Pounding footsteps shatter the deafening silence, echoing off the concrete hallway. The sound of labored breathing, gasps and pants, fill the air from cracked and bleeding lips. The corridor is dimly lit by rusty, orange lights. It reflects off the stains along the darkened walls. The blackness is everywhere. It’s suffocating. It hides what monsters lurk in its shadows.

 

They have to get out. Neither of them knows how they got here. Everything happened so fast.

 

Donghae trips. He stumbles to the floor while an ominous laughter resonates of the walls behind them. He opens his mouth to scream as someone grips his wrist, but the noise dies in his throat. He is wrenched up from the icy floor and dragged down the hallway, sprinting after the person grasping his hand in order to catch up.

 

He sighs when the person glances back at him. He knows those eyes and his heart clams down from its erratic beating. It’s Hyukjae.

 

They keep running, Hyukjae pulling Donghae so that he’s in front of him and giving him an extra push to stay ahead. The laughter is getting louder as well as the clamor of heavy boots on the cement. Whatever it is, it’s chasing them.

 

They have to get out. Time is ticking; both boys wish that it would stop, rewind, do anything to give them a few more seconds. The sky is already starting to lighten.

 

Hyukjae closes his eyes for a moment, just a split second, and Donghae is gone. He hears the clang of metal and objects crashing to the floor. Veering off to his right, Hyukjae comes across Donghae in a hand-to-hand fight with a tall man.

 

The figure is over six feet in height and moves fluidly as if he was air. He has no facial features except for a stitched line where his mouth should be. His black trench coat trails behind him as he delivers another crushing kick to Donghae’s ribs.

 

The boy hears one of them crack under the blow. He clutches at his side and attempts to land a punch on the man’s face but his hand is caught in mid-air, and ultimately he is thrown backward. Donghae lands hard against the wall.

 

Hyukjae angrily throws himself at the man, each one of his punches blocked. A fist collides with his cheek, bruising the bone and one of the man’s silver rings slices under his eye. Deciding that it’s unwise to fight any longer, the red-haired boy lunges for Donghae who is still slipping in and out of consciousness on the floor.

 

“Get up, Hae!” he shouts, dragging his friend up by his torn sweater. The blonde snaps out of it long enough to follow Hyukjae out of the side room and back into the hallway.

 

The barred windows glint menacingly at them with the first few rays of daylight. The hallway ends at a locked door. Donghae bangs on it furiously, panicking as the man approaches them slowly from behind. Hyukjae frantically searches around for anything that could break the padlock that hangs from the chain holding the door shut. It’s mocking them, keeping them trapped, so close yet so far from freedom.

 

They have to get out.

 

Then, Hyukjae spots a metal rod left forgotten on the floor. He picks it up and swings it, snapping one of the links of the chain. He forces the rod in the crack of the door and pries the damn thing open. He grabs a hold of Donghae’s sleeve and breaks into the room.

 

A hand grabs each of them by the back of their collars. Donghae chokes and flails helplessly as he is tossed to the ground like a doll. Hyukjae struggles to free himself and kicks at the man’s stomach. The grip on his shirt loosens enough for him to step away and inflict another blow on the dark figure. The man recovers quickly, and before he knows it, Hyukjae is sprawled on the gravel opposite of Donghae. The man is bent on keeping them locked there forever.

 

Both boys stagger to their feet and attack the man. They stumble forward as the man vanishes and reappears behind them. One kick to their backs sends them face first into the dirt, blood splattering the dried earth. A hand constricts around each of their throats, strangling them.

 

Hyukjae’s eyes dart from between the man’s lifeless face and Donghae’s, which is stricken with horror and pain. Donghae’s scared eyes meet his, lips parted in breathless gasps. With the strength he has left, Hyukjae lifts his leg and shoves the man off of them with his foot.

 

Instead of lashing out at Hyukjae, the man simply steps on the red head’s chest to hold him down as he lifts Donghae into the air by the front of his blood-stained sweater. He roughly pulls on the younger’s blonde hair and enjoys the whimpers that escape the boy’s quivering lips.

 

Hyukjae grabs the man’s foot and tries to force it off him. His lungs are screaming for oxygen, but he can’t raise his chest to get a decent breath. He stares at the open doorway. How they missed that before, he doesn’t know, but that it is clear that it is their only way out. The light taunts him. They’re almost out of time.

 

Meanwhile, Donghae is mercilessly beaten. His body absorbs blow after blow from the man’s forceful strikes to his chest and head. His dirt-covered face is adorned with dried and fresh blood, the ruddy color streaking down his neck and in his hair. He is held high in the air as the man drives the sole of his army boot into the boy’s wounded torso.

 

Donghae’s eyes flutter closed as ribs break and his heart stops momentarily.

 

The older boy still pressed into the ground gapes in horror. His best friend is dying. That monster is killing him.

 

Hyukjae can only see red. He rolls away from the man who is distracted by inflicting his punishing blow on the blonde. Jumping to his feet, dizziness swarms Hyukjae’s mind but he fights through it. He refuses to yield to that faceless creature.

 

In a matter of seconds, Hyukjae hurls himself at the man, darting around the other’s punches. He manages to push the shadowy figure near the doorway. By now, Donghae has woken up and begun limping toward the two fighters.

 

A beam of light over the man’s arm and for a second, it dismisses in thin air. Hyukjae knows that whatever this man is, he can’t stand the sunlight. The room becomes flooded with the heavenly anomaly as Hyukjae kicks the second door open.

