[#008] Locket (Heemin)
[#008] Locket, Heechul/Sungmin
Title: Locket
Length: 3,873 words
Author: blabby_lwy
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Angst
Characters/Pairing(s): Heechul/Sungmin, Super Junior
Warning: Blood, language
Disclaimer: Nope, don't own. You get the drill.
Author's Note: I may have broken the rule because there's some slight Sungmin/Eunhyuk angst... but other than that, it's Sungmin-centric, a thriller fic.
Archive: 100 Suju Fics Challenge
Summary: Sungmin is sucked into a nightmare that he will never be able to get out of.
He was running, running under the vast blue sky, running across the endless green plain, running over round hills. The bright sun hung brilliantly above his head, warming his tensed temples and cold forehead. The clouds, the clouds were running farther away from him. He picked up his speed and chased after the fluffy white, grinning widely as he felt the cool breeze whip across his face. He felt good.
A sparkling yellow object gleamed in front of him on top of the hill. Curious, he sprinted towards it.
It was a locket.
He stopped in front of the floating, golden round object, his eyes wide with fascination. It was a beautiful locket: Its sides embedded with ruby, carved beautifully in shapes of roses; the middle of the locket released a royal blue glow that was emitted from a two large sapphire crystals. He was speechless, awed at the grand object.
Without thinking, he reached over to the locket and grabbed it.
Darkness immediately sucked him in. He was suffocating; his lungs felt smaller and smaller…. Pressure was squeezing into his brain; he felt as if he could explode any minute. He closed his eyes, feeling as if he was going through a really narrow tube. He couldn’t breathe…. He was spinning faster, faster…. The tube felt narrower, narrower…. His grip on the locket was tighter… He had to grip it tighter; it was wriggling free from his hands…. It’s slipping off….
He was running again, but under the starless night, across burnt grass, surrounded by open fire. It was roaring, loud…. He was hot, very hot. He was sweating. The hand securely holding the locket was clammy.
There was a scream, a high-pitched scream. Then there was laughter, cold, crackling laughter.
A strong force pushed him and he fell to his knees, the locket bouncing out of his hands. The locket burst opened as it landed on the ground. A blinding green light shot up to the night sky.
He gasped in horror as he saw images flashed through the green light: his fellow Super Junior members, eleven of them, were bounded together by ropes and getting whipped, getting stabbed, tortured. Eeteuk was blindfolded, getting whipped-Yesung and Kyuhyun… crucified? He couldn’t recognize their faces; it was splattered with blood-Kangin, Shindong, and Eunhyuk were thrown into a pool of scarlet blood, drowning-Donghae and Ryeowook were stripped from their clothes, hanged-Hankyung, Shiwon, and Kibum were getting touched by greasy hands of hungry women; molested, raped, slapped… no, don’t! Don’t hurt them!
Tears were streaming from his eyes. It’s too much, all too much. They were screaming in agony. He tried to cover his ears with his hands but he couldn’t… something was pulling him down. Someone was laughing in his head, he tried to make a grab for it, but he couldn’t reach… it was too strong…. A shadow was crouching in front of him… the shadow was in pain, it was crying…. Heechul? Was that Heechul? The shadow stood up, the green light grew stronger, bursting out in all angles-
“Sungmin!”
He opened his eyes, sweating and panting, his head throbbing. He looked up and saw Eunhyuk looking down at him worriedly. “Are you alright?”
Sungmin nodded, rather hesitantly. Eunhyuk helped him up from his bed. Sungmin felt weak, as if he just ran ten miles. “It must have been awful.” Sungmin nearly jumped at the voice of Yesung, who was sitting beside him, also looking at Sungmin with the same worried expression. “You’re sweating like crazy. You were screaming like crazy too. I bet even the guys upstairs could hear you. You were screaming all of our names… it was really, really scary. We thought you were being possessed.”
“I’ll go get some water and a towel,” Kangin said immediately, who was standing behind Eunhyuk, and stormed out of the room.
“Thank goodness you guys are alright,” Sungmin sniffed. He realized that he had been crying.
Eunhyuk pulled him to a hug. “We’re alright. You’re alright,” he consoled.
Kangin returned with a drenched towel and a glass of water. Sungmin drank all of it in one gulp. Eunhyuk placed the towel on top of Sungmin’s forehead and wiped his sweat. “My head hurts,” Sungmin said softly, feeling the throb in his head worsen.
“That’s probably because you have been punching your own head,” Kangin added darkly.
Sungmin nearly choked at his words. “What?”
“Yes. You were punching your own head. We tried to stop you, and this was what happened,” Yesung pointed at the bruises on his cheek.
Sungmin glanced at the other members, and noticed that they too were sporting black eyes. “Sorry,” Sungmin said, feeling foolish.
“It’s alright,” Eunhyuk gave him a brief smile and patted his back. “But what were you dreaming about? We’ve never seen you like this before.”
Sungmin closed his eyes. “Heechul hyung.”
“What?” Kangin said tightly.
“I mean,” Sungmin continued, his eyes still closed tight, “it was about… Heechul hyung. Well, I think.” Sungmin opened his eyes, his heart pounding faster. A raw sense of anxiousness and fear rushed through his body as he explained. “Not just Heechul hyung, but all of you guys. You guys were… were…” Sungmin’s voice faltered.
“What?” Yesung pushed, his voice shaking with caution. “Is it something-”
“Bad,” Sungmin interrupted. “It was bad. I never had a nightmare like this before. I think… I think something’s bad going to happen to us.”
