「 say hello to the night
let order and chaos fill your eyes
brave the fear in your mind
walk into the afterlight 」

crown the empire; kaleidoscope

✩ h o n g j o o n g ✩

...

Blood.

All he could taste was blood.

And all he could see, was darkness. Complete, bleak, drowning darkness.

His hand clenched around whatever was under him in that moment, his nails digging into it while tears fell from his blinded eyes. Every little part of him hurt, as his body shook with every painful cry that pushed their way out between his dry lips.

The fluttering of his lashes, when he fought to blink his eyes, was barely felt - and it didn't change anything anyway. He closed his eyes, pinched them together with the warm tears welling up behind his eyelids.

It felt as if his body was suddenly picked up, moved away, but he wasn't sure if it was happening or not - or maybe, this was how he died and the feeling was his soul leaving him?

Then, a stinging pain was felt in his arm, and everything started to fade. The pain, the dust filling his lungs, and every single thought in his mind - one bye one they disappeared, until there was nothing left...

✩

Hongjoong blinked a few times, his eyelids heavier than ever and every breath he took was like pure fire in his lungs. His vision was blurry, while he struggled to find focus.

Everything around him was distorted in both shape and color, and he had no idea of where he was - or for how long he had been passed out for. He was lying on a bed, but it wasn't his own, in a room he had never been in before.

Using all his strength, he pushed himself up to rest his elbows against the mattress. The sound of footsteps approaching made him turn his head - only for a overwhelming pain to spread at the movement.

"... S-Seonghwa?" 

Dressed the way he always was, black suit and tie, white shirt and the dark hair pushed back, Seonghwa looked at him from the doorway - and although his silhouette kept blurring out, the smirk on his face was clear as day.

"You're finally awake," he simply said. "Took you long enough."

"What... What happened... Where... Am I?"

Hongjoong finally got himself to sit up properly on the bed, the sudden shock of Seonghwa made his head a little clearer - although very anxious as well. And suddenly it all came back to him. The argument between the brothers, the gun in his hand. All the pain, the tears, the last words that had left San's lips, before...

Feeling like the air was punched out of his chest, Hongjoong bend over and covered his face with his hands. No. It was a dream, it had to be. If it was real, it would mean two things - one, San was actually dead, and two, Hongjoong might be in a lot of trouble, and not only with Seonghwa but with the authorities as well. Even though he wasn't the one who shot San right in the chest, he was still there - and he didn't save him.

He couldn't...

"Don't worry. You're safe here. And I am not angry with you," Seonghwa said, seemingly knowing what was causing a hurricane to wreck Hongjoong's mind in that moment. "No one will know you were there. I've taken care of that."

"H-how?" Hongjoong whispered - his hands wet from his own tears.

"I have my ways," the older replied nonchalantly. "But keeping you safe doesn't come without a price. As long as you work for me, I will keep my hand over you. If you disobey..."

His legs felt like two dead logs when he struggled getting out of the bed. He swayed from side to side, but determinedly tried to stand up straight in front of Seonghwa.

"I-I don't know anything about cooperative work..." he then mumbled.

"Oh, angel," Seonghwa chuckled, with a darkness blazing in his eyes. "I run other kinds of businesses too. And I have one in particular that I know you'd be just perfect for."

Hongjoong shivered by the way Seonghwa looked at him; the dark eyes traveling up and down his body, with a ravenous look - ready to devour him, like the helpless little prey he was. The intimate moments the two of them had shared seemed like a fading memory of something that didn't even happen to begin with - something that definitely shouldn't have happened.

He finally saw Seonghwa for what he truly was; a monster.

With his legs shaking under him, he took one step backwards, his hands searching for something to grab a hold on, but he was fumbling in blindness.

When his back suddenly bumped against the wall, Hongjoong gasped in surprise, and he saw how Seonghwa smirked by the terror on his face. The older came closer, slowly, and as he did it was like a dark shadow wrapped around Hongjoong - trapped him in a darkness he would never get out of again.

"You're all mine now," Seonghwa breathed into his ear, deeply and heavily. "You'll do whatever I say, and whenever I say it. And if you do well here, I will treat you so good."

Fingertips were stroking down Hongjoong's cheek, but the touch was like burning pain against his skin. A sudden grip around his neck, choked the shocked whimper that tried to escape his throat, while Seonghwa's eyes pierced through his very soul.

"Do you understand?" the older hummed, but Hongjoong was too scared to react at all.

With a sudden move, he was turned around and his face smacked against the wall. Seonghwa's fingers dove into Hongjoong's hair, pulling his head backwards, while the older's body was pressed against him - and his warm breath felt like fire against Hongjoong's neck.

"I know what you can do with that sinful body of yours, so don't disappoint me. The customers can be quite demanding, so I expect you to do your very best."

Hongjoong closed his eyes, and tears started to roll down his cheeks again, while his entire body was trembling under Seonghwa's horrifying dominance.

