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Twenty - Two

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Your team was gathered in the privacy of Hoya’s room. You explained everything, from the blank gaps in your memory, the feeling of knowing Junho previously in your life, your sessions with Woohyun on Saturdays trying to break through the block in your memory, and the memory that the little girl in the lake showed you.

When you were finished, everyone was frowning, but for all different reasons.

“Why didn’t you tell me about this? Why did you feel the need to keep this a secret? Don’t you trust us? Don’t you trust me? And why Woohyun of all people?” The hurt in Sunggyu’s voice started to chip away at your heart, and you felt incredibly guilty.

“Woohyun already knew about all of this because you know he can’t mind his own business. I asked him for help. It’s not like he forced his way into my mind.” Woohyun and Sunggyu were standing on opposite sides of the room. Woohyun was still fuming and refused to look at Sunggyu.

“The last block in my mind is really strong, and the only way he’d be able to break it down was if we combined energy channels. He told me what would happen, he told me what it meant, and I still asked him to do it anyway, so if there’s anyone you should be mad at, it should be me and not Woohyun.” You reached out for Sunggyu’s hand but he pulled it away. You sighed and leaned back against the bed.

“So, the only reason you even wanted to go to the Games, was because a creepy little girl with black eyes told you she’d tell you everything about your past if you won?” Hoya asked from beside you. You stared at the floor and nodded.

“That’s so... stupid. So stupid. That thing is obviously behind all of this! It’s a trap!” Hoya yelled grabbing your shoulders and shaking you. Sunggyu and Woohyun both made the motion to stop him, but Hoya stopped on his own.

Myungsoo and Sungyeol were whispering to each other. From their expressions, you could tell they were arguing. Dongwoo and Sungjong were looking at each other and shrugging. They didn’t really know what to make of the situation.

“First thing’s first. We’re going to pull out of the Games.” You looked up, clearly shocked and surprised. Sunggyu was looking around the room, his eyes challenging anyone to say different.

“Sunggyu, we can’t-”

“We can, and we will! This is too dangerous, especially with whatever force is out there messing with you. You almost died at the survival course, do you realize that?” Sunggyu asked. The SS chewed him out for letting you disappear like that. He had to sit there and listen to how irresponsible he was for hours on end.

“I...” You turned to look at Hoya, but he gave you the same hard stare that Sunggyu was giving you. You turned to look at Woohyun, but he was giving you a sad expression.

‘They’re right, and you know it.’ You turned your eyes towards the floor and felt tears threatening to flood them. None of them understood. None of them could understand what it felt like to have memories in their head that they couldn’t understand.

You’re right. None of them understand you. You blinked back tears before your eyes widened. You recognized that voice in your thoughts.

You should recognize it. It’s you after all. You narrowed your eyes. The black eyed little girl.

Bingo. Your team is being no fun. If you don’t go to the Games, you can’t win them. And I had such a fun time planning what to do.

So it was you behind all of these tampered courses, you thought. You felt a giggle in your mind before feeling a nod.

Since it’s not your fault that you can’t go to the Games, I guess I can make a deal with you.

What kind of deal, you thought. You felt a smile and a chill went down your spine. You broke out of your thoughts when Hoya’s bedroom door slam open, and Junhyung came striding in, looking positively livid.

“You. Come here.” Junhyung came straight for you and grabbed your arm almost painfully before dragging you out of the room, much to the protest of your team.

“Be quiet. I don’t want to hear anything from ANY of you,” he said as he dragged you out of the room.

“Junhyung, that hurts- Would you loosen up?!” You yanked your arm out of his grip and rubbed at your arm where he grabbed you. He glared at you before turning around, glancing over his shoulder to make sure you were following him.

He was mad. He was really mad, and you had no idea why he would be mad at you. He led you out of Hoya’s house and into the street.

“You’re so stupid,” he said quietly. You swallowed and followed his steps as he made his way down the sidewalk.

“How much do you remember?” You looked up at him surprise. You knew he knew something about your blocked memories. There was no way he couldn’t know anything since the two of you grew up together.

“Why? What do you know?” you asked, walking up beside him, giving him a look of disbelief.

“I know everything. Now tell me, how much do you remember?” You followed Junhyung to a park near Hoya’s house. He stopped underneath a tree and motioned for you to stand beside him.

