тнє ∂єνιℓ ιη уσυ | נυηg ∂αє нуυη

Another Day in This Carnival of Souls

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Dae Hyun opened the door, laughing and talking loudly with his buddy he had brought over for an Xbox tournament. What he didn’t realize was Sae Jin sleeping soundlessly on the couch, the same way she always did when he got home around this time. Or at least, it had been that way for the past four days that he had been there.

Once his eyes fell over her, he immediately turned to Jong Up and hushed him, quieting him down quickly as Sae Jin stirred on the couch. Dae Hyun made his way quietly over to Sae Jin, crouching down to come face to face with her. He set a gentle hand on her back which rose and fell with her silent breathing. “Sae Jin,” he called quietly.

“Don’t wake her up! We don’t have to play here. We can afford to miss the tournament!” Jong Up called back just as quietly, trying to keep his voice down. The younger male watched the elder female squirm on the couch after Dae Hyun’s words. He wasn’t sure what to do. He didn’t want Dae Hyun to wake her up just for the sake of this tournament. It wasn’t even worth it.

“Sae Jin, we have a tournament. Do you want me to take you upstairs?” he asked, softly through her hair out of sight of Jong Up. She groaned an affirmative reply before rolling over, allowing Dae Hyun to shovel his strong arms under her to lift her into his chest. She laid her head against his shoulder, almost falling back asleep in his arms as he carried her upstairs.

Once he was sure they were safe in her room, he laid her down, covering her up. “Sleep well, baby,” he whispered to her, placing a chaste but sweet kiss on her cheek and departed, closing the door softly behind him. Upon returning downstairs, Jong Up stood in the same spot he was before Dae Hyun left the room. Their eyes met momentarily, but Dae Hyun looked away before Jong Up could read anything in them. “Are we going to play this tournament, or what?” he asked with a smile, walking over to the television to turn it and the Xbox on.

But when Dae Hyun turned around, Jong Up wasn’t there. With a confused look on his face, Dae Hyun scanned the room, his deep brown eyes looking for any signal as to where the boy could have possibly gone. Jong Up was already upstairs, opening the door to Sae Jin’s room quietly.  He poked his head in to meet Sae Jin’s eyes, barely open, but open nonetheless. He went to close the door again before she quietly called out his name. A motioning finger emerged from under the covers to coax him into the room.

“What are you doing, creeping around up here?” she asked, watching Jong Up’s face redden slightly as he avoided her gaze.

“Well I was just making sure that it was okay that he moved you so we could play games,” Jong Up replied equally as quietly. He watched as Sae Jin’s eyes shifted, looking slightly up and to the right.

“Is there a problem here, Jong Up?” Dae Hyun asked quietly, looking at the younger male, but he could only see the corner of Jong Up’s eyes. His eyes then shifted to Sae Jin who had absolutely zero expression on her face.

“No, there’s no problem. Jong Up just came up here to see me, that’s all,” Sae Jin said, a smile forming on her face as a relieved look washed over Jong Up’s. Thankfully, because he really had nothing to say to Dae Hyun; he hadn’t formulated an excuse as to exactly why he was up here. Dae Hyun smiled at the two of them, but Sae Jin could tell it was forced.

“Move along then,” Dae Hyun said, moving Jong Up out of the doorway, shooting Sae Jin a ‘we’ll talk later’ look to which she rolled over in her bed, pulling the covers up to her shoulder. Time passed quickly soon after the tournament started. Dae Hyun and Jong Up moved quickly up in the brackets before reaching the semi-finals. They had thought about trying to take a break, they had been at it for more than five hours now and Dae Hyun was starting to get a little worried that Sae Jin hadn’t emerged from her room yet.

But Jong Up insisted that it had been bad mojo to quit while they were already streaking to take the tournament championship. Dae Hyun sighed, getting ready to start the next game, but his eyes couldn’t help but take glances at the stairs quite often before switching over to the clock. And that was how it was the entire game. He’d play for a while, glancing at the stairs and then the clock before going back to the game. They both were quiet the entirety of the game, playing with immense concentration.

Once the round had ended, Dae Hyun put his controller down while Jong Up celebrated. Dae Hyun moved to stand, but the younger male pulled him back down. “What’s with you, you haven’t been concentrating at all for the past hour. You keep looking at the stairs,” Jong Up commented.

“Don’t you find it odd that she’s been up there for six hours without so much as a peep? You may not know her as well as I do, but I find that very strange,” Dae Hyun replied, looking into Jong Up’s eyes, sensing not the slightest bit of worry in them.

“Just play the championship round and then we’ll go check on her, okay? I’m sure she’s fine, you’re overreacting.” Despite these words, Dae Hyun was still worried. He tried to push her into the back of his mind to focus on the game, but it seemed to have little avail.  Dae Hyun continued to check the stairwell. He was concerned; she hadn’t even opened her room door.

He played the tournament to the best of his ability, but the second the match was over, Dae Hyun wasn’t in the main room anymore. He climbed the stairs as many as he could at a time before getting to her room door which was still closed.  He called her name, pressing his ear against it to better hear her should she reply.

But there was no reply. There was no sound and Dae Hyun could only assume—pray, actually, is a better word—that she was still sleeping. He cracked the door open slowly to make the least amount of noise possible and when he poked his head in, his heart dropped.

