Key was in his office, concluding a meeting with a supplier.  It’s 2:20am and he is anxious to get this over with and go home.  They are finalizing a few price changes when he unconsciously scratched his nape and gasped when he felt a sting.  Looking at his hand, he saw blood and a little piece of flesh are lodged in his fingernails.  His vision went red and he immediately hid his hand.  He was panicking but he had somehow managed to hide the bleeding on his nape and ended the meeting smoothly.  He locked the door after his guest left and took out his phone with trembling hands.

Hey.

Unable to speak and suppress the bitter nausea rising in his throat, a sob escaped from him.

What’s wrong?!

“It’s happening again,” he blurted out, examining himself in front of a mirror.  Angry dark veins are like roots crawling their way up from his neck and out of his hairline, marring his exotic face.  His skin is papery and is threatening to flake off.  He knows that if he tries to peel it off, blood would rush out of the broken skin.

How much time do we have?

“I don’t know,” he said and started sobbing again.

Where are you?

“At the club.”

Wait for me.  I’ll come get you.

“What are we going to do?”

We’ll figure it out.  Just…  Keep calm.  I’ll be there soon.

The line went dead and Key could not help but whimper like a wounded animal.  Hurry!  Please hurry…

Taemin had been sleeping for a couple of hours when his ringing phone roused him.  The number reflected on the screen is unknown to him but he hesitated only briefly before answering the call.

“Hey,” was all he said in greeting but Taemin instantly knew who he’s talking to.  His giddiness wiped away whatever remnants of sleep there is and he totally ignored that small voice in his head that asked, Did you ever give him your number?

“Key?” he inquired happily.

“Yeah,” and there was a breathless giggle on the other end of the line.  “Come outside.  Let’s play.”

Taemin’s heartbeat went on overdrive.  He sprang from the bed and went to the French window to peer outside.  And there, under the moonlight, is the silhouette of a car.  As if on cue, a head was squeezed out of the car window and he could barely make out Kibum enthusiastically waving a hand at him.

“How did you find me?” he asked incredulously.  But even as he said the words, he was thinking that perhaps Minho had a hand in this.  Perhaps this is his cousin’s way of making up for being an earlier this evening.

“Never mind that.  If there’s a will, there’s a way,” Key told him teasingly.  “Now don’t keep me waiting any longer.”

“Just…  Give me a few minutes to change.  Seven minutes, tops!”  He turned off the phone without waiting for a response.  He then dashed around the room, throwing off his sleep clothes and picking up random street wear.  Not wanting to wake anyone up, he opted to get out through the porch, and down the fire escape. 

As he raced toward the parked car, he could see Key patiently waiting inside, his face partially hidden by his hoodie.  Key signaled for him to go over to the passenger side, which he did.  As he opened the car door, Taemin heard sudden footsteps behind him.  Before he could turn to look at the newcomer, something hit his head so hard that he reeled and sank to the ground.  He struggled to remain conscious for a moment but lost himself to darkness just as the footsteps settled beside him.  As he slipped into oblivion, he dimly noted how familiar those footsteps sounded…

When he came to, Taemin could hear running water nearby.  His lids were heavy when he tried to open them.  Through his blurry vision, he could make out two pairs of shoes a few feet from him.  The pain in his head was a when he moved it to get a better look at his companions.  As his vision slowly cleared, so did his hearing and now he realized that his companions are arguing.  It must be nearing sunrise because everything in his field of vision has that black light sort of glow on them.  They are at the lake, at the small dock where he went swimming with Minho just a few days ago.  Lady Gaga’s Bad Romance is blaring in the background.

“Turn off that ing player, Kibum!  You’re gonna wake up the whole neighborhood!”

Minho hyung?

Kibum just glared at his cousin.  Taemin was shocked by his dark-rimmed eyes and ghoulish face.  He can tell it’s Key only because he is still wearing the same clothes he saw him in last night.

When Kibum still refused to budge, Minho grabbed a baseball bat and hit the music player with all his might.  Taemin noted that it’s probably the same thing Minho used to knock him out earlier.

Kibum gasped unbelievingly as he watched his player fly off into the lake in pieces.  “What the ?!  Was that really necessary?!”

This time, it’s Minho’s turn to glare at him.  “It’s almost daylight, Kibum!  Let’s finish this !”

Taemin would have laughed at their ridiculous conversation had he not known that Minho was referring to him when he said those words.

At once, their attention focused on him.  They were surprised to realize that he is awake.  Taemin fought off the heaviness of his eyes as Minho approached him cautiously.

“I’m sorry about this,” Minho said in his low voice.  Taemin could tell he is sincere too, but why the does it have to be him?!  At first, it puzzled him how his cousin is connected to Kibum, and he could only frown since he could no longer speak at this point.

But then Kibum approached them and gently laid a hand on Minho’s shoulder.  A gesture so affectionate it’s hard to believe they have been screaming profanities at each other just a few minutes ago.  And the pieces of the puzzle clicked into place.

“I will try to make it as painless as possible, Taemin.”

Yeah, sure, hyung.  Like that will really comfort me.

Forty minutes later, Kibum and Minho watched Taemin’s body as it sinks to the bottom of the lake.

“Dongwoon will now have company,” Minho mused.  He turned to Kibum when he felt the other’s hand on his arm.

“Let’s go home,” Kibum told him, holding his hand.

He nodded silently and let himself be led away.