TRIGGER WARNING: violence, blood

Innocent? Tell me, human, who among you is innocent?

-Jessica Majzner

Chanyeol was on his feet in half a heartbeat, gun aimed up at Yifan's face.

"When did you get here?" he demanded, shifting to put himself between Baekhyun and the crazed-looking, bloodied murderer.

Yifan tilted his head, confusion crossing his features. "Huh?" He looked over his shoulder. "Oh. Well, right after you did. By the way, the kid at the counter was kinda dirty, so I just cleaned up a bit." Yifan shrugged, pulling a curved dagger out from what seemed like thin air and tossing it up and down, its ominous crimson blade winking before Yifan put it away.

Abruptly, the fluorescent lights above started to flicker.

From behind Chanyeol, Baekhyun started coughing, deep chesty hacks that sounded like tearing cardboard. Chanyeol glanced over his shoulder. "Baek?"

Baekhyun was on his hands and knees, whole body shaking. Tiny droplets of blood appeared on the tile and Baekhyun's hands, and Chanyeol turned. "Baek!"

Something slammed into the back of his head, and Chanyeol fell forward, twisting at the last moment so that he had Baekhyun in his arms, back to the danger. The smaller man didn't resist, and he buried his face in Chanyeol's shirt, shuddering as he coughed. 

Stars swum across Chanyeol's vision, and he closed his eyes tight.

Yifan chuckled. "How cute. I would advise you to let go now, though." There was a click. 

Chanyeol tensed, curving his shoulders further around Baekhyun's smaller body. "Baek," he said quietly, eyes still closed. "I don't know if I--if I'll have the chance to say this later. I never wanted to kill you. I never--the money, it...it was so tempting, but...you mean more to me than anything else ever could. So before anything, before I die, just...can you forgive me?" 

Baekhyun moved in Chanyeol's arms, coughs stopping momentarily. "What?"

"Baek, I love you. Okay? No matter how much you hate me now...can you at least remember that?"

Yifan sniffed. "Touching." 

A heavy foot slammed into Chanyeol's back, pitching him and Baekhyun into the wall. Baekhyun gasped, then s his arms around Chanyeol's waist under his coat.

"You're not going to die," Baekhyun whispered. "I won't let you."

Another kick, this time on Chanyeol's shoulder. He grunted, the dull pain moving outwards.

"If you stop being a nuisance right now, I might let you go," Yifan said, voice disconcertingly nonchalant.

Chanyeol's hand crept to the knife in his belt, and he whirled around, rising to his full height as he swung the blade out. Yifan leaned back in time, the knife only barely knicking his cheek. In the same motion, Chanyeol his heel, catching Yifan in a back roundhouse. The taller man barely stumbled, hand going up for support on the shelf next to him.

"Oh, so you're not just a poison baby," Yifan said, smiling, running a finger over his cut and ducking as Chanyeol slashed at him again. He swung out a foot, knocking Chanyeol down to his knees before slamming his knee up into his face. Chanyeol felt something crack in his face, and he cried out, on his knees and a hand over his face.

Unexpectedly, Yifan squatted down, looking into Chanyeol's eyes. 

"Hey, I don't want to be doing this," he said, genuine remorse in his voice. "But...you don't understand, do you?"

Chanyeol tried to growl at him.

Yifan looked away, almost ashamed. "Park Chanyeol. Son of the most famous assassin teacher in the underground. You grew up with everything I wanted, Park. A father. Money. A clear path right to the top. And you're clean. You're one of the only people I've ever met who...the blood that's run on your hands has cleaned you...and the Eyes don't want you dead at all." He tapped his forehead. "They don't want you. That means...I don't have to kill you. There are voices in my head, Park, and they...I don't know. They're not me. But they make me do things...I do things I don't want to."

Chanyeol was stunned into silence.

"Byun Baekhyun--" Yifan met Chanyeol's eyes again. "They want him dead so bad. And I do too. You know why? Because if I don't, this happens." He clapped a hand on Chanyeol's shoulder, and the world suddenly changed.

It looked, felt, like a dream. The world tipped over sideways before Chanyeol's eyes, replaced by some distorted red and black version that twisted and churned like ocean waves. He saw, from above, himself and Yifan sitting in the middle of the aisle, hunched over like they were both in pain. Horrifying whispers seemed to creep from the waving shelves around him, closing in on him, sound itself conglomerating in the center of his vision and densifying into a pair of empty eyes--

Yifan removed his hand from Chanyeol's shoulder, and the frightening vision disappeared, as had the pain from before. Chanyeol slowly lowered his hand, eyes widening at the lack of blood on the ground and his palm.

