Cruel Favour (2/2)
Title: Cruel Favour
Rating: NC-17
Pairing: Jongyu (Jonghyun/Jinki), side!2minkey (Minho/Taemin/Kibum)
Genre: Angst, AU, Horror, Paranormal, Psychological, Romance
Disclaimer: As you can see, these people belong to me. That rhyme was as unintentional as it was true.
Summary: Smile, please smile, you're prettiest when smiling, Cry? Am I crying? I'll wipe those tears, and you have a lost expression. You stiffen, I bring my knees to the floor, and ask you what you did wrong.
Warnings: Violence/Murder, Blood/Gore, Rape (Implied), Language, Paranormal
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“Kim Jonghyun! Hurry up or we are leaving you right here!” Kibum commanded as he scowled at the brunet who was frantically running around the classroom, looking for something.
“Just a second! I think someone stole my chemistry book! Key, you like solving things, right? What do you think?” Jonghyun knew he was probably talking crap now, but he had a chemistry quiz in a few days and he knew nothing. Kibum sighed, looking at Jonghyun as the elder held a chair over his head.
“I think that I can't figure anything out from your 'clues'. Now hurry up! I'm going to wait outside with the others.” Kibum responded, obviously annoyed as he gave Jonghyun a lazy half wave before walking off, leaving Jonghyun in the classroom by himself.
“Yeah, well I don't need your help anyway!” Jonghyun yelled to Kibum's retreating back. Jonghyun grumbled as he continued to look through the classroom, hitting his limbs on desks and chairs many times. After a couple of minutes Jonghyun collapsed onto a chair, letting out a sigh. He grumbled to himself before giving up and running out to meet with Kibum and the others before they really left him there.
It was a shame he didn't notice the figure that had been closely observing his every move ever since Kibum had left him in the class.
◎♡◎♡◎
“Jinki ah, it's not like I want to, but I really have to go.”
“But Jonghyun ah,” Jinki whined, “You can't go, I really don't think you should! Something just... doesn't feel right about this!” Jinki was tightly gripping Jonghyun's arm now, trying to pull him back into Kibum's apartment. “It's almost nine in the night, you shouldn't go anywhere now! Plus, I don't like that Bou girl, she's really... there's something very, very unpleasant about her...” Jinki repeated. Jonghyun couldn't argue, he didn't like her either, but when Jinki doesn't like someone they are definitely trouble.
But Jonghyun didn't have much of a choice.
“Jinki ah, she has my chemistry book, I really need it back. I swear to God she must have swiped it!” Jonghyun ground out.
“Then can't you get it from her tomorrow? After school? Or some other time? Now is just too dangerous!” Jinki wouldn't give up, he could just feel that this would end in tragedy of he let Jonghyun go now.
“I agree with Jinki hyung!” Taemin called from a little behind Jinki. Minho who was standing next to him nodded in agreement. Jonghyun gave them a torn look. He didn't want to go, but he would be so screwed if he didn't get it back. Kibum seemed to catch onto his desperation. Sighing, Kibum spoke almost immediately regretting it after,
“We should let him go.” Jinki snapped his head to face Kibum, a mixed look of shock and terror in his eyes, there was a tint of something else as well but Kibum couldn't place it. “Only for a while, if he isn't back by tomorrow,” Kibum held up his cellphone, “We'll track him down and find him. You have your phone on you, right? And it's charged up?” Jonghyun shoved a hand into his pocket, pulled out his phone and checked it. He nodded at Kibum. “Put it on silent in case of anything, we can come save you without the bad guys knowing.” Kibum grinned. Really, thank God for Kibum and his weird stalker ways. Jonghyun looked to Jinki. Jinki, who still had an extremely worried expression attached to his features. His gorgeous features.
“I'll be fine, alright?” Jonghyun gently caressed Jinki's cheek, “Go and rest, you're looking even worse today... Don't worry, I'll be back. Make sure to wait for me, okay?” Jonghyun grinned. He carefully slipped out of Jinki's grasp, waving and running off while messing with his phone.
Lately, nothing made sense.
Kibum gingerly rubbed circles on Jinki's back, telling him everything will work out fine. Taemin lightly gripped his shoulders and told him not to worry, Jonghyun was way tough. Minho carefully pulled Jinki to lean on him, telling him to rest and that they would be able to help if anything happened. Jinki accepted their kindness, their comfort.
But Jinki couldn't stop worrying. Jinki couldn't wait.
◎♡◎♡◎
Jonghyun felt the hair on the back of his neck stand on end as he slowly saw the silhouette of person he was to meet come into view. As he got closer light caught the person's features and he knew, right then and there, that he should have stayed at Kibum's place and forgotten about chemistry and doing well in school in general but Jonghyun always made weird choices. Damn it.
“Jonghyun ah!” She waved at him, throwing her arm side to side - almost like a pendulum. Jonghyun sucked in a breath before lifting his hand in greeting, not getting more than three feet near her.
“Hello, noona,” He saw her frown - why did he want to smirk? “Do you have my book?”
“Ah, yes, your book,” she put a finger to her lip, “You see, I left it at the little cabin I'm staying at a ways from here. Care to accompany me back to get it?” She smiled at him. Why. Why the fuck was she wasting his time like this.
Patience, Jonghyun, patience and endurance are what makes a good person, he kept thinking to himself.
“Uh, sure.” Jonghyun suddenly felt wary, up ahead, there was nothing but a rather strange forest. Sure there was a path going through it, but it was creepy - it wasn't dense, but it was damn creepy.
The further down the path they walked, the louder the many warning bells in Jonghyun's head resounded. They were suddenly at a clearing, the sky was easily visible here. There was a rock that seemed to reflect the moon with it's pale colour - actually, Jonghyun wondered if it was a rock or a hill of some sort - some random green bits of plants in the white snow here and there, and further up the path, if one squinted, you could see something similar to a cabin of some sort. Or maybe that was just Jonghyun wanting to get everything over and done with.
Then Bou stopped walking, causing Jonghyun to almost bump into her. She turned to face him, her head bent a little so he couldn't see her face due to the shadows. He was confused - and now, paranoid. After a while she chuckled a little, then her head suddenly snapped up and she was wearing that sickening, twisted, face-splitting grin that Jonghyun remembered every time he saw her. Stretched, crooked smiles are all he sees on this woman's face - does she think they're attractive? Because, in Jonghyun's honest opinion, they weren't. Before Jonghyun could react in any way he felt two pairs of arms grab him, restraining his arms - his movement - and covering his mouth. Then Bou let out a shrill laugh, filled with nothing but insanity.
“Jonghyun ah, I really like you, you know?” She spoke as she looked at him, her face inches away from his, her smile slowly widening - if that was even possible - as she drank in Jonghyun's expression. He fed her nothing but disgust and hate with his eyes. Bou touched his face, dragging her nails across his cheek - her true character crawling out, screaming. She was going to say, or do, something else before another voice - one that seemed to to far away - yelled to her,
“Ma'am! We found someone snooping around! It seems he's just a kid though!!” Bou glared with a look of disgusted annoyance in the direction of the voice.
“Bring him here then!” She commanded, her tone was like steel. Jonghyun heard struggling before a strangled 'let me go!'. Jonghyun's eyes widened, and he panicked even more when he saw Bou smirk. She walked over to the other captive, gripping his chin tightly and forcing him to look at her, her freakish smile, her deadly eyes. 'No...' Jonghyun thought. Bou's smile turned into a grin once again.
'Oh please God, no!'
“Hey, cutie... I know you...” Jonghyun doesn't know what she did but it elicited a cry of pain. Jonghyun clenched his teeth and Bou continued speaking, “You're that boy... Jinki...” Jonghyun heard something collide roughly with the snow-covered gravel of the floor, something told him it was Jinki's face. “You're the one Jonghyun's always looking at! And you're...” She did something that caused Jinki to yelp. Then there was a pause, a murmur and then she stopped and gasped. Jonghyun didn't know what was going on but he knew that he may not find out any time soon.
“Hey... do you remember me? Boeun...”
That wasn't Jinki's voice.
◎♡◎♡◎
Jinki didn't expect to get a face full of snow and iced pebbles when he decided to follow Jonghyun, yet here he was with half of his face being pressed into the floor. If those men who were obviously stronger than him weren't restraining him right now, Jinki would have found something dangerous and knocked the bitch out cold with it. Even with these vague thoughts of hostility floating around in his mind, he couldn't really register anything - even the pain of his face being abused was fleeting. He wasn't sure why but ever since he left Kibum's apartment, after being drilled like Jonghyun had been by Kibum, that same person from the dreams been talking to him, saying things like,
“She's bothering you, isn't she? You're going to her? I'll make sure to stop her, just leave everything to me. That woman...”
He'd say that, then begin mumbling. Seriously, what was this? Jinki had finally lost it, hadn't he? Hearing voices, feeling the strangest urges, temporarily losing control of his body - he didn't tell the others of all that stuff though. They didn't need to worry any more than they already were. Jinki caught himself getting sidetracked, he needed to focus!
Then Bou grabbed Jinki's hair and yanked him up until he was at eye-level with her. She started speaking but Jinki didn't hear what she said, because as soon as he had seen her face so closely, twisted with her scorn and insanity, there was a sudden, searing pain coursing through his body and he cried out before his mind became a blurred mess and everything swirled into a black pool.
