Doll Face

"It is amazing how complete is the delusion that beauty is goodness" Choi Minki || 17 || Animator || Tent #3 Deep Red || House # 277 Role Play Only. May contain 18+ Material.

[cirque-ren]

Overture || Henry & Ren

[cirque-henry]

If there was something Henry never lost despite his sleeping schedule getting turned upside down because of the circus, it was the fact he was an early bird. Someone who woke up early in the Cirque’s definition however was someone who woke up before or along the sunset, however, hours before the midnight performances. Thus, despite most people still being fast asleep, Henry was wide awake, lying in bed with his eyes set on the ceiling of the tent.

Arriving in China had marked the moment he was allowedu to get his cast taken off, too, so he wasn’t upset or gloomy in this beautiful evening. He was simply taking in his surroundings, mind slowly wrapping around the day ahead. He hoped it would be a good day, seeing as he was growing a year older and didn’t particularly want to spend such a day grumpy or generally unwell. All in all, he felt like this particular day marked the beginning of a florishing future, which was a quite thrilling idea in itself.

Consequently, when he heard a familiar voice pronounce his name, he couldn’t help the grin that spread on his features, making his eyes crinkle up into small crescents. Sitting in an upright position with a grunt, toned chest exposed seeing as autumn’s air remained warm enough to allow sleeping partly in the nude, Henry lifted a hand to pass it through his tousled bed hair. And, hearing the following words, he thought his face would crack and fall apart under the pressure of such happiness. “You’re lucky s’you,” he made with a brief laugh as he pulled the blankets from him and pushed himself off his bed, sweatpants hanging low on his hips. “M’always free for you,” he then added in a quieter voice, a hint of sweetness mixing with the blatant joy on his face.

[cirque-ren]

A sneak attack like the one he had been presented with had never occurred to Ren as a possibility, so he stopped and stared blatantly at his hyung when he realized the damn asshole wasn’t wearing a shirt. And was in bed. And had delectably messy hair. Oh fuck it all, maybe the surprise could wait for later. That smile already told him enough –surely if he took off a few layers as well, they wouldn’t even have to debate about the necessity of them getting down and dirty…but what was the elder saying?

“You’re lucky s’you, M’always free for you…”

Fuck he was using that fucking slang again oh fuck.

Ren swallowed down the arousal that came with his ridiculously specific kink and felt his jaw drop when Henry stepped out of bed. Wow; was it his birthday too? If those sweatpants were a few inches lower, they wouldn’t even be able to stay up on their own…and his hyung would be totally naked. Why wasn’t this a thing?

The sentimentality of Henry’s words reminded him well enough, and he swallowed his arousal, then gave a stiff nod as his arms crossed awkwardly behind his back, fingers lacing together. He would not go for Henry’s dick –he would not, dammit! No matter how good the birthday boy looked. Not yet.

“Dammit hyung, why you gotta be sweet when you look so fuckable?” Ren whined, not even caring about being subtle at this point in time. He was known for his vulgarity, after all, and nothing honestly soothed him more after losing one of his closest friends than re-embracing his roots. Chinese men weren’t half bad looking either, but even they didn’t have the personal appeal that the musician did for the blond. “I mean, I already got you a present, but y’know what I’m feeling generous: you can fuck me if you like.” He flipped his hair, “You’re welcome.”

[100304-blog]

[cirque-henry]

My Turn | Ren & Henry.

[cirque-henry]

Lying down on the cold sand with a fit of laughter, Henry shook his head at Ren’s former questions, a happy grin lingering on his lips. “I’m the one at your mercy, I think,” he mumbled, heaving a loud sigh after his words. The huff of air was far from representing discontentment, however, rather more of an exhale of breath his intoxicated body had trouble containing in his lungs. “I mean…” Eyebrows furrowing for a brief second, he realized he had forgotten what he meant to say, which caused him to erupt in a loud string of chuckles and snickers again. “Too wasted.”

Pupils glazed with drunken happiness settled on Ren then, a wide smile changing Henry’s expression into an almost adoring looking one. He failed to catch onto the slightly complex mood the animator was in, alcohol tinted judgement only making him see the smile stretching his pretty lips and the happiness he linked to it. “Ah… Ren…” he mumbled, moving to prop himself on his elbows, his head hanging a tad loosely on his shoulders, coordination currently an abstract concept to Henry. “Hyung… Ain’t much of a good hyung…” Eyebrows furrowed as he said that, for he couldn’t remember the apologies he had planned to pronounce a bit earlier, the violinist took a swig of beer before he placed a clumsy hand on the blond’s delicate shoulder, as if the alcoholized beverage had given him more courage. “But I care, y’know?”

And, inhibition quite gone at that moment, he slid his hand from Ren’s shoulder to the other, successfully wrapping his arm around his delicate frame. His touch was strangely delicate for someone who had had trouble sitting up without falling back in a lying position, yet the way he pulled on the other to bring him closer was insistent nevertheless. To him and his drunken mind, touches seemed to be the right way to convey his emotions, words never having come easy to him and his perhaps overly rational brain. That, this hold on Ren and Henry lightly resting his head against his for a brief moment, was a silent expression of gratitude for when the male had pulled him out of his post-broken-wrist depression, for the help he had given him.

[cirque-ren]

  Ren was no stranger to intoxication, but he found his mood slotting into a strangely displeased range, it seeming almost out of character for his sweet hyung to be so totally trashed, party or no. But then again, what did he honestly know about the other? It seemed like he had gained an honest sense of the brunet’s love for music, but he knew nothing about the people closest to him, his other hobbies. Misconceptions were the quickest way to a fruitless argument, and he’d be damned if he was having one of those now on top of every other shitty thing going on in his life.

“That’s me, the puppetmaster.” He muttered into his cup, before holding his breath to take another swing of the beer. God; the leaders weren’t kidding when they said the alcohol was cheap shit. Ren wasn’t nearly drunk enough to ignore it yet, so he forced his attention back onto Henry, tuning in just when the musician’s words took on some heavier meaning.

