping she would cheer up, but she merely nodded.

“Oh. Okay. Let’s go.” With that, she grabbed her bag, getting up.

“Soojung. Won’t you tell me what happened?” I probed.

“It’s nothing,” She smiled, gripping the handles at the back of my wheelchair before pushing me.

“It’s not nothing,” I insisted, but she wouldn’t budge.

I could only pout all the way back home.

We had soon parted ways, and I was nearing the park when suddenly, a familiar looking boy appeared infront of me.

One of his eye was bandaged, and there were bruises all over his arm and face.

I froze in my spot as I recognised the boy.

Sungjong.

What was he doing here?

I looked around, trying to get out of here as fast as possible.

“Look what your friend did to me!” Sungjong scowled, pointing to his injured eye. “You think just because you got your friend to help you, I won’t dare to hurt you? Well, your friend will find your corpse then-”

Sungjong lifted a hand, ready to strike when suddenly, he was shoved backwards by a figure.

He was wearing a familiar looking black hoodie, but he was not much bigger than Sungjong. However, Sungjong cowered under the boy’s grasp, before quickly pushing the boy away and turning to flee.

My heart was racing. I thought I was going to get hit by Sungjong. Again.

The boy in the hoodie however, turned to glance at me for a split second, then he turned back around. He shoved his hands in the pockets of his pants before going his way.

“W-wait!” I called, pushing my wheelchair forward.

The boy stopped in his tracks, but he didn’t turn around.

“Thank you,” I said. “For helping me.”

The boy didn’t answer. I tried to look at his face, but he turned away, pulling down the hood even more.

“What’s your name?” I probed further.

There was silence for a second before he spoke.

“L. Call me L.”

I couldn’t quite get my mind off the boy for the whole day.

He gave off a somewhat mysterious and inticing aura, making me itch to know more.

“You seem familiar,” The words had tumbled out of my mouth before I could stop myself.

L froze, but a menacing smile crept up his face. “Well, you did meet me before.”

The boy turned to face me, a smirk plastered on his face. “Don’t you remember?” He asked.

I stared at his face closely. He had his hair and face tucked closely under the hood, but I could recognize his eyes. Those menacing black eyes, with a purple hue that almost look like slits. Almost animal-like.

“Y-you’re… you beat W-woohyun and-” I started, my eyes widening.

L gave a grim smile. “I did. For you.”

“F-for me?”

He nodded, then he turned and started walking.

“Wait!” I called, pushing my wheelchair after him. “What do you mean for me?”

L didn’t stop as he spoke. “I did it… to protect you.”

“To protect me? But… but you shouldn’t have killed them-”

“I didn’t kill them!” His voice rose, and he spun around. His words were laced with hatred. “I merely stabbed them in their legs so they couldn’t run away while I beat them up,” He smirked, seemingly proud.

“Why… why would you do that?” I gulped. Although he said he was protecting me, he seemed like one demented boy.

Who would torture someone like that?

L furrowed his brows, his eyes hardening. “Because I like you,” He breathed. I blinked. “I had been watching you for a long time now.”

My heart thudded at his confession. So, he was in my class, too. But still, his way of showing that he liked me…

“Then why… why didn’t you talk to me? Why didn’t you… try to be friends with me…?” I asked.

“I-I can’t,” L hissed. “I can’t.”

And with that, he ran away.

Back in the orphanage, I looked through the class list, scanning every name, hoping to find the name of the boy that had invaded my thoughts.

But the name L wasn’t on it.

Since that day, I found that Myungsoo had started to act really weird. He started to get angry a lot more often, and his gaze was different. But I shoved the thoughts away, thinking that he was just worried for me.

I was proved wrong, however, when he started to throw a fit.

I had never seen him like this before. I always thought he was a calm, collected boy.

Yet when the adults wanted to bring him to the doctor’s to get checked, he started screaming and crying.

“We have to check if you’ve recovered fully!” Miss Oh shouted over his cries, grabbing his arm. He continued struggling in her grasp, unyielding.

“Myungsoo…” I tried to console him, but he wouldn’t listen.

“Okay, okay!” Miss Oh lifted her hands in defeat, exasperated. Then, she turned to me. “Sungyeol… could you please convince Myungsoo to come to his senses? I really can’t force him to go to the doctor’s. I’m sure he’ll listen to you if you talk to him. Hmm?”