The sun was setting now, and the wind started to pick up, blowing the grass like waves in the sea. You stared out at the park, unsure of what you were supposed to be seeing.

“Remember this?” You looked around again before shaking your head.

“Good.”

--

Your team’s withdrawal from the Games was prompt. The SS didn’t even think twice about their answer when Sunggyu proposed it to them. You weren’t there when it happened. You hadn’t left your room since Junhyung took you to that park. And since then, you’d been having dreams about it, wandering around the park.

You refused to see any of your team members, and your mom obliged. She turned away anyone that tried to come see you. You could hear them protesting downstairs, but you didn’t care. Woohyun tried to contact you a few times, but you pushed his thoughts away. You pulled a puppy from the page, a real puppy. You could feel it draining at your life force, and a piece of your bangs turned blonde.

You used up the last of Woohyun’s energy in your body to make the puppy and felt the connect to him close completely.

It was the only thing that kept you company these days. The people who came by the most were different combinations of your team. They weren’t your team anymore, you thought to yourself bitterly. You didn’t even let Junhyung up to see you when he came.

You recognized the way he knocked on the door, you recognized his voice, but there was something different about it. You didn’t recognize it as your best friend’s knock and voice, but something else. He was something else to you.

“She’s really not feeling up to seeing anyone right now. She took it really hard when Sunggyu decided to pull their team from the Games. I’m glad, though. There was only so much that girl could go through before she snapped or got herself killed.”

“I understand. I don’t think she really gets that she almost died out there.” You let out an angry breath on your bed and called your puppy over to you.

“You get me, right, Bear?” You held him in your arms and made his paws move as he lounged in your lap.

“You never had parents or anything, so you don’t really know how I feel...” Bear turned around in your lap and pressed his paws to your stomach, giving you a curious look.

“What? I’m your mommy?” He clawed at your shirt for a moment before grabbing the hem with his teeth and growling as he pulled it back.

“Bear! Stop that!” You pulled back on your shirt, making it rip as Bear went tumbling off of the bed with a yelp. You gasped and leaned over the bed to see him shaking it off and wagging his tail with a piece of your shirt in his mouth.

“Stupid puppy. Why did you have to be so cute?” You heard a knock on your door, and it opened to reveal your mom standing in the doorway.

“You can’t keep avoiding people forever,” she said, leaning on the doorframe and eyeing the dog rolling around on the carpet.

“I can, and I will. I don’t need company. I have Bear. Right, Bear?” Your puppy perked up when he heard his name and wagged his tail.

“You’re going to go crazy cooped up in your room. At least let someone come see you.” Your expression fell, and you got quiet. As much as you knew that they were right about the Games, you didn’t care. You were mad, and it may have been unreasonable, but you were still mad.

“No. I don’t care anymore.” You laid down on your bed and curled up, facing one of your walls. You heard your mom sigh before leaving and closing the door behind her. Bear whined from the floor for a moment before climbing his way up your bed and nuzzling the top of your head.

You looked up and sighed.

“I don’t miss any of them.” And you were sad to say it out loud, because it felt absolutely true.

--

“You can’t read anything at all from her? Anything she’s been doing, anything she’s been thinking?” Woohyun gave Sunggyu a look. Sunggyu’s parents were traveling that summer, and he’d already arranged to stay with Hoya for the Games, but seeing as how they weren’t competing anymore, he just hung around.

The team came by occasionally, asking if anyone else had any luck contacting you, but the answer was always the same.

“For the last time, no. She’s completely blocked me out of her mind, so my guess is as good as yours,” Woohyun said snidely. He was still very unhappy about Sunggyu, and the fact that you put yourself on lockdown didn’t do much for his mood.

“Jeeze, you’re staring to sound like me,” Hoya said from another seat. He was the only one that managed to catch a glimpse of you, because you were in the backyard reading with Bear when he came by. Woohyun ignored him.

“Besides, you’re the one who’s dating her. Why don’t you be a good boyfriend and ask her what’s wrong? Or wait! She’s not talking to your either.”

“She’s just mad I didn’t let her risk her life again for the sake of some memories.”

“You don’t understand, Sunggyu. Her parents. She wants to know who her real parents are, and what happened to them, why her memories were blocked, and who these people really are in her life. Can you blame her?”

