[CHAPTER XXXII]

The Underworld

Jaehwan told Hakyeon and Hongbin to stay a few more days in Pinewoods so that the two can strengthen their powers. Although Hakyeon is a half-God, he is still human inside especially since he has not awakened any of his godly powers yet. Jaehwan taught the two how to fight against the negative thoughts and the darkness they might encounter after setting foot into the Underworld. The first place they will have to go through after opening the door to the other side is a place called the ‘Forest of Nightmares.’ As the name suggests, those who live in the forest are only the souls of the dead who lingers the forest filled with regrets and vengeance. Jaehwan told them that no one, even those in the Underworld would ever dare to venture in it because of the things that lurk within. Jaehwan can try to protect the two once they’re inside, but they must also be prepared for anything because there's a limit to what Jaehwan can do alone.

Hakyeon also got to see his father finally during his stay. His father’s conditions were a lot better and apparently, the letter that Hakyeon’s mother wrote to him was left on the desk by his father. His father was trying to clean up all their old belongings that reminded him of his wife but when he came across the letter, he couldn’t find it in his heart to throw it away. Neither did he read it. He felt that he should respect his wife and give the letter to Hakyeon whenever his son decides to come home.

The father and son finally bid their farewells after the boys have completed a portion of their training and left the town to head towards the Underworld.

Hakyeon already knew where the door was and although he did not visit the place since he breaking up with Taekwoon, his body remembers very well the path of where the door was. It was indeed a place for hellos and goodbyes.

"We’re here. You two ready?" Jaehwan asked.

Hongbin and Hakyeon looked at one another and again at Jaehwan. They nodded with an unwavering expression on their faces.

"Well then, let’s get going, shall we? The faster we finish this up, the better. We can't stay on the other side for too long."

Jaehwan took something out from his pockets, a bundle of bronze keys that were chained to one another. They dangled and chimed against one another with a rather unusual sound which was neither beautiful or eerie. It was an unexplainable sound. Jaehwan said he took these keys from the Heavens and that these were the keys that could open all the doors to the worlds that connected to one another.

"Let’s keep this a secret, okay?" Jaehwan said since he took them without permission from the original key keepers in Heaven. If he were to get caught from those above, he would have a line of consequences and punishment waiting for him.

As Jaehwan brought one of the keys out, the door began to glow brilliantly. It responded to the strange chiming of the keys. Suddenly, a keyhole appeared on the door. Hakyeon was surprised that the door had a hidden keyhole this entire time. He stood dumbfounded at the door for the nine years, thinking it could never be opened. He still remembers that for the longest time, he had searched and traced the door all around to see if there was a way to open it. But there was nothing, no handles nor hidden triggers for him to get to the other side. It was the only way to confirm whether or not his lifelong friend was real or if the man named 'Jung Taekwoon', was a lie.

Yet, Jaehwan easily activated the door and making it open on its own. Hakyeon couldn’t help but stare in astonishment.

"Earth to Hakyeon-hyung, you ready?" Jaehwan snapped his fingers at Hakyeon who was busily spacing out and staring at the door before them.

"Why do you still call him your hyung? Shouldn’t you be like centuries older than Hakyeon?" Hongbin asked.

"I’m too used to it. Old habits die hard, right?" Jaehwan laughed.

"Let’s go," Hakyeon finally snapped back to reality.

"Alright."

Then, Jaehwan turned the key and the door emitted an intense light. In a split second, the door opened on its own but the radiating light did not last. Soon, what appeared before them was nothing except for darkness. They stepped inside what seemed to be a dark tree-like cave. They were inside a large old tree, wrapped with thorns and vines.

As soon as the three made their way to the other side, the door sealed behind them once again and the keyhole vanished.

The first thing that Hakyeon noticed though were the drawings he came across on the walls around him.

Hakyeon had a habit of drawing inside the cave when he was younger especially whenever he talked with Taekwoon to make sure that their meetings were real. But he never thought that Taekwoon had the same kind of habit. Taekwoon did not seem like the type to draw at all. There would be times when it feels like Taekwoon wasn’t even interested in Hakyeon’s stories due to the latter's minimal response. Maybe that silence during their conversations was because the latter was too busy drawing to respond? The drawings on the inside of the tree were rather cute, although Hakyeon had a hard time trying to figure out what Taekwoon was trying to draw which caused Hakyeon to chuckle a little. But he could see that these drawings were obviously scratched on the surface. Hakyeon could tell that these scratches were rather new compared to the original drawings and they were new because it was Taekwoon desperately trying to erase their past.

