The Party That Killed || Hyunlix

51 🕸️

Jungmin pov.
I had always feared this moment. I always knew it would come eventually, but I wasn’t ready for it. When my parents asked me to come to the kitchen, I felt something was off. The air in the house seemed heavier, like every moment could be the one where everything changed. And it did. I knew it would affect all of us, but I didn’t expect just how much it would change everything, especially me.

I sat at the table, trying not to look at their faces, knowing there was no turning back. My father sat across from me, as quiet and serious as ever, while my mother sat beside him, her face unreadable. I felt that things weren’t the same anymore, that I wasn’t the same Jungmin who used to come home every day after school.

"You need to understand this, Jungmin," my father said, his voice cold and firm, without warmth. "From now on, you will be part of our new path. Are you ready for what lies ahead?"

I looked at him, a sense of emptiness filling my chest. Something felt wrong, but I didn’t know what exactly. I just sat there, listening to his words, knowing I had no choice.

"But what exactly am I supposed to do?" I asked, trying to understand, but not hiding the sense of foreboding I already felt.

"You will work with us, with the group we are now part of," my mother said, her voice calm but there was something in that calmness that unsettled me.

"About what...?" I hesitated, unsure how to finish the question.

"It's about you working for them. You are part of what’s coming. It’s something you have to do. And don’t ask for more. You have new duties now," my father replied, looking me straight in the eyes.

I felt my heart racing, like it was trying to escape my chest. What did they expect from me? My mind was silent, and I didn’t know how to respond.

"But why? Who is this group?" I asked, unable to stop my curiosity. I needed to understand what they were getting me into.

"This is not the time for questions. Your task is simple — don’t tell Seungmin. And don’t talk about it with anyone else," my father said, as though there were no more doubts.

I froze. I couldn’t understand. Why Seungmin? My thoughts were racing. We had always been together, always shared everything, but now... now I couldn’t tell him? I felt something snap inside me. It all suddenly became much more complicated.

"But... why can’t I tell him?" My voice was full of uncertainty.

"Seungmin isn’t ready. You are," my mother replied, as though that explained everything.

"This is a family matter, Jungmin. And you have to accept it," my father added.

"But I... I don’t know if I can. I don’t know how to do this," I said softly, feeling my heart start to break under the weight of those words.

"Do what you must. No one said it would be easy," my father said, ending the conversation.

I stood up, still feeling the weight of their words on my shoulders. I could feel that something was changing, but I had no idea how much it would affect me, how it would change all of us. And even though I wanted to tell Seungmin, I knew I couldn’t. I had to carry this secret on my own now. And I didn’t know how long I’d be able to bear it.

≈🎃≈

The families were sitting together at a large table in the spacious living room. In the background, soft music played, creating a false sense of calm. Everyone was trying to look composed, but it wasn’t hard to feel the tension in the air. Chan’s parents, as well as my parents and Seungmin, were discussing our future. The atmosphere was filled with unspoken words that hung in the air. There was one more boy, whose name I didn’t know. At least, they hadn’t told me.

Chan’s parents looked warm and caring, full of hope. I wanted to feel at ease, but something didn’t sit right with me. On the other hand, my parents were trying to look calm, but their eyes were full of worry. And that boy? He didn’t need to say anything because he knew he had power, and he could use it at any moment.

Finally, my parents said it was time for us to get acquainted. Everyone stood up, and my parents looked at me, then at Chan.

"Chan, maybe you can introduce yourself to Jungmin? You’ll have to work together, so it would be good if you got to know each other," Chan’s father said.

My parents stood up, and I felt their gazes on me. I felt like I was about to be put to the test. I looked at Chan. He stared at me for a moment, unsure of what to do, but eventually stood up, and I followed him onto the balcony.

On the balcony, silence fell. The air was cool, but it didn’t feel freezing, as if this place was suspended between the world I knew and the one I was just starting to discover. I stood there with Chan, not knowing what to say. I just stared at him, waiting for some sign. In his eyes, I saw calmness, but there was something more — a deeper thought I’d rather not uncover.

"You know... this is weird for me," I began, feeling my words linger in the air. "I’ve always lived in the shadows, tried not to stand out, but now everything is changing. I don’t know if I can find my place in this."

He looked at me for a moment. His gaze was calm, but I felt like something inside him was shifting.

"I know what you’re feeling," he said quietly. "I’ve always had this sense of not fitting in, that what I wanted was out of reach. But sometimes you have to accept that the world isn’t what we want it to be. That we have to face what’s happening."

Exactly. I wasn’t alone in this. This wasn’t just my fight, not just my doubts. And though I didn’t want to admit it, I knew there was something between us, something that connected us. Something that couldn’t be easily erased, no matter how hard we tried to escape it.

"I always thought our past would change something, but now I’m not so sure," I said, looking at him.

"Nothing changes the past, but what we do now can change everything. We are part of this world now. And we decide what happens to us," he replied.

Silence filled the space again. For a moment, we both looked away, staring at the sky. I saw how it darkened. It was like a boundary, one that once crossed, there was no turning back.

"So what now?" I asked, unsure of what I expected from this conversation.

"We’ll have to work together," he answered.

That’s when I felt it — this wasn’t just a conversation. It was something that could change our future. Something that couldn’t be undone.

🕸️🕸️🕸️

Movie suggestion: Halloween H20: Twenty Years Later (1998)