mymoodwriting

[mymoodwriting]

5.8k, Can't You See Me AU, high school setting, senior year, amnesia, subtle yandere behavior, mentions of psychiatric help, mentions of psychiatric hospitals, childhood trauma, repressed trauma, numb emotions, bleak outlook on life, teenage rebellion, sneaking out, mentions of unsolved murders, ghosts, childhood neglect, unintentional self-harm, blood, magic, head trauma, implied death

“Long time no see.”

It was the first day of your senior year of high school, and you knew a lot of expectations were on your shoulders. Over a week ago you had celebrated your 18th birthday, a milestone in your life that signified you were an adult, but you didn’t feel like one. You still had to graduate high school and even though you already had good grades, you still had to keep that up while juggling university applications. It was too soon in the year to be worrying about such things, but there wasn’t much else for you to do. While you were organizing your locker you were lost in thought, trying to make a plan until an unfamiliar voice interrupted you. When you looked over you saw five boys standing by your locker, all with smiles on their faces.

“Uh… hello, sorry, do I know you?”

“You don’t remember?”

“I’m not-”

The bell suddenly rang, cutting off the conversation. You didn’t want to be late on the first day, so you excused yourself and went on your way. The classrooms were always the same with no assigned seating, so you took a desk in the middle row next to a window. As the rest of your classmates came shuffling in you weren’t surprised that the seat next to you remained empty. You weren’t that social, so there wasn’t really anyone eager to sit with you. That was fine, it gave you more desk space and you could focus on your studies.

“Class, your attention, we have five new transfer students. Please introduce yourself, boys.”

To your surprise the strangers from before walked in and introduced themselves. No one really seemed to care, and the boys were told to take any empty seat. This time around you were a bit surprised when Yeonjun took the seat next to you.

“Hello again, sorry about the confusion earlier.” Yeonjun held his hand out to you. “Can we start over? I’m Yeonjun, it’s nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you too.”

You couldn’t help the smile as you shook Yeonjun’s hand. There was no reason to be mean or dislike him, it was all probably just some mistaken identity. It was best to start this year on a good note. Since Yeonjun was a transfer and new, he didn’t have any materials. You had no problem sharing your books with him as the day went on. When the lunch bell rang you packed up your things only to see Yeonjun and the others waiting around.

“It’s lunch time.” You explained. “I can show you where the cafeteria is.”

The group followed you as you went to the lunch room, getting some food and sitting with you. Usually you ate alone, so it was nice to have some company. They all properly introduced themselves to you, asking that you help them navigate this new place. You had no problem doing so, slowly becoming friends as the days went by. They stuck to you like lost puppies, asking about the school and suggesting you tutor them so they don’t fall behind. You always stayed after school to study in the library, and they joined you there too. A big table was always best as you could have all your materials present, and there were enough seats for everyone. Although sometimes you had to remind them to keep it down.

“I gotta use the restroom, be right back.”

Kai quietly excused himself from the table, and a while later another classmate of yours came over and took his seat. You offered them a smile, knowing you weren’t really friends, but the two of you weren’t strangers either.

“Hi, Misu.”

“Hey, I was wondering, do you think you could tutor me?”

“I’m kinda busy tutoring the new transfer students.”

“Uh… okay… then just let me know when you have time, if any.”

“Sure.”

Every now and then some of your classmates would ask for help, and you’d happily tutor them, but right now you had five boys to deal with, so it was best not to get someone else involved. Besides, Beomgyu made a sly little comment, saying the current dynamic was fine as it was for a study group, and a stranger would just throw it off. Thankfully they weren’t too much trouble with their studies, and gave you space too. Many times while you’d work on assignments during break they’d be nearby playing soccer or something. It was nice to have silent company like that, but you still had your own things to worry about. 

The year wasn’t all that different than the ones before, you just actually had some close friends around. Although you still needed time for yourself to just breathe. You’d usually sneak away during a free period and go up to the rooftop. It was quiet, out of sight, and had a nice view. For the most part you’d just lay on the ground and stare up at the sky, zoning out. This time around you snapped out of it when you heard the door open. You glanced over to see who it was, rather surprised to see your new friends.

“How did you find me?”

“Magic.”

You chuckled. “Sure.”

Without saying much else all the boys laid down on the ground with you, all your heads forming a circle. It was kinda nice to have some company up here too.

“The weather is nice today.” Taehyun mentioned. “What are you doing up here anyway?”

“Nothing… just thinking…”

“Is something wrong?”

“… I’m not sure…”

“What do you mean?”

“I… I don’t know… like, my life is okay, I’m okay, but I’m not really happy…” You said. “I feel like I was happier when I was a kid, but I don’t remember much of my childhood either… all I know is my parents got divorce and I was sent to a therapist.”

“A therapist?” Soobin questioned. “For what? The divorce?”

“No idea. I only know I went to a therapist cause I saw some letters for my mom with my name on it too that were from some children’s hospital. When I looked it up I saw the place specialized in child therapy.”

“Then, even if you don’t remember, do you want to know why you were in therapy?”

“Of course. Regardless of the reason, I eventually stopped going. I must have been cured or something, but whenever I tried to ask my mom about it she just avoided the subject.”

“I’m sure you’ll get answers soon.”

“Yeah, it should come back to me someday.”

❤❤❤❤❤

With exams right around the corner the school extended hours to allow for studying. They did it every year but you didn’t really stay late, there was no need, but this time around things were different. The boys asked you to help them prep, which meant late nights in the library. You had no problem doing so, you just needed to inform your mom.

“Hey, mom, I’m gonna be home late tonight. I’ll be staying at school after hours to study with some friends.”

“Oh, which friends?”

“They’re new. Soobin, Yeonjun, Beomgyu, Taehyun, and Kai. They’re really nice and you-”

“How did you meet them? Do you have any pictures of them?”

“No? Why would I have pictures of them? We haven’t really gotten together outside of school.”

“Okay… uh, that actually reminds me. I’ve been meaning to give you something.”

Your mom disappeared for a moment, coming back with her purse and rummaging around for a bit before giving you a business card. You looked it over, seeing a hospital logo and the name of a doctor.

“This wonderful lady is a therapist, and I thought you might go see her when you had a chance.”

“… a therapist…?”

“It’s your senior year, and with exams, I don’t want you getting overwhelmed and I’ve heard having someone to talk to could help.”

“Okay… I’ll go when I have a chance…”

“Good, just let me know.”

“I will. I’ll be heading out now, see you later, mom.”

“Bye, honey.”

Throughout the day you couldn’t help but think back to the morning and the card your mother had given you. It felt so sudden and out of nowhere, but then again she had a bit of a point. Once the day was over you looked up the hospital on your phone, but were interrupted by your friends.

“What’s wrong?”

“Huh?”

“You’ve been real quiet today.” Beomgyu mentioned. “Is everything alright?”

“Yeah, yeah, my mom was just acting weird this morning, and she gave me this card.”

“A card? For what?”

“She said I should go see a therapist so I don’t get stressed out over exams.”

“You’re not crazy.” Yeonjun said. “Why should you go to a psychiatrist?”

“It’s a therapist, that’s-”

“The hospital says psychiatry.”

“Huh?”

Yeonjun pointed at your phone and you realized what he meant. The hospital wasn’t listed as a regular one with a counselling department, but more of a psychiatric one. It did make the whole thing weirder, but you didn’t want to think too much about it.

“Either way, I told my mom I would go. Just to ease her mind.”

“What if you don’t walk out?”

“Kai.” Soobin hissed. “Don’t say that.”

“Sorry…”

“It’s fine.”

“Why don’t you skip the therapy and come hang out with us?” Taehyun asked. “You should come over to our place tomorrow.”

“Taehyun.” Soobin glared.

“What? We have a promise to keep…”

“What promise?” You questioned.

“We’ll give you the answer if you come.” Beomgyu teased. “So, what do you say?”

“Sure. We could study.”

“Awesome!”

The boys gave you their address, and that’s when you realized they all lived together. It made it easier to split the cost that way. Although after all that you told them to focus on their studies, as that was the point of staying late. Even if you’d all meet up tomorrow, it was important to make the most of today too.

❤❤❤❤❤

It wasn’t super late when you got home, but to your surprise your mom was up watching TV. She welcomed you home like usual, adding on a few questions.

“How was studying with your friends?”

“Fine. They just don’t like it.”

“You should bring them over some time.”

“Uh, well, the house isn’t meant for guests. That’s why I’ve never brought anyone else over… but they did invite me to go over to their house tomorrow to study and hang out.”

“Oh, and where do they live?”

“Hold on, I have the address written down somewhere.”

You found where to had written down the address and then recited it to your mom. The place wasn’t so far, and you had looked it up before. It was just a bus ride away that you didn’t mind taking. Although your mom had a very different reaction.

“You are not going there.”

“… what?”

“Tomorrow you are going to see that doctor I told you about.”

“I don’t- why can’t I go to my friend’s house?”

“Cause I said so.”

“You are being unreasonable!”

“I am your mother, what I say goes.”

“Then give me a good reason here.”

“Those friends of yours are bad news, so stay away from them.”

“You-”

The sound of your mother’s phone ringing cut the conversation short. You knew she had to take the call and wouldn’t be changing her mind so you just went to your room and locked the door behind you. There was no reason for her to freak out the way she did, but you weren’t gonna bring up the subject again. Tomorrow you were going to their house cause that’s what you wanted. You thought your mother would come check on you at some point, but you didn’t see her the rest of the night, so decided to turn in early. If you were really gonna go against her wishes you’d have to sneak out of the house in the morning before she woke up.

You knew her schedule, and working weekends were normal. She did get to sleep in a bit more, but just to be safe you got up and left the house before she usually woke up. You had never really done something so rebellious, so there was a new thrill with all of this. Since it was still early and the boys weren’t expecting you just yet you decide to get breakfast and buy some snacks. You’ve been out by yourself in the past, but it was nice knowing you didn’t have to go home after all this.  After eating and getting what you needed you checked the address and found the right bus stop. You never minded a bus ride. It was a nice little way to shut off your brain and listen to some music.

When you got off at your stop you checked your phone, not wanting to get lost. Yet you made your way around this place with ease, as if it wasn’t your first time here. Eventually you made it to the house, stopping to stare for a moment. An odd sense of deja vu passed over you, but you quickly pushed it aside and went up to the door to ring the bell. Just from the outside you could tell the house was nice, and you were rather jealous all five of them got to live in such a cozy place. A moment later Soobin opened the door, welcoming you with a smile.

“Hey, glad you could make it, come in!”

Soobin stepped aside to let you in, calling out to the others to let them know you had arrived. Soon you heard racing steps, seeing Kai come down from upstairs and the others from other rooms. They all happily embraced you into a hug, incredibly overjoyed to have you there. Taehyun took the snacks you had brought, thanking you for them. Of course you figured this was a study session but the boys insisted it was too early for that and suggested you play some games first. They nagged and begged until you caved, then you were in the living room with a game controller in hand and beating them senseless. There wasn’t any bad blood but a lot of praise. 

“How about we take a break and do something else.” Taehyun suggested. “Oh, I know, let’s make cookies!”

“Yeah, yeah!” Kai agreed. “We should have some cookie dough in the freezer.”

Next thing you knew you were in the kitchen with all the boys rolling up some balls of cookie dough. This was quite fun and cute, although it would be a while before the cookies were ready. So you needed to find something to do. You thought you’d go back to the video games, but another game was suggested.

“Why don’t we play hide and seek?” Yeonjun said.

“Hide and seek?”

“Yeah. The house hasn’t undergone any remodeling, so everything is exactly as it once was.”

“What does-”

“Let’s play!” Beomgyu chimed in. “Please, please!”

The others soon began cheering, clearly all in and just wanting you to agree too. Their joy and energy rubbed off on you, so you eventually caved. You played rock paper scissors till you had a loser and that person would be it, which ended up being Beomgyu. He was going to count to one hundred while everyone else found somewhere to hide. Nothing was off limits as far as you knew, so you just wanted to find a good hiding spot. Instinctively you went upstairs, turning and going into a random room. It was kind of empty but you noticed a bed, and got down to crawl under it only to find Taehyun there. The two of you began laughing quietly.

“How did I know you’d find your way here?” Taehyun commented. “I’ll go, you stay, and be quiet.”

Taehyun got up and ran out the room, going off to find somewhere else. A moment later you heard Beomgyu shout that he was gonna start looking. You put a hand over your mouth and listened for footsteps. It really was silly to play such a game, yet it was very fun too. You couldn’t remember the last time you had done such a thing. When you saw someone enter the room you held your breath, hoping not to get caught. Whoever was in here sat on the bed, bouncing a bit but thankfully you weren’t hit. Then all of a sudden it stopped and Beomgyu got down on the floor, staring straight at you.

“Found you!”

Laughter escaped your lips and you moved to get out from under the bed, wanting to run out, only for Beomgyu to grab the blanket and use it to trap you, wrapping you up in it and pinning you to the bed. He started tickling you and your laughter grew louder.

“Stop! Beomgyu! This is cheating!”

Eventually he stopped, but your laughter had attracted the others. When you got out from under the blanket you saw a pillow fight going on as the others attacked Beomgyu. This was so childish but you were all in, getting a pillow and smacking Kai in the face. Now it was gonna be you and Beomgyu against the rest. Although you had to cut the game short when feathers started flying, realising you might have broken a pillow or two.

“Sorry…”

“It’s fine.” Soobin assured. “We can clean up later.”

“Let’s switch to tag.” Taehyun said, throwing his pillow against Soobin’s face. “You’re it!”

The rest of the boys ran out laughing and you soon followed, heading downstairs and looking for another place to hide. You were thinking of the kitchen when an open door suddenly caught your attention. There was something about it that drew you in, so you stepped closer and found some stairs going down. This was likely the entrance to the basement, which would be a good place to hide. You found a light switch outside the door and then headed down, slipping on a loose step but you managed to grab onto the railing before tumbling down. You hurried down the stairs and made it to the basement, seeing it was rather dusty except for a book on the floor.

Even if it seemed new, the design of it was old. It was leather bound and when you opened it up you saw inscriptions in a language you didn’t recognize, and weird symbols as well. The first thing that came to mind was that this was some kind of spell book, but that didn’t make sense. Magic and all other supernatural things weren’t real, yet you kept browsing the pages. Then you made it to the last page, eyes going wide as you saw something written out that you could somewhat read. Your head started to hurt and you stumbled back, falling to the floor. 

