12/13
Chan clearly remembered telling the boys that he wouldn't be able to hang out that night because he had to do his homework and go to school to finish his punishment, yet he still found himself surrounded by all twelve of them. They were all sitting outside under the shade of the roof of Chan's house, his mother bringing the boys watermelon to snack on as they did their own homework. Chan himself was scribbling his pen along the margins of his notebook paper and listening to the sun continuously laugh.
"Do you want some?" Seungkwan offered a piece of watermelon to Chan, his cheeks full and watermelon juice dripping from his chin; Chan shook his head.
"Don't let the sun bother you," Wonwoo patted Chan's back and said with his mouth also stuffed with watermelon.
Chan sighed as he looked at the clock on the wall. It was six in the evening. It took him about half an hour to run to school that morning, which meant he might take an hour to get back to school if he walks- he didn't plan on running again. Chan reluctantly got up and brushed off his knees. Everyone noticed him stand up, and they also noticed the sun going down as well as the sun's laughter ceasing.
"Maybe the laughter was a heat wave?" Minghao theorized. "In several days, we might sweat to death."
"True," Wonwoo trailed off. "Today was pretty hot, too."
Chan looked at the setting sun. It looked exhausted; its tongue was hanging out of its mouth and it was panting as it faded within the bright orange and blue sky. He looked at the sun and said, "I should bring a flashlight."
He went inside his house, found his flashlight, and said goodbye to his friends before he started heading back to school. The boys, on the other hand, sighed in relief once Chan was gone. They- mainly Vernon- wanted to plan out an intricate plan with Chan's mother, and since Chan was gone, they were able to get to work.
Soon after Chan departed, the sun was long gone, and the moon had come out despite the fact it was only a little past six in the evening. Chan had to turn on his flashlight and shine the path in front of him, his feet trudging through the dry, dusty road. The wind was whirling and howling around his ankles, and Chan was starting to get a little scared. He gripped his wrist with his free hand and felt his watch- thank god he was wearing his watch. He checked the time and shone the flashlight on his wrist. It was six thirty. Chan shone the flashlight around him, and by the looks of it, it seemed that he was nowhere near halfway to the school. Chan quickened his pace, only to stop abruptly. He looked up and saw the moon looking down directly at him. Was the moon always looking and grinning at him, or did the moon just start staring at him?
Chan shook his head. He was imagining things; it was dark and late, so he must have been imagining things. He looked ahead of him and noticed the light from his flashlight flickering rapidly. He slapped the flashlight against the palm of his hand and tried to get the flashlight to stop flickering. The flashlight stopped flickering, and Chan smiled, relieved; but then, the flashlight died altogether. Chan desperately tried to get the flashlight to work again, but it wouldn't work. He looked around him, but he was surrounded by darkness and the howling wind. Chan trudged forward- he would be able to fix his flashlight once he got to school.
The air was starting to get colder, and Chan was gradually getting more and more scared. His slow pace starting getting faster; his walk turned into a run, and he was breathing hard. He felt as if something were following him and chasing after him, but all he could hear and feel was the wind. Chan shouldn't have stopped running, but he did, and that was his first mistake. His second mistake was turning around, and that's when he saw it. It stood before him, looming over him with its three white eyes and its smog, shifting body. Chan knew then and there that it was over, but the adrenaline pumped through his veins. With all his strength, he threw his dead flashlight at it and ran for his life.
There were only three things Chan could hear as he was running. He could hear his breathing get harder and harder, he could hear it screeching as it chased after him, and he could hear the howling wind in his ears. He could feel the wind pushing his hair back, and he could feel it catching up to him. Chan knew to never look back, so he didn't look back. Chan ran through the streets, the wind continuously howling in his ears as he didn't look back. He never looked back, but it caught up to him regardless, and it killed him.
It was gone; Chan was gone. The flashlight rested on the dusty road, the light flickering again. Another one of the smoggy creatures passed by and the flashlight turned on. It got brighter and brighter until the glass shattered. It continued along the path as the moon started to bleed and snicker. The laughing sun was scary, and the snickering moon was creepy, but the blood was the worst part of it all.
The twelve boys left Chan's house at eight. They said goodbye to his mother and started going back home when Junhui, who looked up to see the stars, pointed at the moon and whispered, "Why is the moon bleeding?"
The other boys looked up and saw two crimson trails flowing out of the moon's mouth and trickling down its teeth. The group stopped walking, and Wonwoo said, "Something must have happened."
They were silent. They all just kept looking at the bleeding moon, and the bleeding moon stared back at them. Joshua cleared his throat and said, "Nothing happened. Don't worry guys."
No one responded to that. Jisoo continued, "Let's go to our homes and sleep. We need to be ready for tomorrow."
The boys still hadn't said anything, but they listened to Jisoo because he was probably right; the bleeding moon probably meant nothing. It meant nothing to them, at least.
..
bleeding moon inspired by soul eater and phantoms inspired by video game prey