A humorless smile flickered at his lips as he waved him off, “Please; you act like—“ but he cut off as his nerves turned into high wires, them seeming to burn where Henry’s hand rested. Ren swallowed, “I…” Of course he had no hope of keeping silent when he was pulled into an actual hug –the first one he had been offered in far too long of a time.

The contact just felt like far too much, and he found himself blinking back hot tears, the concern so not what he needed at the moment. Not when he was trying to be strong. “Hyung…” Now he had two paths: he could snap and potentially break off this…whatever it was, sparing them both the trouble in the long run, or he could break down and ruin Henry’s night.

Or there was always an option three.

“Do they offer anything stronger than this shit?” He asked, weakly raising the cup in the hopes that Henry might let go or loosen his hold if he was distracted. Concern cut him deeper than anything else thus far, because it had started dragging him out of shock, so he needed to reroute the conversation and fast.

[cirque-ren]

Knockin' On Satan's Door || Ren x Jiyong

[freak-jiyong]

Jiyong could tell that his comment about the circus being full of freaks brushed the other the wrong way, but he wasn’t about to challenge his opinion to someone who thought good of this place. Not that Jiyong thought badly about the circus, as it was made his home with people he already considered family, but there was still a truth that followed him that he just couldn’t let go. Maybe it was the way he was treated in the past - then again, a lot of the circus members were treated as outcasts. After all, it was why they found the circus and joined without hesitation. There wasn’t a lot to complain about, besides the messes that he made on his very own, so he allowed the male to retort and then let the conversation pass, as something else caught his attention anyway.

It was nice that Ren wasn’t afraid to joke around. Or a thing like imagining himself pouring strawberry juice to stop his power was actually a valid thought that crossed the feminine male’s mind. It made him want to smile, even respond, but he was so caught up with trying to stop the sink from going that any chance of responding was long overdue by the time the handle fell off.

At the end of that ordeal, and onto the next, Ren seemed a lot more brave than he was when Jiyong found him screaming his head off at a dead animal carcass. It took him off guard to watch the male swing open the small closet door without so much as thinking about what could possibly be inside. Jiyong’s thoughts traveled to the worst, that being if a human was trapped in there. However, he doubted it because of the scent, and the sight before them proved that it was not a human body in the small space, but rather numerous animal skeletons. The smell was overwhelming now that the odor was directly hitting them. He felt his eyes begin to sting and he coughed reluctantly, covering his mouth and nose. He attempted to breathe through his clothes, but the potent scent still managed to reach him. He gagged slightly, having a small coughing fit before actually getting a good look of what was inside.

Ren’s crude humor didn’t make him smile, he only meekly nodded as he thought about whether or not he should address this manner. This place turned out to be way more than he expected, and it made him think back to the old abandoned houses he used to check out just outside of Seoul. Every one had a story, but like hell would anyone ever put the pieces together. Broken glass, ripped furniture, inscribing on the walls, the whole nine yards. He had never seen a satanic ritual before, so that was another thing he could add to his list of “things I’ve seen but didn’t really want to”.

He was about to ask Ren whether or not they should tell anyone about this, when a sound so loud enveloped the quiet atmosphere that he saw a flash of white as if it was the last of his life. His body jerked, just barely supporting himself and now Ren who clung to him, his eyes wide in horror. As much as he’d love to be the cool guy and pretend that he wasn’t scared of anything, that turn of events shook him. It sounded like some time of pop, and Jiyong immediately attached it to a gunshot. That would be the cherry on top - evil, angry ghosts making a gun float in midair to blow off the intruder’s skulls.

Instead, when his vision cleared, he caught sight of what looked like a broken-up skeleton. It looked too human to be an animal, but it looked too dead to be human. The most important part: it was fucking moving.

"Holy shit," Jiyong breathed out a little desperately, his hands raised defensively as if he was supposed to go into some kind of boss-fight with this miniature thing. As the dust cleared, and as the thing seemed to settle down, Jiyong peered closer to the object. “What is this—” he questioned, as the creature slowly made its way toward them both. It was so broken, it almost looked like it was trying to ask for help. Despite the broken pieces, the longer Jiyong got a look at the thing, the more he realized what it was, and the easier it was for him to breathe. “It’s… a doll.”

Jiyong could easily smash that into pieces, but it obviously held some strength if it busted open a cabinet. Honestly, he was at a loss. He didn’t know whether to feel threatened or not. The doll took a step closer to them, and Jiyong took a step back. What if this psychopath that lived there put the souls of humans into dolls? You know, like in that American horror film, Chucky. He wasn’t one to believe in silly tales like that, but seeing it right in front of him made it really hard to deny. Despite his thoughts, he had nothing to say. Making a joke seemed completely inappropriate, but he could really use some comic relief right about now.

"Should I destroy it?" Jiyong whispered, as if speaking normally would lead to the inanimate object to hear what he was saying. This was so unbelievably nuts - no, really, who would believe this? He definitely wouldn’t know who the hell he’d explain all of this to. There was CL, but she was a bit angry at him. There was Dara, but he had a feeling she’d just brush him off, because it all sounded insane. Who else did he have? Well, he had Ren, who’d probably vouch for him if they ended up not getting eaten alive by a doll-harboring-an-evil-spirit-thing.

[cirque-ren]

Jiyong’s own reaction to the closet of horrors had his own nose wrinkling up that much more, the scent reaching him subconsciously even as he held his breath, and he wondered for the umpteenth time since they had decided to stay if they hadn’t made the wrong choice. What if this was one of those houses that didn’t like being disturbed? A house with a mind of its own that would just as soon crunch them up with its floorboards as spit them back out onto the sand? Maybe this was a freak house. Was that even possible? The crazy thought of it performing in a tent with the rest of them on the move had him giggle a bit hysterically under his breath, though it all rushed out when the dust cleared, nothing obscuring the thing that had come for them. He had been right! The house wanted blood! Did Jiyong even have blood? Or was that acidic too? Oh god what if it ate him first and he exploded acid or something and Ren was left scarred for life? This couldn’t happen. One of them had to stop it!

