Decimate

Chapter 3

The priest closed the book in his hands and gave Suho a consoling smile. The funeral was over. Nobody wanted to be the first to leave, but eventually the guests came to Suho to once more offer condolences and bid him farewell. Little by little, the cemetery emptied.

The priest lingered a little longer, as though to make sure that Suho was alright.

"I'm fine," Suho reassured him and gave him a weary smile. "Thank you."

The priest nodded and then he left too. Suho turned towards the newly dug grave and knelt by it, now that nobody was watching. He had no words. But he took comfort in the fact that all the memories were coming back to him. In the first days, all Suho had been able to think of had been the sight of her dead body.

"I'm so sorry for your loss, hyung."

Suho whipped around and saw a tall man standing there. He had tucked his hands into the pockets of his long black coat.

Suho stood up, trying to put on a brave and sociable front.

"Thank you," Suho replied weakly. "Jongin."

The man placed a hand on Suho's shoulder. For a second Suho tensed, but relaxed then again. He heaved a deep sigh.

"I figured..."

"That I would be the only one to make it?"

Suho nodded.

Jongin didn't ask how it happened, and Suho breathed a little more freely again. In fact, Jongin said nothing for a moment.

"I was watching the burial from a short way off. It was beautiful," Jongin finally said.

Suho nodded. "Just as she was."

Soon it started to drizzle. Jongin moved.

"I had something I wanted to tell you," Jongin continued, and looked around.

A chill coursed through Suho. Of course, he thought. Of course Jongin has an agenda. It's so hard to find unselfish consideration in this world.

"Maybe we should go someplace else..."

"Don't touch me!" Suho snapped and moved away from the man. Jongin's face turned even more serious than it already was.

"It's alright, hyung," Jongin tried to reassure him.

"How do I know?" Suho hissed. "How do I know?" He instinctively turned to look at the grave.

He had worshipped her; everything about her.

"You said that to me so many times, hyung, that I can't help but believe in it," Jongin replied.

"What?" Suho asked, yanking himself back from his reverie.

Jongin gave him a pitiful smile. "Come, let's go. I saw a café nearby."

Taking one final look at his wife's grave, Suho followed Jongin.

The café was quite empty, but even the few people there seemed too much for Suho right now. Every smile, every bout of laughter, he wanted to make them stop.

Jongin tried to place an order, but he only knew English.

"Let me," Suho mumbled to Jongin, and ordered them two cups of tea.

"I take it that you still don't drink coffee," Suho said as they sat down at a table upstairs, removing their coats.

"You're right, I don't. The English don't mind, luckily," Jongin replied and smiled.

Somehow, for a brief moment, Suho felt glad that Jongin was there - if only to delay that inevitable moment when Suho had to go back to his empty home.

A waitress brought them their cups of tea, and for a while they sat there, drinking it, in silence.

"About that thing I was going to tell you..." Jongin said then, and Suho had to shake himself mentally to remember what Jongin had said to him at the cemetery.

Jongin lowered his voice and said, "This probably sounds odd, but I... I'm sure I was being followed yesterday."

"Followed?" Suho asked, uninterested. "There are all kinds of strange people in London."

Jongin shook his head. "They were taking pictures of me. And it wasn't just one person. There were at least two. They ran after me when I made a run for it."

"Stalkers, perhaps? Some crazed fans of yours? Or maybe they were just common street thugs."

Jongin fixed him with a piercing stare then and lowered his voice even further. "Why are you skirting around the truth? Face the facts, hyung. I think... I think I've been discovered."

Suho felt cold all of a sudden, in spite of the warm tea in his throat. "But how?" he whispered. "You haven't been teleporting into female dancers' bedrooms, have you?"

Jongin frowned, looking insulted. "No. I definitely haven't. Besides, you must have seen the news about the eclipse coming?"

"You don't think they'd...?"

Jongin nodded.

"But it's too early..."

"I know. But still."

Suho noticed that his hands were shaking. It couldn't be, could it? Surely not. Not this soon. And then, the more Suho thought about it, the worse he felt. Yes, it makes sense, suddenly.

"It makes sense though, doesn't it?" he asked weakly.

"Why would it?"

"It's been three years. We failed. We didn't make any difference. We lost two of our kind. I can't blame them for wanting us back."

"Hyung..."

"We've wasted our potential."

"Please," Jongin pleaded. He was looking weak and pained by now.

"My wife..." Suho choked, and couldn't finish the sentence.

"Hyung," Jongin said, his voice a bit louder. Suho saw Jongin looking past him. Other people were climbing up the stairs, chatting away loudly.

"They won't know any Korean," Suho muttered.

But Jongin glared at him, and wouldn't say anything more.

They finished their teas and left the café, going back to the cemetery for a little walk. Suho was glad to have Jongin there. The drizzle had subsided, and a soft wind was blowing through the trees. A bird croaked somewhere. Time seemed to stand still.

"May I ask how it happened?" Jongin asked when they walked past Suho's wife's grave.

Suho took a deep breath and plunged into speech. "We had a dog. It was just a few months old. One night we couldn't find it anywhere. It had run off, apparently. My wife went out to look for it. I told her we should go together, once I'd finished my work, but she didn't want to wait. And... she didn't come back. I looked for her all night. The police found her in the morning. There's an empty pool in the backyard of an abandoned house close to our home. That's where..."

"I'm so sorry to hear it, hyung," Jongin said.

"And they... they thought I had done it."

"What?"

Suho nodded, his eyes burning. "They did. The police searched our house..."

"They what?" Jongin burst out, grabbing Suho's arm.

"I had no choice," Suho hissed. "The police thought I had murdered my wife!"

"When was this?" Jongin asked, his face suddenly pale, and the look in his eyes absent.

"A week ago."

Jongin buried his face in his hands. "That might explain it."

"Explain what? You don't think..."

"It might explain it. Hyung, I have to go. I have to go and meet the others," Jongin said feverishly.

"But... you don't know where they are," Suho protested.

"I have an idea about some of them. Besides, if they've noticed what I have noticed, they'll be looking for us too."

"But..." Suho said, "What are you going to tell them, anyway?"

"The facts. That somebody has found out about us. And that they will be coming for us very soon, once they learn that we have been discovered."

"The eclipse is in two days," Suho said. "You don't think..."

"Well, if this really means what I think it does... You have to be careful, hyung." Jongin buttoned his coat. "I'll contact you, hyung. We can figure out what to do. I'm not ready to go back. Are you?"

"No, I'm not," Suho replied. "But we may not have a choice."

Jongin fixed him with a piercing stare. "I know you're mourning, hyung. I know you're sad. But the Suho I know wouldn't say things like that. The Suho I know is better than that."

With these words ringing in his head, Suho watched as Jongin walked to the trees on the edge of the cemetery and disappeared.