You were trying to process everything when you suddenly heard a child laughing upstairs, followed by rushing footsteps. The headache was subsiding so you got up and made your way back upstairs, keeping the book in hand. It was extremely quiet in the house now, making you nervous. Before you had a chance to call out to one of the boys you saw a little girl walk out of the kitchen, hugging a toy to her chest and looking sad. You were so confused, but then it dawned on you that the little girl was you, your younger self. Words caught in your throat and you followed her as she quietly made it to the living room and plopped down to play with her toys. This all felt so surreal, then you heard yelling from the kitchen, recognizing your parents’ voices. You were going to go investigate when you heard the little girl whimper.

She was hugging her toy tightly, clearly trying not to cry over the loud noises. Then to your own surprise a familiar face entered the room, going over to the little girl and covering her ears. The girl got quiet and looked up to see the boy’s face, seeing the smile he had. It made her smile in return, feeling less scared. He leaned in closer and carefully moved his hand away, asking if the girl wanted to go upstairs and play. She nodded and got up, holding his hand and the two went upstairs. You watched them for a moment before heading up after them. Just as you made it upstairs you saw them go into the room you had originally chosen to hide in. As you stepped closer you heard laughter, and when you stood in the doorway to the room a new sight was before you.

Five boys were gathered around with the little girl having a tea party. There were smiles all around, and everyone seemed to be genuinely happy. Then the scene before you would change once more. The boys were gone and the little girl was crawling under the bed to hide. You could hear her giggles, stepping closer and peeking under yourself. A moment later you saw one of the boys come in, looking around and eventually finding the girl under the bed. The two laughed and the girl tried to run away, but she was caught in the boy’s arms. He swung her around and put her on the bed, wrapping her up in a blanket and tickling her. They both seemed to be having so much fun, and then the others entered the room, starting a pillow fight. Of course they went easy on the little girl, but they were all having fun.

Feathers filled your vision and then things were different once more. Blankets and pillows had been arranged in a way to make a little fort, and inside the girl was listening to one of the boy read her a bedtime story. You could tell some time had passed as the little girl’s hair was longer, but the boys all looked the same. It was clear the girl had become close friends with them, but things weren’t right. While watching this scene you heard another voice, looking back to see a younger version of your mother in the doorway. She told little you that it was time to go to bed, but made no effort to help. Once she was gone the boy repeated her words, helping the little girl out of the fort so she could get into bed. She asked him to finish reading and he did, watching the girl sleep for a while.

The scene faded and the room returned to its plain state. You thought whatever this was had come to an end, but you heard a commotion downstairs. You rushed to find the source, seeing the little girl talking with her mother, clearly trying to understand what was going on. Then you realized what this was. The mother was trying to explain to the little girl about the divorce, about how mom and dad would be separating, and she wouldn’t be living in this house anymore. The words stung, but thankfully the weight of the situation didn’t burden the little girl. Instead she went off to the living room to play with her friends.

Everything seemed fine until the little girl brought up the divorce, asking her friends to come with her to her new home. You saw their smiles drop a bit as they heard all this. One of them took the little girl’s hands in his own, telling her in a gentle voice that they wouldn’t be able to go with her. She didn’t understand, but the news was breaking everyone’s heart. He told her that they were stuck in this house, it was their home, it was where they belonged. The little girl wasn’t getting it, but tears stung her eyes. The only real way they could explain it was telling her that it was magic. A spell that had been placed on them so they couldn’t leave home. If she left, they would not follow even if they wanted to.

The little girl cried for a long time, taking the hands of the boy trying to calm her and going towards the back door. She tried again and again to get them outside, but an invisible wall kept them from crossing the door’s threshold. Eventually the girl collapsed onto the floor, sobbing and claiming it wasn’t fair. All the boys had gathered around, asking her to come back inside so she wouldn’t be alone. It took a while but eventually she came into the house, the boys hugging her and telling her everything was going to be alright. The little girl didn’t want to leave, saying it over and over again, but the boys understood such a thing was out of their control. Then the little girl said something unexpected as she calmed her sobs.

“If… if magic… means you stay here… then… I… I want to make a promise… a magic one…”

The boys exchanged looks, having a silent conversation among themselves. There was some kind of conflict, but eventually they all seemed to agree. They took the little girl downstairs to the basement. You followed behind them, seeing one of the get a book from a hidden place. It looked just like the one you had in hand now. You watched as the boys opened up the book to a blank page and one handed you a pencil, telling you that you could write out your promise in the magic book so it would be kept. You already knew what was going to be written, and it made sense why it was hard to read. At this age the little girl didn’t know how to write properly.

“I promise…” The little girl spoke as she wrote. “To come back home when I’m a big girl, so I can play with my friends forever. If I forget my promise, I want my friends to come find me and remind me.”

Of course magic wasn’t that simple. The words on the page began to glow and the little girl screamed as she got cut by something. Her wrist began to bleed and blood pooled into her palm. She seemed to understand what to do, placing her bloody handprint onto the next page of the book. That was her signature, your signature, and then the little girl collapsed. The boys were going to tend to the little girl when loud footsteps were suddenly rushing down the stairs. You saw a younger version of your father panic as he saw his daughter unconscious and bleeding. You realized the book and the boys were nowhere to be found. Then the father was rushing back upstairs while calling an ambulance. 

You followed behind them, heading back upstairs but you stopped short, getting a weird sensation and looking back. There you saw the boys down in the basement, one of them holding the book close to their chest. You didn’t dwell on that too long before going up, although instead of being back in the house you were somewhere else entirely. The plain colors and sound of machines soon let you know you were in a hospital. It only took a moment to see the little girl lying in bed, a bandage wrapped around her wrist and a heart monitor on her index finger. You slowly approached the bedside as she began to wake, but your attention was drawn elsewhere. You heard voices just outside the room, yelling in low whispers.

“Where the hell were you!? Why was she alone!? And how did she get in the basement!?”

“I don’t know! Nothing serious happened, she’s fine.”

“Fine!? She slit her wrist!”

“It must have been an accident.”

“I hope so!”

You stepped back when you saw the mother come in, seeing her sit at the bedside, smiling at her daughter who was now awake.

“Hi, baby, how are you feeling?”

“I’m fine… where are we?”

“The hospital, you hurt your wrist. Baby, what were you doing in the basement?”

“Hm… I was making a promise with my friends.”

“Friends? What friends?”

“My friends. They live in the house with me. There’s Soobin, Yeonjun, Beomgyu, Taehyun, and Kai. They play with me all day.”

“… okay…”

“Can we go home now? I wanna let my friends know I’m okay.”

“Uh, not yet, baby. Just rest up okay, I’ll get the doctor to check up on you.”

You stayed with your younger self, but you could still hear conversations right outside the room. At one point the parents started talking about the five boys. The mother was worried about her daughter’s mental health, meanwhile the father said it was normal for children to have imaginary friends. 

“What kind of imaginary friend gets you to hurt yourself!”

“If not imaginary then what? Don’t tell me you seriously think our daughter has been talking to ghosts?”

“I always knew something was off with the house, and I was right! You lied from the start, hid the fact that five boys were murdered in that house! To this day they’re still unidentified, yet you only cared about how low the price was.”

“I put a roof over our heads!”

“And now look where we are!”

“Our daughter is not talking to ghosts.”

“That doesn’t change the fact she got hurt! You were supposed to watch her!”

“As if you’ve been doing so great with her care too.”

“This kinda shit from you is exactly why we are getting a divorce!” The mother yelled. “I am not taking my daughter back to that house. The two of us will be staying with my sister from now on. I’ll go by to collect her things later.”

The little girl soon left the hospital with her mother, and you followed unwillingly. This house you did recognize as your aunts. You stayed with the little girl as she played with her toys in the guest room, asking her mother and aunt when she’d be going home, but they’d always change the subject. Then it happened, the little girl was taken to a therapist. Of course child therapy was different, but images, memories, almost seemed to blur together for you in that moment. Over and over again that little girl was told her friends were imaginary, and that she had to let go. She was returning to school soon, and it was better to make real friends. The therapy continued and moved towards the divorce. As to how she was feeling about the separation and what she was doing to manage. It was clear the memory of her special friends were fading.

“I don’t think your daughter was talking to ghosts, ma’am.” The therapist explained. “It’s normal for kids to have imaginary friends, and as you’ve seen, your daughter has made progress in moving past this phase of her childhood.”

“It still worries me… she wouldn’t know about the tragedy that happened in the house. I never spoke of it near her.”

“Perhaps she heard it from somewhere else. Even if the case was kept quiet, surely the neighbors would know of that house’s history. Someone could have mentioned such a thing to your daughter. From there her imagination could run wild. It’s not uncommon for neglected children to develop imaginary friends.”

“I did not neglect my child!”

“I am not making any sort of accusation. I’m merely saying, your daughter likely had imaginary friends to help her get through the divorce. Both of you were busy with that and didn’t spend as much time with her. She just didn’t want to be alone, and now she isn’t, so there’s no need for imaginary friends anymore.”

Now you understood why your mother freaked out the other day when you mentioned your new friends. She had heard those names before and she feared what that meant. You glanced back at the little girl playing with her toys, unaware of the things going around her. Suddenly your head began to hurt, and in that moment it all came back to you. All the years you had forgotten about, the memories you had lost, the friends you had lost. You grabbed your head and collapsed to the floor, then everything cut to black.

❤❤❤❤❤

You inhaled sharply as you regained consciousness, sitting up and looking around. You found yourself back in the basement of the boy’s house, your old house actually. The supposed magic book was on the floor next to you, and you quickly grabbed it, turning to the last page. There you saw the promise written out and the bloody handprint. Your fingers hovered over the words, and you couldn’t help but wonder.

“Are you real…?”

“Believe me.”

You jumped slightly as you heard a voice, looking back to see the boys by the stairs, Yeonjun holding his hand out to you. In the moment all you could do was stare. After all these years they looked exactly the same. Not even a day older. The images of playing tag and pillow fights and having tea parties with them flashed before your eyes. That’s when the tears started to slide down your cheeks.

“I’m sorry.”

You got up and hugged Yeonjun tightly, crying into his shoulder. The others gathered around you two, making it a big group hug.

“I’m so sorry I forgot about you. I didn’t mean to.”

“Sh, it’s okay.” Yeonjun cooed. “It’s not your fault.”

“… thank you… thank you for bringing me home… wait, but how did you… how were you at school?” You questioned. “I thought you were stuck in the house?”

“We are, but our promise allowed us to go outside as long as we were with you. After all, if you forgot about us we were supposed to go find you once you were older and help you remember. It was kinda like a loophole.”

“Now we can play forever!” Beomgyu cheered.

You laughed and stepped back so you could wipe away your tears. You nodded your head, letting Taehyun take your hand and lead you back upstairs. Now you truly remembered the house, glad to be in such a familiar place. You still had a bit of a headache, but Soobin said it would go away eventually.

“So… all these years… have you… just been waiting for me?”

“Time moves differently for us.” Soobin explained. “But yes, we have been waiting.”

“We were counting the days too.” Taehyun added. “I wish we could have been there for your birthday.”

“We have all the future birthdays to celebrate now.” Beomgyu cheered. “So it’s okay.”

“What do you want to do first?” Kai asked. “Anything is possible now.”

“I… I don’t really know…”

“Why don’t we just pick up where we left off.” Yeonjun suggested. “As if you never left.”

“I’d like that.”

“Good, cause I’m yours, and you’re mine.”

[mymoodwriting]

Hey!! I just wanted to say I love Because You're Mine soooooo much. I just discovered it and was instantly obsessed. I stayed up until 5am reading it HAHA. I cannot wait for the next update!!! Thank you for writing such an amazing story 🩷🩷

Ah, the late night binge reading, I feel that, I've done that so many times, yet I do believe it's worth it. I am sorry for making you loose sleep though, so I hope you got plenty of rest afterwards >_<

Although thank you so much for your kind words! I love hearing from you all, and I'm glad to know my stories are enjoyable. I'll do my best to continue writing good stories, and as always feel free to send messages. It really is such a highlight of my day when I get to hear from my readers, anonymous or not. I hope you have a great day/night Nonnie!

[mymoodwriting]

Surprise!

Well, I finally did the thing, and it led me down here. I knew this was going to happen, so rejoice everyone >_< These boys just provide so much good material and such good visuals, I just don't know where to start. So y'all can help me choose, although I can't say when I'll have something posted. I'd just really appreciate your help in figuring out what story to flesh out first. As always with my polls, feel free to message me for more details, and thank you all so much!

[mymoodwriting]

Royal Blood

Female!Reader x Alpha!Seonghwa

Genre: A/B/O, Royalty

Warning: Mentions of Poison, Sneaking Around, Claws, Fangs, Manipulation, Talks of Violence, Mentions of Blood, Pack Dynamics, Scents, Suspicions

Words: 3.7K

Chapter Six

(Prev//Next) (@starillusion13 @yizhou-time @hannahdinse8)

Prompt: You were a princess in name alone. Unable to perform any of the duties that come with the title. It seemed to be your destiny to live a quiet life. That is until you met someone who refused to see you silenced. Perhaps your fate was wrong all along.

“You’re insane, Seonghwa!”

A small chuckle escaped Seonghwa’s lips as he expected such a reaction from his friend. He had thought things over before finally telling Hongjoong what he wanted to do. How his latest desire was to reveal his scent to you and vice versa. Of course he understood that what he said was incredibly complicated and dangerous to pull off. Yet two heads are better than one to solve a problem.

“You sneak into the princess’ quarters at night, you even manage day visits sometimes, but this, this will be the thing that gets you caught.” Hongjoong remarked. “Everyone in the palace has their scents suppressed, which means the slightest hint of anyone’s true scent will be noticed almost immediately. There’s no way you can do this. You shouldn’t even attempt it.”

“I know, but there’s something I need to check for myself. I also want to do this.”

“As much as I try, I fear I just don’t understand you at times. I still don’t understand why you’ve involved the princess in your schemes.”

“We’ve been over this, Hongjoong.”

“Yes, somewhat. I just genuinely want to know why you’re going this route when there are other ways, arguably quicker ways, for you to get what you want.”

“Are you referring to the tradition of an alpha challenging the pack leader for their position?”

“I am.”