Bou heard the boy - Jinki - murmur something, but she didn't catch it. She pulled his head closer to her ear, a signal for him to repeat, and she didn't expect what she heard. A voice, a voice that she was sure she would never hear again because the last she had heard from it was a scream of pain and terror. But there it was, speaking to her.
“Hey... do you remember me? Boeun...” Bou pulled Jinki's head closer, inspecting his face. He smiled tiredly at her for a while then his eyes rolled back and he passed out for a few seconds before he was coughing and trying to pull his head out of her grasp. What the fuck was that?
“Boy,” She said, sternly, “Did you just speak to me?” Jinki looked at her, confused before shaking his head. Bou scrutinized him, it's a shame he was telling the truth because she wanted to abuse him so badly. The urge just came over her and if what just happened was what she thought it was then she really wanted to at least hit him. This wouldn't be the first time that she dealt with a vengeful spirit, but it was definitely the first time she would deal with it along with her next target.
“Fuck this.” Bou growled, this was becoming complicated. She took a piece of cloth from one of the many men working for her and she shoved it against Jonghyun's face. “Let's get on with this, shall we?” Her grin was back on and Jonghyun tried to struggle, he really did, but the sweet scent assaulted him and left him feeling so weak. His vision blurred and the last thing he remembered is Jinki screaming his name.
“What should we do with this one, ma'am?”
“Why don't we have some fun with him? When we're done we can leave him to die!” Jinki gasped and felt someone push his head down.
“No! Bring him with me. What I'm going to do requires both of them - alive.” Bou commanded. Jinki didn't want to know what was going to happen but he knew he didn't have an option. “But first,” Bou paused, looked at him and grinned, “knock him out.” A moment later Jinki felt a sharp pain from the back of his head and he passed out, yet again.
◎♡◎♡◎
When Jinki came to, he was feeling painfully cold. In fact he could barely move. He tried moving his legs, nothing. He tried rotating his shoulder, he just felt colder. Why was he feeling so cold? Jinki tried to open his eyes, with much difficulty. Slowly, painfully they opened and the first thing he saw was frost covered handcuffs around his wrist attaching him to a pole exactly outside of a cabin. He was about to look into the wooden structure when he noticed he could see his legs - his bare legs - and on the floor was snow.
“Oh no...” Jinki mumbled as he glanced at his arms. They were bare. At best he was probably only wearing a vest and shorts. And he was outside, handcuffed to a pole while the snow slowly fell from the sky. He pulled against his restraints a bit more before giving up. Then he looked up and saw a body moving.
Up, down, up, down... wait, was that a woman? Then he heard a moan. Suddenly, everything came back to him, everything suddenly made some kind of sick sense. That woman was... Bou? Jinki squinted. He saw a person just laying there - underneath Bou - unconscious? Realization suddenly struck Jinki like a bolt of lightning. He began pulling against his handcuffs ignoring the pain, the cold.
“No, this isn't happening. Not to Jonghyun! Anyone but Jonghyun!” Jinki cried, his reply was shrill laughter.
“Ah, are you awake, Jinki!?” Bou turned her head to face him, grinning. “Make sure you enjoy the show, okay!”
Jinki couldn't look away. It was horrible, terrifying, worse than every nightmare that he'd had until now. He pulled against the restraints until red lines became visible against the pallid colour of his skin, screamed his lungs out until his throat felt raw, cried and begged for the woman to stop. But she wouldn't listen, she just kept doing it.
'Jinki ah, she's hurting you.' It was the same voice, smooth and airy.
“Please, noona, stop it!”
'Jinki ah, I'm sorry.' It was sad.
“Please!!”
'Jinki ah... I will kill her for us.' It sounded like venom.
Jinki couldn't struggle any more, all of his strength had been drained. He just sat there, slowly feeling himself freeze. Jinki didn't know how much time had passed since he'd stopped struggling but that woman had walked up to him. She gripped his chin.
“Jinki ah, don't worry, I like you both, so I won't kill you. I don't know if that's a blessing or a curse, but,” She giggled, doing something to his handcuffs. It felt as though she took them off. “Well, you may or may not die here, who knows? Oh and by the way, since I kinda respect you for still being alive, my name's Boeun, bye-bye.” She sang before leaving. Jinki had never felt so helpless before, being forced to sit there and watch his best friend get raped. Jinki let his head knock against the pole a few times before he passed out.
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Jonghyun opened his eyes slowly, for some reason he had this god-awful headache and he felt cold. He sat up and rubbed his head, quickly opening his eyes to look around before closing them again and he tried to place his surroundings. His eyes snapped open. Did Jonghyun just see what he thought he saw? He lifted his arm, his wrist aligned with his eyes. There were red markings there. What the hell? Jonghyun brought both his wrists close to his face and he studied them. The both had red markings. Were they... rope burns? They really hurt. Jonghyun looked at the rest of his body and-
“Holy shit, why the fuck am I naked?” he screamed, jumped off of the bed and grabbed his clothes hurriedly throwing them on and racing for the door. He pulled it open and nearly had a heart attack.
“Jinki!” Jonghyun ran to the unconscious boy, he was freezing. Jonghyun panicked, he felt Jinki's body for a pulse, something, anything. He found one, it was extremely weak, but it was there.
“J-Jonghyun..?” Jinki gasped, weakly. Jonghyun looked at him immediately, giving his hyung all of his attention. Jinki became frantic. “Jonghyun? Jonghyun!” Jinki hugged the younger and Jonghyun couldn't believe how unbelievably cold his hyung felt. “Jonghyun, I'm so sorry! I- I-” Jinki began crying, Jonghyun was surprised he could cry considering the state he was in.
“Jinki ah, what's wrong?” Jonghyun asked carefully as he wiped Jinki's tears before quickly gathering him into his arms, trying to warm the other up.
“I... I couldn't stop her... I couldn't save you..!” Jinki was hugging him again. Jonghyun was confused.
“Stop who from what?”
“Boeun... I couldn't stop her from...” The words caught in Jinki's raw throat but he forced them out, “I couldn't stop her from raping you!” He exclaimed. Jonghyun froze. Rape? No, there's no way! But, Jinki wouldn't lie. Jonghyun grit his teeth. That bitch... wait, Boeun?
“Who's Boeun?”
“Bou! Bou is Boeun's alias, but Jonghyun, I'm so sorry I-” Jonghyun cut Jinki off by pulling him into his arms.
“Stop apologizing, Jinki ah. It's not your fault. Let's just get you taken care of first, okay?” Jonghyun didn't wait for a response before he picked the elder up and carried him into the cabin. They could both get the hell out of there after Jinki recovered.
◎♡◎♡◎
“Kibum hyung, calm down!” Taemin held his hands up defensively as Kibum threw a chair across the room.
“Calm down?” Kibum spun to Taemin, enraged, “How can I? I can't get hold of them! Their signals disappeared around one last night, in the same area, suddenly they're unreachable and you're telling me to calm down!?”
“Kibum hyung.” Minho said as he grabbed the elder and hugged him tightly, “I know you're worried, that you're panicking but... how about this, we go to school and search for them. If they're not there then after school, we'll go to where we lost their signal and we'll look for them from there. How does that sound?” A moment passed and Kibum just buried his face into Minho's chest while Taemin patted his back. Taemin couldn't help but wonder,
'How did it come to this?'
◎♡◎♡◎
Jonghyun had changed Jinki's clothes and bundled him up in the bed, but even after a day Jinki still hadn't woken up. Jonghyun kept checking his pulse, breathing sighs of relief when he felt the dull thudding against his fingers. Jinki's face was tear-stained from the previous morning and he kept making pained faces in his sleep. Jonghyun wanted to comfort him, but he was afraid that if he touched him, he would wake Jinki up and disturb his rest, rest that Jinki desperately needed. Jonghyun stroked his face and would whisper to Jinki to be strong and smile. Whenever he did, Jinki would shift a little in his direction and his breathing would calm a little before a smile would grace his face. Jonghyun thought that if he could help Jinki like this, then he would stay here by the other's side until he woke up. It was the least he could do for getting Jinki involved.
◎♡◎♡◎
It had been four days since Jonghyun and Jinki had gone missing, Kibum was getting more and more edgy and he was starting to run out of excuses.
“Ah, this is the area! The one where we lost the signal!” Kibum exclaimed. He, Taemin and Minho searched the area thoroughly, only Taemin returned with something; Jinki's phone.
“Where did you find this, Taemin ah?” Minho asked. Taemin lead them down a path covered with pebbles and snow.
“Hey, look at this.” Kibum said pointing down the path. There was... a trail, leading deeper into the forest. “We should check it out.” Kibum took a few steps forward but Minho stopped him.
“Tomorrow, it's already too late to continue for today.” Kibum wanted to argue but they all knew Minho was right. Kibum sulked but agreed in the end. They would find their hyungs, and save them for sure.
