The seven friends settled down excitedly on the grass patch (mini garden) outside the rented apartment (terrace kind) at which they decided to celebrate Jonghyun’s 21st birthday. The streets were dark and almost empty. It was a Saturday night and it was not supposed to be this isolated. But of course, they weren’t exactly wealthy kids (they each chipped in a lot of their own pocket money just to rent the place). In the end, they chose the cheapest possible alternative.

This particular area of available apartments is pretty quiet. It’s not a hot spot for teenagers like themselves. Truth to be told, they each felt kind of uncomfortable when they first stepped into the street. They thought it was just them, being paranoid. Taemin was just a little too creeped out, such that he held onto Jonghyun’s arm tightly wherever they went. Eerie, it may be but as long as they had each other, nothing else mattered, right?

Moreover, it’s not their (other than Taemin) first time at this particular neighborhood.

======

“Let’s play Truth and Dare!” Eunhyuk suggested enthusiastically. Onew immediately protested. He seemed to be down on luck since birth or something, or just, he’s never ever been lucky in his life. “No! We’re always playing this and it’s always me!” Onew complained. “That’s why it’s fun!” Eunhyuk continued. “C’mon let’s start.” He took an empty green glass bottle out from nowhere and placed it in the middle and spun the bottle. Round and round it went. As expected, it stopped right in front of Onew.

Onew rolled his eyes and went “See what I meant. It’s always me. There must be some kind of curse on me or what-”. Anticipating for some action, Jonghyun was getting a little tired of Onew’s ranting. “Can you just quit complaining Onew, Truth or Dare?”

After a short moment of hesitating Onew finally said “Fine, truth.” They all booed him in sync, as they were all waiting for Onew to say ‘Dare’ instead. They’d played this so many times that they’ve ran out of questions to ask, especially on Onew. The game went on and on with each of them carrying out different tasks as their assigned dares. Finally, Taemin’s eyelids grew heavy, he complained about wanting to grab some sleep. Jonghyun then said “Okay, last game of the night,” as he spun the bottle in front of him.

“Yah, we always start with me and end with me as well.” Onew whined. Just then, he said “Fine, since its Jjong’s birthday, I’ll do a Dare,” which basically shocked everyone.

“Okay your dare is to go to that house 13 on the left of this street. Just go in there, take a picture of yourself and get out. You have an hour to do so. Once an hour is up, come back.” Eunhyuk then said. With everyone’s agreement, Onew prepared himself for this particular dare. “There’s nothing to be afraid of anyway.” Onew answered as Taemin asked him again (if he was really going alone).

=======

After the ten minutes of walk, he finally arrived at the house labeled ‘#13’. Out of courtesy, he knocked on the door before entering the (very obviously) abandoned house.

He opened the door and cringed as the door made a screeching creak as he pushed it open slowly. It made a chill run down his spine. He didn’t like the feeling of that, honestly. But he had to complete his dare; he’s not the kind who’ll chicken out of such situations, never.

Onew walked further into the room engulfed by darkness. “Crap, phone battery running flat.” He put his phone back into his pocket (in case he needed it later) and walked towards the direction where a glimpse of light could be seen. He instinctively found his way nearer and nearer to the light. “If I took a picture here, it shouldn’t be too dark,” he thought to himself.

He was merely five steps away when a pair of hands darts out of nowhere and gripped tightly on Onew’s neck, suffocating him. Onew grabbed onto the person’s hands, attempting to pull it away from him, but to no avail. He coughed as he struggled and felt the hands drop abruptly “Jin...?”

Onew turned to see who the crazy culprit was to play such a prank on him. He thought it was one of his friends who had a little too much alcohol before. But what he saw before his very eyes, were far from whom he thought it was. He sees a boy in front of him, not just any boy, but a very perfectly beautiful boy.

In the limited light available to him, Onew could see a boy who was only about his age and height, staring back at him. The pretty boy had pale milky skin and dirty blonde hair which made Onew conclude that he had probably never been out much in the sun.

“Who the hell are you!?” Onew almost yelled. He could feel a knot in his stomach which made felt very, very nauseated.

“H-Hi. I’m sorry. I don’t know what got over me. I’m Key, by the way. My deceased parents lived here in the past and I-I came back to get some stuff.” A look of shock and slight hostility flashed in Key’s warm brown eyes. Wait, brown...? Onew could have sworn they were blood red just a moment ago...

“O-Oh. I’m sorry for intruding- I shouldn’t have I-I’m sorry. I’m Onew, nice to meet you too.” Onew replied, still in slight shock, as he blushes. He felt embarrassed getting caught for trespassing private property what’s more, by such a beautiful boy.

