“Tell me what you see.”

“Please … stop … It … hurts …”

“Tell me and we can stop this right away. Your head must be in pain. You know I can stop the pain. You just need to obey my instruction.”

“Numbers… many … zeros … and ones …”

“Fantastic! Now, find the most prominent ones!”

“I don’t … know … too many …”

“Then I guess you need more help!”

“Noooo, stop it! AH!

Jerking up with his whole body tense as he escapes from the nightmare, heart pounding vigorously and sweat covering his body, Sunggyu unconsciously grabs onto both sides of his head. He still remembers the exploding pain that racks his head. He thought he would be dead but had woken up in his cell few days later. The torment never stopped. His captors continued to wire him up, challenging his limits every new day. It was a miracle that he did not end up lifeless on the table. But that also meant the suffering continued day after day.

Sunggyu wearily hits the mute button on the alarm clock. It 3am, time to empty his trash. From past experiences, he knew Woohyun although goes to sleep very late, wakes up pretty early for exercise. He has previously met the male at ungodly hours at the rubbish dump. But it is the middle of the night now and any normal person should be in dreamland. That is, minus himself, who is trying to avoid a certain male. He has been trying to isolate himself from Woohyun for the male’s sake but it is hard. Woohyun does not seems to mind his constant refusals to hang out together and continues to appear at his door frequently. There are also times when he simply cannot ignore the male given the circumstances. Sighing, Sunggyu heads out of his bedroom and into the kitchen, taking a can of cat food from the cupboard, before picking up his trash and leaving his apartment silently.             

In the unit next door, the small vibrations from his watch wakes Woohyun almost instantly. He has installed a tiny motion sensor that will alerts him of any movement from the opposite apartment. Making a quick dash to his own front door, he sees Kim moving towards the stairs with a trash bag through the peephole. Noting the time on his watch, a frown appears unconsciously on the handsome face. He wonders what he has done wrongly; just when thinks he has broken through the defensive wall surrounding Kim, the male begins to avoid him. Kim had reluctantly shared his breakfast after much persuasion three weeks ago. Thereafter, he has failed to secure any time with the male except on two occasions. Once, he had pretended losing his keys and needed a place to wait for the locksmith to arrive. The second time, he had tampered with the circuit breakers, causing an electricity blackout in his apartment. It gave him a perfect excuse to seek refuge next door, at least until the electrician managed to rectify the problem. Unfortunately, on both occasions, Kim had acted indifferently to his presence, ignoring his effort to make small talks.  

Nevertheless, Woohyun has never been one to give up so easily, especially in this case, where it involves a certain male whom has caught his eyes. Maybe his heart too. But some things cannot be rushed; Kim is like a frightened animal, ready to dart at any hint of danger. Dumping trash in the middle of the night just shows how adamant his neighbour’s wish in not meeting him. Following after Kim at this late hour will definitely spook the male out and that is the last thing he wants to see. It has been long since he last felt so frustrated over someone or matter. His decisiveness in life threatening situations has always been something he is prideful of but here he is, hesitating whether to step out of his own apartment. After some deliberation, he chooses to head to the balcony, where the dark surrounding provides the perfect camouflage for his watching. He soon sees his neighbour exits the building and turns into the back alley.

Woohyun heaves a sigh as Kim disappears round the corner. Tapping his fingers impatiently on the balcony’s railings, he knows he needs to do something fast to unravel the present situation. He does not mind stalking in the middle of the night; his job often requires it but it cannot be good for Kim. Dark circles are already prominent on the pale male’s face and couples with the male’s constant tense state; he is afraid Kim may collapse any moment. Sudden scurrying steps break his thoughts and he sees Kim panicky looking around on the pavement, holding something in both his hands. Woohyun is out of his apartment in split second.

Sunggyu holds the shivering cat carefully in his hands; the visible wounds bring tears to his eyes. This is his fault; he knows the other cats often pick on Kitty because of its petty size and should have foreseen this. He has been feeding Kitty occasionally, not too many times in case the feline lose its food finding instinct. The emaciated kitten has grown considerably since then but is still tiny compare with the others in the bunch. He has contemplated adopting Kitty but it would have ended disastrously. Heaven knows when he will be running again and the poor little thing will be left to fend for itself. By then, it will be too domesticated to survive in the harsh outside world. However, regrets fill his thoughts now; if only he has taken in Kitty, the little thing will not have to go through this unnecessary suffering. Sunggyu keeps looking around; hopping a taxi will appear miraculously. Instead, he spots Woohyun coming out of the building. Without delay, he runs towards his neighbour.

Exams were long over and in fact, my new classes just started this week. This chapter was supposed to be out in Dec but I keep amending because of conflicting ideas in my head. So to my dear subscribers, thank you for waiting (if you have not given up on me yet :p).

Special thanks to all who have commented! Seriously, comments are my biggest encouragement to continue writing ^^

Congratulations to Infinite for the all-kill in music programs!!! My ordered album have not arrived though…

PS:  Just want to vent something that has been bothering me. No offense to whosoever.

You are known because you were once in this beloved group. You make your own decisions. There isn’t a need to belittle the past to justify your decisions. This past contains cherished memories for many. I sincerely wish it was real and not a show.