Taekwoon must have been really angry when he came back to the Underworld because of Hakyeon. Hakyeon could tell that Taekwoon was trying to erase all evidence of their relationship and forget about everything they’ve been through together. It pained Hakyeon to see the damage he had done to Taekwoon.

After all, Taekwoon had given his everything to Hakyeon, yet Hakyeon only ended up destroying his fantasies.

Jaehwan could see the pained expression on Hakyeon’s face as the latter stared at the drawings, slowly tracing his fingers on the scribbles. Jaehwan couldn’t help but try to comfort the boy who seemed to be shrinking slowly into his sorrows.

“It’s okay, hyung. We’ll bring him back,” Jaehwan said with a light whisper, patting Hakyeon on the shoulders.

As the three exits out of the large stump, Hakyeon saw nothing but towering forest and vines that surrounded them. The vines swayed back and forth as if they were alive. The three couldn’t help but shiver from the eerie atmosphere.

"Stay close," Jaehwan warned.

They stood with their guards up and stayed close to one another.

They could hear the cries of vengeful spirits lurking behind every tree, watching them closely, and emitting a threatening aura with full intentions to devour them alive.

Humans. Humans.

Hakyeon could hear them. They were all ready to prey on the three of them at any time. When one of them couldn't hold back its thirst any longer and launched its attack at them, Jaehwan unleashed his powers and shot a bolt of lightning right at them. It made the souls coward away but it was only for a short moment. Each step they took forward to find the exit to get out of the forest, more and more spirits gathered behind them. They were held back by Jaehwan’s lightning each time but both Hakyeon and Hongbin were still afraid. They could feel the murderous intents of the souls which gave them an unsettling feeling. Neither have ever felt this afraid in their lives... is this what the Forest of Nightmares do to people after all?

As they went deeper through the forest, the fog started to engulf them and grew thicker by the second. Before they realized it, the fog had separated both Hakyeon and Hongbin from Jaehwan.

"Jaehwan-ah! Where are you?" Hakyeon called out.

"What should we do? We’ve lost him," Hongbin said worryingly and looked around their surroundings frantically in fear.

"Let’s stick close to each other. We need to find a way out as soon as we can and meet up with Jaehwan."

Hongbin nodded.

The two of them called Jaehwan over and over again but there were no signs of him nor hear any of Jaehwan's lightning zapping about. They were completely separated from the one person that could protect them. The two of them who are humans and completely powerless at the moment.

Just then, Hongbin started to tremble and grabbed onto Hakyeon’s arms.

"What’s wrong, Hongbin?" Hakyeon asked. He could see Hongbin was starting to drench in sweat and fear. The younger's eyes were wavering in fear and even his voice couldn't come out naturally.

"I…no… stop… get out…" Hongbin stuttered.

"Hold on, Hongbin! Stay focus! You have to fight it," Hakyeon grabbed tightly onto Hongbin’s hands and trying to bring Hongbin back to reality.

The Forest of Nightmares.

It is a place that brought the nightmares to those that dwell within it. Many can enter, but none were allowed to leave. Jaehwan had warned them time and time again of this happening. That’s why the two had to train themselves not only physically but mentally, to make sure that they were not consumed by their own nightmares. The things they feared the most, would be their weakness. This place feeds off on such weaknesses and making it impossible to escape.

Hakyeon tried to snap Hongbin back to reality but the younger was unable to hear him. Hongbin was tearing up and trembling in fear with whatever vision he was seeing in his nightmares.

"Hongbin! Kong-ah! Kong-" Hakyeon kept calling out for the younger, hoping Hongbin would hear his voice but then… a vision flashed before his very eyes.

A vision of his own nightmares.

Images of his childhood flashed before him. Bitter memories of his ugly past.

The hand that he was holding onto, thinking it was Hongbin’s became the hands of his ‘uglier’ self. The one he has not seen for so long…

The silhouette that appeared before him was shrouded in darkness. None of its features were visible except for the creepy smile that curved like a crescent moon before him.

