FEAR | stray kids

X - the famous living dead

"There's got to be some way to fix this!" Jeongin yelled through his tears for the thousandth time in the last half an hour. "You can't just... You can't..."

Seungmin sat quietly at the other side of the table, staring at the wall opposite him. His eyes were unfocused, and he hadn't spoken a single word for a while. Probably because he couldn't hear half of the ongoing conversation.

Minho tried to punch the fridge but his fist sank through it harmlessly. "God damn it... This is a fucking shit show." He laughed, trying to ignore how his hands were shaking.

"Don't laugh, you can't be laughing about this..." Jeongin cried, placing his hands over his ears. "I hope that I've gone crazy and you're not actually here... This can't be happening..."

"Do you reckon I just get to stick around as a ghost forever? If so, that's not so bad..." Minho mused.

"Shut up! This isn't funny, this isn't, why are you not taking any of this seriously?"

"Because there isn't anything we can do!" Minho bellowed. "There is no way to 'fix this'! I was fucking stupid okay, my mistake got me killed, and I'm sorry about that! I really am! But you can't fucking raise me from the dead, you're not a bloody necromancer!"

 "I hate this, I hate this, I hate this..." Jeongin sobbed, saying the words over and over like they would somehow help.

Seungmin abruptly stood up. "I'm going to tell the other two..." He whispered, looking at the floor.

"And maybe you could give my parents a call while you're at it..." Minho said bitterly as Seungmin walked off. "But of course, you can't fucking hear me."

"Minho..." Jeongin said, his voice breaking. "Please, can I... can I be alone for a minute? I can't... I can't stand this..."

Minho sighed. "Fine. But if I don't come back that's on you." 

He didn't go too far, just enough so that he was out of Jeongin's sight. Alone in the hallway, he could barely even hear his own breathing. Could barely hear his heart beating. Were you meant to hear those sounds anyway as a ghost? Or was he hearing what was actually going on in his body? Either way, it was too quiet.

It's strange how he wasn't too upset. Sure, he was angry at himself for falling for the bait, but the dying itself hadn't sent him into inconsolable tears like everyone else. All he really felt was a desperate desire to open a bottle of soju and drink until he couldn't feel anymore. 

But he couldn't even do that much.

-

The three vampires made it into the city, feeling very exposed. None of them had masks or anything to cover their faces with, and they probably weren't looking their best right now. All they could hope was that they'd go unnoticed by people.

The plan was to try to find a phone box and ring the others, to figure out what they all wanted to do about the situation. They didn't know if everyone else was at the dorms or not, and even if they were, they might not be alone.

Jisung could feel a strange panic inside of him, something telling him everything was going to go wrong. It was all he could do to keep breathing properly and try to stay calm, when his anxiety was shooting through the roof.

Unfortunately, the universe liked making bad situations worse.

"Are you Stray Kids?" A girl tentatively asked as she approached them.

The three of them froze like deer in headlights. Jisung felt sweat dripping down his back as he realised this was pretty much the worst thing that could happen right now.