Seonghwa chuckled. “We are more civilized than our ancestors today, don’t you think? Yet that tradition remains. If someone were to challenge the king for their throne, he would have no choice but to accept. So then, tell me, how many people have challenged the king? Or the ones that came before?”

“None that I recall…”

“No one has ever challenged the king, or any king for that matter, since we established this system. Do you know why?”

“I’m not sure I do.”

“Good answer. You see, even back then, challenging the pack leader wasn’t common. It was only done by greedy fools and those who truly felt the leader was incompetent. With the establishment of a king and a royal court, such a tradition wasn’t needed anymore, but to honor our old ways, it was kept.” Seonghwa explained. “Then over time as we continued to advance, such a tradition was forgotten by the common people. Only educated individuals such as ourselves know it exists. Yet no one has ever challenged the king. You fail to see that doing such a thing isn’t as easy as you think. It never was and now it’s truly a foolish endeavor.” 

“Apologies for not-”

“There’s no need for that. I appreciate you believing I’d be able to beat the king, but such a victory would only cause chaos.”

“What do you mean? The throne would be rightfully yours if you won.”

“Perhaps, but merely sitting on the throne does not mean one has power. That comes from the people, from your allies. I have none of those at the moment.”

“What about your family?”

“I’m not really speaking with my father, and he believes my ambition for the throne is foolish. He’d never support such actions. Besides, even if I attempt such a thing, my whole family would be condemned as traitors if I fail. Now if I were to succeed, the former king’s allies would become my enemies, and I don’t doubt most of my family would despise me too. Such a path is too dangerous, and lonely. Not to mention the chain reaction that would come of it.”

“Chain reaction?”

“Regardless of the outcome of such an attempt, rumors would spread. It wouldn’t be long before everyone knew that you could challenge the king for the throne, regardless of status. Groups would begin to form, and such knowledge would open the door to one blood bath after another. Our modern society would fall apart because of foolish greed and ambition. So I will not be the one to set such things in motion.”

“I see… the direct approach has major consequences, and you would likely struggle to keep the throne.”

“Indeed. If I truly want to achieve my goals, I need to use my intelligence, not physical strength.”

“So then with the princess… courting her and marriage only leads to you becoming an in-law of the royal family. It does not get you the throne.”

“Correct, but this path requires patience and strategy. By becoming an in-law to the royal family I gain some power, and from there I can build allies. It’s not expected of the princess, but if she could bear a child, everything else would fall into place eventually. I was concerned that because of her health such a task would be of great risk to her, but having discovered the truth, there should be no issue in obtaining a prince.”

“But a young prince from your marriage would not be the direct heir to the throne.”

“Unless there is no one else.”

“… you’re not… implying…”

“There are multiple ways to make my heir the Crown Prince, but that is not something to speculate about until we get there, so don’t worry.”

“Although I thought you wanted the throne.”

“Whether I sit on the throne or my child does, it’s the same to me.”

“Just as long as the Park family becomes the royal family.”

“Correct.”

“You really have thought this over properly.”

“I have.”

“Yet the first obstacle is your relationship. You have to go public at some point and ask for the princess’ hand in marriage.”

“Indeed, and that certainly won’t be easy. Although our love for each other should be strong enough. I just need to make my move at the right time.”

“So then you’re very serious about this scent reveal thing, aren’t you?”

“Absolutely. It’s very important to both of us.”

“Then your safety is the highest priority.” Hongjoong mentioned. “Both of you. Therefore it would be best for you to do this outside the palace.”

“What did you just say?” Seonghwa questioned. “Are you serious? It wasn’t that long ago that you told me sneaking the princess out of the palace was incredibly risky.”

“I’m merely offering the best option here since I know I can’t convince you to let this go.”

“You’re right there. This would work for the best, a two for one special for the princess. She’d love it, so let’s figure out how to make it possible.”

♦♦♥♦♦

“Seonghwa, I want to show you something!”

Over time you had gotten used to being up late, and now that you were truly healing, you had more energy. This night was super important though. There was something you had been working on, and you wanted Seonghwa to be the first to see. He seemed very curious about what you wanted to show him.

“What is it? You seem so excited.”

“I am. Look!”

In a swift motion you summoned your claws, showing them to Seonghwa with a proud smile on your face. His eyes quickly lit up as he gently grabbed your hands, examining them with amazement.

“Your claws came in!”

“I’ve been practicing all day! I finally got them under control.”

“Look at you, this is incredible. You’re incredible.”

“These will be great for gardening.”

Seonghwa chuckled. “I’m glad they can be of use to you. How about your fangs?”

“Not yet, but I’m happy with this right now.”

“Me too. You’re growing beautifully.”

“Thank you.”

“This should be celebrated. I’ll bring you some pastries tomorrow morning.”

“What? Seonghwa, you don’t-”

“I want to. This is a big thing for you, and you deserve something sweet. I haven’t treated you to such delights in a while.”

“It’s dangerous.”

“I’ll be quick, just a delivery and a kiss, is that alright?”

“Hm… fine, I like seeing you under the sunlight too.”

“Good.”

Since Seonghwa wanted to get something for you, the night visit had to be cut short, and you needed to get some sleep too. It was bittersweet to part, but you were excited that you’d get to see him later, even if just for a moment. You were tucked into bed and managed to sleep for a bit before being woken up by Seonghwa. For a moment you could just pretend this was your life, that every morning you could wake up and see him. Seonghwa noticed you were a bit dazed and placed a kiss on your head, helping you sit up. Soon enough the smell hit your nose, and this time it was so much more delightful.

“Oh, that smells good.”

“Freshly baked.” Seonghwa held up the bag. “You can have one, but you have to promise me you won’t eat the rest until you’ve had breakfast.”

“But they’re for me.”

“Yes, but I don’t want you to ruin your appetite.”

“Fine.”

“If I find out you broke your promise, I’m gonna get ya.”

“I’m so scared.”

You both laughed and Seonghwa got out one of the pastries, blowing on it lightly before taking a bite. You yelled and hit him playfully but then he fed you the rest, wanting to share the treat. It was good, and so warm. You really wanted another, but you’d keep your word and have breakfast before eating the rest. Of course Seonghwa couldn’t stay long, so he placed a kiss on your cheek before parting, promising to see you later at night. You’d happily wait until then.

♦♦♥♦♦

Since Yunho had taken over looking after you, he had new things in his routine. Every morning he’d look over your meal, same as his own, making sure it was good. At times he’d even switch it with his own just to be on the safe side. He’d even take a sip of your medicine every morning to make sure it was correct. Of course he couldn’t always visit, but when he needed a break he’d see you in the morning. He tended to show up unannounced, but you were always happy to see him.

“Did you already eat?”

“Yes. I finished my meal before coming over.” Yunho explained. “I didn’t mean to intrude.”

“It’s fine. I don’t mind having you over. It’s always good to see you.”

“Likewise.”

It was good to watch you eat. For Yunho it gave him peace of mind to know that you had eaten. Although now that you both shared the same meals, he was quick to notice something different. You had a few pastries on a plate that he hadn’t seen before.

“Where did you get those?”

“Huh?”

“The pastries.”

“Uh…”

You glanced over to where Yunho was pointing, realizing what he meant. You promised not to eat the rest of the pastries until you finished breakfast, but you had no idea Yunho would notice. You needed to think fast to come up with a good excuse.

“I… uh…”

“Come on, spit it out already.”

“… I asked the court ladies… I wanted to try something new…”

Yunho laughed. “Why didn’t you ask me?”

“Well… there was a chance you’d say… but the court ladies wouldn’t deny me.”

“That’s true. Just ask me in the future, alright? I’ll be going out into town more often.”

“You will?”

“Yes. My last journey took me to the outer regions, but I want to get familiar with the world right outside our front door.”

“I wish I could go out too.”

“Someday, I promise.”

Once Yunho was gone you made a note to be more careful with such gifts in the future. In the past Yunho noticed the flowers too. He came by randomly, but it was best to be cautious at all times. Still, you happily enjoyed your treats, looking forward to the rest of the day too. Yeosang would be stopping by later, and you were excited to show him the progress you had made.

“How are you feeling today, princess?”

“I’m alright, and yourself?”

“Good. Your health has certainly improved, as has your mood.”

“Really?”

“You’re a lot brighter these days.”

“I have been feeling good.”

“As you should. You are taking your medicine, right?”

“Yes. Yunho was here this morning, so he is my witness.”

“I’ll check in with him later then.”

“While you’re at it you can deliver some good news.”

“Which is?”

“This.”

You showed Yeosang your claws, and his eyes went wide, followed by a smile. He carefully examined them, processing.

“Your claws have come in? This is wonderful.”

“I’m truly getting better, aren’t I?”

“Yes, you are. Yunho will be happy to hear about this.”

♦♦♥♦♦

Even though Yunho had returned to the library to continue his studies, his mind kept thinking back to the morning. He was supposed to be looking after you, yet you managed to sneak something past him. It wasn’t harmful, but he was trying to think when such a thing could have happened. He saw your court ladies every morning, and he didn’t see them with anything. Not to mention it wasn’t common for court ladies to step outside the palace, but if you had asked, they’d surely find a way. At least he was glad you could rely on your court ladies for such things.

“Your highness!” Jongho came rushing into the library. “Your highness, I have good news!”

“What is it?”

“The princess! Physician Kang has just informed me the princess has gained her claws.”

“What! Are you serious!?”

“Yes.”

Yunho didn’t need to hear more, making his way back to your quarters. He had to see this for himself. It was later in the evening when he returned, and you were in your garden tending to your flowers.

“Is it true?”

“Oh, you got here fast.”

“Show me.”

You were rather surprised to see Yunho, given that he seemed so happy. You put on a smile and got up, showing your claws. He grabbed your hands, looking them over with a look of amazement on his face.

“Wow, incredible. I’m so proud of you.”

“Thanks. They’re really cool.”

“Yes they are. You’re truly growing up. Your fangs are next.”

“I’m excited for that too.”

‘Then your eyes…”

“Yup.”

Yunho’s excitement faltered a bit as he realized something, but he quickly covered it up, not wanting to spoil your mood. He stuck around for a bit before returning to the library. As much as this truly was good news, it meant something else too. With your power coming in, the truth would soon be revealed. It was worrying him, and to help ease his concerns he went to see Yeosang, wanting his opinion.

“Your highness, welcome, have you had a chance to see the princess?”

“Yes. I’m glad to see her health improving.”

“Indeed, it’s wonderful news.”

“Speaking of, the necklace that suppresses her scent, it will continue to work just fine, correct?”

“Yes. It works on everyone else in the palace. Simply because the princess is coming into her power doesn’t mean it will be less effective.”

“What about her eyes?”

“As you know, that’s something we all must learn to control ourselves. Although the loss of 

emotions can always show our true nature. It would be best to have someone train with her now.”

“I’ll take care of that.” Yunho assured. “Thank you.”

Yunho excused himself, lost in thought. The joy he had felt was being pushed aside by these new problems that were arising. He couldn’t help but think back to the wolfsbane. It had never been enough to kill you, yet it kept you weak, and your true nature remained hidden. As if all along it was just a precaution. Perhaps it hadn’t been the Queen poisoning you out of dislike, but the King in order to keep the secret. He hated to have such thoughts. No longer sure if he could really trust anyone with your health and safety.

♦♦♥♦♦

“Y/n, do you recall the promise I’ve made you?”

“Hm… you’d have to be more specific. You’ve made a lot of promises to me, and you haven’t broken any of them.”

“I’m a man of my word, but the promise I’m talking about is sharing my true scent with you.”

“Wait, are you serious.” You looked at Seonghwa with an excited gaze. “Do you have a plan?”

“Yes, I do, and you’re going to love it.”

“Tell me! How are we going to do this?”

“For starters we need to take a little trip.”

“Huh?”

“We need to step out of the palace.”

“You… you can’t be serious… do you mean that?”

“Yes. In order to do this, it’s best we do it outside the palace. So, are you alright with that? I could maybe figure out another way but-”

“No! No, that’s amazing! You mean it? You can get me out of the palace?”

“Only at night, and for a few hours, but yes.”

“I can’t believe it…”

“Everything is all set. We can do it tonight or we can try-”

“No, I’m ready now. Let’s go!”

“Hold on, we still need to get you ready.”

“Oh? What do you mean?”

“Well, we can’t sneak you out like that. Come on, I brought a change of clothes for you.”

Seonghwa took your hand and led you back to your room, giving you clothes to dress in. They were mens clothes as it would be easy to hide your identity that way. You happily bounced around, enjoying your look as a lord, and holding your hat in place. Now you and Seonghwa matched like a couple.

“Alright, let’s get going.”

Now here was were things got truly thrilling for you. Since you were sneaking out, it wasn’t smart to just walk out the front door, so you’d have to climb your way out. The same way Seonghwa got in and out when he came to see you. Of course he helped you out, and on the other side Hongjoong was there to help you get down safely. You were doing your best to contain your excitement, looking out at the palace, finally outside your quarters in what felt like forever.

“Come on, we’re going this way, and keep your head down.”

Seonghwa took your hands in his, leading the way as Hongjoong followed right behind you. They had found a secluded place where they could sneak out of the palace, which involved climbing a wall once more. Hongjoong was the first, and then you, and lastly Seonghwa. Now you were certainly staring down at the ground and the trees around you. All your life, you had never set foot outside the palace, and now here you were.

“I’m really outside… like outside outside…”

“You are. How does it feel?” Seonghwa asked.

“Amazing!”

“Good. Now there’s somewhere I want to take you.”

“Okay.”

Seonghwa took your hand once more, and you began walking. You looked back at the palace, feeling like it was a dream to be out here. Eventually your gaze turned to the sky, realizing you were seeing the stars somewhere else now, and they felt more beautiful. You weren’t sure where you were going, but you soon began to hear the sounds of running water. It wasn’t long before you came to a river, seeing a waterfall nearby.

“Wow… this is so pretty…”

“This is the place. We can reveal our true scents without worrying about being found. The water will help hide it, and I’ve also packed a change of clothes for both of us. That is if you want to. We can just enjoy the outside tonight if you’d like.”

“We’re already here, and knowing your scent… it would make this night more incredible… I want to do this.”

“Me too.”

Seonghwa gave you a soft kiss before getting things in order. He set down a blanket for the both of you by the riverside. Spreading some white powder around in a circle as well.

“What’s that?”

“It helps to hide one’s scent. The powder is technically similar to what’s in our necklace. So it should make it so our scent doesn’t spread beyond this circle.”

