The Party That Killed || Hyunlix

47 🕸️

3rd person pov.
Seungmin sat in his room, staring at the blank wall. His thoughts swirled relentlessly, refusing to give him peace. Chan’s words echoed in his ears like a haunting refrain. "Your family was connected to those people..."

He couldn’t grasp it. His parents? The very people who always gave him a sense of security? How could they be involved in something so horrifying? And that symbol… Everything in his life that seemed stable now felt like it was crumbling.

He stood up abruptly, as if the physical motion could shake the thoughts from his mind. He had had enough of waiting, of silence. He couldn’t endure the uncertainty any longer. It felt as if his entire life had been a grand illusion, and only now was he beginning to see it clearly.

He had made up his mind. He had to talk to his parents. His brother’s death didn’t change the fact that Seungmin deserved the truth. He had to know what really happened.

He walked downstairs to the kitchen, where his parents sat at the table, eating lunch, oblivious to the storm brewing. His heart pounded faster with each step, the weight of the impending conversation almost suffocating.

Taking a deep breath to steady himself, he forced the words out.
“We need to talk about something important. About the cult. About what Chan said.”

His parents exchanged a glance, and Seungmin caught something in their eyes that unsettled him: fear.

His father sighed heavily and set down the spoon he had been holding.
“What are you talking about? That cult? That’s all in the past, Seungmin.”

“No, it’s not. It’s connected to us, isn’t it? Our family had ties to them. To that cult…?” Seungmin’s voice wavered. He wanted to believe it wasn’t true. But something deep inside him wouldn’t let it go. He had to know.

His parents exchanged another look. The silence that followed was thick, as if they couldn’t find the right words to respond.

“Seungmin, this isn’t something we can discuss now,” his mother finally said, her voice tense. “Too much has happened, too much pain. It doesn’t matter anymore.”

“It doesn’t matter?!” Seungmin shouted, his emotions spilling over. “It does matter! Maybe that’s why my brother died! Maybe that’s why everything’s happening!”

His father stood, approaching him with a firm expression, though his eyes betrayed his unease.
“It wasn’t your brother’s fault. Don’t turn this into something it’s not.”

“Then why did you stay silent?!” Seungmin felt something inside him crack. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner? If you knew who these people were, why didn’t you warn me?! What are you hiding from me? All this time, I thought it was just a coincidence! That none of it had anything to do with us!”

His mother placed a trembling hand on his shoulder.
“Seungmin… it’s complicated. Believe me, we never wanted you to be dragged into this.”

“And Chan?!” His voice grew sharper. “Why didn’t he tell me anything? If he knew the truth, why did he stay silent my entire life?!”

His parents looked at each other once more. His father raised his hands, as if trying to calm him.
“Seungmin… you don’t understand. In families like ours, sometimes you don’t have a choice. These things happened, and we couldn’t stop them. Seungmin, it wasn’t an easy decision. But you have to understand – not everything they told you was the truth. We always wanted to protect you. Even if the truth is painful, you don’t need to know everything right now.”

“How could you not stop it?! How could you do nothing?!” Seungmin’s anger bubbled to the surface, tears threatening to spill. “I know you knew what was happening! And you just stood by, silent, no warnings!”

His mother’s eyes filled with tears.
“We always tried to protect you, Seungmin, but we couldn’t control everything. It wasn’t our fault… We were victims too.”

“Victims?!” he snapped. “You put yourselves in this mess!” His voice trembled, and tears streaked his cheeks. “You always said you did it for our future, but now… after everything… Now you tell me it was Chan’s family? My family?”

He fell silent, staring at his parents in disbelief.

“We never wanted you to find out,” his father admitted quietly. “What happened to your brother was part of that nightmare. And it’s our fault for not being able to protect him…”

Seungmin’s voice cracked.
“You… you couldn’t protect him? He had nothing to do with them, nothing! And you? What now? Am I supposed to trust you?”

His mother clutched his hand, her voice breaking.
“Seungmin, please understand… We were victims of the same hell. I swear, we only ever wanted the best for you. I know it’s hard, but… your life will never be the same once you know.”

Seungmin lowered his gaze, sadness clouding his eyes.
“I’ll never have a real family again, will I? It’s all fallen apart.”

A heavy silence followed. It was his father who finally spoke.
“Maybe you’ve lost the family you thought you had. But we’re still here, Seungmin. We’ll always be here for you… Always.”

Seungmin looked at his parents one last time before averting his eyes. He felt the blood pounding in his temples as his thoughts churned. After a long pause, he cast a glance toward the door.

“I don’t know if I can forgive you… And maybe I don’t need to know everything, but I want the truth. All of it, no matter what.”

With those words, he left the room, feeling as though he had made a choice that changed everything. He had to uncover the rest of this hidden truth. He couldn’t live in uncertainty anymore.

≈🎃≈

3rd person pov.
Chan stood in the dimly lit room. The walls were covered with the familiar symbol he hated more than anything in the world. The air was thick with the scent of dampness and incense, suffocating and unsettling, as though the place was alive.

"You can’t escape who you are," his father’s voice echoed, though he was nowhere in sight.

Chan spun around frantically, searching for a way out. The lights flickered, and the shadows cast by the symbols seemed to shift, almost as if they were reaching for him. Then he saw it – a door, slightly ajar, as if beckoning him.

He took a hesitant step forward, but something grabbed his wrist. He turned to see his brother, his face streaked with blood, his eyes filled with pain and disappointment.

"Why didn’t you do anything to save me?" his brother asked softly, though each word struck Chan like a blow to the stomach.

"I tried!" Chan yelled, backing away. "They wouldn’t let me! I was just a kid!"

His brother smiled sadly, his body beginning to dissolve into dust.
"You were one of them," he said before vanishing entirely.

The door slammed shut with a deafening bang. Now someone else was in the room – his father. He approached slowly, his face contorted with anger. In his hands was something gleaming – a knife.

"You thought you could run? How cowardly." His father raised the knife, but instead of striking, he pressed it to Chan’s forehead, tracing the hated symbol.
"Now you’ll always belong to us."

Chan wanted to scream, but no sound escaped his throat. The symbol burned into his skin, and he woke up with a start, gasping for air. His shirt was soaked with sweat, and his room was eerily silent.

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Movie suggestion: Halloween 3: Season Of The Witch (1982)