Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

Something strange happened to Jake when he was a kid. He doesn’t remember it in much detail because it was so long ago, but he remembers some important things. 

He remembers being around five or six years old, an only child to his two very loving parents. Jake doesn’t know what he was wearing that day, but it had to of been shorts and some sort of shirt because it was in the middle of the blazing summer. 

He remembers the details of the season because his parents had decided to go on a picnic to a park that was surrounded by wilderness and trees. Even though the sun was out and blistering, they were protected by the foliage that encompassed them. There was even a slight breeze, allowing the wind to pass through Jake’s hair. He would giggle because it would tickle and his parents would always dote on him, bopping his nose or kissing his chubby cheeks. 

Jake was a happy kid, always eager to explore and yearning to learn more. 

His parents were occupied with grilling the meat and the wind was blowing a little harsher than it had previously been. It was strong enough to knock over some plates and have his mother chasing after them as his father’s back was turned towards the grill. 

The wind howls louder, urging Jake to pay attention to it. It passes through again and again, until he’s knocked over from his spot on the picnic table. He falls back, his butt hitting the ground as he looks up teary-eyed. 

However, when Jake’s eyes roam the expanse around him, his parents are nowhere to be seen. A worried cry leaves his lips as he tries to look for them. He stumbles up, stubby legs carrying him closer to the darkness of the woods. When did it get so dark? Jake’s little legs pick up, running in the direction of the darkness as he calls for his parents. 

His voice goes hoarse as he does so and then Jake’s feet feel like they’re getting stuck in quicksand. He whines as he tries to pick them up, as he tries to run, but he can’t move, and then he’s falling, face hitting the dirt in front of him. Tears spring at his eyes as he looks down and finds something black corded around them, holding him hostage as he’s dragged through the dirt. 

Jake doesn’t want to look up, doesn’t want to see what's got him in it’s web, so he does what any kid would do and closes his eyes, hoping for this all to go away and to be a bad dream. When he opens them again, he isn’t in the woods anymore, but instead in some sort of liminal space. 

The ground that was once dirt is now carpet, crusted and matted with different stains. The walls have some sort of beige wallpaper, peeling at the top but otherwise somewhat familiar.

Jake isn’t being dragged anymore, instead, he’s standing, whimpering softly as he tries to look around for his parents. He can’t hear anything except for the buzzing of the lights, overpowering the sound of his own breathing. Everything is unsettling, and he can’t understand what’s happened, but he turns his head and is met with the most horrifying thing he’s ever seen. 

His parents are there, except they’re not. For their insides are turned inside out from where they hang, ropes tightly wound around their necks. Jake tries to scream, but his lungs are filled with water, his hands coming up to his chest to try and ease the pain. Their eye sockets are void, just black holes that are leaking blood, dripping down in thick drops as they land on his cheeks. 

Something is coming. The lights are flickering and their buzzing only becomes more incessant as Jake stands stagnant, unable to do anything. He hears it coming, the buzzing is getting louder and louder and Jake tries to cover his ears but he can’t because he’s still choking on the grimey water that’s somehow made its way into his mouth. 

It’s coming closer, and the buzzing gets louder , the lights flicker and the room goes dark. 

Jake opens his eyes, sitting up from where he’s lying, gasping for air, choking on his cries as he reaches his arms out for his mom. She takes him into her arms quickly, attempting to soothe him. 

In his later years of life, Jake comes to understand that he had gone missing for an entire day before his parents found him, buried in a heap of dirt near where their picnic had taken place. No matter who asked him, Jake would not speak of what he saw while he was away.

It almost felt as distant as a nightmare. 

🐦‍⬛

“I’m bored,” Heeseung says, putting out their shared blunt on the ashtray that’s resting on Jake’s bedside table. 

Jake watches him do it, movements relaxed and languid as he leans back against the headboard of his bed. Heeseung has always had a calming aura around him, never overly concerned about anything, almost like nothing can bother him or get under his skin. 

It’s one of the things that have managed to ground Jake too, because all of this — this being smoking weed and dating resident stoner Lee Heeseung – Jake had been pretty stuck up. He still is. He’s smart, he’s got a future ahead of him— that’s what his parents always tell him. 

They say the exact opposite about Heeseung. Matter of fact, they would kill him if they knew that Heeseung was even in their house right now, smoking a blunt , at that. God, they would kill Jake too if they figured out that not only had he broken their no friends policy, but he had also broken the no weed policy, too. 

