More commonly known as moonbows, these rainbows are produced by light reflected off the surface of the moon (as opposed to direct sunlight) that refracts off of the moisture in clouds in the atmosphere. Because the light is usually too faint to excite the cone color receptors in human eyes, it is difficult for the human eye to discern colours in such bows. As a result, they often appear to be white.

Part I.

The trembling of his hands was uncontrollable. The blood in his veins was anxiously gushing at an alarming rate. The aggravating combination of the alarm still going off, combined with the sound of his own heart madly pumping in his chest made it difficult for Jongin to settle down.

He nervously gripped his fingers around the lipstick in his hand. Putting on makeup is hard enough  as it is, and the darkness of the supply closet he’d hidden himself in wasn’t making matter any easier.

Get a grip, Jongin, he told himself. You can do this. You need to do this.

Edith hadn’t stuck the lipstick in the uniform pocket for nothing. Wearing the nurse uniform and the black wig was one thing, but he realized that colouring his lips was a vital part of disguising himself. Time was running out: the sooner he could escape from the chaos the psych ward now found itself in, the better.

Come on. Come on. Jongin tried to gather his courage as he brought the lipstick closer to his mouth. Don’t mess this up.

The boy took a few deep breaths, before smudging the coloured substance onto his lower lip. He grimaced at the feel of it, but carried on by slowly rubbing his lips together to spread the makeup out evenly. Once more he brought the lipstick closer, slowly contouring the arches on his upper lip and filling in the corners of his mouth.

There was no way for him to check whether he looked like a clown or not. Perhaps it didn’t really matter. The only important thing was to stay focused.

Jongin let out a long, inaudible sigh as he put the cap back on and stuck the lipstick back into the pocket of his trousers.

“Gather the patients and evacuate them to the courtyard. Do not panic,” a loud voice rang through the intercom.

Jongin couldn’t help but let out a yelp. Panicking was exactly what he was doing.

Settle down, Jongin. Settle down, he assured himself. There’ll never be a perfect time for things. Just get the hell out of here.

He carefully straightened the long black-haired wig on his head, before shutting his eyes tightly and opening the door of the shaded supply closet, resuming the risky plan he had no choice but to follow.

The disorientated boy immediately collided with a patient on his way out. A short girl, probably around the age of eight, turned around and glared at him. Jongin shivered as he noticed the white eye patch that covered half of her vision.

“What the hell are you staring at, ya filthy ?!” she yelled at him in a rural dialect.

“I-I… I…”

“You gon’ do somethin’ or wha?!” the girl continued as she took another step in his direction. “I bet you’s a part of the SDC too, huh?”

Jongin scowled as the girl continued to spit nonsensical words at him. “The… the SDC… what?

The girl leaned in even closer, peering at him with the one icy-blue eye she had left. “The Schemin’ Demon Clan… they’re comin’ for us mortals.” She suddenly turned her head towards the ceiling. “We must fight their power and protect the foetal god of life and death, before they come to sacrifice us all!”

“Nurse, what the hell are you standing there for?!” a third voice suddenly cut in. Jongin gasped as he turned his head to face an old man wearing the same uniform as he was. “Get little miss Cyclops out of here, right now!”

“Y-Y-Yes sir!” Jongin stammered as he clasped one of his hands around the raging girl in front of him.

The old man grumbled as he shuffled out of the hallway. “Damn interns…”

“Let go of me!” the girl protested as Jongin carefully tried to her out of the building. “LET ME GO!”

The boy instinctively crouched down and turned the girl to face him directly, causing her to freeze. “In order to find the foetal god of life and death, we have to get out now. The clan knows about our whereabouts, I can here them whispering. If we don’t relocate now, they’ll get to us before we get to them, and we can’t let that happen, understood?”

The girl’s eye frightfully scanned Jongin, after which she resolutely nodded. “Yes, we must go now and leave the kingdom behind.”

“Exactly,” Jongin agreed as he continued to walk, the girl now willingly following behind him. “I’m on your side, your highness. Remember that.”

With his heart still beating like crazy, Jongin pushed through the double doors and made his way to the emergency staircase. As soon as he and the one-eyed girl entered the stairwell, they mixed into a hasty crowd consisting of worried staff members and roaring patients.

