Special thanks to balloon_ for surprising me with this amazing poster :-)

-Chapter 26-

Just One Chance

Lying awake in the almost excruciatingly soundless room you were given by Jongin’s family, you blankly stared up at the ceiling looming above you. How many days has it been since you were first told to stay here? How many hours a day have you wasted just lying in that bed doing nothing? In fact, what time was it anyways??

…How could you even tell when you cooped yourself up inside this room with not only the windows shut and shaded but also with the lights turned completely off, fully engulfing the entire room in thick darkness. It’s no wonder that you completely isolated yourself and spent the unknown number of days you’ve been there doing absolutely nothing but lying in bed. After a while, it sometimes even felt like you were completely blind without the lack of light, so of course this would be unsettling to you. And you’ll admit, this ominous darkness was slightly scaring you…

But in a way, it was all worth it. It’s not like you surrounded yourself in utter darkness to accommodate yourself, but rather for something else. Carefully pushing yourself up to sit up straight, you stared straight ahead at the foot of your bed.

Focusing and concentrating your weak vision, you could somewhat make out what appeared to be a tall silhouette of a man standing at the foot of your bed. You couldn’t make out his facial features— just the shape of his body. He didn’t move a muscle, nor was he breathing. He was just standing there completely stationary before you; his invisible eyes engraved onto every inch you.

Luhan’s still watching me… after all this time… you thought. It’s true that seeing a shadowy figure standing completely still at the foot of you bed in the dark terrified and disturbed you in more ways than one, but you had to keep reassuring yourself that it was only Luhan… It was just him, so there was nothing to be afraid of…

I wonder… if he gets tired just watching me all day and night like this? I mean, he’s also in an unfamiliar environment—that must take a good amount of his energy to even show up outside of his house like this…

“Luhan.” You softly called out. Almost on cue, a chilling shiver ran down your spine that caused you to cringe a bit. You shook away your uneasiness and continued on. “It must be tiring for you to just watch over me like this, unlike back home when you weren’t just bound to one room.” You silently waited for a reply or a reaction of some sort, but didn’t get even one little sound. You breathed out a sigh. It seemed like each day that past by while being inside this house, you were losing more and more touch with Luhan. It was getting so difficult to actually talk to him nowadays…

You uncomfortably pressed on. “Luhan… I miss hearing your voice. I miss seeing you too… not as a shadow like this but as a—“

THUMP

You jolted up and on impulse frantically looked around the room. With your senses in disarray, you couldn’t pinpoint where you heard the thump come from through the blinding shadows. In another moment you heard another sound, this one unmistakably the sound of loafers stepping across the floor towards you. For some reason you couldn’t figure out what direction the footsteps were coming from though, all you could pick up was the distinct sound echoing in both of your ears; slowly closing in on you.

Then it stopped. But not even a moment later, you felt ice cold fingertips lightly touch your exposed arm resting by your side. You lightly gasped and drew away from the abrupt contact, but the unseen icy fingertips still lingered on your skin unnervingly trailing down the length of your arm, leaving behind a path of goosebumps up your arm, until it finally settled onto your slightly trembling hand.

Afterwards… Whispers. You didn’t know where it was coming from, but you heard Luhan’s whispers surrounding you. It was nonstop and you just couldn’t decipher what it was that he was saying to you at all. “Luhan…” you nervously mutter, but the whispers persisted. It was just getting louder and more relentless as the seconds ticked by. What was he doing and what was he trying to tell you?? “Luha—“

“Now is your chance.”

And in the blink of an eye, the whispers came to a sudden end and you were accompanied by silence once more. All you could do was dazedly blink to yourself, trying to replay what just happened in your mind over and over again to try and understand what had just happened and what you had just heard.

“N-now… is my chance…?”

Jongin swung his front door open to reveal Sehun standing at the door, impatience clearly etched across his face. Without even waiting for a hello, Sehun hurriedly marched into the house. “Where’s Jaeyun? Is she okay? She’s not hurt is she?” Sehun managed to ramble out all at once at record speed.

“Whoa calm down Sehunnie, she’s fine.” Jongin reassured with a light pat to Sehun’s back.

“What? Then why did you send me such an urgent looking text then!” Sehun barked, whirling around to face Jongin. He suddenly pauses for a moment when his eyes landed onto Jongin who was gripping onto his right shoulder almost in a pained manner, as if it were injured or sore in some way. “Hey, what’s wrong with you?” Sehun inquired suspiciously, nodding to Jongin’s shoulder. Instantly, the older boy withdrew his hand away.

“Uh, it’s nothing. J-just a… stiff shoulder is all…” he uneasily answered, clearing his throat a bit uncomfortably after. “You know I could be asking you the same thing. What’s up with the long face anyways?” Jongin slyly questioned with a tilt of the head and arms crossed over his own chest. Sehun averted his eyes from Jongin’s and remained silent. Jongin playfully scoffed. “Silent treatment huh? Well anyways, what took you so long to get here?”