“You’re the one digging around in her memories. Why don’t you tell her?” Sunggyu asked, his voice raising slightly. Hoya sighed. Those two couldn’t be in the same room for more than five minutes before they were at each other’s throats.

--

You were sitting on the couch when you heard another knock at your door. You didn’t bother to answer it, and your mother gave you another exasperated sigh before answering the door.

“Hey, Junhyung. Wanting to see her again?” Junhyung pushed past your mom, and she didn’t really do much to stop him. Junhyung grabbed your arm and dragged you outside, giving you a few seconds to slip some flip flops on.

He dragged you down the sidewalk in silence for a few seconds before letting go of your arm. Bear blinked a few times before starting to growl at Junhyung.

“What the hell is that thing?”

“A puppy. What does it look like?” You were incredibly annoyed by him already, wishing you were alone in your room.

“What’ve you been doing?”

“Nothing.” The silence between you two was awkward as he sighed. The Games started next week, and he’d be gone for a few weeks.

“I have to leave soon.”

“I know.” Junhyung couldn’t understand what happened. Could you have possibly changed that much over such little time because of some memories?

“Can’t you just forget about those memories? You were happier not knowing.” You stopped walking. That’s what this was about. Junhyung wanted you to give up on them, and it only made your desire to know what happened stronger.

“I don’t want to talk about it.” You turned around to head back home.

“You’re safer not knowing what happened,” Junhyung called after you. You stopped again and glanced over your shoulder before turning and leaving for your house.

--

Sunggyu and Woohyun were at your front door talking to your mom when you got back.

“Oh, she’s back. Honey, look who’s here-” You pushed past them without a word, anger clearly written all over your face. Woohyun reached out and grabbed your arm, trying to get a glimpse of your thoughts.

GET OUT.

Woohyun let go abruptly and held his head, squeezing his eyes shut. The little girl. The little girl was in your head. She was the one that making you act so strangely.

“No, we really have to go see her. There’s something wrong.” Your mom sighed and leaned against the doorway.

“I know. She’s not usually this moody, but there’s not much I can really do about it. Thanks for stopping by again boys. I thought she’d be up to talking to people since Junhyung dragged her outside.” Woohyun sputtered and protested as your mom closed the door.

“What’s going on?” Sunggyu asked, his eyebrows furrowed in worry.

“That little girl from the survival course. She’s in her head and making her act like this!” Woohyun closed his eyes and tried to reach out for you again.

‘You’re too late. She’s all mine now.’ Woohyun gasped as he saw the little girl’s sinister smile as she hovered over your mind. Woohyun reached out for it tentatively and felt how defeated and depressed you were. You weren’t even trying to fight back as she took over.

“No.”

‘Yes.’

--

Sunggyu and Woohyun gathered everyone at Hoya’s house for an emergency meeting. As Woohyun explained more of what was going on, everyone’s expressions turned more and more grave.

“What do we do?” Sungjong asked, looking clearly worried.

“We’ll just have to go over and ask to see her, whether or not she wants to see us. We need to save her.”

--

As soon as they reached your house, your team knew something was wrong. The gate was broken. They ran into your yard and spotted your parents bleeding in the doorway.

“We’ll be okay! Go after her! She left for the park!”

--

Your team ran for the park and stopped when they saw you staring up at a tree with a children’s book in your hands.

Sunggyu called out your name. You didn’t move for a second.

“This was my favorite book when I was a kid. Princes, princesses, knights in shining armor, castles, and dragons.” You turned around, and the book was open to a certain page. Everyone gasped and took a step back.

Your eyes were completely black as you smirked.

“Oh, how stupid you are. I win this game. Her body is mine again. And this time, no one is going to take it away from me!”

“Again? What do you mean again?” Woohyun asked.

“Ask them. They can tell you.” You pointed behind your team with another smirk. They turned and saw Junho and Junhyung running up, horror and disbelief etched on their faces. Their faces turned hard when they saw the book in your hands.

“No. No. You can’t do this again,” Junho said, stepping in front of everyone else and pleading with you.

“I’ll do what I want, Junnie. And I want this dragon!” The book glowed in your hands, and the ground started to shake. Junho swore to himself as he held his arms out and pushed your team back.

There was a roar as a dragon burst from the pages and flew into the sky. Everyone watched as your hair started to turn blonde at the roots and started to move towards the tips.

“Just try and stop me now.”