Key let out a soft laugh as though he could read Onew’s mind. “So, what are you doing in here?”

“I- My friends, they sent me out on a dare. To come in here and take a picture, I don’t know why though. Maybe because it looks so disheveled and abandoned. We shouldn’t have. I’m really sorry.” Onew apologized profusely, fearing that Key would bring him to the police or something.

“Oh, have you taken the picture then?” Key questioned (which surprised Onew quite a bit).

“Um...no. I was about to then-” Onew answered but before he could complete his sentence Key interrupted and said “Ah, I interrupted. Sorry. You can still take one right now. Just go ahead, I promise I won’t interrupt you again.” With that, Key signaled with his long fingertips towards the house, as though urging the other boy to take the picture he had came for.

The way Key smiled sent more chills running down Onew’s spine. It’s like an overwhelming sensation that was indescribable. He never ever experienced meeting anyone and feeling this way. He felt goose bumps forming, but he won’t deny that he felt sort of happy meeting such a beautiful guy in the middle of the night.

He took the camera out from his pocket and snapped from an angle that evident his visit to the house he was dared to enter. He still didn’t quite understand why Eunhyuk would make him go into a house when it’s such a simple dare. He simply shrugs his shoulders.

“You’re leaving now?” Key asked in an almost lonely tone.

“Well, yeah. I shouldn’t stay for long. Thanks for um, not taking our actions into offense. I’m sorry but thanks Key. It’s my honor meeting you.”

Key smiled his charismatic smile once again. It made Onew felt as though he was in heaven for three seconds. His heart beat faster each time Key spoke, while butterflies fluttered about in his stomach. He seriously didn’t know why he felt that way.

Bidding farewell, Onew left the house and made his way back to the rented apartment where his friends were waiting for him.

Little did he know, the farewell was only the beginning of it all.

======

“What the were you thinking Key?” Ryeowook snarled as he gripped Key’s collar.

Key kept a straight face and remained silent.

“If he finds out, you know the price you have to pay. No one in history has tried defying his order, Key.”

Key shoved Ryeowook off and walked away. Just before he opened the door to leave the house, Ryeowook warned the last time, with his long fringe flopping down and masking one of his eyes mysteriously, “You really don’t know what you’re getting yourself into.”

Key turned around and answered firmly “I know what this could lead me to. I just can’t do it. He looks too much like him. Did you even see the resemblance in them? I can’t, I can’t do this.”

“But have you thought of what will happen to you? If Minho finds out, he will not only rip you off your title, he will behead you and send you to somewhere worse than hell.”

“I know, but I can’t. I know what I’m doing, Ryeowook, I know.” Key lowered his head, turned back to door and made his exit.






Actually, Key didn’t know what he was doing at all, he really didn’t know. All he knew was that Onew looked too freaking much like his Jin to not be him. And how could he bring himself to kill someone that he loved so much?

======

“Onew hyung!” this was the third time Taemin has been calling for Onew’s attention. But yet, Onew didn’t give him any respond. He finally got Onew’s attention when he pushed him slightly on the shoulder.

“Hyung, why are you ignoring me?”

“Hmmm?” Onew finally answered.

“You’re weird. Are you like possessed or something after coming back from house 13? Even if you’re not, just know that you’re really abnormal today. Anyway, Jonghyun hyung and I are going out for a while. We’re going to get some more soda. We’ve three more days here and we have nothing else left but alcohol. Half of us here are still underage.” Taemin went on and on till Onew finally turned and looked at him.

“Okay okay, just go get what you need. Have fun. Come back early alright.” Onew said. With that, Jonghyun and Taemin left for town. Onew was left alone with just a few of other of his friends whom he weren’t exactly close to. He decided that he should go take a walk.

“Eunhyuk, I’m going to walk around the neighborhood. Call me if you need me.” Onew said and left the rented apartment.

=======

Onew didn’t know where he was walking. He just felt like he needed some fresh air. He found himself walking a familiar route. The route he took last night. The route which led him to Key.

=======

Up ahead, he could see house 13. It looked less spooky, compared to last night when Onew first chanced upon it. He was trying to see if he could meet Key in there. But it was simply too dark from the outside and there’s no way he could see anything or anyone in there. Disappointed, he wanted to walk back to the apartment. That was until he heard a voice, so soft and melodious, calling out for him, “Onew.”

Onew could have sworn butterflies were fluttering around in his stomach. He smiled to himself, unconsciously.

“H-Hello, Key.” Onew said while his cheeks revealed his blush. He was surprised how he could still be so awed by this pretty face right in front of him. He’d never dreamt of meeting someone as beautiful as Key was.

