he was twenty-two. legally and matter-of-factly, he was an adult. lee hwitaek had a good job, he paid his bills, he owned a car, he was still in school, but he was still an adult.
however, at the sight of the ball pit, all matureness and adulting he may have on his belt didn’t stand a chance.
they had time limits for the pit and there was a line. hwitaek was basically buzzing with excitement. he couldn’t remember the last time he had been in a ball pit? probably when he was much younger. probably someone’s birthday party?
“come on, come on,” he mumbled under his breath, bouncing a bit on the balls of his feet as he waited for his turn. he glanced back behind him at the girl and smiled, “that’s some... nope, not gonna finish that thought. funnier in my head.”
{ at bubble festival, moon bounce, w/ @changminxrk }
when he got in line for the moon bounce, he got a few stares, but he didn’t care. he wasn’t the only adult going in, so it wasn’t that bad. it wasn’t fair that only little kids could have all the fun. moon bounces were the best.
once he was finally in, hwitaek truly became a child again. he was bouncing all over the place. there were other people closer to his age, no children. it was smarter to do adults by themselves and children by themselves, each taking turns in and out.
he ended up getting too excited that he fell and managed to fall right through the little hole and onto the ground. he was back on his feet quickly and grinned cheekily at the male looking at him, “what? i did that on purpose, obviously.”
hwitaek couldn’t count the number of times he had seen a group perform. he was very lucky to be someone who could manage to make it to concerts and showcases from time to time. it wasn’t something he did often. he saved up for stuff like that, but the fact LUXE was performing and he could see them live without having to pay a cent?
he crowded in with everyone else, joining in on the excitement about seeing LUXE. they were doing so well from what he had seen of them and he had been excited for their comeback. there were flaws, but what rookie group didn’t have flaws. they’d grow and get better wither time. he had to support his future sunbaes (royal was his place to be, he knew that much).
as the music started and lights started to play, he clapped his hands, offering up some fanchants that he could make out and he enjoyed the music. he wasn’t up close, but he wasn’t too far away either. he had some decent room around him.
his eyes wandered away for a bit, just looking around to see if he found anyone he met up with earlier or if any of his friends were around. he had come to the festival alone that day, just wanted to see who he would meet. he knew a bunch of his friends who were going, but he wouldn’t intervene in their time. they all had other friends.
as he looked around, his eyes landed on someone some distance away. it was nayeon. she was cheering on LUXE and smiling brightly. he smiled too.
the lights that were going on seemed to hit her just right and he found himself staring far longer than he meant to.
he had known nayeon for a while now, but he guessed he never really focused on her because his attentions were elsewhere. even earlier that day, he was tempted to ask jihyo to the festival, but he chickened out at the last minute and never sent the text.
he was tempted to go over to nayeon, but something stopped him. maybe it was the song ending and the cheering becoming deafening. maybe it was something else entirely. he wasn’t going to psychoanalyze himself.
but he watched her for a few more moments, a soft smile on his lips. he turned his attention back to LUXE, clapping his hands with less energy than before. it was probably better if he didn’t think about it too much.
{ bubble festival, enjoying a hot dog, w/ @rkkangjoon }
he just wanted a hot dog. it had been a while since he had one. festival food was usually amazing and the line was ridiculously long. he just wanted a nice hot dog and move on with his day.
when hwitaek finally got his hot dog, he got it covered in ketchup and mustard and it looked so good. it was warm still. even the bun was a little toasted. he was so ready for it.
but life had a way of kicking him when he was at his best.
someone appeared, out of no where like a wild pokemon, and the hot dog went straight into the other’s chest.
hwitaek stood there for several moments, thinking about what he was supposed to do now. he just ruined someone’s shirt and his hot dog was now ruined. he wanted to cry.
< T R I G G E R S : electrocution, murder, car “accident”, death >
this was becoming excessive. he sat there for several moments, trying to get his breathing down. his eyes watered for a moment as he tried to move into a more comfortable position. he stared at the box, tempted to throw it across the way, but he opted to just leave it be.
he was given five hours to make it to the bukhansan national park. it seemed easy enough, but there would be people - anyone - who could become a chaser. he had to be smart about this. they knew him, but he didn’t know them.
the car he had was completely fucked, but it was still running. he could still use it. it was far too obvious though. he was going to have to find another car and he had to be smarter about what he planned on doing. he had to get to a car quickly.
he glanced around him as he started walking, his arm wrapped around his waist. he wanted to scream out in pain, but he held it in. a figure out of the corner of his eye caught his attention. they turned in his direction and started to follow. it was a woman. she seemed barely over five, foot five, but when she started to sprint, speedy knew he couldn’t just run. he had to take her out.