They stared at him.
“You guys were all there in my dream, except Heechul.”
“Oh.” Kangin’s voice was shaking.
“It’s just a dream,” Eunhyuk reassured. “Don’t be so superstitious.”
“Yeah I know, but I’m worried… especially for Heechul hyung. I mean, he just had the rod in his leg removed, I don’t want anything… bad to…” Sungmin couldn’t finish. He was now shaking with fear.
“It’s just a dream,” Eunhyuk repeated, but the look on his face proved to Sungmin that he was also terrified.
*
“I hear you had a nightmare last night.”
Sungmin looked up from the newspaper and saw Heechul towering over him, his arms crossed over his chest with a pitiful expression.
“Hyung! Why did you come down here? Don’t move around so much!” Sungmin stood up from the breakfast table and held onto Heechul.
Heechul scoffed. “I’m not crippled. I can still walk.”
Sungmin smiled at Heechul’s stubbornness as he helped him sit down on a chair next to him, who still had a cast on his leg. “So,” said Heechul, “I heard from Jongwoon that you had a nightmare last night. What was it about?”
Sungmin looked down at the newspaper, preoccupied with the big headline. “It was just a nightmare. Nothing in particular.”
“But you seemed worried.”
“Maybe I’m just too sensitive,” Sungmin said slowly. “Maybe.”
Heechul chuckled. “Jongwoon also said that your dream was about us… specifically me.”
Sungmin looked up at Heechul. “It was actually more about the rest of them, except me and you.” Heechul glanced at him with his eyes narrowed. “That’s what’s strange about it. You were in my dream but… I’m not sure if it was you… it looked like you…” Sungmin’s voice faded off, the image of the crouched shadow vivid in his mind. But his face… his face was blurry.
“What specifically was in your dream?” asked Heechul, breaking Sungmin’s train of thought.
“Torture,” Sungmin said in a whisper, now staring at the ceiling.
“It’s more than that.”
Thrown off by Heechul’s words, Sungmin looked at Heechul, who was smirking. “What?” Sungmin asked, confused. “You sound like you know what I dreamt about.”
Heechul shrugged, the smirk still plastered across his face. Without another word, he pushed himself up from his chair and left the room, leaving Sungmin staring back at him, a chill running down his body.
*
They were screaming again. Green light blinded his eyes and thick air tightened around his body like a rope. He couldn’t breathe; he was suffocating. He looked ahead… that shadow, that same shadow was standing up, his arms spread out like an eagle, crying. He reached out, grabbing the shadow in the wrist. He wanted to thrust him around to face him, to see who that shadow was, but he was too weak. Something was pulling him back. That shadow, that same shadow was not crying anymore, but now crackling with laughter. The laugh sounded so familiar. Where did he hear it from? He was being pulled, farther, farther away… the screams were deafening, they were louder, louder-the locket was shaking, also breaking into the same cold laughter-
“Sungmin! Wake up!”
Sungmin panted. He opened his eyes and saw Eeteuk and Shindong staring down at him. He had fallen asleep while he was taking a break by the wall in the dance studio after practicing Super Junior-Happy’s new single “Are you alright? You’re breaking apart,” Eeteuk added in a worried voice.
“Nightmare again?” Eunhyuk came and gave Sungmin a bottle of water.
“Is it the same one you had last night?” asked Shindong.
“No,” Sungmin said immediately, uncapping the bottle of water, knowing that he would feel more foolish if he told them that it was the same dream. Truthfully, it wasn’t really the same dream-it was more like a continuation of it. Sungmin didn’t feel like telling them that, at least not yet.
“I think you should go home and rest,” Kangin frowned as he watched Sungmin pulling himself up from the floor with shaking legs.
“I’m fine, hyung. I want to practice.” Sungmin handed the bottle back to Eunhyuk and walked to the center of the dance floor. “I’m ready guys.” The other members exchanged worried looks, but Sungmin kept a strained smile on his face. “Really, it’s okay!”
Sungmin nearly jumped as he felt his phone vibrate in his jeans pocket.
“Excuse me,” he said and he walked to a corner in the dance studio, pulling out his phone, leaving the other members whispering to each other.
Heechul hyung? He read the name pop up in the screen and bit his lip. “Hello?” He spoke through the phone. “Hyung?”
“Are you okay?”
“What-what?” Sungmin repeated shakily, startled. His eyes widened. “H-how did you know I just had a nightmare?”
“Wait, woah, what? I was asking if you were okay with the dance.” Sungmin sighed, feeling suddenly relieved from the unexplainable tense that he had moments ago. “Did you have a nightmare again?” Heechul asked seconds later in a blank voice.
Sungmin nodded. Realizing that Heechul wouldn’t be able to see it, he sighed. “Yes.”
Heechul sighed. “You need to see a psychologist, man.”
“Come on hyung, it’s not a big deal. Besides, everyone has nightmares once in a while.”
“Yeah, but from the sound of your voice, your nightmare is more than just a scary dream. Having the same dream over and over again is a sign of something yet to come.”
A familiar cold chill suddenly pressed upon Sungmin. His lips parted, surprised. “I… I never said I dreamt the same thing.”
“You didn’t? Oh.” Heechul didn’t sound convinced. “Anyways, I need to call Hankyung now. I need to know how many lobsters Shiwon ate this time. Catch you tonight.”
Sungmin was almost sure that he heard the same cold laugh he encountered in his dream over the phone before Heechul hung up.