“They’re coming! We need to hurry!” the girl by Jongin’s side yelled.

“You’re right!” He tightly gripped the girl’s hand, which was gruesomely covered in scars, and started leading her through the unsettled crowd. “Everyone make way! Emergency case coming through!” the boy yelled as he started pushing people to the side, racing down the steps with the girl following behind him. For some reason his tactic seemed to be effective. The paranoid girl continued to shriek, causing everyone around her to flinch and step out of her path immediately. No one was paying attention to Jongin anymore – and that was exactly what he needed right now. If only he could ride the wave of chaos up till the exit…

In a matter of seconds, the two reached the ground floor. A guard was standing by the thick door below, holding it open with one hand and clutching a megaphone in the other. “Staff members, please evacuate the patients to the courtyard, right now!” he blurted in the megaphone, right next to Jongin’s ear. He let out a low-pitched wail, which earned him a suspicious glare from the man. “You too, intern,” he snarled as he motioned towards the door.

“Yes sir!” Jongin replied as he pushed the paranoid girl in front of him, into the fresh air.

The moment he reached the outside world, Jongin halted. He gasped at the sudden sensation of raindrops on his skin. Suddenly out of touch with reality, he closed his eyes and opened his mouth, allowing the water to fall onto his tongue. It tasted fresh and a bit sweet – the way rain ought to taste.

However, his brief moment of tranquillity was roughly put to an end by a nasty slap on the shoulder. The boy instinctively placed a hand on the soar spot. “Ow! What was that for?” he protested.

He felt his breath stick in his throat as he made eye contact with the man who’d been responsible for the slap. The man was young, wearing a grey uniform and thick spectacles that framed his angry eyes.

The man was none other than the nurse who used to bring Jongin his meals.

“I-I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to d-defy your auth…”

“What the hell do you think you’re doing here?!” the man angrily exclaimed.

“I… I was just… eh…” Jongin helplessly looked around. Luckily, he spotted the eye patched girl right behind him. He immediately grabbed her by the arm. “I was just escorting miss… eh… Cyclops to a safe place! The demons are coming, you know?” The boy nervously chuckled as he waited for the man to reply.

“That is what you ought to be doing, yes,” the male nurse finally responded, “what I don’t understand is why you were standing with your mouth wide open just a moment ago, like some sort of lunatic.”

“Ah…” Jongin sighed, relieved that the nurse didn’t seem to suspect anything. “Well, can’t blame me for enjoying me some rain, now can you?” He awkwardly brushed a long strand of hair behind his ear. “You should try to enjoy it more,” he winked at the guard before mumbling a silly excuse and vanishing in the growing mass, leaving the nurse and the little girl behind.

“How come... but…” the nurse stuttered as he watched the mysterious staff member disappear. “But…it’s not even raining…”

The one-eyed girl gave him a nudge on the leg. “Right?! That’s what I keep sayin’, the servants in this kingdom be at least as crazy as the queens!”

The courtyard was a small square tiled with grey bricks. Jongin felt a vein on his temple pulsate as he tried to distinguish fact from fiction. The bricks were the exact same shape, colour and size as the ones he’d imagined that first time. The drops of rain were just as cold as they had been then, and the sound of thunder was growing louder and louder. But this time he was not alone, for everywhere he looked, he’d see rushing nurses, angry guards and weird-looking patients blocking his exit. How was he ever supposed to get out of here when he couldn’t see where he was going?

“Let me through!” he barked as he pushed all kinds of people out of the way. “That’s an order! Let me through!”

Despite the adrenaline rush, Jongin was starting to feel tired. Really tired. Shoving his way through a panicked mob was taking its toll on his body.

Keep going, Jongin. Keep your eyes on the finish line.

“LET ME THROUGH! I NEED TO- OW!!!”

Before he knew it, he’d made it all the way to the border, only to collide with a high metal fence that was blocking his way. The boy immediately started to feel dizzy. In order to stay on his feet, he clasped each of his hands around one of the metal bars in his way.

“What… the …” he sighed as everything around him started spinning. “Why… what…”

“What are you doing?” a voice suddenly spoke to him. Jongin slowly opened his eyes, only to witness the old man from the hallway standing right next to him.

“I need to… get out…” the boy panted.