Glaring down at the rather hideous sight, he puffed his chest up carefully as he prepared to sacrifice himself just to show the house who was boss, when something about the creature struck him strangely. It almost looked…familiar? Somehow? When was the last time he had dreamed about hell spawn again?　His eyes traced carefully over the panes of broken flesh and cloth, a familiar line calling to him that was barely on the tip of his tongue as he stared it down. He knew this creature –he knew he knew this creature!

Ignoring Jiyong’s rather silly looking defensive stance, though his lips did twitch a bit with amusement, he finally pieced together what he was looking at, and his heart simply broke when his companion voiced it out loud.

“Oh, you poor angel…” Ren looked sadly down at her, his eyes almost welling up with tears as he saw what had become of one of his precious dollies, “Did the rats do this to you? Why in the world are you even in this house?” Stepping away from the man who had moments ago been his shield, he moved forward and crouched down to take a better look at her, his features wrinkling with disgust when he noticed the cobwebs tangled in her hair. “Ew…stop moving, I don’t want to touch you.” He ordered lightly, nose wrinkled up at her smell of decay. “It doesn’t really look like there’s any use in fixing you.” Sighing sadly at that, he closed his eyes and willed the power out of her that he had given so many months ago. It was like crushing a grape underfoot, with all of the power shooting out, leaving her to fall over finally.

Standing back up, he wiped off the dust that had gotten onto the knees of his jeans, then he grinned weakly at Jiyong, still a little shaken by the whole thing. “Sorry about that,” he apologized, “They tend to get into places they shouldn’t, but she won’t move again. I didn’t really think there was a point to keeping her around when half of her body is partially crushed.” Ren, the vain little thing, didn’t even think to explain that the doll was one of his, figuring that the man would have already known that from the show that he did. Of course it had been hard to recognize it right away, since it was in such a decrepit state, but now it was almost too obvious.

Taking a deep breath, he nearly started hacking up a lung at the scent he drew in from the still open closet, so he reached out to lightly kick the door shut. Pressing a hand over his lips and mouth, he inhaled the scent of his hand lotion carefully, the warm scent of apricot steadying him, he looked confidently at the other and asked, “So, shall we keep going?” The house had seemed to only contain one bedroom, so they had explored all but two doors. One, Ren guessed, led into the bathroom, but the other was unknown. In all of the houses he had been into on the island, he had never seen such a randomly placed door. “I’m actually really curious as to where that one leads.” He pointed to a strange door in the wall of the kitchen.

At this point, he knew he probably should just act like this whole thing had scared him too much to have him press on, so they’d have an excuse to leave, but his curiosity was a powerful force, and Ren had never been much of a coward to begin with, no matter how girly he dressed. It wasn’t the prospect of breaking the norm that his appearance set that bothered him, though –it was how almost masochistic pressing on seemed to be. By the time they’d check out the whole house, Jiyong would likely think he was nuts, and he really didn’t want that. The elder seemed really nice, and the blond could literally count on one hand how many male friends he had that he didn’t want to get into the pants of, or had previously slept with. Though after everything, who even knew what the elder thought? “I mean, we don’t have to check it out, it’s probably boring anyway.” He rolled his eyes, trying to give the other a clear way out that wouldn’t hurt either of their pride, just in case. “So we could logically call it a day, if you wanted?”  

[cirque-ren]

Overture || Henry & Ren

Ren fixed the collar on his light zip up hoodie, the pink popping brightly against the well ironed black shirt beneath as he fixed his bangs anxiously, feeling like the nonexistent wind would blow him all out of sorts, when in reality nothing seemed scarier. His personality could botch this whole thing up, but if every hair wasn’t in place, it wouldn’t even seem worth it. He…wanted to look good for his hyung. Especially on this day.

Marching purposefully through the cirque, he arrived at the correct tent (thank god –he went to the wrong one at first, remembering Henry’s old tent over his new one, since he had never been to this one) and swept inside, not worried about breaching anyone’s privacy.

“Henry hyung!” He called out in a stage whisper, head turning from side to side as his well-painted fingernails drummed on his thigh, “Hyung are you here?!” Ren had a big plan to enact before the day would begin for them all, so hopefully the musician hadn’t stayed up too late the previous night, since the blond was waking him up earlier that day. Of course he never even considered that Henry might still be up.

“I’m here to wish you a happy birthday~” he sang softly, eyes twinkling with excitement at the prospect of what he had planned. “So you’d better not have any plans before work today!” And if he did, Henry would have to cancel them, because obviously Ren was more important in this situation. Obviously.

[cirque-ren]

Too Soon? || Ren x Hongki

[xcirque-hongki]

Apparently, giving someone the benefit of the doubt really just wasn’t a wise decision, especially if that someone was Ren. Hongki watched Ren with inquisitive eyes, unsure of what to make of Ren’s actions. What exactly was the younger male doing? And then, his question was answered, shocking Hongki into a paralyzed silence. Warm lips pressed against his naturally cold skin, creating a shiver that ran up his spine. The contact was foreign and very much unwelcome.

And yet, apparently Ren wasn’t going to stop there. A hand began to rub him, making the unwelcome sensation just that much stronger – strong enough to push Hongki out of his temporary paralysis. Hongki pushed Ren away from him and jumped up, taking a few quick strides away from the smaller blonde. Hongki knew that he shouldn’t be angry, he hadn’t seen it coming and yet.. He couldn’t help it. It hadn’t been long since Gain’s death, he wasn’t ready for something like… that. He felt his nose flare in anger as he tried to control his breathing, heart racing as anger boiled inside of him. “Get out.” His voice was flat, his hands shaking as he tried to control himself. And yet, the shadows betrayed his emotion, darkness seemingly pulling in towards him. “Ren, you are no longer welcome here. You know what I’m going through and you still try… this?! Get out.”

[cirque-ren]

It felt like time had stopped for him, his blood hanging suspended in his veins as he waited for the leader to react, nerves somehow overtaking his natural confidence, like he had finally learned how to properly read people, and he knew before Hongki moved what the man would do.