◎♡◎♡◎
Jonghyun was a little more than panicked by now, Jinki still hadn't woken up and Jonghyun was worried that days were going to turn into weeks. Jonghyun sighed and got out of the shower. He kept looking around and finding random clothing that they could wear, but that wouldn't last forever. He wondered if his phone was anywhere nearby. He was so worried about Jinki that he didn't think of anything else - not even calling for help. Jonghyun walked into the main room and there he got a pleasant surprise. Jinki was sitting up in bed and he seemed to be playing with something - when Jonghyun got closer he saw that it was his phone, Jinki was texting someone. When Jinki had finished and closed the phone Jonghyun let his excitement escape.
“Oh my God, Jinki! You're awake!!” Jonghyun was going to hug him before Jinki held a hand up, stopping him.
“I'm not Jinki.” That voice, it was the same from that night but Jonghyun didn't know it. “I'm Jungsu, I'll be borrowing your friend for a while.”
Borrowing..? Borrowing... different voice... possession... parasite... Holy hell, this was what his sister was telling him about! With the parasite and murder- murder!!
“Wait, are you going to use Jinki's body to kill?” Jonghyun was panicked, of course he was.
“Ah, yes, but don't worry, it's not Jinki doing the killing, his hands won't be stained.” Jonghyun remained silent. He couldn't think of anything to say. As long as Jinki would be alright then it didn't matter to him, but...
“Jinki... he'll be okay, right?” The parasite- no, Jungsu looked at Jinki's nails before responding, “He'll be fine, he's just suffering from psychological shock and exhaustion. He'll be fine after he rests a bit more.” Jonghyun let go of a breath he didn't realize he was holding.
“Wait, were you the one causing Jinki to have all those nightmares?”
“...I was just trying to communicate with him...”
“Well, you really freaked him out and made him weak and sick!”
“Don't worry, I said he'd be fine after some rest.” Jungsu said rather forcefully. Jonghyun was a bit - no, very - peeved but, as long as Jinki was fine.
“What are you? And... Why, why Jinki?” Jonghyun was sure Jungsu knew what he was asking about. Jungsu took his time responding.
“I'm just a depressed ghost. Jinki... that's a good question. I chose him, because I wanted to protect him. Boeun was targeting both you and him for her next 'couple murder'.” Jonghyun was starting to see the connection between these two cases, “You were both so young and deserved to have so much more... I couldn't let her kill you! So, I intervened. I thought, when this was all over and done with, I would make everyone forget about it - it would be like all this pain and suffering, you all never went through it. All I need to do before that is get rid of that woman.”
Jonghyun took a while to process all the information. So, in the 'couple murder' case, Boeun was then killer and the bizarre murder case was the doing of this ghost. But,
“If all you wanted to do was kill Boeun, why have you killed others?” Jonghyun just didn't like the thought of killing, or death in general.
“To take down a rider you must first kill the horse.” Jungsu expected Jonghyun to be fine with that response but the brunet kept staring at him, so he elaborated, “She - to be blunt - is just a serial killer and the others were all her... henchmen, if you will. She's the last and I'm going to get rid of her once and for all!”
“... Are you allowed to do this though?” Jonghyun asked. Jungsu didn't need Jonghyun to say what he meant he understood what the younger was trying to ask.
“I am. This is... Boeun's final judgement, for all that she's done.” Jungsu said, satisfied with his response. Jonghyun didn't have any other questions, he just sat in is chair and stared Jinki who wasn't really Jinki since someone else was using Jinki's body.
“You had better bring Jinki back to me safe and sound, okay?” Jonghyun commanded. Jungsu looked at him, surprised before he smiled and said of course he would. Jonghyun was a little surprised that Jungsu smiled, he didn't seem to interested in being nice to Jonghyun at first. After a few moments, Jungsu began talking about Jinki.
“I feel bad for using him to do this... He's so cute too. Look at this face, these hands, oh my God he's like some sort of cute!!” Jungsu whined, excitedly yelling the last part. Jonghyun agreed, of course, but then it occurred to him.
“I thought that ghosts didn't have feelings-”
“Of course we have feelings, you moron!” Jungsu - with Jinki's body - made exaggerated gestures. Well, now Jonghyun knew, he's sorry he grew up off of pie, kimchi and urban legends. Sheesh.
“Well, sorry.” Jonghyun sulked. Jungsu regarded him for a while, before speaking,
“You know, he really likes you.” Jonghyun's head shot up and he gaped at Jinki - Jungsu - who was idly looking at his hands. “Yeah, when he's not having nightmares, he tends to dream about you.”
“...What does he dream..?”
“It's nothing perverted, you sick...” Jungsu glared at him through narrowed eyes.
“Look, I didn't think anything like that!” Though that would be nice too, is what Jonghyun didn't say. Jungsu didn't pay him much mind though.
“Nice dreams, I was almost jealous. Dreams, I guess, someone like him would have... Just you guys, you and all your friends, just sitting around and laughing. It sounds simple and clichéd but, it was so nice...”
They fell into silence, each with his own thoughts. Jonghyun hadn't realized that it was night, not until Jungsu said that the moon was nice and bright so he was leaving. As soon as Jungsu said that he dashed to the door, disappearing on the other side before Jonghyun could even blink. He got up and ran after the other but when he opened the door and looked around...
There was no one there.
◎♡◎♡◎
A high pitched squeal was heard and immediately Minho and Taemin ran into Kibum's living room, asking what was wrong while they fought to regulate their breathing.
“I... I just got a signal from Jonghyun's phone!”
◎♡◎♡◎
Jungsu sighed as he ran a little faster. He was really going to use this innocent boy's body to kill the woman he had been hunting down ever since, ever since she killed him and his best friend. Jungsu didn't ponder on the thought for too long - lest guilt totally consume him and he decided not to go through with this, making everything he did up until now all for nothing - and he felt slightly relieved as he saw the school come into his view.
Surely he would end everything tonight.
◎♡◎♡◎
Kibum didn't give Minho and Taemin a chance to object as he ran out of his apartment with the younger boys in tow. Kibum followed the signal until he was back on the same path, the one where they found Jinki's phone. Further and further down the path, they eventually found a cabin and apparently someone had just entered the cabin.
Kibum just hoped that it wasn't trouble because that was where Jonghyun's signal was coming from.
◎♡◎♡◎
Jungsu looked out over the city through the wired fence lining the perimeter of the school's rooftop. He sighed, he had been doing a lot of that lately. He wouldn't lie to himself - guilt was starting to swallow him whole. He gritted his teeth.
He still had to kill her.
'What's going on?' Jungsu gasped. Jinki? He wasn't supposed to wake up yet!
'Jinki ah, you're supposed to be resting!' Jungsu couldn't have a mental chat right now, Boeun could show up any minute.
'What are you doing with my body? Why can't I move!?'
'Jinki don't panic.'
Their little conversation was cut short by the sound of the doorknob twisting. Jungsu swore, Jinki freaked and Boeun burst through the door excitedly exclaiming Jonghyun's name as she ran halfway across the length of the rooftop. When she opened her eyes she was shocked and disappointed. When Jinki was able to look through his own eyes, he was just plain shocked.
'What... what is this..?' Jungsu really felt bad now, Jinki was conscious, had no control of his body and was about to kill someone - or be killed.
'Jungsu, call me Jungsu... I may as well tell you. See that woman there?' Jinki made a weak sound of approval. 'I'm going to kill her, I'm sorry that I have to use your body...' Jungsu didn't get a reply, he didn't expect one. Just as he was about to verbally assault Boeun, Jinki spoke - or more like thought,
'S-she's the one...' Jungsu felt tears run down Jinki's face. The boy was crying. 'She... raped Jonghyun..!' Jungsu knew what was going to happen, but before he could try to stop him, Jinki regained some control over his body and he let his tongue loose.
“You... you bitch!” Jinki screamed, Boeun just stood there as Jinki ran towards her, “You fucking bitch!! Why? Why did you do that?”
“Brat, why are you still alive?” she rasped. Boeun seemed to be grabbing for something in her jacket but Jinki grabbed her arms and swung them off to the side before he gripped her neck with both of his hands. She gasped and Jungsu knew she didn't expect Jinki to attack her - Jungsu didn't expect it either.
Jinki squeezed her neck with all the strength he could muster - making sure to press down on her trachea - as he whimpered, he felt so strained, he glared at her. He hated her face, hated it so much that he wanted to bash it in until it looked like a disgusting mass of meat and blood. Jungsu felt his thoughts, masticated and absorbed them, and he couldn't agree more. But Jinki was still so weak, Jungsu couldn't let Jinki continue - he couldn't let the boy stain his hands.
'Jinki, enough, I'm taking over.'
'What-'
'Go to sleep.' Jungsu commanded. Just like that Jungsu sensed Jinki fall unconscious.
Boeun realized something had changed when the male's eyes narrowed and his grip on her neck suddenly tightened, to the extent that she could barely breathe and she panicked. She shoved her hand into her jacket, pulled it out and frantically slashed at the other. Jungsu gasped and hurriedly backed away from her.
“Bitch...” He growled as he felt liquid trickle down Jinki's face and left arm - it was blood, Jinki's blood.
“You had better bring Jinki back to me safe and sound, okay?”