"Don't fall into shambles now," Seonghwa said calmly, as he finally released Hongjoong from his grip. "Can't have another crybaby working for me."

The wicked smile on the face of evil was hard to read, but luckily it didn't take long before Seonghwa left the room without saying anything else - only one last, devilish smirk and he was gone.

Hongjoong bend over in front of a table, his hands clenched so hard around the edge that his fingers turned white - just like his face. His breathing was out of control, while his heart was pounding in his chest; and every single beat hurt like pure hell.

At the sound of the door opening again, he pinched his eyes closed, and his body was shaking immensely while he tried to get hold on himself. He was too weak to fight back, he didn't stand a chance against anyone right now. Slowly, he turned his head, scared to death of who would meet his eyes.

Pretty blonde hair bounced lightly when a beautiful male popped his head in through the open door - and breathtaking eyes looked curiously at him. A gasp stopped halfway up his throat, when Hongjoong stared in surprise. His hazy vision and messed up mind must have played a fool on him, but his first thought was that he was standing face to face with someone he hadn't seen in a long time.

There were similarities in their faces, but when the stranger came closer, disappointment was raining down over Hongjoong.

"Are you Hongjoong?" The blonde asked with a soft voice.

"Yes..."

"I'm Joshua, your roommate."

Hongjoong furrowed his brows in confusion, but his eyes did start to wander across the room. He didn't have time to notice anything in the insane minutes that happened only a moment ago, but now he realized he was standing in what appeared to be a small bedroom - and a pretty empty one at that. Only a few furniture, nothing on the walls, nothing on the shelves...

"Roommate?"

In his bewilderment, Hongjoong walked by Joshua and into what turned out to be a shared living room.

"Yes. I only two rules," Joshua said behind him, and when Hongjoong's hand stroked over the cover of a book lying on the round table standing in the middle of the room, Joshua quickly pulled the book away. "One, don't touch my stuff."

"Okay..."

"And two, I never top. Got it?"

Hongjoong quickly nodded, nervously pacing around the room with his hands stuffed into his pockets to avoid touching things he shouldn't. He was confused, this pretty blonde did not seem scared or even bothered to be stuck in a place like this... Hongjoong glanced at him a few times from the corner of his eyes; Joshua didn't seem dangerous, but Hongjoong had indeed learned his lesson by now, never to trust anyone.

"What is this place?" he asked in a mumble, turning around to look at the blonde male.

"This is whatever you choose it to be. It can be the best place in the world, or simply the worst. It's all up to you, and how you behave."

"I don't understand..."

"It's okay... You will eventually. But whatever you do, don't piss Seonghwa off. You want to stay on his good side."

The blonde hair was pushed away with a delicate move, as Joshua sat down on a chair next to the table. His blue eyes watched Hongjoong closely, while he held a hand under his sharp chin. He was quite pretty, in a very innocent looking kind of way - but it was easy to tell already that he was far from that.

"And what if I don't? What is he going to do, kill me?"

Joshua just snorted at that remark, leaning back on the chair and crossing his arms in front of his chest.

"That would be too easy, wouldn't it?" he asked, with a wicked glimpse shooting through his eyes. "No, he won't kill you. He will kill everyone you've ever cared about."

A step backwards made Hongjoong bump into the corner of a low bookshelf, and with his heart in his throat he felt how fear was crawling under his skin. He might not care about a lot of people, not anymore, but there was one person he still knew where was, and Seonghwa knew as well.

Mingi.

Another horrible feeling started to blend in, the regret and guilt of sleeping with Seonghwa in the first place - going behind his best friend's back like that. On top of that, Hongjoong had not spoken with him for quite a while, or so he figured, as he didn't have any idea of what day or month it was by now.

What if he had left Mingi behind feeling all worried about him? Or... Maybe Seonghwa had told him lies to cover everything up... Maybe... He had even told the taller that Hongjoong was dead?

"Been a while since I last had a roommate," Joshua suddenly said, breaking through Hongjoong's darkening thoughts. "But I'm sure we will have a good time together."

"What happened to your last roommate?"

"I don't know? I was granted with a few privileges at one point, one being getting a single room, so... Kinda didn't pay much attention to him after that, we never got along well."

"You're okay with sharing a room again then?"

"Sure.. Can't do anything about it even if I wanted to. Only the teacher's pet gets to live alone."

The way he emphasized the nickname with his face pulling into a grimace of disgust, started a bunch of questions to pile up in Hongjoong's mind.

"Teacher's pet?"

"Oh, you haven't met him yet? I'm sure you will very soon though. But don't get too excited, he is an self-absorbed asshole. I don't understand what Seonghwa sees in that bitch."

He let Joshua rant on about this person he appeared to hate quite a lot, but Hongjoong wasn't paying much attention. The only thing he could think of, was how in the world he could escape from this place - and hopefully as soon as possible...

✩