He didn’t even have time to feel disappointed as he felt the elder’s hands pushing him back, Ren stumbling back onto his butt, where he banged against the coffee table with a quiet yelp. The pain barely registered as his attention remained trained to Hongki, the man holding his attention like the sight of a train wreck –only, it seemed more like he was watching his own demise.

The feeling of suspension broke when the man spoke, Ren blinking a few times rapidly in succession, since he almost thought he had imagined it. “What…?” He asked slowly, wondering if he misunderstood, though that would certainly fit his actions more than ‘oh Ren! I’ve been waiting so long for your sexy ass!’ Besides, he didn’t think he’d ever heard Hongki say ‘ass’ to begin with. But he couldn’t focus on that, when he noticed something…off about the room around them.

Then the familiarity of the situation clicked in his mind: it was just like when he lost his own temper. Only, Hongki controlled something immeasurable, rather than Ren’s silly animation ability.

“I, I was—“ he tried, feeling like he should defend himself, “I was only trying to…” But he could barely think at the sight of the shadows moving freely, Ren’s skin feeling like it was crawling from the electric air of danger that seemed to encompass everything in the room. He tried backing up toward the door, and his features lit up a bright red with embarrassment as it finally hit him that he had failed, that he would likely never get his way with Hongki, and then his features twisted with a strange sense of hatred. “Fine. Be miserable and alone, see if I care!” Then he exited the cottage with a loud slam to the door, it vibrating the whole frame with his own burst of power, as he bitterly pondered the months of chasing that lead to nothing.

He needed a new hobby.

[100304-blog]

[kpop-views-deactivated20160823]

[cirque-ren]

Properly Fabulous || Sungjong & Ren

[freakxsungjong-blog]

As Ren snarkily responded to his first statement with a quip of how stupid were they supposed to be, Sungjong laughed sightly. That was an enlightening opinion and a slightly bitchy one at that, but Sungjong missed the snarkiness of talking to people like Ren. He chose not to comment on the statement and instead listened as Ren talked about his run.

He blushed a bit at the question. He was pretty without much work. “Well, technically speaking, yes. I only pay careful attention to my hair,” he said, smiling at Ren. He did run himself, but only for the sake of his ability limits. “I run too, but only for my ability,” he said, getting up and dusting himself off. As Ren suggested that they go to his place and subject Sungjong to some makeup, Sungjong just nodded.

"Sounds good," he said, following Ren. He wasn’t the bookworm that he made himself out to be, but he was waiting to see when would be the appropriate time to drop his quiet shell and reveal his true inner diva. As he fell into step with Ren, Sungjong ran a hand through his hair, and grinned a bit. "So, what’s your ability?" he asked, curious.

[cirque-ren]

Ren quirked an eyebrow as he listened to his new companion, unsure whether to take the statement about his hair as a challenge, a cry for help, or as something entirely else. He decided not to act on that at the moment, figuring they could really see when they’d make it back to his cottage.

“My ability?” Biting down lightly on his lip, he tried to see if there wasn’t a way he could show him instead of tell him. Something about bringing things to life just sounded so much more embossed than what he could actually do, though of course he would willfully accept the assumption that his power was just that much more awesome. But then again, waiting might make it seem like he had date rape powers or something, so he decided just to tell him then. “I can bring inanimate objects to life and control them at will. So I hope you don’t mind dolls.” That he would leave vague, but as his cottage came into view in the distance, he returned the question, “What’s yours?” The mention of running left him feeling quite intrigued –maybe he had super speed?

Reaching up, he ran a frustrated hand through his sweaty bangs, and contemplated if washing his face would just do the trick, because in reality, showering with a stranger around was just asking for trouble. Unless he would ask Sungjong to join him, but he really could use the friend aspect more than the “another person I’ve slept with” tag that he seemed to hand out a little too much. He needed more friends, anyway.

[cirque-ren]

Knockin' On Satan's Door || Ren x Jiyong

[freak-jiyong]

“There’s nothing conventional about freak-shows,” the sentence and the tone didn’t entirely match his expression he was wearing: neutral, even smiling a bit. “But hey, we’re all here, aren’t we?” he shrugged. “We make money.”

Jiyong decided to stray away from anything that was too negative—considering being trapped in a house filled with pentagrams and blood was bad enough. Even if it didn’t take long to melt out of it, the entire situation was incredibly strange. This house, which was obviously not meant for anyone to be inside of it, had more secrets with each room. Finding that dead animal was indefinitely a lot creepier, a passing thought considering the blood of that animal was what decorated the walls they were surrounded by.  Sacrificial religion probably scared him more than a lot of things. Religion was what kept people hopeful, not… insane. He assumed this was a religious practice, considering the books, the used candles and the interesting writings on the walls. Although whoever once lived her seemed more trapped than holy—or unholy. What could lead someone to going so crazy? Jiyong wanted to look more into it, but that was after he rid himself of his hands (in the most innocent way to interpret that).

Was he a snake? Jiyong laughed. “I don’t think that’d be the right animal.” There was no animal to compare him to. He was more a mix of chemicals than anything else. He was always slightly curious about his power, but he feared finding out more. For all he knew, he had an extra organ or no organs at all. The acid was in his veins, so what the hell did it do to his body? The mystery was intriguing, but the more he thought about it, the more terrifying it became. Eventually someone would cut him open and find out all his secrets, but he’d be way gone to hear about it. He wondered if, when his body did shut down, he’d just dissolve away just like everything else. “I’m more of…” he clicked his tongue, attempting to find the right term. “I don’t know, actually.” He watched another drop of acid hit the floor, the wood harshly reacting. “It’s all compounds.”

Going into the kitchen, he immediately went for the sink. At first, he thought about asking his new partner-in-crime to see if he could turn the knob. But it wasn’t like anyone was living there, so he guessed it didn’t really matter if the acid burned through anything in this house or not. Plus, the other’s words clearly expressed his uncaring for anything in his house anyway. “Yeah, it’s alright.” So, he reached for the knob and attempted to turn it. It wasn’t easy at first, so he tugged on it. It wouldn’t turn. His brows tilted in a small moment of frustration, tugging harder on the old contraption. The acid burned away a lot of the knob already, but the force of him tugging paid off a little bit more unpleasantly than expected. The entire knob fell off, and the sink flushed out with water at full force. The water was brownish- definitely not healthy for anybody.