“Oh… that’s cool.”

“It is. Now, come here.”

Seonghwa cleaned his hands in the river and then stepped into the circle and onto the blanket. He held his hand out to you, and you stepped into the circle with him. 

“May I?”

Seonghwa reached over to take your necklace off, taking a moment to admire the one he had given you. That would stay on, always. You smiled, feeling a bit weird not having the suppressant necklace. It was a part of everyday life for you since you lived in the palace, so to take it off, it really set in that you weren’t in the palace anymore. Out here you didn’t need to wear such a thing. Seonghwa took off his own necklace, and Hongjoong took them both. He’d be around, but he would be giving you both privacy. You laid down on the blanket with Seonghwa, being pulled into his embrace for cuddles.

“It’ll take a bit, but I figured we could also enjoy our usual night under the stars.”

“This is lovely, Seonghwa. I still can’t believe I’m outside the palace. This is real, right? I’m not dreaming?”

“You’re not dreaming.”

Seonghwa kissed your head, enjoying the stars and the sounds of the water with you. The two of you had spent nights stargazing before, but this was a whole new experience. There was something extra special about it all, and it brought tears to your eyes. Seonghwa soon noticed, chuckling and wiping away your tears.

“You’re that happy, huh?”

“This is incredible.” You mumbled. “I am sorry for always asking such dangerous things of you.”

“I’m glad to do them if it makes you smile. This, being here with you right now, it’s worth every risk.”

Seonghwa pulled you in closer, wrapping his arms around you and burying his nose in the crook of your neck. He was already picking up on your scent, and he wanted to get in deep. He inhaled sharply and in the moment his grip on you became tighter. He could feel his own power coming to the surface, and his eyes glowed a crimson red. He had just discovered something new about you, and it was incredibly dangerous.

[mymoodwriting]

Because You're Mine

Female!Reader x Werewolf!SKZ

Genre: A/B/O

Warning: Suppressants, Sedatives, PTSD, Trauma, Harassment, Threats, Verbal Abuse, Insomnia

Words: 3.2K

Chapter Twelve

(Prev//Next) (@starillusion13 @salfetkablog @youngunknownwitch @loveforred @hydroyaksha @meowmeeps @azazel-nyx @luvyev @stellasays45 @littlebaby-bunbun @bangchansgirlsblog @puppyminnnie @bahablastplz @lemonn015 @blankperiodssn @stellasays45 @kkamismom12 @rxlvvrz @riri53 @stressymessyana @aalexyuuuhm @jutfelixdwae @btsgangleader @tsunderelino)

Prompt: With omegas completely removed from society, they needed their own communities and institutions to grow. All your life you had lived and gone to school alongside your fellow omegas, and orphaned alphas. You had managed to keep yourself together, but now at the university level, keeping your secret had grown impossible. You had to face your fears and make friends with an alpha eventually, and now was the time.

“… was he being serious…?”

Ever since Chan had offered to take you off campus it was the only thing you could think about. A real outing seemed almost too good to be true, and that eventually caused doubts. Maybe it was all a lie, and actually some kind of trap. You didn’t have any details about where you’d be going or when. It was driving you crazy, but all you could do was wait. You went to class and took your suppressants, not even asking Chan for an update.  

“Good, you’re all here.”

Chan stepped into the living room where you were studying with the others. He seemed quite happy and you immediately knew this was the news you had been waiting for.

“Tomorrow we’ll be going on a little field trip.”

“Oh, what kind of field trip?” Jisung asked. “Like a sleepover in the library.”

“No, we’re going somewhere else. We’ll be traveling off campus.”

“Wait, off campus?” Felix questioned. “What does that mean?”

“Exactly what you think. We’re gonna go somewhere no other student here has gone, but it’ll be our little secret, understood?”

The others were quite excited, and you were too, but you didn’t show it. Your doubts were still present. Chan told you it would be a one day outing, so no need to pack anything. You could take a small bag with you with a few things if you wanted, but you really didn’t need to bring anything along. The day of the trip you were all led to the edge of campus, a huge van before you. Originally you thought this outing was meant to be you and Chan, but you were grateful all the others would be coming along.

“We don’t have to go.” Chan commented. “If you rather go back to the dorm-”

“No. I’m doing this.”

“Okay. Although you do need to wear a blindfold.”

“Seriously?”

“All of us do technically.”

“Fine.”

You got into the van, going into the back and sitting between Jisung and Felix. Chan was the one to help you put on the blindfold, telling you to relax and take it easy. Jisung took your hand in his, giving it a reassuring squeeze. You did jump a bit when the door shut, but you took a breath to calm yourself. Soon enough you felt the van moving, curious as to where you would be going, but just having to wait. With the blindfold on, and tinted windows, you simply sat in darkness with no sense of time. You began to feel sleepy, slumping down in your seat and trying to get cozy. A little nap wouldn’t hurt.

♥♥♥♥♥

“Guys, we’re here.”

You felt a light shake from your shoulder, groaning and slowly starting to wake up. The blindfold was removed for you and then you squinted your eyes as you adjusted to the light. You noticed the other alphas yawning and taking off blindfolds, realizing everyone had been kept in the dark. You got some help stepping out of the van, stretching your limbs. You took a nap but you felt like you had slept for longer. As you were waking up you finally remembered what was going on and then you realized where you were.

“Is this… real…?”

Your surroundings were filled with buildings and people walking around. It seemed that you were standing in a real town. You had only seen such things in movies and TV shows, so this was an incredible sight.

“You can’t tell because you’re on suppressants.” Seungmin mentioned. “But everyone here is either an alpha or omega.”

“Wait, what? Why?”

“We move to places like this once we graduate.”

“Although us alphas still have other duties.” Minho added. “So we tend to go in and out. Not too often though, I promise.”

“You do get to live a normal life in the end.” Chan said. “You have nothing to worry about here.”

Your own nose couldn’t confirm the status of those around you, but a while later Jisung let you know it was true. As the others talked your wonder began to fade, realizing something else was going on here.

“This whole place is fake, isn’t it?”

“Huh?”

“Just like the school campus. It looks spacious and open, but you surely can only go so far. There must be some kind of perimeter around this place that’s guarded, right?”

“Yes, but you’ll never really know that. You can do what you want knowing you’re safe. Everyone’s happy here.”

“It’s still a cage.”

“Wait, I have a question.” Jisung spoke up. “Will we all move to a place like this together?”

“Yes, we surely will.”

“That sounds great!” Jisung took your hand. “We get to grow old together!”

“So… I know the alphas are agents and that’s their job, but I see a lot of stores around us.” Felix commented. “Who’s running them?”

“The agent thing isn’t a full time job.” Hyunjin explained. “So the stores and run by alphas and omegas.”

“Wait, I can get a job here?”

“If you want to, it’s not really necessary, you would earn a salary and all that, but you can choose to fill your time with something else too.”

“What if I wanted to be a doctor?” You suddenly asked.

“I don’t see why you couldn’t. You’d probably still need to do more studying after graduation, but I don’t doubt there would be a doctor around to take you under their wing.”

You had killed the mood a bit with your words, but Jeongin quickly changed things around as he suggested you all explore the town together and get some tasty snacks. You all stuck together as a group, going into shops and enjoying yourselves. Although as you took everything in, a question came to mind.

“You said this town was all alphas and omegas, but why aren’t there any betas?”

“They’re not part of the OCPD.”

“What does that…”

You suddenly realized that despite the calm atmosphere, there were cameras everywhere. This wasn’t just some glorified cage where freedom was an illusion, but you were actually under surveillance 24/7. Anything you did was being monitored at all times, and surely it was the OCPD keeping an eye on things. You kept it to yourself, but you had to admit this place wasn’t so bad. It was nice, like a breath of fresh air, but knowing this was fake left a sour taste in your mouth. Then again, you didn’t know what the real world was like, so you didn’t know how this place compared. At least you were glad to know what came after graduation.

You all agreed to get some lunch at this cute little dinner, having some ice cream for dessert. There was still more to do, but Chan said this was where the outing ended. You were expected to be back soon, and now was the time to go. When you returned to the van you were blindfolded once more. You thought you’d be able to stay up for the trip back, but the food made you rather sleepy, so you wound up taking a nap again. It wasn’t until you were back on campus that you were woken up. To a degree it was nice to be back in a familiar place, but your mind still lingered on that town. That was your future, and didn’t exactly bring you joy.

“What’s wrong?” Hyunjin questioned. “Do you feel okay?”

“Huh? I’m fine… I guess…”

“I’m sorry we couldn’t stay longer.”

“I didn’t expect much anyway. It’s just kinda weird to know there’s this fake happily ever after waiting for me when I finish university.”

“You don’t have to say it like that.” Changbin mentioned.

“Sorry… I guess it’s dawning on me this wasn’t a real outing… not like I had thought.”

“It was safer.” Minho said. “And you learned something new. Just don’t forget this stays between us.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

“Do you really want to see the outside world?” Chan suddenly asked.

You couldn’t help but laugh. In hindsight, you should have known this outing was never going to take you out into the real world. The OCPD did so much to protect omegas and keep them away from normal society, there was no way you’d just get to go out into the world. Even now as Chan mentioned you just laughed. It was what you really wanted, but you knew you weren’t going to get it.

“Of course I do, but I know that’s just a fantasy.”

“Maybe… or maybe I could make it a reality.”

“What?”

“I could talk to the headmaster. They agreed to this trip, maybe I can convince them to let us take another.”

“You’re joking. There’s no way such a thing would be allowed.”

“Not for free of course.”

“And what kind of price is there to pay?”

“Well, for starters, you’d need to get off your suppressants.”

“Huh?”

“If you really wanted to go out into the world, you’d have to experience it properly. No one uses suppressants in the real world, so it would be a waste to take you like this.”

“Are you being serious right now?”

“I’m serious about talking to the headmaster and trying, that is if you do as I ask.”

“Hm… what if you don’t convince the headmaster?”

“Then I suppose you just go back to taking your suppressants until you let them go or it stops working. Either way, you don’t have anything to lose here. What do you say, do we have a deal?”

“… what’s your angle here?”

“To get you off your suppressants, it’s not good for you in the long run. Besides that, I think it’s fair you see the real world so you can properly compare it to the fake one we just visited. Maybe we should all have the chance to see the real world at least once.”

“… yeah… fine, you have a deal. I’ll stop with the suppressants for now.”

“Alright, and this stays between us as well. If anyone else finds out, it will ruin everything.”

“I know.”

A part of you realized maybe it was stupid to agree so easily, since your half of the deal was to stop taking your suppressants. You found yourself staring at the pill bottle, but refusing to take any. If you really had the chance to see the real world, you couldn’t let something like this get in your way. So you hid the pill bottle in your room so you wouldn’t think about it and just went on with your life. Of course it would take a while for the pills to wear off, and you didn’t even notice any changes along the way. It wasn’t until you walked into the dorm one day and the sweet smell of brownies was in the air. You immediately followed it to the kitchen to see Felix washing some dishes.

“Oh! You came back just in time, the brownies should be ready soon.”

“They smell divine.”

“And they taste just as good.”

This wasn’t the first time Felix made brownies. He enjoyed baking and those brownies were legendary. Although this time around you noticed the smell was more prominent and enjoyable. Your suppressants had surely worn off by now. You hadn’t even noticed until that moment, and suddenly you were able to distinguish scents all over the dorm. It had surely been a while since you were back to normal, yet your sense hadn’t overwhelmed you. The days were just normal, as if you were still on your suppressants. Maybe you didn’t need them at all anymore. Those thoughts plagued you until Felix set down the tray of brownies before you.

“They need to cool down first, so no touching.”

“I’ll do my best.”

You enjoyed some brownies while you went over your assignments. Now that you knew your senses were back you paid more attention to things, even if only at a subconscious level. So you knew when Chan got back as you heard his keys jingle and could smell him outside the door.

“I’m back.”

“Chan.”

“Hm?”

“My suppressants have worn off.”

“Really? And how do you feel?”

“I’m doing alright. It’s honestly not so bad.”

“That’s good to hear.”

“So… about that outing…”

“The headmaster did approve it.”

“Wait, really!”

“Yes, but only for a few hours, and just this once. Since you’ve kept up your end of the deal, I’ll get a date set.”

“That sounds great.”

For this you were way more excited since all your senses were intact and you knew you’d be stepping into the real world this time. You tried not to bother Chan about it, but you asked every other day when the outing was. He just told you he was working on it and asked you to be patient for a little while longer. Then you got the big news and were told to prepare. The trip would be somewhat the same. No need to pack anything, and you would be driven out like before. The only real difference was that you’d be leaving before daybreak. That seemed to let you know it was a rather long drive, but you could manage. Although you were upset that you still needed to be blindfolded, but at least you were in the van.

Since it was so early most of the others were half asleep, but you were full of energy. Even if you couldn’t see anything with tinted windows and blindfolds you kinda wanted to stay up. That was the plan, yet once you were on the road you started to feel sleepy. You shook your head, fighting the drowsiness, but this didn’t feel normal. Not long ago you were wide awake, and now you were yawning and feeling sleepy. You mumbled Jisung’s name, but ultimately passed out as you slumped down in your seat.

♥♥♥♥♥

“… y/n… y/n… wake up, we’re here.”

You slowly opened your eyes to see morning light creeping into the van. You climbed out and yawned, stretching your limbs as you regained your senses. For a moment you thought back to what had happened before, but then you remembered where you were. This was the real world. Your eyes immediately took in your surroundings. You were in another town, but right away you could tell things were different. The area didn’t seem to be as clean as or as pristine as the other town, but it certainly looked worn and lived in. At the moment the streets were mostly empty, given the fact the sun was barely rising. Then you took in a deep breath, noting the air wasn’t as clean as you were used to.

“So… what do we do? What can we do?”

“Just like before, we can explore.” Hyunjin said. “Let’s see what’s around.”

After doing a headcount and reminding everyone to stay close, Chan led the way into town. He had his phone and a paper map in hand, keeping in mind where they were and how much time they had. There was a nice stillness in the atmosphere. The world around you was slowly waking up and you were there to experience it. Although even in the early hours of the day there was still life. The smell of bread soon caught your attention and you asked to investigate. Not long after the group had come to a bakery. Eating warm freshly baked bread for breakfast was such a wonderful treat. It wasn’t your first time eating such a thing, but there was a different taste here. Not a bad thing, but certainly something you couldn’t describe.

