GHOUL | JJK

ACT 3

ACT 3 // SEOUL
NIIHWA – GRAVITY
JJK.

HIS GLOOM ONLY deepened as the heavy lightness of silence continued to burden the atmosphere. angst began to decay his mental well-being as the craving only grew more vigorous.

the tenebrosity of nightfall's cloak only seemed to mock him; stars resembled the embers of a weakened fire, fluttering its shimmer down to earth.

jungkook dragged his body throughout a place he had no knowledge of. he had only gotten there by the driving force of fear.

yet not to mention,

HUNGER.

a kaleidoscope of snapshots–himself, savagely devouring a body upon a mountain of gnawed bones amongst a midden heap of gleaming ribs and grinning skulls. the tearing of the flesh causing him to grin so grotesquely, he appeared inhuman, bloodless, for a second.

whilst fighting this craving, he couldn't help devoting his full awareness to a distinct aroma of sorts.

something he can eat.

expeditiously, he chased the air–much like a bone had been thrown a few yards away with his name on it–and the scented charm that had enchanted him to move so hysterically.

nevertheless, the scent which had such an attractive vigour, only overwhelmed him with terror. not too far from where he stood, the silhouette of a young boy looked to be demolishing a corpse; splatters of gore staining his clothes, face, hands and mouth.

it was only when jungkook shakily stepped forward that he saw that

HIS EYES

possessed the same tincture.

jungkook scowled at himself and at that deceiving stench of rotting life that polluted the atmosphere.

if this was what drove him here, an aroma of an act so foul, does that mean he's ONE OF THEM?

his insides congealed in perplexity.

saliva seeped from his mouth and onto his chin; eyes fixated on the situation which any person of normal mentality would associate with hell on earth. for jungkook, it was a platter of fresh food.

distracted; a noise snaps him back into reality.

the brittle crunch of bones echoes into the night, as a familiar-looking girl was stood in front of the same young boy as before, though he was now paralysed on atop the corrosive surface of the pavement–it seemed she had won whatever competition had taken place.

the girl turned her head so that her features were illuminated by the hue of silver-sequinned stars. the same static eyes he had been met with before, stared back at his own. except they had a scarlet pigment.

he had no trouble recalling her name.

JIAE.

jungkook flushes at his own ingenuous state; so she's one of them.

her blood-dipped auburn locks lightly brushed her face as she reached down to tear off a piece of raw human meat. her gaze shifting to one side when she offered it to jungkook. when he saw this, he intuitively smacked his hand against his own mouth in denial of his new cravings–though he had been drooling over it shortly before she had arrived.

jiae stuck up her nose in question. but then she took a closer look at his eyes, which were not the same as her own.

"jungkook...right?"
she tore the silence in half, the only way she knew how to.

"y-yeah."
he answered, taken aback by the sudden chit-chat.

"okay so i guess you're pretty new at this."

jungkook nodded, followed by an uneasy look to the ground.

"the conclusion here is: somehow, for some reason, you're a ghoul now."
jiae told him; yet it almost sounded like she was informing herself.

"a ghoul?"

"exactly, don't you watch the news?"

jungkook recalled the days he spent at the café. nose delved into thin pages of literature, blocking out all sound of the real world.

"obviously not."
she retorted.

"i don't want to eat humans."
he sighed suddenly.

"well, sorry my friend. that's in your nature now. haven't you even tried it yet?"

he shook his head frantically–this is a nightmare.

jiae still had the dripping flesh of the man enclosed in her palm. she brought it up to jungkook' face, and although he cowered, she shoved it into his mouth nonetheless.

he flinched; his face sunken with horror but his mind satisfied and nourished. it took him a while to accept his desires, but he learned that there would be no way to escape who he had come to be. or what he had come to be.

he would be feared; yet his fear for those who feared him would be much greater whilst the new but decaying air and stifling atmosphere provided the perfect abode for those who worshipped the darkness rather than the light.

"so?
think you'll get used to it?"

an acrid odour hung off all existence. it was a teeth-gritting spell. he bit his tongue in excited anxiety as the liquid of life oozed soothingly down his throat.

"definitely."
he responded, cleaning the rest of the spillage with his tongue across the brim of his lips.

jungkook then leaned in, taking another bite.