chapter three: tied

"So rough..."

"Huh?" Sehun hummed, turning to look at Kris walking away.

"I feel sorry for her that way," Luhan whimpered.

Sehun turned to see Luhan's face etched with concern before he followed Kris and took a seat at the couch.

They had been standing in front of Soojin's hunched form. After Sehun's capture of Soojin, he had dragged her to the living room and tied her in a chair. He thought the others would be proud of him for conquering such feat, but then they started showing signs of pity. Sehun mentally gibed at them.

Tch... Such weaklings... These peasants.

"Be quiet. If I could make her a lady, I'll get free rent," Sehun stated.

He crouched at Soojin's eye level. He noticed Soojin shuffling in her seat, obviously avoiding his eyes. But he was determined to see what they were dealing with. It would be so easy if only her fringe wasn't in the way... Sehun suddenly felt another bright idea come to his brain. He turned and sprinted to the kitchen.

"Then, let's get straight to it, starting with her make up..." Kris sighed.

Suho sat in the corner a book in hand, watching the whole thing. He knew how desperate Sehun is on getting that free rent, he doesn't know how Sehun's brain works. So for now, he would just observe until the time that he deems it necessary to step in, or to clean up the mess which would undoubtedly be caused by Sehun himself. Just as Kris was about to squat in front of Soojin, he saw Sehun run back holding something in his hand.

"Kris, wait," Sehun interrupted, tapping Kris' shoulder. "Before you do her make up, first we need to get rid of those annoying bangs, right?"

Sehun flashed a pair of scissors and twirled it in his forefinger before grabbing it upright. He tilted Soojin's chin upward so that she was forced to look at him squarely in the eye. He first snapped the scissors a couple of times for good measure.

"So..." Soojin suddenly muttered.

"Huh?" Sehun asked.

Soojin stared at the guy standing dangerously close in front of her.

OH MY LORD. His face.

Everything around him looked like it turned into a lighter hue. Are all the lights on? Is the sun getting closer? Why is it so... so... so... so...

"SOOOO BRIGHT!!!!!" Soojin exclaimed.

Soojin threw her head back to the chair before flinging her whole face into Sehun's. He was immediately flung back into the door.

"Sehun!" Luhan screamed.

Kris gawked dumbfoundedly at Sehun lying on the floor. Even Suho stopped reading to stare at him. Luhan leaped off the couch and instantly ran to his side. Kris was about to move and follow Luhan when Soojin suddenly stood - or tried to. She was still bound to the chair so she was bending and carrying it on her back. On top of that, she was unmistakably growling and seething with anger.

"Oh crap. She's angry," Kris remarked.

"Apologize, Sehun! Apologize!" Luhan commanded, grabbing Sehun's shoulders.

Meanwhile, Sehun was still on the brink of his consciousness. He barely registered everything that is going on around him. He opened his eyes but was immediately greeted by stars dacing above him.

What year is it?

Am I dead? Is this heaven?

Wait, someone's talking to me. Is this an angel? Why does he look familiar? Are angels supposed to wear pink Hello Kitty sweatshirts? Oh wait... it's only Luhan.

Sehun tried sit up but as soon as he rose he felt pain rushing to his nose. He immediately touched the bridge of his nose, hoping to all hope that it wasn't broken. He couldn't even afford the rent of this house, much less a surgery.

"Who..." Sehun started to say.

But he was immediately interrupted by a low guttural sound emitted by Soojin. She trudged forward arduously, bearing the full weight of the wooden chair, her head hung low.

"You've gotta be kidding me. You think you can head me..." Sehun grunted, fully standing up with a little help from Luhan, "...you've got a lot of guts, Ugly!"

Soojin froze on her spot. Luhan and Kris who were both standing beside Sehun looked at him incredulously. Oh no. Sehun's obviously pissed off. Nothing good ever happens when Sehun is pissed off.

Time stood still. Slowly, Soojin lifted her head. Out of the blue, there was a sudden rumble of thunder heard from the distance. When Sehun attempted to take a step towards Soojin, Kris and Luhan immediately grabbed him by his arms and pulled him back.

"We haven't seen her face," Kris reasoned.

"Her looks don't matter. She has an ugly personality. Ugly Soojin!" Sehun barked.

