The Party That Killed || Hyunlix

33 🕸️

3rd person pov.
Seungmin felt as if he were floating in darkness, surrounded by a dense, impenetrable gloom that seemed to draw him deeper into its abyss. The sounds were muted, as if something had stifled them at their inception. He tried to move, but his body felt too heavy to perform the simplest action.

As time passed, frustration began to rise in his mind. Why couldn't he move? Why was he trapped in this impenetrable darkness? In the distance, a light appeared, barely visible like a star on a cloudless night, yet terrifyingly close. It flickered along the walls, offering no hope of escape. Seungmin felt his heart race, a tremor spreading throughout his body.

As the light drew nearer, he heard a familiar voice.

“Seungmin, you need to understand…” Chan spoke, but his voice was hazy, as if it were passing through water. There was a sadness in it that Seungmin recognized immediately. He tried to respond, but no sound emerged from his throat. He wanted to scream, wanted to stop him, but he felt as though all his emotions were caged.

Figures began to appear around him, but their faces were distorted, unreadable. They were people he knew, yet their presence offered him no solace. Each seemed to struggle with their own shadow, their eyes empty and vacant.

“I can’t... I can’t tell you everything…” Chan spoke again, and his words began to blur in the air. Seungmin tried to move closer, but his legs remained anchored to the ground, each step seeming to overcome an invisible barrier.

Feeling a growing anxiety, Seungmin screamed, but in response, he only heard the sound of a ticking clock—a monotonous, relentless beat that seemed to mock his helplessness. Each tick reminded him of the time that slipped away, of the moments he had lost with Chan. In the last moment before the light extinguished, he heard a quiet whisper: “You must be ready…”

Upon awakening, Seungmin was disoriented, his heart still racing. He looked at the clock—the hour wasn’t important; what mattered were Chan’s words, still echoing in his mind, offering no peace. He felt as if something had stirred within him, as if that dream was a harbinger of events to come. He resolved that he could no longer ignore his feelings or the uncertainty surrounding Chan.

≈🎃≈

Seungmin pov.
I walked alongside Jisung, Felix, Hyunjin, and Jeongin, my mind swirling with thoughts. I wanted to tell them about my dream, about the unease that had been plaguing me for days, but at the last moment, I hesitated. Maybe it was all just a joke?

“Guys, I…” I began, but suddenly my courage vanished. “I think it’s all just a joke.”

Jisung nodded. “I agree. Maybe someone found out we were kidnapped and decided to mess with us.”

At that moment, I noticed students passing by, laughing and whispering. Their mocking glances made me feel uneasy. Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, I spotted something on the school wall.

“Guys, look over there!” Jeongin said, pointing at the posters.

I froze. The posters lined the walls, displaying our photos from the day of the kidnapping. We looked terrified, and the headlines screamed: “Missing!” with a large “Help!” in bold letters.

“What the hell…” I said, my heart beginning to race.

This wasn’t a joke, I thought. This was something much worse.

“Why didn’t anyone tell us about this?” Jisung said angrily.

Felix trembled as he looked at the posters. “This is insane!”

Jeongin added determinedly, “We need to find out who did this and why.”

I felt frustrated. I wanted to share my dream, my intuition, but now it seemed irrelevant. What was happening was far more serious.

“We need to act,” Hyunjin said, determination shining in his eyes.

I had the feeling that our situation was becoming increasingly dangerous with each passing moment. How much longer would we have to hide? How long could we remain in danger?

I glanced at the posters, which were meant to remind us of the fear we had endured. Suddenly, I had no doubt: we had to act before it was too late.

As I entered the school with the guys, I immediately felt that something was wrong. The hallways were also plastered with posters bearing our photos from the day of the kidnapping. Each one screamed: “Missing!” and “Where are the boys?”. Students passed by us, their gazes filled with mockery and curiosity. A sense of unease blossomed in my heart.

“What’s going on here?” Jeongin asked, shaking his head in disbelief.

Before I could say anything, I wanted to try to tell them about my dream again, but I suddenly froze. Instead, I nodded, saying, “I think it’s just some kind of joke…”

At that very moment, right in front of us, a collision occurred. A boy in a hood accidentally bumped into Jisung. Surprised, he looked up and saw a stranger who quickly headed toward the exit.

“Sorry, you dropped something!” Jisung called out, reaching for a piece of paper that had fallen to the ground. When he opened it, I felt my heart stop.

The note read: “Want to know more about Chan? Start with his family.”

In that moment, all the boys’ gazes focused on the note, and I felt the tension in the air escalating with every second. What did it mean? Was this another joke or perhaps a serious warning? I had the feeling that every step we took would bring us closer to uncovering the dark secrets that Chan kept hidden.

≈🎃≈

3rd person pov.
Seungmin sat in a comfortable chair in the therapist’s office, feeling the tension in his body gradually dissipate. A pleasant dim light filled the room, and the only sound was the quiet ticking of a clock on the wall. In front of him sat the counselor, Mrs. Kwiatkowska, with her ever-present notebook resting on her lap.

“Hello, Seungmin,” she greeted him with a gentle voice. “How are you feeling today?”

“Good morning… I don’t know, I guess…,” he replied, glancing out the window where leaves were slowly falling to the ground. “Everyone at school is acting strangely.”

Mrs. Kwiatkowska nodded, looking at him with interest. “That’s understandable. I noticed that new posters appeared at school. Pictures from the kidnapping…” Her voice became more serious. “Would you like to talk about it?”

Seungmin felt his heart race. “Do you think… do you think it might have affected me in some way?” he asked, still avoiding her gaze.

“Events like this often impact our psyche, especially when we are directly involved in the situation. We can discuss how you feel and how you’re coping…”

“I don’t know if I want to,” he sighed. “Everyone at school is staring at us now, and I feel like everyone knows something that I don’t.”

Mrs. Kwiatkowska set her notebook aside. “I understand that this can be difficult. I know that such situations evoke fear and anxiety. Talking can help clarify your feelings. Do you have any thoughts that are troubling you?”

Seungmin fell silent, and thoughts swirled in his mind about the pictures he had seen in the hallways, the screams of his friends, and the strange glances. After a moment, he finally said, “I think it could be some kind of joke. But… I’m afraid it’s something more.”

Mrs. Kwiatkowska leaned closer to him. “Perhaps we could try to look at it from a different perspective. What do you think this might mean for you?”

Seungmin wasn’t sure how to respond. He knew he had to confront his fears, but the fear of what he might uncover was immense.

🕸️🕸️🕸️

Movie suggestion: Coco (2017)