'Fuck...' Jungsu thought, he couldn't let it go on like this, Jinki's body couldn't take much more abuse - if any at all. Surely, Boeun would be easy enough to kill compared to her other bulky lackeys - all of whom Jungsu had taken out, but then again Jungsu had been using older, stronger bodies - not that of a seventeen year old. Jungsu scanned the area as Boeun struggled to catch her breath, he needed to take her out now. He needed something, anything-
“Oh God yes..!” Jungsu breathed out, his gaze rested on a metal pipe. It was probably abandoned there by some kids who liked to play 'gang' or some lazy janitor. Jungsu didn't care why it was there though, he just raced towards it glad for his rare luck. He gripped the pipe, the entire thing was cold and it had little bits of rust over it's entirety - even the faucet.
Quickly, he had to do this quickly. This wasn't a movie - no need for long stares and dramatic pauses - this was real life, if he didn't hurry up and kill her now Jungsu was sure he - Jinki - would end up dead. He was already so close to finishing what he had to do before he could finally rest in peace. He staggered over to where Boeun was haunched over, gasping for air. Jungsu raised the pipe over his head just as she looked up, noticing he was there. He was able to give her a nice, crazed glare, finally able to communicate how he felt towards her, before he swung the pipe down with all the strength he could muster, smashing it into her face.
She screamed. A long, loud, blood-curdling scream as she fell back, her forehead bloody, ripped and crushed as blood gushed from the wound.
“This is for what you've done!” Jungsu yelled at her as he swung the pipe and hit the side of her head. “To Jonghyun and Jinki!” He hit her again. “To Youngwoon!” Another hit. “To me!” Another. “To so many others!” Jungsu felt Jinki's arms and voice but as the pipe connected yet again with Boeun's head he heard a cracking sound. 'So close...'
He repeatedly hit her with the pipe. He hit her face, her temples, her jaws and her shoulders and arms when she tried to block with them. Jungsu brought the pipe down with more force with each hit - he had lost his patience, his reasoning, his mind - with the first strike that he had made with the pipe. She kept screaming and begging him to stop through sobs and shrill cries but Jungsu wouldn't hear it, he had waited so damn long for this.
He wouldn't stop, not until she was dead.
Boeun's bones were broken, her clothes bloody and her face an unrecognisable mass of crushed flesh, bone and blood when Jungsu had thought to stop hitting her. He looked at the pipe in his hands - Jinki's hands - as he panted. He took Boeun's bloody, broken arm and closed her hand around the pipe before repeatedly dragging her fist along the pipe where Jungsu had held it.
'Now in the event of anyone trying to find the killer through this, only Boeun's prints would be on it...' He thought as he finished his little task and letting her arm drop, the pipe bouncing out of her bloody hand before skidding away - leaving a crimson trail. He wiped the blood off Jinki's hands and onto his shirt before he stepped over the woman's corpse, opened the door and left. Jungsu had to deliver Jinki to Jonghyun after all, he couldn't dawdle. He ran as quickly as Jinki's tired legs would allow him, mentally letting Jinki know that everything was over.
When the police found and identified her, the headline would be something similar to 'Infamous serial killer found dead', or something like that.
◎♡◎♡◎
The cabin door flew open hitting the wall and Jonghyun's head snapped in the sound's direction. There he saw a tired and enraged Kibum with an equally tired Taemin and Minho behind him.
“Kim Jonghyun!” Kibum cried as he ran to the elder, roughly grabbing him and pulling him into a hug.
“Ki-Kibum!” Jonghyun was shocked, more by Kibum's hugging him than by his being here.
“Jonghyun, you bastard! I was so fucking worried about you and Jinki!” Kibum yelled at him. He was crying.
“Kibum ah...” Jonghyun just patted the other's head. Dammit, Jonghyun was sick of seeing people he loved cry - especially because of him. Kibum raised his head and looked around,
“Wuh- where's Jinki?”
Ah, Jonghyun had some explaining to do, didn't he?
“What!!” Kibum screamed, he heard the explanation and he wanted to beat Jonghyun into oblivion, “You let a ghost run off with my baby's body!! Do you know what could happen!? I should kill you!” Kibum lunged at Jonghyun, only to be held back by Minho and Taemin who kept telling him to clam down.
“I'm sorry! So sorry!” Jonghyun kept saying. At that point in time it seemed alright to let the ghost go with Jinki. Upon retrospect, Jonghyun realized what a terrible idea it was.
“You had better be sorry you-!” Kibum didn't get to finish his verbal abuse of Jonghyun as the door swung open and a bloody Jinki limped inside. They were shocked, they couldn't move, only when it looked like Jinki was about to collapse did they all run to him, Jonghyun catching him before he landed face first on the floor. Kibum immediately looked over Jinki's body while calling his name hoping he would wake up, his tears flowing again. Taemin had begun panicking and crying as soon as he saw Jinki bloody and unconscious. There was so much blood on him. Surely, all of it wasn't his own.
“Wash him off, clean his wounds and let him rest. He'll be fine if you do that.”
Everyone looked up immediately. There stood a man, exactly fitting the description that Jinki had given to them about the man in his dreams, except something was weird. This guy, he was a little... translucent. They could see everything that was behind him, except the objects looked a little blurry. This obviously was not a person, so then... was it a-
“Ghost!” Taemin yelled. His eyes were wide and filled with shock - as were everyone else's - and he just stared at the apparition before him. It smiled at them - there really was a dimple on it's left cheek.
“Jonghyun ah, it's me, Jungsu.” Jonghyun gaped, he didn't expect the ghost that kept speaking of killing some woman to look so... frail and... pretty?
“You're... not in Jinki any more... did you..?” Jonghyun questioned and Jungsu nodded.
“Yeah, I'm done here. I - and all the others that were killed by that woman - can finally rest in peace.” He smiled, “Clichéd ending, isn't it?”
“You've gotta be kidding me...” Kibum said as his gaze shifted between Jonghyun and the ghost. Jungsu smiled at him.
“Well, maybe this isn't clichéd. But I have one more favour to ask, from all of you.” They all nodded, as best as they could, weakly. Jungsu leaned closer to all of them, resting his palm on Jinki's forehead, “Can you all... forget about all of this? Everything to do with me and Boeun, you will forget...”
Whatever else he said, Jonghyun didn't hear it as he fell back feeling Jinki fall on top of him as his consciousness slipped away from him, leaving him in nothingness.
◎♡◎♡◎
The December snow slowly fell to the ground outside as the same news report, that had been the headline for the past month, played on the television set of Kibum's apartment.
“The murder of the infamous serial killer Park Boeun is still under investigation. Ever since the woman was found dead on the roof of a school building in a small town, the police have been searching high and low for the killer...”
“Ah geeze, they're still reporting that stuff?” Kibum questioned as he held a cup of hot chocolate out to Jinki.
“Ah, thanks. Yeah they are.” Jinki responded as he accepted the beverage.
“Can you believe someone would do something like what she did?” Jonghyun intruded, dropping himself onto the couch and slinging an arm around Jinki's shoulders.
“And what about the person who was able to kill a person like that Boeun noona?” Taemin added as he walked into the room with Minho.
“Right, that person must be really scary too!” Jonghyun jumped up and made weird, wave-like gestures with his arms, “Like a ghost or something! Ouwooh!” He made faces at all of them, successfully drawing out laughter, especially from Jinki and Taemin.
“Oh, shut up Jonghyun, you're giving me a headache!” Kibum snickered. Jonghyun just made a face at him before resuming his antics. Minho pulled Kibum to sit next to him and they held their own little conversation while Taemin, Jonghyun and Jinki goofed around.
“Hey! Jinki's still recovering from his cold! Stop being so rough with him Jonghyun, you bastard!” Kibum called as he saw said bastard pulling Jinki as the latter tried to drink some of the chocolaty liquid. Of course, it splashed onto his face due to Jonghyun's constant tugging. Jinki made to wipe it off, but Jonghyun caught his hand.
“Don't wipe it off like that, it's dirty.” Jinki looked as though he had just been told the meaning of life as he agreed with Jonghyun.
“Then, I guess I'll get a napkin or something-”
“No,” Jonghyun grinned, “Let me.” He then leaned closer to Jinki and proceeded to lick the drink off of Jinki's face, every last drop.
“Kim Jonghyun!” Kibum screamed, “How dear you do that to Jinki in front of my poor baby Taemin's eyes!” Jonghyun grinned and ran around the room avoiding all that Kibum threw at him. Instead of apologizing to the furious Kibum, Jonghyun kept saying it was one of the best things he had ever done in his life and in response Kibum yelled at him that 'PDA should only be so much' and 'if you want to do dirty things then get a room' before he resumed throwing various objects at Jonghyun.
◎♡◎♡◎
“Look at those kids having fun!” A rather ghostly person said, leaning at the window and peering into Kibum's living room.
“We do everyday, Teukie.” A larger but equally ghostly person responded. “They can only have fun like this because of what you did hyung.”
“Youngwoon ah, you give me too much credit! If it weren't for them, we wouldn't be able to live like this now!”
“Don't you mean be dead like this?” The two laughed and continued talking about many things, one of them being that the nightmare was definitely over and the only thing left was to enjoy life - or more like their afterlife.
◎♡◎♡◎
Part 1
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A/N: Ugh, this was so freaking long. I'm sorry if this was extremely confusing, I tried to tie everything together it just kinda came to me - when I was asleep. I had to get it out of my head, it was messing with all the other ideas in my head.
