IX

SACRIFICE

The next morning, Kris had carried a sleeping Kyungsoo to his bed while Jong In, Chan Yeol and Luhan removed the futons from the living room. In about an hour more, the other members would be back home from the airport, having arrived from China earlier that same morning.The three were too lazy to cook so they just ordered some take-out. Then they draped themselves over the couch. Luhan pulled out the scrap book.

“Wow, it’s coming along quite well,” Chan Yeol complimented. “Ooooh~ You even have the pictures with us in our alien-proof armor.” He chuckled. “I didn’t think we’d look so ridiculous.”

“I like the page borders,” Jong In commented. “The way purple, baby blue, and pink line up next to each other looks pretty.”

“Yeah. Turns out Tao has an eye for good color combinations,” Luhan replied.

“Duh, people. He’s roommates with me.” Kris stated.

The others rolled their eyes.

“By the way, please reserve a page in that scrap book for me. I’ve been working on a drawing of Kyungsoo, and I must admit—it’s one of the greatest masterpieces I’ve ever made.I’ll stick it there when I’m done.”

“As long as it’s not some kind of terrible doodle that even fifth graders could draw when they’re bored in class…” Chan Yeol muttered.

“You saying something Park?”

“Me?

Why, I’m only saying that you are one of my most favorite artists~” Chan Yeol said in full sarcasm, complete with repetitively bowing down to Kris.

“Don’t make me call Sandara,” Kris teased.

Chan Yeol just stuck out his tongue. And blushed. Not that he would ever admit to that. “Like you would know her number. And if you did call her, I think I would be pleased rather than annoyed. All except for the tiny chance I’d make a fool out of myself through incoherent speech due to rapid heart rate, it’s all good.”

Half an hour later, the food delivery guy arrived with the feast they ordered. The four instantly brought the food to the dining area, and started to set things up. 

“You guys think I should wake Kyungsoo hyung?” Jong In asked.

“It’s alright, let him sleep some more.” Luhan replied. “We can wake him up when the others get here. At least if he’s even nuttier than the past eight days, all eleven of us can try to handle him.”

“I wonder what today’s abnormality will be…” Chan Yeol had wondered.

“Twenty thousand won says he’s Spider Man,” Kris bet.

“I think he’ll be more of a Wolverine,” Chan Yeol offered.

“I’m guessing he’ll be a spy together with Will Smith,” Luhan joined.

“Nope. He’s definitely going to be Thor and Loki’s long lost brother,” Jong In stated.

In the midst of their interesting little guessing game, the power suddenly went out.  The three boys got shocked.

“What in the world?” Chan Yeol wondered.

“Hmm… I’ll call manager hyung about this. Maybe he can get in touch with the apartment owner.” Kris took out his phone to make the call.

“Hey Jong In, go keep Kyungsoo company just in case he wakes up. We’ll wait for the members to arrive.”Luhan suggested.

“Alright hyung.”

They took out their phones to provide a bit of light. Jong In made his way to Kyungsoo, while the other three sat back down on the living room couch.

“Oh, I see… alright. Thanks hyung.” Yi Fan ended the call.

“So what did manager hyung say, Yi Fan?”Luhan inquired.

“The apartment’s having a power shortage. They’re going to take a while to have things fixed. At most, the electricity will be back by around 6:00 PM.”

“Oh… ok then.” Chan Yeol pouted.

Suddenly, the door burst open.

“WE’RE HOOOOOME! AND why… is it all dark in here?” Jongdae announced.

“Yeah, what’s up?” Joonmyeon followed.

The three members got off the couch to greet and embrace their band mates.

"Apartment’s got a power shortage. May take a while to fix,” Kris explained.

The members all sat down at the living room.

“So, how was Kyungsoo when we were gone?” Baekhyun asked.

“He danced to girl group songs in the rain because he believed Kris was an Evil Wizard. Then he thought he was Luhan’s baby and that we were puppies. It was loads of fun.” Chan Yeol shared.

“Oooh~ Did you take pictures? Can we see?”  Tao asked.

Luhan took out the camera to show the pictures. Everyone was quite occupied in looking through the images. After a while, Sehun had wondered where Jong In and Kyungsoo were. Luhan told him to go fetch them in the Kaisoo room.

Meanwhile, Jong In had heard all the chatter coming from the living room, so he proceeded to wake Kyungsoo up.

