“—-like who? you mean the family that owns the convenience store down the street? because they lost their kids. the twins that barely started middle school. and even the eldest who came home from university for break. or how about any of my classmates? remember any of the ones you met? yeah, they’re gone too. or how about any of our neighbors– the people who we only know by face, not by name, but still share a smile with? they’re gone too! and that’s only a fraction of the billions– hell, maybe even trillions of people that fell comatose because of zero!” kisu roughly shoved iseul back. the air was sparkling with stardust as his emotions went haywire. “and do you remember my mom, iseul?” the tears that brimmed his eyes finally started to fall. “because she’s not waking up either. the one person i love the most is going to DIE. all thanks to your psychotic boyfriend!”
this viciousness wasn’t like kisu. he was like the sun– bright, warm, always looking forward. but when his ray of light was extinguished ( eomma – eomma – eomma – ) this deep buried ugliness kisu never even knew of surfaced. maybe there was more of his father inside than him than he thought. sure, kisu was bleeding glittery magenta all over the floor from injuries inflicted by zero. but even if his alien blood looked pretty, and the air was full of shimmering stardust, kisu didn’t feel like fucking sugar and rainbows and kittens. not today, at least. kisu hadn’t bothered to transform out of his starlight boy suit. he only pulled off his mask. iseul was one of the only friends who knew about his masked alter ego. but kisu couldn’t help resent iseul just because of his intimate association to siyeon zero. kisu knew iseul wasn’t at fault for what zero’s done to the world. and yet that grief over witnessing so much destruction, and the possibility of losing a loved one ignited his fury.
by now, 12 hours past since zero launched the first wave Virus. it resulted in billions of organic individuals to fall comatose. their minds were in the process of being digitized and uploaded into a virtual utopia in Cyberspace known as PARADISIO. zero was determined to send out an even more effective Virus that could infect people not only through contact with technology, but through other organics. fortunately, starlight boy and his allies were able to stop zero from launching the second wave Virus– for now. it was only a matter of time before zero continued with the next phase of his operation. zero held the Antivirus that could reverse this process, and ultimately wake up those who were still comatose and alive. while kisu’s allies were seeking out zero through Cyberspace, kisu chose to confront iseul. if anyone could reach zero, then it was iseul.
“why do you love him?” there was such hostility and disgust to his accusation. “HOW can you love him? HE’S A MONSTER!!! he’s only going to keep killing people. he’s going to destroy this entire world! you know that. you fucking know that! i don’t care what crazy fucked up idea he has about saving life. you don’t save people by killing them!” some of the comatose victims were already dying. nobody could predict when someone’s body shut down completely. it was driving kisu insane not knowing when his own mother might die. but he wasn’t only thinking about her. he was thinking about those who still had a chance to be saved.
“please tell me where he is. or how to reach him.” his voice choked. for the first time in kisu’s life, he knelt down in front of someone. to beg. “please, iseul–” more tears fell. the ugly sobs racked his body. “i need to save my mom. i can’t let her die. she’s all i have. and this world– our world– i know that our world can be ugly and fucked up. and that life can be full of suffering. but everyone deserves to live. i love our world and the people in it. please–” he grasped at iseul’s pants, looking up with wide, tearful eyes. “i’m begging you. please tell me where zero is.”
the world, falling apart. stay, he seems to want to say, but every time he opens his mouth, throat catching the ashes. it’s grey, fresh. like cut wounds. 0.03 millisecond later. in this monosyllabic yearning for the world to simply not crumble, internal bleeding. infernal bruising. on this plane of catastrophic intents, he sinks deeper into the lullabies stitched out of carnage. he’s been running, running, running, his feet trembling as they succumb to the weight of gravity. he’d lie if he said he didn’t know it was coming.
what’s worse: how denial replicates his feelings, quadrupling them into the notch where love has transcended into terminal silence. what’s worst: how knowledge ripples in his mind, eliminating conscience like the parasites that the love that he possesses has become. and then, below it, the fact that he’s a cause for apocalypse. he’s shifted the motives, in a way or another, but he hasn’t altered it for the better.
people are still dying, iseul. people are fucking dying because of you.
or is it? is it because of him? hasn’t it always been zero’s intent to ruin the world? he’s just an absolved solution to the machine, a pretty distraction that confuses the destruction for a brief moment before it navigates itself back into the main road. and once it manoeuvres back into the primal instinct, it’s not like he can stop zero. no matter what the cost is.
see, figure one: if he hurt himself, zero would self-destroy, and there would be no triumph because that would mean he’d go back to suicide ideations that he’d gone through on a good basis. figure two: if he killed himself, zero would self-realign, and there would be no winning as it would mean the same result based on different ideologies. maybe the former is the better — he should be—
he’s in the middle of thinking of hurting himself when starlight boy emerges, despair painting the airborne debris that’s already pooling in the area. wipes his own tears with his palm. he doesn’t deserve to be sad ( not when he’s a part of the reasons ). and when the question is posed, he’s only replying in a stagnant, somber voice. he remembers them all, yes. eyes red raw from all the tears. and when the cascade of words of reminders assaults him mercilessly, he swallows the numbness of all the grief, all the laments that he’s ever contained, down down down. first, he couldn’t save siyeon from the world. now, he cannot save the world from siyeon.
at the mention of his mother, he breaks. the memory of umma, limp, lifeless in his own arms, causes his self-hatred to flare. it’s all because of you, iseul. his own mother’s death, and now kisu’s is dying. saline streaks on his cheeks as the debris around him levitates, about to make a fortress to protect himself from the outside world, from kisu’s words. but no, he cannot do that — he cannot protect himself from the consequences.
he cannot stop zero; sat idly for hours a day trying to find the antidote to this insanity to no avail. should’ve said something, warned someone. but would anybody listen?
mouth stitched, his tears mean zilch in this. he knows that everything spoken in the spherical silence between them is true. and he savours everything shouted at him, watching as his friend, too, sinking neck-deep into the despair of not being able to save someone he loves. the questions rinse him awake all over again: he’s come to terms of becoming a monster by loving one, but does that change the fact that he has a skeletal heart made of the remnants of his own humanity? but it’s not like—
and the kneeling. the boy kneels, in front of him, pleading, begging. praying, too, perhaps. can prayers save them? no, but iseul knows the way to save them, to save kisu, to save everyone he’s come to know from zero. he falls onto his knees, too, levelling his gaze with kisu’s as he tries stopping choking on his own tears. “listen,” he speaks, finally, voice shaking heavily. “i don’t know where he is, but i know how he can find me. just— just promise to— live well. goodbye, kisu.” he swallows heavily, and he catches a sharp fragment of glass that flies straight towards himself. hoists himself back to his feet as he readies himself to slash his neck with the shard. ( @xhiimera )