While you continued exploring more and more people appeared on the streets, and more places came to life. The slow build of a crowd didn’t worry you, but you did realize something else. All the scents were overlapping, one not really overpowering another. You couldn’t really tell who was an alpha or a beta, but you were intrigued nonetheless. This was the first time you had ever been exposed to beta scents. It wasn’t until you all went into a little shop that you actually got a better idea. As you browsed the items someone stood a few steps away, examining something. Their scent hit you and you immediately knew it wasn’t an alpha or omega. This type of scent wasn’t imposing, it was calm and even, creating a sense of peace.

Those scents out in the world mixing with the alphas was probably what made it easy to freely walk around for you without feeling nervous. Of course you were more used to alpha scents now, but the betas were certainly helping. In the end you got some small souvenirs and ventured out into the streets again. Things were louder than usual, and that’s when you realized there was something going on. Soon there were cheers and screaming, and you all discovered a festival was taking place this morning. Certain streets had been closed off to allow for a parade to pass through. Without asking or thinking you took Jisung’s hand, and grabbed Felix, then the three of you were running towards the crowds to see what was going on from up close.

“Wait!”

You were too excited to listen to anything else. You wanted to experience something new, something real. That gave you the energy to push into the crowd and make your way to the front of the barricade. There you saw what you had only ever seen on TV. Wonderfully decorated floats rolled past as people danced and threw candy and other items onto the cheering crowds. You weren’t sure what was being celebrated, but you were captivated by the colors and energy. This all looked so fun and you were truly enjoying yourself. That is until you felt someone grab you. Immediately you assumed it was Chan or one of the others, but when you looked over you found yourself face to face with a stranger.

“Uh… can I help you…?”

“Maybe. I’ve never picked up on such a nice scent.”

“Oh… um… thanks.”

“Tell me, are you mated?”

“Excuse me!?” You yanked yourself free. “That’s none of your business!”

“I’m just saying, regardless, I can offer you a good job. A pretty thing like you shouldn’t go to waste.”

“I’m not interested.”

You stepped closer to Jisung and Felix, but that’s when you realized this stranger wasn’t alone either. A few others had surrounded the three of you, and now your resolve was starting to crack. You weren’t sure what to do.

“I suggest you reconsider.” The stranger’s eyes glowed red. “For your own sake and your friends.”

You got tense seeing those eyes staring down at you, hands desperately reaching for Jisung. Things were going so well. You thought to scream for help, but you didn’t know if that would actually do anything. The crowd around you was loud and distracted, maybe no one would even notice if you got dragged off. Only now did you realize maybe you shouldn’t have run off, let alone drag Jisung and Felix along. You didn’t know what to do, you couldn’t think straight, freezing up as fear took hold of you. It wasn’t fully you, but you couldn’t do anything as the alpha was paralyzing you. So all you could hope for was a miracle.

[mymoodwriting]

Idk if you remember but I'm the one who said I thought of you when seventeen dare or death teaser first came out. And whoaaaaa oh my gosh you delivered! That was amazing! And seungcheol pheww!! I demand a movie with them and your story! I loved it so much I knew you would do amazing with that concept!

I do remember you! Your message touched my heart! I was hoping you'd find your way to the story and I'm so glad you liked it! I was so in the zone yesterday working on it I simply stayed up until I was done. This comeback and concept is so fire, I had do something with it. Although I must admit, that story is not the original idea for Dare or Death, it's just what the song and music video inspired. I am eventually going to write something else based on the concept teaser of this era, it might just take me a bit since that one is a little more complex...

Anyway, thank you so much for your kind words and thinking of me when you saw Seventeen's new album. I love working with their concepts and the fact some of you seem to know me so well, it warms my heart >_< I hope you have a wonderful day/night!

[mymoodwriting]

Are you like insane.... THIS!!!! IS A VIOLATION!!!!!!!!

Loved the concept so much. Tbh at first i thought that they just wanted her because she's seokmins friend. Like maybe he talked about her/they saw her searching for him. But obsessed ex-? friend?/boss DAMN!!!!!! And Cheol is my bias in svt, so i literally was screaming

The mutation trope surprisingly got me on the hook so i just HAD to use this bro again im not sorry. You deserved the freaky sonic. Again.

Thank you for another masterpiece!! Hope you have a good day/night🫂💖

Oh Calipsou, you have no idea how much I need your words 🥰

I stayed up hella late to finish that story cause I was in the goddamn zone and didn't want to stop. I was so exhausted in the morning but your message brought a smile to my face and gave me the energy boost I needed to focus on work and the day ahead. Thank you so much!!!

Also, thank you, thank you, the idea was too good not to indulge into. A little mystery and sci-fi going on, and you know I love a good possessive leader. The song is such a banger and the music video is just as stunning, the story basically wrote itself 😖

I'm so glad you enjoyed it, I figured it would be just right for you too with a crazy Seungcheol.

When I get home today I am gonna KO but this was well worth the lack of sleep!

I hope you have a great day/night Calipsou! You never fail to put a smile on my face.

P.S. freaky sonic is always welcomed here 😆

[mymoodwriting]

10.8k, Thunder MV AU, yandere, alcohol consumption, drunk behavior, clubbing environment, mentions of kidnapping, missing persons' report, police incompetence, ghosting, isolation, lies, manipulation, abuse, physical abuse, anxiety, insomnia, rabbit hole mystery, electrocution, pheromones, sci-fi, PTSD, supernatural elements, implied pack dynamics, chimeras, genetic splicing, arson, restraints

“Where the hell have you been!?”

You were half asleep when you heard the door open, immediately springing to your feet and going over to see the person you had been waiting all day for. Seokmin stumbled into the apartment, a dopey smile on his face, clearly drunk after a night out. Although his eyes began to sparkle when he saw you, clumsily stepping towards you to embrace you in a hug.

“Y/n! You’re here! I’m so happy to see you!”

“Seokmin!” You couldn’t help but laugh, trying to keep both of you on your feet. “I’ve been here all day you know.”

“Huh? All day? Why didn’t you call?”

“I tried, but you didn’t answer.”

“Oh shit, sorry.” Seokmin fumbled around his pockets till he found his phone, seeing it was dead. “My bad…”

“Did you forget I was coming in today?”

“No! I swear I remembered. I even bought groceries, but then a friend invited me to Blitz Club and I couldn’t say no.”

“Blitz Club? That’s where you were all night?”

“Yeah, best night of my life.”

“I��m sure. Now why don’t we get you off your feet.”

You led Seokmin over to the couch, sitting him down and going over to get him a glass of water. He chugged down the whole thing and you went to get him another.

“I’m telling ya, that place was amazing. I want to go back so bad, but tonight was my one and only free pass.”

“What do you mean? What is this Blitz Club?”

“It’s a new place that opened up not so long ago, but it’s super exclusive. If you’re not a member you can only get in once for free.”

“Membership sounds super expensive.”

“You don’t pay for a membership. Money isn’t what gets you through the door.”

“Then how do you become a member?”

“Dare first.”

“Huh?”

“All members of Blitz Club have done some kind of daredevil stunt. They proved themselves.”

“To who?”

“Not sure. The owner I suppose.”

“And who’s that?”

“No idea. I did see them tonight. It was someone’s birthday so the whole club was celebrating and the owner made a toast. The whole place was on fire, gosh, I gotta go back.”

“How about you don’t do anything reckless.”

“I can totally do a daredevil stunt.”

“It’s easier to say that than do it.”

“Have some faith.”

“How about you get to bed and rest. You had your fun but now you’re home.”

“Yeah, and you’re here. Wait, how did you get in?”

“I still have that spare key you gave me. I guess I’m lucky it still works or else I would have been waiting outside all night. Come on now.”

You helped Seokmin up and took him to his room. He wasn’t so drunk that you had to worry about him, but you’d still keep an eye on him. You were tired from your trip, and staying up waiting for him, so now you could finally rest too. You made yourself comfy in the guest room, leaving the door open in case Seokmin needed you for anything.

🗲🗲🗲🗲🗲🗲♦🗲🗲🗲🗲🗲🗲

Even if you were tired, you woke up after a couple of hours. You didn’t sleep more than eight hours these days, and you had become a rather light sleeper. You knew Seokmin was still gonna be out for a while, so you figured you’d make food. That eventually woke him up. As you were setting down the plates you saw a sleepy Seokmin make his way into the kitchen.

“… good morning…”

“It’s nearly noon.”

“So it’s still morning.” Seokmin yawned. “What are you making? It smells good?”

“I thought you might want breakfast, but I knew you weren’t gonna wake up in time. So how about breakfast for lunch?”

“Sounds great.”

Seokmin sat down at the bar table in the kitchen, pulling a plate closer and eating. He had a content smile on his face. You served yourself and sat down across from him, enjoying a meal together. It had been a long while since you had last done this with him, or anyone really.

“Last night feels like a dream.” Seokmin mumbled. “I should have stayed longer.”

“Not this again.”

“Look. I’ll become a member and then bring you along one night. You’ll see what I’m talking about.”

“I’d rather you not risk your life for some stupid club.”

“If I fail, then I’ll let it go.”

“Whatever. Can we talk about something else?”

“Fine, fine. Why don’t you tell me what you’ve been up to. You’ve been gone for like, what, over three years? What have you been doing all this time? You rarely kept in touch?”

“I was just traveling. A lot of places I visited didn’t really have service.”

“I figured, but why did you leave all of a sudden? You had a job straight out of college, and it seemed to be doing well for you. Then you were just gone overnight. What happened?”

“Nothing. I just realized I wanted to do something else with my life. The best way to figure that out was to travel.”

“So, do you have your answer now?”

“Not quite, but I thought I’d come see old friends, let you all know I’m not dead.”

“Yeah, you were really starting to worry me.”

“I’m fine, I promise.”

“You better be.”

After lunch Seokmin wanted to take you out into the city and revisit some old spots together. You were down for a nostalgia trip and gladly accompanied him. It really was nice to be back, and you spent all day out and about. As it got late you both agreed on ordering some food and playing games back at the apartment. Although Seokmin created a little detour.

“Oh wait, since we’re in the area let me see if I get lucky.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Blitz Club.”

“Huh?”

“Come on.”

Seokmin took your hand and led you down an alley into a rather run down and abandoned part of the city. A lot of graffiti was present on the walls, and you noticed some mentioned taking on dares. It made you nervous seeing it all, and you couldn’t help but worry about Seokmin too.

“Seokmin… where are we going?”

“The phone.”

“The what?”

“In order to join Blitz Club you have to do a dare, and in order to get one you have to pick up the phone. There’s this payphone around here that rings sometimes. If you answer it, you get your dare, and if you pass, you’re in.”

“So you just want to wait around for some random payphone to ring?”

“It doesn’t work like that. The phone rings randomly, so you have to get lucky, but you can’t just sit around and wait all day either. Just five minutes. If it doesn’t ring, we’ll go.”

“Seokmin-”

“Just wait here. I won’t be gone long.”

Seokmin let go of your hand and went off somewhere else. You sighed and stayed put, checking the time. If he got his dare, maybe you could talk him out of doing it, and if this phone didn’t ring, you’d just go home. So you waited, and waited. Next thing you knew nearly fifteen minutes had passed. You rolled your eyes, having given Seokmin way more time than you should have. Now you had to find him. It wasn’t so dark out, but you’d rather get out of here as soon as possible. You went down the path Seokmin had, calling out his name and also looking for this supposed payphone. Two buildings down you saw this opening that led into what looked like an empty hanger. There at the center of the room you saw a payphone.

“That’s not creepy at all.” You commented. “Seokmin! Come on, let’s go already!”

There weren’t many places to hide in this place, but it was soon clear Seokmin wasn’t here. Your voice echoed and you got no response. You hesitantly walked up to the phone and picked it up, but there was no sound, not even dial tone. As if the phone didn’t work at all. You put it back and sighed, getting your own phone and trying to call Seokmin but it was apparently off so you got sent to voicemail. You tried again as you walked away, deciding to head back to the apartment on your own. You shot him a text when you made it back, ordering some food since you were hungry. Once again you stayed up waiting for Seokmin, but just like last night, there was no response from him.

“… hmm… Seokmin…”

At some point you actually fell asleep on the couch, and it wasn’t until sunlight hit your face that you finally woke up. You looked around, seeing the food on the coffee table and no sign of Seokmin. You got up to check the apartment but there was no sign of him. As far as you could tell he never came home last night. You tried calling again but it just sent you to voicemail. Even the messages you sent were left unread. It was still early in the day so you figured he’d show up later, but he didn’t. Before you knew it a whole day had passed with no sign of Seokmin.

You were trying not to panic, but this wasn’t like Seokmin. He wouldn’t just ghost you for a whole day. Which meant something likely happened to him. You didn’t want to jump to any conclusions, but if you didn’t do something you felt like you’d go crazy. You tried to call Seokmin one last time as you stood outside the police station, but you got nothing. You took a deep breath before going into the station, asking to speak to someone so you could file a missing persons report. You have his name and any other information you could, letting the officer know where you saw him last. Then the whole conversation changed.

“Is this another Blitz Club thing?”

“Huh? What does that place have to do with my missing friend?”

“Miss, you’re not the first one to come in here claiming someone is missing when they’re really not. If they’re trying to join Blitz Club then they disappear for like a day or two and then come back.”

“What? That has-”

“Did your friend tell you he wanted to join Blitz Club?”

“I… yes, but that-”

“Then they’re fine and will be back tomorrow or the day after. You don’t need to worry about it.”

“But-”

“We’ve already dealt with this multiple times. Trust me, your friend is fine.”

“So anyone who wants to join Blitz Club goes missing for a few days, is that what you’re telling me?”

“Yes.”

“Isn’t that suspicious? Have you investigated this club and-”

“Yes, we have. Like I said, you’re not the first, or last, who’s come here with these concerns. Of course we investigated the club but they’re not doing anything illegal. They have all their permits and permissions in order. Also, none of these supposedly missing people have come to the station to report anything against the club.”

“So you’re not going to do anything?”

“Look, if your friend doesn’t show up tomorrow, then we can file a report, okay?”

“… fine.”

You left the police station feeling frustrated. This was ridiculous, and the fact this club was basically getting away with kidnapping was horrific. You understood someone might go along with these games. They’ll go no contact with their loved ones and then come back like everything was fine, but surely not everyone would agree to that. Something felt off, but you were on your own for now. Once again you tried to reach Seokmin, but there was no answer. Maybe he would show up tomorrow and you’d scold him to hell and back for disappearing on you like that. Then again, you did a similar thing a few years back. You sighed and went back to the apartment. You just wanted Seokmin to be alright. That’s all you really cared about.