“Hyung~ Hyung wake up now~” he gently spoke as he rubbed Kyungsoo’s back.

Kyungsoo whined and turned to the other side. Jong In giggled, and continued rubbing and poking the elder. Eventually Kyungsoo huffed in annoyance, then sat up—opening his bleary eyes, as he yawned. But those lidded eyes shot open widely when he took note of the surroundings. It was dark.

“Kyungsoo hyung, we’re sort of having a power outage. But on the bright side (no pun intended), I think the others have arrived from China. Let’s go to the living room to--”

Kyungsoo suddenly cupped Jong In’s cheeks. Looking him straight in the eye. Jong In gulped. Needless to say, such uncalled for actions had Jong In blushing and the remaining words of his sentence died somewhere in his throat. Kyungsoo began to slowly rub the heated cheeks in circular motion. He seemed quite focused on what he was doing, so Jong In just let him (not like the younger had enough rationality to think of other things at the moment anyway).

After a while, Kyungsoo stopped rubbing. Jong In would have whined, but that was embarrassing, so no.

“You’re…

Flat.”

That was what Kyungsoo stated as he took back his hands.

Jong In was clearly shocked.

“F-flat?”

Kyungsoo nodded. “Flat.”

The elder then took his cellphone to provide some light, then made his way out. Leaving a dazed Jong In. Jong In tentatively raised his hands to touch his cheeks. He rubbed them, and pouted.

“Flat…

But I eat well, though…” 

Sehun had arrived at the Kaisoo room, and just passed by Kyungsoo.

O-oh, was that Dyo hyung? Sehun thought.

Just then, as Sehun directed light to enter the room, He was met by Jong In’s completely distraught face.

“Whoah! You scared me Kim Kai! Just what in the world’s with that ghostly face?” Sehun asked.

Jong In sighed deeply. “I’m… flat. Kyungsoo hyung said I was flat.”

Sehun raised a brow in confusion. “Why? Were you expecting a B cup?”

“Huh?”

“I mean, no matter how much exercise you do to buff up your pectorals, you’re still a guy, so of course you can’t help it if the improvement seems minimal.”

“W-what? NO!” Jong In blushed. “I wasn’t talking about my chest, you idiot! My cheeks! My cheeks!”

Sehun gave him a face full of deadpan. “Well, sheesh, how was I supposed to know? When someone says they’re flat, I’m pretty sure it’s either the front bags or the buns people think of. But that aside, of course you’re flat! What did you expect, mister dancer? You shake off every excess fat in your body every day!”

“B-but… Even an A cup would’ve been fine…” Jong In mumbled.

Sehun just scoffed at Jong In’s miserable look. “Dude, you’re pathetic.”

At that moment, they heard footsteps approaching. It was Kyungsoo—who had just realized earlier that he actually walked pass Sehun.

“Oh Dyo hyu--”

Aaaand Kyungsoo cupped Sehun’s cheeks. It was a little difficult since Sehun was so freaking tall (much taller than him anyway), so when Kyungsoo tried to cup the maknae’s face, he accidentally dragged Sehun’s face down a little too close to his own. Forehead to forehead. Nose to nose. Breath against breath.

“U-um…” Sehun pretty much lost all coherency when Kyungsoo started rubbing in circular motion. The maknae blushed on the inside (well, that’s what he told himself). Jong In wished he was taller. After a while…

“You’re…

Bony.”

And Jong In laughed out loud. “HAHAHAHAHA! I may have been flat, but you’re freaking BONY! IN YOUR FACE! (no pun intended)”

Sehun scowled at Jong In.

In the living room, after having looked at the pictures in Luhan’s camera, the members from China started bringing out their souvenirs.

“I got you guys some Chinese lotion and facial cream,” Baekhyun had said.

“I got you guys Panda key chains and Panda socks~” Tao eagerly followed.

“I brought home lots of Chinese herbal supplements for everyone,” Joonmyeon chirped.

“I bought some towels from my hometown. It’s really good at absorbing sweat and the texture is nice and soft—good to use for dance practices. I have them in different colors, so you guys can choose,” Yi Xing spoke.

“I brought home some caps from the Chinese flee market. The style of clothing, caps and other accessories is almost similar to Korean items,” Jongdae stated.

