pain — write about my character bringing yours pain.content warning: blood
“Hey, we’re closing up now, so…”
The familiar, dry tone of the arcade worker’s voice jolted the half-asleep gamer into an upright position. Lights from surrounding machines flickered into darkness. Distorted audio whispered from the popular fighting game in front of him. He bore his eyes into the black screen until the phantom images faded from his vision.
“Yeah, I’ll leave. Do you … need any help or anything? It would be easier with two people. I know I don’t work here, but-…”
“No. Not really,” Taeyong turned, a look of disdain riddling his sharp features. It was an expression the older had come to see often. “I can’t have you breaking one of the machines again anyway,”
A laugh bubbled in Hyunsoo’s chest. One could call it a wordless admission of guilt. The red pleather material squeaked as he slid from his perch. Navigating the dark arcade proved difficult when on the verge of surrendering to the lurking tendrils of the Sandman’s kingdom. His lips parted in preparation for a question, but the words would not pry themselves from his throat.
Fortunate enough for Hyunsoo, the expectation of an explanation was soon forgotten. A commotion from the backroom drew their attention immediately.
“Hasn’t it just been us for the past hour-…” The older inquired to himself in a whisper, trailing off to keep his thoughts silent. It would be best not to draw attention to their location. He reached for the flimsy bat from the baseball simulator as he passed. (As though it would cause any sense of threat.)
Taeyong’s hand drifted towards the bracelet around his thin wrist, dark eyes flickering towards Hyunsoo. The intruder could easily be inhuman.
Whatever the identity of the culprit, it rattled the door behind the prize kiosk. The wood appeared flimsy, bending and cracking under the weight of an unknown force. It burst from its hinges and shattered the delicate display glass. Miscellaneous prizes spilled onto the floor, plastic rings and candy crunching underneath heavy feet.
Flickering overhead lights revealed the lithe silhouette of a monster.
It froze, teeth sinking into belly of a pink stuffed bear. Razor sharp claws, long and thin, reached for the toy. Its stuffing billowed out like fluffy white viscera. “Teddy… teddy bear…”
The air grew stagnant, chilling as the monster directed attention towards the humans frozen in awe. Taeyong glanced in Hyunsoo’s direction for a brief moment. His stance relaxed, yet his expression remained cautious, and when he finally pressed the trigger on his bracelet, his eyes remained. The normal human would see a simple intruder, a thief on the hunt for money. However, the odd young man’s face changed as if well aware of what stood before him.
Irises trembling, hairs standing on end, Hyunsoo watched in silence as the creature’s gaze fixated on him. Its thinly slit pupils dilated. “Friend. My friend!” The language spilling from its gaping maw was foreign to most human ears, but the target of the words understood them well. It pivoted and lunged forward, claws shredding the thin fabric of the stuffed animal. An action unintentional from its reaction. A low growl, anguished and piercing, filled every crevasse of the silent arcade. It did not cease in approaching.
Taeyong raised his blade without hesitation, purpose etched on his expression.
“Wait!”
Hyunsoo held his hands out in front of him, frantic. His back pressed against the monster’s front. The hardened epidernal armor ejected air from his lungs on impact.
“Taeyong, don’t! He-…” The tip of the hero’s sword pressed into his abdomen and his fingers wrapped around the edge. His body tensed, grip reflexively tightening around the blade until thick crimson liquid poured from the superficial wounds. “Please don’t hurt him… H - He didn’t mean to. He didn’t mean it…”
date — write a drabble about our characters going on a date. nightmare — write my character having a nightmare about yours, or vice versa.
How Hyunsoo managed to find himself sitting at a dinner table across from none other than the mysterious owner of one of Busan’s magic shops. One he was unaware existed until recent events lead him straight to her doorstep. The woman possessed a beauty one could only describe as unattainable and intimidating. However, it was the type of intimidating that struck fear in people’s hearts. Adding the fact that she was definitely not human made her far more frightening, but to be revered.
Needless to say, when Yuuko could have proposed a dinner with him escaped him entirely. He sat in silence, contemplating his existence. Perhaps she tricked him with a spell or told some kind of half-truth to trick him. She did have the habit of being rather cryptic after all.
He picked at the half-eaten steak staring up at him, begging him to finish it. However, the uneasy feeling settling in Hyunsoo’s stomach made his appetite wane as the night went on. Of course, the enigmatic woman noticed his hesitance.
“What’s wrong, Hyunsoo? Not feeling very hungry? Shame... I had one of my faithful slaves-... I mean servants work on this meal all day. Don’t put it to waste,”
“Oh, yeah. I, uh, must’ve eaten too much before I got here or something.”
