Black Swan

FINAL: No. 15 Scène: March - Allegro Giusto

I watch as Kai places a single white rose on the top of a gravestone, squatting in front of it with sorrow in his eyes. It's cold, rainy, and bleak. The heavens open up and cry, pelting the earth, staining the already darkened concrete black. I step forward, hand outstretched, and he takes it, lacing our fingers together.

"I'm sure Kyungsoo would be very proud of you," I tell him. Kai shrugs, brushing a tear from his cheek. He sighs, leaning back against me. I wrap my arms around him and press my chin against his shoulder. The rain gets heavier, and I am drenched through. Yixing stands further off, a black umbrella in his hands.

"Kyungsoo's been watching you," I continue, blushing as I brush my lips against Kai's forehead. "He knows what you did, that you danced to save me."

Kai's hands cover his mouth as he sobs, loudly, turning around and leaning into my chest. I am crying too. Yixing steps forward, coaxing Kai off of me, and pulls us both into a tight embrace. Kai first and then me, one after the other. His lips brush against mine and I hold him tighter, tighter than I've ever held anyone before. He gives me a small smile, brushing my drenched fringe back from my eyes.

"I... I think I just need some time alone," Kai whispers. I nod, sympathetic and guilty at the same time. I don't know what he's thinking, but I can imagine it must be extremely painful.

I realise now he had told the truth to me after all. Yixing told me my heart had stopped and I was dead, if only for seconds, before the paramedics were able to bring me back to life. To me, though, I was never dead. I was dreaming. Dreaming about Kyungsoo. This is something I can't tell Kai, because I know that he'll break.

I have told Yixing, though. I told him of the face I saw, the way it slowly descended into a living nightmare as time wore on, as Kai bashed against locked doors and tears ran down his face, as Kyungsoo repeatedly abused him with kicks to his stomach and deep fingernail scratches all over his arms. I watched as Kyungsoo tied the rope to the ceiling fan, bringing a chair underneath it. I spoke of the flicker of despair in his eyes, recognising it easily enough as I had seen it time and time again in my own reflection in the mirror. I saw Kai's loss, and Kyungsoo's loss of humanity. And now, I understand just how fragile my own mental state was.

Yixing takes my arm and leads me away from the gravestone, from Kai. He turns around, tells Kai that if he needs anything he knows where to find us, and gives him a small smile as he leans the black umbrella on Kai's shoulder. Kai waves us away, content on sitting in the rain for a few moments longer. I watch as steam rises from the ground and Kai's figure gets smaller and smaller in the distance.

Yixing shuts our apartment door quietly, kicking off his shoes at the entrance. He walks across to the couch and pats the space beside him. I follow his lead, eyes flickering across to the glass panes that open up to our balcony, raindrops glimmering against it as the lights from outside are caught and reflected. I seat myself down next to Yixing and lean against the pillows, sinking into the couch. Yixing stares, mesmerized, as my breathing becomes tiny gusts of steam in the cool air.

"It was good to finally be able to pay our respects to Kyungsoo," he says, finally filling the silence. I nod, tears pricking my eyes once again.

"I can't believe I thought Kai was a liar that whole time," I respond, shaking my head at myself. "I can't believe I never believed him." Yixing coaxes me into his arms, trailing kisses along my jawline.

"You weren't in the right state of mind, Luhan," he murmurs. "In time, I believe Kai will be able to forgive you - if he hasn't already, that is. He knows it was the curse that affected you, and that you're your old self once again - the Luhan that I fell in love with."

Yixing is strong, his biceps heavy with muscles. I feel the tremor of his skin as he flexes them against me, tightening his hold around my stomach. I sigh as he leans against me. He reaches for the hem of my dress shirt and tugs at it, fingers fiddling with the buttons and tossing it to the side. My tie comes next, tugged gently to one side and discarded on the floor. I release an involuntary shiver as the cool air hits my bare chest, my body still damp from the rain.