Masquerade | Johnyong

★ Twenty-two

Chapter 22: One and Only

It's been so long— no, it's been too long without Taeyong. Has it been a week? Two weeks? Johnny didn't know. He went from accepting he's dead to being convinced he's still alive. He didn't know what to believe but it was really starting to seem Taeyong was really dead.

Johnny kept opening and closing the pendant, fiddling with it to keep his mind focused. It wasn't working much though.

Meanwhile, Yuta had locked himself up in his room. No one's heard from him or even seen him. Johnny ordered everyone to not bother him. He was mourning, griefing and so was he.

The whole place was now a hell hole. I mean it was before but everyone was seeing their leader at his lowest for the first time ever. Maybe not the first time but this was a rare sight.

His phone rang, bringing him back to reality. He picks it up, greeted by his father's voice. "Ten tells me you've become nothing but a miserable bitch. You really disappoint me. Ignoring your duties and work all for a mere boy who was only digging his own grave. You saw this coming. You knew sooner or later I would kill him. I refused to let my son be distracted by such nonsense."

Johnny grips his phone so hard it could break he tightened his grip just a bit. He clenched his jaw. The longer his father spewed insensitive words from his mouth the closer Johnny was to going off on him.

But he knew his father would come for his head  if dared.

"I hate you." Johnny whispers.

"You won't ever find a body. I burned down the place after I killed him. I had to ensure his death. You can curse me all you want but I did this for your own good. I see right through you and I knew you lied to me. You really loved that boy, didn't you? What a pity he's gone now. Now, get yourself back together and resume your duties or you won't like what I'll do to you."

Johnny hangs up, no longer being able to stand his father. He gets up and leaves his room. He goes over to Haechan's room to see him lying in bed. "Hey, how are you?" He asks, going over to his bed to sit on the side.

Haechan doesn't respond to that. "Have you eaten anything? Should I get you something?" Johnny asks but Haechan pulls the covers over his head. "Go away." Haechan says.

Johnny lays down on the bed, doing the opposite of going away. He'll just lay there silently. He won't talk.

🕊

Winwin takes a bobby pin out of his hair. He inserts it into the keyhole and unlocks Yuta's room. Even if they were told not to bother him, Winwin was still highly concerned.

He peeks his head in, seeing Yuta sitting on the floor, hugging his knees.

"I bought you tea." He says in a quiet voice. Yuta didn't respond however. Sicheng places the tea on the nightstand before going to sit on the floor next to Yuta.

"How are you feeling?" He asks but he could tell by the dark circles under his eyes and pale complexion, it wasn't very well.

"I'm. . .so tired." Yuta's voice was quiet and his words came out a little slow. Sicheng frowns. He couldn't imagine where his mind was.

"Do you want to talk about it?" He asks. Yuta goes silent for a while, Sicheng thinking that was a no. He's about to get up when Yuta finally says something. "I loved him." He breathes. "What did I do. . . to deserve this?" He asks, tears starting to form.