“Well, then if you’re finished with your meal... be a dear and draw a bath for me, won’t you?”
“A bath...?”
“Yes, I want you to draw me a wine bath. Get to wine making, boy toy. The bathroom is right through those doors,” Yuuko draped herself over a chaise lounge, coy smile on her painted lips. Due to her generous proportions, her long, thin limbs spilled onto the floor. Why she had a chaise lounge so small was beyond him. This revelation begged the question: where did Yuuko get all her clothes?
Hyunsoo opened the door he was directed to and saw an orchard complete with the sky and other scenery. Hanging on one of the trees was a note with what appeared to be a well thought out list of tasks to complete. Harvest grapes, crush and press grapes, ferment, clarify, age and bottle. “What the fuck! I can’t do all that shit in one night!” He glanced back at the list. “And what the fuck are wine beans?”
“Of course you’re not going to do all of this in one night. You’ll probably be here for a while. Wine baths are best when the product is about...” she checked the nonexistent watch on her wrist. “Mmm, let’s day, 500 years old is peak bathing standard.”
“I never agreed to this! I don’t even remember agreeing to go out to dinner with you either. Besides, I’ll die before all that wine is ready.”
“Mortality is a social construct.”
Before the fragile human had time to blink, two creepy looking fat bunny things crept towards him, trilling like malfunctioning Furbies. Yuuko watched on, satisfied as she claimed yet another victim.
That was when he woke up in a cold sweat, screaming.
“Well, I mean. That’s... kind of an old meme. Just so you know. Kind of overused, too, in my opinion. But yeah I guess-” he sighs “-liek mudkips. Water starters are underrated.”
hello to our lovely members! this is your admin egg here to share our first drabble meme! this time around, we’re doing something special! not only will you get to have loads of fun writing, but you also have the chance to gain points for your characters !
for this challenge, you will be awarded ONE (1) point for every TWO (2) people you send a meme to! whichever account you send the meme from will be awarded the points, and this works up until you hit ask limit! (you can still send asks from other accounts/anonymous, you just need to stop collecting points after ask limit!)
the only main rule is that in order for it to count for points, it has to be off of anonymous! so with that, have fun!!
With the new introduction of danger, Daniel doesn’t have time to hesitate or ponder over how this will go over. Lucky for him, his lack of filter often prevents him from thinking about what he says at all, which leaves him, ironically enough, perfectly equipped for moments like these. “Uh…Hyunsoo. Two things: one, you might want to stand behind me– or run, that’s viable too. Second: would you believe me if I told you I’m kind of a superhero?”
There was a fair - and reasonable - amount of people on planet Earth who subscribed to the mind set of ‘I’ll believe it when I see it.’ Hyunsoo liked to think he was one of those people. More so, he pretended to be around everyone else. Holding a certain amount of suspension of belief and healthy skepticism was the only thing keeping him sane. He was well aware of his crackpot theories, and he was 78.2% sure there was life on other planets. Although he held this bizarre system of beliefs, he was rarely serious on the matter - if only for the sake of others.
This, however, was not something even he could have fabricated to be mocked later. Hyunsoo had seen enough monsters to be accustomed to their presence. The curious young man had even taken it upon himself to keep vague notes of his encounters. On the rare occasion, he would communicate with them if they were capable. More often than not, he stayed out of harm’s way, carefully treading on their territory. The one or two dangerous monsters whose toes he stepped on were ones he would not soon forget.
Needless to say, he was fully prepared to defend himself and his friend from the monster hulking in the alleyway. Unfortunately the toy lightsaber he kept in his school bag would do little to conquer a beast. The force was not with him. He turned to his friend with a look of desperation in his eyes and ㅡWait a fucking second. Did Daniel just summon a hockey stick from the heavens?
“A superhero?” A small grin creased his previously nervous expression, and his wide eyes lit up with curiosity. He couldn’t help but heave out an airy chuckle of disbelief. Here Hyunsoo thought he was the one who fabricated the crazy stories. “You’re not fucking serious are you?! A … holy shit. When were you gonna tell me? Is this what fight club was supposed to be, huh?” His emotions flipped between anger, disappointment, and amazement. If what he had just witnessed was real, then perhaps he was not as delusional as he thought he was.
As he collected his thoughts, the monster released a low hiss, a long, forked tongue slipping from its fuzzy maw ㅡ like some lizard werewolf hybrid. It stood up on two legs and turned, growing in size with each small movement. It must have been at least two meters tall.