Her bed was a mess, but it was empty. The bedside lamp was on, but it only emitted a dull light throughout the room. “Sae Jin!” Dae Hyun called loud enough to startle Jong Up who was still downstairs. “Sae Jin this isn’t funny!”

“What the hell is going on up there?” Jong Up called back.

Dae Hyun didn’t reply. He wasn’t sure if he knew how anymore. His heart was beating a million miles an hour and there was no sign of Sae Jin anywhere. Dae Hyun’s eyes glanced at the clock, it was nearing midnight now. It only made his heart beat faster as he jumped down the stairs, pulling on a jacket.

“What in the hell do you think you’re doing?”

“Sae Jin’s gone. I have to go find her,” Dae Hyun replied, his hand reaching for the door when it opened. Sae Jin stood wide eyed, surprised to have Dae Hyun in such a close proximity the moment she opened the door. The look of terror on his face made hers turn confused.

“Is everything alright here?” she asked, pulling the sleeves of her jacket off her arms.

“Where were you? You scared me to death!” Dae Hyun exclaimed, taking the jacket from her grasp so she only had him to focus on without the distraction of anything else.

“I was out babysitting, I came down here and said bye, but you didn’t even acknowledge me,” she replied, crossing her arms over her chest, giving him a look that told him he had better not start this. Dae Hyun looked over to Jong Up, but he shrugged, unable to confirm that it actually happened. “You were too into your game to even spare me a passing glance,” she added on, pushing him back so she could shut the door, keeping the cool air out.  “But the fact that you cared so much that I was gone only makes me somewhat forgive you for ignoring me,” she ended with a wink, pushing past him to head upstairs, saying hello to Jong Up on her way there.

Dae Hyun continued to look at the front door, shocked by what had just happened in the past approximately three and half minutes. But before he could hear her door close, he called to her. “It’s late! Can Jong Up stay the night?”

To which her simple reply was, “I don’t care.”

“She sounds mad,” Jong Up mentioned.

“She probably is,” Dae Hyun sighed, turning on his heel to head upstairs with her. Before her door could close, Dae Hyun wedged his foot in it, stopping it from closing completely. “Hey,” he called quietly to her, pushing the door open. Not that it was much of a struggle; Sae Jin didn’t even put up a fight. The door came open and Sae Jin was on the bed seconds later. “What’s going on? Are you feeling okay?” Dae Hyun asked, sitting on the side of the bed and pressed his hand against her forehead.

“I’m fine,” she replied with a sigh, “It was just a rough evening.”

“Do you want to talk about it?” Dae Hyun asked.

“We should probably find some place for Jong Up to sleep,” Sae Jin replied, moving to get up. Dae Hyun looked over Sae Jin’s queen bed; it was plenty big for the two of them.

“If you let me sleep in here, he can have the guest room. That way we don’t have to make the couch,” he suggested, looking over Sae Jin’s face, brushing her bangs away from her eyes. She nodded, affirming his suggestion before the male stood and headed back downstairs to get Jong Up.

As they climbed the stairs, Jong Up awkwardly following Dae Hyun, the elder of the two began to talk. “I stayed in this bed for a couple of nights. It’s a good bed; you’ll sleep well in it. If you need anything, the two of us will be in Sae Jin’s room, this door here,” he said, motioning to Sae Jin’s room door. “The bathroom is conjoining, so make sure you lock both doors. I guess that’s it, if you want to shower, I suggest you rise early,” he said, bidding Jong Up goodnight before opening the door again to Sae Jin’s room, closing it equally as quietly.

The lights were turned off and Sae Jin was bundled in the covers. “Do you care if I—”

“Get comfortable,” she said, not bothering to open her eyes as she tucked the covers tighter under her jaw. Dae Hyun nodded and removed his shirt, letting it slide up his tanned skin before letting it flutter to the floor. The clinking of his belt buckle was easily recognized as his jeans slipped to the floor as well.

Dae Hyun slipped into the covers with her, spooning her back hesitantly until she backed up into him. “What happened tonight?” he whispered into her ear, his hand down her cotton clad side and would have continued over her hip if her hand didn’t catch his.

“One of the younger boys fell and hurt himself. I’m just mad at myself because I wasn’t paying close attention. I feel bad whenever a child gets hurt on my watch, especially so severely,” she whispered back to him, letting her eyes close once more as she tried to clear her mind of the incident.

“So severely?”

“He broke his arm in three places. He and his brother were wrestling by the stairs and the younger fell down them. God, I was so stupid. I should have been watching them closer,” she said, cursing herself, her voice becoming quieter, but harsher as well as her nails dug slightly into the top of his hand.

He nuzzled his nose against her neck softly, trying to comfort her if even just a little, but he knew it wasn’t going to be okay, not with her attitude, not with the way she was taking it. “He’ll be okay, Sae Jin. Accidents happen,” he whispered, trying to find the right words to say.

“I wouldn’t leave the hospital even after his parents got there,” she replied, almost shaking in Dae Hyun’s grip. “I should have been there, I should have watched them, I should have stopped them,” she added, turning over to push into his chest.

Dae Hyun’s arms wrapped around her and he closed his eyes, resting his chin on top of her head as he soothingly down her back.  He hushed her gently, encouraging sleep from her obviously fatigued body, and slowly but surely, she fell asleep cuddled into his warm body, and a long, restful night of sleep it would be.