With that, Myungsoo was left with me.

“Myungsoo.”

The boy couldn’t face me. He looked down at his hands, making his way to his bed. His eyelashes were wet from crying, and seeing him like this made my heart hurt.

Did he have a terrible past that made him fear going to the doctor’s?

I lifted my hands to face, slowly wiping his tear-stained face. It was only when I looked closely that I realised his eyes looked different. Like it had turned to slits, with a tinge of purple hue.

“You should wipe your glasses,” I said, about to help him remove them but he grabbed my hand before I could. I stopped, turning to look at him. I sighed.

“Myungsoo, maybe if you see the doctor’s, you’ll become better-” I was cut short, however, when Myungsoo shoved my hand away.

“Stop mentioning the doctor’s!” He seethed, turning away from me.

“I- okay, okay. I won’t. You should just rest first, okay?” I decided, not wanting to force the boy further.

I didn’t realize Myungsoo had turned into a completely different person.

For the rest of the week, I didn’t know Myungsoo wasn’t being Myungsoo.

After Myungsoo’s suspension ended, Sunggyu, along with his buddies, Woohyun and Dongwoo had returned to school, although injuries were still evident on their bodies. Woohyun and Dongwoo, however, needed to use clutches to get to school.

I was glad that weren’t dead. That just like what L proclaimed, they were alive.

L.

Remembering that mysterious boy, I decided to tell Myungsoo about L.

“You mean, he protected you?” Myungsoo asked, although he didn’t sound too surprised.

“Well… sort of. But do you think if he talked to us, we could’ve been friends?” I wondered. “And the thing is… his name isn’t in the class list. I don’t know why, but I’m very curious of him.”

“Do you like him?” Myungsoo asked, sipping on his drink.

“Ah…what…? Nah. I only met him once. Well, twice,” I told him, but my cheeks started to heat.

The very thought that there was someone watching over me and protecting me, was satisfying, although L seemed to be a little extreme with his methods.

And the thought that he liked me… was rather flattering. Somehow, it brought flutters to my heart.

The bullyings had ceased since then, but I thought to myself that if getting bullied would let L appear again, I’d like to get bullied. It was a stupid thought, I know.

Still, when I was alone, I glanced around me, hoping my admirer would appear. I still hadn’t gotten to see his face clearly yet, and I was curious as to how he looked like.

But he never did appear again.

A week had passed since then, and I still hadn’t managed to get Myungsoo to get checked. The adults had said that if Myungsoo still didn’t want to get checked by the following week, they would have to call the doctors to force him.

They said that in Myungsoo’s previous record, it was hard to tell when Myungsoo would become ‘crazy’, or rather, another person.

They said that this ‘other person’ would act like him, but he was dangerous. They said that if I found anything suspicious from Myungsoo, I had to stay away from him, and report to them.

However, this ‘other person’ hadn’t showed up for a long time now, and so he has supposedly recovered from this illness.

But still, for safety precaution, he was to get checked every six months.

I entered my room, watching Myungsoo do his work. Although he became a little different, he wasn’t, or at least didn’t seem dangerous.

But he could act like him.

“Myungsoo, can we talk?” I started.

The boy didn’t buy it. “If you’re going to talk about how I should see the doctor, save your breath,” He simply said, plopping onto his own bed, shutting his eyes.

“I- well… no! Of course not, I wasn’t going to talk about that,” I fibbed, having been caught. “I was… um, going to to talk about- about…” I stuttered, not knowing what I should say. Then, my eyes lit up. “L! Yeah, I going to talk about L,” I decided.

Myungsoo’s eyes fluttered open in a flash, and sat himself upright. “What… what about him?”

“It’s just…” I was stuck now, and I decided to buy time by helping my left leg out of my wheelchair and onto my bed, followed by my right leg. This continued on for awhile before I continued. “…I had a dream of him,” I lied.

The boy was wearing the familiar hoodie, the hood covering his face. The sky was misty and dark, and all that was left of the moon was an eerie looking smile hanging in the darkness. It somehow emitted a terrifying glow that sent shivers down my spine.

