Downpour

INTO THE MIRROR

He doesn't wake up, as per se, because he's already standing up and he only has to open his eyes.

It takes him no time to adjust from the usual fogginess, and he's not even tired. It's simply like he blinked, and opened his eyes somewhere completely different.

The image of Jihoon curled up on the floor imprints itself into his mind, the picture flickering every time he closes his eyes, burned into his memory. He forces himself not to think about it. He's not there anymore. He escaped.

He's safe.

It's only then that he realises he's not alone, and he spins around to face whoever else is their, ready to run at a moments notice.

He sees Seokmin in front of him.

And nothing else.

There's nothing around him except for the older man, not even a colour. There's simply a void, impossible to describe. Emptiness. There's not a single colour he can pick out, not a single feature that remains in his mind after he looks away. It's like as soon as he closes his eyes, as soon as he he sees it, it leaves his brain.

Like it was never there in the first place.

It's almost as if he immediately forgets what was there, leaving a blank in his mind that itches at his memory.

And yet Seokmin looks like he's glowing in the contrast.

His skin is alight, warm against the abyss that surrounds him. He's looking at Chan, his eyes huge and friendly, and he smiles as he sees the younger. His teeth seem impossible white, streaming out beams of light. Around him, the darkness seems to shrink back, his colours bleeding into the emptiness.

Every aspect of him seems perfect, and Chan can't look at him for too long, blinded by the glow. He takes a step forward, and realises that the void has already surrounded him.

He's standing there, in the middle of nothing.

There's only emptiness around him, and he doesn't even know how he's standing. His limbs are tired and heavy from the lack of sleep, and his eyelids flutter shut. There nothing supporting him, and he almost feels as if he could topple over and hit the ground at any second.

His eyes shut for a second, and it takes an enormous physical effort to open them again. Every muscle in his body screams at him to just lie down and fall asleep, but he refuses.

There's a sick feeling in his gut that tells him that something wrong. He doesn't want to let his guard down, goosebumps running up his arms and down his spine. The feeling only increases as he stares at Seokmin, his stomach twisting itself into intricate knots.

He knows what's going to happen a second before it actually does.

The temperature drops several degrees, and he can see Seokmin's eyes widen, his hand stretching out towards Chan like he's trying to push him out of the way of something.

As it seemed to appear after he noticed it, the emptiness shatters into to sharp shards of glass, crashing down around them like deadly raindrops.

It's soundless, but the silence seems to hum with energy, a buzz of disappearance as it crumbles around him. The reality crumbles as he tries to avoid the spears of the void. There's nothing around him, and yet he can see the cracks.

He instinctively moves, holding his arms above him to protect his head, but there's nothing to fall on him. Absolutely nothing, and yet the smashing is everywhere, the glass dropping to the floor, a spiderweb of delicate lines appearing in the air.

Seokmin is by Chan's side without having moved. He grabs the younger's hand and pulls him further into the void, dragging him along.

Chan can't think, can't pull away. There's nowhere to pull away to, there's nothing around them, there're not even actually moving- and yet he can feel the wind around him as they run, he can feel his limbs moving.