"What was that?" Chanyeol hissed, throat raw.

"That's what Baekhyun and I see right now," Yifan said quietly, then looked over Chanyeol's shoulder. "Isn't that right?"

Chanyeol peered back. Baekhyun was leaned against the wall, face white as paper and hands shaking uncontrollably over his mouth. A thin stream of blood trickled down from between his fingers.

"Baek!" Chanyeol whirled around. "Baekhyun, Baek, what--are you okay?"

Baekhyun's trembling hands dropped into his lap, and he locked eyes with Chanyeol. "This is it," he whispered. "This is what my grandpa saw."

"What?"

"You're not dying tonight, Chan," Baekhyun said, grabbing Chanyeol's clean hands with his bloody ones. "Just let it happen. I don't want to kill myself, Chan, just let him do it...I don't have kids, this'll be the end of whatever the f is killing me." Tears started welling up in his eyes. "Please."

There was a growl from behind Chanyeol, and he turned around to see the taller man clutching his head. Yifan grimaced, then relaxed. 

Baekhyun's grip tightened impossibly, and he leaned in to kiss Chanyeol on the cheek. "You're not dying, Chanyeol," he said. "I am."

"Chanyeol." Yifan laid his hand on Chanyeol's shoulder again. "You don't understand. The two of us aren't...this is something that none of us understand. But it's just a game of cat and mouse...and this is the end of the maze." There was real sorrow in his eyes. "I didn't want this. Neither did he." Yifan shuddered, and when he spoke again, his voice was deeper. "But he's the cause of the fear and evil we live in, and he needs to be eradicated."

Chanyeol turned around, back to Baekhyun. "No. I can't--"

Yifan slapped Chanyeol hard across the face. "Stop this!" he roared. 

Baekhyun sniffled. "Chanyeol, please."

Chanyeol steadied himself with one hand on the ground.

Yifan in a deep breath. "I'm losing control, Chanyeol," he said, voice shaky. "And if you don't run far, far away right now, this could be worse than it has to be."

"I'm not moving." Chanyeol grabbed at Baekhyun's hand. "I'm not moving from here."

Yifan shook, hands going up to the sides of his head, and Baekhyun squeezed Chanyeol's fingers. 

Finally, Yifan stood up, bringing his knife back out.

"That's fine, too," he said, voice much darker. Inhuman.

He raised his arm, ready to slash down. Chanyeol closed his eyes and felt Baekhyun's hands shake.

I'm not moving.

There was a tiny clink, followed by a burst of heat.

Yifan screamed, a sound that seemed to tear the air in half and rip something out of Chanyeol's chest, and fell to his knees, flames crawling up his back and into the surrounding grocery store with unearthly speed.

Yixing and Luhan stood on the other side of a rising wall of flame and smoke, shouting something and waving for them to cross over. Chanyeol got to his feet, dragging the trembling Baekhyun up with him. 

"Baek! Chanyeol!" Yixing grabbed Baekhyun's arm and pulled him through the fire safely, then turned to Chanyeol.

Chanyeol looked down once at Yifan, free of flame but back scorched, leaning against the shelf.

"Come on!" Luhan roared.

Chanyeol leapt through the fire, nearly taking Luhan down.

The four ran out of the store, past the evicerated store clerks, just as a BOOM rent the Highmont night. Flames burst out from the windows and door, and faraway sirens began to howl.

Yixing shoved Luhan, Chanyeol, and Baekhyun across the street before turning around to face the burning grocery store.

Luhan reached for the younger man's arm. "Xingxing, what are you doing?"

Yixing threw Luhan off. "Fanfan's in there," he said, voice thin.

"Who gives a f ? He just tried to--"

"We all die villains," Yixing said, smiling sadly. "What makes him any different?" He turned and ran back to the building, Luhan screaming his name after him as he disappeared into the orange fire.

Baekhyun started to go after him, but Chanyeol pulled him back.

"We can't do anything," he said, throat growing tight.

Baekhyun started crying, and he buried his face in Chanyeol's shoulder.

Police reports that came out weeks later said that the scene inside the burnt store had been strange, with two men on the floor, one of them with his arms around the other, a knife stabbed straight into the tile floor through two eye-shaped burn marks.