“Well, I’m not sure what you’re doing right now but it’s obviously stupid. Didn’t they teach you about the courtyard cage?” the man snickered.

“…The… what?”

“It might be a case of emergency, but we need to keep these damn lunatics in check at all times. Don’t want none of them scurrying around the main hospital building, know what I mean?” the old man continued.

Jongin shook his head. He should have known that things wouldn’t be made this easy for him. However, there had to be a way out of this, right?

“I… Dr. Riley paged me just now. I am needed in the eh… operation room- I mean, OR. I am needed in OR 4.” Jongin lied.

“Hmm, I see. Well, better rush off then,” the old man shrugged.

“B-But… where do I-”

“Make your way back to the fellow with the megaphone, he’ll let you out.”

Jongin frowned, but nodded in obedience. “Yes sir,” he replied. “Thank you.”

The old nurse rolled his eyes and stuck his hands in his pockets. “Whatever, you moron.”

Fuelled by yet another rush of energy, Jongin pushed himself through the crowd once more, earning himself plenty of mad curses from all sides. However this time, he made it to the other side in a noticeably shorter amount of time. Out of breath, he stumbled back into the building and halted right in front of the megaphone-guy.

“What the are you still doing inside, you useless ? Get your out now!” the man impolitely yelled.

“P-Please, I need… I am needed… Dr. Riley paged…” Jongin panted as he leaned against the wall to steady himself.

The guy peered at him for a short moment, before pointing to the right. “Go through that door, take a left and you’ll find the alternative emergency exit. From there on, the main Geonggang building is to your left, you’ll be there in no time. …You’re welcome.”

Jongin gratefully bowed, before sprinting off in the appointed direction.

The directions added up. In a short moment, Jongin was back in the rain, only this time he wasn’t trapped in the courtyard anymore.

He was free.

Jongin couldn’t help but cry as he fell to his knees, gripping onto the wet grass beneath him. The rain continued to fall onto his damp shoulders, attempting to comfort the boy by giving him a soft, dripping massage. The boy continued to sob, the salty water of his tears mixing with the sweet water falling down from the heavens. He felt relieved, but somehow he still felt burdened, though he couldn’t tell what was weighing him down anymore. If someone had walked by and asked him what was wrong, he’d probably reply with ‘everything’. Things had stopped feeling right long ago, and no matter how hard he tried to patch things up, he still felt like things would never feel right to him again. He wasn’t even sure what right and wrong meant anymore, nor could he describe what ‘things’ were bothering him.

He hadn’t reached the safe zone yet; he had no choice but to continue his journey. As he continued crying, Jongin cursed himself for letting his guard down so soon. He could not afford himself the luxury of giving up on his mission just yet. Reluctantly, Jongin crawled back up to his feet and looked forward – the only way left to go from here. The Geonggang hospital building lay right in front of him, in all its white minimalistic ugliness. It was getting dark, and most of the lights were switched on. Jongin stood still, watching the motion of diverse figures making their way through the glass hallways, going on about their business.

Saving lives is a noble thing to do, Jongin knew that, but regardless of that he would never understand his parents’ motives to work in such an environment the way they did. Both Mr. and Mrs. Kim acted like they were gods, like there was no limit to their power. They seemed to thrive in the hospital environment, acting like it was some kind of holy shrine where they were adored and prayed to. But Geonggang was anything but a shrine. In fact, it came closer to hell than any other place in the city. Sure, there were some smiles here and there, but most people in the hospital lived in fear.

And Jongin was no exception. He’d never felt comfortable in the hospital before, but in the last few days he’d grown scared of it. There were too many negative energies in there, battling for survival. The hospital was no shrine: it was a bloody battlefield.

Jongin’s feet suddenly felt thrice as heavy as before, but he could not afford that to hold him back. He started marching around the building, one step at a time. All the while, he kept his head down, the damp hair of the wig covering his face. He wasn’t about to get discovered right now, he was too close to his goal for that.

Keep going, Jongin. Just keep going.

To his great relief, he safely made it to the street side of the building. There was a lot of noise; busses were rushing by, cars were honking and the people passing by all seemed immersed in meaningless chatter. Jongin covered his ears as he tried to make out a cab waiting for him. It had gotten dark quickly, and the rain made it difficult to make out the difference between all the shapes that moved through the street. The boy helplessly scanned the parked cars, only to find all of them empty. Perhaps the cab driver was waiting down the street?