*
Sungmin flopped down on top of his bed, his head aching with pain. He was thirsty, but he was too exhausted from practice to get out of bed to go to the kitchen for a drink. If only Kyuhyun was here right now, he told himself, he would do that for me.
He glanced at the ticking clock that was above the door. It was almost midnight.
He closed his eyes.
Maybe he should have told them that he had the same nightmare. After all, the dream was bothering him all day…. But this was getting ridiculous. It was just a nightmare. Everyone gets nightmares. Having the same nightmare two times in a row is not uncommon; he was sure that even happy people like Shindong would get it. It’s completely absurd that this nightmare was haunting him; he had better things to think about, better things to do. Maybe he should start coming up with the choreography for their other new single… he should get Shindong and Eunhyuk to help him…
He was running this time, faster, faster away from the flying locket.
But it was following him, in immense speed. The green light that it ignited now dissolved into a reddish scarlet glow. Sungmin tripped and fell flat face on the ground-it felt like grass. He could feel it. He could see the light. The locket stopped in front of him. From the corner of his eye, he could see the shadow, that same crying shadow, that same laughing shadow, emerge itself from the locket. Sungmin shook. It was cold.
The shadow’s laughter was cold. “You made the wrong choice, Lee Sungmin.” The voice was clear and high; the voice was familiar to Sungmin.
Sungmin opened his mouth to speak, asking that shadow what, what wrong choice he made, and why, why was he into this mess? Who was this? But as he spoke, nothing came out, but a scream.
“You should not have joined Super Junior,” the shadow laughed harder.
No! Sungmin wanted to say. No! I made the right choice! But when he opened his mouth all that came out was a terrified screech, a scream of agony, of pain. Icy tears were pouring out of his eyes. He closed his eyes shut as the scarlet light shone brighter in front of him. It hurt him. Sungmin screamed louder, and louder…. No, I was right! I made a right choice! I have to be in Super Junior.... The shadow glided closer toward him. Sungmin’s eyes shot open, unwillingly, and the shadow now took form of a man, wearing a long black cloak…. Sungmin couldn’t see his face; the hood was covering it…. Long white fingers appeared underneath the long sleeves; they were holding onto the locket…. Sungmin wanted to stand up to run away, but he felt another pair of hands pressing him down on the grass…. The man held onto his hood and pulled it down…. Oh my God, it can’t be-
“HEECHUL?!”
Sungmin immediately pulled himself away from Heechul as far as he could on the other side of the bed. “What… what the fuck?”
“What?” Heechul cried, looking confused. He scooted closer to Sungmin, who immediately jumped off of the bed and went to Kyuhyun’s unoccupied bed on the other side of the room. “Sungmin, are you alright?”
“You-I-uh… oh my god,” Sungmin couldn’t formulate the right words. Finally realizing where he was and after looking at Heechul’s slightly dumbfounded face, he sank into Kyuhyun’s bed, and sighed, feeling slightly stupid that he actually believed his dream was real. “I’m… I’m sorry, hyung,” Sungmin said apologetically. He mentally slapped his own face.
Sungmin expected Heechul to laugh at him, but he didn’t. “Are you feeling better now?” Heechul asked Sungmin quietly as if he was afraid that Sungmin would explode at him any minute.
Sungmin nodded. Noticing that he could hear Heechul’s echoes in the apartment, he asked, “Where are the others?”
“They’re outside playing soccer.”
“They still have the energy to play soccer after our practice?”
“Sungmin,” Heechul noted pointedly, “you’ve been knocked out for two days already.”
“What?” Sungmin shot up from bed.
Heechul nodded, looking rather distraught. “We were this close,”-he emphasized the closeness with his fingers-“to getting the doctor to see you, but we thought maybe it’s because you have been physically-and mentally-exhausted these past few days so we thought maybe you just needed rest.”
“How about our schedules?”
“Oh, don’t worry about that. They were postponed.”
Sungmin touched the nape of his neck. It was drenched with sweat. “I’m sorry… about what just happened, hyung.”
Heechul smiled, rather forcedly. “It’s alright. No harm done.”
Sungmin returned the smile, feeling more embarrassed.
“Maybe you shouldn’t have joined Super Junior.”
Sungmin felt as if his heart stopped. He stared at Heechul, who was looking at him with a pleasant grin. “W-what did y-you say?”
“It’s giving you stress, man,” pressed on Heechul, ignoring Sungmin’s question. “Thank God you didn’t kill yourself yet.”
“What did you say?” Sungmin repeated.
Ignoring Sungmin once again, Heechul stood up, rather crookedly because of the cast on his leg. “Have a good rest,” and without another word he exited the room.
*
“It’s been haunting you, don’t think I don’t know.” Eunhyuk threw the basketball at Sungmin, who caught it on the other side of the room.
Sungmin bit his lip, trying to look as innocent as he could at Eunhyuk. “What?” He threw the ball back at Eunhyuk.
“Oh, don’t be silly. That dream.” He rolled the ball to Sungmin.
Sungmin didn’t say anything and rolled it back.
“I know. That dream is haunting you, ever since that night. You probably had that same dream that night in the dance studio, and also the nights after that.” Eunhyuk didn’t roll the ball back to Sungmin. “Why don’t you ever tell us anything? Keeping everything to yourself won’t help you at all.”
Sungmin shrugged. “I mean, it’s nothing uncommon. I’m sure you guys had it before too.”
