rookie mistake || j.hn

the end of the beginning

All it took was one little frying pan and a flick of the wrist to knock Juyeon out cold. His parents were never home. It was always just Juyeon, and at night his parent's housekeepers left. That meant that he was always home alone at night, and nobody would stop me from the horrid plan I had in mind.

I dragged Juyeon onto a chair and tied him down. When I was done, I to get the supplies I needed downstairs. After about half an hour, Juyeon was wide awake. His eyes held fear, and he struggled in his bonds.

I laughed, going up to the main character and crouching before him. "Aw, aren't you just so cute there? Your scene finished, so there's nothing else that'll be written about you tonight. That means that we have hours." I held up a knife. "Doesn't that sound fun?"

I ripped the tape off of Juyeon's face. "Please. You don't have to do this, er... um... uh..."

"Hm? Say it, sweetie. What's my name? Do you know it? The name of the mere extra whose only purpose is to help the knight in shining armor save the princess?" A few moments of silence paused, as Juyeon was visibly thinking. I sighed dramatically. "Do you know, Lee Juyeon? I'm in nearly every single scene that you're in. Sometimes, the author is generous enough to give me a mouth! Yet, you don't know my name?"

A tear slipped down his face, which made me smile widely. "Please, let me go. I'm sorry, I-I'll learn your name, and I'll treat you better, and I'll never hurt Eric, and–"

I stopped him. "You'll never hurt Eric? So not even in a scene?"

The other paled. "I–"

"Tell me, Juyeon. Since it's just so easy to just control yourself during a scene and do whatever you want, tell me that you won't hurt him in a scene."

"...I'm sorry."

"Sorry won't cut it. Not anymore. Now, enough small talk. I wanna kill you by the time the sun rises, so that I can go out onto your balcony blood-stained and be all aesthetic."

After hours of torture, blood, and tears, Juyeon managed to wiggle free. He ran, not even stopping to look back.

Ha.

A knife hit him in the leg, causing himself to fall. I turned his body over and wrapped my blood-stained fingers around his neck. Juyeon thrashed around, desperately trying to escape his inevitable fate. His hand grabbed a curtain, bringing it crashing down. Pink light flooded through the window, but I didn't loosen my grip, determined to get rid of the protagonist.

Long after Juyeon stopped breathing, I sat there with my hands loosely around his neck, staring out the window at the sunrise. A woman behind me screamed and ran off (when did she even come in?), calling the police. I didn't care. Even as sirens came, I kept the aesthetic while staring out that window.

It was only when many footsteps ran up the stairs that I looked at my blood-stained clothes, caught sight of my blood stained hands, and stared at Juyeon's lifeless body. Crazed laughter escaped as the police dragged me away.

"Is this enough, dear author? Does this finally get my point across? Do you realize that I'm willing to do everything I possibly can to escape this? I'm sick of you torturing Eric and Chanhee, playing with Younghoon's feelings, erasing characters like they're nothing, and using me! I'm sick of–"

The sound of a page flipping echoed through my ears. I stiffened as I stood there, in the middle of the classroom. Everyone's judging eyes stared at me. I met Chanhee's eyes, then Younghoon's, then Eric's. They all held concern that would go undetected by the author and the readers.

It was then that I heard Juyeon and Changmin whispering behind me. I scoffed, realizing that once again, I was being used. This was the author's response to my attempt.

"Haknyeon? Do you have something to say?"

"No, sir."

Oh.

A smile spread on my face as I sat down quietly. The author had made a mistake. They wanted to make me suffer so much that they hadn't removed me from the book.

Well, whether they realized it or not, they gave me a power that no main character could ever hold.

Using my own free will, I turned and winked at my three friends in the back of the room.

I guess that's why the writer took our free will while in the scene. If we were allowed to run wild, then the peaceful world would fall apart. They needed to show a perfect world to the readers. Whatever happens in the shadows was irrelevant. All the mattered was what was shown.

Oh, I would have fun ruining all the plans the author had. Yes, I'd make them pay.

Finally, I turned back towards the teacher, paying attention for what may have been the first time in my life.

When I looked at the book again in the library, the scene included me looking back at my friends, the wink on my face as detailed as ever.

Rookie mistake, author.
~your lovely protagonist