Soojin screeched, her ropes snapping one by one. Thunder continuously boomed outside, getting closer and closer.

"Ugly Soojin!!" Sehun roared. "Ugly Soojin, ugly Soojin, ugly Soojin!!!"

Soojin let out another set of screeches, the last cord of the rope finally snapping out. She straightened her back then flung her cloak backwards. If only the timing wasn't so off, Sehun would have made a snarky remark about Batman. He immediately brushed the thought off, and mentally scolded himself for thinking about capes and superheroes and batcaves and batmobiles and Gotham City and... Damn. He really needs to lay off the TV.

Soojin turned around to face them. The lights suddenly went off, the scene oddly familiar. A flash of lightning broke from the sky, casting a blinding light in the room from the glass windows. Soojin clasped both sides of her cloak and raised it above her head. For a moment, Sehun was once again reminded of a bat and then of course Batman. Once this is over and if they ever survive this, he will kick himself in the .

Sehun, Luhan, Kris, and even Suho was thrown back on the floor and on the wall as an invisible current of electricity seemed to have rippled throughout the entire house. They watched in horror and shock as Soojin flicked her robe in a stylish wave before running towards the direction of her room.

Talk about making an exit...

The moment Soojin left, all the lights turned back on and the storm (or was it really?) outside suddenly ceased to exist. They all remained on their positions on the floor, still staring at the direction that Soojin had disappeared to. Kris was the one who broke the silence.

"What was that?" he asked.

"Soojin's anger gives her supernatural powers!" Luhan yelped.

"What does she mean by 'bright'?" Sehun hissed.

"The face, huh?" Suho stated.

Sehun turned to look at Suho. What the hell is this guy blabbering about?

"Face?" Luhan inquired.

"Soojin's emotional landmine... It's got to be her face," Suho explained.

"Her face," Kris repeated.

• • •

Soojin dashed out of the living room as fast as she could, and headed straight to the safety of her room. She immediately bolted the lock on her door though she's fairly certain no one would follow her after her outburst in the living room. She stood in front of the mirror and took a look at her fringe-covered face.

Sehun's words instantly ran through her mind. She took it back. The dazzling creature is definitely NOT a good guy. She gritted her teeth in rage. Her breaths were turning shallow and her shoulders were shaking violently. She ran a hand through her face before clenching her fist tightly.

Ugly.

The word forever etched in her being. Before she knew it, her fist had already punched the mirror, the shards of broken glass cluttering on the floor.

• • •

By the next morning, Suho accompanied Sehun to Maekyeori, a cafe that they frequently visit. It's an old trendy Victorian-styled restaurant with low hanging lanterns of different shapes and sizes. The place is literally 97% wood: the tables, chairs, walls and even the ceiling are all made of hard wood. There are also lots of ornaments hanging on the walls like maps of diverse countries, photos of unknown people and beautiful sceneries, at least eight nonidentical clocks that tell different times none of them Korea's time zone, and abstract paintings of anonymous artists. It sounds like clutter but somehow all the meshed trinkets contributed to the whole look of the cafe. One wall of the place has a bookcase full of books which the customers can read while inside. Suho currently squatted in front of the self to pick a book he could read.

"How lame. Who cares what her face looks like?" Sehun fumed.

"Even so, that's no reason to call her ugly," Suho sighed, finally settling on a book to read.

"I said she had an ugly personality," Sehun reasoned.

Suho tried to remember what happened the night before. Hmm, Sehun did say that. Suho straightened and sat beside Sehun on the cafe bar.

"Besides which, it's weird for someone to come into your house without saying anything, and then shut herself in her room," Sehun continued.

"You were willing to go pretty far just to get free rent," Suho remarked.

"You're lucky, Suho," Sehun sighed, shrugging his jacket off his shoulders, "If you go home, you're still the son of a head family."

"Your hometown isn't far either. You can just go home too," Suho retorted.

"I don't have a home to go back to," Sehun replied flatly.

Suho stopped scanning the book in his hand and looked at Sehun who had propped his chin on his hand and stared fixedly on the wall in front of them. He knew Sehun had a rough and difficult past but he doesn't particularly like talking about it. Suho had to learn about it after a few years of living with him. This is the first time in a long while that Sehun had brought up even a tiny detail about his past.

