The Black Cat

Der Märchenclub
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Chapter 28

[The Black Cat]

 

 

 

The Circus Master took bold steps as he entered the small chamber. The room was located in one of Seoul Opera House’s towers. The room was long abandoned, located high above –perfect for a crime scene.

 

He felt the usual thrill run down his spine. He had killed numerous people; he could not even count anymore. But even assassin was an artist in his own way. The Circus Master always considered each of his murder to be a form of art. He always meticulously prepared everything and with unbeaten patience, he gracefully made his victims as his masterpieces.

 

If normal people asked him why he killed, he would answer that it was for the sole purpose of art. And true art surpassed even the trivial shred of humanity.

 

He enjoyed it very much. He enjoyed the two whimpering kittens’ voices. The two girls had tried to be silent, but all his keen hearing was always perfect. It was so soft, almost inaudible, but he could almost literally hear the sound of despair, smell the scent of helplessness, and soon he would be able to witness the terror in their eyes.

 

He felt the adrenaline rush. Oh, he enjoyed it. He enjoyed it a little too much.

 

His eyes were trained to darkness, and he had been to the room several times, so he knew the locations of the candles he had placed inside. Pulling out matches from his long robe’s pocket, he then began to light the candle up. Slowly, dim, warm light illuminated the room.

 

Ah there, he could see his two precious kittens. One was chained to the wall; another was left tied on the floor.

 

As the light shone on his figure, the two girls began to scream.

 

Yes, he knew he must have looked rather hideous. He was dressed in long, black robe; its cape perfectly covered his hair. His face was covered with a clown’s mask.

 

Hmph.

 

People always overreacted when they saw their death angel, huh?

 

“No!! Don’t kill me! I’ll do anything! I’ll do anything! Please, just don’t kill me!!!” the girl chained to the wall screamed.

 

The other girl tied on the floor decided to only whimper, “M-Mother…Father…S-save me… someone… anyone…p-please save me…”

 

The Circus Master smiled behind his clown mask. Ah, the most beautiful sound in the world…

 

“Ladies,” he spoke through his mask. His mask was custom made so that it would not allow his real voice to be discovered that easily. The other side of the bargain, though, his voice sounded like a recorded version of an old man’s voice. “Calm down.”

 

His voice and words did nothing to calm them down, and he was secretly treasuring the moment.

 

“I’m giving you two a chance to come out of this place alive,” the Circus Master said.

 

The whimpers and scream immediately stopped.

 

Glad to hold the control over the two girls’ actions, the Circus Master continued, “We would continue the game of guessing each other’s role. If you managed to have a correct guess, I will spare your life. If not, au revoir.”

 

The girl on his right, the girl chained to the wall, weakly spoke back, “I-I managed to correctly guess on Hwang Tiffany’s role… I have a right to get more hints…”

 

“Sunny-sshi,” the Circus Master spoke in a somewhat apologetic manner. “I’m sorry. You’re just on my list. Had you seen Jung Soo sooner, maybe you’d not have to be trapped here.”

 

Sunny stammered, and the mention of Jung Soo’s name reminded her of her right. “B-but I won! Jung Soo Oppa said that I won! He should be giving me the hint. He should –“

 

“Unfortunately, I am not the Story Teller. If the Story Teller did not have the chance to give you the hint, it’s your lost…” the killer replied. “I am only the Circus Master. I don’t give hints for the roles, I am only in charge in making the fairy tale a reality…”

 

“But –“

 

“Ssh,” he hushed. “We’re running out of time. Let’s just play the game, shall we? So what are your guesses? Lee Sunny, what do you think Kwon Yuri’s role is? And Kwon Yuri, what do you think Lee Sunny’s role is?”

 

Yuri glanced up at the Circus Master in a tired fashion. “It’s not fair… how are we able to guess each other’s role? There are still too many fairy tale roles out there… It’s not even a fifty-fifty guess. What chances we actually have to live?”

 

The man in clown mask briefly glanced at the Kwon girl. If only he could let his mask off, he would cast his apologetic smile, really. But he knew that even if he could show it, there was no way the girl would believe his apology. He found it pitiful actually, because the Circus Master considered himself a polite man. And it was polite to show sympathy to those in need, correct?

 

“I am not that cruel,” he said through his mask. “I’ll allow the both of you to give hint of your role to each other. If you still fail to guess the other’s role after the hint is given, you will be eliminated.”

 

Sunny took a sharp inhale of breath upon hearing the word. “B-but if we both can guess each other’s role correctly, the both of us will survive, won’t we?”

 

The Circus Master averted his attention to the petite girl chained to the wall. His gaze at her lingered for a while before he spoke again, “Let me guess what’s on your mind, Sunny-sshi.”

 

Sunny gulped as the masked man took some steps near her. She instinctively pushed her body backward, but the wall behind her prevented her to go anywhere.

 

“You are thinking to give out an easy hint to Kwon Yuri and you are expecting her to do the same for you. You presume that both of you will be able to guess correctly and survive together…” the Circus Master began. “But let me ask you one thing. How certain are you that Kwon Yuri will give you the right hint?”

