hiding, lurking » pentagon

23

❝ T W E N T Y T H R E E ❞

━ remember what i told you last time?

When Wooseok knocked on Kino's door, he prayed that no one would answer, but Kino did, and promptly. Like he'd been waiting. He looked like he hadn't slept in days, but he also looked sad and hopeful at the same time, like he wanted to forgive Wooseok so badly even though a part of him knew something was wrong. Maybe that was why he looked like he hadn't slept; maybe he'd agonized over this every night since it happened.

Wooseok hated everything in the moment in which he crossed Kino's threshold.

"It's too stuffy in here," Kino said in a thin voice. "I was thinking we could sit outside, by the pool."

"Sure," Wooseok answered, tongue stiff and awkward. He followed Kino outside, and his hand slipped inside his pocket to play with the army knife. It had been a gift from his grandfather, who taught him how to use every tool it had, and it made him sick to stomach to think about why he had it. As if the demon was listening in on his thoughts, it made him take the knife out of his pocket and drop it, covering up the clatter of the knife on the patio by clearing his throat. Kino looked over his shoulder and Wooseok's lips lifted in response. Kino took off his shoes and rolled up his pants, Wooseok following suit, and they sat on the edge of the pool with their legs in the water. The lights beneath the water threw a shimmering aqua curtain over everything, giving what would most likely become a crime scene a tranquil glow. Unbidden, the opening notes of Clair de Lune echoed from his memories. With the notes came the image of his grandmother's arthritic fingers, managing to play with a graceful ease.

"You wanted to apologize?" Kino asked tentatively. His eyes, unsure and big, searching Wooseok's face, looked vulnerable and nervous. The lights from the pool seemed to dance in his irises. Wooseok became aware of the crickets chirping, a steady drone that went hand-in-hand with summer. Suddenly, their symphony seemed to be composed entirely of blasphemy and curses.

Wooseok's mouth opened and the demon poured out of it, invisible, leaving him confused and grasping for words, almost unbalanced by his freedom.

"Kino, it's a trap," he said, voice low and urgent. He leaned in closer, as if proximity would make Kino understand, and because he did, he saw the tiny change come over Kino as the demon possessed him instead. It was nearly unnoticeable. Just a tiny flicker in the other boy's eyes, nothing you would notice if you weren't looking.

Kino turned his head slowly to meet Wooseok's eyes. He said nothing.

"Kino," Wooseok said, voice tinged with panic now, "If you can hear me, try to fight the demon. I don't know if you can, but try to focus on yourself, like a strong memory or something. Try to take control back. It'll kill us both!"

The shimmering light seemed cold now, like it knew it would be bathing a murder in illumination and it didn't care.

Kino did not respond, nor did the demon.

"K-Kino?"

Kino got up and stood, dripping, on the patio, with his bare feet and rolled-up pants. He looked normal, like this could be any other late night they would spend swimming and watching movies. And then he lunged to pick something up from the ground, movements nearly animalistic, shattering the illusion. When he straightened, something in his hand winked from the light.

Wooseok realized that it was his army knife and it suddenly made sense why it was in his pocket, why the demon had forced him to clean off the dust covering it. He scrambled to his feet, preparing to run back to his car the second Kino so much as stepped in his direction, but Kino didn't do that at all.

He watched, paralyzed, as Kino drove the knife into his own stomach, then again and again. Wooseok sprinted forward and wrenched the knife from Kino's grasp, throwing it into the pool and grabbing his arms, restraining him. He thrashed in Wooseok's hold, trying to kick at him, trying to break free. Blood was everywhere, soaking their clothing. Wooseok realized it was slicking his hands, making it hard to hold onto Kino. The other boy's thrashing was too powerful and Wooseok was forced to let go or get hurt; Kino had started trying to headbutt him. The second he loosened his grip, Kino exploded away from him, face a twisted mask of hatred.

"Kino! If you can hear me, try to fight it! You can't let it win!" Wooseok shouted, knowing it was hopeless, knowing it was futile, knowing that Kino might as well be dead already.

Kino froze, staring at Wooseok. His eyes were blank, mouth stuck in a snarl.

Wooseok could barely recognize him, and in his mind he saw Kino leaning over Jinho's body; he saw Jinho dying, just like in his nightmares. He knew that what had killed Jinho was not Kino, and he knew that the thing staring at him was not Kino.

But then it was Kino. The pupils flickered again, and the hatred was replaced with agony and fear, and Kino collapsed with a hand outstretched towards Wooseok.

"Wooseok..." He mumbled in a voice constricted by pain. Wooseok ran forward again, helping Kino sit up. He supported the bleeding boy with a hand on his back, watching his eyes, watching for the tiny flicker.

"It hurts," Kino whimpered, face crumpling. His hand was pressed to his stomach. Tears, silver streaks in the pool lights, slipped down his cheeks. "I can feel it coming back--I can feel it, I can't--"

"Shh, it'll be okay," Wooseok said, vision blurred by tears because the lie tasted bitter on his tongue.

"I can't let it win," Kino said in a hard voice, and pushed Wooseok away, using that second of confusion to lunge towards the pool and throw himself in.

"Kino!" Wooseok screamed, jumping in after him, opening his eyes to the stinging chlorine only to see Kino inhaling water. Kino's eyes were open, staring straight at him, and he said in the demon's voice, "You're next if you don't start running," or maybe the voice was inside him, all around him; maybe it was everything and had always been everything.

Wooseok swam to the surface, gasping for air, then dragged himself out of the pool. As he sprinted to his car, dripping wet and cold and shaking, he looked back.

Kino never came back up to the surface.

GUYS I HAD OPEN HOUSE TODAY AND JUST REALIZED SCHOOL STARTS IN LIKE A WEEK OR SMTH I HAVE LESS TIME THAN I THOUGHT SHIT

also i found out ive been writing this for over a year. a YEAR. why cant i have this much determination with original stuff? why only fanfiction? why god?????

anyway i stumbled across this fic called melody by taellipsies and i feel bad bc im ghost reading but its super good. its a soulmate au, and the humor is so realistic and actually funny, the main character (hyojong) is complex, the relationships are complex, the characters have actual thoughts and feelings, jinho is deaf but still sassy and adorable at the same time AND it features hui, yuto, and shinwon in a band. what more could you want honestly?? btW its huidawn which is slightly awkward bc i support edawn and hyunas relationship 100% but i never take fanfic seriously so i just read it in good fun