“Are you serious—,” he mumbled angrily, quickly washing out his hands. He grabbed ahold of the broken off knob, attempting to screw it back on but with no avail. What would happen if this was left on? He assumed that the whole circus would be out of water eventually. Working through his brain, he opened up the cabinet under the sink and looked around at the pipes. There was something that turned off all the water, wasn’t there? Fiddling around, he found a knob and turned it, assured success by the sound of the water stopping. What do you know—“quick thinking” actually worked out.

Jiyong stood up, just barely avoiding hitting his head on the top of the counter. He wanted to move the pink hair out of his face, but reconsidered using his hands since the water was so dirty. Touching anything in the house was most likely a bad idea, so he’d just have to deal. It looked like Ren—a male that looked more feminine than he did—didn’t particularly mind his messy hair anyway.

Now that he didn’t have his acid to worry about for a while—although if he really wanted to, he could just bring it back. Bringing it to the surface was easy; it was blocking it out that was nearly impossible by himself—he could actually look around. In a weird way, he was a bit thrilled by the whole thing. “This place looks way too old to be a part of the circus, doesn’t it?” he asked the other, moving to open one of the cabinets. As he placed his hand on the handle, he heard something fiddling inside the cabinet. Making a face, he quickly decided against opening it. “I mean—how long has this place been around?” Jiyong didn’t expect the other to know all the answers, but it was worth a shot to ask. “I wonder if Lee Hyori knew who ever lived here,” he murmured, moving on to something else to look at. As Jiyong went to pass what looked like a plain-old storage door, he caught the scent of something horrible in his nostrils. Swallowing hard so he didn’t gag, he held his breath for a few moments as he put his ear to the door. He heard no movement, knocking on the wood to see if anything reacted, but there was nothing.

“I think there are more dead things in here,” he said, taking a few steps away from the door to catch his breath. Was it human? The thought was too obscene, and he pushed it out of his head as quickly as it entered. Rotting flesh and blood smelled a lot more… ripe than what caught his attention anyway. “Maybe more mice or something.”

[cirque-ren]

Strangely enough, minus the time he had first heard about the Midnight Circus from his parents, he had never referred to it as a freak show –mainly because once he decided to join it, he refused for others to link him to such a name. Now, hearing “freak show” so blatantly had the ornery blond bristling a bit, but in the past, where he openly would have snapped back about that, he stopped to think, wondering why Jiyong would think that, before snapping back. “I think we’re a bit more than just some freak show,” his voice came out a little frostier than he would have wanted in his normal state, “We’re not in cages.” But that was the only part he could honestly refute, so he took a deep breath, coughed on the dusty air, and let it go, since if he didn’t want the man to leave, staying angry likely wasn’t the best course of action.

Instead, he listened about the man’s power, his teeth worrying his lower lip as he considered the words. “Well, I never was too good at chemistry,” Ren admitted weakly, a little disappointed that he couldn’t lead the conversation somewhere intelligent. The most he recalled about chemicals was the time he accidentally spilled some onto his lap partner’s paper and she had to do the calculations all over again for the project they had been doing. “It’s lucky something as common as water does the trick, though… Could you imagine if it was like strawberry juice or something instead?” He pondered as he watched Jiyong struggle with the sink. Pressing a hand to his lips, he tried to contain his laugher, as he teased, “What a dramatic accident for such a gross payoff… I’d go tell one of the heads on you, but I don’t see anyone wanting to live here anyway, no matter if this place is cleaned up or not.” Shuddering, he finished, “Good thing I wandered in here in the day time…I couldn’t imagine seeing this in the dark.”

Rubbing his arms with trepidation, he looked down at Jiyong with obvious concern when, out of nowhere, he was watching the elder fiddle with the pipes. He raised an eyebrow at the strange sight, but when the water stopped gushing out, he easily figured out what had been done. Wow; it was a good thing he didn’t live on his own, lord knew none of that made any sort of sense to him.

Flipping some hair out of his face, he watched his company stand back up, their obstacle fully dealt with, and he looked around as he listened. Thankfully his focus there kept him from noticing the noises in the cabinet, since Ren had this ridiculous fear of all rodents that likely would have had him shrieking worse than he had when he saw the dead animal had he heard it. “It does seem ancient, doesn’t it?” The blond returned rather rhetorically, the teen following closely behind Jiyong just in case some demon manifested through the walls to drag him away, “Maybe she chased them away. I mean, someone sick like this, they probably wouldn’t have liked sharing the island with a bunch of others that could walk in on his pentagram at any moment.” Snorting lightly at the thought, his mind went to the most ridiculous state, and he couldn’t help sharing while the man inspected the closet door. “I mean, could you imagine inviting someone over for dinner? Imagine what kind of conversation starter that would be.” Trying not to gasp with laughter, since it would inevitably lead to him coughing again, he merely snickered as he watched the elder knock on the door.

“Dead things, huh…” His heart jumped up his throat, the scent creeping down the opposite way as he drew closer to the door, eyes narrowing at the challenge. However, at the mention of mice, he scowled and hesitated, fear creeping up his spine. “Only one real way to find out,” Stupidity drove him against his fear, and he stepped forward to wrench the door open, it making a ghastly sound as it scraped along the floor. Ren stared into the darkness with narrowed eyes, the blond stepping back instantly when his pupils adjusted. “That’s…a bit more than some mice,” he squeaked, taking in the cages in front of him.

They were rusted with dried body fluids, several stacked on each other, like one might expect with a chicken farm, though obviously these cages were a bit bigger. Sure, from the carcasses within, there might have been a chicken or two within them, but Ren wasn’t exactly playing “guess the farm animal” at the moment, his face paling horribly as he took in a few animals so decomposed that the skulls showed, them grinning horribly at the pair who had unearthed them. A few of the animals looked like they had died by their own attempts to free themselves, while others looked merely as if they had starved. The scent wafted thickly under his nose, with nothing to block it now, and he fought the urge to faint or throw up, him turning instead to Jiyong with a slightly hysterical laugh, “At least there weren’t any mice. I hate mice.” He must sound like a sociopath, but in reality, he was fighting off hysteria in the only way he knew how.