“I got you guys shirts when I went to the flee market with Jongdae. If you go there at night, it really reminds you of Dongdaemun,” Minseok said.

“Wow, thanks so much for the gifts. It’s like we didn’t miss a thing,” Kris said appreciatively.

“Yeah! Thank you! Man, I really want to see them when the lights are back on,” Chan Yeol excitedly uttered.

“Thanks for thinking about us, you guys~” Luhan followed. After which, he realized something. “…How weird. Sehunnie isn’t back with Jong In and Kyungsoo yet?”

As if on cue, the three mentioned members appeared.

“Oh! There you guys are!” Tao happily stated. “We brought home souve—”

In less than a minute, Kyungsoo’s tiny hands had latched onto to Tao's cheeks.

After a round with the members, and many blushes later, this is the conclusion of the morning’s events:

Jong In and Yi Xing were flat. Sehun and Tao were bony. Kris and Jongdae weren’t flat, but weren’t fat either. Baekhyun and Chan Yeol were almost good. Joonmyeon and Luhan were good, but not good enough.

Then came Minseok.

As Kyungsoo’s hands landed on the Baozi-cheeked elder, his eyes grew wide. He slowly began to rub the cheeks; very fascinated as he did so. Minseok was just giggling at how silly the whole situation was. That, and this was pretty embarrassing (thank goodness it was too dark for anyone to see the red tint across his face).

“You’re…

You’re…

Perfect.”

Minseok blushed a little more at that. “I try to be~” he joked.

Kyungsoo just couldn’t stop rubbing. It’s like he had found the one. Question is—the one what?

“Oh, Perfect One, you must come with me,” Kyungsoo had said, finally retreating his hands from the elder’s cheeks, and bowing down at Minseok.

“Ok, ok—he’ll come with you later, after breakfast. I just heard my stomach growl,” Kris stated.

After everyone ate and cleaned their dishes, Kyungsoo dragged Minseok off to his room. The other members spent the time in the living room, chatting away or using their phones since there was nothing else to do.

In the Kaisoo room, Kyungsoo had told Minseok to sit down on the bed. Meanwhile, he went over to his closet and pulled out some rope. When Minseok realized, his eyes widened.

“Um… Kyungsoo…”

“Shhh. Don’t be afraid Perfect One.” Kyungsoo had said as he placed a finger on Minseok’s lips to prevent any rebuttals. “You will cooperate, won’t you? For everyone’s sake, your life must be sacrificed.

Look around. The world has fallen into darkness. We have angered the gods by forgetting their existence! Apollo refuses to ride his chariot; forever engulfing us in the night even when morning is due! It’s a sign—a sign of the impending Armageddon from Olympus’ wrath!”

“H-hold on a second!”Minseok had managed to blurt out, as he removed Kyungsoo’s finger from his lips. “Are you going all Greek Mythology on me?”

Kyungsoo placed his hands on Minseok’s cheeks, completely ignoring the question.

“But with you. You and your perfectly round, chubby little face fats!”

“Hey…”

“You are the perfect sacrifice; An offering surely pleasing to the gods. I mean, just look at you! Aren’t you the most adorable and healthy-looking human there is? How can they refuse? Just the sight of you will certainly have the gods satisfied; will certainly have Apollo back on his chariot—riding the skies into daytime.”

“I don’t know if I should be pleased that I’m such a perfect sacrifice, or insulted that I’m a sacrifice to begin with…”

“I’m soooo bored!” Jongdae said to no one in particular. “Is it even legal to be this bored?”

“We could go out.” Kris suggested.

“But some of us are a bit tired from the trip though,” Joonmyeon said as he pointed to Yi Xing, Baekhyun and Sehun; all asleep on the couch.

“I wonder what Kyungie hyung is doing with Minseok hyung…” Jong In muttered to himself.

But it didn’t go unnoticed by Chan Yeol. “You want to go check them out?” The taller suggested.

“Why don’t we all check on what they’re up to? I kind of miss Kyungsoo hyung anyways~” Tao said.

The group agreed. They left the sleeping ones as they went to the Kaisoo room.