He doesn’t care right now though, because his parents are out of town and can’t really stop Jake from doing anything. It feels nice to go against their wishes and just do something fun for once. 

Heeseung’s words have finally registered. He’s bored. Jake can’t help but to roll his eyes, because Heeseung is almost always bored whenever he’s not out causing trouble. 

His parents always say that Heeseung is out causing trouble and corrupting their son. Jake doesn’t know why he’s thinking about it right now anyway. 

Brief flashes of their conversations rush through his head. 

“He’s the Devil, Jake. Wherever that boy goes, trouble follows!” 

“I love him!” 

He remembers crying that day, hot tears rushing down his eyes as he tried to beg his parents to give Heeseung another chance. 

Jake’s eyes roam Heeseung’s face now, his boyfriend already staring at him. He can’t imagine Heeseung as something devilish. His eyes are soft and so pure, even though they’re droopy and red from his high. As he stares a little harder, he feels something rattle in his chest. He doesn’t know if it’s because of his own high or just because it's almost three in the morning, but Heeseung’s eyes are almost glowing. The red veins almost beat like a pulse, forcing Jake to shake because they’re almost predatory . 

His eyes move further down Heeseung’s face and the sight that greets him is nothing less than startling. His mouth is open, smiling wide and almost splitting his face in half. His lips are a dark red, crusted over from the unnatural expression that they harbor. He’s unblinking, staring at Jake with that same look on his face. The room is so quiet, but he hears buzzing and breathing, but it’s not his own. His heart is beating loudly in his own ears and when he finally fully reigsters that he’s scared, he screams, backing away until he falls off of the bed and lands on the floor of his bedroom. 

He hears the bed creaking and he squeezes his eyes shut, not wanting to see that thing peering over him. Jake can feel the tears threatening to run down his face and the lump in his throat that’s suffocating him, filling his lungs with water as he tries to swim to the surface. His hand comes up to his throat, trying to stop the choking as he clings onto it, clings onto his last shred of life.

There are warbled words that he hears that sound eerily familiar. His ears are ringing, he doesn’t know when that started. On top of the ringing, Jake still hears that insistent buzzing that won’t go away. He wants to cry, it’s so unsettling and so invasive , and it won’t stop!

He feels dizzy, disorientated, as he tries to get a grip on reality. The lights flash in the room, flickering in tandem with the dull buzzing. He doesn’t even know how much of this is reality. How much did he smoke? 

“Jake? Baby, what the fuck?” He hears Heeseung worriedly yell, and then there are arms around him, bringing him back up to the bed. 

Jake.

No, no! He doesn’t want to be anywhere near Heeseung, anywhere near that thing! He tries to fight in Heeseung’s hold, but he doesn’t let go, cradling Jake close to his chest as he rocks him back and forth. There’s something familiar in his touch and in his scent. It’s cheap cologne with that smell of smoke and marijuana. It’s Heeseung. As he comes back to his senses, he feels the warmth of his boyfriend, can hear the thrumming of the blood in his veins. 

He tries to force himself to open his eyes and to look. It’s a grueling process, attempting to pry his eyes open slowly because he’s terrified of seeing that sickening smile again. He loved Heeseung’s smile. Now he can’t help but to feel unsettled by it. 

“Jake. I’m really scared— please say something,” Heeseung says, voice seemingly dangerously close to crying. 

Jake, again.

Jake doesn’t think that he’s heard Heeseung cry in his entire life. His whimpers don’t sound human, don’t sound anything like his boyfriend. They’re almost ear piercing screams, the same off pitch tone every time. They’re shrill and make Jake feel like he’s going crazy. His eyes are still glued shut and he has no plans on opening them now. 

Heeseung’s cries only grow louder, causing him to bring his hands up to his ears, to his hair and pull at the strands, crying loudly over the constant stream of Heeseung’s. Everything is breaking with their combined sounds, glass shatters all around him. 

Jake’s throat goes hoarse as his cries intensify and then everything goes quiet. The ringing stops. The buzzing stops. 

He opens his eyes and he’s still staring at Heeseung, the other man staring at him too with a curious glint in his eyes. He tilts his head softly. 

“What do you want to do, Jaeyun?” Heeseung asks, completely normal. 