So, of course, the doll that had been struggling in the cabinet had to burst free at that moment, the door swinging open so hard that it crashed hard against the others. It rang out like a gunshot, and now Ren screamed again, him jumping and clutching at the elder in that instinctive ‘you’re hot and taller than me, do something’ trait he seemed to possess. His fright filled eyes couldn’t identify the decrepit doll that crawled out, her so dirty and broken that she resembled one of the animal skeletons, so he whispered instead, “Oh my god, zombie animals…” and froze, waiting to see how Jiyong thought they should handle this.

[cirque-ren]

The Most Dangerous Game || Ren & Jeongmin

[freak-jeongmin]

Jeongmin was walking, it was the best time when everyone was already pre-occupied with eating or each other, or quite possibly eating each other. Jeongmin just didn’t know what to do anymore ever since D-Lite had broken his nose he had cut himself off from everyone he didn’t want to get involved with anyone that might turn on him in an instant. He had his guard right up because he was on edge. He was trying to relax back into life at the circus but honestly, he felt best at the moment when he was on his own, with his thoughts and sometimes with his voice. 

Jeongmin sort of hated being on the island there were no shows, no customers and no chances to perform to a crowd - something the siren part of him craved more than anything, for people to hear his voice, for people to love him and his voice, his power almost fed off the infatuations of others. He hated that part of himself - the siren. But he had learnt to live with it. 

Sometimes he liked it, it served as a protecting barrier almost for his heart. Allowing him to blame things that could hurt him on his power and not on his own or others actions. He used it to protect him from hurting more than he cared to admit to himself. But it worked, and it was probably the only thing that was keeping him together. He walked past some trees and swore he felt something touch him, but he shook it off he probably just imagined it. 

Until he felt it again, he thought he was going crazy until he turned his head and saw the vine from the tree snaking over his shoulder, he tried not to jump. He’d never heard of enchanted trees before. did they even exist? or was he really going crazy? He tried not to scream as he felt a plant almost hook around his foot. Flailing a little in an attempt to get out of the flora that were ensnaring him, he couldn’t help but scream a little too much like a girl for his own liking. 

[cirque-ren]

Ren had taken to a hobby while he waited, him infinitely glad that his old group of friends couldn’t see him. Reading had been on the lowest level of ‘not acceptable’ by him and his pack of bitches unless it involved celebrity gossip or fashion, so the fact that he actually had something in his hands with no pictures almost frightened him. He’d have blamed Sungjong if he hadn’t liked the man so much, but to be honest, other than earlier in the day, everyone had avoided his traps far too easily, so he didn’t see anything wrong with attempting to watch TV with his mind.

Thank god, just in time, he saw one of his vines lightly shifting against the tree, it warning him like he had set it to do if any of the other vines set themselves on someone. He had another method for the sand, but the vines could be just as fun, so he grinned and moved from his position under the tree, Ren leaving the book there because he felt like it would just be a dark reminder of what almost was otherwise.

Brushing himself off, Ren reached up to relocate a few leaves that had found their way into his hair, before he set off at a leisurely pace along the tree line, vines lightly brushing over his shoulders reassuringly, telling him that he didn’t have to fear anything coming for him. His prank doubled as a security system. Because he was just that awesome.

When he heard a scream, a smirk crawled across his lips and he hid behind a tree, bringing more vines to life to slither toward him, Ren’s greatest idea yet coming to mind at that moment, him stepping further into the forest for more vines as he asked them to cover him. Having them shake off any bugs first, he let them wrap around him, hiding his guise so that he looked less than human, and then he started to slowly slink toward the fallen man. He would try to growl if he thought his voice could manage it, so instead he made his voice low and rough, demanding to know, “What are you doing on my island?!” while trying to hold back his laughter.

[cirque-henry]

My Turn | Ren & Henry.

The amount of alcohol Henry had ingurgitated the previous day had left him feeling quite sick, to say the least. Head pounding, body aching, he for once hadn’t woken up early at all. Then, he had roamed the island in hope to find someone who knew a magical spell to rid him of his hangover, only ending up finding someone who thrust a new beer in his hand with a cheerful “Drink up!”. Alcohol to counter alcohol’s effects? Seemed good enough.

That was how the violinist ended up intoxicated that night again, although considerably less than before, as if his body remembered the dangers and wanted to keep him from reliving the damages they caused. That particular night, however, he didn’t run around the crowd talking to anyone and everyone. No; his eyes wandered around, searching for some blond head. He had prepared his plan, too, two bottles in his hands so that he wouldn’t seem to come out of completely nowhere when he would pounce the younger male with words and attack him with a smile.

Finally he found him, sitting by himself on the beach, away from the main point of the celebrations. It made Henry frown for a moment, seeing as he never had thought of Ren as someone who would isolate himself, especially during a party, but he brushed it off quickly in order to go join him. Nearly skipping to the spot where the younger male sat, almost spilling his own beer over himself, the violinist then plopped down beside him with an audible grunt. “Here!” he made, placing the second beer delicately in the sand in front of Ren, which appeared to be quite uncharacteristic of him at that time, for his state of intoxication. “I was looking for you.” Oops, exactly what he didn’t want to see the other believe.

[cirque-ren]

Pain wasn’t exactly a foreign concept to him at this point, especially since he had wallowed in it long enough back when he learned the truth about his family, but that didn’t make this moment any less. He had yet to admit to himself that Minhyun had gone, his expression lined with makeup that did nothing to hide the exhaustion and sadness that pressed his pretty lips down into a frown, and he couldn’t bring himself to do anything with the party. Yes; yesterday he had been so self-assured, so confident, so okay, but once the what ifs started, he couldn’t seem to return to that.