“You came...to look for me?” Key broke the silence after their slightly awkward greeting, his slender fingers brushing his flippy blonde hair out of his eyes. Onew couldn’t help but marvel at the pretty boy’s grace and beauty.

“No no no, I just happened to walk past...I-” Onew stammered.

“You’re lying, aren’t you?” Key chuckled.

“H-How’d you know?” Onew asked, totally embarrassed right at the moment. He at lying, damn it. He’d probably had to get Jonghyun to teach him how to lie or something when he got back to the apartment.

“Jin- My friend, he used to be exactly like you when he had to lie, he would blink non-stop and avoid eye contact. That’s how you’re behaving right now.” Key said as though it was a natural thing for Onew to do. It made Onew, somehow, felt good about himself.

Key invited Onew to the nearby beach nearby. They sat there from evening time till night sets in. It was a starless but cloudy night. There were airplanes flying around though. The night wind blew gently against Onew’s skin. It wasn’t entirely cold but Onew was grateful he had his hoodie pulled over him. He wondered how Key endured the cold weather.

Speaking of cold, he suddenly remembered Key’s hands around his neck. It was like the weather, cold. Maybe because the weather’s been too cold recently, but for a normal human being, Key’s hands were a little too cold. They were, freezing.

Onew’s thoughts were distracted when he heard Key sighing. It sounded as though Key was tired. No more than just tired, he sounded exhausted.

“Key? What’s wrong?” Onew asked, his voice dripping with concern.

“Nothing much. Just life and its weird way of working.” Key answered. His words confused Onew, but he chose not to question, it seemed too much like he was probing into something which did not involve him.

“Aren’t you cold?” Onew asked.

“Not really, I love cold weathers. Onew, do you have any wishes that you want to make?” Key asked, randomly (avoiding the question).

“Mm-hmm. In fact, many of them. But they don’t seem to be willing to come true.” Onew answered as he scratched his head, staring up at the empty night sky.

Key turned and looked at Onew, the look in his beautiful feline eyes unreadable. “Do you believe in wishes upon shooting stars?”

“Well yeah. But they’re so rare. It’s kind of difficult to chance upon them.” Onew said disappointingly.

“You could pretend that the airplanes in the night sky are shooting stars and wish upon them. I do that all the time. My Jin- friend told me that.” Key said.

“Does it work?” Onew asked. “I could really use a wish right now,” he then whispered to himself.

Just then, an airplane flew past the empty night sky.

Onew shut his eyes tightly and made a wish right at the moment.

“Huh?” Key sounded a little confused because his mind was filled with all the little things Onew was doing that reminded him so much of him.

“Making wishes out of airplanes. Do they work?” Onew asked again.

“Well, mine usually does. I guess yours would too?” Key answered.

======

Gradually, the little secret meetings that only the two of them knew about became a daily routine. Onew, even though he left the apartment, still turn up daily to meet Key. They slowly let each other more into their life and their stories.

The body contact between them got a little closer too. Although Onew will never get why Key won’t let him touch him at all. He felt kind of upset at that fact, but somehow, Key would always coax him and he would always accept the excuses, not matter how pathetic or lame they sounded.

They slowly started talking about how they felt about each other. They never talked much about that. But once they started, they couldn’t stop. They still wondered if wishes upon airplanes would come true.






Guess what? Onew’s wish came true.
(I wish that he’d love me the way I love him.)

And they fell in love.

======

Onew never told anyone this, but he sort of gets some images flashing through his head whenever Key mentioned about this friend of his namely, Jinki (Onew found out a few nights ago after pestering Key).

He didn’t exactly bother initially, but it just got worse these few nights. It was like he’s remembering some things which he didn’t even remember forgetting. The images were always blur. There will always be two boys in there.

He wished he knew what the images represented or symbolized. He didn’t like this odd feeling in him. He didn’t tell anybody though; he didn’t want anyone to think that he was turning insane. He didn’t want to tell Key because he didn’t want to burden him. Key looked busy enough himself (even though he has no absolute idea of what exactly Key does).

He chose to believe that maybe he was just getting a little too tired nowadays.

======

Ryeowook storms right into the room where Key was playing the piano. He had a deathly evil glare on his face which didn’t represent anything good. But Key continued playing the piano as though Ryeowook didn’t existed.

“What the is your problem Key? Just what is it that you want? You being beheaded or Minho ripping off your head? You know he can do that with just one finger.” Ryeowook yelled softly, he couldn’t afford to let anyone, any human beings know what he was talking about.

Key continued playing the piano, without a word, nonetheless. He wasn’t afraid of anything, he was only afraid of his loved ones being taken away from him. He was playing a tune, so mellow and depressing, that the entire atmosphere fitted perfectly.