When the boy turned, however, and removed the hood covering his face, I could recognize the boy’s face. Myungsoo. His eyes were filled with hopelessness, and almost all too suddenly, his face started to crack, and vine-like creatures started crawling all over his face and body. I felt my face pale at the sight. Then, all was left were the skeletal remains of exposed flesh on a cracked skull. Its eye hole emitted a purple-red glow, diminishing any signs of humanity left in it. When he smiled, there were no teeth to be seen. Instead, pieces of flesh were pulled from the sides of his mouth.

My heart thudded wildly in my chest. It was like I had witnessed a horror story live.

I wanted to run away, to get out of here, but it was like I was paralysed to the ground, unable to move.

“Sungyeol!” A familiar voice shouted in my ear. I turned, only to see Myungsoo’s pale face. He was tugging onto me, willing me to escape, but I couldn’t move.

The skeletal creature had neared us, his menacing laughter filling my ears. I was scared stiff. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t move. I looked down. I was standing on my own two feet, miraculously, but vines had curled around my legs, keeping me rooted to my spot.

I looked at Myungsoo worriedly. The skeletal creature was closing in on us, and there was no time left. “Run, Myungsoo!” I shouted to him, but he didn’t listen. He clawed at the vines entrapping my legs, but the more vines he tore, the more vines seemed to grow on my legs. “RUN!” I cried.

Instead, he sprang onto the skeletal creature, clawing at him, but it easily hurled Myungsoo to the ground.

Then, its skeletal hands grew, slowly evolving into sharp claws. It pierced its claws into  Myungsoo’s stomach, tearing his flesh apart. I was screaming. My whole body was trembling in fear, and I was screaming, screaming for it to stop. But it didn’t. It dug its claws futher in, and there was blood was everywhere, and I was screaming Myungsoo’s name, but he couldn’t hear me, and I could barely hear myself.

Myungsoo was dead, Myungsoo was dead and I knew it, and I couldn’t do anything. And to prove it, the creature tore Myungsoo’s heart out from his chest. The blood squelched, pouring everywhere as the creature’s mouth opened, the flesh snapping apart from its mouth before he bit into Myungsoo’s heart.

“Sungyeol!” Myungsoo’s voice filled my ears.

I was getting dizzy, and it was like Myungsoo had revived, he was crawling to me, leaving blood in his wake. Then he reached me, shaking me violently. I tried not to look at his torn flesh, and his empty chest.

“Sungyeol! Sungyeol, wake up!”

My eyes flung open, and Myungsoo’s clear, unharmed face filled my vision. I gasped, grabbing his face as tears filled my eyes.

“Myungsoo… Myungsoo, you’re alive,” I sobbed, pulling him into a tight embrace. “You’re okay.”

He patted my back, hugging me close. “Everything’s okay, Sungyeol. Everything’s okay. You just had a nightmare. Everything’s fine,” His voice was soothing to my ears, but I couldn’t seem to get the gruesome image out of my mind. The tears wouldn’t stop flowing, and I soon fell asleep in his arms like that.

When I woke again, everything seemed clear to me. I took in the familiar room in the orphanage, and I recalled the nightmare I had just before. Right. It was just a nightmare. A sigh escaped my lips. I almost laughed at myself for overreacting. It had seemed so surreal, I really thought Myungsoo was dead.

I shifted my hand, but something was blocking it. I turned my head, only to see Myungsoo next to me. He must have fallen asleep while hugging me.

Myungsoo was close to the edge of the bed, almost rolling down but I caught him in time.

I shifted my legs to the other end of the bed, allowing Myungsoo to squeeze into my bed.

It was a tight fit, but I hugged the boy close, not wanting to let him go.

We stayed like that for awhile as I stared at him, relieved that nothing had happened to him.

Then, Myungsoo changed his position, cuddling into me. My breath got caught in my throat as his warmth spread through me. It ended all too soon, when his eyes fluttered open.

He pulled away quickly. “Oh, I’m sorry. I fell asleep,” He said, getting up. “Are you okay, though?”

I nodded slowly. “I… I dreamt that you died,” I croaked. “You were… t-the monster was tearing you apart and he- he tore your heart out,” My voice turned into a hoarse whisper.

“Sungyeol…” Myungsoo enveloped me into a hug once again, his arms protective around me. “It’s okay. I’m okay. So don’t cry, okay?”

I shook my head as the horrible image rushed back to my mind. “I couldn’t do anything to help you. I couldn’t move. I-I told you to run, but you went to attack it instead. Myungsoo… promise me. If something happens to me, you must run away,” I sniffed, rubbing my face.

