Pendulum

     Suzy stared at the blonde boy who stared at her with the harsh remark. He looked like a typical rebel, especially with eyes lined with such thick eyeliner that she couldn't even make see of his actual eyes. She didn't understand any of this. If they were all supposed to be enemies, why did they save her? 

"Shut up," a boy- presumably in his mid twenties shoved the blondie's head out of the way and crouched down infront of her. "Why don't you go try remembering your name in the mean time? It's been three freaking years Zico." the boy scolded the blondie. The boy hissed and cursed under his breath, taking a seat on the green crates behind. Suzy watched as the man crouched infront of her and grinned softly.

"Hello," he said quietly. 

Suzy didn't reply; she didn't want to. How could she trust these people? 

The boy sighed and nodded quietly. "Could you tell me your name?"

Suzy was silent.

"Look," he sighed. "I know that.. none of this makes any sense. We know that you're afraid, that's why you've got to trust us." The boy led his stare to the stage, staring at the grotesque fish man performing a bunch of tricks on the stage. "We're not them," he whispered. "We're.. us. You're a part of us."

"Suzy." she murmured. "Bae Suzy." 

The boy smiled and stood up. He stuck out his hand and waited for Suzy to take it. 

"Come on, we have to go before the Pendulum strikes again." 

He grabbed Suzy's hand and pulled her up, rushing out of the place with everyone following him. She couldn't bare keep her eyes open. Everywhere they lurked consisted of people with faces so grostesque that she couldn't bare imagine. The backstage of this unknown place was a living hell; people were screaming everywhere and there were drunk people throwing alcohol bottles at each other. She could see people dead on the floor, their faces slowly rotting as the vermins bit out of their face. 

"Whoa," Suzy blurted as they burst out of the door, landing on the marble ground. 

They all panted and stared at the sky, groaning in annoyance. 

"Come on, we don't have much time left!" Myungsoo yelled as he gripped Suzy's hand very tight and ran through the dark streets, once again filled with grotesque people all over the streets. She looked to the side and saw the others running past her, trying to get to the destination before each other. She didn't understand why they had to run so fast, because her legs were already tiring her out.

Suzy ran. She ran as fast as she possibly could. She wasn't used to running. She'd never had to run like this before, and suddenly she found herself wishing she'd practised increasing her stamia.

As they continued to run, they cut a corner into a shopping district, where she saw a few other humans running for their lives in the same direction as they were. Suzy began to scream out in exhaustion and to Suzy's dismay, Myungsoo didn't even sound remotely tired.

The adrenaline kicked in as they sped up.

And suddenly, she tripped over a too-large cobblestone jutting out of the road.

She was on the floor, shaking violently in horrific anticipation of the consequence. Her knees were scraped so bad to the extent that she couldn't even limp. She shut her eyes and pleaded to some high power with all her might that she'd be saved somehow, by anything.

"You'll be fine," a small whisper filled her ear as she felt a strong pair of arms lift her up bridal style and continued to run for his life. She opened her eyes and saw Myungsoo panting heavily, running for his life with Suzy in his arms. 

It was crazy how someone could run that fast with such a weight on their body, she thought. 

After a final curb, Myungsoo let out a burning scream as he threw himself over a blue lazer line and collapsed on the steps, very close to where the rest of the people were. Myungsoo let go of Suzy and clutched his knees, gagging for breath. Suzy watched frantically as a large clock bell began to echo around the entire town. She watched as all the lights on the streets began to flick off one by one, creating total darkness. 

The blue lazer light slit the floor into a perfect circle and parted from the town. Suzy screamed as the floor began to shake and spun slowly, descending downwards. Myungsoo grasped his throbbing heart and wrapped his arms over Suzy, despite his own heartburn. Suzy watched in panic as the piece of land separated from the ground with a sound so deafening she was sure this was the gateway to hell. 

She opened her eyes as Myungsoo released his arms. 

They landed first on a ditch filled with trash.

