A/N: youngjae is older in this

Hope this is good read

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DAEHYUN P.O.V

There are a lot of strange and peculiar things in this world wouldn’t you agree? Myths and folklores your parents and grandparents felt the need to tell throughout the generations.

I don’t know what kick they got out of trying to scare the out of us small, young minds but I had just simply come to the conclusion that it was their way of revenge. Yes as strange as it might sound it made perfect sense to me.

It just seemed as a way to let us feel the way the had felt when they were young and huddled close to their father’s feet around a warm fireplace or cradled comfortably in the mother’s arms in bed. To continue the fear that had plagued them once not too long ago.

That look in their eyes and hidden smiles when our eyes widen with anxiety and fear as the tales they filled our minds with tainted our vivid and very active imaginations.

Its true, why? Because it works, every time.

On those specific nights when we seem to hyper for sleep or  each year around the holidays, didn’t they always have some strange tale to tell?

Be nice or you will get coal for Christmas.

I was somewhat a decent young child at that time, so this never happened to me.

It's time for bed snuggle tight or the boogie man will get you.

Now that one I simply found absurd, why would this boogie person be so bothered about my sleeping habits?

Though not the easiest person to trick I couldn’t help but find it amusing however the way my siblings would react. Especially my younger brother.

He was so gullible , too gullible for his own good.

It bothered me for some time though, how could one be so naïve…… aish what am I saying he was only 6 at the time, just a mere two years younger than I, how could I blame the little thing.

But I had begun to understand why throughout the years the stories always came and the reason my parents, your parents and maybe all parents enjoyed scaring us a bit. It really was amusing.

And it hadn’t been too long until I found how amusing it actually was.

“aaww hyung stop it…..  you’re scaring me” the younger ones pouted at me interrupting me during one of my many tales. I could see the fear swimming around their large innocent eyes and how they occasionally looked behind them when a sudden creak of the door by mother who had decided the most opportune time to visit us with cookies and milk, I had to inwardly thank her for heightening the mood so well.

Bravo.

“Okay no more stories, let's just go downstairs and watch some cartoons or something” Youngjae suggested and I wouldn’t lie if I said I had honestly tried to hold back the snicker but it was far too hilarious to see that even my older brother had been a bit spooked by the story.

Regrettably, with a heavy sigh I complied with the others, grabbing a cookie from the tray and bringing it to my mouth as I followed the others to our destination.

“That story was really nice though Daehyun, even though it was scary,  you really have a great way of making stuff up, makes it almost seem real”  Jongup said to me, a nervous giggle leaving him as he fiddled his fingers together before grabbing onto my arm when a sudden noise jolted him. Sadly releasing soon after realizing how he had allowed the telephone to do him in so easily, he releases my hand pouting and gently hits my shoulder while I try not to double over laughing.

“Yah don’t laugh it isn’t funny”  he whines and hurries himself forward trying to catch up with the others as they make their way downstairs, skidding on the third top step when I beckon to him.

“I don’t make them up” I respond, and watch the look in his eyes when he clearly gets the deeper meaning to my statement.

“Seriously hyung, stop trying to creep me or I’m telling” he yells, pouting even more and stomps his foot before running down the remainder of steps , with my giggling self following suit.

“Then stop making it so easy” I mutter under my breath before joining the rest for some good tele time.

Yes, those days were really the best.

 

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The noise in the dining room was uninviting enough, I wasn’t even hungry in the first place and on top of that everyone knew I tend to be a miserable mess whenever woken up from a nap but still I had to eat something according to mother who had been the source of my short nap. Wouldn’t want her getting upset.

No, we wouldn’t want that.

So here you have me, yawning and scratching myself all over as my feet lazily pat across the hard wood floor towards the entrance where I am immediately greeted by cheery, some bright while some stuffed with food faces.

“Hey sleeping beauty” Youngjae  teases after passing the toast around.

I only manage to send him the best scowl I could muster. I was tired, so that was the best I could do.

“Oh don’t pay him any mind honey and come sit next to grandma”, I smiled taking the only available seat that had been left for me right beside my grandmother who patted the chair and waited for me to take it.

It had been the first day since we had reached our grandparents house yet it felt like we never left. It was good visiting them once again, our annual family get together and I had to admit I had grown quite a liking to their comfy cottage in this quiet little rural area. They hated the city life unlike us so most of our free times had normally ended up with us visiting them.

“Granddad can you pass the milk?” Zelo asks politely, biting down on a just buttered toast.

