‘Um… Daehyun?’ you ask, checking your bandage. He turns your way, looking a little confused. ‘Yes?’ he answers, smiling. You struggle to think of how to word his strange behaviour. ‘Did… did something happen? Are you okay?’ He sticks his hands in his pockets, obviously thinking hard on your question. You intently wait for his answer, carefully reading his body language.

‘Yeah,’ he says. Yeah? Was that ‘Yeah, something happened’ or ‘Yeah, I’m okay’. You simply stare at him, waiting for the rest of his sentence. ‘What?’ he exclaims, looking at you weirdly. ‘What’s with that look?’ ‘What look?’ you shoot back, holding back on the rest of the words. But when he brushes off your sudden anger with a chuckle, you can’t help it.

‘You! It’s you!’ you scream, tearing up unintentionally. ‘You come waltzing to where I am after what just happened and just start healing my injuries with only a piece of information of why you’re here. Why are you so cheery? Why? What’s with you?! Why are you so different?! Aren’t you hurt too? That knife you got stabbed with? Huh? This isn’t like you!’

Daehyun looks completely thrown off, eyes wide open and arms falling limply at his sides. You look at the ground, blinking back tears. ‘Well…What can I say…?’ he begins slowly. ‘It’s… nothing.’ He finishes with a quick, clean smile. But that doesn’t convince you a single bit.

As silence fills the air, you stand up. ‘Fine,’ you say with as much contempt you can gather. ‘If you don’t want to say it, I will leave and find Jongup and have myself injured again.’ You begin taking steps forward, hoping Daehyun would call you back to explain. Every step is like a step of chance, the further you get from Daehyun, the less likely you will know.

But before you can take any more than ten steps, Daehyun blurts out: ‘He’s dead.’

With only two words, your mind rolls around like a rollercoaster. buffalo

Who’s dead? Your heart beats wildly in fear as you think of Youngjae, Zelo and Seung Hoon. But it beats even faster in ecstasy as you think of Jongup, splayed across the ground, and covered head to toe in his own crimson blood. It feels like forever as you utter your single word reply: ‘Who?’

Daehyun takes a deep breath, clearly regretting everything. As he lets it out, he looks into your eyes. ‘Seung Hoon,’ he answers. ‘Seung Hoon is dead. I killed him.’

You both stand in complete silence, your mind slowly registering his words. ‘What!?’ you bellow, not believing your ears. ‘Seung Hoon? Dead? You killed -?’ You begin stuttering uncontrollably, your knees shaking and trembling.

‘I know I said I had no more use of you since your phoenix ran away; which was true,’ Daehyun begins. ‘I know Seung Hoon meant a lot to you. But I had to. I hope you’ll understand. That’s all I can say. I’m sorry. Goodbye.’

Without another word, Daehyun walks away from you. You can’t get up and chase him, you were too weak; inside and out. You give up. 

The End

Have another adventure? 

Click here to go to the beginning. 

Click here to go to where the paths divide. 

Your last decision: 

Crushed

Spiders, Wild Animals and the Moonlight