“…I was… held up at the bus.” He silently mumbled. “Can I just go see Jaeyun already??” He angrily demanded. With a shrug of the shoulders, Jongin led the way up the stairs and down the hall towards the room you were staying in. “So tell me Jongin, what was the real reason why you asked me to come over?”

Now Jongin was the one guilty of being quiet until he apprehensively replied, “Some… weird things have been happening…”

“Weird things? To Jaeyun??” Jongin once again held his tongue, not wanting anything to slip out that could possibly freak Sehun out even more. Why the hell is he being so unresponsive today? He’s not helping at all with his lack of answers! Sehun frustratingly thought.

“Here it is.” Jongin walked up to your door and gave it a few careful knocks. Not waiting for a response, he twisted the doorknob and little by little pushed the door open just a crack. Sunlight from the hall spilled into the dark room and the two boys spotted you quietly sitting in your bed, not at all disturbed by the light or their presence.

“Why is she sitting in the dark like this??” Sehun questioned in an accusing tone towards Jongin.

“Don’t jump to conclusions now, she told me herself she wanted the room to be completely dark! What was I supposed to tell her anyways?” Rolling his eyes, Sehun disregarded Jongin and reached over to flip the light switch on. Right away the room was flooded with blinding light from the ceiling fan, causing Sehun and Jongin to flinch a bit at the abrupt illumination. You, however, stayed completely unscathed and remained immobile while Sehun strode towards you. As Sehun approached you, he couldn’t help but notice that you seemed to have been a little too focused on something at the foot of your bed but after following your gaze, Sehun saw absolutely nothing there. What is she staring at so intently…?

“Jaeyun?” Sehun called out, standing a few steps away from your bedside. However, you didn’t seem to notice or even hear him at all. Your concentration and eyes were still glued to who knows what. Arching a curious eyebrow at you, Sehun took a few steps closer and reached over to lightly shake your shoulder. Finally you awoke out of your unknown daze and gazed over at him.

“Sehun…?” you slowly said. Though Sehun was expecting a more dramatic reaction considering you haven’t seen him in a few days, he was still glad to see you. Being away from her for so long was killing me… it’s nice to finally see her again. Sehun plopped down onto the bed next to you.

“How are you feeling Jaeyun? Are your legs feeling any better?” Sehun smiled at you. Normally you would have been shocked to have seen your brother actually smiling at you so genially, but for some reason your mind was completely out of it so you really didn’t have a reaction for pretty much anything right now. “You know you shouldn’t be staying in the dark like this unless you’re sleeping. It’ll really strain your eyes trying to see in the dark.”

Now is your chance…

A powerful pain suddenly struck your head in a massive migraine, instantly blurring your vision and making you feel sick to your stomach. Straightaway you dropped your head into your hands in an attempt to somehow soothe the sudden pain. In an instant, terror rushed through Sehun’s veins the moment he saw you in pain. “Jaeyun! Are you alright?!” Sehun immediately asked in a panic, leaning closer to you and wrapping an arm around your shoulder.

Now…

It felt like your head was throbbing and that the pain was starting to slowly overpower your entire body. Now fully alarmed and unsure of how to react, all Sehun could do was stare closely at your face and witness the excruciating pain you were in. “P-please Jaeyun, say something to me… what’s happening to you??”

Now...

This pain was becoming too much for you for bear… Why were you suddenly stricken with this pain anyways? Why were you hearing his voice in your head? …What was he trying to tell you? Just when this sudden pain was starting to slowly drag you past the brink of consciousness…

JAEYUN.

Without even thinking about it, your arm shot over and clenched onto Sehun’s sleeve. You were frozen in that position, as was Sehun who stared down at you and your hand gripping his arm in shock, and as you sat there the pain began to gradually die down to nothing; returning you back to normal. Nonetheless, a sudden phrase unexpectedly flew past your lips without you even realizing it.

“Sehun… please… take me home…”

Sehun’s eyes rounded at you and for a moment, he was left speechless. Trailing his eyes downward, a light sigh blew past his lips. Placing his other hand onto yours, he muttered, “Jaeyun… I can’t let you go home, you already know that—“

“PLEASE!!!” It was as if someone else was pushing these words out of you. You felt your mind being completely blank and numb right now, yet you were saying all of these things you didn’t even know you had bottled up inside you. Sehun could feel your frail hand beneath his trembling underneath his, and looking into your eyes it seemed like you were in such desperation it looked as though you were on the verge of tears. “You don’t understand…! I don’t want to be here! I need to go home!!!”

What’s  happening to you Jaeyun…? He thought. What on earth is happening to my little sister…? “Jaeyun, I don’t want anything to happen to you all right? I’ve told you this already—I just want you to be safe.”