As he walked along the front of the Geonggang building, he tried his best to find the designated car. However, it wasn’t the cab that caught his attention.

“Crap!” Jongin whispered to himself as he turned back around, covering his face with the wig. Since when did doctors smoke? Weren’t they supposed to be the example of good health and all that?

He quickly started to pace back to where he’d come from, but was stopped by a cold hand on his shoulder.

“You! Stop right there!”

Jongin froze, realizing that his mission ended right here.

He took a deep breath, before slowly turning around to face the tall, blonde woman behind him.

“H…Hi Dr. Song,” he quietly mumbled.

The doctor shot him a menacing glare, studying his appearance carefully.

“Well, well… look what we have here,” she finally started. Jongin flinched at the hint of amusement in her tone.

“I c-can… explain…” he started, mentally smacking himself in the face. Like he could explain the fact that he was in drag, attempting to break out of his solitary confinement.

“Don’t lie to me,” Dr. Song scoffed. “God, this is unbelievable.”

Feeling defeated, Jongin dropped his eyes to the ground. He couldn’t bear to look at the fuming woman in front of him.

“Seriously,” she continued, “back when I was an intern, they put me through all sorts of meaningless crap.” Dr. Song took a hasty drag of her cigarette. “Your nails are too long! Doctors shouldn’t smoke! You're wearing too much makeup!” The woman rolled her eyes. “I had to be perfect to earn my spot here. Do you have any idea how hard that is? Do you?”

“Sort of…” Jongin sighed, still not making eye contact with his doctor.

“No, you don’t! Stop acting like you understand what I’ve had to go through, you filthy !” she yelled, before taking two more puffs of the cigarette she had squeezed between two fingers.

Surprised by her choice of words, Jongin carefully looked up.

“Look at you! You’re a ing mess. Dirt under your nails, lipstick all smudged up and … and I was called the bad intern?! What the happened to this place, huh? I bet you didn’t even shower before your shift, you dirty brat!”

The boy’s eyes widened as he listened to the woman going off at him… for all the wrong reasons. Was this really happening? A doctor not recognizing her own patient?

“I… I don’t know what to say…” Jongin truthfully replied.

“Then how about you shut your mouth and head home to shower some sense back into you?” Dr. Song spewed. “Unless… you want me to rat you out in front of the chief. I’ll get you kicked out of this program…” she clumsily snapped her fingers, “just like that. Is that what you want, ?”

 “No, ma’am.” Jongin swiftly shook his head. “I was just about to do so. In fact, there’s a cab waiting for me somewhere… though I can’t seem to find it.”

Dr. Song rolled her eyes. “Oh, so now you’re blind too? God…” She stretched out her free arm towards a car at the opposite side of the street. “Over there. That cab driver’s been waiting for ages. Now scram.”

“Thanks… I think,” Jongin answered as he rushed right past the smoking woman.

“God, you smell,” she hissed as she crossed her arms and continued to smoke in solitude.

Without bothering to inspect the car that stood parked by the hospital, Jongin pressed down the handle and the tugged the door open, clumsily dropping himself in the passenger’s seat. He let out a deep sigh and pressed his fingers to his temples, in an attempt to rid himself of the headache that had grown more aggressive in the last few minutes. The cab driver remained silent. Jongin squinted as he tried to make out the figure sitting next to him in the dark, but his vision was foggy.

“Eh, sir?” the boy carefully tried.

“Mm?” the man next to him muttered, seemingly occupied by the view outside.

“I eh… Jinsil and Edith told me to eh…”

“Mm,” the driver nodded. However, he remained still.

Jongin frowned as he looked around. Did he get into the right car? Why wasn’t the guy speaking to him?

He brought both hands to his face as he laid eyes on the office building right next to them. A sea of light was coming from the windows, but the light wasn’t artificial. There was a fire going on inside.

“Sir! Sir!” he shouted as he started to panic again. “Sir, look! There’s a fire, we have to do some-”

Jongin’s cries were silenced when a stranger suddenly opened one of the back doors, crawling onto the backseat.

“Hurry! I need to get to the coffee shop down the road, make it fast,” the intruder ordered.