🗲🗲🗲🗲🗲🗲♦🗲🗲🗲🗲🗲🗲

All you could do was wait around for Seokmin, leaving messages and voicemails throughout the day. You cleaned to help pass the time, watched TV, took a nap, but when night fell again you felt anxious once more. Two days and Seokmin was nowhere to be found. This wasn’t funny. You knew going back to the station right now wasn’t gonna help, so maybe you could do your own investigation. Despite finding the whole Blitz Club suspicious, you didn’t know anything about it besides the fact it was for daredevils only. 

So you went on the internet to gather more information. To your surprise there wasn’t much. There weren’t any articles talking about the club, nor were there any confirmed pictures of the inside. Not even a small piece about the mystery surrounding the place and its admission process. This was raising red flags for you. Seokmin spoke of Blitz Club like it was well known, even the police knew about it, yet there was barely any information on it. The only thing of use you could find was this chat room thread talking about the club.

“Blitz Club just showed up one day. Does anyone know when it first appeared?”

“I went to Blitz Club the other night, best experience of my life!”

“Blitz Club is a hidden gem! If you have a chance to go, take it, I promise you won’t regret it!”

“One night is not enough! I have to go back! I guess I have to take the dare.”

“I’ve gone to the payphone six times already and it still hasn’t rung! Seventh times the charm, wish me luck everyone!”

“My boyfriend ghosted me for two days then came back saying he joined Blitz Club. I was so pissed but then he took me and I’ve never felt more alive. I have to go back!”

“Last night there was a birthday party at Blitz Club and it was so lit. The owner is super hot.”

The thread mostly talked about the club in a positive light but at least it confirmed that people really did disappear for a while when trying to become a member. It helped to ease your anxieties a bit but then you found something else.

“Something is wrong with Blitz Club.”

One of the posts on the thread mirrored your feelings, and had a read more button at the bottom. You clicked on it and found yourself on the homepage for user LW96. Now the post was fully available to read, and it seemed to be a sort of digital journal.

“My friend’s been gone for a few days and when I went to report them missing to the police I was told it was fine and they’d be back on their own.

What kind of response is that? I couldn’t believe what I was being told, and the officer told me they had heard a story like mine before.

People went missing for a few days when they got involved with Blitz Club. They filed so many reports and then rescinded just as many when the person came back on their own. 

It had happened enough that the police no longer considered anyone associated with Blitz Club missing. So they never filed anything for my friend.

I asked them to investigate the club, since that sounded so messed up, but they said they already had, and nothing was wrong. I did not believe that for a second, but the police ultimately turned me away. 

They said my friend would come back on their own, but that didn’t sit well with me. If they weren’t going to investigate, then I would.”

The officer you spoke with was right. You weren’t the first to go to them about someone supposedly going missing under similar circumstances. Nor were you the first to ask that they investigate Blitz Club. This brought some sense of comfort, knowing you weren’t the only one suspicious, but clearly nothing was being done by the authorities.

“I remember my friend first mentioned Blitz Club after they got invited by another friend. They wouldn’t stop going on and on about how great it was and how they had to go back. Although the only way to go back was to become a member.

I thought he was about to get himself into a bunch of debt but then he explained how one became a member of Blitz Club. You had to prove yourself and do a dare, some kind of insane daredevil stunt. The more he told me about this, the more I thought he was crazy.

He said there was a payphone out in some abandoned area, and that you had to pick it up when it rang in order to get your dare and get your chance to join Blitz Club. The phone would ring randomly, so you just had to go whenever and hope you got lucky. 

You couldn’t even camp nearby since others had tried and the phone never rang that way. You had to go alone, you had to be alone. To me it sounded like someone was watching that phone, and it made me nervous about what Blitz Club was hiding in the shadows.

My friend really wanted to go back, wanted to join Blitz Club. It was all he could talk about. I don’t know how many times he went to that payphone, but one day he was just gone. No call, no text, just gone.

After the whole incident with the police I began looking into all the missing person’s reports that had been filed in the last eight months. It was just something to do to keep my mind occupied while I waited, hoped, for my friend’s safe return.

The police were right. 99% of the people that supposedly went missing because of Blitz Club came back two to three days later. My friend wasn’t one of those, and he wasn’t the only one.

My research showed that there were a total of ten people, including my friend, who disappeared in association with Blitz Club and never actually came back. I couldn’t find anything that tied them together. They were all so different, even the time between their disappearances had no pattern. They were the 1% who truly were missing.”

To your surprise LW96 actually had another post under the first one with images of the ten missing, seeming to have created their missing person’s poster themselves. You of course didn’t recognize any names or faces, but you worried about Seokmin ending up just like them. Although the comments under the missing person’s posters were curious.

“Which one of these guys is your friend? Just curious.”

“I was at Blitz Club the other night and I swear I danced with that Mingyu guy. I’d never forget such a pretty face.”

“Jun looks familiar to me. Although I think he had a weird scar on his face when I saw him last.”

“I showed these pictures to my friend who’s a member of Blitz Club and they said they’ve seen Dino and Seungkwan around the club.”

“When I was at the club last time I believe they were celebrating Minghao’s birthday. I didn’t get to see the birthday boy’s face clearly, but I remember the name.”

“That Jeonghan guy does look familiar. I think I saw him with the owner the night I was at the club.”

You weren’t sure if you could believe the comments about the missing person’s but there was a pattern to it. Anyone who claimed to see any of these guys only said they saw them at the club, never anywhere else. You had your own thoughts, but then you continued to read LW96’s next post.

“He fucken called. Nearly a week later, at three in the morning, my friend called me asking how I’d been. I thought I was dreaming, cause there’s no way this is how he finally reaches out to me.

Once I was sure I was awake and it was all real I went off on him. Disappearing like that was not cool, and I had been going insane worrying about him. He brushed off all my concerns and told me he was fine.

In fact, he told me he was now officially a member of Blitz Club. He wanted to offer me his one-time non-member invitation so I could be at the club that night and join him in celebrating his birthday.

It wasn’t actually his birthday, but I needed to see him and talk to him, so I agreed. Besides, this was my chance to see for myself what was so great about Blitz Club.

I’ll update you guys after tonight.”

Those words sounded familiar to you. Seokmin had told you the same thing before. If he got into Blitz Club he wanted to invite you so you could see how great it was. Everyone seemed to praise the place like it was some sort of paradise. You thought LW96 might be rational, but you were a bit wrong there.

“Fuck.

He wasn’t kidding when he said Blitz Club was amazing. I’m not gonna lie, it truly was the best night of my life. The whole place was incredible. I didn’t want the night to end, but now I’ve come back to my senses.

I saw them. Some of them. The others who were missing. They were at the club, dancing and drinking, not a care in the world. I tried to talk to them at first, tell them that they were technically missing, and where they had been all this time, but it wasn’t long before I got lost in the club atmosphere.

I didn’t get any answers besides the ones I was looking for. My friend was alright, he had gone missing because of Blitz Club, but there was something different about him now.

Ever since that night, since his new birthday or whatever he called it, I haven’t seen him. We still keep in touch, a few calls and texts, but I haven’t physically seen him.

I asked him to meet up and hang out but he’d refuse every time. Eventually I just asked him the obvious question.

‘Do I need to join Blitz Club in order to see you again?’

‘Yeah.’

He was so blunt, and it sounds so stupid, but he was honest about it. I don’t know why, and he wouldn’t give details, but if he wasn’t at Blitz Club, he basically didn’t exist anymore.

It was probably the same for the other nine who were technically missing. They were at Blitz Club, and nowhere else. That place was home now, and it applied to my friend too.

My research doesn’t end with me finding my friend. I need to know what the hell is going on at Blitz Club. The only way to do that is to take the dare.

I honestly don’t know if I could actually do it and become a member, but I have to try. I know where that payphone is now, and I know what I have to do. 

I’ll update you guys when I have the chance.”

That was the last post, although it was barely a week old. It seemed that LW96 had done a lot of the heavy work. It could all still be considered conspiracy, but you believe this. Something was off about Blitz Club. Maybe when LW96 updated you’d send them a message and ask to meet up. Perhaps together you could get more answers. Now that you were finally taking a break from the internet you could see daylight. You really wanted to believe Seokmin would just walk through the door any moment now, but you weren’t that hopeful anymore. You were kind of tired and needed to rest, so a nap wouldn’t hurt.

Just for your own peace of mind you decided to sleep on the sofa. That way if by some real miracle Seokmin came home, you’d know right away. You fell asleep rather quickly, underestimating how tired you were. Yet you were still a light sleeper, so when your phone chimed you immediately woke up. You thought it was Seokmin, but that was too good to be true. When you looked out the window you saw you had slept for longer than you meant to, but either way you had something to do now. 

The chime on your phone was actually an alert letting you know that there had been an update on LW96’s post. You had turned on the notification function for them, wanting to know about their update as soon as possible. Although when you got back to the chat room thread you were met with something else entirely. LW96 had deleted all their posts and deactivated their account. Everything you had just read, all that evidence, gone. You couldn’t believe it. This was so sudden you couldn’t help but feel like this was Blitz Club’s doing. As if they found out about LW96 and shut it all down. Someone else might look at this situation and say it was nothing to begin with, but you couldn’t believe that.

As you thought about what to do next the obvious answer dawned on you. It was crazy, and you hated it, but you didn’t have much choice left. If you wanted your own answers, you couldn’t rely on anyone else but yourself. In order to find Seokmin, in order to know what the hell was going on, you’d have to join Blitz Club. You weren’t one for daredevil stuff, but you had to try. Before that there were somethings to take care of first. You sent Seokmin another message and tried to call, but the results were the same as before. With that done you went back to the police station and filed that missing person’s report. The officer didn’t seem to care, but they did it anyway.

Now came the really scary part, going to the payphone. You still remembered where it was, and lucky for you there was still sun out, but it didn’t make the trip there any less unnerving. You made it to the building where the phone was housed, staring at it from outside. You honestly didn’t want to get near it, but surely it wouldn’t ring if you weren’t close, if you didn’t let those watching know you wanted to take the dare. You were trying to hype yourself to go to the phone when you suddenly heard ringing. You yelled and fell to the floor in a panic, only to soon realize the phone ringing was your own. You grabbed it and saw the caller ID, eyes going wide.

“Seokmin!”

“Hey, y/n, how’s it going?”

“Are you fucken kidding me right now?”

“Huh?”

“Where have you been!? Do you know how many times I called you!? Do you know how many times I messaged you!?  Do you know how worried I’ve been!? My hair is turning grey because of you!”

“Easy there, easy, calm down, I’m perfectly fine.”

“You won’t be once I get my hands on you!”

Seokmin laughed. “Gosh, you’re on fire today.”

“Where are you? I need to see you, we need to talk.”

“I know, I know, but guess what happened?”

“… you joined-”

“I joined Blitz Club! You’re talking to the newest member, and as a member, I want to invite you to the club tonight. It’s my birthday party.”

“Your birthday is not for a couple of months.”

“Are you coming? Yes or yes?”

You sighed. “Of course I’m coming. You keep talking about this Blitz Club and now you’re in, I have to see what the fuss is all about.”

“Excellent! I’ll text you the location later and meet you outside the club, don’t be late.”

“I won’t.”

“And wear something fun.”

“I guess.”

It took you a moment to fully register what had just happened. You checked your phone records to make sure the call had happened, then you texted Seokmin, asking if he really was okay. In seconds you got a smiley face as a response. Just cause he was talking to you again didn’t mean everything was alright. You seemed to be following the same path as LW96, but you had to make sure not to meet the same mysterious end. You glanced back at the payphone one last time before leaving, making your way back to the apartment. Regardless of your thoughts, you were still going to a club tonight and should dress properly. You found something nice, and once Seokmin texted you the address you made your way over.

A part of you felt weird. Like this was all some kind of dream and you weren’t actually going to see Seokmin tonight, but thankfully that doubt was crushed when you heard him call your name. He was across the street from you, waving excitedly and seeming to be his usual self. If you didn’t know any better you’d say he was fine, but you didn’t quite believe that. You made your way over to him and hugged him, glad to confirm he was in fact real and not some figment of your imagination. This area wasn’t as run down, but definitely not a place to be without purpose. You at least had Seokmin, so he’d look after you.

“Come this way, you’re gonna love it.”

Seokmin led you over to a building, going inside and up some stairs, stopping at the door and facing a camera. A neon sign above the entryway let you know where you were, and once the bouncer gave you the all clear you stepped inside. You were suddenly blinded by flashing lights, needing a moment for your eyes to adjust. Then it all came into view. Loud music, colorful lights, dancing bodies, drinks, and laughter. This was a club alright, but something more as well. You couldn’t describe it, but simply standing here was filling you with energy. You didn’t feel like the odd one out. Although you were only basking in the moment for a bit before Seokmin took your hand and led you towards the bar.

“Yo! Where did you go?”

“I just stepped out for a minute to get my plus one.” Seokmin explained. “Whatever you want y/n, it’s on me.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you.” The other guy held his hand out to you. “I’m Joshua.”

“Hi, Joshua.” You shook his hand, then realized something. “Wait, are you Joshua Hong?”

“Do we know each other? I think I’d remember a pretty face.”

“No, I just-”

Another suddenly interrupted the conversation and your eyes went wide. You stared between Joshua and this other guy who you believed to be Hoshi, two of the missing ten from LW96’s research.

“Ya! Wonwoo is looking for you.” Hoshi said. “He mentioned he wanted to take a joy ride with you later.”

“Right, he did say that. Excuse me then, we’ll see each other later.”

Joshua winked at you before taking his drink and leaving the bar. You were still processing, adding onto the fact Hoshi just mentioned the name Wonwoo, who was another missing person, technically speaking. This was all lining up with what LW96 had posted about before. That the supposedly missing people were at the club and nowhere else. 

“You must be Seokmin’s friend.” Hoshi smiled. “Hi, I’m Hoshi, nice to meet you.”

“Uh… likewise…”

“I’m glad you’re here to celebrate Seokmin’s big day. My friend was here for mine, and vice versa.”

“Your friend?”

“Yeah. Hold on, let me call him over. Woozi!!!”

