The Demon Next Door

29

There was no one next to Kyungsoo when he woke up.

He sat up, back aching from his sexual encounter with Jongin the night before, and swept the room with one glance of his eyes. Nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary except the fact that Jongin had disappeared.

Running a hand through his wild sex hair, Kyungsoo urged his legs to fix him into a standing position. He flushed at no one in particular for being naked, and scrambled to put a pair of boxers of on.

It was when he was walking to his dresser that he noticed the bars on the window.

Steel. Thick. Impenetrable. How had they appeared there overnight? Kyungsoo reached a hand out toward them, feeling the smooth metal, wondering how and why did they get there.

He grasped the bars and shook them like a frantic jailbird. What was the reason behind this prison? Kyungsoo scratched his head and gave the bars an angry snarl before walking out of his room.

He ventured downstairs slowly, wondering how Jongin was going to visit him now with the obstacles blocking the window. On the way down, he heard voices whispering in the kitchen, one in specific rising in volume from what Kyungsoo could only presume was anger.

There was silence once Kyungsoo came into full view. He stared at the kitchen table in horror, terrified that Jongin, Mrs. Do, and Mr. Do were all seated at it. Jongin looked dreadfully pale, visibly shriveling up.

Mr. Do stood up and gestured to Kyungsoo's routine spot at the table. "Have a seat."

Legs shaking and palms sweating, Kyungsoo did as he was told. He noticed how Jongin had been placed at the opposite end of the table, and Kyungsoo had a feeling that hadn't been the younger man's choice.

Mrs. Do tapped her fingers nervously on the table, obviously wanting her knitting kneedles more than anything at the moment, while Mr. Do's hard glare pierced into Kyungsoo like a knife, and like a chainsaw when it landed on Jongin.

"Do you know what I walked into this morning when I came into your room?"

Kyungsoo stole a courageous glance at his father, only to cower under Mr. Do's flaming eyes and disappointed scowl. Kyungsoo shrunk in his seat, praying for a way for him to simply melt into the furniture.

The tips of Kyungsoo's ears grew red as he shook his head. Oh, yeah. He knew all right. Kyungsoo wanted to punch himself in the face so badly for not being more careful with Mr. Do in the house.

"Honey," Mrs. Do tried, placing an arm on her husband's. "Please don't overreact about this. You're about to give the boys heart attacks."

"Oh, shut up!" the man cried. "You knew all along and didn't tell me! How dare you keep such a secret from me, you old hag?!"

Mrs. Do immediately lost her voice. Kyungsoo gave her a thankful smile for the failed attempt.

His father turned on Jongin then. "And you. You. You're the disease that infected my son, aren't you? The reason why he started smoking, the reason why he dressed like a slut, the reason why his grades went down, the reason why he turned into a failure. It's you, right? You've messed up my son's life!"

"I love him," came the barely audible reply. "I'm sorry for that."

The maniacal laugh that ripped through the kitchen scared the wits out of Kyungsoo. Never had he heard his father sound so insanely sarcastic, nor had he ever seen him as angry as he was now. Mr. Do's eyes were lit with a hatred so deep and vile that Kyungsoo percieved as poison.

Mr. Do scoffed. "You love him, huh? How much did you love him when you fucked H.I.V into him, hm?"

"I don't have it!" Kyungsoo cut in.