[Sang-Wook is a predictable guy. He keeps to himself in almost all aspects of the manor: the parties, the breakfast banquets, the strange seedy underbellies... Much like his life in Korea, his life in (supposedly, allegedly) mystical England is not much different. Only, he's not killing people. He's not getting his hands dirty in the ways he used to. Green Home had put him on the path to be better, try harder, maybe be a little more human. It's just — too bad everything fell apart in the end.
Sang-Wook tries very, very hard not to think about it for long. It's been his tried and true way to not fall into a pit of despair, the way he'd done with his home and family, and the foster system that had haphazardly moved him around after.
Anyway. He minds his own business, mostly.
But when familiar faces come along, it's impossible to stay in one's lane. He's outside with the very last remains of a cigarette burning between his fingertips (he un-quit) when he swears his eye catches someone he knows. He turns slightly, wanders further inward in the garden area, matching quiet footfalls.
He just wants to see. Maybe he's going crazy, or maybe the manor is just tricking him.
But he has quite literally nothing to lose in making sure. In his opinion.]
[Hyunsu is not exactly as he was the last time Sang-wook saw him. He's bulked up some and walks with more confidence. He's also more aware of his surroundings. Over a year of fighting monsters and learning his abilities has honed his senses some. He knows when he's being followed or approached. Even more so at the moment with the monster part of him more in control of his consciousness than the human part.
He turns to face Sang-Wook and as soon as he registers the face, his wing is out, ready to fight.]
You.
[Probably not the greeting Sang-wook might have expected, but sadly Hyunsu isn't seeing Sang-wook right now, he's seeing Jung Ui-Myeong. He hasn't noticed the burns on his face.]
You looking to finish things?
[Sang-wook may notice his eyes are a bright, eerie blue rather than his natural brown.]
( the fact that she actually has to wait until they're not physically next to each other to have this conversation is, in its own way, pretty telling. )
[it needs to be noted that when Hyunsu receives this text he is headed toward the kitchen to find a snack. When he reads the text he immediately walks directly into the wall and drops his phone.
( honestly, hao barely waits for hyunsu to pick up the phone before he immediately starts yapping — )
Hi. Are you in your room? It's kind of dumb if you are since I'm in my room and we live in the same fucking house but it's also kind of hot knowing that you're so close to me right now but also, like, not.
( he takes a breath, a hand idly grazing over his stomach beneath his shirt. )
[The gift comes wrapped meticulously in paper that, while not strictly holiday-themed is nevertheless very appropriate, considering who it’s from. The gift is inside, nestled in pale blue tissue paper:
The note, on thick, cream-colored card stock, is in a somewhat wobbly, but earnest hand:]
Hyunsu -
The last place I was, before this, had the worst winter weather I've ever felt. Granted, it was my first winter, but still. Now, whenever I buy gifts, I first think about if someone can be kept warm, above anything else.
I thought it was a good idea, until you decide what you really want. Let me know when you do, okay? :)
[ it's not a traditional greeting in any sense, but eunhyuk's taken a long look at the calendar and realised just what day is coming up. that's why he's left a small plate of savory cakes and — with a dash of humor — a chocolate coin where he's sure hyunsu will find it. in neat script he writes; ]
[It's not strictly just a text -- it comes accompanied with a soft mental nudge like a tap on the shoulder, like a hand on Hyunsu's arm, light, unobtrusive, just feeling out where he is, how he is.]
Are you all right? Since the thaw? I haven't seen you since
[Hyunsu's response to the nudge is the mental equivalent of a startled cat, fur puffed up and edging away from the intrusion.
It takes a moment for this part of him to make sense of it. The monster has never been awake while dealing with Koby while his powers are active, so he has to poke through the memories of his human side.
The text also helps to clear things up. Sort of. Not that Hyunsu has any idea how to answer the question.]
i'm not dead.
[Actually he is, in fact, pretty miserable. Hao is still dead and Eunyu is gone. The only reason he's not rotting alone in his room is Eunhyuk has made him take some walks.]
