***

Tao bit his lip as he thought about the question, fully aware of the fact that he was surrounded by death and decay. After pondering it over, he looked the fortuneteller in the eye to give his answer.

“Life teaches us that everything ends. Nothing remains forever, not really. Everything is born and dies again,” he answered with a steady voice as the fortuneteller’s eyes shone and her grin widened. She laughed as her face and appearance slowly disappeared in the darkness, the room rumbling whilst her cackling still echoed in the air.

“That’s the right answer, isn’t it? I’m right!” Tao shouted when he saw the crystal ball turning black in front of his eyes. He startled when he suddenly noticed Xiumin and D.O. inside of the glass. They pounded against it, shaking their heads in worry when out of the blue, Kai had appeared next to them, unconscious.

“Xiumin-hyung? D.O.-yah! How did you two get in there? Kai, what happened to Kai?–Oh, no…No!”

“Wrong answer, Huang Zitao,” the fortuneteller’s voice whispered in his ear. “You are mine now.”

Years later…

“Please, I have to find my girlfriend, I know she’s lost in here somewhere, but I won’t give up on her! Please, help me find her!” the desperate young man was practically on his knees in front of the fortuneteller.

The old crone smiled her usual smile and snapped her bony fingers together. “Slave, should I help this poor man find his lover?”

Tao appeared from the shadows, eyes sunken, bones protruding from strange angles from his arms and legs, the shackles around his limbs heavy. He crawled towards the fortuneteller, keeping low like a dog would do.

“He seems sincere, my lady,” he answered, face devoid of emotion, even when the young man gasped at him in pure horror.

“Very well. My dog believes you should have a chance. So, answer my question and I will help you. Fail, and this will be your fate,” she smiled, feeding Tao some maggots which he ate without any protests, because a living corpse shouldn’t ask for anything else…

=== BAD ENDING: CHAINED PET ===
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