Jaeyun. 

Jake studies Heeseung’s features, studies his round doe eyes, the slope of his perfectly angled nose, and the fullness of his lips. His eyes immediately find the beauty mark above his eyebrow, letting out a breath of relief because that mark is one of his favorite parts of Heeseung and it’s right there. He inhales deeply, smells the scent that’s so distinctly Heeseung and relaxes. 

It was all in his mind. Maybe he fell asleep. Jake tries to ignore that there’s no possible way that he could’ve gone to sleep, but he needs an explanation for what just happened, and nightmare seems like the safest bet. 

“Dunno. Kind of want to just stay home, hyung,” Jake says, crawling closer to one person who has ever brought him comfort and wrapping his arms around Heeseung’s body. His eyes glance over at the clock. 

2:38 am. 

The red letters on his digital clock taunt him, reminding him of the blood in between the lines of that thing’s lips. He doesn’t need to think about it, doesn’t need to frighten himself even more. It has to have been a nightmare, there was simply no other explanation for it.

Plus, Heeseung is right here and he’s okay.  

“Come on. Let’s do something fun. Hyung is bored,” Heeseung repeats, placing a soothing kiss on Jake’s head and pulling him closer. 

Even though Jake is the one who initiated their contact, he can’t help but to feel trapped right now, Heeseung’s arm weighing over him like a heavy confinement. 

“It’s late, there’s nothing fun to do. Let’s just go to sleep,” Jake says, shifting himself out of Heeseung’s grasp until he’s under the covers, pulling them up to his chin and silently pleading for Heeseung to listen to him. 

“Let’s go for a walk. I wanna clear my mind,” Heeseung says, bending down and pulling Jake in for a brief kiss. His lips are warm and familiar, void of the cracks that they had produced upon being stretched so unnaturally. 

Jake doesn’t want to go outside. Something in his gut is telling him not to, but he knows that once Heeseung’s got his mind set on something, it’s almost impossible to change it. 

“I don’t want to. I’m cozy,” Jake says, giggling lightly when Heeseung rolls his eyes and tucks him in, placing a kiss on his forehead. 

“Then I’ll go. I’ll be back in a bit, okay? Go to sleep,” Heeseung responds. 

The smile on Jake’s lips fall and he’s shooting up from the bed, scaring Heeseung who is already set on going alone. There’s something to tell him not to let Heeseung go alone, not to let him leave at all. 

“Can we just stay in tonight? Please, Heeseung hyung?” Jake says, his tone begging as he looks up at his hyung with his best attempt at puppy eyes. 

Heeseung looks like he’s close to caving in, but he doesn’t. He shakes his head, grabbing his pack of cigarettes from Jake’s dresser and stuffs them in his pocket. Something in Jake’s stomach stirs at the sight. He hates that Heeseung smokes cigarettes and he’s been trying to get him to quit for the better part of a year now. 

More importantly, he can’t stop Heeseung from the comfort of his bed, even though his conscience is telling him to stay inside. Even without Heeseung making a show of intending to smoke, Jake would’ve never let his boyfriend go take a walk in the middle of the night alone. 

“I’m coming with you,” Jake says, annoyingly kicking the sheets off of his body and shivering at the cold breeze coming in from his window. He furrows his eyebrows, because he can’t remember opening it. Maybe Heeseung did it as a way to expel some of the smell and smoke from their blunt. He shrugs and tries not to think too hardly about it. 

“Worried about me?” Heeseung teasingly asks, wordlessly picking up his jacket and dressing Jake in it, zipping the zipper all the way up to his chin.

It’s suffocating, reminds Jake a little bit of the feeling he had when it felt like he couldn’t breathe. When Heeseung turns away he zips it down slightly, taking a deep breath once he doesn’t feel so confined.  

“Don’t want you to do anything stupid,” Jake mumbles, digging his hand into Heeseung’s pocket and grabbing the pack of cigarettes. He wordlessly shoves them into his own, fully intending to get rid of them at the first chance he has. 

He hears Heeseung sigh, but his boyfriend doesn’t say anything. Instead, he makes his way out of Jake’s room, hands in his pockets and footsteps heavy. Jake listens to the creak of the wood under Heeseung’s weight, each one almost like a bad omen. 

He doesn’t think that they should go outside. Something is begging him to stay in, but he doesn’t want to leave Heeseung alone. He can’t leave the love of his life alone. He won’t. 