Hello!! I apologize for being so inactive recently, but I've gotten super sick the past week and a lot of personal things have been happening recently so I haven't felt good enough to really do much in a timely manner. I apologize to all I've left waiting on replies and plotting messages. It might be a bit before I get to them. I promise I will be back soon with a, hopefully, clearer mind and more enthusiasm!! Until then I don't think I'll be able to take on anything new. Again I'm so sorry for the inconvenience;; And sorry if this doesn't make sense and the formatting is clunky. I'm currently fighting one heck of a fever so I'm restricted to mobile. I'll be back once I'm feeling healthier!!!
The demise and final adventure of Kang Hyunsoo in the first timeline.
Content Warning: Gore, graphic violence, character death, feels.
Word Count: 3,050
4:46am. The neon numbers on the digital television clock blinked in a mesmerizing pattern. Hyunsoo was still awake, and the floorboards groaned underneath his weight as he slowly tiptoed down the hall.
An abrupt voice startled the young man as he reached for the house key dangling on a small rack by the front door. Parental instinct must have shaken the man he called his father from a dead sleep. He could hear the drowsiness lacing his husky voice. “Hyunsoo, are you still up?”
“Uhh… yeah. I couldn’t sleep again. I’m gonna… get us some breakfast, okay?”
“Just be careful. It’s still dark out.”
“Okay, got it!”
Before he closed the door behind him, his father made yet another request, “Let’s spend some time together later today, okay?”
An exasperated sigh passed Hyunsoo’s lips as he stepped outside, eyelids closing to regain what little energy he still had left.
He sauntered down the sidewalk in a daze, taking in the chilling calmness of the early morning. The streets were empty. There were no other pedestrians to worry about or curious onlookers to ogle at Hyunsoo’s zombie-like demeanor. Mumbling nothing in particular to himself, he turned his face towards the sky.
It rumbled, whispering warnings of the coming of a storm. The ominous clouds lingering over the still bright moon were trying to tell him something.
5:01am. The thin arms on the clock above the wall high coolers stuffed with cold drinks trembled slightly every subtle tick.
“Hey, listen to this.”
Hyunsoo reeled back to reality with iced coffees in each hand and three packs of instant noodles under his arm. The two attendants huddled around a radio, staring intently, as if it would make the voice clearer.
“…is breaking news. There have been reports of strange animals in the inner city area of Seoul. This is breaking as this is broadcast to you live. Authorities are keeping an eye on the situation and injuries have been reported. It’s unknown how far this incident reaches, but there have been apparent sightings in Yeonje-gu. It’s advised you stay inside if possible and do not approach-…”
“Turn that shit off, man. Sounds like some bullshit prank if I ever heard one,” The cashier with thinning salt and pepper hair finally directed his attention to his customer, scanning the items without so much as another word.
Hyunsoo’s lips parted, but he said nothing.
A sharp scream cut through the brief silence. It was blood curdling, startling enough to send his heart into a frenzy. It rattled against his rib cage like a desperate prisoner. The attendants scurried to their feet, making haste for means of self-defense. One procured a hunting knife from beneath the register and gripped it defensively.
“How much you wanna bet it’s some of those obnoxious drunk kids again? Got on my nerves for the last goddamn time,”
“Don’t do nothin’ stupid, now. You heard the radio!”
Hyunsoo took a step away from the door as he watched the man with the knife venture outside, anticipation bubbling in the pit of his stomach.
Another instance of silence, shattered by a resounding thump. Curiosity beckoned for fulfillment, and Hyunsoo found his face pressed against the glass of the window, powerless to resist staring.
The creature lingering over the cashier’s fallen form resembled something made from the shadows themselves, narrow eyes barely glinting in the darkness. The breath seeping from its gaping jaw was visible grey color, like whisps of heat on a winter day. It smelt of rotting and death, even from the safety of a glass barrier. Slowly, it reared its head, bellowing out a low growl. The vibrations gnawed into his bones and made them itch. Claws dug into the flesh of its victim with the intent to do far more than maim. The beast’s movements were calculated and intentional. It buried its twisted talons into the blacktop, tearing through bone and skin ㅡ a predator carving its meal. The man choked out a delayed mangled cry. A final death rattle.
When he was presumed dead, the creature vanished within the time it took to blink.
Blinded with rage, the other man rushed to the abandoned body of his coworker to comb through the unsalvagable pieces. Viscera spilt from what remained of his upper half like the bottom of a burst grocery bag. Color drained from his once sunkissed skin, eyes glossy and unchanging.
Hyunsoo threw his body over the the counter, strained eyes searching for a means of defense. A warrior was useless without his weapon.
