crack in the mirror | gayeon 🪞

-19-

It felt weird. Wet. Dirty.

Jiseok felt his heart hammer the moment he felt something on his hands, and Jooyeon's stomach.

It had to be very late, the rain was still pouring, although now it was rather slow and quiet, and the sky was brightening with every second. He had no idea what time it was, but Jooyeon was still asleep, probably not even aware of the fact that Jiseok had to be getting his shirt dirty.

He wiggled himself out of the embrace, not wanting to wake the boy up, and as quickly as possible he disappeared to the bathroom to wash his hands. Still, feeling his heart beating in his chest as if trapped in a cage, he flicked on the light, staring at himself in the mirror, and then down at his hands. And there it was.

Blood.

Red crimson blood all over his fingers. It was dripping from them, leaving drops of it all over the sink and floor.

He had no idea where it came from, but for god's sake, it was there, and as he turned on the tap, it did not disappear. Horror of horrors, it seemed that the more he tried to get rid of it, the more it came.

He looked at the reflection of his hands, hoping he would make the blood vanish if he started at it this persistently (he was wrong obviously).

Nothing happened.

Nothing except for one thing.

Someone was there. The footsteps, running water and his fast breaths were all he could hear. He wanted to curse under his breath, and as quickly as possible he turned off the tap, which had to be the reason why he had woken up that specific person. Then, not wanting anyone to see the blood on his hands, he grabbed the nearby towel and wrapped it around his hands, as if drying them out in it. Which by the way sounded like a good way of taking the blood off of them. He could just wipe it away.

"Jiseok?" He heard a quiet voice.

Letting the air out of his lungs he sighed loudly with relief. That person was Jooyeon, so one good thing.

It could have been Gunil or... Hyeongjun. That would have been way worse.

"What are you doing here?" He questioned, opening the door to see Jiseok resting his body against the washing machine.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, turning around; the towel still around his hands so as not to scare the younger one who had just opened his eyes. Seeing blood on his hands out of sudden could've been quite shocking, so Jiseok kept them hidden. "I had to use the bathroom..." his gaze dropped to Jooyeon's shirt; once white, now bloody, and it was sticking to his skin. Weird that he did not notice it himself yet.

"Oh, that's okay." He replied, turning his body towards the mirror, once again not even flinching at the sight of his shirt, as if blood were not there. "Do you want me to go?"

"N-no," he choked out. His lower lip trembled, and with his furrowed brows he observed as Jooyeon scanned his own reflection, coming closer to it, and taking out something that had stuck to his face (probably an eyelash that fell out), and still... nothing.

No sign of him noticing the blood, while Jiseok was freaking out, seeing the stain get bigger with every movement of his body. And it was not only on his belly, it was in many other parts of the shirt; somewhere on the back, around the waist, on the arm... everywhere, and Jooyeon seemed not to notice anything.

"Can you look at me?" Jiseok asked, cold sweat dripping down his neck.

"Mhm," he tore his eyes from the mirror and turned around to face Jiseok. Nothing in the way he stared at him spoke of some fear or anything. He was calm—more than that—and he even smiled at Jiseok, who on the other hand knew was getting pale with each passing second, as blood was the only thing on his mind.