The Party That Killed || Hyunlix

53 🕸️

3rd person pov.
Jungmin sat on the edge of his bed, staring at the piece of paper he had found earlier in his father's study. At first glance, it appeared to be an ordinary document, but the more he read, the more unsettled he became. It was a detailed set of instructions about a "loyalty test" within the Sect of the Damned.

The trial involved something that sounded like a crime – "cleansing" people outside the group. Although Jungmin didn’t fully understand what the word meant, his intuition told him it was something bad. His heart raced as his eyes scanned the text.

His father's words from their last conversation still echoed in his mind: "Don’t ask questions, just do what we tell you. It’s for your own good. And for your brother’s good."

The door suddenly creaked open, and Seungmin appeared in the room with a book tucked under his arm. "Jungmin, what are you doing?" he asked, sitting next to him.

Jungmin quickly folded the paper and tucked it under his pillow. "Nothing important. Just thinking," he replied, trying to sound casual.

Seungmin tilted his head, as if trying to read something from his older brother's face. "You know, I’ve been feeling like you’ve been occupied with something lately. Is something going on?"

Jungmin forced a pale smile and rubbed his face with his hands. He couldn’t tell him the truth. He couldn’t drag Seungmin into what was happening in their family. "Everything’s fine, really. I’m just thinking about school," he lied.

Seungmin shrugged and stood up. "Okay, but if you ever need anything, you know you can count on me, right?"

Jungmin waited until the door closed behind his younger brother before pulling out the paper again. For a moment, he considered destroying it. But he knew it wouldn’t change anything. The sect had already pulled their family in too deep for them to easily escape.

He looked out the window at the street in front of their house. He had to do something before this "loyalty test" became a reality. But whatever it was, he had to make sure Seungmin never found out.

≈🎃≈

Jungmin pov.
In the middle of the night, something jolted me awake. It was a quiet murmur of voices coming from the living room. At first, I tried to ignore the sounds, convincing myself it was just the TV, and my parents had forgotten to turn it off. But the longer I listened, the more the voices seemed different. Low, tense, with distinct notes of impatience and anger.

Something stirred inside me. Maybe it was curiosity, or maybe a warning I instinctively felt deep inside. I slid out of bed, trying to be as quiet as possible. The floor was cold, and my feet shivered not just from the chill.

When I reached the door of my room, I gently opened it, worried that the hinges would creak and reveal my presence. The hallway was dark, but the light spilling from the living room cast long shadows on the walls. The stairs were the biggest challenge – I knew every creaky step, but at that moment, it felt like every plank wanted to betray me.

I stood behind the wall leading to the living room, pressing my back to the cold surface. The conversation was now clearer.

"We need to set an example," the woman said in a firm tone. Her voice had something unsettling about it, something cold that pierced me to the core.

"I understand, but this is going too far," my father replied. He was tense, as if he didn’t fully believe his own words. "Intimidate, don’t destroy."

"Intimidation isn’t enough," the man interjected with chilling precision. His voice was low, almost a whisper, but carried a threat. "People need to know there’s no turning back. If we let one person go without consequences, the rest will start to doubt. Power demands sacrifices."