TRAVELLING CIRCUS

“Come one, come all! Divulge in acts you’ve never seen before!”

A beautiful boy in a charming suit and white gloves stands in the middle, smiling at everyone who passes. His voices rings in their ears as they gather, facing him. They stare into his demonic eyes and watch his precious smile. They start nodding as he speaks, seemingly oblivious of their obedience. A melodic laugh captures their hearts and a sultry voice stains their ears.

“Come to the circus,” He says. Everyone nods eagerly, their feet marching to the beat of his ticking pendulum. To the circus – a ghostly voice echoes in their minds. To the circus.

“Yes,” the shadow of a smile appears on the boy’s pale face, “To the circus.”

The circus is loud in the depths of the forest. Bright against the contrasting night. Luna plena lucet, the full moon is shining. It shines on the circus, it shines on the tent. Juggling clowns and sweet smelling candy make up for the dark night. There are coloured lanterns everywhere – lighting up the ground as only fairies could. Among everything, there is a false sense of happiness.

We are at the circus, they think, the circus.
 

“Welcome,” a young girl says, smiling sweetly. Her figure is delicate in her pretty little dress. “Welcome to the circus.”

“The circus,” they all repeat, “The circus.”

They start walking and the girl turns.

“Oppa,” she smiles, tugging at the older male’s jacket, “They want to see the circus.”

The boy with the melodic voice laughs, gently patting her head. “Won’t that be lovely?” He takes out a pocket watch, observing it vaguely. “Perfect. We’re on time.”

Suzy smiles in pride. “Did I do good Myungsoo-oppa?”

“Perfect sweetie, perfect.”

There are acts. Lots of them – too many to even remember. There’s no need too anyways – it’s over before it can start. Magnificent lions, beautiful tamers, wonderful girls and daring boys can’t be seen by the oblivious audience. They perform anyways – just for the sake of it. The clapping is robotic as the act ends with a swift and deadly finish. The performers then wait for the next load.

A sole boy walks into the circus, holding a black cat in his scrawny arms. The performers exchange smiles as they devour the boy with their eyes. He looks up.

“My name is Hoya,” he says, “I wish to see the ringmaster.”

“Ringmaster?” a clown echoes. He smiles, showing his sharp teeth among his wrecked makeup. The black eyeliner has smudged, as has the red lipstick and dots on his cheeks. “What would a charming boy like you want with the ringmaster?”

“The ringmaster,” the boy, ‘Hoya’, repeats again. “I wish to see the ringmaster.”

A girl and older boy exit from the brightly striped tent.

“Ringmaster?” Suzy repeats, walking out with Myungsoo trailing behind her. She delicately skips across towards the others, the older boy following her.

“Who is this Dongwoo?” Myungsoo turns to the clown.

“A boy called Hoya,” Dongwoo says. He gives a full-teeth smile, “He wishes to see the ringmaster.”

Myungsoo cracks a small smile. His eyes glitter as they land on the cat, “Take him then.”

“Take him?”

Myungsoo nods, picking up Suzy in his arms. He turns around, laughter enlaced in his voice, “Sungjong loves surprises.”

A tall boy with stilts, Sungyeol, lets out a light chuckle as Dongwoo nods. “Don’t be too naughty Dongwoo.”

Dongwoo ignores the stilt-boy as he turns to Hoya and smiles, “Welcome to the circus Hoya.”

Hoya nods. “Ringmaster; I wish to see the ringmaster.”

The cat gives a purr.

Dongwoo leads him the long way, his mascara-smudged eyes never leaving the boy. He smells so innocent – so pure and untainted. The child is stupid, beyond the normal capacity of ignorance. Dongwoo smiles, taking Hoya towards the maze of mirrors. It’s meant to confuse and seduce, but Hoya doesn’t seem affected by the distorted images of himself. He passes by flawlessly with the cat held in his arms. The image of Dongwoo never wavers through each mirror – it doesn’t change as Hoya’s does.

“Look,” Dongwoo encourages. The other nods distantly.

“Ringmaster,” Hoya echoes. It’s all that’s in his mind. Ringmaster, ringmaster, ringmaster – his thoughts are like the monotonous ticking of Woohyun’s whip. Dongwoo leads him to the ringmaster’s office – a small red tent near the back of the forest. Dongwoo smiles.

“I’ll wait for you,” He snickers. The boy nods. Hoya pushes open the curtains and enters the sole tent. It’s sparse with a table and a chair. Hoya opens his arms robotically, allowing the cat to escape.