Trembling digits curled around the cold handle of an unknown object. As he retracted his arm, he pulled with him an aluminum baseball bat. It scraped harshly against the hard counter top, a sound reminiscent of the creature’s sharpened nails.
Bat raised, he approached the scene with caution. Pools of blood reflected his image like a ruby mirror. The scent of blood was new to him. It hung heavy in the air, invading his nostrils as if it were part of the oxygen he breathed. He felt the sudden, undeniable urge to vomit. The churning, natural acids scalded the interior of his stomach. If it had not been empty, he would have expelled all contents on reflex.
“… Sir, we should get the hell out of here. That demon thing will come back knowing we’re still alive,” He held a sneaking suspicion that it retreated to the shadows, waiting. “Ifㅡ”
As he turned, he noticed the man cradling the corpse in his arms, rocking back and forth in a hypnotic, rocking motion. His tone was soft, soothing even, as he muttered into an unfeeling ear. “Hey… it’ll be okay… Big bro is here… Just hang on. I’ll get you back up.”
The aspiring main character had no choice, but to venture on his own into high level territory.
A nightmare was the only logical explanation to the madness. Even someone as notoriously delusional as himself should have questioned, but he did nothing of the sort. For a brief moment, he recalled reading somewhere that severe sleep deprivation caused hallucinations. But what was real and what wasn’t? The line between fantasy and reality blurred together until it finally came into fruition. It was as if someone released the products of their unrestrained imagination onto the real world.
And he accepted it without so much as a question. No, Hyunsoo had been preparing for a day such as this for months. Years, even. He would have begun preparations far earlier had he known the date of the inevitable extraterrestrial conquering of earth.
‘Now will you all finally fucking believe me?’ He had been doubted countlessly, taunted in the face of mounting evidence. It was all real, but his warnings came too late. This, however, was no alien invasion as he anticipated.
Monsters out of a fantasy setting, people with supernatural powers. He knew of their existence, but the hell on Earth was a foreign concept. No amount of video games and movies, no matter how violent or fantastical, could prepare him for something like this. An apocalypse. Was it happening in other parts of the world? ’The broadcast mentioned Seoul… That means at least major cities in this country. Shit.’
He didn’t know what time it was or how long he had been wandering the streets.
He watched with glazed over eyes as helpless civilians scurried away only to be snuffed out by bloodthirsty beasts. Their screams and death rattles flooded into the streets and alleys as he made his own attempt to escape. Every man for himself was instinctual; self-preservation at its finest. However, Hyunsoo was not one to pass the opportunity to help someone in need. Humans were naive to the sheer power creatures of this caliber possessed. It was evident in the way he witnessed a woman attempt to kick a seemingly passive monster. Not a moment passed before the beast held a severed leg in its spindly fingers. Its hand wrapped around the woman’s head, the long tendrils it called fingernails disappearing into her thick hair.
Hyunsoo and the child she defended, presumably her son, could merely watch as her head burst like a watermelon. The monster’s short snout wrinkled upwards as it grinned. A dark purple tongue flicked over its palm to taste the leftover viscera like a giraffe reaching for leaves.
It was not large in size (approximately the height of an average adult), but its strength easily outmatched that of a human. It was remiscent of a werewolf with an extended muzzle and longer, thinner limbs. He gave pause to observe its next course of action. It took no time to approach the child next.
In desperation, our hero removed a loose brick discarded on the asphalt and threw it full force at its back. “Hey, fuckface! Over here!” A low hiss emerged from its maw as it turned - slowly. He was close enough to it to see nictitating membranes slide over its crimson hued eyes.
“Human. You challenge me like other?”
But Hyunsoo stood unwavering, fists clenched at his aides, one still around his weapon. “Y… Yeah. Yeah! I’m challenging you. I’m stronger than that kid anyway. Don’t you want a good fight?”
Hyunsoo, in that moment, was no longer himself, but mentally once again behind the safety of a monitor as he pretended to be the protagonist of this story arc. He would be a savior in at least one small way, even if it meant little in the grand scheme of the end of the world.
He kept his eyes shut as he swung at his target. The heaviness of the bat sunk into the beast’s skull, causing it to burst open on impact. Its body stumbled forward only to collapse shortly after. Post-mortem spasms caused the corpse to twitch violently at his feet. The heat drained from Hyunsoo’s body, leaving his skin riddled with goosebumps.
“Holy shit…” ’I killed it… I killed something. Holy fucking shit…’
He stepped forward to examine it, then glanced back at the cowering child only in time to see him to flee, balled fists wiping the tears from his eyes. Hyunsoo cursed under his breath at the failed rescue. Mission failed.