"Thanks for waiting. Here's Maekyeori's special fortune cookies..." the barista said, suddenly emerging from the storeroom of the cafe behind the bar and conveniently placing the bowl of fortune cookies in front of them.

Aside from the cool ambiance, the other reason they hang out in the cafe is because of the barista. The owner slash barista is a tall lean middle-aged man who wears glasses and likes to wear shirts of rock bands. Despite him being 40-ish, he can be a bit childish sometimes. And since the four of them like to spend so much time in the said cafe, the barista had grown quite familiar with them.

"Looks delicious..." Sehun murmured, eyeing the cookies approvingly.

When Sehun reached out to grab one, the barista quickly swatted his hand with a newspaper.

"Those are only for customers who order coffee," he warned.

"Who cares. Just let me eat them," Sehun grumbled, making another move to take a cookie but his hand was swiftly slapped by the man.

"Order coffee," he commanded.

"I don't have any money," Sehun confessed, trying once again but as expected his hand was hit again.

"If you don't, then don't come in," the barista retorted.

"I came in to drink water," Sehun argued.

"Are you an idiot? Order coffee," the man commanded.

"I'm not an idiot. Make something special with water," Sehun insisted, smacking the countertop.

"Are you serious?" the man asked.

"Yeah," Sehun answered, slowly standing up.

"Come and get me," the man threatened, immediately hunching to a fighting position then beckoning Sehun to attack him with his hand.

"Bring it on," Sehun sneered, flicking his nose with his thumb.

Suho watched them at the side amusedly. He knew all too well how these friendly banters between the other two usually end up.

"Sehun, I'm leaving," Suho butted in, but it looked like they were too busy to pay him any attention.

"Come on," the barista taunted.

"Today, it's your turn," Sehun teased, motioning for the man to attack first.

Suho shook his head at the spectacle before him. Mentally snickering at the maturity level these two adults before him were currently exhibiting. He stood up and left the cafe without a fuss.

As Sehun was mentally assessing the situation, the barista suddenly leaned forward and clapped his hands in front of Sehun's face. Sehun who was caught off guard was so taken aback he stumbled backwards.

"Damn..." Sehun cursed.

"You're scared," the man said.

"I am not!" Sehun responded, trying to regain his confidence.

Sehun quickly sent out a punch to the man's face but the older guy swiftly shifted to the side.

"You always act so immature!" Sehun childishly accused, making a quick grab on the bowl of cookies but his wrist was immediately seized by the guy.

"So immature," Sehun repeated, trying to snatch a cookie with his free hand but it was also caught.

Suddenly the older man's face turned serious and his tone deep, "Sometimes there are feelings in your heart that just make you need to hide."

Releasing his grip on Sehun, he continued," After all, in this world, feelings and events form the beginnings of a labyrinth..."

Sehun heaved a deep sigh and resigned back to his seat, crossing his arms in his chest.

"Until that girl finds her way out, you stay with her patiently," the barista said in a low voice.

Sehun realized that somehow they weren't talking about fortune cookies anymore.

• • •

It wasn't until 30 minutes later that Sehun realized Suho had already left. He slowly walked home with both his hands in his pockets. The cold Autumn wind wafting through the trees and sneaking its way into his shirt, making the hair on his arms stand on ends. It was particularly windy that day, all the dead leaves on the street kept on scattering around. He was the only one walking through the street, the eerie silence only broken by the sound of leaves crunching under the weight of his shoe. As he was pondering over the million dollar question of life (i.e. how to make Soojin into a lady), the hair on his nape suddenly tingled and he was suddenly overcome by a feeling of being watched. He turned to look behind him but all he saw was an empty street. He continued walking, but a few minutes later he heard a rustling of leaves and a shuffling of footsteps. He came to an abrupt stop and immediately whirled around but once again, he saw nothing. His eyes scanned every direction, he was sure he heard something. A hand suddenly fell on his shoulder. Slowly, he turned around.

"What a surprise. Your house is around here?" Bommi asked, appearing out of nowhere.

"Yeah," Sehun nodded distractedly, he returned his eyes back to the street. He knew something was out there, he just needed to find it.

"Sorry about yesterday," Bommi uttered.