     Before her eyes was a town more than magnificent, even from where Suzy stood. She looked up and could see a large modern bell tower at the top of the hill, and below it, the streets were littered with quaint hometowns and shops. The streets were cobbled and the houses painted in all sorts of colors. And somehow, there seemed to be greenery everywhere, whether it be a rooftop garden or a potted plant outside a doorway.

     Suddenly Suzy felt her stomach drop as she realized what was going on. Her legs turned to jelly and she fell to the floor, her eyes welling up with tears. The only person in her mind was Joo-hyuk. She missed him so bad and she just wanted to see his face right now. There was nothing she wished more than to just see his beautiful smile again and feel his warm embrace.

"Are you alright?" Myungsoo crouched down and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. He supported her up and wiped the dust off her clothes, leading her into the town. She quietly trailed behind Myungsoo who seemed liked the king of the place. He seemed to know how everything ran around here and there wasn't a single person he didn't know as he walked past the food vendors.

"Catch," he tossed her an apple and took a bite of his own. "Two coins for these, remember that." he pulled Suzy to his side and gave her a small pamphlet which seemed to be a map of the whole place. She unfolded the map and studied it carefully. She could see where she was, and noticed the small number markings on different districts of the town. 

She looked up to see that there didn't seem to be any animal people down here. Just normal people, like she was used to her entire life. They didn't seem to differ from her as much, except she was sure that their fashion was extremely outdated. 

She looked back at the map and read the list of jobs available under each of the numbered districts. 

"This is where you'll be staying until.. the end." Myungsoo stopped infront of a large white building. The two stared at the wooden door and watched as a girl walked out of the door. The only prominent thing about her was the bright red color on her lips. Tacky, Suzy thought, but there was no way she would say that out loud. Myungsoo pulled the girl over and and introduced her to Suzy.

"Suzy, this is Irene. Irene, this is Suzy." 

Irene stared at the girl nonchalantly.

"Irene is in charge of the girls of our district. She'll help you get settled." 

With those short words, Myungsoo disappeared within the crowd, leaving her and Irene alone. Irene stared at the girl for a while and nodded, escorting her into the building. Suzy could not help but peek at Irene every single time. Irene had such delicate features that almost resembled her to a ice princess of some sort, not to mention her pale skin and her ebony hair that reached upto her waist. She looked like a mystic goddess that you just couldn't help but stare at. 

"Do you fight?"

"P..ardon?"

Irene looked back, irked. 

"You know, i don't like to repeat myself." 

She commented as she opened the door at the end of the staircase. Irene cleared , immediately catching the attention of all the girls in the main room. Suzy stood beside her, intimidated. All these girls looked so fierce and scary, except for that one girl on the couch who looked as if she was twelve years old. She set her eyes on the little girl, too afraid to look at all the other grotesque decorations in the room. 

"We have a new addition," Irene said  nonchalantly and pushed Suzy in-front. 

"Her name is Suzy. How old are you?" Irene shot. 

"I'm.. 20."

"20?" Irene thought. "Well Jung-yeon, looks like you're not the only girl anymore in that trio of yours." She chuckled at the bobbed hair girl who only stared at Suzy contemptuously. Irene nodded and hurridly rushed down the staircase she just came up from. She looked outside the window, staring at the artificial sky. She wasn't sure what was happening, but she was sure she was dreaming.

It had to be a dream. 

"It's crazy, right?" a girl rolled out under the couch, chewing a gum. "I was like that at first too." The girl laughed and pulled Suzy to take a seat beside her. The girl was quite bubbly, contrary to the others. The others looked so angry and pissed off - almost as if they had given up on life. The girl sniggered at Suzy intimidated by the other members of the female group. 

"I'm Jieun." the bubbly 16 year old stuck out her hand. 

"Hi," she nodded faintly and refused the hand. 