Jake knows that Heeseung isn’t going to listen to him, but he tries one more time anyways. 

“Hyung. I’m so tired, just wanna sleep with you next to me,” he says as he follows him down the stairs, Heeseung’s hand on the lock. 

“I just really need some fresh air, Yun. And I’m not tired. Wanna enjoy nature for a bit,” Heeseung insists, turning the lock. The sound of it is deafening and it echos through Jake’s ears. He wants to beg Heeseung not to go outside, but his boyfriend already steps past the threshold of the door, the safeness of his house. 

It’s too late, his mind supplies. He can either follow Heeseung into the darkness of the night, or step back inside. What kind of person would he be if he cowardly stayed inside? What kind of lover would he be? He would never forgive himself if something happened to Heeseung. 

Jake feels himself shaking even though he’s bundled up a little too tightly in Heeseung’s jacket. He takes a deep breath, exhaling from his mouth as he brings his wrist up to his face and tries to read the time. 

2:47 am

Thirteen minutes until the witching hour. If they can just get back before then, Jake thinks they’ll be okay. Thirteen minutes. 

He steps out after Heeseung, closing to door and not forgetting to lock it behind him. He thinks about the fact that he left the window open upstairs. Jake turns his head to look up, but his window is closed. 

What? 

Did Heeseung close it and Jake simply didn’t notice? There’s no way, there’s not a chance that Heeseung closed the window, Jake was watching him the entire time. Right at that exact moment, Jake feels a breeze rush through him, causing him to shake violently from the chill. He brings his hands up to his arms and attempts to rub them up and down to create some sort of warmth, but it doesn’t work. 

“Come on, Jaeyun. I see you shivering, baby,” Heeseung calls, beckoning Jake to come under his arm. He complies easily, because Heeseung is right. He’s freezing and he needs some of his boyfriend’s warmth. 

There’s one thing that Jake never understood about his parents. Even after Jake’s sudden disappearance when he was a child, they still decided to move somewhere rural. Their house was miles away from civilization, almost five miles far from the closest neighbor. It always unsettled him, because if something happened, no one would know. No one would find him for hours or days, possibly weeks. A shiver runs through his spine as he cuddles closer to Heeseung. 

Another thing, their house is almost entirely surrounded by the woods. Even in the direction they’re walking, Jake knows that eventually he and Heeseung will be completely submerged in foliage, and his only hope is that they don’t get lost in the darkness of the night. 

He won’t let Heeseung take them that far anyways. 

The sound of dirt cracking underneath their worn shoes and leaves breaking brings some sort of comfort to Jake. At least it isn’t quiet, that’s the only good that he can find in this whole situation, other than the fact that he isn’t alone. His eyes strain to see in the darkness as they get farther away from his house. 

“Okay, let’s turn around. It’s cold and you got your taste of wilderness for the night,” Jake says, squinting at the watch on his wrist to read the time. 

2:51 am

Nine minutes. 

“What?” Heeseung asks, voice breathless. “We just got out. I want to go into the woods, find some cool rocks and shit. The moon is pretty too, bet you’d look sexy naked beneath it,” he seductively says, wiggling his eyebrows like an idiot. Jake would laugh if he wasn’t so scared. He doesn’t want to have sex with Heeseung tonight, especially if his mind plans to play tricks on him again. 

“You’re stupid,” Jake says, rolling his eyes with a strained smile. “Seriously, hyung. Let’s go back in.”

Jake can tell that Heeseung is getting a little annoyed with his constant begging to go in. His boyfriend usually is quick to comply with whatever Jake wants, willing to give him the entire world if he asked for it. So Jake is a little confused on why Heeseung isn’t listening to him now. 

He wonders if there’s a voice in Heeseung’s mind telling him to stay out, the same way there’s one in Jake’s mind pleading with him to go back inside. 

“Are you scared or something? I told you to stay inside,” Heeseung says, voice carrying a teasing lilt in it. 

Jake tries not to scream at him, lest to alert anything nearby. He’s annoyed that Heeseung isn’t taking him seriously when this is obviously a very serious situation. If Jake admits that he’s scared, shouldn’t Heeseung be more willing to go back inside?

They’re right at the edge of the woods. Heeseung is close to stepping deeper into the dark abyss. Jake wonders what kind of creatures are in there, waiting for them to cross the invisible line between real and supernatural. 