"Huh?" Sehun hummed, looking back to his former coworker.

"Those high school girls... I wasn't able to tell them off properly, so... you ended up getting fired, Sehun," Bommi reminded apologetically.

"I'm actually kind of used to it," Sehun replied, offering a small smile to ease her that it was okay.

Another cold gust of wind tore through the area and left Sehun shivering like a wet puppy.

"Oh. My jacket..." Sehun muttered as realization dawned on him.

"Oh no. Did you forget it at that restaurant?" Bommi exclaimed.

"Eh?" Sehun huffed confusedly.

"Actually, I happened to see you at the cafe..." Bommi quickly clarified.

• • •

"A little ways up, there's a bar I go to often. It's not like I drink everyday, though... You could say that when a woman turns 33, she thinks she has to drink or she can't go on... Basically, I just wanted to say that it's not like I was following you or anything..." Bommie rattled on.

Sehun had continued walking home with Bommi trailing by his side, still trying to explain to him how she saw him at the cafe. She seemed flustered and talked in a really fast way. She sounded like Eminem in a rap battle to be honest.

"I didn't think you were," Sehun answered.

As they continued walking, Sehun suddenly heard a faint snapping of a picture taken. For what felt like the nth time today, he came to a halt and turned to look behind him. Bommi also followed suit and came to a stop. Sehun was determined to find out why his "Sehun" senses were tingling. He started running to the direction where he heard the camera shutters.

"What's wrong?" Bommi called after him confusedly.

Sehun kept running and running. Unsure of what he was looking for, he stopped and did a full 360° turn to scan the place.

"What was that?" he thought to himself.

• • •

Luhan stood outside the door and contemplated whether he was ready to die. He figured he had already done the best he could in his short lifetime. He gave Daehyun some cookies last week so he must go to heaven right? But then again this morning, he reprimanded Sehun for calling Soojin 'ugly' last night and he may or may not have called Sehun a "really nasty piece of poop!". He's not sure if that will become a problem when he's already standing at the judgment room being judged by whoever judges the people who needs to be judged.

He steeled himself and knocked hesitantly on Soojin's door.

"Soo... Soojin... Can I talk to you for a sec?" Luhan stammered.

When he heard no reply, he continued, "I'm really sorry for doing all that horrible stuff to you last night. I bought some bibimbap! You haven't eaten dinner yet, right?"

He waited for a full minute before finally deciding to go in. This is it. He's really gonna die now. Goodbye world. Someday, someone would tell the tale of a brave young guy who once brought bibimbap to a girl in her room and then mysteriously died, the end.

The door creaked as he slowly opened it.

"I'm coming in," Luhan announced.

He quietly stepped inside and gazed around in a strange mixture of astonishment and mortal terror. Soojin's room was like a set in a haunted house on the amusement parks. Her room is unusually dark since all the windows were draped over by a large cloth. Literally, the only source of light in her room were the candles spread out all over the room, and two lamps made of spine skeleton casting an orange glow on THE COFFIN ATOP HER BED. Most people would rather sleep on mattresses but Soojin is definitely not like most people.

To each his own. Or her, for the matter.

When Luhan drifted his eyes beside the spine lamp, he shuddered, "A skull..."

He quickly averted his eyes and continued walking.

"A... anatomy models?" Luhan whispered in a quivering voice. "Scary..."

But he wouldn't risk it. He bowed his head slightly in their direction and hastily neared the bed.

"Over here?" Luhan panted to himself, clutching the paper bag to his chest like a shield.

He already came this far, he can't back down now, can he? He stared at the black coffin. This is really it.

He knocked on the wood silently. One should be polite even on the face of death.

"Are you sleeping?" Luhan asked softly.

It's stupid but he hopes Soojin would answer "Yes".

Again there was no answer. He placed his hand on the lid. With one big breath, he carefully opened the casket.

"Huh?"

Soojin was not inside the coffin. Luhan spun and scanned the room once again, checking every nook and cranny. He suddenly realized he no longer felt any fear but it was now replaced by worry and concern.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

When I said Soojin gets sensitive whenever someone calls her ugly, I really meant it hahaha.

Also, this is longest chapter I've ever written for any fic. I hope I did not disappoint anyone. T_T