( it's with a sharp inhale that hao realizes he's alive again — except it's dirt that he's choking on, not air. fuck. he's gonna suffocate. panicked, his heartbeat pounds loudly in his ears, a constant reminder: you're alive. you're alive. you're alive. another memory strikes, of trying to breathe in but his lungs feel stiff and hard, and he's hungry and confused and all he can think about is hyunsu. hyunsu, or a blurry, distorted version of him, pushing him away, apologizing for it. falling to a tiled floor but feeling nothing besides the dire grip of hunger clawing at his insides — what his insides used to be before the rot set in, festering outwards from the bite mark on his chest, right over his heart. well, where his heart used to be.
oh. his heart. the zombie in the hallway had tried to take it by force with its teeth, and the memory of just — wanting hyunsu's haunts him. wanting to taste it. wanting to hold it. wanting to shove it into his own chest and feel the way it beats. you already have it, echoes faintly in his ears and it just doesn't make sense, hao just needs to breathe so he can actually think and —
there's an even stronger urgency now to act, desperate as he starts to kick and claw up at the soft earth caging him in. hao digs and digs and digs and — finally breaks the surface at last, pushing himself up and out of the grave by his arms alone, unable to find purchase to stand, and all he can do once he's on his hands and knees on the grass is cough out dirt and try to catch his fucking breath, starting to hyperventilate as everything catches up to him, flopping down into his back and squeezing his eyes closed, trying to ignore the hot sting of tears that slip from beneath his lids anyway.
he doesn't realize it yet, but there's no fancy funereal garb on his body, no elegant casket. so many people had died during the outbreak that the balfours simply couldn't keep up with that many well-planned funerals, darlings. so, into the hole he went, and out of the hole he comes in the same blood-soaked hoodie and jeans, deep, dark blood caked into his pink hair at the crown of his head where the bat had —
but he's healed now, that fatal, gory blow to the head nearly gone without a trace since everyone in the manor's regained their powers, his skull reforming, skin reconnecting. hao still feels the phantom pain of — something in his chest, though, weighing him down as he tries so desperately to catch his breath. )
[As the days pass, Hyunsu starts spending more and more time at Hao's grave site. People come back here. They're supposed to come back and things should be back to normal now, right?
So Hyunsu waits. Even with the monster dominant at the moment he feels a pull to be near Hao's grave so he can be there when he comes back. Whether Hyunsu knows how to admit it or not, he doesn't want Hao to be alone when he comes back the way he was when he was bitten. On the 7th day, he spends most of his time at the grave rather than in his room. A week is usually how long it takes, he thinks, he's pretty sure that's what he heard. And when the earth of the grave starts to move, Hyunsu is there pulling soil away on the outside while Hao claws his way up from below.
He moves back as Hao pushes himself out of the ground, into the fresh evening air. For a moment Hyunsu is unsure whether he should reach for him or not. Would he still want Hyunsu to touch him, after what happened? Does he even remember? But as he watches Hao gasp for breath he decides it doesn't matter right now. All that matters is getting him away from here.
He moves closer, kneeling next to Hao on the grass and starts brushing the dirt from Hao's hair and shoulders and back. He tries to act nonchalant about it all but there's a gentleness to it that even the monster can't deny.]
It took you long enough. [He mutters, again trying to seem above all, as though he hasn't been a wreck since Hao's death, as though he hasn't been sitting here for hours waiting for him. But of course, he fails, because mostly he just sounds deeply and painfully relieved.]
This Is The Curse Of Bloody Mary! You Must Forward This Message To Ten People, Or She Will Come And Find You And Kill You! She Knows Where You Live. She Will Hang Your Corpse For Everyone To See And Laugh At You. She Will Find You!
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
@kpyr7.8
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sometime around when Hyunsu shows up ♥
Sang-Wook tries very, very hard not to think about it for long. It's been his tried and true way to not fall into a pit of despair, the way he'd done with his home and family, and the foster system that had haphazardly moved him around after.
Anyway. He minds his own business, mostly.
But when familiar faces come along, it's impossible to stay in one's lane. He's outside with the very last remains of a cigarette burning between his fingertips (he un-quit) when he swears his eye catches someone he knows. He turns slightly, wanders further inward in the garden area, matching quiet footfalls.
He just wants to see. Maybe he's going crazy, or maybe the manor is just tricking him.
But he has quite literally nothing to lose in making sure. In his opinion.]
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He turns to face Sang-Wook and as soon as he registers the face, his wing is out, ready to fight.]
You.
[Probably not the greeting Sang-wook might have expected, but sadly Hyunsu isn't seeing Sang-wook right now, he's seeing Jung Ui-Myeong. He hasn't noticed the burns on his face.]
You looking to finish things?
[Sang-wook may notice his eyes are a bright, eerie blue rather than his natural brown.]
1/2
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TEXT | un: @kpyr7.8
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text; @kpyr7.8 (backdated to eunyu arrival)
[ he doesn't explain who he means, or why he's texting at all. there is only one person he would say this about. ]
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where did you see her?
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text — un: EUNYU
( the fact that she actually has to wait until they're not physically next to each other to have this conversation is, in its own way, pretty telling. )
am i your dom now? jw
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so it takes a minute for him to respond.]
eunyu what
[and then:]
do you want to be?
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text — un: haoyes
i herd u were talking abt the arcade
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what about it?