His sudden rising temper urged him to bury the tip of his weapon into the foreign looking brain matter scattered about from his attack. His hands were trembling, sending shock waves into his body that made his teeth rattle. There was no time to cope with the image of the image of two violent deaths now ingrained in his mind. It was real. ’This is fucking real.’ It was not like a video game or a movie. He won no points and completed no quests.
He stumbled away from the scene with one hand clasping his throbbing head. Exasperated and mentally exhausted, he pressed his shoulder against a wall and paused to catch his breath in the mouth of an alleyway.
A grip that was unmistakably fingers curled around his ankle, holding him in place. His heart leapt into his throat. He defensively rose the bat above his head, the silver stained with a dark matter that had already dried. The liquid stained his hands and speckled across his face. He swore he could feel it slowly eating into his flesh.
“Don’t go… Wait …” The voice came from the shadows, soft and strained. Laying on a pile of discarded limbs, intricately designed clothes drench in blood, a man made himself known. He was unsure if the gore was his own or someone else’s. Hyunsoo hesitated to inquire.
“Please help me. I have to find my friend. Before I die… please, I have to see her.”
Compassion overtook him yet again. A hero must not be selfless if he is meant to protect others - particularly potential allies. He wrapped the other’s arm around his shoulder and pulled him to his feet. “I’ll find someone to help you. There’s others… like you, right? You’ve… I’ve seen people like you before. Before all of this stuff happened.“
“Heroes…” A wheeze cut through his speech. “Yeah… If you can see all that stuff… you can probably find someone like me if you focus on it. On the magic. Trust me…”
“Okay… I got it.” The other’s words sounded suspiciously familiar. They were similar to lines he recalled seeing in one of the many roleplaying games he occupied his former life with. If only the same logic of games could be applied to the real word, the outcome would seem much brighter. He could have been the protagonist.
They hobbled down an empty backstreet, hugging the crumbling buildings. That was when he spotted her. The flash of green tipped pigtails. Spectacular outfit indicative of whatever task force of heroes they were a part of. All indicative of their target. She bolted past them once more before he finally called out to her.
“Hey, wait! You’re… you’re a… hero! Right? Please, help him. He’s hurt really bad,” There’s blood everywhere and I don’t know what to do. “You have to help.”
“Sooyoung!”
It was then that the girl lowered her weapons, brows furrowing as her expression dissolved into worry. “I…-” She abandoned her cautious stance and hurried towards them. “I’ll do what… I can. Oh god. Oh god… You’re bleeding so much. What happened?” Her hands, already stained, gripped at his soaked clothing, trembling as they searched for the wound.
“It’s okay.” The hero pulled away from Hyunsoo’s grasp and approached the girl he knew, favoring his leg as he wrapped his arms around her. “I know you will, Sooyoung… I know,”
In her failure to assure him, her voice cracked through her suppressed emotions. Then finally, tears burst from her eyes in the embrace of her comrade. He cupped her cheek, wiping the tears from her eyes.
“Everything will be okayㅡ” a sharp breath inwards broke her words. “We’ll stop all of this a-and…”
“It will beㅡ but I don’t think you’ll see that happen,” The girl had no time to react. Before she found meaning to his words, the cold metal of her own blade sunk into her abdomen. The gasp she released was almost questioning. Why he deceived her. Why he hurt her. Why she trusted him. The answers drew further from her grasp as her vision blurred.
“Goodbye, Sooyoung.”
The hero pulled from the girl slowly. Her arms remained tucked to her chest, convulsing; as if separating from the other caused her physical pain. She fell to her knees and whimpered at the sight of her own blood staining her palms. Lips parted to scream, but nothing more than the sound of an air pocket drowned by blood gave way. An indicative croak of death. Before her body toppled onto the asphalt, she held a look of betrayal in her warm brown eyes. He held the blade to the rising sun pouring warm light in between the buildings to admire the redness trickling from the side.
A scene Hyunsoo would have only thought to witness in a movie played before his eyes. It was far from the joyous reunion that took place moments before.
Had he known the consequences, his decision would have changed. Things may have turned out differently. A life would continue, and he would run home to his father; at least to see his face once more before they perished in the inevitable.
With no more than the utterance of an insincere apology, the same hero made a half-hearted attack towards Hyunsoo. The helpless human was given little opportunity to defend himself. A flimsy baseball bat did little against a man turned monster.
The hero’s body contorted, darkness surrounding him as if summoned by will alone. As if his will could command the shadows. Flaxen irises and a smirk full of teeth like daggers flashed became a blur. It was all a blur.