Fun just wasn’t a priority after he had searched everywhere, Ren desperately trying to come up with reasons that he wasn’t around –maybe they had needed more supplies for the party? Perhaps he had gone with some others that he just didn’t know well enough to notice their absence? Even though he could recognize how much of an idiot he was being, he just couldn’t seem to fight off his possibilities. He wanted them so badly, he practically ached with it, and he’d likely succumb to that soon if he didn’t find some sort of distraction.

Then, as if the gods had somehow heard his pathetic thought, his current favorite hyung plopped down next to him. Smiling at that ever so slightly, he returned with what he hoped sounded more teasing than hopeful, “You were? Well, you found me. Am I at your mercy?” It sounded much weaker than the normally flirty diva could come up with, but he clutched at the beer like it was a lifeline, Ren suddenly seeing a way out of his all-consuming thoughts. Taking a hearty drink, the teen wrinkling his nose slightly at the taste, he smiled sweetly at Henry, just now noticing how intoxicated he was. He…honestly didn’t know how he felt about that. “Why were you looking for me, hyung?” The animator decided to ask, eyes flickering to the man’s hand to see how that was doing without bringing it up.

[ukwno-deactivated20170603]

Sleep Talking { teaser } - Ren

[cirque-victoria]

Ignorant Illusions & Melodramatic Mouths || Ren & Victoria (ft. Nichkhun)

[cirque-victoria]

Victoria smiled as he pouted from what she said, at the time having not realized that he had been drinking or even liked to. Perhaps she shouldn’t have been smiling if she really had offended him, but he looked adorable and she couldn’t help it, plus she couldn’t remember ever seeing him act so cutesy. She decided that it suited his face well, considering he had a very cute features and appearance, not a manly or serious one. Her normal feeling against cutesy did not seem to apply to him, at least at the moment. “No, you’re not a loser though. You’re an exception because you’re fun.” She tried not to focus on how she sounded at the moment, not wanting to let that annoying little voice in the back of her head stop her from having some fun. So what if it sounded like she was flirting with him? What it really be such a bad thing anyway? Victoria liked being around him, and apparently he liked spending time with her for some reason she still didn’t understand. Why shouldn’t she just go with it and stop listening to the little voice that told her she should not be around Ren? At the moment she could think of no reasons as to why she should be avoiding him anyway. He was adorable, funny, and most importantly didn’t irritate her.

Done with allowing her fuzzy brain to attempt to think cleary, Victoria silenced the little voice of reason and returned her mind to the music, moving her body to the rhythm as Ren began dancing with her. A laugh fell from her lips from his previous staring, enjoying his surprise at the fact that she was actually a good dancer. As he began dancing with her, she smiled, impressed that he was doing so well also. She had wondered how he would include himself in her movements, but he was doing a surprisingly good job. Every now and then she glanced at the people around them, just taking mental notes how normal people danced in this place. After a while though she only focused on him and his movements, noticing how he didn’t touch or get in the way of her dancing. His question made her laugh again as she lightly rested her arms on his shoulders and she had spotted a few other girls doing, circling her hips around as she responded. “It never came up. I didn’t think it was important anyway.” The blonde laughed again, not exactly processing that she was initiating contact as she continued to dance.

Following the beat of the music, she slowly circled her hips down towards the floor, her hands lightly trailing down his chest as she went, stopping just shy of his hips before she slowly rose again, rolling her body so her chest ended up flush against his once she had straightened up. She didn’t think much of how she was dancing as she continued, meeting his eyes and smiling. Even though she would catch the briefest glimpses of what he was thinking as they danced and she would touch him, Victoria found herself enjoying the contact, finding that the normality of being able to touch someone was nice and that a small part of her actually missed it. Besides, her already fuzzy brain was only tainting his thoughts too, making it hard for her to get a very clear image of what he was thinking, just tiny bots and pieces.   So far she was having a lot of fun, and found herself wishing she had actually gone dancing with Ren before now. “I love this, we should dance together more!” She leaned in slightly to tell him this, not very keen at having to raise her voice so high to speak over the music. Her arms returned to their previous spot on his shoulders as she swayed her hips, her eyes meeting his again.

[cirque-ren]

After such a long period without more than a taste of alcohol, the room almost seemed to spin around them as they had moved, it all blurry and out of focus with Victoria as the shining center. His vision seemed to tunnel, and Ren could barely manage to smile at her without messing up, though due to this, his show of affection arose genuinely. Acting honestly around others came rarely, especially with his pretty noona, due to the fact he could practically sense when something would displease her. And when he’d nearly step foot on that train, he’d throw himself clean off, mentally noting never to head that way again. He had to stay careful to stay in her good graces, but that night, he couldn’t think or he’d risk messing up his moves, so he smiled almost tenderly at her, appreciation curling his lips in a way that he would later swear up and down that never happened.

Even so, he kept his distance from her, the blond assuming that no matter how her words sounded, that she wouldn’t flirt with him. He had mistakenly kissed her the last time they had hung out, and he could sense how much that perturbed her. For once, Ren knew better than to hope for more –and that wasn’t just due to how shocked she had been. A part of him was almost frightened by his attraction to her, since he himself thought that he was 100% gay with no chance of lady parts ever doing anything for him, and while that was obviously untrue by this point, he certainly didn’t want to test it beyond the kissing. Because, definite worst case scenario, what if they got to a more intimate part, and he couldn’t…respond correctly?

Embarrassment had begun to color his thoughts so thickly that a darker blush had spread across his features, though thankfully, Victoria seemed to sense his dilemma and quickly snapped him out of it with a touch to his shoulders. Feeling relieved, he opened his mouth to thank her, and noticed that she hadn’t yet removed her hands. They were actually dancing together, and rather than scare him, it produced another, more relieved smile, Ren having forgotten the nature of why she didn’t normally touch people in the first place.

“I almost wish you would have told me!” He laughed over the music, “Think of all of the missed chances we had to dance together!” A relaxed smile had chased his embarrassment away, and a rush of pleasure followed it, when he realized that his body had slipped into that pattern in such a way that he could now focus on her while dancing. Everything felt warm and bubbly, like the world had settled itself from where he had upended it the last time they had hung out together.

