Reflections ⋈ Jaehyun

1 ⨝ Fire

okay let's go save the world

or maybe destroy it by accident idk yet

⋉ 1 ⋊

The faint sensation of death lingered in the air of this drowsy night.

It had frozen the world in place, no wind, no chatter, nothing near to drown it out. Intangible, yet it sickered through bricks and bones, reaching everyone who was willing to pay enough attention to it.

However, most would miss it.

Because they didn't look.

They didn't listen.

Or, otherwise, they would have heard the spine-chilling sound of--

Mark laughed with his whole chest. "Yo! Dude!" he said breathlessly before he playfully hit Yuta's arm. "Jaehyun is right though!"

Oh.

Well, that was not exactly 'spine-chilling'. My bad.

By nature, Mark Lee was probably one of the least threatening, most endearing people to ever wander this earth. Hearing his laugh echo through the empty streets was actually rather pleasant.

Unable to hold back a smile, Jaehyun watched the younger boy, his chest jumping up and down as he laughed.

"What? No!" Yuta exclaimed defensively, brows pulled together. "Xiaojun isn't scared of me."

Jaehyun hummed deeply, placed his hand on Yuta's shoulder and gave it a tight squeeze.
"I know it's hard to admit."

Deep lines dragged over his forehead as he looked at the younger boy.
"Dude, don't make this sound so dramatic," he told him, shoving his hand away. "And anyway, Xiao and I are friends."

Mark gave that a sarcastic nod, which was less an agreement and more a mocking 'there there' to ease his friend's mind. A friend who rolled his eyes and pushed his hands in his trousers pockets.

While their conversation died down after that, it didn't get quiet around them. They were the only people there, yet there was plenty of noise as if someone else was near.

Mark barely noticed that but Jaehyun was quick to pick up on it.

His smile slowly faded as his focus shifted from his friends to his environment. Empty roads, empty sidewalks.

"Do you guys hear that too?"

Yuta quickly averted his attention from being sulky to trying to figure out where the noise came from when it suddenly--

It stopped.

The heavy breathing and anxious whining stopped, wrapping the boys in silence. This time, however, it was truly spine-chilling. It was too abrupt, too random to feel calming.

"Over there," Yuta said quietly, unsure what to expect as he pointed at an alley only a few steps ahead.

It was both, the space closest to them to justify how audible the sounds were and also a space hidden from their view to justify them not seeing what caused it.

After signalling Mark to stay behind them, Jaehyun went ahead, closely followed by Yuta. They tried to be quiet, taking slow steps, mindful of the sounds they made.

Or at least up until they heard a scream. The dark alley emitted a flash of light that was wavering restlessly. With the light came warmth and with that the sound of-