His body fell to the ground next to hers, floored by a force he was unaware of until it was too late. Something sharp dug into his ribs. It carved a scalding trail of fire in his flesh. Then the eruption of pain unlike one he had experienced in his twenty-five years of life.
He hated that the only thing he could think of was how much it hurt. Not of the whereabouts of his father or the few he held dear, but of the pain slowly consuming his body.
’Dad, it hurts. I’m sorry. Make it stop hurting.’
His palms chafed against the damp asphalt as he made an attempt to bring himself to his knees. Small bits of gravel caught underneath his nails, but he paid no mind, dragging himself towards her corpse. The heel of his hand pressed against the dark liquid on the ground. Still warm, still growing.
The thick crimson pooling from beneath her crumpled form matted her hair. Green tips were replaced with redness. A hint of life lingered in the way her knuckles twitched against the pavement. Her pupils trembled as if frantically scanning the boy laying beside her. Then they froze, the light leaving them forever.
She was dead.
The corners of his eyes stung with the threat of tears, his throat growing raw from straining. His face contorted as he choked them back to no avail. The guilt already settled heavy in his chest. It was heavier than the sensation of blood filling his lungs.
He used his final drop of life to reach out to the girl. Her name was Sooyoung. That much he knew. ’Sooyoung. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry…’
Her demise was a direct result of his fatal mistake. The road to hell was paved with good intentions. That much he should have known.
’Game over, huh?’
The last thing Hyunsoo should have done was equate the end of his life with losing a boss fight in a video game. Though death was nowhere near as spectacular. Perhaps he was desensitized to the idea, cynical even. It became a perspective he built up over the course of a life he thought he didn’t deserve.
A life lived vicariously through the intellectual property of others.
A real life with no save files and resets.
A life that was now over.
The advertisement Jaehee had received was still fresh in her mind. More so because of the way it had been delivered and the contents within seemed pretty straightforward and yet, Jaehee found herself asking a million questions.
But who was she supposed to ask?
It wasn’t exactly a normal matter to discuss with someone and for all Jaehee knew, she may or may not have been the only recipient of the flyer.
Despite how suspicious and odd the whole scenario seemed, her curiosity was pushing her to go and see what the heck was going on. The date on the flyer was odd, but at this point, there wasn’t a single normal thing about any of this.
As she made her way to Yukko’s Shop, she found it was much harder to find than she expected. Despite the clear address stated, Jaehee felt rather lost.
A voice snapped her out of her searches and she turned, surprised to hear that someone else was looking for the same place she was. “I…” she blinked, wondering if he had received the same thing she had. “Me too…I’m not sure where it is, I think it’s around here…” she gestured around them. “I think we’re close but I’m just not seeing it.”
Wisps of smoke lingered onto the sidewalk, swirling in a motion like fingers beckoning him. It produced a crackling in his ears. The more he concentrated on the sound, the more it sounded like blocks clanking together in an indistinct pattern. “I have a ... sinking suspicion that it might be in this direction.”
He gestured with the hand clutching the flier, the surface covered with marks from a red pen. Mostly question marks, circles, and the distinct, bold letters that read: Kizna. League Kizna. The curious individual he was, he could not make heads nor tails of the meaning behind the word. Simply that Yuuko, whoever she was, must have been affiliated with it in one way or another. He was not one to fear the foreboding threat of the supernatural or extraterrestrial - although he knew to tread carefully.
As they walked on, Hyunsoo continued to squint at the girl from behind his spectacles, attempting to make sense of her familiar features. It took several moments of contemplation and replays in his mind before he was finally able to come to a proper conclusion. He snapped his fingers into a point in her direction. “You probably get this a lot, but has anyone ever told you that you look kinda like... - what was her name - Pearl from Love Note?”
Waiting for orders, captain.
> Beam me up, @ccjiyeon .
Sometimes the atmosphere inside the Chobotics Mall PC Room became restricting. Dozens of nerds stuffed into a dimly lit room, backs hunched as they frantically scrambled to play the most popular MOBAs. Hyunsoo, on the other hand, had been in the process of beta testing the latest competetive survival game until he felt the threatening tendrils of carpal tunnel syndrome urging him to take a break. He stepped outside to grab a drink and leaned over a waist high railing wrapping around the chairs in the food court. Above him, a flat screen television broadcasted the news.