P.S. Sorry for the fail. I guess that's what I get for materializing a dream OTL
Rating: NC-17
Pairing: Jongyu (Jonghyun/Jinki), side!2minkey (Minho/Taemin/Kibum)
Genre: Angst, AU, Horror, Paranormal, Psychological, Romance
Disclaimer: As you can see, these people belong to me. That rhyme was as unintentional as it was true.
Summary: Smile, please smile, you're prettiest when smiling, Cry? Am I crying? I'll wipe those tears, and you have a lost expression. You stiffen, I bring my knees to the floor, and ask you what you did wrong.
Warnings: Violence/Murder, Blood/Gore, Rape (Implied), Language, Paranormal
◎♡◎♡◎
“Kim Jonghyun! Hurry up or we are leaving you right here!” Kibum commanded as he scowled at the brunet who was frantically running around the classroom, looking for something.
“Just a second! I think someone stole my chemistry book! Key, you like solving things, right? What do you think?” Jonghyun knew he was probably talking crap now, but he had a chemistry quiz in a few days and he knew nothing. Kibum sighed, looking at Jonghyun as the elder held a chair over his head.
“I think that I can't figure anything out from your 'clues'. Now hurry up! I'm going to wait outside with the others.” Kibum responded, obviously annoyed as he gave Jonghyun a lazy half wave before walking off, leaving Jonghyun in the classroom by himself.
“Yeah, well I don't need your help anyway!” Jonghyun yelled to Kibum's retreating back. Jonghyun grumbled as he continued to look through the classroom, hitting his limbs on desks and chairs many times. After a couple of minutes Jonghyun collapsed onto a chair, letting out a sigh. He grumbled to himself before giving up and running out to meet with Kibum and the others before they really left him there.
It was a shame he didn't notice the figure that had been closely observing his every move ever since Kibum had left him in the class.
◎♡◎♡◎
“Jinki ah, it's not like I want to, but I really have to go.”
“But Jonghyun ah,” Jinki whined, “You can't go, I really don't think you should! Something just... doesn't feel right about this!” Jinki was tightly gripping Jonghyun's arm now, trying to pull him back into Kibum's apartment. “It's almost nine in the night, you shouldn't go anywhere now! Plus, I don't like that Bou girl, she's really... there's something very, very unpleasant about her...” Jinki repeated. Jonghyun couldn't argue, he didn't like her either, but when Jinki doesn't like someone they are definitely trouble.
But Jonghyun didn't have much of a choice.
“Jinki ah, she has my chemistry book, I really need it back. I swear to God she must have swiped it!” Jonghyun ground out.
“Then can't you get it from her tomorrow? After school? Or some other time? Now is just too dangerous!” Jinki wouldn't give up, he could just feel that this would end in tragedy of he let Jonghyun go now.
“I agree with Jinki hyung!” Taemin called from a little behind Jinki. Minho who was standing next to him nodded in agreement. Jonghyun gave them a torn look. He didn't want to go, but he would be so screwed if he didn't get it back. Kibum seemed to catch onto his desperation. Sighing, Kibum spoke almost immediately regretting it after,
“We should let him go.” Jinki snapped his head to face Kibum, a mixed look of shock and terror in his eyes, there was a tint of something else as well but Kibum couldn't place it. “Only for a while, if he isn't back by tomorrow,” Kibum held up his cellphone, “We'll track him down and find him. You have your phone on you, right? And it's charged up?” Jonghyun shoved a hand into his pocket, pulled out his phone and checked it. He nodded at Kibum. “Put it on silent in case of anything, we can come save you without the bad guys knowing.” Kibum grinned. Really, thank God for Kibum and his weird stalker ways. Jonghyun looked to Jinki. Jinki, who still had an extremely worried expression attached to his features. His gorgeous features.
“I'll be fine, alright?” Jonghyun gently caressed Jinki's cheek, “Go and rest, you're looking even worse today... Don't worry, I'll be back. Make sure to wait for me, okay?” Jonghyun grinned. He carefully slipped out of Jinki's grasp, waving and running off while messing with his phone.
Lately, nothing made sense.
Kibum gingerly rubbed circles on Jinki's back, telling him everything will work out fine. Taemin lightly gripped his shoulders and told him not to worry, Jonghyun was way tough. Minho carefully pulled Jinki to lean on him, telling him to rest and that they would be able to help if anything happened. Jinki accepted their kindness, their comfort.
But Jinki couldn't stop worrying. Jinki couldn't wait.
◎♡◎♡◎
Jonghyun felt the hair on the back of his neck stand on end as he slowly saw the silhouette of person he was to meet come into view. As he got closer light caught the person's features and he knew, right then and there, that he should have stayed at Kibum's place and forgotten about chemistry and doing well in school in general but Jonghyun always made weird choices. Damn it.
“Jonghyun ah!” She waved at him, throwing her arm side to side - almost like a pendulum. Jonghyun sucked in a breath before lifting his hand in greeting, not getting more than three feet near her.
“Hello, noona,” He saw her frown - why did he want to smirk? “Do you have my book?”
“Ah, yes, your book,” she put a finger to her lip, “You see, I left it at the little cabin I'm staying at a ways from here. Care to accompany me back to get it?” She smiled at him. Why. Why the fuck was she wasting his time like this.
Patience, Jonghyun, patience and endurance are what makes a good person, he kept thinking to himself.
“Uh, sure.” Jonghyun suddenly felt wary, up ahead, there was nothing but a rather strange forest. Sure there was a path going through it, but it was creepy - it wasn't dense, but it was damn creepy.
The further down the path they walked, the louder the many warning bells in Jonghyun's head resounded. They were suddenly at a clearing, the sky was easily visible here. There was a rock that seemed to reflect the moon with it's pale colour - actually, Jonghyun wondered if it was a rock or a hill of some sort - some random green bits of plants in the white snow here and there, and further up the path, if one squinted, you could see something similar to a cabin of some sort. Or maybe that was just Jonghyun wanting to get everything over and done with.
Then Bou stopped walking, causing Jonghyun to almost bump into her. She turned to face him, her head bent a little so he couldn't see her face due to the shadows. He was confused - and now, paranoid. After a while she chuckled a little, then her head suddenly snapped up and she was wearing that sickening, twisted, face-splitting grin that Jonghyun remembered every time he saw her. Stretched, crooked smiles are all he sees on this woman's face - does she think they're attractive? Because, in Jonghyun's honest opinion, they weren't. Before Jonghyun could react in any way he felt two pairs of arms grab him, restraining his arms - his movement - and covering his mouth. Then Bou let out a shrill laugh, filled with nothing but insanity.
“Jonghyun ah, I really like you, you know?” She spoke as she looked at him, her face inches away from his, her smile slowly widening - if that was even possible - as she drank in Jonghyun's expression. He fed her nothing but disgust and hate with his eyes. Bou touched his face, dragging her nails across his cheek - her true character crawling out, screaming. She was going to say, or do, something else before another voice - one that seemed to to far away - yelled to her,
“Ma'am! We found someone snooping around! It seems he's just a kid though!!” Bou glared with a look of disgusted annoyance in the direction of the voice.
“Bring him here then!” She commanded, her tone was like steel. Jonghyun heard struggling before a strangled 'let me go!'. Jonghyun's eyes widened, and he panicked even more when he saw Bou smirk. She walked over to the other captive, gripping his chin tightly and forcing him to look at her, her freakish smile, her deadly eyes. 'No...' Jonghyun thought. Bou's smile turned into a grin once again.
'Oh please God, no!'
“Hey, cutie... I know you...” Jonghyun doesn't know what she did but it elicited a cry of pain. Jonghyun clenched his teeth and Bou continued speaking, “You're that boy... Jinki...” Jonghyun heard something collide roughly with the snow-covered gravel of the floor, something told him it was Jinki's face. “You're the one Jonghyun's always looking at! And you're...” She did something that caused Jinki to yelp. Then there was a pause, a murmur and then she stopped and gasped. Jonghyun didn't know what was going on but he knew that he may not find out any time soon.
“Hey... do you remember me? Boeun...”
That wasn't Jinki's voice.
◎♡◎♡◎
Jinki didn't expect to get a face full of snow and iced pebbles when he decided to follow Jonghyun, yet here he was with half of his face being pressed into the floor. If those men who were obviously stronger than him weren't restraining him right now, Jinki would have found something dangerous and knocked the bitch out cold with it. Even with these vague thoughts of hostility floating around in his mind, he couldn't really register anything - even the pain of his face being abused was fleeting. He wasn't sure why but ever since he left Kibum's apartment, after being drilled like Jonghyun had been by Kibum, that same person from the dreams been talking to him, saying things like,
“She's bothering you, isn't she? You're going to her? I'll make sure to stop her, just leave everything to me. That woman...”
He'd say that, then begin mumbling. Seriously, what was this? Jinki had finally lost it, hadn't he? Hearing voices, feeling the strangest urges, temporarily losing control of his body - he didn't tell the others of all that stuff though. They didn't need to worry any more than they already were. Jinki caught himself getting sidetracked, he needed to focus!
Then Bou grabbed Jinki's hair and yanked him up until he was at eye-level with her. She started speaking but Jinki didn't hear what she said, because as soon as he had seen her face so closely, twisted with her scorn and insanity, there was a sudden, searing pain coursing through his body and he cried out before his mind became a blurred mess and everything swirled into a black pool.