“Yes, but it’s nothing as bad as yours. Sungmin-sshi, you probably need to see a specialist.”
“What?” Sungmin cried, aghast. “It’s just a stupid nightmare! I’m fine.”
“For the sake of Super Junior’s future and yours, it’s not. You need to fight it; you can’t just let it-”
“You think I want it to happen to me? You never had it like me, so shut up!”
Eunhyuk stared at him as if he had hit him in the face. “What?” his voice slightly shaking. “Did you just tell me to shut up?”
“Yes,” Sungmin said simply, his eyes glaring at Eunhyuk with fury. He didn’t know where his rage came from, but it had now caused him to spring to his feet. “You don’t know anything. You don’t deserve to tell me what to do. I know what I’m doing.”
“No you don’t,” Eunhyuk said quickly, who was on his feet as well. “I’m worried for you, Sungmin! This is getting out of hand! You’re not eating, you have trouble sleeping, you’re falling when you dance; you can’t even hit the high notes anymore! I really think someone needs to look after you!”
“Are you trying to say is that I don’t deserve to be in Super Junior anymore, just because of a stupid dream? I’m not useful? I’m not worthy? I’m weak?” Sungmin was so full of anger he was shaking.
Eunhyuk stared at him with wide eyes. “What? No, you’re totally taking it out of context! That’s not what I meant!”
“Leave,” Sungmin hissed. “Leave me alone! I don’t want to see you.”
“Sungmin-”
“LEAVE BEFORE I HIT YOU!” Sungmin roared at him, his hands shaking into fists.
With watery eyes, Eunhyuk dropped the ball and stormed out of the apartment without a backward glance, slamming the door shut behind him.
*
Cold laughter sounded all over Sungmin, sinking him into darkness. Sungmin was trapped, once again, in invisible ropes, bounding him, squeezing his lungs so hard that he couldn’t breathe, that he could suffocate to death. He felt as if he was thrown into a pool of icy water; he was shaking all over. “Cho Kyuhyun, Kim Kibum, Kim Ryeowook,” the high voice snarled.
“What?” Sungmin cried through dried lungs, but a scream engulfed his voice.
“Choi Shiwon, Lee Donghae, Lee Hyukjae, Shin Donghee, Kim Youngwoon, Kim Jongwoon,” the voice continued, laughing harder at each name.
“NO!”
“Han Kyung…. Park Jungsu…. Kim Heechul.” The shadow, that same shadow that cried, that same shadow that laughed, that same shadow that sucked in the green light that was conjured from the locket, whispered coldly, “Gone.” The shadow sniggered.
“No…” Sungmin moaned. “No…” A chain appeared out of thin air and tightened around Sungmin’s neck. He struggled.
“And you,” the shadow whispered, bending down to face Sungmin on the ground, lowering its hood.
Sungmin gasped, his eyes widening. “Hee-” Sungmin’s lips were glued together.
“It’s your fault that they’re gone.”
NO! Sungmin wanted to scream at him; he wanted to punch him, slap him, kick him. But he couldn’t. His lips were sealed tightly shut. He struggled, but it only caused the chain on his neck to close tighter. NO! HEECHUL!
The chain on his neck suddenly broke free; his lips were unsealed…. He was breathing, alive; he could stand up…. He glanced up and saw that the locket was shaking furiously, sucking the darkness that surrounded Sungmin into itself…. He saw Heechul with the long black cloak, half smiling, half crying, pointing at Sungmin with his long white fingers. “It’s all your fault,” and was pulled into the locket along with everything else.
The locket snapped shut and landed on the ground with a thud.
Sungmin stared at it, panting, sweating. With shaking limbs he pulled himself up from the ground and walked toward it. It was still. He reached out a hand to grab it, and was sucked into brightness once again.
*
Sungmin’s eyes shot opened.
“Hey.”
Sungmin glanced up and saw Heechul standing above him, smiling. Sungmin’s heart skipped a beat. The muscles in his face tensed. He was not in the mood to speak with anyone. Sweat trickled down his face and he wiped it away hastily with his sleeve.
“Why are you alone out here in the night?”
“I don’t feel like going back inside.”
Heechul chuckled lightly. Sungmin’s stomach churned. Why was everything funny to him? “Had a go with Hyukjae, didn’t you?”
Sungmin laughed, not at all surprised at his own coldness. “Why do you seem to know everything that happens to me?”
He was surprised that Heechul wasn’t at all scratched by his words. “Oh, I have my ways.” He smirked. Sungmin hated it. He felt like punching him.
“You’re really stressed out,” Heechul said lightly.
Sungmin spat. “Just leave me alone.”
“Maybe they’re giving you too much stuff. You never rested at all after our concert. You deserve a break,” Heechul pressed on, who didn’t seem to have noticed that Sungmin’s anger had now propelled to his feet. “Or maybe it’s because you shouldn’t be in Super Junior the first place,” he looked at Sungmin and winked humorously.
“What the fuck are you talking about? I said, leave me alone. Don’t make me hit you,” Sungmin snarled.
“Before you decide to hit me,” said Heechul in the same humorous voice, “I want to show you something.”
“What?” snapped Sungmin.
“You did see this in your dream, right?”
Heechul pulled out an object from his jeans pocket and held it in front of Sungmin.
The golden locket gleamed brilliantly under the fluorescent street light, the rose-shaped rubies and the large diamond-shaped sapphires illuminating the street into bright scarlet and blue lights. Sungmin stared at it, sweating, his heart beating faster and faster. Before he could look at Heechul, he was drowned into darkness.
