The Party That Killed || Hyunlix

46 🕸️

3rd person pov.
Chan sat in the dark room, the dim light of the lamp casting a glow over the white sheet of paper in front of him. He could feel his hands trembling, but he didn't give up. With each passing day, it was becoming harder. He knew he could no longer hide the truth.

The pen tapped softly against the paper as he finally wrote the first words: "I'm sorry, Seungmin..." He paused, staring at those three words as if he couldn’t believe he had written them. Each one felt like a sentence, as though he was stripping away any defense against what had happened. But he had to do this. He knew he would never feel better until he confessed his sins.

"My family..." he began, but the pen in his hand hesitated for a moment. His heart raced, and his breath became shallow. Every moment, every memory of what had happened, now returned like a distant echo. He remembered his brother, sent to an orphanage, drained from years of violence and manipulation in their home. He remembered looking at his father, who day by day became more indifferent to everything. And finally—the symbol that had appeared in his life. Something that not only destroyed his family but was now taking control of his life.

"I did everything to avoid this, but I can’t take it back. My family... They reached for something they never should have. Maybe it won't matter to you, but you need to know. It was them... they killed your brother." With those words, he felt like he was trying to squeeze out something that couldn’t be fixed. Each sentence weighed heavily on his shoulders. And even though he didn’t want to admit it, as he wrote to Seungmin, he understood that there was no turning back.

"I know you'll never forgive me. But I want you to know it wasn’t my choice. I was just a small link in all of this. I stayed silent because I had no choice... but I can't live with it anymore. You need to know that it was my family... not me... They're responsible for what happened."

Chan stopped writing, staring into the empty space in front of him. A shiver ran down his spine as his heart raced faster. He knew there was no turning back. Every decision, every choice he had made had led him to this moment. And now, all he wanted was to give Seungmin a chance to know the truth, to understand what really happened.

"I'm sorry. I regret not saying this earlier. Maybe I could have changed something, maybe I could have prevented it... But I didn’t. And I know it’s going to end badly, but at least you’ll know."

He folded the paper, read it once more, and then pressed it to his chest, feeling the weight of what he had written. With each passing moment, it felt like he was becoming smaller, as though his past was slowly consuming him. And although he knew the truth might destroy everything, he couldn’t stay silent anymore. He had to give Seungmin the chance to learn what really happened.

Even though he didn’t know if Seungmin would ever read the letter, he knew one thing—he couldn’t live with this weight in silence anymore.

≈🎃≈

3rd person pov.
The image on the screen flickered, as if something wasn’t right. In the background, there was a soft hum, like the equipment was about to shut down. Felix paused, but Jeongin immediately moved forward, looking for the next clip.

"I still can’t believe what we’re seeing," he said softly, staring at the screen. "Chan wasn’t... this involved."

"Try to understand it, Jeongin," Seungmin replied, never taking his eyes off the screen. "It changes everything, but it’s still not over."

Suddenly, the image on the screen cleared. The voice of the boy they already recognized perfectly spoke again, as if he was going through something he wanted to leave behind.

"I couldn’t escape... When I tried, when I thought I could... I came back only to see what I didn’t want to see." Chan’s voice grew hoarse, as if he was struggling with what he had to say. "I witnessed... how someone was punished. And I had no idea what would happen then, but... I felt like I had to escape. I had to."

Felix and Jeongin exchanged horrified glances, but Seungmin just stared at the screen, unable to tear his eyes away from the footage and the words coming from the speakers.

"It was something... terrifying. I heard them, those who were behind it. It wasn’t just punishment. It was revenge. They... they knew that if they punished someone, it would be forever. But I couldn’t break free. A single step too far and... I would have had no choice."

Chan’s voice trembled, as if the memory overwhelmed him, as if he was returning to a moment he couldn’t forget. "If you ever find out, you’ll understand. We couldn’t get out of it. It was a trap we couldn’t pass through. But all I wanted... was to escape."

The screen went black for a moment, and then darkness appeared again.

≈🎃≈

3rd person pov.
Seungmin felt the ground tremble beneath his feet. He was in a dark, empty room, with nothing but himself. Even the air felt thick, as if something was lurking in the space. With each step, he walked cautiously, unsure of what awaited him. From somewhere in the distance, he heard whispers—voices that pulled him in like a magnet. His heart raced faster as he noticed a figure in the distance.

It was Chan.

"You know what you have to do," Chan said, his voice sounding like it was coming from the afterlife. "You need to discover it, Seungmin. They’re everywhere. The cult... they’ll find you. You need to know..."

Seungmin approached him, but the closer he got, the further Chan seemed to move away. He couldn’t catch him, and the image began to blur. He felt that something was wrong. Again, that feeling of betrayal, that thing he couldn’t recognize in reality, now felt so close. He looked into his brother's eyes and saw emptiness.

"I don’t want to listen to your lies anymore, Chan!" he shouted, feeling his hands trembling with anger. "How could you stay silent when you knew what happened?!"

But Chan didn’t answer. His face blurred again, as if it were just a shadow. At that moment, he completely disappeared, and Seungmin felt like he was falling into an abyss.

Behind him, he heard a rustle, as if something was moving across the ground. He turned around and saw the symbol—the same one he had seen in pictures, in the footage, in his nightmares. Fear began to overtake him, and the words Chan had said echoed in his mind: "You need to know. They’ll find you."

And then he felt the presence of someone behind him. Someone who wanted to consume him.

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Movie suggestion: Halloween II (1981)