TXT 𖧵 MIDSUMMER MADNESS ✓

empathy

-SOOBIN desperately wanted to leave the school. he had the chance to do so but his gut told him otherwise. something was simply off.

the raven-haired boy carried the axe from earlier and gripped onto it tightly. thankfully, yeonjun was still alive and running along with him to save beomgyu, whom they have finally located after hearing his voice booming.

the boys sprinted towards the noise and finally spotted beomgyu. he was holding a bat in one hand and a knife in the other. soobin gulped as he saw how crazy the man looked, his eyes showing pure evil.

soobin can't help but feel sorry for the man. the woman who had died at the suicide cliff was probably his lover or someone who held value in his life.

"beomgyu!" yeonjun ran towards the boy who was being cornered.

beomgyu flashed a look of anger and worry as soon as he spotted both yeonjun and soobin.
the man only laughed harder as he pointed his gun at yeonjun's direction instead.

"choi yeonjun! fancy seeing you here. you boys are gullible! unfortunately, hueningkai is not dead but i did find his phone! it led you three straight to me," the man exclaimed and clapped his hands.

"leave them alone, it was my fault. why did you have to kill taehyun? why can't you just leave the other boys alone?" yeonjun yelled, his voice cracking mid-sentence.

soobin looked over at beomgyu, who was motioning him to swing his axe but soobin shook his head slowly. as much as he hated the man, he didn't have the heart to murder someone.

"do i look dead to you boys? you left me suffering! she's gone because of you!" the man cried out as he started to pull the hammer down on his gun.

"then fucking kill me you psycho! don't kill my friends!" yeonjun spat out.

beomgyu and soobin's eyes widened at yeonjun words. soobin found yeonjun insane at that moment and tugged on his arm.

"what the hell is wrong with you?" soobin muttered harshly towards yeonjun but the blue-haired boy only showed stubbornness.

"i won't kill you yet, you'll be the last person i'd kill. i'll make sure to drive you insane and suffer to the point of suicide! just like how you did to me," the man cackled wickedly.

the man pointed his gun towards beomgyu again and wiped the tears that fell from his eyes. soobin was right, the man was deeply in love with the woman.

"you don't have to do this," soobin called out to the man and lowered down his axe.

soobin stood in front of yeonjun protectively as he talked to the man. the man turned to soobin, the gun still pointed at beomgyu.

"you loved her didn't you?" soobin spoke softly, only for yeonjun to frown and hold onto soobin's arm tightly.

the man chuckled and put down his gun. the man looked pitiful at that moment but yeonjun knew something was up.

"yes, i dearly loved her. you boys took her away from me," the man responded, his eyes welling up with tears again.

soobin set his axe down on the floor as a sign that he didn't want to harm the man.

"please let us go sir, yeonjun was drunk that night. from what i witnessed, she attacked him first with a gun. in fact, she had the same gun as the one you're holding right now," soobin pointed out as he reasoned out with the man.

from behind, beomgyu observed the man's physique and felt a familiar aura that surrounded him. the only thing that he could point out was the man's big, doe eyes. it was just at the top of beomgyu's tongue yet he couldn't remember.

the man sighed and his eyes lit up kindly. it was as though the man had gave into soobin's words. soobin gave a small smile in return and exhaled freely. a little bit of empathy could go a long w-

bang! the loud sound pierced the air after the man pulled the trigger. as if soobin was a dartboard, the man aimed a perfect shot at soobin's heart; a bullseye.

soobin fell to the floor in an instant as yeonjun screamed in agony. beomgyu pressed his lips into a thin line, holding back his tears. this was the second death amongst his friends that he witnessed that night.

"that stupid boy thinks i'll let you all off easily!" the man stood laughing, mocking soobin.

soobin lay lifeless on the floor, he wasn't able to say his last words. he died with good intentions; he had always been a good person with a pure heart. yeonjun hated that soobin was a good person. it cost him his life.

yeonjun hated himself even more for being unable to save two of his friends. he felt pathetic that the man stood there laughing at the pain he caused yeonjun.

beomgyu allowed the situation to sink into him as he glanced at the soft boy who lay dead. he mourned both soobin and taehyun silently before pulling the knife out of his pocket.

"this is going to cost me my life, but i hope this man goes to hell," beomgyu muttered.