Title: Locket
Length: 3,873 words
Author: blabby_lwy
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Angst
Characters/Pairing(s): Heechul/Sungmin, Super Junior
Warning: Blood, language
Disclaimer: Nope, don't own. You get the drill.
Author's Note: I may have broken the rule because there's some slight Sungmin/Eunhyuk angst... but other than that, it's Sungmin-centric, a thriller fic.
Archive: 100 Suju Fics Challenge
Summary: Sungmin is sucked into a nightmare that he will never be able to get out of.
He was running, running under the vast blue sky, running across the endless green plain, running over round hills. The bright sun hung brilliantly above his head, warming his tensed temples and cold forehead. The clouds, the clouds were running farther away from him. He picked up his speed and chased after the fluffy white, grinning widely as he felt the cool breeze whip across his face. He felt good.
A sparkling yellow object gleamed in front of him on top of the hill. Curious, he sprinted towards it.
It was a locket.
He stopped in front of the floating, golden round object, his eyes wide with fascination. It was a beautiful locket: Its sides embedded with ruby, carved beautifully in shapes of roses; the middle of the locket released a royal blue glow that was emitted from a two large sapphire crystals. He was speechless, awed at the grand object.
Without thinking, he reached over to the locket and grabbed it.
Darkness immediately sucked him in. He was suffocating; his lungs felt smaller and smaller…. Pressure was squeezing into his brain; he felt as if he could explode any minute. He closed his eyes, feeling as if he was going through a really narrow tube. He couldn’t breathe…. He was spinning faster, faster…. The tube felt narrower, narrower…. His grip on the locket was tighter… He had to grip it tighter; it was wriggling free from his hands…. It’s slipping off….
He was running again, but under the starless night, across burnt grass, surrounded by open fire. It was roaring, loud…. He was hot, very hot. He was sweating. The hand securely holding the locket was clammy.
There was a scream, a high-pitched scream. Then there was laughter, cold, crackling laughter.
A strong force pushed him and he fell to his knees, the locket bouncing out of his hands. The locket burst opened as it landed on the ground. A blinding green light shot up to the night sky.
He gasped in horror as he saw images flashed through the green light: his fellow Super Junior members, eleven of them, were bounded together by ropes and getting whipped, getting stabbed, tortured. Eeteuk was blindfolded, getting whipped-Yesung and Kyuhyun… crucified? He couldn’t recognize their faces; it was splattered with blood-Kangin, Shindong, and Eunhyuk were thrown into a pool of scarlet blood, drowning-Donghae and Ryeowook were stripped from their clothes, hanged-Hankyung, Shiwon, and Kibum were getting touched by greasy hands of hungry women; molested, raped, slapped… no, don’t! Don’t hurt them!
Tears were streaming from his eyes. It’s too much, all too much. They were screaming in agony. He tried to cover his ears with his hands but he couldn’t… something was pulling him down. Someone was laughing in his head, he tried to make a grab for it, but he couldn’t reach… it was too strong…. A shadow was crouching in front of him… the shadow was in pain, it was crying…. Heechul? Was that Heechul? The shadow stood up, the green light grew stronger, bursting out in all angles-
“Sungmin!”
He opened his eyes, sweating and panting, his head throbbing. He looked up and saw Eunhyuk looking down at him worriedly. “Are you alright?”
Sungmin nodded, rather hesitantly. Eunhyuk helped him up from his bed. Sungmin felt weak, as if he just ran ten miles. “It must have been awful.” Sungmin nearly jumped at the voice of Yesung, who was sitting beside him, also looking at Sungmin with the same worried expression. “You’re sweating like crazy. You were screaming like crazy too. I bet even the guys upstairs could hear you. You were screaming all of our names… it was really, really scary. We thought you were being possessed.”
“I’ll go get some water and a towel,” Kangin said immediately, who was standing behind Eunhyuk, and stormed out of the room.
“Thank goodness you guys are alright,” Sungmin sniffed. He realized that he had been crying.
Eunhyuk pulled him to a hug. “We’re alright. You’re alright,” he consoled.
Kangin returned with a drenched towel and a glass of water. Sungmin drank all of it in one gulp. Eunhyuk placed the towel on top of Sungmin’s forehead and wiped his sweat. “My head hurts,” Sungmin said softly, feeling the throb in his head worsen.
“That’s probably because you have been punching your own head,” Kangin added darkly.
Sungmin nearly choked at his words. “What?”
“Yes. You were punching your own head. We tried to stop you, and this was what happened,” Yesung pointed at the bruises on his cheek.
Sungmin glanced at the other members, and noticed that they too were sporting black eyes. “Sorry,” Sungmin said, feeling foolish.
“It’s alright,” Eunhyuk gave him a brief smile and patted his back. “But what were you dreaming about? We’ve never seen you like this before.”
Sungmin closed his eyes. “Heechul hyung.”
“What?” Kangin said tightly.
“I mean,” Sungmin continued, his eyes still closed tight, “it was about… Heechul hyung. Well, I think.” Sungmin opened his eyes, his heart pounding faster. A raw sense of anxiousness and fear rushed through his body as he explained. “Not just Heechul hyung, but all of you guys. You guys were… were…” Sungmin’s voice faltered.
“What?” Yesung pushed, his voice shaking with caution. “Is it something-”
“Bad,” Sungmin interrupted. “It was bad. I never had a nightmare like this before. I think… I think something’s bad going to happen to us.”