He checks his watch. 

2:53 am

Seven minutes. 

“Heeseung, please,” Jake says, begging as Heeseung slowly backs into the thick of trees. “You’re right, I’m scared. Please, let’s just go inside.”

Heeseung laughs. Jake doesn’t think that it sounds anything like him. 

“There’s nothing to be scared of. Hyung will protect you,” he says, turning around and walking confidently into the depths of the woods. 

Jake feels stress take over his body like a second skin. Why is Heeseung doing this? They aren’t safe out here. His mind is screaming at him to leave Heeseung, to run back inside of his bedroom and hide under his thick comforter, but he can’t.  

The decision is back. Follow Heeseung or turn around. Jake looks down at his watch. Another three minutes have passed. He turns back towards his house. It’s shining like a beacon in the night. Jake doesn’t remember leaving that many lights on. 

He doesn’t want Heeseung to get hurt, but he doesn’t want to be stupid, either. But Heeseung, he can’t leave him. 

Jake takes the hundredth deep breath of the night and follows where Heeseung went, taking out his phone and turning on the flashlight. He’s not too far ahead of Jake so he sprints to catch up. Heeseung looks over at him, placing a kiss on Jake’s cheek before placing his arm around his shoulders. 

“We’ll go inside in a minute, baby. Promise,” Heeseung says. “I just like the woods back here. So calming.” 

Jake doesn’t understand how Heeseung could possibly feel calm right now, but he doesn’t argue. He just wants Heeseung to get his minute of wilderness so they can go back inside and be safe in the comfort of Jake’s bedroom. 

They walk deeper into the woods. Jake checks his watch. 

2:58 am

They need to start walking back now. 

“Why do you keep checking your watch?” Heeseung asks, looking at Jake with those endearing eyes of his. 

“Three in the morning is bad luck. We need to go back home, hyung,” Jake insists, grabbing Heeseung’s arm and attempting to pull him back towards his house. 

Heeseung scoffs. “Come on, Yunnie. That stuff isn’t real.”

“It’s real to me. Please, hyung,” Jake says, tugging at his arm. 

Heeseung’s eyes soften and he pulls Jake in for a short kiss. “Okay, we can go back,” he whispers, cradling Jake’s face gently. 

Jake feels relief flood over him before he’s turning them around, dead set on running the full way back home so they can close the door and forget about whatever is in the air tonight, but he doesn’t get the chance to. He stumbles over something, almost landing face first in the dirt. Heeseung grabs on to his shirt, saving him from fully collapsing into the ground. 

They don’t have time for this. The minute hand on his watch ticks. 

“Shit, you okay, baby?” Heeseung asks, crouching down to see whatever it was that Jake tripped over. 

“I’m fine, ” Jake insists, impatiently tugging on Heeseung’s sleeve. “Let’s just go.”

But Heeseung isn’t listening. He’s on his knees now, face drawn tight in confusion. He’s digging through the dirt slowly, as if he can’t believe what’s in front of him. Jake watches the second hand on his clock move quickly, it feels faster than it usually would. A sweat breaks above his eyebrow as it passes by the six, the nine, and then the twelve. The hour hand moves, heavy as a brick as it lands on three and the minute hand lands on the twelve. 

His gut churns and his stomach twists. He’s immediately filled with dread. Jake somewhat expects something to happen, something to strike upon them as punishment for staying out too late, but nothing does. 

It feels like the forest has gone silent and all he can hear in his ears is the sound of his own breathing. He looks down at Heeseung who still has confusion written all over his face. Jake points his flashlight towards the heap of dirt and drops it in shock, trying to contain his scream. 

Under a pile of freshly dug up dirt is the carcassc of a raven, it’s head snapped out of place unnaturally, looking directly at Jake with eyes wide and beady. He doesn’t know how something dead can look so alive. 

“Heeseung! What the fuck?!” He asks, hands shaking as he turns around and vomits into the void of the woods. Tears spring at his eyes as he purges his body of all of the food and water he’s had throughout the day. The acidic bile in his throat feels thick as he tries to dry heave everything out of him. 

Heeseung doesn’t say anything slowly standing and looking up at Jake. He doesn’t look like himself. He’s got a faraway look in his eyes and they seem to be watering, but he isn’t blinking. It’s freaking Jake out, especially as Heeseung’s face starts to split into that wide smile again, eyes unmoving in tandem with the haunting expression forming on his face. 

