The Party That Killed || Hyunlix

41 🕸️

3rd person pov.
The boys gathered around the player as Seungmin inserted the first tape. The camera switched on, revealing a dark, unclear image. For a moment, there was nothing but faint static, and then the image sharpened, revealing Chan’s face. He looked uneasy, as if still debating what to say.

Chan spoke slowly, as though he were searching for the right words. "This recording… it’s the first. Before anything begins… I wanted this to be documented, for those who’ll have to see it, because sometimes there’s no second chance. This may sound strange… but I hope that someday, someone will understand."

He paused, looking directly into the camera as if searching for an answer that wasn’t there.

"I hope what I’m doing makes sense. I can’t stop this; I have to speak before it’s too late. So… I’ll start with this: something is happening. And it’s not a coincidence. All of this… it’s planned. I… I don’t know how much longer I’ll have to say this, but I can’t let no one know."

He sighed deeply, visibly tense, looking at the tape as if trying to convey something he couldn’t put into words.

"If this recording falls into the wrong hands, I don’t know what’ll happen, but I can’t think about that now. I have to say it… My life is in danger. Someone is looking for me, and… I can’t let this reach the wrong people." He stopped, as if realizing the weight of his own words.

"No one can know what I know. That’s the most important thing. For everyone. If you’re the one watching this, I understand why you need to know, but be careful, because I don’t know what else might happen. This is only the beginning."

The camera buzzed briefly, and then the recording ended.

≈🎃≈

The boys sat in the dark room, stretching out on the floor, waiting for the next video. After they finished watching the previous tapes, Felix and Jeongin decided it wouldn’t hurt to take a short break. Felix brought drinks, and Jeongin pulled out a bag of snacks, knowing they wouldn’t get through all these tapes quickly. They suspected it might be a long night.

Before starting the next tape, they paused. The number "5" appeared on the screen. This was the first recording they started to play from this particular tape. A slight tension settled over them. What did all these recordings hold?

Chan’s face appeared on the screen, dimly lit, as if he was recording it in a rush. There was something in his voice that sent a chill down their spines. "Recently, I’ve started to notice something I hadn’t seen before. In old family photos, there was always this other boy. His face was blurred… in almost every single one. I suspect he’s my brother… But I can’t remember what happened to him. My childhood memories are… like they’ve evaporated. And that’s not normal."

Seungmin shivered, hearing these words. Chan’s brother? His eyes briefly wandered toward his friends, who were holding their breath as they stared at the screen. The recording continued.

"Sometimes I feel like something’s off… I have this sense that someone in our family is trying to erase everything that happened, that these photos are linked to some story I don’t understand. But I don’t remember. I really don’t know what’s happening, but… maybe it’s not a coincidence that it started now. I think something is coming. But…," Chan trailed off, and his voice grew heavier. "Soon… Before it all ends, I have to understand. I hope there’s someone who will."

At that moment, the door to the room burst open. Chan’s mom hurried in, eyes wide, like she was in a panic. "Chan! Pack the essentials! We have to leave, now!" she shouted, entering the room and interrupting the recording at the most unexpected moment.

Everyone in the room fell silent, staring at the screen. They could see a quick movement as if someone tried to hide the camera. Chan quickly concealed it, his mom, not noticing anything unusual, left the room. Only when the door closed did Chan pull the camera back out and switch it off. The sound of his breathing could be heard in the background, as if he wanted to say more, but suddenly stopped.

"That was strange… I don’t know what’s going on… What did she mean? Where are we supposed to go? No one explains anything to me…"

And the recording ended.

Felix looked at Seungmin, who seemed slightly confused, his mind searching for any clues. What did Chan’s mom mean? And why had that mysterious boy, whose face appeared in the photos, suddenly become so important to the story?

Seungmin stayed silent for a moment, thinking about all these details. He had no idea yet how much these events were beginning to tie into his own life.

The next recording started with a faint hum, as if the camera had been accidentally turned on. Soon the image focused, showing Chan sitting in an entirely different room. The background was dark, and he looked tired, as though he’d been collecting his thoughts through the night.

"We left the house. We left everything," he said, his voice cold and distant. "The whole life, all the things… We left them. No goodbyes. No explanations. Just… left."

They could see Chan struggling to make sense of the situation, sitting on a chair with his hands on his knees, as if searching for the words to explain what had happened.

"And it wasn’t just the house. They took everything… and moved out. And without a word. They say it’s only for a while, but…" he trailed off, anxiety visible in his eyes. "I don’t know why. Why this happened? I can’t remember what happened. I only remember we left everything behind, like it never existed."

Suddenly, the image became more blurred, as if Chan brought the camera closer to himself. His eyes filled with sorrow, and his voice took on a worried tone.

"I remember those photos… family photos that I saw my whole life. But in every one of them, there was that other boy, whose face was blurred. Sometimes I think he’s my brother, but… I can’t remember what happened to him. It’s like something… vanished from my memory. I don’t know why. Maybe whatever happened is connected to this."

Chan paused, as if waiting for answers he couldn’t find.

"And now I don’t understand… We left everything, and now I don’t know where we are or what’s happening. Why did we have to leave? Where is everyone? What happened?"

Chan’s voice sounded filled with pain and confusion. He looked like someone who couldn’t fully understand the decisions made behind his back. He had no answers to his questions.

"I wish I could understand all of this. But maybe I’ll never know what really happened," he concluded, as the camera, which was set on the table, began to shake, as if Chan ended the recording, still not completely understanding what was happening.

Silence emerged from the recording. The screen went dark, leaving the boys in silence.

Felix broke the quiet first. “So, they really had to leave… leaving everything behind in a hurry. It’s strange that they didn’t explain anything to him. Like something happened, something they had no right to tell him about.”

“But what?” Seungmin asked, still staring at the dark screen. “Why couldn’t they tell him? Why did they leave so suddenly?”

“Maybe it was something that couldn’t come to light…” Hyunjin added. “Maybe they wanted him not to know. To have nothing to do with it.”

“Maybe…” Felix answered, breaking off his thoughts. “But it still doesn’t answer everything. What happened? What really happened to his family?”

Seungmin remained silent, trying to make sense of what he had just heard. Every word of that recording seemed to hold meaning, but the answers that came to mind didn’t explain anything.

“This recording brings more questions than answers…” Seungmin said quietly, looking at the rest. “But we need to figure it out. Something doesn’t add up.”

A heavy atmosphere settled over them. Though the image on the recording had vanished, the questions it raised lingered in their minds, waiting for answers.

🕸️🕸️🕸️

Movie suggestion: Trick r Treat (2007)