“Breaking news bulletin. Early this morning, maintenance workers found a destroyed sculpture in Fairy Park and other evidence of vandalism. It’s unknown whether or not this was a group of delinquents orㅡ"
The drone of the ignorant newscaster annoyed Hyunsoo to no end. Natural disasters and accidents were a mask for the magical things occurring in the city. Normal humans simply could not see them, but he was freed from the goggles other people constantly wore. It was why he was called bizarre, just another delusional conspiracy theorist. As time passed, however, he grew less fearful of the judgement of other people. Though he had been through enough relentless teasing in high school to know where the boundaries were.
Brows furrowed, he turned slightly towards the person leaning on the railing a few feet down. He took a pause from his smoothie to test the waters of conversation, “In this city, it’s almost like they always have this kind of weird stuff going on the past couple years. Sometimes it really makes you wonder if some of it is actually an accident or not, you know?” I know what really happens. “I can’t be the only one who’s noticed.”
The truth is out there, @ccjaehee .
> Give plausible theory.
> Believe.
Sleep was not an option when Hyunsoo had a mystery on his hands. Heavy eyelids and a weary body fought against him as he combed through page after page of Google searches. He checked, rechecked, and checked again. If not for the blaring of an alarm on his phone, he would have stayed with his head buried in the notebook he still found himself scribbling unintelligible reminders in.
The alert on his phone blinked at him in desperation. Investigate Yuuko’s shop. Find the truth. Without so much as a second thought, he was gathering up his materials and bolting out the door. He need not bother with fixing up his appearance. If answers needed to be found, there was no time to care about his wardrobe or the askew glasses he rarely wore. Tips of untied shoelaces clicked against the pavement as he weaved through the occasional group of pedestrians.
The only thing that stopped him was the sight of a girl with the same lost expression worrying her features. She was familiar - decidedly so as he took another step foward. Tired eyes deceived him if he thought it was what his suspicions told him. No, it couldn’t be. Perhaps the resemblance was strong, but he still could not afford to pass up the opportunity. There was a chance she searched for the same thing. After all, he was nearing the address printed on the bottom.
“Um, excuse me?” Hyunsoo called out, hesitance lacing his deep voice, “Do you… happen to know where Yuuko’s Shop is? I’ve been trying to find it for the last ten minutes.”
“You would probably get destroyed, unless like, you have killer muscles from that video game streaming, which could be possible, I guess,” Daniel mused aloud. His eyes widened in sudden realization. “Oh my God, you made me break rules one and two!”
Hyunsoo kept his original pace, stretching his legs to align his foot with each white stripe of the crosswalk. The red hand across the street still blinked. It wasn’t until the number read three, two, one…
“Hey! Technically, I didn’t make you do anything,” he pursed his lips, fighting back a smile. His self-control would soon betray him as he broke out into a grin. “The repitilians, on the other hand…? They probably made you. I wouldn’t put it past them. They are in the same ‘family’ as snakes… I think.”
Anyone else would raise their brows in suspicion at Hyunsoo’s joke. In truth, he did believe some of it to be accurate, but the reptilians would find no use in controlling such trivial things. Unless Daniel had already been mind probed. The world was secretly controlled by evil shape-shifting lizard men from the fourth dimension. His friend, however, could not be one, as he obviously had no desire to gain significant political power and thereby manipulate human society. The only plausible explanation had to be an opposing alien race hellbound on halting Draconian tyranny to restore peace to earth. Daniel: the hero the world needed, but didn’t deserve right now. It seemed a fitting conclusion.
The theory was also one only the hockey player would absorb without prejudice unlike the every day people he found difficult to trust. That was what he liked about Daniel. However, it remained to be seen whether or not he truly believed in the things he did or not.
“I’m mostly kidding anyway. I have to get home to do a sponsored stream thing for this game and I wanna get it over with,” Hyunsoo’s lips parted to continue on about a game he cared little about, but the sudden shift in atmosphere as they finally crosses the street rendered him speechless. His movements slowed, and his stomach tied itself into knots. That was when he heard the chilling growl of a beast.
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You aren’t someone who normally receives the morning mail from an owl, but there’s a Snowy Owl perched outside your window. Held in its beak is an elegant, burgundy envelope with your name and address handwritten in black ink. Should you decide to open the window, your winged messenger will take off to the skies after handing you the envelope. You look for a seal or family crest to no avail, yet it still carries the aura of something official. Do you dare open it?
Opening the envelope releases the warm, ashy scent of incense. Yellow flower petals shoot out from the envelope as though they were spring loaded, and they bring with them the refreshing scent of Ylang Ylang oil. You look inside the envelope. As it turns out, its actual contents aren’t as elegant and mysterious as you’ve been lead on to believe.
