Chapter 40: 14:06 –Second Death [09:53am]

Mir POV

The world felt as if in slow-motion as I watched Byunghee’s hand unclench from the knife’s hilt and drop to his side like the nerves had been cut. And then he feel backwards, slowly, like a leaf in autumn. It was as if the world had been tilted on its side and gravity was tugging him down, down, down.

He crumpled.

“Byunghee!” I yelled and was at his side in an instant.

From the corner of my eye I could see the Ringmaster smirking, avidly interested in the turn of events. I tuned him out.

“Byunghee!” I gripped his fingers and willed him to speak. They were so, so cold. “Why did you do that?!”

His eyes fluttered open. “As you said Mir...the rules were simple.” As he spoke, blood bubbled with spit and frothed forth. 

“Idiot! Idiot! Idiot! I thought this was going to be a fair fight to death!” Tears were streaming down my cheeks now, dripping onto Byunghee’s face and entwining with the knife wound I had landed on his cheek.

“Mir,” he said and it sounded like a sigh. “I want you to live.”

“B-but, then, why were you trying to kill me?”

Byunghee let out a tired chuckle. “Because it’s what Changsun would have wanted.”

“Changsun?” Now I was confused.

“Mir, you’re the first person Changsun has ever loved. And by love I mean the forever-I-want-hold-hands-with kind. You don’t know how difficult it is for that man to trust others, and yet you won him over in less than 24 hours.”

“But Changsun is dead…”

“And that’s my fault,” Byunghee said softly. “No Mir, I didn’t kill him. And I’m not the wolf. I promise you this.”

My eyebrows furrowed. “Then…?”

“But I owe Changsun. I’m the reason he’s in this prison, that he was on that stage with me right before he was killed. I asked the Ringmaster to save him as my wish, and whilst he granted it, he didn’t grant it in the way I would have wanted him to. Neither did he grant Changsun’s wish properly. Watch out for the Ringmaster Mir,” his fingers suddenly tightened on my hand. “Don’t trust what he says about granting wishes. Wishes should be granted by oneself and no one else.”

“But Byunghee…”

“Don’t cry pabo,” he said affectionately. “My wish has been granted and I don’t need to play this accursed game anymore. You on the other hand Mir, you have lots left to do.”

“But…but…to sacrifice yourself like that… then why did you even try to kill me?”

“Because I needed to make sure,” Byunghee whispered. I had to lean in close to hear him properly. “To make sure that even if I died and you lived, that you wouldn’t kill yourself. I needed to test your resolve to continue living. Or else my death would be meaningless.”

“And that’s what Changsun would have wanted? For me to continue living?”

“Yes.”

“Are you sure? Wouldn’t he want me to be right next to him in death?”

“Pabo!” he snapped, but it was soft and without force. “Do you really Changsun is that sort of person?”

“No, mianhe,” I ducked my head. How could I ever think of Changsun like that?

“My brother is the most self-sacrificing, loyal, brilliant man there ever is. And death won’t change that. He loves you, and he would want you to live no matter what.”

“Even at the cost of his own brother’s life?”

“I owe Changsun that. For not saving him back then, I’d give up everything to make sure the one person he treasured most in the world was saved.”

I was full on crying now.

“Byunghee…” I whispered, leaning in to sob against his chest. 

“Don’t be sad…Mir…” he whispered, but his voice was getting weaker and weaker. “Promise me you’ll live.”

“I promise,” I sobbed. “I promise Byunghee!”

“Good,” he sighed and his lids fluttered close. Against his chest I could feel his heart slowing, a thud…thud…thud… and then nothing more.

Seungho POV

This wasn’t how it was meant to end.

I stared at the scene in front of me: Mir crouched over Byunghee’s fallen body, the hilt of the knife still distinctly clear. 

Once Byunghee had fallen the cages had lowered like a bumpy elevator, the long black pylons vanishing into the blood-soaked sand. The spikes and thorns had fallen aside to release me and I was free, but the cost had been too high.

“Byunghee,” I whispered, but didn’t go close. This was Mir’s moment to say goodbye and I could not interrupt it.

Instead I stood, hands clenched and tried to quash the rising anger and grief in my chest. 

Thunder POV

Byunghee. Dead.

This was too much.

“You find this entertaining?” I snarled at the Ringmaster’s amused smirk.

[OF COURSE] he replied without an ounce of shame, fingers tapping the frozen clock next to him.

[TIME REMAINING: 8 SECONDS] 

I trembled with anger.

Byunghee had saved us.

But he hadn’t deserved to die.

The Ringmaster stood and hovered forwards. [AND SO THE COUNTDOWN TO SECOND DEATH HAS COME] he announced. Over Byunghee’s body, Mir lifted his head and glared with tear-streaked cheeks.

“You killed him,” Mir spat, fire and rust a chemical combination.

[YOU SAY THAT DESPITE HAVING SEEING WHOSE HAND WIELDED THAT KNIFE FIRST HAND?]

“You may have not killed Byunghee directly, but your stupid games have.”

[CORRECT YOU ARE,] the Ringmaster bowed his head. [BUT THAT WAS THE PRICE YOU PAID IN ORDER TO HAVE YOUR WISHES GRANTED. YOUR LIVES ARE MINE TO COMMAND]

“No they are not!” Mir rose to his feet, eyes livid. “You don’t grant our wishes. You manipulate them and toy with them, claiming that you have, but only in ways that benefits you.”

The Ringmaster’s eyes gleamed. [AND YOU HAVE A PROBLEM WITH THAT?]

“I do.”

[THEN IT’S SIMPLE] he said. [ESCAPE THE COLISEUM AND YOU’LL HAVE BOTH YOUR WISH AND YOUR FREEDOM]

“Freedom won’t bring back Changsun and Byunghee,” Mir snapped.

[NO IT WON’T] The Ringmaster sounded amused. [BUT IT WILL HAVE TO SUFFICE. SO SHALL WE PROCEED TO LEVEL FOUR?]

I staggered backwards as the floor suddenly rumbled. Exactly like how our transition from level 2 to level 3 had been, the floor beneath each of us rose, propelling us skyward and leaving Byunghee’s body behind.

“No!” yelled Mir, reaching out for Byunghee’s corpse, but the floors grew walls and extended out, shutting us in and locking us into a cage of darkness. 

...

...

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[AND SO THE COUNTDOWN TO SECOND DEATH STRIKES ZERO]

[DEAD: 2, LIVING: 3]

[A COUNTDOWN TO THIRD DEATH BEGINS NOW]

[LET LEVEL FOUR BEGIN]