They stared at him.
“You guys were all there in my dream, except Heechul.”
“Oh.” Kangin’s voice was shaking.
“It’s just a dream,” Eunhyuk reassured. “Don’t be so superstitious.”
“Yeah I know, but I’m worried… especially for Heechul hyung. I mean, he just had the rod in his leg removed, I don’t want anything… bad to…” Sungmin couldn’t finish. He was now shaking with fear.
“It’s just a dream,” Eunhyuk repeated, but the look on his face proved to Sungmin that he was also terrified.
*
“I hear you had a nightmare last night.”
Sungmin looked up from the newspaper and saw Heechul towering over him, his arms crossed over his chest with a pitiful expression.
“Hyung! Why did you come down here? Don’t move around so much!” Sungmin stood up from the breakfast table and held onto Heechul.
Heechul scoffed. “I’m not crippled. I can still walk.”
Sungmin smiled at Heechul’s stubbornness as he helped him sit down on a chair next to him, who still had a cast on his leg. “So,” said Heechul, “I heard from Jongwoon that you had a nightmare last night. What was it about?”
Sungmin looked down at the newspaper, preoccupied with the big headline. “It was just a nightmare. Nothing in particular.”
“But you seemed worried.”
“Maybe I’m just too sensitive,” Sungmin said slowly. “Maybe.”
Heechul chuckled. “Jongwoon also said that your dream was about us… specifically me.”
Sungmin looked up at Heechul. “It was actually more about the rest of them, except me and you.” Heechul glanced at him with his eyes narrowed. “That’s what’s strange about it. You were in my dream but… I’m not sure if it was you… it looked like you…” Sungmin’s voice faded off, the image of the crouched shadow vivid in his mind. But his face… his face was blurry.
“What specifically was in your dream?” asked Heechul, breaking Sungmin’s train of thought.
“Torture,” Sungmin said in a whisper, now staring at the ceiling.
“It’s more than that.”
Thrown off by Heechul’s words, Sungmin looked at Heechul, who was smirking. “What?” Sungmin asked, confused. “You sound like you know what I dreamt about.”
Heechul shrugged, the smirk still plastered across his face. Without another word, he pushed himself up from his chair and left the room, leaving Sungmin staring back at him, a chill running down his body.
*
They were screaming again. Green light blinded his eyes and thick air tightened around his body like a rope. He couldn’t breathe; he was suffocating. He looked ahead… that shadow, that same shadow was standing up, his arms spread out like an eagle, crying. He reached out, grabbing the shadow in the wrist. He wanted to thrust him around to face him, to see who that shadow was, but he was too weak. Something was pulling him back. That shadow, that same shadow was not crying anymore, but now crackling with laughter. The laugh sounded so familiar. Where did he hear it from? He was being pulled, farther, farther away… the screams were deafening, they were louder, louder-the locket was shaking, also breaking into the same cold laughter-
“Sungmin! Wake up!”
Sungmin panted. He opened his eyes and saw Eeteuk and Shindong staring down at him. He had fallen asleep while he was taking a break by the wall in the dance studio after practicing Super Junior-Happy’s new single “Are you alright? You’re breaking apart,” Eeteuk added in a worried voice.
“Nightmare again?” Eunhyuk came and gave Sungmin a bottle of water.
“Is it the same one you had last night?” asked Shindong.
“No,” Sungmin said immediately, uncapping the bottle of water, knowing that he would feel more foolish if he told them that it was the same dream. Truthfully, it wasn’t really the same dream-it was more like a continuation of it. Sungmin didn’t feel like telling them that, at least not yet.
“I think you should go home and rest,” Kangin frowned as he watched Sungmin pulling himself up from the floor with shaking legs.
“I’m fine, hyung. I want to practice.” Sungmin handed the bottle back to Eunhyuk and walked to the center of the dance floor. “I’m ready guys.” The other members exchanged worried looks, but Sungmin kept a strained smile on his face. “Really, it’s okay!”
Sungmin nearly jumped as he felt his phone vibrate in his jeans pocket.
“Excuse me,” he said and he walked to a corner in the dance studio, pulling out his phone, leaving the other members whispering to each other.
Heechul hyung? He read the name pop up in the screen and bit his lip. “Hello?” He spoke through the phone. “Hyung?”
“Are you okay?”
“What-what?” Sungmin repeated shakily, startled. His eyes widened. “H-how did you know I just had a nightmare?”
“Wait, woah, what? I was asking if you were okay with the dance.” Sungmin sighed, feeling suddenly relieved from the unexplainable tense that he had moments ago. “Did you have a nightmare again?” Heechul asked seconds later in a blank voice.
Sungmin nodded. Realizing that Heechul wouldn’t be able to see it, he sighed. “Yes.”
Heechul sighed. “You need to see a psychologist, man.”
“Come on hyung, it’s not a big deal. Besides, everyone has nightmares once in a while.”
“Yeah, but from the sound of your voice, your nightmare is more than just a scary dream. Having the same dream over and over again is a sign of something yet to come.”
A familiar cold chill suddenly pressed upon Sungmin. His lips parted, surprised. “I… I never said I dreamt the same thing.”
“You didn’t? Oh.” Heechul didn’t sound convinced. “Anyways, I need to call Hankyung now. I need to know how many lobsters Shiwon ate this time. Catch you tonight.”
Sungmin was almost sure that he heard the same cold laugh he encountered in his dream over the phone before Heechul hung up.