To your surprise that wasn’t a name you recognized, at least it wasn’t one of the missing ten. Another came over to the bar, smiling as Hoshi wrapped an arm around his shoulder.

“This is my friend, Woozi. Just like you, I brought him to Blitz Club once I got in. He was here for my birthday too.”

“I still haven’t forgiven you for that 3am wake up call.”

“You were worried for nothing.”

“I had every reason to be worried.”

“Then you worried me when you took on a dare.”

“You did it first!”

“Well, now we’re both members of Blitz Club, so you’re welcome.” Hoshi teased. “So, are you gonna join our ranks soon? Otherwise we won’t see each other again.”

“I… I uh…”

You were trying to make sense of something that was on the tip of your tongue, but you were interrupted out of your thoughts as Seokmin placed a drink in your hand.

“Here you go, your favorite.”

“Oh, thanks.”

“Do you wanna dance?”

“Uh, sure.”

“Come on.”

Seokmin took your free hand and led you to the dance floor, telling the others he’d see them later. You soon found a nice place and it was so easy to just let the music move you. Even if you wanted to investigate this place, you also wanted to have fun. It just felt so natural, it felt so right. You hadn’t been to places like this in so long you had forgotten how wonderful they were. You got lost in the music, dancing with Seokmin and having fun, even switching dance partners. Time seemed to just slip away until something seemed to snap you back. You were dancing when a certain someone was suddenly before you. Such beautiful eyes that had a faint dark green glow to them, not to mention the strange scar on the side of their face. Recognition tugged at the back of your mind.

“… jun…?”

Your dance partner just smiled at you, keeping you mesmerized and pulling you back into the fun, or at least he tried. Those eyes, it sent a chill down your spine as it brought something you thought you had long buried up to the surface. You stepped away, taking back control of yourself and looking for Seokmin. When you found him you went to him, grabbing his arm.

“We need to talk.”

“Huh? But we’re having so much fun! Besides, it’s almost time for cake.”

“I don’t care, come with me.”

You grabbed Seokmin’s arms, trying to pull him out of the dance floor when there was a sudden bang. The sound startled you, but then you realized confetti was falling from the ceiling and the music had been turned down. A spotlight suddenly shined down on you and Seokmin, blinding you and making it hard to see anyone around you. Then you heard a voice speak into a microphone, getting everyone’s attention.

“Daredevils and honored guests, tonight we celebrate the birthday of our newest Blitz Club member, everybody please give it up for Lee Seokmin!”

Loud cheers and applause filled the room, and more confetti seemed to fall. You then noticed a birthday cake with lit candles being wheeled over to Seokmin. A few familiar faces were surrounding you, and then people began to sing. The atmosphere was so cheerful, but something at the back of your mind was screaming at you that something was very wrong.

“Happy birthday, Seokmin.”

Seokmin blew out the candles and everyone cheered, the music turning back up and the celebrations continued. The spotlight disappeared and once again your eyes needed to adjust. Then you saw it, you saw him. Standing atop of some elevated platform was a man with a microphone who you instinctively knew was the owner of this club. Because of the spotlight you hadn’t been able to see him before, but his voice scratched at the back of your mind, and now you knew why. Your eyes locked onto each other, and in your fearful state a name slipped past your lips.

“… seungcheol…”

You could only watch in paralyzed horror as recognition bloomed in Seungcheol’s eyes, turning into a crazed look, followed by a devilish smile. That was all you needed to snap yourself back to reality.

“Fuck!”

Once the adrenaline kicked in you were moving, trying to push your way through the crowds and get out of here as soon as possible. You needed to run, you needed to escape, nothing else mattered, no one else mattered. You struggled as you pushed people aside, the sound of your racing heartbeat drowning out the music. You didn’t dare look back, feeling that predatory gaze on you. The exit was in your view, yet it seemed so far away. Then everything went haywire. 

You heard this piercing whistle and stumbled in your steps. You fell to your knees and slammed your hands over your ears, hoping that would help, but it didn’t do much. The sound hurt and you couldn’t help but yell. Thankfully it didn’t last, but the world around you had gotten eerily quiet. In fact you noticed the music had stopped, and everyone around you had collapsed to the floor and appeared to be unconscious. You slowly stood and then dared to look back, finding a new frightful scene before you. 

Now you could see Seungcheol standing atop some giant cake, unconscious bodies all around him, except for the handful who were still standing, and Seokmin was one of them. You counted twelve other conscious individuals, including Seokmin, but they were all facing Seungcheol. You had no idea what was going on, but you didn’t really want to find out. Seungcheol was still staring at you with a cocky glint in his eyes. Then you saw it, that dreadful emerald glow in his eyes. The one from your nightmares.

“Get her.”

Seungcheol raised a hand to point at you, and all twelve heads turned back to look at you. In that moment your breath caught in your throat as you took a half step back. Now you could count thirteen pairs of emerald eyes staring at you, and it pained you to see Seokmin was one of them. Although you didn’t have time to dwell on your sorrows. You needed to run. It wasn’t until one of the others took a step towards you that your body finally moved. You quickly bolted out the door, stepping and jumping over bodies till you made it outside. Trying not to be terrified by the laughter and voices behind you.

Once outside you just picked a direction and ran. As long as you got away you’d be alright. It was dark out, the only source of light was the moon and a few of the street lamps that actually worked in this area. You weren’t thinking too much about the path you were taking, just turning corners and keeping your momentum. Then you heard the roar of engines, realizing you couldn’t just keep running. You needed to find a place to hide, but that was easier said than done. There wasn’t much around here, but then you realized maybe your answer wasn’t down on the ground, but up. You looked for an alley with a fire escape, rushing over and getting the ladder down so you could climb up.

As soon as you were on the first platform you pulled the ladder back up, managing to jam something into it so it couldn’t be pulled back down. With that done you began to climb up, trying to be quiet. That is until you heard laughter and whistling. You glanced down to see a few of the guys had found you, staring up at you with amused looks. One tried to reach the ladder, but they couldn’t get to it. Or at least you thought they couldn’t. To your horror another jumped up high enough to grab the ladder. It wouldn’t go down, but he could climb up. You quickly focused back on making it to the rooftop, looking back to see another actually jumping up to grab the railing of the first platform and pull themselves up.

When you made it to the roof you looked around. This was supposed to be your hiding spot, but now it felt more like a dead end. There was a rooftop entrance door you saw, but when you tried to open it you discovered it was locked. The only way down was the fire escape, but that wasn’t an option anymore. You heard laughter and looked over to see Minghao and Dino get onto the roof. They moved to surround you, even though technically you were already trapped. Then you saw Seokmin make it up.

“There you are, where are you going? The party’s not over yet.”

“I… Seokmin, listen to me, please, I don’t know what’s happened to you, but you have to snap out of it! This isn’t right!”

“I’m perfectly fine, actually, I’m better now. I promise.”

“No, you’re not. I’m sorry, Seokmin, this is all my fault. Look, if this is what I think it is then maybe I can fix this. You just-”

“There’s nothing to fix.” Seungcheol’s voice interrupted. “You know that.”

By now the others had made it to the rooftop as well and you were completely surrounded. You didn’t actually expect Seungcheol to follow you as well, but here he was. He stepped into the circle with you, looking you up and down with a triumphant look on his face.

“You did a really good job hiding away from me.” Seungcheol commented. “I thought you’d never set foot in this country again.”

“I shouldn’t have.”

“Hm, I’m glad you did. I honestly would have found you eventually, even if it took me a few more years. It’s better things worked out this way. In the end, you came right back to me.”

“You manipulated my friend! You used him-”

“Oh, no, no, no, I had no idea Seokmin was your close friend. That’s just a happy accident. Besides, he didn’t ask you to come back here, you did that all on your own, remember?”

“…”

“I’m sure you have lots of questions, and I’m happy to answer them for you.” Seungcheol held his hand out. “So why don’t you just come back with me. It can be like old times.”

“Never.”

“Come on, my asking is just a courtesy. You have nowhere to run to anymore, and I’m not letting you escape again.”

“Fuck you.”

Seungcheol sighed. “Still so stubborn. Grab her.”

The ones surrounding you began to move in, and you started thinking about ways to get out of this. Maybe you could make it back to the fire escape and get away since they were all here now. It was a long shot, but you had to try it anyway. You saw a bit of an opening and made a run for it, but an arm wrapped around your waist and pulled you back. Next thing you knew multiple hands were on you, keeping you still, holding you in place as Seungcheol walked up to you. His fingers ghosted over your cheek before he cupped the side of your face.

“Let’s pick up where we left off.”

Seungcheol smiled, those eyes glowing emerald once more before a wave of electricity coursed through you and knocked you out. Your body went limp in the hands of your captors. Your last conscious thought was that of regret.

🗲🗲🗲🗲🗲🗲♦🗲🗲🗲🗲🗲🗲

“Y/n, you’ll be partnered up with Seungcheol for the final.”

“Yes, professor.”

Uni wasn’t that difficult for you. Your studies were important and you dedicated yourself to them. Although what you did despise was group projects. Not many of the other students were on your level, or respectful, but you still put on a smile and played your part. This time around you had to hide your annoyance. Choi Seungcheol came from a wealthy family, and you had heard the rumors of his hot-shot attitude. He wasn’t a total idiot, but he certainly thought he was better than most. Being his partner for this surely meant he’d push all the work onto you. At least he would pay you for it. 

Once the bell rang and the class was dismissed you put on a smile and turned around to face Seungcheol. He sat right behind you in class. You introduced yourself, and let him do the same even though everyone knew him. Then you asked when he’d like to meet to talk about the project. To your surprise he actually gave you an answer, suggesting you meet up in the library once you both finished classes for the day. You agreed and then parted ways. You expected him to be trouble for you, but maybe it was better if he showed some interest in this. Even if it was only for show.

After you finished your last class you made your way to the library, seeing Seungcheol had booked a private study room so you could discuss your approach for this final. Once again he was actually engaging with you the way a serious partner would. Maybe you wouldn’t be completely on your own for this. Although what you didn’t realize was that Seungcheol had his eyes on you for a while, and there was something he wanted from you. The whole semester he had been sitting behind you, bored from the class, but intrigued by you. He soon noticed you weren’t taking notes of the lecture, but scribbling down something else. A few times he caught a glimpse of this mysterious notebook, but he wanted to see it for himself.

This class final was his chance to satisfy his curiosity. He was a good partner, gaining your trust and waiting for his moment. It finally came when you both stayed up late in the library, trying to wrap things up. Seungcheol convinced you to take a little power nap, and once you were out he rummaged through your bag. That’s when he found your secret notebook, opening it up and browsing through the pages. This was fascinating stuff, and his mind was racing with possibilities. Of course he got lost in his own head and didn’t realize you had woken up. Not until you yelled at him and tried to take back your notebook, but he held it out of reach.

“Give it back!”

“You’re quite the clever girl, aren’t you?”

“Huh?”

“You’re smart enough that you don’t need to pay attention in class, so what do you do instead? You try to educate yourself on genetic mutations and DNA splicing. Impressive.”

“You… you understand that stuff?”

“Not on your level, but enough to comprehend all your little notes here. You’re making progress on your theories and equations.”

“Just give it back!”

“Hold on now, I have a proposition for you.” Seungcheol smiled, shaking the notebook. “I presume you’ve been studying all this for some noble cause, yes?”

“… yes… with DNA splicing we could potentially cure all kinds of genetic diseases and provide a greater quality of life to all of humanity.”

“Wow, quite ambitious don’t you think?”

“Shut up!”

“I’m not making fun of you, I’m just saying, you want to take on quite the task. I presume you’ll need help, so here’s my offer. Come work at my company after graduation and I’ll fund your research. Anything and everything you could need, I’ll provide for you. You’ll have my full support, 100%.”

“… why?”

“Cause I see great potential in you and your goal. It would be a shame to let this type of talent go to waste, don’t you think? So, do we have a deal?”

Seungcheol held his hand out to you, encouraging you to take it. His words were like a dream come true, and you believe him wholeheartedly, so you didn’t hesitate to shake his hand.

“Deal!”

Just as promised, after graduation you were given a position in Seungcheol’s company. You got your own lab with the latest equipment and a whole team of researchers to help you as well. Your little side project was no longer just that, but the career path you wanted to build for yourself. Nothing was impossible, and you had Seungcheol’s full support in everything you did. For the most part he’d let you do your own thing, coming to the lab to see how you were doing and happily listening as you blabbed on about your latest advancement. When you were confident to start some animal trials he happily provided you with your test subjects. You were never short on anything you could need.

Of course you were so lost in your own research you didn’t think there was anything else going on. You were unaware of Seungcheol coming into the lab when you weren’t present and going through your files. Even if you caught him it would look completely harmless. He was your boss and simply looking over your work. He may not fully understand it, but he could see you were making progress. Although he was waiting for a certain breakthrough. He knew you were inching closer and closer to it everyday, and the anticipation just excited him. When you finally managed the first successful DNA splice, he knew you were almost there. 

Then again, he was a bit impatient. A side of him he never showed you. You had figured it out, DNA splicing. It may only be for animals, but the next step was humans. As Seungcheol looked over your notes he could see the pieces falling into place, realizing his goal was just at his fingertips. He knew if he spoke to you about them you wouldn’t approve, but he didn’t need that from you, in fact all he ever needed was your mind, and you had already delivered on what he wanted. So one night he took matters into his own hands, following your formulation and making the necessary adjustments. It was certainly a risk, but he had faith in your talents. 

You didn’t usually work weekends, Seungcheol telling you that rest was important, but there was something you wanted to double check before unwinding. Yet when you arrived at your lab you found it thrashed. Papers were torn and scattered about, so many beakers were broken and multiple samples were destroyed. You didn’t understand how this could happen. Time and time again Seungcheol had assured you that the lab was secure and that your research was kept strictly confidential. No one would know of a good reason to break in and steal. As you carefully walked around you suddenly spotted Seungcheol on the floor, rushing over to him

“Seungcheol! What happened!? Are you alright!?”

As you helped Seungcheol sit up you noticed one of his sleeves rolled up, and an empty needle next to him. You couldn’t put two and two together fast enough before Seungcheol had his arms wrapped around you, pulling you closer and burying his face in the crook of your neck. He took in a deep breath, and you squirmed in his grasp until you broke free.

“What are you-”

“You smell wonderful.”

“Huh?”

“I know you always wore nice perfume, but now… I can really breathe in your scent, and it’s so lovely.”