Getting up from the table I watched him make his way to the kitchen, only to return a few minutes later empty handed.

I could already see what was going to unfold.

Zelo really loved milk, like seriously………. Loved it.

I sighed.

We wouldn’t be hearing the end of it as the words “Its seems we ran out” left my granddad.

"I'll go out and buy some"I suggested, i couldn't deal with Zelo's whining and i wanted some fresh air anyways.

The streets are bustling with young children running about various small shops open, the elderly that conversed among their peers sending me a gentle smile and wave as I passed which I so kindly returned as I went on my way.

“Fresh apples, care for some fresh apples young man” an old woman behind a badly built vending cart asks as I maneuver myself throughout the market area. “No thank you” I reply though she is persistent even when I am a good distance away, I can still hear her faintly hollering how an apple a day would keep the maggots way.

I think she had the saying wrong, but hey who was I to correct her.

Shifting through the tight paths trying my best to barely bump into passerby’s that headed the opposite direction from myself , spinning my body from left then to my right in order to carefully glide through the sea of curious customers eager to buy fresh supplies to fill their households.

It takes longer than I had wanted until I am back out in the streets, slowly making my way down the usual lane, taking the time to at least appreciate how particularly chilly the weather had become, it was a nice kind of chill though.  Comforting.

I thought as my hands stuck themselves in the pockets of my jacket. Making a sharp right then a left I could already see the small shop with the funny looking sign above reading “Dairy World” and smiled a bit at the memories that suddenly floated back.

We loved coming here as kids, especially Zelo, I could never understand his unusual love for milk but the sweet treats that they also offered in their had become a few of my favorites.

Little things like these I never normally got to enjoy back in the city.

This was always one of the reasons I enjoyed visiting our grandparents. As I made my way closer to the small shop, the crowd of people less dense around this side and I was thankful for that. It made it easier to glance around my environment without possibly bumping into someone else.

It wasn’t until I stood at the front of the shop where a sudden and unnatural chill shook me and the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end. I blinked rapidly, confused and out of this confusion I don’t know why but I had the strangest urge to look to my left.

There, just at the end of the lane stood a figure, tall, around my height and clad from head to toe in black, just standing there, staring ahead, at me. I wouldn’t say it was the first I had ever felt eyes on me and caught the person in the act but the way this individual looked at me did nothing but made my skin crawl.

It felt unnerving the way he stood out so much from the people around him, that just passed by him without even sparing a glance up or to question his strange attire and unusual behavior.

Why was he staring at me?

Did he know me?

Did I know him?

“May I help you?” a heavy, rusty voice startled me, causing my attention to detour towards an old, short man standing by the entrance of the shop.

“Oh I’m sorry” I said and made my way towards the door, the man moving enough to allow me inside.

Quickly I forgot about the figure that had been watching me so keenly, just excusing it as one of those weird occurrences.