*
Sungmin flopped down on top of his bed, his head aching with pain. He was thirsty, but he was too exhausted from practice to get out of bed to go to the kitchen for a drink. If only Kyuhyun was here right now, he told himself, he would do that for me.
He glanced at the ticking clock that was above the door. It was almost midnight.
He closed his eyes.
Maybe he should have told them that he had the same nightmare. After all, the dream was bothering him all day…. But this was getting ridiculous. It was just a nightmare. Everyone gets nightmares. Having the same nightmare two times in a row is not uncommon; he was sure that even happy people like Shindong would get it. It’s completely absurd that this nightmare was haunting him; he had better things to think about, better things to do. Maybe he should start coming up with the choreography for their other new single… he should get Shindong and Eunhyuk to help him…
He was running this time, faster, faster away from the flying locket.
But it was following him, in immense speed. The green light that it ignited now dissolved into a reddish scarlet glow. Sungmin tripped and fell flat face on the ground-it felt like grass. He could feel it. He could see the light. The locket stopped in front of him. From the corner of his eye, he could see the shadow, that same crying shadow, that same laughing shadow, emerge itself from the locket. Sungmin shook. It was cold.
The shadow’s laughter was cold. “You made the wrong choice, Lee Sungmin.” The voice was clear and high; the voice was familiar to Sungmin.
Sungmin opened his mouth to speak, asking that shadow what, what wrong choice he made, and why, why was he into this mess? Who was this? But as he spoke, nothing came out, but a scream.
“You should not have joined Super Junior,” the shadow laughed harder.
No! Sungmin wanted to say. No! I made the right choice! But when he opened his mouth all that came out was a terrified screech, a scream of agony, of pain. Icy tears were pouring out of his eyes. He closed his eyes shut as the scarlet light shone brighter in front of him. It hurt him. Sungmin screamed louder, and louder…. No, I was right! I made a right choice! I have to be in Super Junior.... The shadow glided closer toward him. Sungmin’s eyes shot open, unwillingly, and the shadow now took form of a man, wearing a long black cloak…. Sungmin couldn’t see his face; the hood was covering it…. Long white fingers appeared underneath the long sleeves; they were holding onto the locket…. Sungmin wanted to stand up to run away, but he felt another pair of hands pressing him down on the grass…. The man held onto his hood and pulled it down…. Oh my God, it can’t be-
“HEECHUL?!”
Sungmin immediately pulled himself away from Heechul as far as he could on the other side of the bed. “What… what the fuck?”
“What?” Heechul cried, looking confused. He scooted closer to Sungmin, who immediately jumped off of the bed and went to Kyuhyun’s unoccupied bed on the other side of the room. “Sungmin, are you alright?”
“You-I-uh… oh my god,” Sungmin couldn’t formulate the right words. Finally realizing where he was and after looking at Heechul’s slightly dumbfounded face, he sank into Kyuhyun’s bed, and sighed, feeling slightly stupid that he actually believed his dream was real. “I’m… I’m sorry, hyung,” Sungmin said apologetically. He mentally slapped his own face.
Sungmin expected Heechul to laugh at him, but he didn’t. “Are you feeling better now?” Heechul asked Sungmin quietly as if he was afraid that Sungmin would explode at him any minute.
Sungmin nodded. Noticing that he could hear Heechul’s echoes in the apartment, he asked, “Where are the others?”
“They’re outside playing soccer.”
“They still have the energy to play soccer after our practice?”
“Sungmin,” Heechul noted pointedly, “you’ve been knocked out for two days already.”
“What?” Sungmin shot up from bed.
Heechul nodded, looking rather distraught. “We were this close,”-he emphasized the closeness with his fingers-“to getting the doctor to see you, but we thought maybe it’s because you have been physically-and mentally-exhausted these past few days so we thought maybe you just needed rest.”
“How about our schedules?”
“Oh, don’t worry about that. They were postponed.”
Sungmin touched the nape of his neck. It was drenched with sweat. “I’m sorry… about what just happened, hyung.”
Heechul smiled, rather forcedly. “It’s alright. No harm done.”
Sungmin returned the smile, feeling more embarrassed.
“Maybe you shouldn’t have joined Super Junior.”
Sungmin felt as if his heart stopped. He stared at Heechul, who was looking at him with a pleasant grin. “W-what did y-you say?”
“It’s giving you stress, man,” pressed on Heechul, ignoring Sungmin’s question. “Thank God you didn’t kill yourself yet.”
“What did you say?” Sungmin repeated.
Ignoring Sungmin once again, Heechul stood up, rather crookedly because of the cast on his leg. “Have a good rest,” and without another word he exited the room.
*
“It’s been haunting you, don’t think I don’t know.” Eunhyuk threw the basketball at Sungmin, who caught it on the other side of the room.
Sungmin bit his lip, trying to look as innocent as he could at Eunhyuk. “What?” He threw the ball back at Eunhyuk.
“Oh, don’t be silly. That dream.” He rolled the ball to Sungmin.
Sungmin didn’t say anything and rolled it back.
“I know. That dream is haunting you, ever since that night. You probably had that same dream that night in the dance studio, and also the nights after that.” Eunhyuk didn’t roll the ball back to Sungmin. “Why don’t you ever tell us anything? Keeping everything to yourself won’t help you at all.”
Sungmin shrugged. “I mean, it’s nothing uncommon. I’m sure you guys had it before too.”
“Yes, but it’s nothing as bad as yours. Sungmin-sshi, you probably need to see a specialist.”
