Chapter 15: 20:39 – A Countdown to First Death [03:21am]

G.O POV

“-up!” a voice from so far away pierced my sub conscious. It was like hearing someone shout down a long tunnel. The voice echoed and bounced and then I could hear it properly. “Wake up! G.O!”

I cracked my eyes open and was greeted with the face of Seungho. It was etched with worry and I groaned.

“Are you okay? What happened? Did someone attack you?” he assuaged me with question after question. I waved them away as I tried to sit up. One hand on my back, he helped me into a sitting position.

“I…” I tried to speak. “I remembered my past.”

Seungho’s mouth fell open. “And?” he prompted me.

My hands began to tremble. What had I done? I had caused so much pain to my brother. Lee Changsun. Lee Joon. I wondered what wish had landed him here in this bloody carnival. I could guess. But what I was certain about was why I was here.

“I-“

“JUNG BYUNGHEE!” a feral snarl echoed down the hallway. Both Seungho and I stared down at the darkness, shocked at the loud voice. And then there was a hammering of footsteps. Each one sounded a bugle and I knew what was coming.

Lee Joon lunged forwards, his hands outstretched. They curled around my neck and the next thing I knew, we landed hard on the floor. All the air in my lungs were squashed out Lee Joon had his grip on me. I could feel his muscled body through his thin cotton clothes and it brought back memories of us as teenagers, training in hopes of one day overthrowing the corruption within out government and world with our own bare hands. A kid’s pipe dreams.

“LEE JOON!” it was Seungho’s horrified yell.

But Lee Joon only saw me. Like an animal in the midst of his hunt, his focus was solely on his prey. And he had me. His hands tightened and I gasped for air, writhing underneath him. He was strong and he wasn’t letting me go.

“I’m going to kill you,” he hissed, his eyes fevered and his lips drawn back to reveal his canines. “I don’t need a stupid ringmaster to do this. I can do it with my own bare hands.”

“S-stop…” I tried to force the words out. “Y-you’ve got it all wrong!”

“Stop? Listen?” his eyes widened with mockery and he tilted his head. Like a raven watching the victim on the floor struggle. Like a vulture watching the scraps.  “You wouldn’t listen to me last time.” There was no mercy in his eyes or his voice.

“I’m sorry!” I shouted. “I’m sorry! I should have!”

“It’s too late for apologies G.O!” he snapped. “Or should I called you Byunhee, brother?”

His words were so twisted, so scornful that I felt like I didn’t know him at all. Was he really my brother?

“I was mad at you!” I tried to reason with him. It wasn’t working and spots were dancing in my vision. I was out of time. “I thought you were making me fail my job…”

“Enough!” Seungho roared and suddenly the heavy weight above me was gone. I sat up, gasping for air. Seungho had charged at Joon, tackling him to one side. Joon had sprawled, rolled and slowly pulled himself up, one hand wiping away the blood at the corner of his mouth.

“Why are you interrupting,” he snarled. “This is between Byunghee and me.”

“Byunghee?” Seungho was confused. Out of the loop.

“It’s my real name Seungho,” I explained slowly. “The names on our doors are simply codenames. My real name is Jung Byunghee. And Joon is Lee Changsun.”

“And I am going to kill you,” Joon advanced again, looking ready to pounce on me.

“STOP!” Seungho blocked Joon’s way with open arms. “Explain to me first what you remembered and why you need to kill G.O.”

“No!” Joon only saw me.

“Listen Changsun! I know you were thrown into jail and it was unjustly so but-“

“No excuses Byunghee!” he barked. “I know what happened. You don’t need to make excuses about why you left me in that cell to rot away. I know you had family issues…but so did I…” he paused and for a second his eyes were filled with something other than anger. Then it vanished. “But so did I! And I thought we were brother! Forever protecting each other’s back. Or did that all disappear when you joined the BlackBeards?!”

I shook my head, backing till I hit the velvet walls. Their luxurious feel was torturous. “I wanted to help you but-“

“But you didn’t.” he growled, finishing my sentence. “And the enforcers were going to send me to the graveyards. Eternal labor till death. They didn’t even investigate properly. All I did was save you! The BlackBeards were going to sell you out!”

“I know!” I snapped. Joon was taken aback. “I found out after. After it was too late.”

“And you still didn’t save me?” he whispered. Hurt was plainly written on his face. His shoulder drooped.

“I tried to!” desperation filled my voice. “But I was too late. You had vanished by the time I got to you!”

“Yeah,” he stared at me. “The ringmaster came to me first. He promised to grant me a wish. A wish the enforcers never could. He said all I had to do was participate in a game. I never thought…it would be this dangerous…”

“And what was your wish?” Seungho asked quietly. I had nearly forgotten he was there despite the fact he was the only thing standing between Joon and I.

Joon stared at him like he too had forgotten he had been there. “To get revenge. Against the enforcers for their lack of care and their corruption, against the government for driving my family to the breaking point. Against Byunghee…for betraying me.”

“No!” I shook my head, sadness filling my voice. “I didn’t betray you.”

“Then why didn’t you explain to the enforcers. They would have let me go! They killed my sister you know…”

I was shocked. “What?!” This was the first time I had heard of this.

Joon stared at me, liquid pools of sorrow for eyes. “She passed the enforcer test. The rumor that they all go missing….It’s because once you become an enforcer, you have to give up your identity and your old life. However she tried to stop them…she tried to save me…”

“And they…” I could barely follow what he was saying. No…not Changsun’s noona. I remembered her wild black hair, her sparkling eyes. The way she loved me equally as much as Changsun. How alive she had been…

“They culled her,” was all Joon could say. There was a tremble in his voice. “Enforcers who do not obey the law are unneeded. Disposable.”

I slid to my knees.

“No…” I whispered. Not only had I been too late to save Changsun, I had been too late for his sister. If I had arrived just days earlier, woken up earlier…I could have saved them both.

Saved their lives. And saved Changsun from this hell known as the Carnival.