“You ing killed him!” he cries.

The other man smiles, a set of perfect teeth glistening under the streetlamp. “No, you are incorrect,” Kyungsoo tells him patiently. “I merely punished him for being a bad, bad boy. He ran away and died in your arms.”

“No!” he howls, his raised arm trembling.

Kyungsoo takes a step forward, towards the gun pointing at him, rather than backing away. “It’s your fault. You couldn’t protect him and you let him be taken away. He died because of you and you forgot about him until it was too late.”

 “This,” Kyunsoo says, opening his arms wide in a sweeping gesture, “this is all because of you.”

“No, no nono!”

Kyungsoo tsks, shaking his head. “You let your father give him to me, and you didn’t do anything while I did everything to him. You promised so valiantly to protect him. But what will you do now?” he taunts. “Why don’t you take care of your own problems first? That jealous friend of yours, that lover boy of yours, that –”

Light travels faster than sound.

Kyungsoo crumples into himself.

A gun goes off (too loud, too loud, the quiet night is shattered).

A bouquet of red flowers bloom in Kyungsoo’s chest.

The boy stares at the body. Once a person, now a corpse.

He walks away without looking back.

“You betrayed me!” the wind howled at him. “You used me, you heartless traitor!”

It’s for revenge, he explains earnestly. An eye for an eye.

“Why aren’t you dead yet?”

I will not die until they have paid.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Lay bolted upright.

His thin shirt stuck to him, drenched in sweat. The room was silent, save for his heavy panting. His heart pounded against his ribcage and there was a pounding in his head too. The darkness swirled around him, solidifying into taunting sneers, and he was sure that he was going crazy. Without thinking and with some effort, he pulled himself out of bed. The walk to the door was terrifying, heart-stopping, and he stumbled as soon as he left the room.

He flailed, trying to keep his balance, and was suddenly hauled up by someone. Lay opened his mouth to scream, but a hand covered his mouth.

“Sh . . .” the person said.

Lay’s blurry vision focused and he sagged in relief. “Luhan,” he mumbled.

The man hoisted him upright. “Yeah. Sorry for scaring you,” he said, ending it with a question.

 “I had a nightmare,” Lay said awkwardly with a cough, finally having recovered and feeling a little bit more like himself. “But what are you doing out here?”

“I was paranoid that Kyungsoo would go after Kai . . .” Lay nodded, having thought the same thing. “I don’t want to be in the same room as him ‘cause it’ll freak me out if he just, disappears, so yeah,” Luhan finished, looking down to play with the hem of shirt.

“He died in my dream,” Lay said. I killed him, was what Lay meant to say.

Luhan glanced up, mouth forming a surprised “o.”

“Do you want to go check . . .” Lay trailed off, but Luhan nodded.

In the living room, the pair was met by the number fifteen.

Luhan gulped audibly and Lay stared, too scared to think.

“Should we tell the others?” Luhan mumbled weakly. No response. “Okay . . . umm let’s go back, but umm . . .”

Lay tore his eyes away from the wall, but the number was already seared into his mind. “You can spend the night in my room.”

At any other time, Luhan might’ve immediately cheered at that offer, but the Luhan now merely gave a quivering smile. “Thanks.”

They lay side by side. Neither slept and both stared up at the ceiling.

“Tell me a story,” Luhan suddenly suggested.

“No.”

“Why not?”

“I can’t remember anything and I want to sleep. You tell a story.”

“Fine,” Luhan huffed. But his voice when he spoke again was full of soft nostalgia. “I lived on the streets when I was a kid. I don’t know where my parents went. I probably never even had parents.”

Lay scoffed. “Then where did you come from?”

“I burst out of a rock,” Luhan deadpanned. “Don’t interrupt your bedtime story, brat. Anyway, life actually wasn’t too bad. I had a group of friends and we lived without a care for the world. I taught them how to do things – kind of illegal things, I guess, but small things – like stealing apples, painting on walls . . . oh yeah, there was this old guy too. He hated us, so we annoyed the hell out of him for fun. Oh, and one of us, his dad worked for a rich family, so sometimes we snuck into the yard or mansion. The mansion had so much stuff, so many things we’ve never seen before . . .” He sighed dreamily.

“How come you remember so much?” Lay muttered with envy.

Luhan chuckled dryly. “I don’t though. I have many memories but they’re all faceless nameless blobs swimming around.”

“Oh. But still.”

Luhan shifted and put a hand over Lay’s eyes. “My story’s over. Go to sleep.”

~ ~ ~

There wasn’t as much of a storm after the others learned of Kyungsoo’s disappearance. It was predictable, as if they had all expected it, and no one really missed him, anyway.

But that didn’t mean Lay could have a day of relative peace. Instead, there was an impressive show of charientism, set in the living room. Baekhyun was the confident lead actor (or maybe he was the second lead, considering how snarky he was), and Suho, the reluctant other lead. Chanyeol was the supporting actor who wasn’t satisfied with his cameo role. The audience sat scattered throughout the room, watching in awe as the curtains opened and the show began.

“We should play another game,” Baekhyun said, shooting a winning smile at the audience. “What about Confession?” He waited for the imaginary response. “Suho.”

The man jumped when his voice was called. “Y- yes?”

“Why don’t you start?” A smiled again, a benevolent one this time. “I’m sure you have many secrets to confess.” A wider smile and a wink.

Suho blanched. “Uh . . .”

The main lead walked towards the other. “I don’t know your dirty little secrets, don’t misunderstand. But maybe you can tell us all of how, years ago, you were a careless driver. How you saw a boy and accelerated rather than braked. How you braked too late, reversed, heard a sickening crunch and then sped off again. Or . . .” A pause. A of the head and a smirk to match. “Do you have something else to tell?”

