heaven in the dark. // chanbaek

03

half of the movie's total runtime has passed. the horror elements had kicked in long ago. and yet, byun baekhyun still sat in boredom.

the storyline was fine, he guessed, enough to keep him awake but not enough to even make him eager to continue watching. but since he wanted to see how this night might end, he stayed.

one thing he did notice, was that this movie had some very graphic scenes. it's not that he felt scared or anything, it just surprised him because by now, baekhyun has seen a lot of horror movies, but very rarely did one contain this much violence.

wow, must be exciting to be killed like that.

that thought suddenly crossed baekhyun's mind. interesting, baekhyun just amused his own self. although he finds his entire life an utter bore and waste of time, baekhyun never considers himself depressed or suicidal before, just numb. so why, all of sudden, did he think about being murdered in such a positive light?

as his mind started drifting off from the movie and began pondering more about that thought he just had, baekhyun heard a chair creek from behind. assuming it's the theater staff, he didn't even bother to move an inch.

"enjoy the movie?"

a deep voice whispered into his ear, making baekhyun turn his head around. sitting directly behind him was a man in a gray hoodie, probably around his age, baekhyun took a blind guess due to the dim light preventing him from seeing clearly.

"not as much as i expected, but okay, i guess?"

chanyeol couldn't make out the face in front of him, but he thought that person's voice sounded soft, which for him meant 'potential prey'.

he didn't want his prey to be able to get out of the showing room, so chanyeol decided to go up to the row where baekhyun was and sat next to him, blocking the open way to the exit door.

"so, why are you here at such late hours?"

at this close distance, chanyeol could finally see the other person better. baekhyun has a pretty face, which somewhat excited chanyeol as he often finds extinguishing the life out of pretty things much more fun than those less nice to look at. and from how baggy his sweatshirt and jeans look on him, chanyeol figured his built would be much smaller than chanyeol's, which should make it easier to chanyeol to capture the prey.

"you want the normal answer or the weird one?"

baekhyun switched his attention from the screen to the man sitting beside him. unless the low quality light reflecting from the screen is playing tricks on him, baekhyun found this man much more handsome than the pretty boy who used to visit his bookstore.

baekhyun enjoys being around good-looking people, which made chanyeol a pleasant interruption in this aimless night. but something in his guts was kicking baekhyun, something feels slightly... off. as if his instinct, or whatever it was, was trying to warn him of something.

being totally inexperienced with feelings, baekhyun disregarded the warning and thought of it as maybe... butterflies? he is very much confused right now.

"i'm so bored out of my mind that i'm starting a conversation with a total stranger. so tell me the weird version please, and make it good."

chanyeol lied, he came for the kills in the movie, and honestly, this one has actually been quite good.

baekhyun chuckled.

"i'm testing ways to inflict fear onto myself." he paused, temporarily contemplating what words to use next. "i'm so devoid of feelings that i'm trying to see if this whole, horror movie at midnight in a run-down theater, is going to make me feel anything at all. terror should have been the easiest one to feel, but so far, i'm just... nothing."

"reality could be scarier than fiction." chanyeol smirked. "what if it's not the movie that you should be scared of? what if it's the situation in which you're in right now that should be scary?"

"what do you mean?" baekhyun asked nonchalantly, simply thinking it was just a scenario that the kind stranger just made up to help him experience some form of fear.

"you're alone in a dark room, in an old, almost abandoned place. any creep walking in here could potentially pose a threat to you. wouldn't you be terrified if that was the case?"

"i honestly don't know. sounds logical enough. but there is only us two in here. so, the question is, are you a creep?"

baekhyun's voice remained monotonous, which intrigued chanyeol furthermore.

"would you be scared if i was?"

still completely unaware of whom he was sitting next to, baekhyun laughed out loud.

"i literally just thought to myself that maybe it would be nice to get killed off, i'm not sure what i'm even scared of now."

a prey asking to be hunted, chanyeol thought as his heart starts thumping faster.

"what's your name?" chanyeol suddenly asked.

"hmm?" baekhyun tilted his head in surprise. still, he answered truthfully. "byun baekhyun."

"think carefully before you answer this, baekhyun. would you really like to experience what it is like to be murdered, right now, tonight?"