It's not like there was anything else to it, right?

~~~

 

“Okay my turn” Zelo speaks up, placing his mug of hot chocolate down next to him on the rub and twirls his fingers in the air with a mischievous glint in his eyes. “This is a good one trust me” he adds and scoots closer to the middle, that we all have a good view of him.

“You at telling stories though” Youngjae says, making himself comfortable on his stomach, Jong up throws his hands to his mouth muffling his laughter. With a hiss and roll of the eyes Zelo’s arms fold.

“Just trust me, this one will really get under your skin” he says, giving us his best attempt of what I could only assume was a look of intimidation.

“Go on with it then” I urge, already becoming quite impatient.

“Fine, It’s a tale as far back as the dark ages, mid evil times and yet even to this day people are haunted by the mere thought of it, troubled by the low whispers they think they hear behind them in the dead of quiet and chilled to the core at things they catch, just at the corner of their eyes when no one is there” Zelo begins.

His voice is low , so this only urges for us to listen closely, leaning in further, my interests to his tale begin to increase the more it progresses. I would have to give him credit after. It actually sounded like something I myself would tell.

“Have you ever heard of a doppelganger?” he questions, his dark orbs glancing to each of us as we shake our heads from side to side, encouraging the chilling grin that spreads across his face.

“It’s terrifying really but completely true and this is what makes it so frightening, this is why it leaves people in a state of panic or drives them to insanity as it lurks around them, stalking them, watching them........ watching us” he continues, the flames crack and pop within the fire place, creating a mood perfect for my little brother’s tale.

The dark shadows of our figures that stretched across the walls in odd , strange ways did well to startle Jong Up a few times.

“W-Watching us?” Jong Up asks and its when his voice echoes lightly around the room do I now come to realize of close to my side he had become, gripping onto the hem of my shirt like he would do back long ago when he was really scared, how did I not notice this before?

“Of course, its always watching you, me all of us, the other us”.

“Other us?” Youngjae questions and by the look on his face it clearly tells me how utterly confused he has become but yet highly intrigued nonetheless and I couldn’t deny it myself how much more interested in my younger brother’s tale as I too had become.

“Exactly hyung, it watches us … because it is us, the other us, the darker, tainted side that we don’t normally venture on, the paranormal double of a living person, always around or near the other  yet never close enough for the two to meet”.

I couldn’t begin to explain the feeling that engulfed me the deeper Zelo’s tale became, how much his story began to make me feel increasingly uncomfortable and how it made my breathing come out in short scattered puffs.

The cold sweat that had formed ever to lightly  upon my forehead.

Why does this begin to feel strangely familiar, why had this begun to feel as if the tale he was telling somehow , in some strange way connected to me?

 

“He looks exactly like you” my head snapped up at the words and I found myself meeting eyes with Zelo for a brief moment before looking elsewhere.

Had I spaced out? I wondered just barely tuning in to enjoy the ending of Zelo’s story.

“They say ….. if you see your doppelganger run… don’t question… don’t hesitate just run because when it sees you there is no telling what length it would go to get you ........ death or maybe something worse”.

“What's worse than death” Jong Up snorted, his trembling hands coiled securely in my shirt as he waited for an answer.

Zelo simply smirked, raising a brow and leaning to his side, drawing closer towards Jong Up who inched away a bit.

“There are many things worse than death hyung” Zelo replies grinning deviously under the heavy bright orange glow of the flames. "They say some are different though because some yearn for what the other has and will do anything to make it their own even switching places". Jong up gulps and begins to nibble nervously on his bottom lip as Zelo sets himself back into his previous position and takes up his mug of hot chocolate which seemed to have gone gone from the scowl that quickly came over his face after taking a sip.

“Have to admit, that story was kinda cool” Youngjae comments, easing himself up off the ground and walking over towards the wall where the light switch was.

“I’m gonna get something to munch on…. You guys want anything” he asks after flipping the switch and brightening the room ten folds, the three of us squint a few times, Jong Up rubbing his eyes before he suddenly gets up and makes a bee line towards Youngjae. “I’ll follow you” he says even though he runs right pass the oldest and heads straight for the kitchen.

“Can I get more hot chocolate” Zelo asks soon smiling when Youngjae nods his head before directing his attention to me.

“Nothing” is all I can say giving him a quick glance before looking away.

“Jong Up looked like he almost pissed himself hyung” Zelo grinned, feeling of some sort of achievement vastly evident in his face for successfully freaking out one of us.

“That was an interesting story you made up so I understand why he’s a bit shaken by it” I say managing a small smile and stretch my legs out onto the soft rub.

“Oh…… I didn’t make that up hyung … its actually real, a kid at school told me, it’s a folklore he said he heard from his grandfather when he was young….. I don’t believe it though, I mean things like that can’t really happen right?.... I mean it’s only a silly tale” Zelo giggles scratching the back of his head and stares at the flames that prick and eat at the charred wood.

