DARK SIDE 🔞❤️‍🔥 {The Uncanny Counters 2}

Panic 🌾🪵

"𝙾𝚑, 𝚠𝚑𝚢 𝚒𝚜 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚘 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚏𝚞𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐?
𝙼𝚊𝚢𝚋𝚎 𝙸'𝚖 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚖𝚢 𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚍"
-𝙰.𝙻𝚊𝚟𝚒𝚐𝚗𝚎

─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ── ─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

*ੈ✩‧₊˚༺☆༻*ੈ✩‧₊˚

ᑕᕼᗩᑭTEᖇ ᙭᙭᙭VIII: 🍂

🔸 ᗩYᖇIE ᒪEE【P】【O】【V】

The faint click of footsteps echoes outside, and so does my stomach clench. The dread unfurling like a coiled serpent inside of me.
They're slow, intentional, each one louder than the last as they approach.

A shadow passes across the far wall, stretching long and distorted as it slides closer, as if the very room is bending to the presence of the man behind it.

And then, the door swings open.

Joo-seok steps inside, his silhouette framed in the white light. He doesn't speak at first. He just stands there, his figure tall and impossibly still, like some grotesque figure emerging from the depths of a nightmare. His eyes gleam with a sick amusement as he surveys the room, and I can feel the air grow colder, as if his presence alone is enough to suffocate what little warmth remains.

His grin—mischievous and menacing—spreads slowly across his face, and when he finally speaks, it's in a voice that's almost too calm, too controlled.
"Well, well," he says with sickening sweetness. "Look who's still conscious..."
His gaze flits over to Adrian's limp form on the other side of the glass, then to me.

I swallow hard, the bitter taste of fear crawling up my throat. I force myself to hold his gaze, though every instinct screams at me to look away.
"What do you want, Joo-seok?"

He doesn't answer right away. Instead, he moves to the steel tray beside the gurney, running a finger lightly over the jagged instruments, inspecting them as if they were fine pieces of art. The sound of metal on metal sends a shiver down my spine. He picks up a scalpel, one with a curved, sharp edge, and holds it up to the light, admiring its sheen.

"What do I want?" He repeats the question slowly, savoring each word. His eyes flick back to me, narrowing slightly. "What I've always wanted." He pauses, twirling the scalpel between his fingers, the light catching the blade in flashes.
"To set people like us free."

I take a step back, the glass wall behind me pressing cold against my skin.
I try to keep my voice steady, but there's a tremor beneath it.
"You talk about freedom, while you have him chained to the bed! Is this freedom to you?!"

Joo-seok laughs softly, shaking his head. "Chains? These are nothing." He gestures toward Adrian's unconscious body.

"You think the real chains are the ones you can see? The metal, the locks, the bars?"
His grin twists into something darker, more dangerous.
"No, no. The real chains are in here."
He taps the scalpel against his temple, his eyes gleaming with a disturbing intensity. "In your mind."

Joo-seok steps closer, his eyes narrowing.
"The mind," he says softly, almost to himself, "is a fascinating thing, isn't it? It holds such power... more than most people realize."
He taps his temple again, his fingers dancing along the edge of his skull as if to emphasize the point.
"You can cage a body, bind it with chains, straps, steel, whatever you like. But the mind... that's where the real battle is fought."

He circles the room, moving with a slow, predatory grace, his words twisting in the air between us like a dark spell.
"Most people," he continues, his voice low, "they think they can resist—resist pain, fear, despair. But the truth is, the mind betrays you long before the body ever will."