Into the Dark Night

Chapter 9

Donghae wasn’t sure about the rest of his body, but he was sure there was a band of drummers banging on their percussions inside his head.

He whimpered softly as he tried to blink away his sleep, gingerly lifting a hand to his temple.

“Ow…”

He slowly sat up, his eyes roaming the room and bed sheets, recognizing they were his.

“Hae!”

Sungmin scrambled to his feet, messily landing on the bed before cupping Donghae’s face with his hands.

“You’re awake!”

Donghae blinked before smiling widely, his eyes going a bit cross-eyed at Sungmin’s sudden proximity. “Sungmin hyung~”

Sungmin squealed and crushed Donghae into a hug.

“What he really meant to say was: No , Einstein.” came Kyuhyun’s retort despite the obvious smile tugging at his lips. “You scared us there, kid.”

Donghae pouted, not liking how Kyuhyun still referred to him as a kid when he’d already finished growing a week ago. He was about to voice his thought before he whimpered at his apparent migraine.

“What’s wrong, Hae? Headache?” Sungmin cooed.

Donghae whimpered again, nodding his head slowly, his lips pressed into a thin line.

“You’re bursting with ideas today, Einstei—ow! What was that for?”

“For being such a smartass.”

“Your fault for stating the obvious.”

“At least my isn’t huge!”

“Love the connection, Einstein.”

“Why you—“

Thus, the bickering ensued. Donghae tuned out Kyuhyun and Sungmin’s voices, already used to their noise, as he tried to remember what exactly happened. He knew he was able to sneak out again yesterday, the voices in his head proving too much for him…he remembered sitting by Minho…waiting for…he was supposed to meet…

“Hyukjae!”

Kyuhyun and Sungmin turned to face Donghae, their eyes wide as if they’d forgotten he was there.

“Huh?”

“Hyukjae!” Donghae exclaimed, “Where’s Hyukjae? Kyumin, how did I get here?”

They shared a look, before Sungmin stood up (he was trying to strangle Kyuhyun without getting kissed because he was mad like that) and dusted his clothes, clearing his throat, “This ‘Hyukjae’ of yours, how does he look like?”

Donghae hadn’t expected the question, “Ah...U-uhm…he’s very…” He didn’t know why his cheeks started tingling again.

Kyuhyun raised an eyebrow, “Does he have red hair?”

“Oh yes!” Donghae’s eyes lit up.

“Pale skin?”

“Yes! Yes!”

“Plump lips? Strong jawline? Handsome aura? Black clothes?” Sungmin breathed, while Kyuhyun’s eye twitched at how accurately his partner remembered the ‘creepy redhead e’.

Donghae’s nodded vigorously, “Exactly!” he beamed.

“This is the same Hyukjae you’ve been mumbling about meeting these past weeks?”

“Mm-hmm!” Donghae smiled widely, his headache forgotten when talking about his redhead friend.

To his surprise, Sungmin broke into a fit. He paced around the room, his head in his hands, mumbling something that sounded like I knew it I knew it I knew it.

Donghae looked at Kyuhyun, clearly confused and hoping for some sort of explanation.

Kyuhyun sighed, sat beside Donghae and placed a hand on top of his head, the brown locks, “Your friend Hyukjae brought you here last night. Min found him kneeling beside your bed, you were out cold.” Kyuhyun took a moment to stop himself from laughing as he remembered his partner’s outburst.

“He said he was a friend, said his ‘mission was not to hurt us’.” Kyuhyun quoted, imitating Hyukjae’s tone, “then he just left.”

“O-oh…” Donghae fumbled with his fingers, his eyes downcast and cheeks red. “Hyukjae’s always so nice to me. I’m so glad I met him!” With that, he smiled brightly. “And I’m glad you’ve met him now too!”

Sungmin, who had stopped from his mumbling to watch Donghae’s reaction, landed messily on his bed for the second time, “Hae, what do you know about Hyukjae?”

Donghae blinked, a bit stunned, “Know about him? Hyukjae is my friend.” He said, as if it explained everything.

“No! I mean, what do you know about him?”