Bou heard the boy - Jinki - murmur something, but she didn't catch it. She pulled his head closer to her ear, a signal for him to repeat, and she didn't expect what she heard. A voice, a voice that she was sure she would never hear again because the last she had heard from it was a scream of pain and terror. But there it was, speaking to her.
“Hey... do you remember me? Boeun...” Bou pulled Jinki's head closer, inspecting his face. He smiled tiredly at her for a while then his eyes rolled back and he passed out for a few seconds before he was coughing and trying to pull his head out of her grasp. What the fuck was that?
“Boy,” She said, sternly, “Did you just speak to me?” Jinki looked at her, confused before shaking his head. Bou scrutinized him, it's a shame he was telling the truth because she wanted to abuse him so badly. The urge just came over her and if what just happened was what she thought it was then she really wanted to at least hit him. This wouldn't be the first time that she dealt with a vengeful spirit, but it was definitely the first time she would deal with it along with her next target.
“Fuck this.” Bou growled, this was becoming complicated. She took a piece of cloth from one of the many men working for her and she shoved it against Jonghyun's face. “Let's get on with this, shall we?” Her grin was back on and Jonghyun tried to struggle, he really did, but the sweet scent assaulted him and left him feeling so weak. His vision blurred and the last thing he remembered is Jinki screaming his name.
“What should we do with this one, ma'am?”
“Why don't we have some fun with him? When we're done we can leave him to die!” Jinki gasped and felt someone push his head down.
“No! Bring him with me. What I'm going to do requires both of them - alive.” Bou commanded. Jinki didn't want to know what was going to happen but he knew he didn't have an option. “But first,” Bou paused, looked at him and grinned, “knock him out.” A moment later Jinki felt a sharp pain from the back of his head and he passed out, yet again.
◎♡◎♡◎
When Jinki came to, he was feeling painfully cold. In fact he could barely move. He tried moving his legs, nothing. He tried rotating his shoulder, he just felt colder. Why was he feeling so cold? Jinki tried to open his eyes, with much difficulty. Slowly, painfully they opened and the first thing he saw was frost covered handcuffs around his wrist attaching him to a pole exactly outside of a cabin. He was about to look into the wooden structure when he noticed he could see his legs - his bare legs - and on the floor was snow.
“Oh no...” Jinki mumbled as he glanced at his arms. They were bare. At best he was probably only wearing a vest and shorts. And he was outside, handcuffed to a pole while the snow slowly fell from the sky. He pulled against his restraints a bit more before giving up. Then he looked up and saw a body moving.
Up, down, up, down... wait, was that a woman? Then he heard a moan. Suddenly, everything came back to him, everything suddenly made some kind of sick sense. That woman was... Bou? Jinki squinted. He saw a person just laying there - underneath Bou - unconscious? Realization suddenly struck Jinki like a bolt of lightning. He began pulling against his handcuffs ignoring the pain, the cold.
“No, this isn't happening. Not to Jonghyun! Anyone but Jonghyun!” Jinki cried, his reply was shrill laughter.
“Ah, are you awake, Jinki!?” Bou turned her head to face him, grinning. “Make sure you enjoy the show, okay!”
Jinki couldn't look away. It was horrible, terrifying, worse than every nightmare that he'd had until now. He pulled against the restraints until red lines became visible against the pallid colour of his skin, screamed his lungs out until his throat felt raw, cried and begged for the woman to stop. But she wouldn't listen, she just kept doing it.
'Jinki ah, she's hurting you.' It was the same voice, smooth and airy.
“Please, noona, stop it!”
'Jinki ah, I'm sorry.' It was sad.
“Please!!”
'Jinki ah... I will kill her for us.' It sounded like venom.
Jinki couldn't struggle any more, all of his strength had been drained. He just sat there, slowly feeling himself freeze. Jinki didn't know how much time had passed since he'd stopped struggling but that woman had walked up to him. She gripped his chin.
“Jinki ah, don't worry, I like you both, so I won't kill you. I don't know if that's a blessing or a curse, but,” She giggled, doing something to his handcuffs. It felt as though she took them off. “Well, you may or may not die here, who knows? Oh and by the way, since I kinda respect you for still being alive, my name's Boeun, bye-bye.” She sang before leaving. Jinki had never felt so helpless before, being forced to sit there and watch his best friend get raped. Jinki let his head knock against the pole a few times before he passed out.
◎♡◎♡◎
Jonghyun opened his eyes slowly, for some reason he had this god-awful headache and he felt cold. He sat up and rubbed his head, quickly opening his eyes to look around before closing them again and he tried to place his surroundings. His eyes snapped open. Did Jonghyun just see what he thought he saw? He lifted his arm, his wrist aligned with his eyes. There were red markings there. What the hell? Jonghyun brought both his wrists close to his face and he studied them. The both had red markings. Were they... rope burns? They really hurt. Jonghyun looked at the rest of his body and-
“Holy shit, why the fuck am I naked?” he screamed, jumped off of the bed and grabbed his clothes hurriedly throwing them on and racing for the door. He pulled it open and nearly had a heart attack.
“Jinki!” Jonghyun ran to the unconscious boy, he was freezing. Jonghyun panicked, he felt Jinki's body for a pulse, something, anything. He found one, it was extremely weak, but it was there.
“J-Jonghyun..?” Jinki gasped, weakly. Jonghyun looked at him immediately, giving his hyung all of his attention. Jinki became frantic. “Jonghyun? Jonghyun!” Jinki hugged the younger and Jonghyun couldn't believe how unbelievably cold his hyung felt. “Jonghyun, I'm so sorry! I- I-” Jinki began crying, Jonghyun was surprised he could cry considering the state he was in.
“Jinki ah, what's wrong?” Jonghyun asked carefully as he wiped Jinki's tears before quickly gathering him into his arms, trying to warm the other up.
“I... I couldn't stop her... I couldn't save you..!” Jinki was hugging him again. Jonghyun was confused.
“Stop who from what?”
“Boeun... I couldn't stop her from...” The words caught in Jinki's raw throat but he forced them out, “I couldn't stop her from raping you!” He exclaimed. Jonghyun froze. Rape? No, there's no way! But, Jinki wouldn't lie. Jonghyun grit his teeth. That bitch... wait, Boeun?
“Who's Boeun?”
“Bou! Bou is Boeun's alias, but Jonghyun, I'm so sorry I-” Jonghyun cut Jinki off by pulling him into his arms.
“Stop apologizing, Jinki ah. It's not your fault. Let's just get you taken care of first, okay?” Jonghyun didn't wait for a response before he picked the elder up and carried him into the cabin. They could both get the hell out of there after Jinki recovered.
◎♡◎♡◎
“Kibum hyung, calm down!” Taemin held his hands up defensively as Kibum threw a chair across the room.
“Calm down?” Kibum spun to Taemin, enraged, “How can I? I can't get hold of them! Their signals disappeared around one last night, in the same area, suddenly they're unreachable and you're telling me to calm down!?”
“Kibum hyung.” Minho said as he grabbed the elder and hugged him tightly, “I know you're worried, that you're panicking but... how about this, we go to school and search for them. If they're not there then after school, we'll go to where we lost their signal and we'll look for them from there. How does that sound?” A moment passed and Kibum just buried his face into Minho's chest while Taemin patted his back. Taemin couldn't help but wonder,
'How did it come to this?'
◎♡◎♡◎
Jonghyun had changed Jinki's clothes and bundled him up in the bed, but even after a day Jinki still hadn't woken up. Jonghyun kept checking his pulse, breathing sighs of relief when he felt the dull thudding against his fingers. Jinki's face was tear-stained from the previous morning and he kept making pained faces in his sleep. Jonghyun wanted to comfort him, but he was afraid that if he touched him, he would wake Jinki up and disturb his rest, rest that Jinki desperately needed. Jonghyun stroked his face and would whisper to Jinki to be strong and smile. Whenever he did, Jinki would shift a little in his direction and his breathing would calm a little before a smile would grace his face. Jonghyun thought that if he could help Jinki like this, then he would stay here by the other's side until he woke up. It was the least he could do for getting Jinki involved.
◎♡◎♡◎
It had been four days since Jonghyun and Jinki had gone missing, Kibum was getting more and more edgy and he was starting to run out of excuses.
“Ah, this is the area! The one where we lost the signal!” Kibum exclaimed. He, Taemin and Minho searched the area thoroughly, only Taemin returned with something; Jinki's phone.
“Where did you find this, Taemin ah?” Minho asked. Taemin lead them down a path covered with pebbles and snow.
“Hey, look at this.” Kibum said pointing down the path. There was... a trail, leading deeper into the forest. “We should check it out.” Kibum took a few steps forward but Minho stopped him.
“Tomorrow, it's already too late to continue for today.” Kibum wanted to argue but they all knew Minho was right. Kibum sulked but agreed in the end. They would find their hyungs, and save them for sure.