It’s nothing but a flyer for some store holding a 50% off sale. Ah, marketing tactics these days! You scan some of the offers for this strange place – Yuuko’s Shop, it’s called – and none of them are accompanied by pictures. The coupon expiry dates are odd too, most of them either expiring decades ago or will expire decades from now. You read only some of the deals:
Enchanted Glasses are 50% off – be able to see magic for the very first time!
Owl Delivery Service are 50% off for a limited time only
Fortune Telling is purchase 1 meeting, get the other half off!
Whether you choose to visit the address or throw the letter in the garbage is up to you. But before you make your decision, the bottom of the flyer catches your eye:
Get all your magical needs before it’s too late!
Something big is coming soon.
☹︎☜︎✌︎☝︎🕆︎☜︎😐︎✋︎☪︎☠︎✌︎
Yuuko Ichihara
Hyunsoo was amidst the build up of a sneeze when the owl appeared in the corner of his vision. He was always under the impression it was impossible to complete a sneeze without blinking, but it felt as if he debunked that myth. Rubbing the underside of his irritated nose with his index finger, he hobbled over to his window to check if his eyes deceived him. Searching his recent memory, he recalled a similar situation as a scene from the movie Harry Potter. Either he was caught in a walking dream after falling asleep during one of the films or this was real.
He slid the window open slowly, but the owl did nothing more than blink in his direction. It seemed to be beckoning him to take the letter, beak pushing it towards his outstretched hand. “Are you Hedwig? What about Order of the Phoenix? I thought you… I’m… Hm, well, I’ll call you Hedwig anyway. It’s probably not flattering since it sounds like head wig, but it’s a reference,” he glanced over to the bearded dragon stirring in her terrarium. “Don’t get jealous, Sandy. It’s just a fling.”
Hyunsoo had to wonder why exactly he wasn’t so bothered. Perhaps he had witnessed far too many bizarre things to bat an eye. The 39 hours and counting without sleep did him no favors either.
As he tore into the envelope with his finger, the owl departed without so much as a caw ㅡ or whatever the sound was that owls made. His attention was turned towards the sky when the petals burst out, nearly eliciting a shocked blubber from him. “Huh…” Disappointment drained over Hyunsoo like a warm shower of electricity, starting at his chest. The glasses would be of no use to him (unless gifted to a nonbeliever), but the owl delivery service would make for a superb prank in the future.
He stared down at the words as if expecting them to jump out at him. That was when he spotted the strange symbols at the bottom. In Hyunsoo’s mind, they looked like a code or Wingdings. The repetition of two of the symbols made him think, perhaps, his assumption was true. Almost immediately, he rushed to his open laptop to test the theory.
His heart progressively began to race as he crosschecked the chart with the symbols and scribbled it on a post-it note, but the results left him with more questions than answers.
“Something big is coming soon,“ He repeated to himself. ”League… Kizna. What? Before it’s too late? Well, that’s pretty foreboding. Did I even translate this right? What will be too late? The end of the sale maybe… End of… something. Or maybe the start.” Furrowing his brows, he checks the table once more, a hand entangling itself in his messy locks. Paranoia told him it was a warning. Maybe he should look into the fortune telling on that coupon.
“Sorry, first rule of Fight Club is don’t talk about Fight Club,” he said instead, with a genuinely apologetic close-lipped smile.
Hyunsoo tugged the corners of his mouth into his dimples as he contemplated an answer. Someone like Daniel was an oddity, particularly for someone like Hyunsoo. Something of the Scully (who instead didn’t question his crazed ramblings) to his Mulder. If one was to look up the definitions of eccentric (and obnoxious) up in an encyclopedia, their pictures would be there front and center.
“Yeah, and the sixth rule of Fight Club is ‘no shirts, no shoes’. I can make movie references, too, you know,” He loosely folded his arms across his chest in a matter-of-fact way, as if solidifying his statement that, yes, he was the master of references. The king of cinema. The extent of his watched list on his movie tracker website was enough to put a renowned critic’s to shame. At least, that was what he told himself for a confidence boost.
With the heave of a sigh, he released his arms to fall limply at his sides, a clear sign of defeat. He would have Daniel no other way, the mysteries he couldn’t begin decipher included.
“I think I’m actually more upset at the fact that you wouldn’t bring me to something like that. I’m not even miffed about you having to leave. Just that I should be in there fighting, too. Squaring up with some massive, shirtless sweaty dude that probably works at the convenience store down the street from school. Old fashioned fisticuffs.” Despite how pointless his rambling seemed to stray from the initial point, Hyunsoo was no idiot. He hoped, with making the situation out as something to laugh off, that Daniel would eventually tell him the truth. That was, if he wanted to tell him.
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