Jake can’t look, he doesn’t want to. They should’ve never come outside, he should’ve listened to his instincts that were urging him away from danger! He squeezes his eyes shut, forcing himself to wake up , because none of this is real! It wasn’t real last time, so it can’t be real this time. 

That’s what Jake tries to tell himself. He’s got his eyes shut so tightly that he can barely think about anything else other than the pain. He feels pressure around his head, forcing him to let out a strew of whimpers as sparks of pain shoot through his body and force him to tumble to the ground. 

He can’t hear anything except for the sounds of twigs snapping and leaves crunching. Is Heeseung leaving him? Leaving him alone to die? Is Jake going to die tonight? 

Jake feels something constrict around his neck, something cord like and lanky. It squeezes him tightly, causing him to let out choked gasps. Something enters his nose, thick and sludge like as it moves slowly against his nose, pressure so intense that Jake thinks he’s bleeding because of it. The sludge enters his ears too, muffling his hearing and invading his every sense. He’s choking on it now, the taste like tar. He gags on it, trying to expel it from his mouth before he starts vomiting again, but it invades everywhere. 

He tries to cry out for help, but the noose around his neck tightens. Jake sees stars behind his closed eyelids and then everything is gone. He can’t feel a thing. 

The only thing he can hear is a low buzz. 

It was all a dream. He tries to convince himself that he and Heeseung never left his bedroom, but when Jake opens his eyes, he can’t pretend. 

He’s been here before. He’s been in this liminal, never ending place with crusted carpet and beige, peeling wallpaper. The same feeling of fear washes him over as it had the last time he was here, at five or six years old. The last people that he was with was his parents at that time and he saw their bleeding corpses last time. A part of him wonders if he’ll see Heeseung this time. 

Where is Heeseung? 

Did they enter this place together? Is Heeseung somewhere, trapped and waiting for Jake to save him? He doesn’t know. Jake doesn’t know what he’s doing here or how he got here again. He doesn’t want to remember what it was like last time and he doesn’t want to relive it again. 

The fluorescent lights are bright, buzzing like they always have, urging Jake to think quickly and find his way out. He doesn’t know how he managed to escape as a child who didn’t even know his left and rights, but Jake feels even more helpless right now. 

He needs to find Heeseung. He’s probably terrified and confused right now. Jake allows his eyes to roam the endless maze of hallways, deciding which was he should go. There’s a black arrow on one of the walls, but he doesn’t think it’s a good idea to follow it. 

Jake starts walking straight, gulping heavily as he tries to ignore how loud his breathing is, how loud the hum of the lights are. The only thing on his mind is finding his boyfriend and getting out of here. He knows that they’re on borrowed time, that they can’t waste too much of it or they’ll be stuck here. 

He looks down at his wrist, tries to read the clock, but the hands are all spun out of place and not moving. He checks his pockets, but it’s empty, no sign of Heeseung’s cigarettes or the lighter that he always carries. He feels tears well up at his eyes. 

“Please, please, please,” he whispers to himself, hands banging on his head as he tries to think of a way out. Somehow still convinced that this is all just a bad dream, Jake squeezes his eyes open and closed, trying to will himself to wake up.  

The sound of his begging seems to alert something. Jake doesn’t know how he knows, but he does. He hears something approaching him and slaps his hand over his mouth, muffling his breathing. He slams himself against a wall and closes his eyes, willing the sound of that thing to grow farther away rather than closer. The lights flicker as it grows closer, as it looms over him, but he doesn’t move. 

There’s something that should be noted here, something extremely important that Jake seems to have forgotten until this very moment. That first time that Jake had entered this liminal, infinite space, he had seen something. A monster, or rather, an entity of some sort. It was tall and lanky, body as thin as a string, but it towered over his own small frame. It wrapped it’s wire corded arms around Jake’s body and fed on his fear, only growing stronger and more powerful in the presence of somebody so scared. 

It should also be noted that Jake never stopped seeing this entity. He would see it in his dreams, stalking him and watching sleep. He would see it when the room was dark, approaching him and hovering over him, but never touching him. Sometimes, he could see it in the black of Heeseung’s eyes if he looked deep enough. 

