Mirror

H o u s e O f C a r d s

|| e d i t e d ||

"A house made of cards, and us, inside. Even though the end is visible, even if it's going to collapse soon . . . even if it's a vain dream, stay like this a little more" ~ BTS, House of Cards (Full Length Edition)

카드의 집

H o u s e O f C a r d s

~ Ji-han ~

PANIC COMES IN THE FORM OF THREE MISSED CALLS AND AN EMPTY BED.

Though blurry and seen through half-closed lids, Jimin's name sears itself into my vision as it appears on my phone screen. The amount of light pouring from the device is absurdly cruel to bear witness to before three o'clock in the early morning and my eyes burn from the blast of sudden brightness. Nevertheless, I answer his call. If he's calling me now, it means that something has happened to either him or Jae-hyun. And if that's the case, then I have no choice but to hold my phone to my ear and listen.

"Jimin-hyun-"

"Ji-han-ah!" He cuts me off with a shout, his voice dripping with honest fear and crippling desperation. "Is Jae-hyun with you right now?"

In an instant, I slide down the rickety ladder of the bunk bed and peer down into the space where my brother usually sleeps. Well, rests; he doesn't sleep nearly as often as he should. I often worry over whether it's his lack of sleep that feeds his hallucinations or the other way around.

Regardless of whether he sleeps or rests, he's not there. The sheets are crumpled, his comforter shoved haphazardly to the foot of the bed, and on his pillow there is a visible indent where his head should be. But the young man himself is absent from the picture.

"Aish [shit]," I curse, already stumbling out of the room to check the bathroom. It, too, is empty, and despite the terrifying sense of dread quickly enveloping my mind, I can feel the tiniest hint of relief swirl about my chest. With last week's incident still a painfully fresh memory, I can't help but feel a little consolidated at the sight of the cramped, dark room with the still broken mirror being devoid of my brother's presence. Although seeing as he tends to avoid the lounge and kitchen at all times, that could only mean that he's left the apartment. Without having to even think about it, I am sprinting out the front door.

"No, he's not here!" I hiss into the phone, my voice now also doused with fearful apprehension. "He must have left while I was asleep. How . . . how did you-"

He interrupts me again, only this time he's answering a question, not asking one.

"He called me not five minutes ago before something went wrong on his end. I think he might be outside. I heard rain."

I swear again, blindly feeling along the hallway wall with one hand, clutching my phone in the other. It's almost impossible to navigate your way through this building during the daytime, let alone at night. I hate to think how Hyung must have don't it when he sees things that aren't really there. Things that aren't even real at all.

"Ji-han-ah." There's a heavy pause on the other line before Jimin murmurs in a tone softer and more careful than I thought he was capable of. "He said that you were leaving him."

As easily as a stalled vehicle, I stop moving immediately. His words have my legs locking in place and my entire body freezing up. A vicious whirlwind of blurred anguish, total horror, and faint relief surges through me and while my chest tightens, my shoulders feel as though the weight of the world has just been lifted from them.