Then she had to start dancing all sexy, and Ren thought he was going to burst some sort of blood vessel.

He didn’t quite understand what she was doing as she sank down, but the touch of her pretty hands on her chest certainly snapped him to attention, the blond watching her with a sense of confused recognition. Ren had done this to so many guys back when he used to go clubbing, and it rang familiarly, but he had never been on the receiving end before. Swallowing nervously, he reassured himself that it was just dancing, that he could handle this… Until he felt her chest pressed to his.

Bracing himself for the inevitable disgust, his eyes widened with shock when it never came, the softness of her body speeding up his pulse like it would with a guy’s more sinewy body. Now confusion reigned supreme, and he thanked his lucky stars that his body could function without his thoughts, because wow was he in a new place. And he was sure he still looked like a deer caught in headlights.

“Um, yeah, we should do this again,” he agreed in a clumsy voice, the teen flushing again as she leaned in. Ren didn’t understand any of this, and it actually nearly frightened him, though it certainly didn’t mean he wanted to leave. He just…didn’t know what to do next. And with the pattern Victoria had started, he was almost more afraid to see where she would lead them.

[cirque-ren]

Missing the Point Entirely || Kozue & Ren

[runawaykozue]

She scoffed, looking down at him. “Well if you truly mean those words, thank you.” She believed him about as far as she could throw him, which, granted, would probably be a decent length, but not enough to write home about. He was…. unique, to say the least, and that wasn’t bad, but he just seemed to have an aura of ‘fake’ around him. Every last sequin on his suit assaulted her eyes and she did not want him to be the last thing she saw before she went to bed. She was eager to sidestep the conversation when the barrage of questions began.

"Uh…. No, I’m not sure what you mean, not really, and no." She said, her eyes looking like she’d just been shown a two-headed tiger cub. "Good to know. As far as I know, I can’t chemically alter it without… I don’t know, killing it?" She dug into the mess of hair at the nape of her neck and pulled forward a short strand of hair that was a deep honey blonde. "That piece doesn’t grow any more and I can’t control it. So I’m stuck with this shade forever." She tucked the thin strand back among her black tendrils that hid it like it’s own dirty secret. "I haven’t really done much research on it but I get the feeling it sort of has a life of it’s own." She told him, hoping he’d be happy enough with what answers she’d provided.

"Can I go now?" She cleared her throat, trying to show some patience with him despite the constant assault on her retinas he was providing. He’d kept everything relatively short or to the point. If he asked another question she was seriously tempted to throw him into the forest and innocently whistle as though she’d done no wrong.

[cirque-ren]

Of course he didn’t trust her words at this point either –in fact, anything about her power might be a lie as well, seeing as she had no real reason to reveal what she could do to a stranger that she didn’t seem to favor. She might even turn out to be one of those bitches that liked to give others a hard time just because she could and ohhhh they would have some problems if that was the case. Well, more problems. Fake niceties were still niceties, after all, and neither of them would draw blood by pretending.

Though the look on her face started a prickle of irritation through his stomach, Ren managed to smile even though he would like nothing else than to use his nails to redecorate her bitch-ass face. Pretty or not, if you had worms crawling through you, that didn’t make you a good apple.

Missing the ironic connection, his own tightly controlled expression faded with curiosity as he caught sight of the single blonde lock, it spurring a single dark thought. It nearly made him shiver, however, because the thought of destroying someone else’s power just seemed so horrible that even he couldn’t stomach it. So instead he nodded solemnly and watched her hair with a sense of awe as she told him that it was alive.

“So that would mean I couldn’t control it.” Fascination shone brightly in his eyes, and he finished with an assumed sigh, Ren pouting a bit as he heard that there wasn’t a magical hairstylist with them. How sad.

Looking up at her as she spoke one last time, he grinned brilliantly at her again, even though she had let him down, and nodded, “Yes, you can go. It’s too bad you can only work your hair, but it’s really cool anyway.” Waving at her, he turned on his heel and called, “And you totally need to tell me where you get your kimonos some other time, that one’s gorgeous!” Then he walked off, feeling like at least if he could learn that in the future, then he hadn’t really wasted his time on someone that made his blood boil. Even if harassing her had been fun.

[cirque-ren]

The Most Dangerous Game || Ren & Jeongmin

Depending on whom a person could ask, boredom could either be the worst thing to happen to a person’s creativity or the best. Ren fell into the latter category, actually, and in his increasing boredom on the Island, he drifted from lazing about all day, to finally giving in to mess around with his power. Vainly, he really didn’t think he needed to practice with it anymore, since working with the Cirque usually tried his strength enough, but he would never grow sick of using it to mess with others.

That day, he nearly imagined a relay race track for those that could never see it coming, the blond placing scattered traps all over the Island with a sense of mirth. He tended to steer clear of the woods, if only due to the fact that he’d heard tales about the strange animals seen within and lord knew he looked like a tasty morsel most of the time. Wouldn’t want to tempt fate –only people were allowed to eat him, after all, but that didn’t stop any animal he knew of from trying!

So he started on the beach, using his power to dig awkward little holes, only to cover them up with broken pieces of driftwood and seaweed. Some he hid behind dunes, the holes nearly invisible from certain angles, and others he hid behind piles of seaweed that the tide would wash up.

That really wore him out, though, so his next goal involved something easier to imbibe with his power: vines. He brought vines hanging from trees to motion, he brought vines on roofs into motion, so that they acted more like snakes for whomever would pass by, and he brought varying plants into action, scattered leaves on the ground willing to swirl up and surround whomever dared step on them. Tall grass would sway into faces and bushes would move into their way, berries being flung from the branches like ripe little grenades, and Ren sat back to examine it all with a proud little smile. His final act had been to tell his dolls to monitor the traps from a hidden point of view, and to alert him if someone triggered one. Sure, it might get him in trouble, but at least it was something to be done! And who knew, maybe someone cute would fall into it?

[nuestdmc-deactivated20131224]

[PIC] NU’EST teaser photo 3rd mini album - full color ver. CRE : D4L