"Come on," she playfully slapped Suzy on the shoulder. "I've only been here for a year as well. I'm not that different to you." Jieun grew a little more serious as she looked out the stained window. Suzy could see the faint sadness fill up her eyes as she stared at the stars on the sky, although it wasn't really her business to analyze what these people were thinking inside. 

"How did.. everyone get here?" Suzy asked, looking around the room. 

"You know, no one really knows. We opened our eyes and suddenly, we're here in Rubicon." 

"Rubicon..?" 

"Yeah," Jieun popped a bubble from her gum. "This.. world is called Rubicon. "

"How.. do we get out of here?"

"Please," Jieun sniggered. "You think we haven't tried to escape?"

Suzy stared at Jieun adamantly. She realized that all the other 

She realized that all the other girls were staring at her with hostility and shut up instantly. 

"It's a sensitive topic to bring up," Jieun continued. "Seeing that a bunch of people from our district were killed trying to find a way for us to escape. Sera died trying to find a way out for us five years ago, and-"

"Lee Jieun." Jung-yeon hissed from afar. 

"Sera..?"

Jieun bit her lips at Jung-yeon's death glare. "I'll.. tell you some other time." she laughed absent-mindly. Suddenly, all the girls suddenly stood up and started making their way downstairs without a single word. Jieun stood up also and tugged on Suzy's jacket, dragging her behind her. Suzy had so many questions she wanted to ask, but this atmosphere wouldn't allow for any annoying questions. 

She stood beside Jieun as they walked on the cobbled floor, following the girls who walked ahead. 

"Where are we going?" Suzy asked awkwardly. 

"We have a new member," she laughed. "We need a welcome party for sure, you know?" 

   The entire group arrived upon a small brown building and waited infront of the door. Myungsoo opened the door with a bright smile and let the girls in one by one. He watched as Suzy took a fragile step inside the building and followed the girls up. The room already started to smell a bit like male odor, but she was used to smells far more worse from her operation labs in her classes. 

"How are you finding the place?" Myungsoo asked as they walked side by side. 

"I..'m not sure right now." 

'Well you can decide now," he smiled as he opened the door at the end of the staircase to reveal a bunch of boys all clumped around the living room. She watched as all the guys fixed their attention on Suzy, whispering amongst themselves. There on the couch, she remembered the blonde boy who played on her with words sitting calmly with a book over his face. Myungsoo threw a shoe at the book and sighed in annoyance.

"Bae Suzy." 

Myungsoo gripped her shoulder lightly and waited for everyone to take a good look at her. 

"Take a seat right here," Myungsoo seated her beside the blondie who stared at her meaninglessly. She had to admit, the blondie was extremely attractive,  but he had such a foul face that she didn't want to look at him again. She turned her gaze toward Myungsoo who flipped over a large whiteboard scribbled with a bunch of writing on it. He closed the curtains and dimmed the lights. 

"Suzy," he called quietly. "You need to listen carefully to everything i tell you from this point on. Understand?"

Suzy gulped and nodded uneasily. She could hear the blondie snort from behind, but she had better things to worry about than the yellow-haired snob. 

"I assume that chatterbox already told you a thing or two about Rubicon," Myungsoo glanced at Jieun who smiled back. 

"Down here," he looked at Suzy. "Everything depends on the Pendulum."

     He pointed to the picture on the whiteboard; the large clock that she saw on the top of the hill on her way in. 

"In Rubicon, there are two dimentions; the North and the South. The South is for everyone who still survives.. like us. However, the North.. is a deadly place. You remember the fish man upon your arrival?"

Suzy nodded silently. 

"Therianthropes." he walked back and forth. "Etymologically, it means beast plus man." Myungsoo bit his lips and took a seat on the stool beside him. He was hesitant about opening his mouth on the theory, but so many of them were dying- they all ought to know.

"In a sense, we are in a.. parallel universe."

"What?"

"The Midnight circus, it's what goes on out here. It's what reduces our number each fortnight, and only one of us returns alive. It's a fearful fight that durates for a time of fourteen days in the woods created by the darkest of Therianthropes. So far, exactly seven from our district have been killed in the past two years. "

"W..hat?"

