( REWIND ↺ 170603 ) he wakes up disoriented, an occurrence he’s so tired of. stuck in a monotonous pattern of nightmarish sleep months after he felt as if he was unconscious for too long. decisions made for him, a fate he wasn’t meant to have. but it’s the damn headaches that make it unbearable. they’re barely human, meant to be almost unbreakable but his head feels like it’s splitting, torn about by the memories that come back to him far too late. he doesn’t know fact from fiction the longer he’s in the hive but the truth is what he so desperately craves.
to his core, he despises the lies he’s been dealt. the lies he believes he’s been so willingly told and his latest dream is no different. his vision is hazy, but the person is clear for anyone to tell or maybe just him. six months getting to know her, six months, and she lied to him for all of them. every month, every week, every day, every minute, every single second.
no, ebony tresses and the scent of bergamot is undeniably iris.
three in the morning and he’s tossing on a white tank, door slammed behind him. recently awoken but there’s no ache in his limbs as he breaks into a sprint towards the harlequin section. even when his brother was alive, she’d always been closer. closer to him, closer to seungho. he was jealous. he was bitter. but most of all, he’s angry.
two months and all he can see is the last time he saw his brother, the last time he saw them both together, and the last time they gathered as a trio. two months and every time he closes his eyes, he sees the two of them walking off together and he can’t say a damn thing. he opens his mouth and nothing comes out. he yells, screams, but there’s no sound. he can’t do anything to stop them from going on that mission. even looking at her haunts him but he can’t stop, he can’t let go, he can’t stay away from her.
the image of his brother in blue and the smell of white datura are inseparable, the same way his brother was with iris. it wafts around them, a smile and a rare laugh let out by sehun himself. god, he can’t even say his own name anymore. he can’t say his brother’s name and his nails leave crimson crescents in the palm of his hand when he finally reaches the door.
and there it is, patchouli. he can smell every scent in her perfume and yet all he sees is red.
clenched fists pound against the door and he’s aware of just how loud he’s being when he yells for her, as if it’s her fault he can’t open the door, as if it’s her fault that he can’t ask her the question that’s been torturing him since he found out, as if it’s her fault for everything, and that’s his true problem. he does, he blames iris for everything he’s lost, including himself.