Jake thought that he was crazy, but now he knows that he’s been connected to this thing , to this world, ever since he first stepped into it. He’s never completely left it, even when he was buried in that dirt the same way the raven had been, an omen of bad luck, of death and something grim— something sinister. Jake should’ve died that day, but for some strange reason, he hadn’t , and he would pay for that. 

Jake understands. This is all a game. He’s smart, he can figure out how to outsmart this monster and save Heeseung. Then he needs to kill it and never return. He has to put an end to this vicious cycle fo fear. 

More importantly, this thing can’t see. Jake stays as still as possible, holding his breath as it stands right in front of him. Once it thinks that nothing is there, it leaves, getting lost behind a corner. The lights stop flickering. The buzzing remains.

Jake decides that exploring must be his best option, so he’s is careful as he steps away from the wall and continues his trek forward. There must be something that he can find to help him or maybe someone else is stuck here. If he finds Heeseung first, he thinks that they’ll be able to solve this together, but Jake just hates that he’s alone.

His steps are light as he walks for what seems like hours. He doesn’t feel like he’s made any progress because everything looks the exact same. He rounds corners, takes turns, and weaves through hallways, but nothing makes itself known. Not even the entity. 

Jake feels truly alone in this place. He’s getting tired and his eyes are getting heavy, but Jake knows that he can’t fall asleep. He doesn’t want to lose time, even if it seems to not exist in this realm of their world. 

Any resolve that Jake had earlier is close to gone, because he hasn’t found anything. He wants to fall back on to the thought that this is all a dream, but doesn’t because he knows that it’ll only harm him. 

If anything, maybe Jake needs to forget about Heeseung and just find his way out. He thinks about everytime he’s come into this world, wordlessly drawn in my the feeling of drowning or being injured. Maybe it’s the same thing if he wants to leave. Maybe he needs to hurt himself to get out. Is it possible that he needs to kill himself, that he needs to kill this version of himself that seems to always be getting stuck here? 

“Hello?” 

Everything stops as Jake freezes. He knows that voice. 

“Please! Come help me!” It’s Heeseung. It’s Heeseung begging for help. Heeseung is alive. 

Jake knows it’s stupid, but he can’t help himself. “Heeseung?!” He desperately calls, spinning around in a circle in an attempt to get his eyes to track any movement. He doesn’t want to celebrate too early, but there’s relief flooding through his veins, grounding his mind back into sanity. 

“I’m here!” Heeseung calls, repeating it so that Jake can follow. It’s almost daunting, the way that every time he repeats those two words it has the same cadence, the same tone and pitch. It reminds him of the mimic of a raven. 

“Heeseung!” Jake calls again, running in the direction of his voice. 

I’m here. I’m here. I’m here. They almost align with the sound of the lights buzzing, almost like lyrics to a song. 

Jake finally runs into a section of this space that’s different. There’s a small desk and a chair, right there in the middle, and none other than Lee Heeseung is sitting right there. 

“Heeseung!” Jake says, watching as he stands up and opens his arms. Jake runs into them, clutching at his boyfriend’s body with everything in him. 

“Jake. I’m so scared,” Heeseung says, voice void of any and all emotion. 

Jake. Not Jaeyun. Not Yunnie. Not Yun. Jake. 

Slowly, Jake is pulling away from Heeseung, looking up at his face. He scans it, the same way he did earlier that night. Round doe eyes, perfectly slanted nose, full lips. Except, they’re chapped, cracks in them as if they’ve been tore apart. He tries to recall all of his features, tries to remember if his eyes have always been so round, if his nose as always been so sharp. 

And then Jake’s blood runs cold. He reaches up to Heeseung’s face, thumb rubbing above his eyebrow. His Heeseung has a beauty mark right here. 

This one doesn’t. 

His heart threatens to beat out of his chest. His hands turn cold and clammy as he forces himself away from Heeseung, as he tries to run, but this thing takes hold of him, forcing him to stay connected to its chest. 

Now that Jake is fully against it, he can see the blood coating its hands, coating its face and lips. He doesn’t know how he didn’t notice before, how he failed to realize that this entity has fresh blood dripping out of its eyes and ears, out of its nose. 

It opens its mouth and moves closer to Jake’s ear, whispering something, “My raven.”

Hands come up to Jake’s neck, come up to his head and grip him tightly. He feels a sharp pain before his world goes black. 

🐦‍⬛