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voice!!!!!
Hi. Are you in your room? It's kind of dumb if you are since I'm in my room and we live in the same fucking house but it's also kind of hot knowing that you're so close to me right now but also, like, not.
( he takes a breath, a hand idly grazing over his stomach beneath his shirt. )
Are you touching yourself yet?
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Not yet. [There is, perhaps, a trace of amusement in his voice.] I was waiting for you.
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🎁 delivery, 12/24
The note, on thick, cream-colored card stock, is in a somewhat wobbly, but earnest hand:]
text
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why would you be a worm? are you not feeling well?
[is monsterization spreading through saltburnt, what is happening?]
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text
text; @kpyr7.8
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since when?
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delivery.
happy new year.
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(not a questtion)
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[isn't it nice that he likes to be told what to do?]
do you want me to bring anything?
i forgot — BACKDATED to last week or smth
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text: un: koby
Are you all right? Since the thaw? I haven't seen you since
[Since Hyunsu had told him Hao was dead.]
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It takes a moment for this part of him to make sense of it. The monster has never been awake while dealing with Koby while his powers are active, so he has to poke through the memories of his human side.
The text also helps to clear things up. Sort of. Not that Hyunsu has any idea how to answer the question.]
i'm not dead.
[Actually he is, in fact, pretty miserable. Hao is still dead and Eunyu is gone. The only reason he's not rotting alone in his room is Eunhyuk has made him take some walks.]
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oh. his heart. the zombie in the hallway had tried to take it by force with its teeth, and the memory of just — wanting hyunsu's haunts him. wanting to taste it. wanting to hold it. wanting to shove it into his own chest and feel the way it beats. you already have it, echoes faintly in his ears and it just doesn't make sense, hao just needs to breathe so he can actually think and —
there's an even stronger urgency now to act, desperate as he starts to kick and claw up at the soft earth caging him in. hao digs and digs and digs and — finally breaks the surface at last, pushing himself up and out of the grave by his arms alone, unable to find purchase to stand, and all he can do once he's on his hands and knees on the grass is cough out dirt and try to catch his fucking breath, starting to hyperventilate as everything catches up to him, flopping down into his back and squeezing his eyes closed, trying to ignore the hot sting of tears that slip from beneath his lids anyway.
he doesn't realize it yet, but there's no fancy funereal garb on his body, no elegant casket. so many people had died during the outbreak that the balfours simply couldn't keep up with that many well-planned funerals, darlings. so, into the hole he went, and out of the hole he comes in the same blood-soaked hoodie and jeans, deep, dark blood caked into his pink hair at the crown of his head where the bat had —
but he's healed now, that fatal, gory blow to the head nearly gone without a trace since everyone in the manor's regained their powers, his skull reforming, skin reconnecting. hao still feels the phantom pain of — something in his chest, though, weighing him down as he tries so desperately to catch his breath. )
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So Hyunsu waits. Even with the monster dominant at the moment he feels a pull to be near Hao's grave so he can be there when he comes back. Whether Hyunsu knows how to admit it or not, he doesn't want Hao to be alone when he comes back the way he was when he was bitten. On the 7th day, he spends most of his time at the grave rather than in his room. A week is usually how long it takes, he thinks, he's pretty sure that's what he heard. And when the earth of the grave starts to move, Hyunsu is there pulling soil away on the outside while Hao claws his way up from below.
He moves back as Hao pushes himself out of the ground, into the fresh evening air. For a moment Hyunsu is unsure whether he should reach for him or not. Would he still want Hyunsu to touch him, after what happened? Does he even remember? But as he watches Hao gasp for breath he decides it doesn't matter right now. All that matters is getting him away from here.
He moves closer, kneeling next to Hao on the grass and starts brushing the dirt from Hao's hair and shoulders and back. He tries to act nonchalant about it all but there's a gentleness to it that even the monster can't deny.]
It took you long enough. [He mutters, again trying to seem above all, as though he hasn't been a wreck since Hao's death, as though he hasn't been sitting here for hours waiting for him. But of course, he fails, because mostly he just sounds deeply and painfully relieved.]
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text
ATTENTION!
This Is The Curse Of Bloody Mary! You Must Forward This Message To Ten People, Or She Will Come And Find You And Kill You! She Knows Where You Live. She Will Hang Your Corpse For Everyone To See And Laugh At You. She Will Find You!
THIS IS NOT A JOKE!!!!!!!!!!!
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i think i'll be ok.
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✉️ text — un: silco.
Your friend tells me you are, in his words, "not yourself."
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i'm doing better now.
what's that have to do with anything?
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text; un: little.radish
How have you been doing?
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at least the last month has been quiet.
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