The sun is bright, the day is warm, and the fields are green with crops yet to be harvested, but no one cares enough to sightsee. Peniel and Ilhoon are silent as they follow behind Changsub.

“It was his choice,” Changsub finally says, unable to stand the silence anymore. “So… we have another… to repay…”

His voice shakes, and he speeds up, unwilling to be caught crying, but a pair of arms wraps around his waist.

“It’s not your fault,” Peniel wails, wetting the back of Changsub’s shirt. “Hyung, you can’t leave us too!”

Between his own sobs, Changsub hears Ilhoon’s hitching breaths. He spins around and catches both of them in his arms, holding on tightly. Tears wet both of his shoulders, but none of them have enough energy left to care.

“Well,” a sarcastic voice scorns from above. “Isn’t this nice?”

The three look up. “Jihoon-hyung?” Ilhoon gasps. Noh Jihoon is leaning on the railing of an elevated hut, looking down boredly.

“Yeah, yeah,” he dismisses, waving a hand lazily. “Someone get up here.”

Changsub disentangles himself, but Peniel refuses to let him go. Ilhoon rolls his eyes and heads up the ladder.

Jihoon is sitting at a table, and he motions for Ilhoon to do the same. He does, and Jihoon wastes no time, placing a revolver and six bullets on the table.

“I can get you to your next destination,” he says quietly, eyes unnervingly calm. “But I can only take two people. Through Russian Roulette, we will determine your fates. Put one bullet in and set the chamber, the gun. The next person who comes up will shoot themselves and repeat the process until there are no more empty chambers left. You know what that signifies.”

Ilhoon stares at the weapon. Finally, in a swift, practiced motion, he loads the gun, it, and stands up, pointing it at Jihoon’s head.

“I could kill you,” he says softly. “I could kill you right now, in two seconds.”

Jihoon smiles good-naturedly. “You need me to guide you there. Plus, I have guards, many subordinates. If you pull that trigger, none of you will make it. Leave the gun on the table.”

Ilhoon spins the chamber and sets it down. When Peniel sees him emerge, he runs to him.

“Ilhoonie, don’t let Changsub-hyung go anywhere,” he pleads, fairly flying up the ladder. “We can’t lose him.”

Ilhoon only looks at him tiredly, and when Peniel faces Jihoon, he sees why. He has to shoot himself. If Ilhoon was nice, he’ll live. If not, well, the choice is made.

Peniel only hesitates a moment before shooting. “I trust Ilhoonie.”

Noh Jihoon hands him a bullet. It shines under the sun, blinding him for a second with its dull glare. Taking a deep breath, Peniel loads it.

Changsub, having seen two morose faces now, can guess what the problem is. Before he goes up, Ilhoon whispers something in his ear. When he’s done, Changsub lowers his head, closes his eyes, stops for a good while, and nods.

“Lee Changsub,” Jihoon greets. “I assume you know.” Changsub does not respond, and Jihoon sits back in his chair.
Quickly, Changsub picks up the gun and shoots. Then, fluidly, he loads it, shuts the chamber, and descends out of view.

Noh Jihoon only smiles.

Back on the ground, Ilhoon hugs Peniel tightly. Then, tearing himself away, he holds up his hand for a high five from Changsub, who gives it, grasping his hand for a split second.

Ilhoon rips himself away to climb up the ladder.

“There’s a six-chambered revolver up there.”

Jihoon gestures to the gun.

“I put a bullet into one chamber.”

Ilhoon looks at the clear blue sky, the glistening fields, trying to commit all this beauty to memory so at least his last moment will be somewhat all right.

“Peniel definitely spared you.”

Exhaling deeply, he picks up the gun.

“You both have soft spots for each other.”

He presses the cold barrel to his temple.

“When you go, leave the gun on a chamber that’s loaded.”

On the ground, Peniel is crying again.

“I’d be the one to die anyway, in the end."

A gunshot reverberates across the open air. Changsub falls, clutching his chest, as if he was the one being shot down.

“Just let me go now, to spare the pain later.”

Jung Ilhoon is gone. Noh Jihoon takes the remaining two in a hot-air balloon, soaring over fields of wheat and misty hills. It’s almost as if they’ve risen to Heaven, Peniel thinks, watching the mist swallow the world they’ve known.

But is it really Heaven? Or is it, as a punishment for watching your friends die and doing nothing to save them, Hell?

No matter what it is, somewhere out there, Changsub knows, precious Jung Ilhoon’s soul has joined the rest of his group. May they truly rest in peace until the answer has been found.

I'm so sorry this is late but I'm leaving for China on Thursday so depending on the firewall, this story may or may not be on hiatus until September