speedy gave himself a moment think. he saw a puddle of water. did it rain in this simulation? whatever the reason, he took off for the puddle, pushing past people as he ran. he jumped over the puddle and stopped, turning quickly. just as she stepped into the water, the cylinder he picked up turned into his jumper cables and he threw it to the water.
water and electricity didn’t mix.
he watched for a moment as she convulsed before collapsing on the ground. he grabbed his weapon when it turned back into a cylinder before he took off in a run. eyes were on him now. several seemed more fixated on him. he had to get out of view.
running as fast as he could, he ran into an alleyway and hid for what felt like forever. he heard footsteps, but after a while, they were gone. he waited a few more moments before he moved around the alley, trying to find another exit. it was one of those alleys that led to different ones. it was like a maze, but he found a back street with a single van. he took his time to look around himself as he neared it. as he got closer, he realized someone left the keys in the van. he left a silent prayer to whoever designed this simulation as he opened the door and got inside. he turned the car on and took off.
the ride to the mountain was nearly free. he did have one instance on the bridge where another semi truck tried to run him off the bridge, but it missed him by inches and he watched from the rear-view mirror as the semi-truck went straight through the side of the bridge and into the river.
as he was nearing the mountain, he soon realized he was being followed by a black truck.
“you have to be kidding me,” he muttered in japanese.
he slowed down his truck, actually allowing the truck to catch up. once they were side by side, speedy veered into the side of the truck. luckily, no airbags went off this time. it messed up the truck for a moment, but not for long as it came forward again, trying the same thing to speedy. there were sparks and loud metal noises as the cars collided.
in front of them was a large intersection and the light in front of them was red. the driver looked at speedy, daring him and speedy grinned a bit. he liked a challenge, but just as they passed the white line, he hit the brakes hard, stopping to a jolting halt.
the black van didn’t stand a chance as it went through the light and another semi-truck slammed into it.
naturally, his hands shot to his mouth in shock at how brutal the scene he just witnessed was. that semi-truck was most likely supposed to end the simulation for speedy.
the actual terror of it hit him. there was a moment of mild panic, but there were more chasers not far away. he just knew it.
the light turned green and speedy was off.
an hour and a half had passed and speedy finally made it to the mountain. he was careful as he got out of the truck, his arm instantly around his waist again and headed for the mountain.
actually getting to the top of the mountain was probably the hardest part. he was panting, exhausted and barely managed to escape two chasers. they hadn’t seen him as he hid from them for a while. by the time he made to the top, almost three hours had passed.
he rested his hands on his knees, trying to focus his breathing. he expected his time to stop now, but it didn’t come. nothing came for several moments. he stood there waiting before a groan left his body.
of course it wouldn’t be that easy. a group of five chasers appeared, all varied expressions and appearances. one looked like agent smith from the matrix. another looked like someone he knew from when he was younger. like a baby sitter or some older girl he knew. the other three were some old man, a pregnant woman and an officer that speedy vaguely recognized. whoever these people were, he wasn’t a big fan of where this was going.
the girl ran at him with a crazed expression, pulling two daggers from her pockets. speedy’s arms lifted and grabbed her wrists. he easily over powered her, forcing her to the ground with a loud grunt. the pain from his ribs shot through his body so quickly that his eyes teared up, but he refused to let her go.
the agent smith looking man and the officer came charging at them. he had to be quick, calling his godmode again, knowing that it was both stupid and his last choice. his eyes changed to their teal color and his strength came back. the pain lessened to a dull ache.
he was quick, knocking the girl out and grabbing her knives, tossing them at the two men. he hit them in the shoulder and the gut respectively. the cop collapsed, but the agent smith man came running for him. speedy moved to grab for his weapon, seeing it already changed to the whip. he whipped it, watching as it wrapped around the man’s neck. he screamed out, just as the man had done before.
speedy tugged the man forward until he was on knees and he tugged harder, strangling the man until he was unconscious.
what he hadn’t expected was the gunshot.
his eyes widened as he looked over at the pregnant woman and the old man. they both grinned at him. his hand instantly went to his stomach where the blood was starting to appear.
the teal in his eyes faded to brown just as he fell back.
he jumped up with a jolt, the simulation ending. he threw the headset off of him as he gapped for air like a fish out of water, checking his body for a gunshot wound or broken ribs. he still felt the pain. it radiated through his body, but there was nothing there. he leaned back in the chair, his eyes closing.
