─𝐈𝐌𝐀𝐆𝐈𝐍𝐄𝐒 & 𝐑𝐄́𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒─ Straykids

𝖨𝗆𝖺𝗀𝗂𝗇𝖾 - 𝖡𝖺𝗇𝗀 𝖢𝗁𝖺𝗇

I wipe my hands when I hear the doorbell ring.

- I'm coming!

Perfect timing, I have just finished making dinner. I go down the stairs already amused, Chan forgot his keys again as usual, I'm going to tease him all evening.

I open the door but I'm startled to see that it's not him in front of the door. However, this stranger looks like him even if he seems much younger than him.

Unknown - Hello, Y/N is it ?

- Heum... yes, you are ?

Unknown - My name is Jhon, I am Chan's cousin

- He didn't tell me at all that you were coming by

He seems to hesitate a moment before answering me.

Jhon - I didn't warn him

- It's a surprise!? Come on, don't stay outside!

I let him in. Normally, I would never let someone in that I've never seen before. But the resemblance is so striking, he has the exact same accent as him and seems more than honest.

He walks past me and one detail strikes me, a sort of hole deeper than wide on the right side of his skull. It must be a scar from a big operation but I don't allow myself to ask him.

We go up the stairs, I invite him to sit in the dining room and serve him a drink before settling down in front of him.

He tells me a lot of things, I am happy to learn things on the childhood and the adolescence of Chan and that amuses me a lot.

- And you never got caught?

Jhon - Never, we were discreet and it's not illegal to go see the horses in the middle of the night. But I admit that it was really dangerous, if something happened to us nobody knew where we were. But as long as there were two of us, we didn't risk anything

- You have a beautiful friendship, I hope you didn't miss him too much

Jhon - Let's say... that I accepted that his life was not designed for me to be part of it for very long

I nod my head and look discreetly at this hole that seems unreal, I am curious, I will ask Chan when he comes back.

I notice he has finished his drink and get up.

- Wait, I'll get you a drink

While I am in the kitchen, I hear footsteps going up the stairs.

I turn my head to see Jhon still sitting and Chan coming into the room.

- I hope the surprise makes you happy!

He crosses the dining room without laying eyes on Jhon.

Chan - What surprise?

- Your cousin is really nice, too bad you never told me about him

His face changes, I've never seen that look on his face before.

- What?

Chan - But Y/N.. I don't have a cousin

I reach out to Jhon as he follows my gesture to look at him.

- But... Jhon

He looks around the dining room for a second and then rests his eyes on me.

- The one you used to run away with at night to see the horses near your house, the blond with light eyes

He swallows and laughs slightly with frightened eyes looking from left to right several times.

Chan - How do you know that? Who told you that?

- But... he told me

He steps back as I watch Jhon watching us from the dining room.

Chan - Y/N... Jhon died before we met, I never told you about him and I don't have any pictures of him here yet...

My body freezes. He's telling me that the person who looks like a brother to him, who knows my first name and who told me things that only he knows, the guy sitting right in front of me that I described... is dead?

- D...dead?

He exhales looking at the ground.

Chan - I never told you about it... one night he asked me to go out but I refused because I was tired. The owner of the horses saw him and took him for a thief...

He takes a deep breath.

Chan - He was shot in the head that night. We were the same age, he was much too young to leave...

I look up at Jhon's smile and then at the hole in his head.

Chan - I don't know how you heard this story, but I've always blamed myself, if I had accepted it maybe he would still be alive today. Now that I think about him, I think that if I had met you before he died, you would have gotten along well...

He looks up at me and approaches me.

Chan - Hey... don't tremble like that what's wrong?

Jhon's smile widens, Chan turns around to see what I'm looking at before resting his eyes on me.

Chan - What are you looking at? Is there something in the dining room that scares you?

I swallow feeling my legs slowly give out on me.

Chan - Tell me

Suddenly a huge sound of gunfire explodes throughout the apartment. I screamed in fear and crouched down, covering my ears.

Chan rushes towards me and crouches down to put his hands on my back.

Chan - What's wrong with you?

- You... you heard...

Chan - Heard what? Y/N you're not well, go lie down, you're really weird tonight

I raise my head trembling and startled to see that Jhon has disappeared.

Chan - Y/N... you look like you saw a ghost