◎♡◎♡◎
Jonghyun was a little more than panicked by now, Jinki still hadn't woken up and Jonghyun was worried that days were going to turn into weeks. Jonghyun sighed and got out of the shower. He kept looking around and finding random clothing that they could wear, but that wouldn't last forever. He wondered if his phone was anywhere nearby. He was so worried about Jinki that he didn't think of anything else - not even calling for help. Jonghyun walked into the main room and there he got a pleasant surprise. Jinki was sitting up in bed and he seemed to be playing with something - when Jonghyun got closer he saw that it was his phone, Jinki was texting someone. When Jinki had finished and closed the phone Jonghyun let his excitement escape.
“Oh my God, Jinki! You're awake!!” Jonghyun was going to hug him before Jinki held a hand up, stopping him.
“I'm not Jinki.” That voice, it was the same from that night but Jonghyun didn't know it. “I'm Jungsu, I'll be borrowing your friend for a while.”
Borrowing..? Borrowing... different voice... possession... parasite... Holy hell, this was what his sister was telling him about! With the parasite and murder- murder!!
“Wait, are you going to use Jinki's body to kill?” Jonghyun was panicked, of course he was.
“Ah, yes, but don't worry, it's not Jinki doing the killing, his hands won't be stained.” Jonghyun remained silent. He couldn't think of anything to say. As long as Jinki would be alright then it didn't matter to him, but...
“Jinki... he'll be okay, right?” The parasite- no, Jungsu looked at Jinki's nails before responding, “He'll be fine, he's just suffering from psychological shock and exhaustion. He'll be fine after he rests a bit more.” Jonghyun let go of a breath he didn't realize he was holding.
“Wait, were you the one causing Jinki to have all those nightmares?”
“...I was just trying to communicate with him...”
“Well, you really freaked him out and made him weak and sick!”
“Don't worry, I said he'd be fine after some rest.” Jungsu said rather forcefully. Jonghyun was a bit - no, very - peeved but, as long as Jinki was fine.
“What are you? And... Why, why Jinki?” Jonghyun was sure Jungsu knew what he was asking about. Jungsu took his time responding.
“I'm just a depressed ghost. Jinki... that's a good question. I chose him, because I wanted to protect him. Boeun was targeting both you and him for her next 'couple murder'.” Jonghyun was starting to see the connection between these two cases, “You were both so young and deserved to have so much more... I couldn't let her kill you! So, I intervened. I thought, when this was all over and done with, I would make everyone forget about it - it would be like all this pain and suffering, you all never went through it. All I need to do before that is get rid of that woman.”
Jonghyun took a while to process all the information. So, in the 'couple murder' case, Boeun was then killer and the bizarre murder case was the doing of this ghost. But,
“If all you wanted to do was kill Boeun, why have you killed others?” Jonghyun just didn't like the thought of killing, or death in general.
“To take down a rider you must first kill the horse.” Jungsu expected Jonghyun to be fine with that response but the brunet kept staring at him, so he elaborated, “She - to be blunt - is just a serial killer and the others were all her... henchmen, if you will. She's the last and I'm going to get rid of her once and for all!”
“... Are you allowed to do this though?” Jonghyun asked. Jungsu didn't need Jonghyun to say what he meant he understood what the younger was trying to ask.
“I am. This is... Boeun's final judgement, for all that she's done.” Jungsu said, satisfied with his response. Jonghyun didn't have any other questions, he just sat in is chair and stared Jinki who wasn't really Jinki since someone else was using Jinki's body.
“You had better bring Jinki back to me safe and sound, okay?” Jonghyun commanded. Jungsu looked at him, surprised before he smiled and said of course he would. Jonghyun was a little surprised that Jungsu smiled, he didn't seem to interested in being nice to Jonghyun at first. After a few moments, Jungsu began talking about Jinki.
“I feel bad for using him to do this... He's so cute too. Look at this face, these hands, oh my God he's like some sort of cute!!” Jungsu whined, excitedly yelling the last part. Jonghyun agreed, of course, but then it occurred to him.
“I thought that ghosts didn't have feelings-”
“Of course we have feelings, you moron!” Jungsu - with Jinki's body - made exaggerated gestures. Well, now Jonghyun knew, he's sorry he grew up off of pie, kimchi and urban legends. Sheesh.
“Well, sorry.” Jonghyun sulked. Jungsu regarded him for a while, before speaking,
“You know, he really likes you.” Jonghyun's head shot up and he gaped at Jinki - Jungsu - who was idly looking at his hands. “Yeah, when he's not having nightmares, he tends to dream about you.”
“...What does he dream..?”
“It's nothing perverted, you sick...” Jungsu glared at him through narrowed eyes.
“Look, I didn't think anything like that!” Though that would be nice too, is what Jonghyun didn't say. Jungsu didn't pay him much mind though.
“Nice dreams, I was almost jealous. Dreams, I guess, someone like him would have... Just you guys, you and all your friends, just sitting around and laughing. It sounds simple and clichéd but, it was so nice...”
They fell into silence, each with his own thoughts. Jonghyun hadn't realized that it was night, not until Jungsu said that the moon was nice and bright so he was leaving. As soon as Jungsu said that he dashed to the door, disappearing on the other side before Jonghyun could even blink. He got up and ran after the other but when he opened the door and looked around...
There was no one there.
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A high pitched squeal was heard and immediately Minho and Taemin ran into Kibum's living room, asking what was wrong while they fought to regulate their breathing.
“I... I just got a signal from Jonghyun's phone!”
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Jungsu sighed as he ran a little faster. He was really going to use this innocent boy's body to kill the woman he had been hunting down ever since, ever since she killed him and his best friend. Jungsu didn't ponder on the thought for too long - lest guilt totally consume him and he decided not to go through with this, making everything he did up until now all for nothing - and he felt slightly relieved as he saw the school come into his view.
Surely he would end everything tonight.
◎♡◎♡◎
Kibum didn't give Minho and Taemin a chance to object as he ran out of his apartment with the younger boys in tow. Kibum followed the signal until he was back on the same path, the one where they found Jinki's phone. Further and further down the path, they eventually found a cabin and apparently someone had just entered the cabin.
Kibum just hoped that it wasn't trouble because that was where Jonghyun's signal was coming from.
◎♡◎♡◎
Jungsu looked out over the city through the wired fence lining the perimeter of the school's rooftop. He sighed, he had been doing a lot of that lately. He wouldn't lie to himself - guilt was starting to swallow him whole. He gritted his teeth.
He still had to kill her.
'What's going on?' Jungsu gasped. Jinki? He wasn't supposed to wake up yet!
'Jinki ah, you're supposed to be resting!' Jungsu couldn't have a mental chat right now, Boeun could show up any minute.
'What are you doing with my body? Why can't I move!?'
'Jinki don't panic.'
Their little conversation was cut short by the sound of the doorknob twisting. Jungsu swore, Jinki freaked and Boeun burst through the door excitedly exclaiming Jonghyun's name as she ran halfway across the length of the rooftop. When she opened her eyes she was shocked and disappointed. When Jinki was able to look through his own eyes, he was just plain shocked.
'What... what is this..?' Jungsu really felt bad now, Jinki was conscious, had no control of his body and was about to kill someone - or be killed.
'Jungsu, call me Jungsu... I may as well tell you. See that woman there?' Jinki made a weak sound of approval. 'I'm going to kill her, I'm sorry that I have to use your body...' Jungsu didn't get a reply, he didn't expect one. Just as he was about to verbally assault Boeun, Jinki spoke - or more like thought,
'S-she's the one...' Jungsu felt tears run down Jinki's face. The boy was crying. 'She... raped Jonghyun..!' Jungsu knew what was going to happen, but before he could try to stop him, Jinki regained some control over his body and he let his tongue loose.
“You... you bitch!” Jinki screamed, Boeun just stood there as Jinki ran towards her, “You fucking bitch!! Why? Why did you do that?”
“Brat, why are you still alive?” she rasped. Boeun seemed to be grabbing for something in her jacket but Jinki grabbed her arms and swung them off to the side before he gripped her neck with both of his hands. She gasped and Jungsu knew she didn't expect Jinki to attack her - Jungsu didn't expect it either.
Jinki squeezed her neck with all the strength he could muster - making sure to press down on her trachea - as he whimpered, he felt so strained, he glared at her. He hated her face, hated it so much that he wanted to bash it in until it looked like a disgusting mass of meat and blood. Jungsu felt his thoughts, masticated and absorbed them, and he couldn't agree more. But Jinki was still so weak, Jungsu couldn't let Jinki continue - he couldn't let the boy stain his hands.
'Jinki, enough, I'm taking over.'
'What-'
'Go to sleep.' Jungsu commanded. Just like that Jungsu sensed Jinki fall unconscious.
Boeun realized something had changed when the male's eyes narrowed and his grip on her neck suddenly tightened, to the extent that she could barely breathe and she panicked. She shoved her hand into her jacket, pulled it out and frantically slashed at the other. Jungsu gasped and hurriedly backed away from her.
“Bitch...” He growled as he felt liquid trickle down Jinki's face and left arm - it was blood, Jinki's blood.
“You had better bring Jinki back to me safe and sound, okay?”
