Kyuhyun

I can’t sleep.

I mean… How can I? I don’t know what is going to happen the next day, I don’t even know what is happening right now. Everything’s a blur and the worst part of it all… I don’t have Ryeowook anywhere near me. I’m worried for him. I need to know if he’s doing alright. I’ve been wondering around the Light Castle for hours now. I don’t know what I’m doing but I’ve been so lost in thought that I don’t even realize that I’ve been wondering around for hours.

I stop walking and sigh, falling onto my feet. I’m at a brick staircase but I’m not entirely sure which part of the castle I’m at, neither do I actually care. The castle is silent, everyone most probably have gone back to bed. I don’t get it. How can everyone just so easily… Accept this reality? I mean… I don’t agree with this. I don’t want to fight. I don’t want there to be war.

I release a frustrated huff and lean against the wall. I close my eyes shut and my ears perk when I hear footsteps coming down the stairs.

“Oh… Kyuhyun, aren’t you?”

I slit my eyes open. It’s Eunhyuk. He’s wearing a weird banana-printed pyjamas and he has a Popsicle in his hands. He grins down at me with his gummy teeth and then plop down next to me.

“Want one?” Eunhyuk lightly asks, gesturing to his Popsicle.

“Ah, no, it’s alr-” Before I can finish what I intended to say, Eunhyuk had somehow duplicated the Popsicle in his hand and hands me one. I reluctantly take it. “Thanks.”

“No problem,” Eunhyuk says, stuffing the ice into his mouth. “So, what brings you out here?”

“Can’t sleep,” I shrug my shoulders and decide to try the popsicle. The minute the ice meets my mouth, my face shrivel in disgust. “Yucks, what the hell is this!?”

 Eunhyuk laughs out loud like it’s the funniest thing in the world. “I gotcha!”

The damn thing tastes disgusting! It takes like freaking vomit or something like that. I shove the popsicle back into Eunhyuk’s hands and then quickly get up. I need to wash the taste of my tongue right this instant. Eunhyuk follows after me as I find a bathroom and rinse my mouth with water from the tap. The idiot’s still laughing as he leans against the bathroom door.

“Funny, wasn’t it?” Eunhyuk giggles, “That’s vomit flavour, by the way HA!”

Yuck.

Just the thought of it makes me want to throw up.

“Lee Hyukjae, are you still playing that stupid prank?”

Came a heavy rumbling voice. I step a take back, surprised to see someone so big and muscular. I realize then that this is Kangin. Woah, he looks even bigger up close. He doesn’t look too impressed with Eunhyuk’s pranks. Instead, he comes in, takes a piss and then washes his hands. Before he leaves, he gives Eunhyuk a very rough shove and Eunhyuk flies back, hitting one of the doors to the bathroom stalls.

“Hey, that hurts, stupid.” Eunhyuk curses, frowning as he gets up and rubs his shoulders.

“That’ll teach you to stop with the lame pranks.” Kangin replies.

Eunhyuk snorts, “What’s up with you tonight, grumpy pants? Didn’t get enough from the King?”

This somehow switches a flip inside Kangin because all of a sudden, Kangin is growling and running towards Eunhyuk, attacking him hardly against the concrete walls. I jump in surprise and fear and then look around. Oh my god, what do I do. Kangin’s about to beat the out of Eunhyuk. But before I can continue panicking, another Eunhyuk steps into the bathroom. He’s wearing the same pyjamas as the other Eunhyuk but he doesn’t look happy. He’s rubbing his shoulders with one hand and his eye with the other, looking like he had just woken up.

“God, Mischievous Hyuk.” The sleepy Eunhyuk mutters, sounding annoyed. “Just once in your life, can’t you stay out of trouble?”

The other Eunhyuk replies with a silly grin and the sleep Eunhyuk shakes his head and says, “You’re done for tonight.”

Poof. The grinning Eunhyuk is gone and Kangin is holding nothing but thin air. Kangin mutters something and then leaves the bathroom. The sleepy Eunhyuk sighs, sounding exhausted and turns around. He spots me and tilts his head.

“You’re Kyuhyun, aren’t you?” He asks.

I chuckle in amusement. “Yeah, I am.”

“Ah, I’m sorry that you’ve to witness that.” Eunhyuk waves his hands, “Mischievous Hyuk and Kangin can’t seem to be around one another.”

 “Mischievous Hyuk?”

“Yeah.” Eunhyuk holds the bathroom door for me as we step outside. “When I duplicate myself, there’s different… Versions of me. The one that led you to your room earlier is Friendly Hyuk, if I’m not mistaken.”

That explains the prank and how different that Eunhyuk was compared to the one that was with him earlier on.

“Which Eunhyuk are you, then?” I ask, curious.

“Original,” Eunhyuk smiles goofily.

I nod although I don’t completely believe him. I mean… How do I even know which is the real Eunhyuk?

“So why are you up at such a late timing like this? Shouldn’t you be asleep?” Eunhyuk asks me, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

“I can’t sleep.”

“Ah… Happened to me too on my first day here.” Eunhyuk chuckles. “Don’t worry, you’ll get over it.”

“I don’t want to be here.” I suddenly blurt out of the blue. Eunhyuk takes a look at me and he stops walking. He smiles as he rests against the walls. “I want to go back to earth.”

“You can’t.” Eunhyuk simply answers.

“Why not?”

“You don’t exist anymore.”

My jaw drops. “Wh.. What?”