“… my… scent…?”

“Yup.”

“Seungcheol… what did you do?”

“Hm?”

“Why are you in my lab? Why is it thrashed?”

“Technically it’s our lab.” Seungcheol got up on his own, stretching. “I do apologize for the mess. Things got a bit out of hand.”

“What got out of hand? What did you do?”

“Why do you sound so worried? I’m perfectly fine as you can see.”

“Seungcheol, explain yourself.”

“Come on, you’re a smart girl, you know what’s going on.”

“No… no, you didn’t.”

“I might have…”

“No… no, no, no, no, Seungcheol! We were nowhere near human testing! You can’t just use yourself as a test subject! What if something happened to you!?”

“Oh please. Your research has been making steady progress for months. The truth was all in your notes and you knew it. Successfully splicing animal DNA meant doing the same marvel for humanity was not far behind.”

“Your actions were incredibly risky! I could have found you dead, Seungcheol!”

“I would never do that to you. I merely followed your research, and look at me. I feel incredible. Of course there were some discomforts to deal with so pardon the mess, but I’m experiencing this small little lab in a new way now. I can only imagine what the rest of the world will be like. Do you see what we’ve accomplished here? We can improve the quality of life for humans just as you want. I’m your living proof.”

“No… look, we can fix this. As long as we have a sample of your original-”

“I know, that’s why I got rid of everything related to the old me. This is who I am now, all thanks to your research.”

“My research is supposed to help people with genetic diseases. It’s not for cosmetic purposes. This isn’t some-”

Seungcheol cut you off as he placed his hand over your mouth, shaking his head and tsking at you. His actions were making you nervous, moreso now that you knew he wasn’t the Seungcheol you had known all this time, perhaps that version of him had always been a lie.

“Your research can be both. You heal people, and we can mix in the right type of DNA to make humanity stronger.” Seungcheol lowered his hand. “How does that sound?”

“… was this… always your plan…?” 

“I told you I saw potential in you.”

“…”

“I’ll have someone clean the lab and-”

“No. I won’t be a part of this.”

“Excuse me?”

“I’m not doing this with you, not anymore. I quit.”

Seungcheol scoffed. “You can’t do that.”

“I just did. I’m done and I’m taking my research with me.”

“Hm, I’m afraid not.”

“What?”

“You work for me, remember? I provided you with everything to continue your research, therefore, it’s mine. I’m no fool of course. The research is useless without you to advance it, so let’s not be so dramatic.” Seungcheol suddenly pulled you into his arms, holding you tight. “Why don’t we just relax. Hm?”

“I…”

Strangely enough you began to feel dizzy in Seungcheol’s arms. You couldn’t quite understand why, but you didn’t need a solid answer to know you needed to escape his grasp. You squirmed until you broke free, immediately stepping away from Seungcheol and trying to clear your head. He merely watched you for a while, and you could see a dark green glow in his eyes.

“… how… what did you splice yourself with…?”

“Hm, a couple of things. In small quantities I assure you.” Seungcheol stepped towards you. “I’m still getting used to a few changes, but I see the ones I wanted are working.”

“… stay… stay away from me…”

“Come now. I can make you just like me. Then you’ll understand.”

“… no… no, stay back!”

“I have another vial of the serum I used just for you.”

“It doesn’t work like that! You have to run tests and make sure the compatibility is high enough!”

“I did run the tests.”

“On yourself! That means the serum works for you, it could kill me.”

“Ah, yes, that is true. You made a note of that in your files. It is rather difficult to achieve high compatibility, but together we can solve any problem.”

“I won’t work with you.”

“You’ll come around.”

This isn’t what you envisioned when you first embarked on this path. You wanted to help the world, but you should have known there were string attached to Seungcheol’s deal. He wanted to enhance himself, give such gifts to the highest bidder, and you couldn’t let him have it. So there was only one thing left to do. There was already a mess of paper and chemicals on the floor, making it the perfect fuel. You noticed a bunsen burner in the corner of your eye and quickly lunged for it, turning it on and dropping it to the ground. Before Seungcheol could reach you a bright fire ignited and kept him away from you. He scoffed, not at all phased by your actions. Seconds later the sprinklers in the room activated, slowly killing the fire.

“There’s no point in running.”

“Yes there is. You said it yourself. The research is useless without me. I won’t be a part of this anymore.”

You intended to leave but Seungcheol made a move and managed to grab your arm, his grip was firm, far stronger than the average human. You likely wouldn’t be able to free yourself this time, so you needed to think of something else. You frantically looked around, trying to avoid those emerald eyes, and seeing that Seungcheol had damaged an electrical wire during his enhancement. Without hesitation you reached for the wire and pressed the exposed end against his neck. He yelled and released you, falling to the ground and seizing. You didn’t care for his health anymore, rushing out and intending to leave this all behind. 

You were basically throwing away all your work, but you couldn’t let some psycho do whatever he wanted. Surely the water and fire and electricity would cause damage to the lab and corrupt some files. That way he couldn’t do anything with what was left. As for you, you’d disappear. When you got to your place you packed a bag and fled. Knowing who Seungcheol was, you knew you had to stay on the move. He’d hunt you down to the ends of the Earth if you weren’t careful, and your goal was to never cross paths with him again. It did hurt to leave all your loved ones behind, unable to tell them the truth of your spontaneous departure, but it was for their own safety too.

So you traveled around the world. Keeping a low profile and making little to no contact with your loved ones. You did check the internet every now and then for any news of Seungcheol. If he had perished, if he had gone public with his new status as a chimera, but there was nothing. It looked like he had simply disappeared all on his own, even a few articles popped up here and there wondering where the young heir had gone, but there was silence. Perhaps you had cause enough damage to him that you wouldn’t have to worry about him again, and that foolish thought let you put your guard down. You thought you could go see an old friend after all these years, but that would turn out to be such a terrible mistake.

🗲🗲🗲🗲🗲🗲♦🗲🗲🗲🗲🗲🗲

You groaned awake as you began to regain consciousness, your senses slowly returning to you. When you opened your eyes you realized you had a huge light pointed at you, forcing you to shut your eyes once more and give your vision a moment to adjust. Then you began to hear the beeping sounds of a monitor. You tried to move your arms only to discover they were restrained, soon discovering the same had been done to your legs.

“… fuck…”

You were trying to properly wake yourself up, but your mind was moving at a snail’s pace. Still, you could slowly make out the voices around you, even if you didn’t recognize them.

“What if the serum doesn’t take, hyung? What are we going to do?”

“Relax. It’s okay if she’s not compatible, she can fix it so she is.”

“Then she’ll be just like us, right?”

“Yes, and with her, anyone else can be like us. No need to worry about compatibility anymore.”

With what little strength you had, you couldn’t help but struggle. You weakly pulled on your restraints, groaning and whimpering, but it did nothing to help you. All it did was let your captors know you were awake. By then your vision was better, so you could make out your surroundings. Wherever you were, at the moment you were strapped down to some metal gurney, multiple machines at your side monitoring your vitals and an overhead lamp shining brightly in your face. Thankfully the lamp was moved, but now you had other faces in your view.

“I see someone’s finally awake.” Seungcheol commented. “How are you feeling?”

“… what… what is this…?”

“Right, you must have lots of questions, and I did promise to answer. This is my lab, do you like it? Not quite as nice as the one we had before, but it gets the job done.”

“… what did you… what did you do… to my friend…”

“Seokmin, why don’t you tell her yourself.”

“I didn’t know you were so cool y/n. Hyung gave me a gift. This was my dare so I could get into Blitz Club.”

“… what?”

“I had a high compatibility and if I dared to take the serum, I wouldn’t just get into Blitz Club, but I would be blessed with such cool powers. And it’s all thanks to you.”

“No… no, no, no, no, this isn’t… what even happened to you?” Your gaze turned to Seungcheol. “How are you fine?”

“Our last meeting was quiet… electrical, wasn’t it? I’d be upset if you didn’t open my eyes to greater possibilities. You see I had already become a better version of myself, but when that electricity coursed through my veins, it unlocked things within my new genetic makeup. My power became greater than I could have imagined. I didn’t want to keep such gifts to myself, but you know that without you, my options were limited.” Seungcheol reached over to pet your head. “Instead of modifying the serum, I could only search for those who had a high compatibility. Of course gathering volunteers for such tests wouldn’t be easy either nor would it keep me out of the spotlight, so I had to find other means of acquiring my test subjects.”

“Blitz Club…”

“Yes. Still a very smart girl, I see.”

“All those people… how… why…?”

“It was very simple. People enjoy games, and everyone yearns to belong. Clubs are a great place for social gathering, so why not make one that’s super fun and has an exclusive membership. With something like that, people will come to me all on their own.”

“… you… tricked them… you lied…”

“I did no such thing. Did I now, boys? You all picked up the phone on your own and took the dare, didn’t you?”

A chorus of agreement rang out from all the others around. You merely shook your head, knowing this was all manipulation on Seungcheol’s part. You never really knew what he was capable of, but the taste you had gotten long ago frightened you, and he now had years of mastery under his belt.

“I really did have fun with the phone part. I had people watch it for me, only making it ring when someone was truly alone. Then they’d grab the phone and zap! Enough electricity courses through them to knock them out, and then my people can collect the latest volunteer.”

“You… you did that… to all of them…?”

“Of course. The process of admission has to be fair for everyone. We did test all the wanna be daredevils for compatibility, but as you can see, it was rather difficult to find the right people. Jeonghan here was my first success. My first chimera. He had to be celebrated for he had been born anew. A new birthday as I call it. We celebrated Seokmin’s rebirth tonight, didn’t you have fun?”

“I… tonight… but… what about the rest… the other people?”

“They’d get their little dare and a few modifications, but nothing as advanced as my boys here.”

“… what?”

“We can go more into detail for that when your head is clear. For now we’re just chatting, doing a little catch up.”

“… all this time… why hide though… why hide them… you… you…”

“Sh, don’t think too hard, you’re only gonna hurt yourself. I know what you mean though, I keep my boys close cause I know the world isn’t ready for them, but that can change with your help.”

“… no… no, I won’t help you… never… I saw what you did… you keep messing with nature… what you did to yourself… what you did to them… your little pack of chimeras… I want no part of it!”

“It’s okay, I know you’ll come around. After all, we have all the time in the world ahead of us. We’ll keep you comfy, promise.”

You could see the emerald glow in Seungcheol’s eyes, noticing the little sparks at his fingertips. You thought he was powerful back then, but that was nothing compared to now. You were at his mercy for sure this time, and you didn’t see escape as an option. Either way, you knew he’d get you to submit one way or another. One day you’d end up back at Blitz Club, dancing at his side and with the others as the newest member, not a care in the world. That was your inescapable fate now, and in the end you wouldn’t think it’s so bad.

[mymoodwriting]

NCT is the Winner!!!

I see the nctzen presence remains strong here, and they truly ran away with it in the previous poll. As the winner, here are the stories you guys can choose from. Like always, feel free to ask questions about the stories you're curious about. Have fun!

[mymoodwriting]

Hi~ Any chance you’re gonna flesh out that fairy renjun or alien yuta that you have answered asks about? Could one of those be a request if you are willing to? ・ε・

Hi, hi 😊

Those type of asks are fun little chats that can absolutely become proper stories whether I do it in my own time, or someone makes a request. I have had such things happen before, so it's not out of the question.

Although my requests are now closed, so until next round. That is unless you keep an eye out for something in the next day or so...

[mymoodwriting]

Thank u for updating Disconnected ♡

Of course! I'm glad you enjoyed it! Thank you, Nonnie!

[mymoodwriting]

Anon who brought up Lee junyoung thank you for bringing him up cause I had thus request circling around him (although not for him) where he is the readers co-star for a romance drama and the company the reader is from is the same one where seongcheol or Mingyu are in. Since they’re from the same company they interact here and there and the said member starts grasping feelings for the reader but get angry/annoyed when they realise that the reader is in kind of like a situationship with her co-star

Sorry if this is too detailed. You don’t have to do this if you don’t want to <3

No need to apologize. A request with no details or some are always welcome. I want to be able to write a story you'd enjoy.

I do like this idea. Some unrequited love and jealousy with all these guys even though they don't know each other, nor have they really confessed to the reader >_< It makes for some fun scenarios. I'll do my best with this and hopefully make something you like!

[mymoodwriting]

Monthly moot appreciation 👉👈. Happy to know that we’re mutuals hehe

Oh my! It's Sana and Woozi side by side! My beloveds! So cute >_<

I'm so happy to have you as my mutual as well, the best writer friend a girl could ask for!

[mymoodwriting]

Free range. I want to your storyline since I don’t have any in mind and I was just looking at your polls and saw hurt me less and this man for jeonghan and wonwoo which caught my interest lol

Nice... my deobi never let me down!

Oh yeah, the day I get to This Man, y'all are gonna cry your eyes out! That story has existed in my head since the album came out. One day I shall get to it, one day...

[mymoodwriting]

The thing with Lee junyoung is that he has such a wide discography. Like bro was in when life gives you tangerines and when I watched weak hero class two I just stood in my room staring at my screen going “they’re the same person???” Then I realised that he was in love and leashes as well lmao (did NOT watch that movie)

-🐾

I saw, like, damn, dude has done like everything. Which does say a lot about an actor cause it shows their ability to take on any type of character and not get stuck with a trope or something. The duality for someone like him is surely insane.

Honestly the movie was funny, and weird at the same time, but I think you'd enjoy it to see your mans get up to all kinds of shenanigans >_<

[mymoodwriting]

Hiyaaa can I request a fic for tbz with their song hurt me less???

Deobi... are y'all peeking into my files or something??? >_<

Someone before asked for Lip Gloss and now you asking for Hurt Me Less... like... how do y'all know I have ideas for those??? This some kind of psychic stuff...

Anyway, yes, I could do this, although my thing is do you have something in mind or is this free range? The original idea I had in mind for that song/comeback is some magic/witch vibes with TBZ. I won't go into detail, but just curious what you're wanting from the request more or less.

[mymoodwriting]

Someday haha but nonetheless I will keep on looking for people who want to join my Lee junyoung era (first time I liked an actor so much 😭)

I feel you, sometimes you just vibe so well with an actor. That was me with Lee Jong Suk when I was first introduced to him. I've seen all his works, including his first gigs that are nearly impossible to find anywhere mainstream. He's wonderful and I always look forward to his next projects!