Their eyes nearly popped out of their heads when they saw Kyungsoo tying Minseok up. They stayed at the door, as the scene continued to unfold. After making sure that Minseok was bound up tightly, Kyungsoo proceeded to kneel down in front of the elder. He bowed three times, then stood up to go round and round Minseok, chanting “Sacrifice! Sacrifice!” Then he screeched loudly—reaching the highest note he could; probably deafening everyone in the process. It was such a horrid sounding shriek, that the members who were sleeping woke up. They eventually joined their other band mates, who were still peeking at Kyungsoo from the door.

“O-ok… w-what now?”Minseok asked Kyungsoo, obviously not knowledgeable about what was happening.

“I’ve done the necessary rituals. Now, all that’s left to do is throw you down the Han River.”

“WHAT!?” The baozi-cheeked male yelled.

“WHAT!?” The band mates at the door echoed.

Kyungsoo heard them and turned to face them. “Look guys, I know this all seems really weird—but I have an explanation! Can’t you see why the land is shrouded in darkness!? It’s because we have angered the gods in our ignorance! And only the perfect sacrifice can atone for our iniquity. Just look at him!”

Kyungsoo once again cupped Minseok’s chubby cheeks. “Cute little thing, right? Has more flesh than all of you combined. So we need to sacrifice him! He’s the only one worthy!”

The members slowly entered the room—approaching Kyungsoo. Kyungsoo instinctively took steps back.

“Listen Kyungsoo, I’m sure the gods will forgive us if you just give them a bit more time,” Baekhyun tried.

“Yeah. Give them until 6:00 PM and everything will be fine.” Yi Xing supplied. “So, just untie Minseok hyung…”

Kyungsoo frantically shook his head. “NO! YOU GUYS DON’T UNDERSTAND! ALL OF US WILL DIE! I’M DOING THIS FOR YOUR OWN GOOD!”

He grabbed Minseok and ran out the door. The eleven members immediately chased him. Hopefully they’d make it before Minseok gets thrown down the Han River. 

Unfortunately, the sky was oddly gray today, which meant that Kyungsoo would continue to believe the world was being punished by the gods. If only it was sunnier, then maybe Kyungsoo would have changed his mind. As the members continually ran after Kyungsoo, a question popped into Luhan’s head for the second time that day.

“Guys, when we catch up to him, how are we going to stop him? What do we do when we get there?”

The members gave it a thought. They hadn’t really figured that out. Judging by what happened in the bedroom earlier, cornering and coaxing the petite male wasn’t going to work. As they were running, they passed by a shop filled with robes. Right next to it, was a flower shop where the array of flora shown its colors attractively.

Baekhyun saw this, and a smirk appeared on his face. “Boys, I think I have a solution.”

“S-soo… Soo-yah~” Minseok tried. “I don’t want to die, Kyungie.”

Kyungsoo was still dragging Minseok along. They were so close to the Han River by now.

“I’m sorry hyung,” Kyungsoo had said sincerely. “But one of us has to go, in order to save the others. And no one is as acceptable as you.”

To this Minseok gave his best puppy pout, in hopes that maybe Kyungsoo would melt—even if only a little. Upon seeing his hyung pouting liking this, Kyungsoo groaned in frustration. It’s very hard to resist Minseok’s cuteness sometimes, despite the fact that he’s the eldest in their circle of friends.

“But hyung, what do I do? There is no one else as healthy as you. The other guys are all sticks.”

Just then, a thought made Kyungsoo’s eyes widen. “Unless… Unless I take your place.”

“Now, hold on Kyungsoo—let’s not do anything rash.”

But Kyungsoo had already started to untie Minseok. “I may be as healthy as you, but I’m surely not as attractive. So I hope that the gods will overlook it and just take me as the sacrifice. Ok, hyung. You’re free to go. Wish me luck. If I’ve already been sacrificed, and the sky still remains dark—please, please give yourself up for the lives of others.”

After that statement, Kyungsoo ran—ready to jump into a watery death. Minseok quickly took his phone as he chased after Kyungsoo, yelling for the boy to stop.

“Where are you guys!? I finally got Kyungsoo to let me off the hook—but the bad news is that he wants to sacrifice himself! He’s going to jump into the river! Heeeeeeelllppp!”

"We’re coming! We’re almost there!” Kris had said. "How do people run in these things?"

As Kyungsoo stood at the edge, ready to jump, he did not forget his rituals. He first bowed three times, ran around in circles while chanting “Sacrifice! Sacrifice!” and he let out a high-pitched screech. Finally, he stepped back far enough—giving him space to run and plunge into his death. When suddenly, a man in a white robe stood in front of him—blocking his way.