Chen picked his fingernails. Maybe he had already watched this show in his bedroom, perhaps even more than once. Maybe he was bored of the script, could see through the twisted smiles, could clap along the rhythm of Suho’s stuttering.

But the rest of the audience watched on in fascination, as Suho paled and a vein bulged in his forehead.

“Baekhyun,” he pleaded to the unforgiving lead. “I have no excuses and I have been living with guilt for so long. But you’re alive! That must mean something –”

The star of the show scoffed, brushing the other away. “Yes, I am alive but what does that change, my dear Suho? You have been living with guilt, but really, I’d rather you not be living at all.”

And at that moment, something lit up the fire in Chanyeol’s weak soul. Maybe it was his desire to steal the spotlight, maybe he was too caught in the role, but something led Chanyeol to jump onto the stage. He faltered under the rightful star’s glare, but he pushed on.

“B-Baekhyun, wait.”

Lay held his breath.

Luhan, the type to fancy himself as a theater or film critic, muttered, “Ah, this is the plot twist. The is coming.”

“What, Chanyeol?” Baekhyun grit out between his teeth.

“I- I’m sorry. But you can’t blame Suho!” Chanyeol cried, words flowing out of him without stop. “I confess! I was there that day too and I saw it all. I saw Suho run into you, Baekhyun. You collapsed and Suho accidentally reversed, running over you again and then he drove away. I walked over and you were still moving. I wanted to help, but I was scared, so I . . . I ran away.”

All hell broke loose and the audience found themselves outside the room, but not even the closed velvet curtains could hide the commotion inside.

Luhan shook his head sadly. “What a dumb, useless boy. Why would you say something like that?”

“Shut up!” Tao hissed.

They listened for a minute more because Luhan glanced around with mischievous eyes. Lay groaned inwardly. “How much you wanna bet Baekhyun’s gonna be the next one?” Luhan asked, to mixed response.

“What the ?” (From more than one.)

“This isn’t a laughing matter.” (Xiumin, deadpan.)

“How much you betting?” (Chen, with a half smirk. Lay had expected him to stand up for his roommate, but apparently not.)

Luhan’s eyes widened, probably thinking the same. “All of you are heartless,” Luhan gasped with mock offense. “But anyway,” he continued, smiling. “I bet it’s him. He’s always causing drama and problematic people like him are always the ones to . . . disappear.”

Chen’s eyes narrowed, finally realizing they were casually discussing his friend’s (roommate’s) life. “What the hell are you implying?”

“Are you the one?” Sehun piped up, confusion and fear etched into his face.

“What, no!” Luhan immediately replied. “Just guessing, trying to figure things out.

He’d deserve it anyway. He’s an , always bullying the weaker ones.

Lay belatedly noticed all of them studying him. “What?” he uttered, a little intimidated.

“What did you just say?” Chen demanded.

“What did I just say?” Lay echoed dumbly.

“You said that he’d deserve it,” Xiumin supplied, but Lay could only blink, mouth dropping open to form an “o.”

But before anyone else could respond, there was a cry from inside the room and Suho bolted out of the room. Chanyeol followed, exclaiming, “Baekhyun! Baekhyun, he fainted!”

Everyone rushed into the room without another word. Lay wasn’t sure if he was saved or ruined by the bell.

If anyone asked him, he would say he was ruined. But no one asked him outright, only shooting wary and venomous glances at him.

Because when they all (minus Suho) ran into the room, breathlessly wanting to know what happened to Baekhyun, they found no one. The room was a mess of overturned chairs, the sad ruins of a battlefield or tragic drama, with a number thirteen overlooking it all, but there was no angry lead, no unconscious boy.

Chanyeol was forced to cower in a corner, but the interrogators glanced over at Lay (and Luhan) every so often as well. Too often, but Chanyeol was too shaken to notice.

                Interrogator Chen: What happened?

                Victim/Suspect #1: He wanted Suho to apologize, but I confessed instead and then –

                Interrogator Chen (face red and angry): After we left the room!

                Victim/Suspect #1 (shaking dramatically): He was angry and I tried to apologize, but he wouldn’t listen and then he just fell over.

                Interrogator Chen (enunciating each word): What did you do to him?

                Victim/Suspect #1 (feeling wronged and a little angry): Nothing! I swear!

                Interrogator Chen: You left him in the street.

                Victim/Suspect #1 (face pale once again): O-other than that. I – you can ask Suho! We didn’t do anything in here!”

                Inspector Xiumin (aside): maybe it was a heart attack.

                Interrogator Chen (spinning to face the others): Then where the hell is he?

                Suspect #2: You know I was just joking around!

                Interrogator Chen (serious and calm): Lay, we need to talk.

                Suspect #3: W-what, I-

“Chen, we all know none of us had anything to do with Baekhyun vanishing.” Lay was more than surprised to hear Kris speak, and speaking up for him, at that.

Chen huffed and, shooting one last glare at Lay and Chanyeol, stalked out of the room.

“What’s his problem,” Tao muttered under his breath. “When was he that close to Baekhyun?”

Xiumin shrugged, but Luhan clapped. Loudly, he announced, “I think it’ll be safer if we travel in pairs from now on.”

“That didn’t help Baekhyun at all,” Xiumin pointed out.

But Luhan insisted, “I don’t care. Let’s go, Lay! You’re my pair.”

The man in question gave a tight smile and shied away. “Thanks but no thanks. I need some peace and quiet. Why don’t you stay with Xiumin?” he suggested. And he slipped away, ignoring Luhan’s calls and thinking it was payback to Xiumin.

lol idk