“What?” Sungmin cried, aghast. “It’s just a stupid nightmare! I’m fine.”
“For the sake of Super Junior’s future and yours, it’s not. You need to fight it; you can’t just let it-”
“You think I want it to happen to me? You never had it like me, so shut up!”
Eunhyuk stared at him as if he had hit him in the face. “What?” his voice slightly shaking. “Did you just tell me to shut up?”
“Yes,” Sungmin said simply, his eyes glaring at Eunhyuk with fury. He didn’t know where his rage came from, but it had now caused him to spring to his feet. “You don’t know anything. You don’t deserve to tell me what to do. I know what I’m doing.”
“No you don’t,” Eunhyuk said quickly, who was on his feet as well. “I’m worried for you, Sungmin! This is getting out of hand! You’re not eating, you have trouble sleeping, you’re falling when you dance; you can’t even hit the high notes anymore! I really think someone needs to look after you!”
“Are you trying to say is that I don’t deserve to be in Super Junior anymore, just because of a stupid dream? I’m not useful? I’m not worthy? I’m weak?” Sungmin was so full of anger he was shaking.
Eunhyuk stared at him with wide eyes. “What? No, you’re totally taking it out of context! That’s not what I meant!”
“Leave,” Sungmin hissed. “Leave me alone! I don’t want to see you.”
“Sungmin-”
“LEAVE BEFORE I HIT YOU!” Sungmin roared at him, his hands shaking into fists.
With watery eyes, Eunhyuk dropped the ball and stormed out of the apartment without a backward glance, slamming the door shut behind him.
*
Cold laughter sounded all over Sungmin, sinking him into darkness. Sungmin was trapped, once again, in invisible ropes, bounding him, squeezing his lungs so hard that he couldn’t breathe, that he could suffocate to death. He felt as if he was thrown into a pool of icy water; he was shaking all over. “Cho Kyuhyun, Kim Kibum, Kim Ryeowook,” the high voice snarled.
“What?” Sungmin cried through dried lungs, but a scream engulfed his voice.
“Choi Shiwon, Lee Donghae, Lee Hyukjae, Shin Donghee, Kim Youngwoon, Kim Jongwoon,” the voice continued, laughing harder at each name.
“NO!”
“Han Kyung…. Park Jungsu…. Kim Heechul.” The shadow, that same shadow that cried, that same shadow that laughed, that same shadow that sucked in the green light that was conjured from the locket, whispered coldly, “Gone.” The shadow sniggered.
“No…” Sungmin moaned. “No…” A chain appeared out of thin air and tightened around Sungmin’s neck. He struggled.
“And you,” the shadow whispered, bending down to face Sungmin on the ground, lowering its hood.
Sungmin gasped, his eyes widening. “Hee-” Sungmin’s lips were glued together.
“It’s your fault that they’re gone.”
NO! Sungmin wanted to scream at him; he wanted to punch him, slap him, kick him. But he couldn’t. His lips were sealed tightly shut. He struggled, but it only caused the chain on his neck to close tighter. NO! HEECHUL!
The chain on his neck suddenly broke free; his lips were unsealed…. He was breathing, alive; he could stand up…. He glanced up and saw that the locket was shaking furiously, sucking the darkness that surrounded Sungmin into itself…. He saw Heechul with the long black cloak, half smiling, half crying, pointing at Sungmin with his long white fingers. “It’s all your fault,” and was pulled into the locket along with everything else.
The locket snapped shut and landed on the ground with a thud.
Sungmin stared at it, panting, sweating. With shaking limbs he pulled himself up from the ground and walked toward it. It was still. He reached out a hand to grab it, and was sucked into brightness once again.
*
Sungmin’s eyes shot opened.
“Hey.”
Sungmin glanced up and saw Heechul standing above him, smiling. Sungmin’s heart skipped a beat. The muscles in his face tensed. He was not in the mood to speak with anyone. Sweat trickled down his face and he wiped it away hastily with his sleeve.
“Why are you alone out here in the night?”
“I don’t feel like going back inside.”
Heechul chuckled lightly. Sungmin’s stomach churned. Why was everything funny to him? “Had a go with Hyukjae, didn’t you?”
Sungmin laughed, not at all surprised at his own coldness. “Why do you seem to know everything that happens to me?”
He was surprised that Heechul wasn’t at all scratched by his words. “Oh, I have my ways.” He smirked. Sungmin hated it. He felt like punching him.
“You’re really stressed out,” Heechul said lightly.
Sungmin spat. “Just leave me alone.”
“Maybe they’re giving you too much stuff. You never rested at all after our concert. You deserve a break,” Heechul pressed on, who didn’t seem to have noticed that Sungmin’s anger had now propelled to his feet. “Or maybe it’s because you shouldn’t be in Super Junior the first place,” he looked at Sungmin and winked humorously.
“What the fuck are you talking about? I said, leave me alone. Don’t make me hit you,” Sungmin snarled.
“Before you decide to hit me,” said Heechul in the same humorous voice, “I want to show you something.”
“What?” snapped Sungmin.
“You did see this in your dream, right?”
Heechul pulled out an object from his jeans pocket and held it in front of Sungmin.
The golden locket gleamed brilliantly under the fluorescent street light, the rose-shaped rubies and the large diamond-shaped sapphires illuminating the street into bright scarlet and blue lights. Sungmin stared at it, sweating, his heart beating faster and faster. Before he could look at Heechul, he was drowned into darkness.