“But Sehun—!!!”

“Jaeyun, can you just stop for one moment and look at how you are right now??!!!”  The moment Sehun raised his voice, he immediately regretted letting those words come out of his mouth. Looking down into your eyes, he felt guilt now squeezing at his heart; practically suffocating him. It’s not like he liked yelling at you… how could he possibly enjoy causing pain to the girl he loves…?

Thinking of nothing else, Sehun reached over and encircled his arms around you in an embrace. You didn’t move against his chest and stayed completely still; holding your breath without even realizing it. Being in his arms like this was a different feeling… it didn’t feel like a hug that gave you the warmth from a brother at all. It just felt… different… “Jaeyun, listen to me right now…” he gently whispers against your hair. “Don’t step anywhere near that house. Just stay here. You’re safe here with Jongin—“

Minseok…

Without a second thought, Sehun unexpectedly pulled you away from him. Looking over at him, you saw that his eyes were the size of saucers and it seemed as though the blood was completely drained from his face. “S-Sehun…?”

That voice I heard… i-it was Yoona’s. It had to be her voice, there’s no doubting it…! Abruptly shooting up to his feet, Sehun turned his back on you. “I’d better go now…” he mumbled in a low voice. “Just take care of yourself.” And with that, he rushed out the door.

Jongin stared up at the door in front of him for what felt like five minutes now until his eyes gradually reeled down onto the metallic doorknob. “Why am I getting so nervous?” he frustratingly whispered to himself. The sweaty palms, the knotting stomach, the buckling knees; his nerves were definitely getting to him. It wasn’t like the door intimidated him or something, he wasn’t that much of a wuss. It was what lied behind it that was slowly eating away at him. “Pull yourself together Kim Jongin, nothing is going to happen to you.” he encouraged. “Just walk in there and go see what she’s doing!”

in a deep breath, Jongin swiftly grabbed hold of the knob and pushed the door open just enough for him to poke his head in. By force of habit, Jongin’s eyes first landed on the bed across from the doorway. But was surprised to see it empty. Opening the door all the way, Jongin finally noticed you off to the side in your wheelchair facing the nearby window.

That’s new… A bit apprehensive, Jongin cautiously strode towards you. As always, you were in your own world and didn’t even make an effort to look over at him as he advanced towards you. Standing just behind you, Jongin curiously peered out the window as well. But after a good minute and a half of staring… What is she even staring out at, there’s nothing out there but trees and traffic… Jongin thought, a bit weirded out. Stepping over to your side, Jongin leaned in a bit to get a look at your face and was taken a back by what he saw.

“H-hey… Jaeyun… why are you crying…??” You didn’t answer him. You continued staring out the window; tears welling up in the corner of your eyes and trickling down your cheeks. Why were you crying? …You didn’t really know, but for some reason… in the back of your mind it felt like you had to… So the tears continued falling and you continued gazing past the glass window without even uttering a word to Jongin.

“Are you all right? Jaeyun??” Jongin weakly urged. Not getting a response, Jongin started to panic. Oh no, if Sehun finds out Jaeyun was crying he’d have me beaten with a metal bat and toss my dead body into a dirty, polluted river before I can even give him an explanation..!!! “H-hey come on, don’t cry! Uh… D-do you want me to call your parents, or maybe Sehun? On second thought, please don’t call Sehun. I—“

“Jongin…” you softly utter, quieting Jongin. “Can I ask you… a favor…?”

“Huh? Sure, anything. What is it?” You brought a weak hand up to wipe your watery eyes and then looked up at the boy standing before you.

“Can you please take me out for a walk?”    

`Author's Corner

How's it going y'all. So I know, I've been inactive for a while again I'm sorry guys, I really am >.< I swear to everything that I will try to update sooner since we're getting pretty close to the end of this story. (Yes, it's almost done guys lol) And about your theories that you guys have been writing up in the comments (yes I read em lol) all I have to say is... you guys are SMART. BUUUUUUT, despite all that there's still something all of your theories are missing~ ;-) *evil smirk*

On another note, I apparently live under a rock because I didn't know recommendation fics existed here. But yeah, I come to find out that my fics have been featured in a few of these o.o I was just like what... you're recommending my fic with all these other great ones???? If you're one of those people who put my fics in your recommendations then I'd like to thank you for actually taking the time to do so ^^

One last thing, check out this blog post of mine (IF YOU WANT, I ain't forcing nothin' on ya. Do so if you're bored or something lol)

...Oh and guys, I'm really sorry if my story scared you to the point where you can't even walk around in your own house lol I didn't think I would scare anyone with this but apparently I did o.o To be honest, I scare myself sometimes when I write these chapters so it's okay-- we can all be scared together! *sleeps with the lights and tv on*