The black cat paces up and down, carefully watching the bright eyed boy who sits behind the table. A sweet face smiles back at the cat. Thin fingers twist the top hat on his head as a high, honey-toned voice speaks.

“Hello Mister Cat,” the boy grins widely, “What business do you have here?”

His voice is different from the others. It’s not velvety and smooth, nor is it laughing and dangerous. It sounds playful and sweet – like white chocolate served with strawberries. The cat moves towards the boy.

“Ringmaster,” Hoya repeats from behind.

The boy smiles, his voice high and innocent, “Yes, ringmaster indeed! My name is Sungjong.”

The cat tilts its head. It hisses, strolling up to the boy. Its black tail trails behind. A voice comes out of its mouth. “Little boy, you shouldn’t be here.”

The ringmaster lets out a chuckle. It’s light and childish, “I’m perfectly fine Mister Cat, but thank you for your concern.”

“Are you sure dear, are you sure?” The cat doesn’t smile. “I know you honey – I know all about you.”

Sungjong’s face falters for a second. The cat tilts its head.

“Don’t you remember me, Sungjonnie?” The voice isn’t mocking, nor is it sweet. It’s straightforward and simple. There are no mind games with Sunggyu. There are only cold hard facts.

A pause of silence dominates the room as the atmosphere thickens. A gentle breeze passes them by, but no one is affected. Finally, the ringmaster speaks.

“Myungsoo shouldn’t have let you in,” Sungjong mumbles. His face darkens.

The cat shakes its head. “I want out of this just as much as you. I have a deal. You take me out of this form and give me my brother and you can keep the boy.” Sunggyu signals towards Hoya.

Sungjong frowns, his fingers flexing as his controlled voice speaks, “You can’t take Woohyun.”

“Why not?”

“Woohyun is important; he lets the show commence.”

“Woohyun doesn’t do anything and you know it. You’re being selfish Sungjong.”

“You don’t understand Woohyun’s value in this circus.”

“You don’t understand anything. You can’t keep people in your circus like this. They don’t deserve it. You can’t control people like this.”

Sungjong stiffens. “I don’t control anyone.”

Sunggyu narrows his emerald eyes. “But who tells that little boy of yours to control them? Who controls what happens? Who pulls the strings? You don’t have to directly influence them to be the master.”

“You’re wrong,” Sungjong says, “I’m helping them.”

“Darling, the only one you’re helping is yourself.”

It’s quiet. The scrawny eyes of the cat look up into the sweet, poison-filed ones of the ringmaster. The laughter which echoes across the circus is empty and filled with incomprehensible emotions. Even among the bright lights and happy cheering, there’s nothing there. The hungry eyes aren’t anything more than the ghost of a soul, as are the laughs of the childless dreams.

It’s so empty and lifeless that by morning there is nothing more than a clearing.

Its night again when Hoya wakes up. He stumbles to his feet, scared as the lights start up once again. He’s in the same red-filled tent, but he doesn’t know how he got there. A few voices play in his head as he stares at the ground. There lays a dead cat.

“Dead,” Hoya whimpers.

A childish tinkle of a laugh flies through the tent as Hoya shivers, watching warily as a beautiful boy walks up towards him. The boy smiles sweetly, his pale fingers reaching to touch the other’s chin. Sungjong lifts it up, inspecting the fearful eyes in his own chocolate ones.

“Do you not remember anything?” Sungjong asks sweetly. Hoya shakes his head, his body trembling.

There is a pause as Sungjong nods thoughtfully.

“The other,” Sungjong breathes, “Is just as bad as me.”

A cold breath lingers on Hoya’s face as his eyes widen. The other releases him, slowly pulling up his sleeves. White gloves clasp themselves around his slender digits.

“Little boy,” the ringmaster smiles, “Come with me.” He pulls Hoya up and walks him to the mirrors. “Dongwoo would really like you.”

Hoya’s eyes widen at the sight of the make-up smeared clown. A laugh trails out of the clown’s tainted red lips as hands desperately try and grasp his body.  Hoya looks back at the ringmaster, who hums a pretty tune to himself.

“Don’t,” Hoya tries to croak.

The ringmaster turns, a naïvely innocent smile playing on his face, “Hm?”

Hoya’s voice drops to a whisper. There are two lines he can now remember. “Last night,” He stutters, “Last night a little black cat came to me. He told me you owned a circus. He also told me you drugged them all.”

Abruptly, Sungjong releases his grip on the boy, ignoring Hoya’s scream as he plummets to the floor. The ringmaster walks away as Dongwoo gives a lively smirk and asks, “Dinner?”