𝒍𝒖𝒄𝒊𝒅 𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒚 ! 𝗒𝖾𝗈𝗇𝖻𝗂𝗇

𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝟷

Ⅰ

"Cathrine yells, 'You're not my father, you're Cain, the demon, and you can't hide from your name.'

The laughter of thousands fills the church. The father looks at his daughter. He opens his bathrobe for everyone to see.

There are foul-looking mouths sprouting from each joint of his body.

'I'm Cain, Hell's husband, and I'll possess your father forever. He is mine now and so will you.'

Cathrine shouts the psalm, brandishes the wooden bat marked with the cross.

This is her fight, her sacrifice. At that, the world breaks open, releasing a wave of disgusting, crawling horrors.

Cain, the demon, yells out from within the father's body, 'You know I never leave empty-handed. Never!'

But Cathrine Ronan smiles, because she knows it very well and she can see closing in around her and her enemy the tide of innermost shadows."

yeonjun closed the book, looking up at the sea of people seated in chairs in front of his tall desk. "if you have any questions, i'd like to hear them."

a moment of awkward silence fell over the room when no one dared ask a question in the first few seconds. yeonjun pressed his lips into a line that could quite easily be mistaken for a small, empathetic smile, if you tried a little harder.

"if there are no questions, then..."

at that moment, a hand shot up into the air, preventing yeonjun from thinking of a possible wrap up.

"yes, please!"

"uh," that person stood up, "did you just read the end of the book?"

probably, if he weren't surrounded by so many people with their eyes on him, yeonjun would roll his eyes or sigh in exasperation. but since he couldn't do that right now for obvious reasons, he flashed a polite smile.

"i've been asked to read my favorite part."

"is this a joke?" asked another voice in the room.

"yes, why should we buy it, then, if the author has already given us the biggest spoiler?" another one chimed in.

"really? i couldn't care less." came the author's reply, with an honest smile on his lips. "you should be happy about that, keep your money in your pocket." he impertinently winked at the person in question.

"does anyone else have any questions for yeonjun?" intervened the editor who had taken part in the book signing and the whole event as soon as he felt the air in the room intensify because of yeonjun's unintelligible personality.

like any other artist, he reminded himself.

"the boy in the back with round glasses." the dark-haired writer pointed, unprofessionally, to the person at the back of the crowd, who had raised his hand almost reluctantly.

he waited for the boy to sit up, curious about a question meant to spark controversy and argument based on his book. "we understand that cathrine and cain were absorbed by the darkness, and this was the final battle. but... is it really over?"

a smile tugged at yeonjun's lips, then he lifted his own freshly printed creation, pointing with his index finger to the book's title. "what does it say here? The Last Chapter. look, i understand you're disappointed, but come to think of it, cathrine and cain have taken up ten years of my life, guys."

there may not be many times where yeonjun goes into the depths of his feelings and thoughts, but his honesty isn't always as cutting. now he showed... a hint of empathy towards his readers.