You later found yourself quickly walking back to the circus tent with Sungjong at your side. The two of you had to do some last minute touch-ups to Sungjong’s hair and makeup and had lost track of time. Before either of you had noticed, it was Dongwoo’s turn to perform, which meant the aerial acrobats were up next.

You saw Woohyun walking towards you and quickly tried to hurry past him with an awkward wave and a shy smile. Before you had made it out of his sight, Woohyun grabbed you by the arm and stopped you from going anywhere before giving Sungjong a suggestive look.

It seemed like the younger got the message, because a second later he was hurrying off to the grand tent by himself. “Don’t be late for our performance!” You heard him say as he began jogging away.

Before you could say anything back to the performer, Woohyun pulled you into a tight embrace and had his face buried into the crook of your neck.

“Woohyun…” You managed to breathe out. Your arms subconsciously found the ringleader’s waist and wrapped themselves around him.

“Good luck tonight,” Woohyun mumbled into your neck. “You’re already as perfect as it gets, though. No mistakes, right?”

“Y-yeah,” You stuttered before feeling Woohyun smiling against your skin. Something inside of you was telling you Woohyun wasn’t acting normal. He couldn’t just go half a year locked in his trailer plotting some rebirth then suddenly come out and act like nothing’s happened. It just wasn’t right.

“I’m, uh, going to be late,” You quietly mumbled as your arms awkwardly pushed Woohyun away from you.

The ringleader seemed to be oblivious of the sudden change in your actions, because the only thing he did was let you go and wish you good luck for the second time with a wide grin. You made a run for the circus tent, knowing well that at this rate you would have to run full speed in order to get to the ropes on time, and you tried to clear your mind of all the bad thoughts about Woohyun that were beginning to form.

----

You had performed your act perfectly, despite being preoccupied with the Great Rebirth during the whole show. The entire circus had done an excellent job that night, and Woohyun would have been proud if he didn’t keep running off during the times he wasn’t on the mic. You knew it would be useless chasing after him, so you decided to stay curious and find out what exactly was supposed to happen tonight.

At the end of the show, the whole family went to the center of the ring to bid goodbye to the audience. Normally, Woohyun would be standing in the middle of the family with a microphone, reintroducing the performers to the audience. However, tonight, you didn’t see him anywhere.

The performers were busy waving at the audience when suddenly, the lights flickered off, and the whole tent fell silent. It was pitch black for a moment before you saw a small fire coming from the entrance. When you eyes adjusted to the darkness, you could see Woohyun standing at the opening of the tent holding a lit torch.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” The ringleader’s voice boomed throughout the entire tent. “You are all about to witness the Great Rebirth!”

“What the hell is he doing?” You heard the performers around you question. You looked at Sunggyu, who was standing right next to you, and you could see his brows furrowed in confusion as he kept his eyes on the ringleader.

In one quick motion, Woohyun threw the torch onto the ground and a small fire began to form.

“!” You heard Sunggyu curse from beside you.

“Sunggyu, what’s going on?”

“Woohyun just did something really stupid.” You heard him say before making his way through the crowd and running towards the fire.

Before Sunggyu could reach the ringleader, the fire had begun to spread, and soon, the bottom of the tent had caught on fire. Before long, the audience began screaming and rushing towards the exit of the tent.

“Get everyone out of here!” You heard Dongwoo yell from across the performance circle. You quickly partnered up with Sungjong and the two of you helped guide some of the audience members towards the exit before the tent was filled with smoke.

You searched frantically for Myungsoo in the crowd of people, but you couldn’t make out any faces through the thick smoke.

“Dongwoo, can you put out the fire?” Hoya went to help the fire breather after getting all of the animals outside.

“I’m trying but , this thing is too strong.” Even with Dongwoo’s power and experience, he couldn’t do anything to put out the large fire that Woohyun had created, which was now around the edges of the entire tent. “Where the hell did Woohyun go?”

Hoya shrugged before shielding his eyes in attempt to block out the smoke from getting into his vision. “Let’s go help the others get the audience out. It’s useless trying to put out a fire you have no control over.”

There were only a few people left in the tent, including most of the circus performers. You made your way to the center of the ring to make sure there wasn’t anyone left when you felt someone grab your arm. You turned around to see the ringleader, smirking that mysterious smirk of his.

"What the hell Woohyun?!"

The ringleader eyed the scene in front of him: the audience was struggling to get out of the tent, circus members were trying to put out the fire, which had grown into an angry beast. "It's beautiful isn't it?" He surveyed the scene in front of him before bringing his face closer to yours. "Kind of like you."

"What have you done?"

"Think of it this way, I'm only helping our family. We can all be burned and reborn with eternal life."

You stared at him with disbelief. You knew everything was getting to his head, but nothing was making sense anymore.

Woohyun turned his attention back to you while the flames grew around the two you. He took your shaking hands into his and smirked. "We are Phoenixes after all."

You felt your heart stop before you realized what was going on. You let go of Woohyun's hands and pushed him away from you. "That's not how it works! You're going to kill us all."

“Indeed, we will all die. But we will be reborn again, so relax.”

Your eyes widened before you began coughing up smoke that had gotten into your lungs. You heard your name being called from a distance, and then there was a lean figure making its way towards you. You suddenly became lightheaded and dizzy, and everything around you became one big blur.

What happened after that was hazy to you. All you remember was falling to the ground and hearing Woohyun’s dark chuckle. Then suddenly, there were a pair of strong arms around your body, and you were lifted up and taken outside the tent.

As soon as the cool outdoor air hit your skin, your senses began coming back to you. You opened your eyes to see Myungsoo’s face hovering above you.

“What the happened in there?” Was the first thing out of his mouth when your eyes were fully opened. “I was worried sick about you!”

You gasped a bit before coughing for air and realized that you were in Myungsoo’s arms.

“Put me down,” You croaked as you struggled to get out of his grasp. As soon as your feet hit the ground, you tried running back into the tent. Myungsoo quickly grabbed your arm and pulled you back before you could get away from him.

“Are you crazy? Do you want to get yourself killed?!”

“Woohyun,” You glanced at Myungsoo before turned your attention back to the tent, which was now burning to the ground. “Woohyun’s still in there! I have to go help him!”

Myungsoo pulled you into his arms and held you securely so that you wouldn’t be able to go anywhere. “Don’t you get it? Woohyun’s ing crazy, and it’s too late to save him now.”

You stopped struggling from Myungsoo’s grasp and watched in horror as the tent collapsed and was eaten by the angry red flames.

“Oh god.” You couldn’t bear to watch the scene any longer and buried your face into Myungsoo’s chest. You felt tears forming at the back of your eyes and didn’t try to stop them from falling. “Woohyun was in the tent,” You choked out against Myungsoo’s chest. “He didn't come out, did he?”

Myungsoo shook his head and tightened his arms around you as you began sobbing uncontrollably, your tears and makeup staining the front of his shirt. You heard a series of sirens around the area before you realized that Woohyun was gone, and he wasn’t coming back.

A/N: Thiswholechapterwasamessughwhyamisobadatthisnowineedinspirationorsomething. But on a side note, I just killed Woohyun. /gets shot One more chapter guyssss!