 

Her voice came out in barely a squeak when she replied to him, “Yuri and I have been friends for more than 20 years. Of course I will help her and she will help me too.”

 

“Remember, the main rule of the game remains the same. You have to guard your role as if it is your own life. Exception only applies when both of you can guess each other’s role correctly. But if you allow her to guess your role correctly and you fail to protect your own role, you will be the one buried six feet under.”

 

“A-and if we both fail to answer each other’s role correctly?” shot Yuri.

 

The Circus Master turned around and focused his attention to Yuri. He pondered for a little while before a doubtless reply flowed out of his mouth. “It depends on my mood that time.”

 

Yuri chuckled darkly. “You’re still going to kill us both in the end, aren’t you?”

 

“Now, now, Kwon Yuri. Have more faith in me. I told you, if you both manage to guess it right, I will spare the both of you. But any of you who fails to protect their role while the other is successful, I will kill only the failing one.”

 

“Y-you’re only testing us, aren’t you?” Sunny braved herself to challenge the killer. “You’re only testing our trust towards each other.”

 

The Circus Master smiled beneath his mask. “Precisely. How much do you trust each other, that’s the big question whose answer will be found out tonight.”

 

“Yuri and I…” Sunny raised the volume of her voice. “Yuri and I are best friends. We trust each other very much. And we will make it through this together.”

 

A hollow laugh erupted. The Circus Master laughed so hard that he bowed a little to suppress his laughter. When his laughter finally ended, he challenged Sunny back with his icy voice. “Really?”

 

“Y-yes!”

 

“Really?”

 

As if to reassure herself, Sunny immediately stared at her tied friend on the opposite side of the wall. The light in the room might only provide her minimum sight of Yuri, but Yuri’s eyes… Sunny could see it clearly.

 

Yuri stared back at her.

 

Sunny’s lips were slowly parted open. She had known Yuri for years. Years.

 

But all those years did not seem to mean anything when her eyes were locked in Yuri’s hollow ones.

 

“Y-Yul?”

 

Who are you?

 

The Circus Master patted Sunny’s check fondly as he whispered next to her ear. “Think wisely, Sunny-sshi.”

 

 

 

It was only a psychological game to him, Sunny knew. She was not that dense. Sunny knew that the masked man’s words were only meant to create doubts within her. Doubts that she should not have, because after all, she believed Yuri, didn’t she?

 

Really?

 

Sunny shook her head off, trying to dismiss the masked man’s earlier words. But as seconds trickled by, she couldn’t help but to feel as if his voice echoed within her soul more, slowly killing her own belief.

 

No! I can’t let him influence me! Sunny insisted.

 

Do you really believe her, Sunny? Another voice inside of her mind asked her.

 

I do. Yul and I have known each other for years.

 

            Oh come on. Don’t kid yourself. Yuri has always been jealous of you all these time, hasn’t she? She’s always that attention-seeker , who tries to take whatever you have, right?

           

No. No. No! Yuri is not like that!

 

Really? Remember all those years, Sunny. Yuri always loves to be more superior than you. How were you able to keep up with her all those times, again? She always tried to be more popular than you, she always tries to steal the spotlight, she loves making you look weaker than her.

 

It’s something trivial. Yuri cares about me deep inside of her heart. She will not let me die.

 

            She cheated on you once, in order to save her own life. She stole your answer, remember? For her own self. For her selfish desire. What makes you think that she won’t do the same thing again now?

 

I believe in Yuri

           

            Oh, stop being a hypocrite, Sunny. You know you never truly believe her. You always fear she will backstab you. And that already happened.

 

I believe in Yuri!

 

The other voice inside her was silenced. But Sunny knew her faith was fading.

 

 

 

“It is time,” announced the Circus Master. “What hint will you provide to each other?”

 

Sunny lifted her head slowly. The mental battle she had just had was blurring her. She did not know what to think, what to believe, what to do anymore. She was about to deliver her own hint, but Yuri spoke first.

 

“I am Cinderella’s savior.”

 

Sunny nodded and tried to digest the information. Cinderella’s savior. There were two possible answers: The Prince, who took Cinderella away from the horrible life with her stepmother and stepsisters, or The Fairy God Mother, who gave her support so that she could meet her Prince Charming.

 

The Prince did not exactly do anything meaningful. It was the Fairy God Mother who helped Cinderella in her darkest time.

 

If Yuri had given her the right hint, then Sunny would bet her answer on the Fairy God Mother’s one.

 

If Yuri had given her the right hint.

 

“Yuri,” Sunny called out.

 

Yuri did not reply.

 

Sunny’s fist clenched as she inquired, “We are best friends, aren’t we?”

