BETRAYAL <NCT OT23>

S I X T E E N

Doyoung slowly made his way to Renjun's room. The unusual feeling slowly covered his entire mind for an unknown reason, but something is telling him thoughts that he can't let out through words. "Renjun? Wake up and eat breakfast with us." Doyoung gently knocked the door, hoping to get an instant answer. A small hope is still clinging to his heart, so he called him for the second time, but this time, it's louder than his first call. "Renjun. Are you okay?" Still got no response from the younger. His heartbeat began to increase abnormally, his thoughts are playing games with him again. "Renjun! Answer me!" Doyoung shouted, hoping to finally get a response this time. But it's still the same, Renjun's response is silence.

Doyoung was left with no choice. Without hesitation, he kicked the door open, only to be approached by a smell of a bloody, decomposing body. "OH SHIT! HOLY FUCK WHAT WAS THAT SMELL?!" Doyoung immediately took a step backwards. His loud voice and foul smell made the others run to where Doyoung was standing. "Hyung! What happened? How's Renjun--" Mark's breath instantly stopped when he saw what Doyoung witnessed in the room. It was Renjun lying on his bed horizontally, his eyes were wide open, his intestines were hanging out of his body, and the small parts of it were scattered around his bed. The scene made Mark cry and gag at the same time, Jisung shared the same reaction as the two.

"Jaemin! Jaemin! You need to come here this instant!" Mark ran to where Jaemin was, he was in the living room, drinking his morning coffee. "I know, Renjun died. I heard Doyoung hyung's voice just now." Jaemin responded, not showing a small amount of concern through his voice. That made Mark angry, but he chose to stay calm towards him at least once. "You're not going there?" Jaemin put his cup and stared at Mark with nothing but coldness in his eyes. "Why would I want to see a decomposing man who smells like shit?" Jaemin's response instantly created a huge explosion to Mark's brain, making him pin the younger on the couch, not caring about the coffee he spilled on the floor. "Listen, our brother was found dead in his room. Why won't you help us clean the mess and mourn for him?!" Mark stared at Jaemin with pure anger. "it's because you'll fucking accuse me again!"

"With you acting like that, I will never hesitate to point you out as the murderer!" Mark tightened his grip on Jaemin, slowly suffocating him. "Stop throwing your stupid tantrums everywhere and start acting like your age!" Jaemin gave Mark a glare when he began to remove his hands on his neck in a harsh manner. "This bitch..." Mark whispered to himself before leaving Jaemin gasping for air.

The two were left with Renjun in the room, waiting for Mark to come back with Jaemin. Jisung held his breath and began searching for some clues involving Renjun's death, leaving Doyoung gagging continuously at the doorway. "Damn, this killer is an idiot..."

"W-What do you mean?" Doyoung looked up, turning his attention to Jisung just meters away from him. "I found a letter and a pen on his left hand, but he's right handed..." Doyoung immediately got up and run towards Jisung, not caring about the foul smell anymore. "Open the letter. Hurry." Jisung then did as what he was told. He opened the letter, and the contents were not as surprising as it was. "A suicide letter..." Doyoung and Jisung carefully read the letter, word by word. A few seconds have passed, the uncomfortable silence was cut off by Doyoung scoffing as he folded the paper in half again. "This is bullshit. This doesn't look like a suicide letter."

"What do you mean?" Jisung tilted his head in confusion, staring at the folded paper Doyoung was holding. "I just have a feeling that this wasn't sincere." Before Jisung could grab the letter from Doyoung's grip, Mark entered the room with loud, angry steps. "Where's Jaemin? We need him here." Doyoung frustratedly asked Mark who was standing behind him. "I had no idea why that bastard's brain suddenly twisted again." Mark answered, slowly walking towards the two who were examining Renjun's body. After a few minutes of silence, Winwin entered the room without giving everyone inside a heads up, he startled them. "Jesus Christ! You were here the whole time?!"

"I'm not a ghost, so obviously I just got here." Winwin coldly replied, walking towards the three in a fast pace. He stared at the dead body without showing any facial expressions. "Jaemin will be here in a second." The three got startled at his sudden actions again, making them sigh in annoyance. "He better be." Mark frustratedly replied.

•

Doyoung sobbed mercilessly as he held his right shoulder, feeling the agonizing and disgusting feeling from that part. He then stared at his left arm in a distance being washed in the sink by a stranger. "Wait a little longer, this may take a while." Doyoung then bit his bottom lip as he finally heard the man's cold, creepy voice. He then let out a loud and agonizing scream as he felt a sharp metal hitting his other arm, making it fall off the ground. "I'm going to need this too." The man then picked it up and went to where he was earlier. Doyoung can hear his blood dripping on the floor, and the sound of the water washing his detached arms in the sink.

Doyoung's heavy panting became louder as he felt weaker. He couldn't even stop his own shoulders from bleeding since the man took both of his arms away from him. Doyoung's cries got worse when he heard the chopping noises, and the sizzling of the frying pan.

"Alright, your meal's here." Doyoung jumped out of surprise as the man threw a plate of cooked meat in front of him, he is sure that the meat was his arms. "Let me feed you this time." The room was silent as the man began to slice the piece of meat to fit in Doyoung's mouth. He observed the details of his hands and how he gently moved the utensils, it was oddly familiar. "Open your mouth, hurry." Doyoung frantically shook his head just to avoid what the man is about to feed him. He felt even more creeped out when the man let out a giggle before holding his face with his hand while the other was holding the fork. "You picky bastard! Eat up!" He then shoved the fork into his mouth, forcing him to eat the disgusting meat.

"Hey! Look at me and chew your food properly!" The man leaned closer to Doyoung, letting him reveal his own face. "I know that you're not expecting this, I can't even cook an egg properly, right? But guess what? I've been practicing for these types of happenings." The man laughed while watching Doyoung panting as he was getting pale due to blood loss. "You look funny when you're dying." The man chuckled as he chopped off his entire right leg without a warning, making Doyoung let out scream. "Don't be selfish, me and the remaining members need food to survive... Or maybe it's just me." He jokingly said. He cut off the other leg, and sliced some of the parts that he liked while Doyoung was slowly losing his life and now accepting his brutal fate.

It feels hopeless now. All his high hopes of getting help from the police and escaping the hell house, they're all gone.