“You don’t exist on earth, anymore.” Eunhyuk repeats.

“What do you mean? What about my family?”

“When the Almighty chooses you, you become nonexistence on earth. No one has ever heard or ever seen you. You just simply… Vanish.”

“You mean… My… My family… Won’t… Remember me?”

“No.” Eunhyuk answers and then places a hand on my shoulder. “I’m sorry.”

I take a couple of minutes to let this shocking news sink in.

“So… If they don’t remember us, if they don’t know us anymore… Why are we fighting for them?” I ask, my breath suddenly shaking.

 “Because we love them unconditionally, selflessly, sincerely and truly.” Eunhyuk simply replies. “That’s the difference between the people of the Light World and the people of the Dark World. We fight for the people we love even if they don’t remember us.”

We fight for the people we love even if they don’t remember us.

A thought crosses my mind. Ryeowook… Ryeowook doesn’t have anyone he cares for back on earth. He lives with his Aunt but I don’t remember him even talking about her. Does that means that he doesn’t have anyone on earth fighting for? And that is why he’s in the Dark World? Another thought crosses my mind and this time, I shiver at the thought of it. If I’ve vanished from the minds of my loved ones back on earth… How about Ryeowook, who is in the Dark World? The thought of Ryeowook forgetting about me breaks my heart.

“Hey… You okay there?” Eunhyuk asks, waving his hands in front of my face. “You’re looking a bit pale.”

I take a deep breath. “I… I’ve a friend… He… He’s in the Dark World…. I… I don’t think he deserves to be there.”

Eunhyuk’s face turns serious, the friendly light in his eyes disappearing. “The Almighty never makes a mistake.”

“But… He’s not evil, he’s not bad at all.” I argue, “He’s nice, kind, shy and… He wouldn’t even hurt a fly! I think he’s placed in the Dark World by mistake.”

“Kyuhyun… There is no mistake when it comes down to where we belong. Your friend… Your friend must possess must kind of… Evil intentions… In his heart.”

My expression drops, “I… Will I vanish from his thought?”

Eunhyuk shakes his head, “No. He’ll be able to remember you. But… Kyuhyun… I’m sorry to tell you this but… I think it’s best if you… Forget about him.”

I stiffened. “Wh-what?”

“The people in the Dark World… Your friend… He’s not going to be the person you remembered him as. Lord Heechul, he controls all of them in the Dark World along with the Dark Princes. They’re all ruthless and powerful. They’re going to change your friend.”

“They can’t change him,” I shake my head, refusing to believe this crap. “They can’t change him because he’s not evil.”

“The Almighty does not make a mistake.”

I struggle to keep my breathing even. “Then… Then let me talk to him. Let me talk to Ryeowook. I’ll talk him out of it, I’ll talk him into becoming good. He listens to me all the time. He… He loves me… He’ll change for me. I know he will.”

“No one from here is ever allowed to trespass into the Dark World.” Eunhyuk gives Kyuhyun an apologizing look. “I am sorry about this, Kyuhyun but… The only thing you can do is to forget about him. It’ll save you from the heartache and despair. Trust me, I have been there.”

I shake my head, refusing to accept this but found that Eunhyuk’s eyes were flashing signs of hurt and pain, signs of the heartache and despair he warned me.

Trust me, I have been there.

Had… Had Eunhyuk gone through the same situation?

“You… You have a friend too… From the Dark World?” I question quietly.

“Had.” Eunhyuk corrects me, looking away. “He was my best friend. But… It’s all in the past. He’s changed now.”

“How so?”

“He’d kill me in a heartbeat.” Eunhyuk answers, voice suddenly lack of any emotions. “That’s how much he has changed.”

“I… Ryeowook would never kill me…He’d never kill anyone.” I swallow a lump in my throat. “I’m sorry about your friend but… Ryeowook’s different. He’d never hurt me. Ryeowook would never hu-”

“- Hurt anyone.” Eunhyuk completes my sentence off. He pushes himself off the wall and runs a hand through his messy hair. He looks straight into my eyes then and a chill runs up my spine as he quietly tells me,

“I thought the same about Donghae too.”

***

“Ryeowook’d never hurt me. He’d never hurt anyone.”

I huff in frustration. No one knows Ryeowook like I do, especially not that Eunhyuk. Who the hell does he think he is? So what if his friend changed when he entered the Dark World? That was most probably because Eunhyuk had befriended someone evil without fully knowing anything about him. But Kyuhyun had known Ryeowook all his life and hell, Ryeowook would never even hurt an animal - because he was mostly scared of them.

“Who is Ryeowook?”

I jump, surprised at the unfamiliar voice. Turning around, I find a boy who looked like he was a few years younger than I am with fair chubby cheeks and sparkling bright eyes. He’s standing in front of my room door and for a moment, I thought that I had the wrong room but when I looked at the door, it was the same as mine back at home. So… Who the hell is this kid?

I shot him an amused look. “Can I help you?”

“Nope, but I think I can help you.” He pushes himself off the wall and struts towards me, extending out a hand. “My name’s Henry.”

I look at the outstretched hand, not really in the mood to make any more new friends tonight but acknowledge him with a slight nod of my head. “Kyuhyun.”

Henry smiles, eyeing down at his hand and then I groan and finally decide to just return the stupid handshake. The kid looked like he wasn’t going to pull away if I didn’t give him a damn handshake anytime soon. The minute our skins meet, my mind whirls around and my visio