You brush aside the weirdness; people change. ‘So…,’ you begin awkwardly, fumbling with the end of the bandage. ‘He toppled the tree over in one blow?’ Daehyun nods vigorously, throwing a strong punch in the air in front of him and imitates the sounds of a falling tree. ‘Where’s everyone else?’ you ask in the middle of his charade. But as you expected, Daehyun shrugs, still not uttering a word.

‘Why aren’t you talking?’ you ask, annoyed. Daehyun averts your glare, turning is back on you. You roll your eyes and ask something else. ‘Where is Seung Hoon?’ All the playfulness that Daehyun greeted you with seemed to have disappeared into the cold, night air. ‘Daehyun,’ you say, trying to put on the tone of authority. ‘Where is Seung Hoon?’

He still keeps his back turned, not saying a single word. ‘Daehyun,’ you say angrily, jumping up. ‘Talk to me! Don’t turn your back on me! Answer me! Where are Seung Hoon and the others!?’ At your words, Daehyun slowly turns around; his eyes teary. ‘I’m sorry,’ he stutters, sniffing.

Your anger immediately disappears. ‘Wait, what? Daehyun are you okay?’ you ask, flustered at his sudden sad image. He shakes his head, taking in deep breaths. ‘The phoenix came back,’ he says finally, looking up at you with an intense stare. ‘And it killed them all; Seung Hoon, Youngjae and Zelo. All of them.’

Everything is not processing in your mind properly. Instead of asking why it happened, you ask: ‘Then, why are you sorry?’ He turns away from you again, wiping away his tears. ‘Because… please… forgive me…,’ he begins, slowly shattering. ‘Because… I told the phoenix to come to them.’ Suddenly, the situation hits you.

Seung Hoon. I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you… Youngjae. Zelo. Thank you for being next to me. My beautiful, little red phoenix. Why… weren’t you my phoenix? Why did you follow him? Daehyun… I thought I could trust you. But it seems I was mistaken. It’s your fault. It’s your fault. It’s your fault, Daehyun.

You snap back to reality from your flood of thoughts, wiping away tears that were flowing unconsciously down your cheeks. ‘I’m sorry,’ Daehyun says again. ‘Let me explain-‘You can see his pitiful figure, slouching in sadness, but you are too angry. ‘I don’t want someone like you to try and explain to me!’ you cry. ‘It’s your fault! It’s your fault!’

Daehyun makes a face as if he was hurt by your words, but he tries again. ‘Please,’ he pleads, bowing his head. ‘Just let me explain what happened, please. After that, I will leave and you can do whatever you want.’

Do you let him explain his story?

Click here to hear him out.

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