“I always wanted to be a snake. Every time I saw a snake on TV. I’d always say ‘Why not me?’.”

Dane Cook

He was huge. The big scales of the snake were shining in the moonlight. They almost looked like my own scales if it hadn’t been for the pattern on his back. He almost looked like a bag and despite the dire situation I couldn’t help but snort or maybe it was because of the situation that I couldn’t quite keep my nerves under control.

The orange eyes stared at me, kept their focus on me, while the body was coming closer and closer. I on the other hand was petrified.

I wasn’t even sure who was quicker in the water. I remembered that snakes were quite fast but I wasn’t sure how fast. Not that it mattered because this tank confined me and it would only be a matter of time before…

I shook my head and stared back at the place where the snake was supposed to be. Where he was supposed to be…

With a gasp, I turned around but it was already too late. Changmin advanced. I could barely make out the patterns on his back, his body was just so quick.

But I had no time to be amazed. I flicked my tail as hard as I could, not knowing where to go but just going as fast as I could to get away from him.

I looked back, I saw his bright orange eyes staring at me as he followed me swiftly. They were set on my body like the hungry predator he was.

“Ouch!” I slammed right into the glass. I felt blood shooting into my nose. My hand flew straight to it. I tasted blood, I smelled iron and I had hurt myself so much that tears sprung into my eyes. With blurred vision I looked back at the snake. He just stared back at me without even displaying a hint of humanity. If I hadn’t known any better, I would’ve thought that he was really a reticulated python.

The orange eyes didn’t blink… and for a minute, time seemed to have stopped. I felt the soft water against my skin, I heard rain drops fall into the tank above us, I smelled blood that floated in the water, tasted iron of the blood that came into my mouth, I was completely hypnotized by those eyes…

Changmin advanced again. This time, I had no way of escaping. Rapidly, he moved his body around me. His smooth, greenish scales rubbed against my own dull and rusty colored scales. The friction between the scales made me cringe.

“Please Changmin…” I begged for the human side of the snake. Even if I knew it was futile – Siwon had told me that Changmin hadn’t been a good human after all – I still wanted to try out if it worked.

But Changmin climbed higher and higher. He immobilized me, I couldn’t move my tale anymore, he had constricted my arms and kept my whole body in a tight hold.

I slowly sank down, I couldn’t keep my body floating in the water because I couldn’t move my own tail anymore.

And now it only became a matter of seconds.

Every time, I breathed out, Changmin made the grip around my body tighten. It didn’t matter that I had gills, it didn’t matter that I had a mouth and nose to breath through either. The lungs were the most important thing that made me breath and Changmin made it difficult for me to expand those lungs.

“P-ple…ase…” I croaked but black spots were already invading my vision. Together with those spots came the desperate attempt to breath but only water came into my mouth. Panic on the other hand did come into my system. I struggled fiercely but to no avail. Spots appeared quicker and quicker while I was surviving on the last thirty seconds on oxygen.

I blinked one last time and became surprised with how clear I saw my entire surroundings. I saw all the little bubbles in the deep water. The small light particles that were highlighted because of the moon. And when I looked up I could see the moon itself, shining so brightly that I was almost sure that it was giving me a spotlight to let everyone see where I was.

But that wasn’t true and I knew that. Tears fell from the corner of my eyes as my last breath slowly left me.

And before I slowly faded away in darkness, I felt regret. I felt regret for not getting to know all the people that had been nice to me upon this point of time, I felt regret for not solving my problems with my parents, I felt regret for not knowing what was wrong with me but the thing that I regretted the most, and it surprised me a lot, I regretted not getting to know Hyukjae better because who could’ve known what we would’ve done…

-~*~-

“Donghae? DONGHAE! DONGHAE WAKE UP!!”

I recognized that voice. But it seemed strange, I couldn’t obey that voice but that was not the thing that was weird but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. What was going on? Maybe