Donghae tilted his head, “He’s…he may not say much but he’s really nice. He helps me a lot, teaches me things, shows me places and catches butterflies with me.” Donghae paused and smiled almost sadly, “Hyukjae also saved my life. I owe him so much, I like him so much.”

Kyuhyun and Sungmin were entranced by the sparkle in Donghae’s eye, too entranced to take notice of the momentary pause of rain outside. They’d know the look anywhere.

Kyuhyun slapped his forehead, “Oh dear God, he’s in love.” He muttered under his breath.

Sungmin, on the other hand, was long gone by now.

He had stars in his eyes, the idea of a forbidden love exciting him because, after all, Lumici were not meant to fall in love with humans. It simply wouldn't work out—the mundane were fickle beings, love with a Lumiciant was short-lived. Feelings of inferiority got in the way, not to mention the countless times humans tricked Lumici into thinking they loved them, but had only used them as trophies and display—proof to the world that they could own something so beautiful. That, or the high possibility of being sold off to the government for experimentation.

Few were the sincere humans, who truly loved a Lumiciant, yet even their sincerity did nothing to guarantee happiness. In the end, time was against this love.

Lumici could live for years on end, their life span and beauty almost endless. Humans, on the other hand, weren’t so lucky.

But what they didn’t know was that as nature slowly dies, Lumici slowly die as well. Thus, the sacrifice of the Solis—their center, their light. The reason why they are able to live on.

Love between a Lumiciant (the next Solis nonetheless) and a Rife (the only thing Lumici ever truly fear, human but not quite) enthralled Sungmin. Enthralled him, and scared the out of him at the same time—almost like how Kyuhyun makes him feel.

Unfortunately, Donghae didn’t know what he was getting himself into, what Hyukjae really was. And Sungmin was determined to change that.

“Hae,” Donghae looked up at him, “there’s something you need to know…”

- - -

“He’s going to die?” Eunhyuk scoffed and cocked his gun, “Don’t get dramatic on me, Kim Heechul. I don’t do drama.”

Heechul frowned, “You don’t believe me.”

Eunhyuk rolled his eyes. “I’ve had many of my targets trying to wiggle their way out of this, but I have to say, you’re going a bit too far.” He didn’t find it funny, or amusing. It was a sick joke, and it was really starting to piss Eunhyuk off.

Heechul abruptly stopped, a firm grip on his handcuffs almost got Eunhyuk tumbling backwards had he been a normal person. Something within Heechul had changed.

“You think this is about me?” He growled, the ground seeming to shake slightly at his words, “You really think I’d serve myself to you on a platter then try to ‘wiggle my way out’ because what? I was ing bored and thought that saying Donghae was going to die would be a great way to kill time? I thought you were smarter than this.”

Eunhyuk clenched his jaw. He knew it was stupid, but he didn’t like what Heechul was saying about Donghae. He hated it, loathed it, but deep down inside, he knew he wasn’t lying.

“I wouldn’t joke about this.” Heechul continued, venom lacing his every word, “I love that kid. And quite frankly, I thought you did too.”

They stared each other down, one accusing, the other analyzing. Unsurprisingly, Eunhyuk saw that Heechul meant business.

“Clearly, I was wrong.” He continued, “You wouldn’t—”

 “Tell me.” Eunhyuk spoke firmly.

“Oh, what’s this?  Change your mind already? Who knew Rife could be so fickle.” Heechul laughed bitterly.

Eunhyuk grit his teeth and inhaled deeply to calm himself. “Just tell me. What do you mean he’s going to die?”

 Heechul growled before closing his eyes, a frown still set on his face. “And if I tell you, if, what are you gonna do about it? Quit? Save him then ride into the sunset? Would you do all that for Donghae, a boy you’ve hardly met?” He slowly opened his eyes, scrutinizing Eunhyuk. “I don’t think you can.”

It felt as if Heechul was looking down on him and quite frankly, Eunhyuk didn’t like it one bit. But honestly speaking, he really hadn’t known what he was going to do. He did know one thing though—the only person who ever appreciated him was in danger, and he needed to know why.

It was Eunhyuk’s turn to growl, “I’m beginning to lose my patience with—“

“Heechul hyung?”

Their heads snapped to the direction the small shaky voice came from. Heechul’s eyes widened.

“Ryeowook?”

- - -