You come home to a black, folded invitation on your dining table.
Was that there before? You canât remember.
The trip home was creepy enough; being closely followed by a white van with no plate number is creepy enough.
There is nothing printed on the cover of the invitation, and so you decide to open it.
The following message greets you in delicate, silver script:
Congratulations! You have been invited to this yearâs Munera as a BESTIARUS! The Munera is an annual peace-keeping event among select members of society. Weâre sure this must be an honour. Unfortunately, we cannot allow you to travel to the venue yourself. We have arranged someone to pick you up, so you no longer have to worry about transportation! We will also have to hold you in a separate accommodation from your peers, in order to follow tradition. To keep the peace, blood must be shed.
Your opponent for this year will be: Ms. Lim Minyoung.
Good luck, and be sure to enjoy yourself this year!
Outside, a heavy hand knocks against your door, once, and twice, shaking it by the frame. The third knock will surely send it down. Outside, you can hear the murmur of not one, not two, but multiple voices that can surely overpower you. Will you come quietly, put up a struggle, or attempt to escape?Â
Dread.
Thatâs thatâs all he could feel about seeing the paper on his table. He was sure that everything was in its place, papers in his desk drawer while others on the surface needed his immediate attention. This particular stationary wasnât something he remembered getting or recalled having in his possession at all, which brought up the question, who could have done this?
Who knew where he lived? And most of all, how did they know how to get in? It was just a small piece of paper that caused Junmyeon to cast so much curiosity about its existence. His line of questioning was highly unnerving, nothing about this situation made him feel comfortable or the least bit safe. He had to get out of here. He needed to relocate again. No, he was overthinking things, taking things too far. The contents of the paper were still unknown to him.
Something told him that nothing good would be coming out of this, but he still stepped forward to bring the invitation to his hands and read it.
Skimming first led him to a name being on the card, but he suspected that his supposed opponent wouldnât be the one sending these out in the first place. Another sentence caught his attention which prompted him to read it fully, from beginning to end.
âTo keep the peace, blood must be shed.â
His face fell numb, and he could feel the trembling starting in his hands. He shouldnât have. He really shouldnât have. He had to calm down. He wasnât even sure about what was going on, but he didnât want to be a part of it. The resounding knocks on his door told him he didnât have a lot of time left, and neither did he have a choice. He had to act quickly. If they had the courtesy to warn him of his immediate⊠kidnapping, then they wouldnât hold him forcefully, right?
The tune of his keycode played once he pressed on the button to unlock it, carefully opening the door and meeting eyes with multiple people. Junmyeon knew of his limits, and the number of them who were around was not meant for a team of one. Precision and agility were his assets, and while he was headstrong and daring, he wasnât stupid. This was a moment he knew he couldnât win no matter how he looked at it.
He didnât know the extent of what he was getting into, but he knew he had to go, or else they would never get off his back. Invitation? More like a death sentence.
He already lost everything dear to him, what more could he lose from giving in?
âI would prefer for you not to disrupt my neighbors, please.â His voice was calm, collected, everything that on the inside that he was not, but there was no use for him to be panicking now when he wasnât sure of their capabilities. Junmyeon stepped out of the room, closed the door with a quiet click, and followed the group to the white van.
What the hell was he getting himself intoâŠ.?












