INSUPER :: ʟᴜᴄᴀs | ɴᴄᴛ [✓]

,ELEVEN

ELEVEN

when the traffic light turned green, irene pressed on the accelerator, speeding up and turning to her right, her car following the dissolving queue.
after she entered the familiar street, the lady parked in front of a big dark house. grabbing a basket full of goods and gifts, as she cheerfully got out of the vehicle.

running through the sidewalk that leaded to the front door, the female gently ringed the bell, the usual, yet loud sound spreading in the insides.

no one answered.

«weird...»

irene mumbled a bit disappointed, while trying to ring at boys once again, but still, without an answer.

without thinking twice, she placed her hand on the doorknob and at her surprise it easily turned around. walking in, as her steps echoed in the apparently empty building, she looked at her surroundings. suddenly feeling uneasy and suspicious.

«lucas?!»

«ten?!»

«guys, if this is a joke then it's not funny!»

she aggressively shouted, in the middle of the silent living room.

too silent for her liking.

but that wouldn't stop her from guessing what was actually going on.
irene dropped the basket on the table and slowly climbed the steps, her cold hand following the walls.

as she walked past the various rooms, irene felt more and more anxious. if this was really a prank, she must admit that they were very good pranksters. but a bad feeling told her that something not so good happened.

she finally arrived at lucas and mark's room.
she took a deep breath and then entered the allowance which was completely empty.

a frown appeared on the girl's face, who went and sat on her boyfriend's bed trying to figure out the whole situation.
was something going on for real?
why did nobody tell her?

irene grabbed her phone from the pocket of her jacket and dialled doyoung's number: among everyone in the group, he was the only one who learned how to use the device.

no answer.

without giving up yet, she dialled fatuma's number. the phone rang for awhile, then a familiar voice answered

«hello it's fatum-»

«hey fatuma, what's going on with the boys?!»

«...a, if you're listening to this then i'm obviously busy.
leave a message after the beep!
beEPP..!»

the recorded voice of the friend ended the audio with an awful imitation of the normal voicemails.

irene sighed in frustration, not knowing what to do nor where to go. everything seemed so ambiguous and confusing.
she had no clue of what was behind the sudden disappearance of her friends.

then, she reconnected all this matter with the strange behavior of kun, who unfortunately left the night before for a trip to the seaside with his friend from the cooking class.

«this time they actually made it, tsk.»

the girl whispered to herself, letting her body fall on the soft surface.

her dark eyes casually stared at the ceiling, as if that would help her find a decent solution.

she then remembered something, no... someone.
someone who would surely help her or at least give her some good information.

she finally stood up and exited the house, as she ran towards her car and started the engine, ready to head to johnny's.

when she opened the door of his studio, irene met a busy artist and haechan, concentrated on analyzing a large map placed on the table

«i...irene?»

the younger male called out, his eyes opened wide because of the shock.

the older one raised his head as well, immediately hiding the papers the same moment he met her emotionless gaze.

«i don't know why i find myself to always ask you, but...
what's going on?»

the female asked with a low voice, unlively and tired.

the other two looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders in unison, ready to casually answer the poor lady

«we're preparing to go to the site where taeil and the guys are going to battle for the last time.»

«excuse me? battle?»

irene's face suddenly became paler, while her legs started slightly trembling.

«yes, but don't worry. johnny has a better plan rather than someone's soon death.»

haechan confessed smiling, as he gently grabbed the girl's arm and let her take a seat in front of the desk.

johnny the stood up and went towards her, bending down.
he took her hands in his, drawing small circles on them from time to time and looked straight in her eyes

«irene, everything will be fine, but i have to ask you some questions if you really want to get involved in this...»

the taller said with a serious tone and then continued

«do you really love lucas and would you do anything for him?»

«yes.»

«would you even loose your life to grant your and his happiness?»

«how can my death grant us-»

«please answer my question.»

the male's tone become more and more serious.

the darkness in his eyes scared the girl a bit, who didn't really know how to react to such a question and just nodded a bit unsure.

«okay.
i can't really expose my real intentions,
but i have to ask you to give up on your rights and identity as a human being, to become a character of one of my final paintings...»

irene whispered a low "oh my goodness", as the man in front of her was speaking.
he obviously felt uneasy asking such a thing to a twenty-three years old lady, who had a whole life to leave peacefully, as she deserved.

«you won't be able to comunicate with your parents, your schoolmates.
you won't be able to age as a human,
you won't be able to exit your own painting and you won't be able to burn it.

are you still willing to give up on life?»

unedited

[...]

note: and what about you?
would you loose your identity as a human just to be part of a painting?

— ZENO