"You forgot about me. Do you hate me this much? Do you hate yourself this much?" it whispered closely to Hakyeon's ears. "I guess it can’t be helped. You’re ugly after all. Everything about you is ugly especially your wretched heart."

"No. You’re wrong…" Hakyeon tried to fight its whispers and chant-like taunts.

"If it wasn’t for you, this wouldn’t have happened. Look at what you did," it continued.

The silhouette pointed at something to Hakyeon and Hakyeon could see a boy crying in the distance. A small child lonely, cold, and crying.

A boy that looked like Taekwoon.

"You gave him hope, tricking him into thinking that the world would be brighter than his own home just so that you can shatter his dreams at all once. You’re nothing but a monster and a monster you'll always be."

"You’re wrong… I…" Hakyeon couldn’t stop his tears, his fears, and his guilt.

"You’re a sinner. You shouldn’t have been born. You should not have existed."

You’re insensitive, ignorant and a fool. A monster and a sinner. Hakyeon could hear those words repeating in his own mind. You should never have been born!

Die. Die. Die.

Both the whispers of the dark silhouette and the ones that appeared in his mind continued to torture him. He was getting weaker and weaker. The darkness begins to warp around him. His shadow, his fears, and his memories were about to swallow him whole and causing him to slowly lose his mind.

Hakyeon was becoming physically drained and he was becoming too to fight. Just as he was about to give up and be consumed by his nightmares, a wave of fire surrounded him and dispersed the darkness.

A light appeared before him. An intense ring of fire surrounded him and protected him from the darkness. Just as Hakyeon was about to lose consciousness, he saw a blurred silhouette of a man walking towards him. Saving both him and Hongbin.

"Another bunch of fools," Hakyeon could hear the man saying before he passed out.

* * * * * *

Hakyeon finally woke up but his head was still hurting. His nightmares in which he saw was still haunting him and flashing vividly in his mind. They were nightmares but they also spoke the truth.

He got out of the rough and hard bed that he was placed in and looked at his surroundings. The place was barely lit by candle lights and books piled around the room messily. Drawings and writings that Hakyeon couldn’t make sense of, covered the walls and next to his bed was Hongbin.

"Hongbin-ah!" Hakyeon called out to make sure that Hongbin was still breathing fine. Hongbin was sound asleep even though he was still covered in sweat from his bad dreams from earlier.

Hakyeon couldn’t help but feel sorry and useless for not being able to help neither of them while they were in the forest. He was supposed to be the one to watch over Hongbin when they separated from Jaehwan but he was also influenced by the darkness as well.

"So, you’re finally awake," the door opened. A tall, young man with silver hair walked in the room.

"Yes. Are you the one who saved the two of us?" Hakyeon asked.

The man glanced at Hakyeon from top to bottom.

"You…" the man said with a sigh.

"Hmm?"

"I’m going to assume that you’re Cha Hakyeon?"

"Yes, I am. But how do you know my name?" Hakyeon was surprised.

The man signed deeply.

"Why are you here? How did you get here?" he continued to question.

"I’m here to look for someone. A friend of mine helped the two of us get here but we got separated along the way and-"

"You’re here because of Taekwoon, right?"

Hakyeon was surprised even more that the man knew of Taekwoon’s name. The man knew of his lifelong friend.

"Yes! Do you know where I can find him? Please, you have to tell me!" Hakyeon starts to plead.

"Go home. It’s useless to try to find him. You will only anger him more if he sees you."

The man seems to know of Hakyeon’s relationship with Taekwoon and was very displeased to hear that Hakyeon was looking for Taekwoon.

"I can’t. I won’t. Not until I see him," Hakyeon cried out. He didn’t know why, but his tears started to flow. Just at the mention of Taekwoon’s name, made him weak and sorrowful.

The man glared at the crying Hakyeon yet couldn’t say a word. Hakyeon felt the silence in the room from the intense gaze of the man on him, judging him quietly.

"The least you can do is help him, Wonshikkie, "Jaehwan suddenly appeared behind the door and the man jumped from surprise.

"You!" the man shouted and alarmed.

"It’s been awhile Kim Wonshik. Or do you go by Ravi now?" Jaehwan said.