'Fuck...' Jungsu thought, he couldn't let it go on like this, Jinki's body couldn't take much more abuse - if any at all. Surely, Boeun would be easy enough to kill compared to her other bulky lackeys - all of whom Jungsu had taken out, but then again Jungsu had been using older, stronger bodies - not that of a seventeen year old. Jungsu scanned the area as Boeun struggled to catch her breath, he needed to take her out now. He needed something, anything-
“Oh God yes..!” Jungsu breathed out, his gaze rested on a metal pipe. It was probably abandoned there by some kids who liked to play 'gang' or some lazy janitor. Jungsu didn't care why it was there though, he just raced towards it glad for his rare luck. He gripped the pipe, the entire thing was cold and it had little bits of rust over it's entirety - even the faucet.
Quickly, he had to do this quickly. This wasn't a movie - no need for long stares and dramatic pauses - this was real life, if he didn't hurry up and kill her now Jungsu was sure he - Jinki - would end up dead. He was already so close to finishing what he had to do before he could finally rest in peace. He staggered over to where Boeun was haunched over, gasping for air. Jungsu raised the pipe over his head just as she looked up, noticing he was there. He was able to give her a nice, crazed glare, finally able to communicate how he felt towards her, before he swung the pipe down with all the strength he could muster, smashing it into her face.
She screamed. A long, loud, blood-curdling scream as she fell back, her forehead bloody, ripped and crushed as blood gushed from the wound.
“This is for what you've done!” Jungsu yelled at her as he swung the pipe and hit the side of her head. “To Jonghyun and Jinki!” He hit her again. “To Youngwoon!” Another hit. “To me!” Another. “To so many others!” Jungsu felt Jinki's arms and voice but as the pipe connected yet again with Boeun's head he heard a cracking sound. 'So close...'
He repeatedly hit her with the pipe. He hit her face, her temples, her jaws and her shoulders and arms when she tried to block with them. Jungsu brought the pipe down with more force with each hit - he had lost his patience, his reasoning, his mind - with the first strike that he had made with the pipe. She kept screaming and begging him to stop through sobs and shrill cries but Jungsu wouldn't hear it, he had waited so damn long for this.
He wouldn't stop, not until she was dead.
Boeun's bones were broken, her clothes bloody and her face an unrecognisable mass of crushed flesh, bone and blood when Jungsu had thought to stop hitting her. He looked at the pipe in his hands - Jinki's hands - as he panted. He took Boeun's bloody, broken arm and closed her hand around the pipe before repeatedly dragging her fist along the pipe where Jungsu had held it.
'Now in the event of anyone trying to find the killer through this, only Boeun's prints would be on it...' He thought as he finished his little task and letting her arm drop, the pipe bouncing out of her bloody hand before skidding away - leaving a crimson trail. He wiped the blood off Jinki's hands and onto his shirt before he stepped over the woman's corpse, opened the door and left. Jungsu had to deliver Jinki to Jonghyun after all, he couldn't dawdle. He ran as quickly as Jinki's tired legs would allow him, mentally letting Jinki know that everything was over.
When the police found and identified her, the headline would be something similar to 'Infamous serial killer found dead', or something like that.
◎♡◎♡◎
The cabin door flew open hitting the wall and Jonghyun's head snapped in the sound's direction. There he saw a tired and enraged Kibum with an equally tired Taemin and Minho behind him.
“Kim Jonghyun!” Kibum cried as he ran to the elder, roughly grabbing him and pulling him into a hug.
“Ki-Kibum!” Jonghyun was shocked, more by Kibum's hugging him than by his being here.
“Jonghyun, you bastard! I was so fucking worried about you and Jinki!” Kibum yelled at him. He was crying.
“Kibum ah...” Jonghyun just patted the other's head. Dammit, Jonghyun was sick of seeing people he loved cry - especially because of him. Kibum raised his head and looked around,
“Wuh- where's Jinki?”
Ah, Jonghyun had some explaining to do, didn't he?
“What!!” Kibum screamed, he heard the explanation and he wanted to beat Jonghyun into oblivion, “You let a ghost run off with my baby's body!! Do you know what could happen!? I should kill you!” Kibum lunged at Jonghyun, only to be held back by Minho and Taemin who kept telling him to clam down.
“I'm sorry! So sorry!” Jonghyun kept saying. At that point in time it seemed alright to let the ghost go with Jinki. Upon retrospect, Jonghyun realized what a terrible idea it was.
“You had better be sorry you-!” Kibum didn't get to finish his verbal abuse of Jonghyun as the door swung open and a bloody Jinki limped inside. They were shocked, they couldn't move, only when it looked like Jinki was about to collapse did they all run to him, Jonghyun catching him before he landed face first on the floor. Kibum immediately looked over Jinki's body while calling his name hoping he would wake up, his tears flowing again. Taemin had begun panicking and crying as soon as he saw Jinki bloody and unconscious. There was so much blood on him. Surely, all of it wasn't his own.
“Wash him off, clean his wounds and let him rest. He'll be fine if you do that.”
Everyone looked up immediately. There stood a man, exactly fitting the description that Jinki had given to them about the man in his dreams, except something was weird. This guy, he was a little... translucent. They could see everything that was behind him, except the objects looked a little blurry. This obviously was not a person, so then... was it a-
“Ghost!” Taemin yelled. His eyes were wide and filled with shock - as were everyone else's - and he just stared at the apparition before him. It smiled at them - there really was a dimple on it's left cheek.
“Jonghyun ah, it's me, Jungsu.” Jonghyun gaped, he didn't expect the ghost that kept speaking of killing some woman to look so... frail and... pretty?
“You're... not in Jinki any more... did you..?” Jonghyun questioned and Jungsu nodded.
“Yeah, I'm done here. I - and all the others that were killed by that woman - can finally rest in peace.” He smiled, “Clichéd ending, isn't it?”
“You've gotta be kidding me...” Kibum said as his gaze shifted between Jonghyun and the ghost. Jungsu smiled at him.
“Well, maybe this isn't clichéd. But I have one more favour to ask, from all of you.” They all nodded, as best as they could, weakly. Jungsu leaned closer to all of them, resting his palm on Jinki's forehead, “Can you all... forget about all of this? Everything to do with me and Boeun, you will forget...”
Whatever else he said, Jonghyun didn't hear it as he fell back feeling Jinki fall on top of him as his consciousness slipped away from him, leaving him in nothingness.
◎♡◎♡◎
The December snow slowly fell to the ground outside as the same news report, that had been the headline for the past month, played on the television set of Kibum's apartment.
“The murder of the infamous serial killer Park Boeun is still under investigation. Ever since the woman was found dead on the roof of a school building in a small town, the police have been searching high and low for the killer...”
“Ah geeze, they're still reporting that stuff?” Kibum questioned as he held a cup of hot chocolate out to Jinki.
“Ah, thanks. Yeah they are.” Jinki responded as he accepted the beverage.
“Can you believe someone would do something like what she did?” Jonghyun intruded, dropping himself onto the couch and slinging an arm around Jinki's shoulders.
“And what about the person who was able to kill a person like that Boeun noona?” Taemin added as he walked into the room with Minho.
“Right, that person must be really scary too!” Jonghyun jumped up and made weird, wave-like gestures with his arms, “Like a ghost or something! Ouwooh!” He made faces at all of them, successfully drawing out laughter, especially from Jinki and Taemin.
“Oh, shut up Jonghyun, you're giving me a headache!” Kibum snickered. Jonghyun just made a face at him before resuming his antics. Minho pulled Kibum to sit next to him and they held their own little conversation while Taemin, Jonghyun and Jinki goofed around.
“Hey! Jinki's still recovering from his cold! Stop being so rough with him Jonghyun, you bastard!” Kibum called as he saw said bastard pulling Jinki as the latter tried to drink some of the chocolaty liquid. Of course, it splashed onto his face due to Jonghyun's constant tugging. Jinki made to wipe it off, but Jonghyun caught his hand.
“Don't wipe it off like that, it's dirty.” Jinki looked as though he had just been told the meaning of life as he agreed with Jonghyun.
“Then, I guess I'll get a napkin or something-”
“No,” Jonghyun grinned, “Let me.” He then leaned closer to Jinki and proceeded to lick the drink off of Jinki's face, every last drop.
“Kim Jonghyun!” Kibum screamed, “How dear you do that to Jinki in front of my poor baby Taemin's eyes!” Jonghyun grinned and ran around the room avoiding all that Kibum threw at him. Instead of apologizing to the furious Kibum, Jonghyun kept saying it was one of the best things he had ever done in his life and in response Kibum yelled at him that 'PDA should only be so much' and 'if you want to do dirty things then get a room' before he resumed throwing various objects at Jonghyun.
◎♡◎♡◎
“Look at those kids having fun!” A rather ghostly person said, leaning at the window and peering into Kibum's living room.
“We do everyday, Teukie.” A larger but equally ghostly person responded. “They can only have fun like this because of what you did hyung.”
“Youngwoon ah, you give me too much credit! If it weren't for them, we wouldn't be able to live like this now!”
“Don't you mean be dead like this?” The two laughed and continued talking about many things, one of them being that the nightmare was definitely over and the only thing left was to enjoy life - or more like their afterlife.
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Part 1
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A/N: Ugh, this was so freaking long. I'm sorry if this was extremely confusing, I tried to tie everything together it just kinda came to me - when I was asleep. I had to get it out of my head, it was messing with all the other ideas in my head.
P.S. Sorry for the fail. I guess that's what I get for materializing a dream OTL