“Mortal, stop your idiocy and calm your nerves,” the man said.

As the sunrays produced a heavenly aura about the man, Kyungsoo couldn’t help but stare. Tall and handsome he was; blonde hair and distinct features. Kyungsoo bit down on his lower lip. The robe was white like snow, and flowers with leaves adorned the ethereal man’s hair. Soon, others came as well—all wearing the similar robes and flowery head-dress. Kyungsoo gawked in awe at the celestial beings.

“W-who… who are you?” the petite male cautiously questioned.

“Ah, my dear Kyungsoo—I am none other than the almighty Zeus. The god of all gods; head of Olympus. These are my heavenly butlers.”

The nine other men bowed down.

“Now, if I’m not mistaken, you almost tried to sacrifice this little guy.”

Minseok stepped forward from behind the nine butlers.

“And now, he tells me that you are trying to sacrifice yourself?”

“Y-yes, almighty one. If only to quench your anger at our pitiful human race for being the ignorant fools that we are. Please do not launch Armageddon. Take my life, and please spare the others. I may not be an acceptable offering, but I beg of you not to harm the people of this world.”

Kris nodded slowly. Once, twice, thrice—with his eyes closed and brows furrowed, to add drama. “Butlers, examine this mortal.”

Immediately the nine butlers went over to Kyungsoo. The petite male gulped, as he had no idea what “examine” meant. Later he soon realized that getting “examined” was actually fun. Because he was getting tickled by all nine butlers.

“Aww~ Look at him turn red from lack of oxygen. I say he’s absolutely adorable!”

 “Then there’s those lips. Those heart-shaped lips~ Perhaps Venus had placed them on your face on purpose.”

“And those eyes. Such innocent doe eyes, that even I envy.”

By the end of the examination, Kyungsoo was panting on the ground, trying to regain his breath.

“According to the assessment of my butlers, it seems that you are more than acceptable as a sacrifice. But, since your heart is so pure—pure to the point of giving yourself up for other people—I shall not pursue Armageddon. I will spare this ignoramus of a race, because of you. When I get back to Olympus, I will have Apollo ride his chariot and bring back the light in your world. But it may take a while, since travel is long. I do hope you don’t mind waiting.”

“No! Not at all! Thank you so much for sparing us!”

“Not a problem Kyungsoo. Now, my company and I shall be going then. Until we meet again, dear mortal.”

And the ten celestial beings left Minseok and Kyungsoo.

(“Yi Fan, you’re acting wasn’t bad. If I didn’t know any better, you enjoyed this.”

“Thanks, and I did. I’m at least much better than Chan Yeol’s impersonation of a puppy.”

“Hey! Don’t insult my puppy-imitation skills! Kyungsoo loved me!”

“So, can we change back to our own clothes now? I’m starting to feel an itch.”

“Actually, now I think I know why girls wear skirts. It feels so free, you know?”

“I feel exposed. I want my pants.”)

Kyungsoo immediately ran to Minseok and engulfed him in an embrace. “I’m so sorry I almost sacrificed you, hyung!”

Kyungsoo kissed him on the cheeks as an apology. Minseok giggled.

“It’s alright Kyungsoo-yah. Because in the end, you decided not to. You decided to give your own life in place of mine, and I’m very thankful for that.”

Minseok also kissed Kyungsoo on the cheeks. “Now, let’s go back home and tell everyone the good news.”

The ten other members reached home, before Minseok and Kyungsoo. They were surprised to find that the apartment’s electricity was back already. It was only 2:00 PM. Kris called his manager, and it seemed that the apartment managed to fix the problem earlier than expected. With great delight, the others started opening every electrical appliance around the house. Soon, Jongdae and Tao worked on getting some lunch ready.

Later, the two petite males reached the apartment. Kyungsoo’s smile reached his ears when he saw light. The world was no longer a dark expanse of forever night. Kyungsoo ran to hug each member in the apartment, making sure to kiss each of them on their cheeks. He was just so happy no one was going to die. So happy that the gods didn’t take Minseok or him as a sacrifice. Because now that he felt the warmth of s as they squished him in a group hug, he realized that being alive was so much better.