The silence that dwindles around us seems deafening for a while and as I reflect on the tale that I had just heard. Though the thoughts that lingered in the back of my mind seemed to try their best and fool me, trick me I couldn’t allow it.

Things like that weren’t real.

Sure there were strange things in this world but that was simply going too far.

“Right hyung?” I hear him ask again but this time as I look at him I cant help but see the somewhat troubled look in his eyes. As if begging for confirmation to rid whatever doubts that plagued him.

“Of course” I spoke up, though my voice felt it best to crack at the very moment.

“It’s only a silly tale……. Just a folklore that’s all” I continue this time with more assurance in my tone than prior, I see how quickly his eyes light up though, the instant my words reach him.

“Yea….. just a folklore” he laughs before our little conversation is broken by a holler of “hot chocolate” which immediately gets the others attention when he leaps up, grabbing the mug beside him and darts towards the kitchen.

“CHO CO LATE!!” he screams when he makes the corner, leaving me the only one left in the room.

Staring at blackened wood and the wild dance the flames make I could only tell myself what I needed to hear.

“It’s just a folklore”.

Then why did i feel so bothered?

 

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You ever get that feeling that you were being watched?

Like no matter where you are, even when the curtains are drawn and the doors are shut tight and locked secured there are still eyes burning into your skin?

No?

I think I’m just being paranoid then because for the pass few nights I can’t help but feel unusually uncomfortable in my own skin. I don’t know, maybe it’s my overused mind and thoughts that have been bothering me and increasingly drilling my nerves that makes me feel this way.

“Darling come down for dinner before it gets cold” I hear my mother, just beyond my room door, turning the faucet until the water ceases to pelt against my skin, I quickly vacate the shower, wrapping myself with a towel then reply a quick “I’ll be down in a minute” so she can be on her way.

I can barely hear her footsteps padding away as I lean against the bathroom entrance before stepping back to dry myself off properly. My hand runs across the steamed mirror, giving the surface a few rubs until my reflection seems less of a blur.

I scowl at the person staring back at me, puffy eyes, lacking of sleep, dark circles and a pale complexion. So to wrap it up I simply did not look my best today.

I looked drained, tired and it didn’t make it any better with the sour mood I frequently shifted in leaving to only stare blankly into my dark brown , wary eyes.

“This is ridiculous” I hiss proceeding to storm out of the room, only a few steps forwards until I stuck in my position, stunned.

“Did…….” My voice shook noticeably as my head turned slowly back to the mirror , eyes wide and my breath labored and I slowly retreat my steps until I’m facing the large reflective object. What was that just now. I could have sworn.

No I’m sure of it but how………….. how on earth could that be possible?

“Yah Daehyun!!” I visibly jumped at the sudden call of my name by Youngjae whose tone seemed quite irritated “Yah get your down for dinner already what’s taking so long…. And why is the door locked?”.

“I'm coming now….. I’m just putting my clothes on” I reply stumbling my way out of the bathroom.

That’s not possible.

But I was sure of what I saw when I walked away from the mirror yet my reflection remained.

Like I said before….. do you ever get the feeling you were being watched, by someone……… even your own self?

Though I didn’t want to admit it and as hard as I tried to find every logical reason, it seemed to be growing quite difficult not to have that sort of feeling.

 

After dinner it was not long until the need of sleep washed over me with as I let out a few yawns, rubbing my eyes in the process, I hadn’t felt so only a little while before so where had this sudden tiredness come from I wondered.

Whatever the reason I didn’t delve very deep because by the time I had made my way to the top of the stares and shut the door to my room as my head hit the pillow I was out like a light.

“mmmm”

It felt hot, so very hot and I shifted my weight to find some sort of comfort but sadly none came, only heat, hotter than before, scorching and soon along with came the feeling of my lungs burning. A painful scratch against my chest.

I tried to move once again but this time I couldn’t, I couldn’t budge an inch but the burning sensation only increased in volumes.

What is this pain, it hurts, it hurts so bad that I feel like screaming, screaming at the top of my lungs that burn like acid is being poured all over my chest but still though my mouth opens nothing comes out. Why can’t I scream?

Why can’t I move?

Why……… why can’t I breathe?

My eyes shot open, wide and pupils dilated, shooting up into an upright position my hands fumble around my body to yank the covers off only to realize they had repositioned themselves on my bedroom floor.

Had they always been there? Had I rooted them off long ago while asleep?

Then what was that unbearable heat.

Throwing my feet off the bed, I lean forward wiping the beads of sweat off my face before a sudden cough racks my body.

It was painful, that was all I could describe the way my throat stung me violently, gripping onto my throat as if to in some way ease the ruthless pain I quickly got up, scurrying around my room and towards the door. Maybe a glass of water would help.

I told myself as I neared the exit just passing a large mirror on the wall above the dresser. Catching my weaken state in a glimpse I pause then retreat towards it.

God I looked awful, could I get any more pale?

My sweat shirt was soaked in the centre and my hair stuck sickly against my forehead, wet and tangled.