 

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05/5/13: change the posters for chap 6, 9, 12, 14, 15, 18, 25, 26, 27

Comments

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yeonniestan94 #1
Coming back to reread this. For a moment i thought the story was deleted because i search for this on the jessica tag. Kekeke...
Found it finally thanks to Haesica😀😀
Macaroonssi
#2
its 2021 and I'm stil here so.....
aseulmonsta
#3
❤️
gyuhyeon #4
I'm here again for the nth times. This is my fav fanfic ever! I used to dislike sugen pairing but this fanfic brought a new light. Pinboo, could you please sign this story up for a drama please? It will be daebak really.
bwtplove
#5
Chapter 50: This chapter will always traumatized me. Imagine to encounter something like that as child..... :(
bwtplove
#6
Chapter 38: I thought Sunny x Sungmin's side story will be my fav one...but after reading Kibum's story....I guess the ranking change. I could understand the hatred he has toward his family so well. It's such an emotional story to me and the way the poor always have a big heart than the rich....you really did a great job at interpreting this.
LeiLeiLeiLeiLeiLei #7
Hi there! I actually read this fic when I was younger, and I wanna reread it but it's members only :(

I have long forgotten my old AFF account....... AHH how do I reread? hehe
shiningshawol13
#8
Hi! I don't know if you'll be able to see this comment, but yeah, just gonna share my thoughts here hahaha.

So I reread Project: Cupid and Der Marchenclub earlier this week because I've been feeling nostalgic lately and thought, hey, maybe I could reread my favorite Super Generation fanfics coz why not?

And well, I'd just like to say that your works remain to be one of my favorites. It's been years since you've published this, years since I've first read it (early 2015). I could still remember the times when I read a chapter or two in between classes back in college, struggling not to give in to the urge to read them while in class hahaha! This is the first time in a long while that I read it again but everything is still as wonderful and impactful as when I first read it.

Der Marchenclub, in particular, is my favorite Super Generation fanfic. Reading it again cemented that fact in my mind. I loveeeee the plot! In particular, I love how you utilized previously uttered lines and details, smoothly tying a to b. I love the flow of the narration, I know you must've hit some rough blocks, too, but in the end, the writing is just superb: the balance between the dialogue and narration is very nice. I love the characterizations and how utterly realistic and imperfect and humane there are (Heechul's my fave haha), though I agree that there are some characters you could've developed more (Yoona and Siwon, for instance, as you mentioned in yuor DMC blog haha). Overall though, I'd go so far as to say that your work is a masterpiece. I took my time re-reading it again, took my time to appreciate the smoothness in the flow, the humanity of the characters, the thrill of solving the mystery. Every single scene played out in my head, and I could perfectly picture Super Generation here (man, I miss them!). This story, the whole plot, it's a very good material for a TV series, that's how good it is.

It's also good in inspiring people. This fanfiction, your fanfiction - it reignited my desire to write again. These past few years I've been stuck in a slump, probably because of the combined stress from my personal and college life, plus the slightly growing distance from kpop, that I wasn't able to continue any of my stories here at all. I even find it hard to write anything because I began to doubt myself. Whenever I type something up, I ended up not finishing it or just erasing it because it feels off. I've graduated now though haha, so college's one factor off the things stressing me out, but I still didn't dare try to write again. At least, not until I read your stories again.

Der Marchenclub (and Project: Cupid!) reminded me of my love for YoonHae, for HeeSica, for SNSD and Super Junior, and most of all, my love for writing. It made me want to try writing again, mostly about YoonHae and HeeSica hahaha!

So I wanted to say thank you. Thank you for creating Der Marchenclub, thank you for creating your stories, and thank you most of all, for sharing it with us and not deleting it. A few days ago I tried searching again some of my favorite YoonHae fanfics, I can't remember their exact titles but what I know is that it's on livejournal (and soon remembered that it's written by muffinmaverick, if you know her hehe). However, I found out that she deleted her account, which means that even her stories were deleted. It suffices to say that I was utterly devastated. Fanfictions are some of my ways of coping even back then, so to find out that I could no longer read them again really pained me. I know the author must have her reasons, and she has all the right to delete her own account and works, but it still hurt. So really, thank you for keeping this precious works here in this site, thank you for sharing it with us still.

I think I'm kinda rambling at this point haha but what I want to say is that your works have inspired me again, and I'm sure I'm not the only one. I'm sure there are other readers out there, too who were inspired to hone or jumpstart their craft after reading your stories. So once again, I would like to say thank you to you. I'm still not very confident, I'm still doubting my skill but well, that can be honed and what's important is that I'm trying again, right? Haha.

Anyways, I miss seeing Super Junior and SNSD together, and reading Der Marchenclub again made me very nostalgic. I'm not that active here in asianfanfics nowadays but I think there are fewer and fewer Super Generation stories now, which I admit breaks my SONELF heart a little. I think it's fitting, though, since our idols have grown more and are living their own lives now, and we're living our own. It won't stop me from writing about them, though haha! If you ever get back to writing again (and I hope you do, I miss reading your stories!), I hope you know that there will still be people who'll welcome you back, and readers who will read your works.

Once again, thank you for writing!! Thank you for bringing Der Marchenclub and your other works to light, and for sharing it with us. :) It's rough in our world right now due to the pandemic but I hope you'll stay safe!