Myungsoo blinked. “I-I won’t run away, Sungyeol. I’ll stay here with you. I’ll protect you.”

This time, it was me who pulled away. “But if you stay, you’ll die,” I whispered. I looked at my hands helplessly. “I’m useless. I can’t move my legs. So you must save yourself, okay?”

“I-” Myungsoo was at a lost for words. “L-let’s not talk about that okay? And you’re not useless. Don’t say that about yourself, okay? Go to sleep,” He said, getting up, but I grabbed his wrist before he could leave.

“D-don’t go,” I bit my lips nervously.

Myungsoo’s eyes softened, and he paused for a second before sitting back on my bed.

“Can you stay here?” I urged. Myungsoo looked at me for a second, before nodding.

He lay back down next to me, and we looked at each other.

“Sleep,” He ordered, although he wasn’t sleeping himself.

I closed my eyes, trying to fall asleep, but somehow, now, I felt much more awake.

When I opened my eyes again for the nth time, Myungsoo’s eyes sprung open too.

He didn’t keep his eye off me for awhile, so I frowned. “What’s wrong?”

He gulped, shifting his face closer to mine. His stare was intense, and his eyes seemed to have hardened.

“W-what are you doing?” I asked, blinking.

Before I knew it, the boy had leaned in, giving a light peck on my lips. Then, his lips curved into a huge smile as he watched me recover from my shock.

“My mom told me that if you like someone a lot a lot, you kiss them. And I like you a lot, Sungyeol.”

A few days had passed since then, and I had to say, I wasn’t quite used to Myungsoo suddenly giving me pecks on my cheeks at times, but I had to admit, I liked it. And I liked him a lot, too.

Although he seemed a little bit different, I liked this side of him, too. But sometimes, I hoped the past Myungsoo who I used to know, who was cheerful, fun and innocent, would come back.

Still, many times when he looked at me, I would blush furiously.

I had to say, that night when he kissed me, I seemed to have forgotten all my worries, and my nightmare.

We would cuddle together at times, and I liked snuggling into him.

Well, that was until that day when I fell asleep in his arms. I woke up, giving him a light peck on his lips just as his eyes fluttered open.

What I wasn’t expecting, was for him to spring up, pushing me out of his arms.

“W-what was t-that?” He stuttered, his eyes widening.

“What was what? I just kissed you on your lips,” I announced, grinning.

But Myungsoo looked at me incredulously like I had just announced that I killed someone.

He touched his lips. “W-why would you do that?” He gasped.

I frowned. “Why not? You always did it. Why can’t I do it?”

Myungsoo only stared at me in shock. “Can’t- I- what?” He blinked rapidly. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I never did that.” He swatted his hands like swatting a fly away.

“What?” I just stared at Myungsoo dumbly. There was a long pause. “You did.”

Did he really forget? Somehow, it hurt that he did.

Myungsoo looked confused, but he suddenly stood up straight, his eyes widening. “Sungyeol…I didn’t… did I hurt you?”

“Huh? Why would you hurt me?” I asked. “Are you changing the subject?”

“No. Wait. Wait- what day is it?” He continued.

“It’s Monday. Stop changing the subject, Myungsoo.”

“No! I’m not, wait. Are you sure it’s not Thursday, Sungyeol?” He asked, quickly taking out his calendar.

“Yeah, it’s Monday. What’s up with you?”

“W-what’s the date?”

“Didn’t I just say? It’s Monday.”

Myungsoo shook his head. “I mean the date, Sungyeol.”

“Uh- It’s 23^rd April.”

“…That means I’ve been out for about two weeks,” He whispered. Myungsoo pulled his hair as he stared at the calendar, and his eyes looked like they would pop out. “Sungyeol,” He suddenly turned to me, grabbing my shoulders. “You must answer me truthfully. Did I hurt you?”

I shook my head firmly, suddenly afraid. “You didn’t. What- what’s wrong? You’re scaring me.”

A sigh escaped Myungsoo’s lips as he messed his hair. “Thank god.” He sat down on his bed. He looked at me, but his eyes seemed a million years away. “I don’t remember anything that happened since 11^th April, Sungyeol. And- and there’s only one reason for that.”

My breath hitched, waiting for his next words.

“When I become a different person.”