I looked just like a person who had just experienced an awful nightmare except I couldn’t seem to recall what I had been dreaming of, if I had even dreamt in the first place.

Sighing, my hands drop to my side, my right that had been until now rubbing small circles on my throat now gone revealing something that left me in utter fright.

“What the hell…” my hoarse voice cracked as I step closer to the mirror examining the disgusting bluish lines around my neck . Deep violent bruises that went almost all the way around, separated off like tiny pathways along my skin.

And the angry imprint of a few nail marks only clarified what these distorted patterns were.

I was being strangled in my sleep.

That was when it hit me, how it immediately made sense the burning sensation, the feeling of not being able to breathe because in actuality I could not.

‘Who would do this?’ I thought glancing around quickly, was someone in here?

Was someone trying to harm me?

And even if they were why hadn’t I seen them the moment I woke up.

Slamming my palms onto the dresser I let my head fell downwards, shutting my eyes in the process as my head pounded as if it had been knocked countless times against a wall.

Could I have down this to myself?

Could ……………..

*tap …………….. tap……………….. tap*

My eyes slowly opened, as the low tapping noise quickly collected my attention.

*tap …………….. tap……………….. tap*

 There it was again, my body flung itself in all directions, to the window, that curtains were still drawn, there weren’t trees tall enough nor close enough to my room window to cause that.

 

*tap …………….. tap……………….. tap*

Again it came and I ran towards my bathroom flipping the switch, glancing at the sink then ripping the curtains back to check the shower head. Nothing.

Nothing, but the sound didnt stop, the tapping grew and grew until it almost began to sound like a low knock.

Someone must be at the door then.

Of course.

Why was I allowing my imagination to get the better of me like this. Twisting the lock, I swung the door open, ready to greet whomever had been just at the other end but as the light from the hallway poured into my dark room it seemed to be the only thing waiting on the other side.

 

*tap …………….. tap……………….. tap*

 

This was too much really, why wouldn’t it end, where was it coming from?

My steps were shaky and despite my better judgment of just leaving the room I walked right back into the darkness, leaving the door just a crack open as I crossed the room.

Maybe it was coming from the window all along.

Maybe I should have checked there first, maybe i......

*SMASH*

The loud explosion sent me scrambling to the far end of the room, it sent my eyes in every direction. The noise sounded as if it had come from the bathroom. Like glass breaking.

Getting to my feet, i took careful steps towards the entrance to the bathroom, seeing a few shards lay in random pieces on the floor. By the time i am half way across the room, i already feel less frighten figuring i finally knew where the sound must have been coming from.

Until i heard it again, the moment i passed the mirror, the one on the wall.

Horror stricken and mouth trembling in fright. I felt like vomiting that was the only way I could describe such an overwhelming sensation of fear as I stared at my reflection in the mirror. Watching it ………. watch me.

 Hollow, sunken piercing red eyes. Larger than I knew mine could ever become, sickly pale , pasty skin and the widest face splitting grin that spread from ear to ear as it tapped its finger against the surface of the glass. The look of evil drowned its features, it features that strikingly resembled my own.

I collapsed to the floor, my legs giving out and my pants of fright dwindled around as I looked at myself once more that slipped out of sight.

“Hyung”.

“JONG UP!” I yell not meaning to but that is the only thing I get to say as the door violently slams shut, separating us both from one another. I get to my feet in an instant, making hurried steps to the door and grip the knob, twisting and shaking it with all my might but no outcome. The door was shut tight.

 I feel clammy hands slither on my shivering shoulders, I hear my younger brother yell my name once then again as he pounds on the door when I don’t reply. He sounds blurry and his presence seems faint even though he is right on the other side.

But another presence was stronger.

This can’t be real.

This isn’t real.

It’s my mind, playing tricks on me again.

It’s my mind.

 

NO ONE’S POV

“Hyung…. Hyung….” Jong Up knocks once again but this time the door comes flying open. He steps back his eyes meeting his older brother’s big ones. The other is silent as if not even registering he had been banging on the door all this time. So he spoke first.

 “Hyung you startled me there for a minute ….. are… are you okay?” Jong Up asks feeling suddenly uncomfortable the way his brother stares at him, eyes wide and expression indifferent.

“You’re all pale and sweating did you have a bad dream or something?” He asks again, fiddling his fingers, his usual habit when nervous and his brother was making him nervous.

“I’m fine” Daehyun finally replies sending the younger a wide grin that spreads across his face as his hand comes to rest on his brother’s head before ushering him out the door following suit.

“Aissh you were trying to scare me weren’t you” Jong Up chuckles playfully hitting his brother on the shoulder and the other just keeps that same smile on his face, “Come on let’s go downstairs I’m hungry” Jong up rambles, pulling his brother along.

“.......Okay” Daehyun answers and watches as Jong Up heads off first then turns to shut his door, grinning as he takes a last glance in the room, waving to the screaming figure in the mirror that no one but him can hear. Banging against the surface. Begging, pleading to let him go.