“Stop being so nice to that guy, Key. He is not Jinki. Jinki is dead. You know that.” Ryeowook warned sternly. Key finally stopped.

“Shut up! Jinki is not dead!” Key screamed, his high voice echoing through the house, and a silent tear could be seen running down his left cheek.

Ryeowook whispered, “Key, I’m sorry.” He couldn’t help it at times. He was just so frustrated and worried that Key would leave him too, the way Jinki did. But just mentioning the word death around his best friend would throw him into a crying and screaming fit, which Ryeowook should have known better than to do.

“I can’t, Ryeowook. I can’t. Their characters are the exact opposite. But their similarities are still so tempting to make me think that he’s Jinki. I can’t do this Ryeowook, I miss him too much. I won’t allow anything to happen to Onew. I love him. I really do. Ryeowook, help me, please. Spare him. He doesn’t know what I am. He won’t, I promise.” Key’s voice had softened, and it was cracking as he buried his pretty face into his hands.

It tore Ryeowook to see Key like this. They were best friends and the last time he saw Key this upset was probably five hundred years ago, when Jinki was summoned to be killed as he broke the rules and let some human beings go instead of killing them. Both Key and Jinki were Ryeowook’s best friends. He didn’t want to see history repeating itself; he can’t afford to lose another friend. He just couldn’t stand having to watch another one of his friends brutally murdered and have his heart ripped apart once again.

“I’ll try, but no promises. Don’t hold your hopes up too high, Key. It’s almost impossible. You know that.” Ryeowook said as he left the room with his fist held to his chest where his heart was.

He was confused and hurt, really. But what could he do when Key was looking at him with such beautiful puppy eyes? It seemed either way things were going, his best friend was going to get hurt. The question now was really if it was better to be killed for the one you loved or to live without the one you loved. At the current moment, both didn’t seem very appealing to Ryeowook, but what could he do?


======

“Jonghyun hyung, I’m kind of worried of Onew hyung.” Taemin told Jonghyun one afternoon, randomly. While they were lying in bed, doing nothing (other than some cuddling).

“Why?” Jonghyun replied as he turned and look at Taemin.

Taemin sat up straight and leant his back against the wall behind them and continued “Well, you remember the other time at the rented apartment? Yeah, I left my bracelet there and went there a few afternoons before and I saw Onew hyung. I followed him because he wasn’t feeling well that day. He went to the house he was dared to go into.”

“Maybe he left something there as well? Taemin ah, you’re thinking too much!” Jonghyun said as he laughed at his boyfriend’s cute little imagination (or that’s what he thought).

“Hyung, you don’t believe me, do you? I’m telling the truth, I’m worried of Onew hyung. He’s not behaving like himself recently. It’s kind of freaking me out. I want Onew hyung back. The normal one.” Taemin said genuinely.

And when Taemin spoke like that, Jonghyun knew better than to not listen to Taemin. He still thought that it was ridiculous even though he reluctantly agreed to Taemin’s plan of stalking Onew the next day. But he wanted Taemin to be happy, so he had no other choice but to agree.

“I promise you’ll get anything you want if we get back the good old Onew hyung.” Taemin teased Jonghyun. This made Jonghyun more willing to go on this little mission with Taemin.

“Yah, fine. I’ll do it. For just a day!” Jonghyun said as he looked at happy Taemin who was grinning triumphantly at his successful persuasion. He loved how Jonghyun would give in to him all the time.

======

The next day, they went early to the neighbourhood where house 13 was. They stood there, with little binoculars in their hands, looking like little adventurers going on an adventure.

“There he is!” Taemin whispered as he saw Onew walking, no, skipping towards the house.

Jonghyun held up his binoculars and went “What the ? He’s skipping!?”

“Shhh! Language hyung, language! Let’s follow him!” Taemin said as he moved his agile body swiftly, not allowing both of them to be spotted by Onew. They found their hiding spot behind this black car.

“He came here, all alone that night?” Jonghyun would have cursed again, but Taemin was there to stop him.

“Yeah, I wouldn’t get in even if you paid me to. Look, hyung! He’s going in! And there’s...someone else?” Taemin said as he started to get more and more baffled as the minutes passed.

They held up their binoculars and looked into house 13. A young guy of their age could be seen welcoming Onew into the house. He was dressed in smart casual wear but there was something different about him. The aura he emitted was so secretive, the little couple behind the black vehicle said in sync, “Just who the hell is he?”

Taemin stood up after the door was closed shut and pulled Jonghyun along with him. “Come on hyung, we need to find out more about that guy Onew hyung has been meeting secretively.”

Jonghyun (for the first time) agreed. With hurried steps, they rushed back home.