Confused, Jongin started to protest. “This is my cab, get out!” Having someone steal away his cab was the last thing he needed. Feeling annoyed, he turned around to argue with the stranger.

“Besides, there’s a fire…”

The man that had jumped into the taxi was younger than Jongin had expected. His round eyes looked more familiar than Jongin had thought they would, his skin was so pale it seemed unnatural, and the lips that had blurted out the orders weren’t stern – they were a soft shade of pink and shaped like a heart.

The stranger was Kyungsoo.

Jongin was at a loss for words.

“Are you going to move this stupid car or what?” Kyungsoo snarled, barely acknowledging Jongin’s presence.

“Patience is virtue,” the cab driver stoically replied.

Jongin blinked his eyes as he stared at the boy in the backseat. Was his mind playing tricks on him?

“What the are you staring at?” Kyungsoo snapped as he angrily frowned at the boy in the front seat.

“You… hyung…” Jongin cleared his throat. “…You can… walk?”

“Obviously, you ,” Kyungsoo scoffed as he leaned back in the leather seat. “But so can you. So get the out of this cab, I have places to go.”

“B-But…”

Jongin flinched as he heard a knock on the other side of the car.

“Open this damn thing!” a voice shouted from outside.

A hauntingly familiar voice.

The cab driver groaned as he turned away from Jongin, flicking on the light switch in the process. He pressed a button with one of his slim white fingers, automatically rolling down the window.

The light was faint, but bright enough for Jongin to make out the figure standing by the cab window.

Kyungsoo angrily frowned at the cab driver. “This cab doesn’t look like it’s wheelchair-friendly,” he hissed.

“That’s because it isn’t,” the cab driver chuckled.

“I specifically ordered a cab that could transport my wheelchair along with me,” Kyungsoo stubbornly replied. “And what are these other two doing in here? This is supposed to be my cab.”

Other two? Jongin immediately turned back around, only to find the first Kyungsoo still sitting in the backseat.

“Ho-How…” the boy couldn’t manage to finish his question, for a thick cloud of smoke suddenly filled the cab. Unlike the other two passengers, Jongin immediately started coughing. He desperately tried to motion for the driver to close the window, but the man behind the wheel wasn’t looking in his direction.

“F- I… can’t… breathe… DO SOMETHI-”

Instead of offering a helping hand, the driver burst out into hysterical laughter. It wasn’t a normal laugh; it sounded maniacal, like a hyena laughing at its helpless prey.

Despite the smoke clouding his vision, Jongin managed to make out the driver’s features as he turned around.

The driver was Kyungsoo.

“LET ME OUT! LET ME- UGH!” Jongin continued to cough as he covered his mouth with one hand and tugged on the door handle with his free hand. However, the doors were locked. He couldn’t get out.

Backseat Kyungsoo started laughing along with Driver Kyungsoo.

Wheelchair Kyungsoo burst out into giggles.

The fire outside continued to spread, viciously lashing out at the neighbouring buildings. The smoke was growing thicker.

As he struggled to catch his breath, Jongin quickly started to feel lightheaded. The toxic smoke was suffocating him, and there was no way out.

He suddenly realized what was happening.

The worlds he’d been stuck in all this time were collapsing. He no longer had the power to distinguish them from each other like before. The worlds were breaking apart, their shattered fragments mixing into an apocalyptic nightmare.

Soon enough, Jongin stopped breathing. He was losing consciousness, literally and figuratively speaking.

Come on. Come on.

Keep going, Jongin.

You need to do this.

A/N:

Surprise!! I worked hard on Christmas Eve and finished the first half of the final chapter as a token of my appreciation to all of you ^^

I was planning to post one looong last chapter but it's becoming longer than I imagined. So I'm doing something I've never done before: I'm splitting it into two parts. I figured that while I work on the definite ending, I might as well share the first bit of it. Personally, I tend to have trouble reading longer chapters thoroughly (not sure if that's an ADHD thing) so I thought this might be nice~

Unfortunately it's not really uplifting, I guess it doesn't really fit the holiday spirit. My apologies OTL 

I have things planned out but I'm curious how you guys think it'll really end. . .  ><

Anyway, stay tuned for part two! And sorry for talking so much in my author's notes, blaaaah~

Merry christmas to everyone! I hope you get to spend it with the ones you love. 

♥ pominizz ♥