"Do you remember your childhood back on Earth, Suzy? Do you remember those joyful times at the circus, watching lions jump through fire-lit rings? Animals constantly whipped for our enjoyment? This.. is the parallel universe. Everything's in.. reverse." 

Myungsoo stared at Suzy who was lost for words. The atmosphere grew silent, no one willing to say another word. Everyone wanted to deny this truth and just run out of this place; but the truth was this. Any of them could be next for the Midnight circus show, and there was no certainty they would live another day. 

"You're lying." Suzy blurted adamantly.

"You really think i'd joke over something this serious?" Myungsoo raised his voice.

"Does it make any sense that people are getting sacrificed for others enjoyment?! This is-"

"Nothing makes sense down here, all right?" 

That was enough to shut Suzy up. 

"You remember the giant clock you saw on the way here? Each night, the clock strikes twelve times, marking midnight. You must return back to the South before the last strike, or Rubicon is going to have something else in plan for you." 

"Something else?"

"What do you think?" 

The entire group grew silent. 

"All of us will survive," Myungsoo said firmly. "And us leaders, will find a way out for you." 

Myungsoo lit the lights back up and flipped the board over. He was so secretive about his actions

Suzy watched as Myungsoo's expression grew darker by the minute. Irene joined him and the two excused each other by the corner of the room, secretively discussing something under their breaths. Suzy still refused to believe any of this, and she was just waiting for the moment she would wake up from this bad nightmare. 

"You know, this isn't a dream." Zico said sarcastically, staring at Suzy who pinched her cheeks.

"What's your problem, blondie?" Suzy glared at the boy. The boy sneered and stretched his leg across the couch, pressuring Suzy off the couch. Zico ducked successfully this time as another slipper came flying at his face and landed on the back of the couch. It was always Myungsoo, always him who aimed the shoe at his face. Suzy didn't have to guess twice to understand why he would do that. 

"I've been victorious every single time," he said in contemptuous pride. "And i'm going to be the one that returns back." 

"You think you're so great, don't you?" Suzy glared at him.

"Well," he snipped his thumb amd index finger, catching a small fly in the air. "I am." 

He threw the fly behind the couch and wiped his hands together.

"Shut up Zico," a warm voice approached and pulled Suzy's arm. She looked back to see a handsome face smiling back at her, gesturing for her to come join his group. She peeked through him and saw Jung-yeon staring at her hostilly, and another boy who looked similar to the boy with the bright smile, except with lenseless glasses. She had to admit, Jung-yeon scared her everytime, especially with her death glare. 

What was more fascinating was that these two boys didn't even seem a bit scared over her glares. 

"Hi," the boy with the bright smile stuck out his hand. "I'm Taehyung." 

'And I'm Baekhyun." the boy with the glasses shoved through and took Suzy's hand. 

Jung-yeon still glared at Suzy so maliciously that if glares could kill, Suzy would be long gone. Suzy gulped and carefully shook hands, averting her eyes to the ground. Jungyeon's glare made her feel so inferior, she couldn't bare holding her head up. 

"Stop it," Taehyung slapped Jung-yeon on the shoulder and returned to his smiley face. 

"Well.." Suzy said awkwardly. 

"It's pretty awkward at first," Baekhyun said casually, stuffing a bunch of food into his mouth. "Imagine how awkward and scary it must have been when Jung-yeon came to the group." He sniggered, automatically dodging the punch that Jung-yeon threw at his face. 

"Welcome to the 20's group."

"20's group..?"

"Yeah," Taehyung grinned. "We're all twenty years old."

"Oh," Suzy nodded awkwardly. "Cool.."

"I like you already," Taehyung chuckled. "We'll be good friends, yeah?"

"Sure.."

Suzy answered, glancing at Taehyung's beautiful smile that somehow entranced her...