 

The man dodges the bright illumination by inches. A glint catches Hyukjae’s eye. Donghae sees it too, but he’s too weak to say anything. The man has broken off a shard of glass from one of the windows.

 

The next few seconds seem to pass by like hours. Hyukjae grabs the man’s shoulders and propels him near the sunlight. He is met with resistance just as the man is about to step into his demise.

 

There is only one way that this will work. Hyukjae turns his head to look back at Donghae, the blonde reading his friend’s eyes and knowing exactly what will happen next.

 

They have to get out…or at least one of them does.

 

“No! Hyukjae! Don’t!”

 

But it’s too late. The older boy drives his body into the man’s forcing him off balance. But at the same time, the glass blade slices through Hyukjae’s thin shirt and into his stomach. Despite the pain, Hyukjae holds the man there, ignoring Donghae’s cries from behind him. He takes a step forward, pushing the man back but also allowing the glass to embed itself deeper in his flesh.

 

A loud howling noise erupts from the man’s sewn mouth, and he disperses, his shadow destroyed in a wisp of black smoke.

 

Hyukjae collapses to the ground, just inches away from escape. Donghae is at his side in a heart beat. The younger boy is sobbing. He sheds his sweater, leaving him in nothing but a T-shirt, and presses it to Hyukjae’s gash.

 

Blood. It’s everywhere. Hyukjae’s gray shirt is nearly black with it.

 

“Come on, Hyukkie,” Donghae pleads. “Stay with me.”

 

The red head looks up at his friend through his eyelashes. Donghae grabs Hyukjae’s bloody hand and attempts to pull the wounded boy with him out the door.

 

It’s just about dawn.

 

As Donghae goes to step over the threshold with Hyukjae by his side, an invisible wall blocks their path. The older boy tentatively reaches his hand past the doorway and it meets no opposition.

 

He smiles sadly and sinks back down to the floor. “Only one of us can leave, Donghae,” he informs solemnly.

 

“Then go!” Donghae yells. “You need to get some medical help!”

 

Shaking his head, Hyukjae clutches the bloodied sweater on his lap. “This is it for me, Hae. I can’t. You have to be the one to leave.”

 

“Why? I won’t go without you!” Donghae kneels down next to his red-haired friend and grasps his cold hand with his own. “You’ll die!”

 

Hyukjae nods weakly. He pries Donghae off of him, the movement causing more blood to seep from his stab wound. Staring directly into Donghae’s shiny, dark eyes, he smiles his gummy smile and places a hand on the blonde’s shoulder. “You have to wake up, Hae,” he says softly.

 

Then he pushes Donghae.

 

The younger boy loses his balance and falls backwards into the morning light. His mouth drops open in shock.

 

Donghae desperately reaches for Hyukjae but the wall has manifested between them. He slams his fist repeatedly into the hidden force separating them.

 

“Hyukkie!” he cries, but his voice is muffled by the transparent force. “Don’t do this! You can’t just die there! Hyukjae!”

 

The red head smiles slightly, his eyes b with tears. He whispers one last phrase before closing his eyes and taking his last breath. “Wake up now, Hae.”

 

Donghae continues to scream at the wall and bang on it, never breaking through. He watches as Hyukjae’s eyes shut and he stops breathing. The light surrounding Donghae begins to envelope him. His body feels weightless, like its floating. He blinks, but in that split second, Hyukjae is already fading away.

 

Grasping at thin air, Donghae tries to hold onto his best friend, but he’s being pulled away.

 

Hyukjae’s voice echoes in the stillness. “Wake up, Hae. Wake up.”

 

Donghae feels like he’s being torn apart as his soul is wrenched from his body.

 

*~*~*

 

The light is blinding as Donghae squints to clear his vision. He’s lying on his back in a strange room. The ceiling is white and a large window allows ample amounts of sunlight to stream in.

 

“Donghae!” someone shouts out of nowhere.

 

The blonde lifts his aching head and stares at his hyung’s surprised face.

 

“You’re awake! Oh thank Shisus!” The excitable man’s face breaks into a dimpled smile. “Do you remember me?”

 

“Leeteuk hyung? What happened to me?”

 

Leeteuk’s smile fades immediately and is replaced by a sad expression. “You were in a car accident over a month ago. You had a couple of broken ribs and a serious concussion.”

 

Something snaps in Donghae’s mind. “Where’s Hyukjae? We were driving to the university when we lost control of the car. Is he all right?”

 

The tears in his hyung’s eyes worry Donghae. Had something serious happened to Hyukjae?

 

“Hyung, where is he?”

 

Leeteuk sighs and reaches for Donghae’s hand. “I’m so sorry, Hae. He passed away.”

 

Donghae rips his hand away and glares at the older male. “W-What do you mean? Hyung, don’t lie to me!”

 

“I’m not, Donghae. After the crash, both of you and Hyukjae were in critical condition. There was nothing the doctors could do for him but make him comfortable. He was still conscious but you were dying, Hae. Your heart, it wasn’t working properly. You needed a transplant, and Hyukjae demanded that when he died, he wanted you to have his heart. He saved your life.”

 

Donghae lets the news set in. After a few moments, he bursts out into a conflicted rage. Hyukjae is dead. He chose to sacrifice everything he had left for the sake of his best friend.

 

“I never asked him to save me!” Donghae shouts, his voice stricken with both pain and loss. New tears begin their descent down his cheeks. Just like my dream, he thinks bitterly.

 

He turns his head to stare out the window into the bright sunlight of the dawn. He presses a hand up to his chest where the beating of his new heart throbs.

 

It’s a strange feeling, a reminder, both comforting and haunting at the same time.

 

5/3/11