The Party That Killed || Hyunlix

39 🕸️

3rd person pov.
He remembered being eight years old when everything seemed so simple. When his brother began stealing, his mother said it was because of poverty, that they needed to survive somehow. Chan always felt guilty that his brother had taken something he shouldn’t have, while he stood nearby, helpless to intervene. He felt as if he bore the responsibility for these thefts, even though he knew his brother was the one casting blame onto him.

He recalled how his mother sat with him in the kitchen, hands folded on the table, her gaze as cold as ice. “It’s not your fault,” she’d told him then, but there was something in her tone he didn’t understand. It felt like she wasn’t trying to comfort him, but rather to isolate him, to make him understand that what his brother did was… simply natural. Just as natural as his brother himself.

When they took his brother away, his mother didn’t break down or say she missed him. She simply told him, “He’s not coming back; he doesn’t know how to steal. He was never fit for it.” It felt like a punch to the heart. She spoke as if it were just another phase in their lives, something irreversible.

Chan didn’t understand. He thought he was the one who always messed things up. Only now, with time, he saw how wrong he had been. He hadn’t known back then that his mother gave up his brother because she believed he wasn’t fit to steal, that Chan was meant to succeed in the world she was teaching him about. The painful realization struck him that he was never the most important one in all of this.

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3rd person pov.
After class, Felix and Hyunjin waited by the stairs, watching for the right moment to approach the guy who had previously let slip a few details about Chan. The guy wasn’t about to give in easily.

“I already told you, I’m not saying anything more,” the man repeated, tugging at his bag, as if ready to disappear quickly. “This is too much already. You should be grateful I even said that much.”

Felix looked at him with strained patience. “What exactly did you want to say? Chan mentioned something, didn’t he? He wanted to warn you about something…”

The guy stopped, looking at them for a moment, as if considering whether it was even worth it. Finally, he cast them a fleeting glance, his face hardening into an unpleasant expression.

“I’m not getting involved, guys. You should leave all of this alone,” he said, his voice growing more tense.

Felix felt the tension building. “Why does everyone seem to know more about Chan than we do? Why can’t we learn the truth?”

The man shrugged, his eyes shifting to the side, as though searching for an escape. “Because everyone has their reasons,” he finally answered. “But if you want to know more… maybe I can help you.”

“What do you know?” Hyunjin asked, raising an eyebrow.

“There’s a place…” the man replied quietly, glancing down the hallway, as if checking to ensure no one was listening. “About two months ago, Chan asked me to bury something in the ground, near my house. You know… just small things.” He paused for a moment, then added in a whisper, “You should dig it up.”

Felix exchanged a look full of unease with Hyunjin.

“Why would he do that?” Hyunjin asked, staring at the man. “What kind of things?”

“I have no idea. He just told me to do it,” he replied, moving toward the doors. “But it’s not my business anymore. You’ll have to handle it on your own.”

Before they could ask any more questions, the guy was out of the building, leaving them in silence. Felix and Hyunjin stared at each other, processing the information.

“This is getting weirder,” Felix said, looking at Hyunjin. “Everyone seems to know something more about Chan. It’s like everyone has their secrets.”

Hyunjin nodded. “I wonder what it could be, what Chan wanted to hide. But one thing’s for sure: this isn’t going to end easily.”

They both felt they were getting closer to answers, but also sinking deeper into a labyrinth of lies and secrets that were becoming darker by the day.

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Felix stood beside Hyunjin, nervously clutching his pockets, waiting as Hyunjin finished digging up the buried object. With every shovelful of dirt, the tension in the air thickened. When Hyunjin finally reached the bottom, they all froze, holding their breath.

Hyunjin pulled out a box that looked ancient, slightly dusty, and covered in dirt. He handed it to Felix, who immediately took a deep breath.

“This… this might be it,” he said, looking at the others, his voice uncertain but tinged with excitement. “That guy said this was something Chan wanted buried. He said it might be important… He said it might help us.”

Felix placed the box on the ground. “Alright, let’s open it. We need to know exactly what he was hiding.”

Everyone felt the tension. Hyunjin carefully lifted the lid of the box. Inside, they found film reels—old, faded, with obscure markings that said nothing—and several flash drives that looked like they could hold a lot of data. Next to them lay neatly folded letters, written roughly, with different addresses.

“This looks like… some kind of notes,” Felix glanced at the others. “Maybe it’s something about Chan. We need to check it out.”

“Film reels? Flash drives?” Hyunjin furrowed his brows. “This seems like there’s something bigger behind this. What could it be?”

“We have to check them out. We can’t leave this unanswered,” Felix said, looking at the others, as if trying to give them courage.

“What about these letters?” Jeongin asked, pointing to the papers. “They could be just as important as those reels and flash drives.”

“Give me a moment,” Felix took one of the letters and began to open it. His fingers trembled, but he managed to carefully unfold the old piece of paper. Something on the first page immediately caught his attention.

“Listen… there’s something here that might explain more than we think…” Felix added, reading quietly to himself.

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3rd person pov.
Seungmin awoke in a dark, cold room. The walls were covered with posters displaying distorted, unrecognizable images. In the corner stood an old television, its screen smudged as if someone had carelessly wiped it. Suddenly, a light flickered on, and the image on the screen transformed into something Seungmin recognized—a face, Chan’s face, but distorted, blurred. Chan was looking at him with fear in his eyes, as if he was trying to say something, but only muffled sounds emerged from his mouth.

“No… you can’t leave me…” Chan said, but Seungmin couldn’t hear the words clearly. Instead, only chaotic static reached him, making his heart beat faster and faster.

He wanted to approach, but his legs wouldn’t obey. Instead, he took steps toward a window, beyond which strange shadows appeared. Shadows that began to take shape. Seungmin tried to reach for his phone, but it slipped from his hand. He felt something clutching his heart.

Suddenly, the door swung open, and standing in the doorway was someone Seungmin hadn’t seen in a long time—his own brother. He was smiling, but it was a smile filled with sadness and emptiness. Fear was reflected in his eyes. Seungmin tried to scream, but the sound cut off again. His brother raised a finger to his lips and pointed to the door behind him. Beyond it lay darkness, complete darkness.

“He’s looking for you… Be careful…” he heard, but the words seemed to be spoken by someone else.

Seungmin looked at his hands, now covered in stains that wouldn’t disappear, as if they were part of something he couldn’t understand. He knew he wasn’t alone. He knew something was watching him. Something he couldn’t see but felt with every fiber of his being.

When he opened his eyes, a chill ran through him, as if he’d just lost something. Something he hadn’t had time to see. Something that would forever remain in darkness.

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Movie suggestion: Smile (2022)