eleven: rescue me

"You never want to go out before music class. What's the occasion?"

Jeong-Soon flicks his girlfriend's nose playfully, eliciting a giggle from her before he twines their hands together. "Why, can't I take my gorgeous girlfriend out once in a while?" Her hand's small and warm in his, and he can almost feel her pulse at the place where his fingers meet her wrist, affettuoso beneath her skin. The butterflies in his stomach roar to life with a torrid flap of their buzzing wings, terrified that Mia might pick up on his guilt.

Mia bestows a smile upon him, sunlight threaded into every corner of her grin. "This is about yesterday, isn't it?"

Jeong-Soon's heartbeat picks up in his chest, thudding so loud he's sure Mia can hear it. Crescendo, crescendo, crescendo. "Of course not," he lies, because it is about the day before, about the almost euphoric rush he'd felt at being pressed so close to Gregory Gan, about the way he'd sensed Gregory's arousal, about the stupid, stupid headphones and their stupid, stupid wires.

Mia rolls her eyes at him teasingly, but something rests beneath the surface of her candied gaze---Jeong-Soon can't quite tell what. Silhouetted in the afternoon sunlight as they cross the street, she looks like an angel---golden and pure and so deliciously warm, every sunbeam stitched into her soul, every star scattered in her hair. "You're a horrible liar."

Jeong-Soon doesn't say anything until they reach the other side of the road, stopping right in front of the row of shops opposite Bailey. Then he lets out the breath he's been holding for at least twenty minutes, allowing to rush out of his chest in a deep, flooding exhale. "I'm sorry. For everything."

"It's okay." Mia pulls him to her, tilting his face enough so his cheek rests on her curly head; Jeong-Soon notes how she's only a little bit shorter than Gregory. Her dark hair is soft and fluffy against his face, like a cloud of cotton candy. "It's okay. Really. I understand. You don't need to be sorry. And you didn't need to take me out to make up for it, because there's nothing to make up for."

Jeong-Soon rests there for a moment, before stepping away and looking down at the ground. "I'm sorry."

Mia laughs. "Babe, it's fine. Don't apologise." She locks their fingers together again. Tight. Inseparable. Two pieces of the same puzzle. "Besides, I'd never pass up a chance to spend time with you." And just when Jeong-Soon feels like his heart might explode, she asks, "So, where are we going?"

Panic instantly grips Jeong-Soon---he'd thought of taking Mia out, but he hadn't exactly thought of where to take her to. His eyes dart up, scanning the names of the shops. One catches his eye---a bright pink, neon sign with Snow Halation written across it in glaring rose letters. Magnus had mentioned it before, praising their ice cream to high heaven. At the thought of Magnus, guilt overwhelms Jeong-Soon again. Magnus hadn't showed up to school the day before, and neither had Aimee.

"How about Snow Halation?" Jeong-Soon suggests.

Mia seems to brighten even more. "That sounds great!" she proclaims, making Jeong-Soon mentally heave a sigh of relief. "My friend works there. You'll love her."

Jeong-Soon nods distractedly as he stares up at the glowing pink sign, basking in the artificial luminescence. Even in the glaring daylight, it's ridiculously bright. So bright it's out of place. He's instantly reminded of Gregory, sitting in the dingy corner of the cafeteria, fire stretching over his bones, scarlet embroidered into his soul. He shakes his head, but the thoughts don't go away.

Dang it. Focus on Mia, you dumbass.

He's interrupted by his girlfriend pulling open the door, the little cluster of bells looped through its handle chiming through the self-chastisement fogging his mind. "We'd better go, or we'll be late for class," Mia states, tone so light that Jeong-Soon's sure she couldn't care less if they actually ended up late for class.

Jeong-Soon swallows, nodding quickly before following Mia inside the shop. "Right. Class. Right." His insides churn at the idea of having to face Gregory again.

The ice cream shop is brightly lit, fluorescent lights lining the ceiling. It's mostly empty, save for two couples leaning over their seats in the corners. Everything, from the seats to the counter to the menu signboards, is bright pink, consuming Jeong-Soon's vision in a flurry of blush. Mia seems completely in her element, lips parting in an even bigger smile as she drinks in her surroundings. Then she squeals, rushing over to the lone figure at the counter. "Demeter! I'm so glad you're working today!"

The girl at the counter is tall and pale, with dark, pink-streaked hair pulled back into a high ponytail. A small pastel blue, pink, and white striped pin sits on the bosom of her rose-coloured apron, and startling green eyes stare out from her face, half-hidden behind thin coral glasses. Her mouth splits in a grin when she sees Mia. "I haven't seen you in a week. How have you been, Mia?" Her voice is soft, low, and husky, the kind perfect for singing lullabies to children.

"Awesome," Mia chirps. She pushes Jeong-Soon forward, and he instantly feels like a deer caught in headlights when the girl's striking emerald gaze focuses on him, lazer-sharp despite the midnight calm in her eyes. "This is my boyfriend, Jeong-Soon. Babe, this is Demeter. She's the friend I was telling you about!"

"Ah," is Demeter's reply, and Jeong-Soon balks when he notices the way her grin wavers ever so slightly, almost too quickly to be noticed. Then it's back, as bright as before, a winning smile framed by fuchsia lipstick. "So you're the boyfriend, hmm? Mia's told me so much about you. It's great to finally meet you, Jeong-Soon." Her tone betrays nothing but genuine friendliness, but Jeong-Soon gets the feeling that she really doesn't think it's great to finally meet him---though he doesn't know why.

Mia doesn't appear to pick up on it, clinging on to Jeong-Soon's arm tightly, as bubbly as ever. "We've got class in about half an hour, so I can't really chat right now, but---"

"Of course, that's perfectly fine." Demeter shoots Mia a wink. To Jeong-Soon, it seems almost forced---unwilling. "Anyway, you probably want a little alone time with the boyfriend, don't you?"

"Of course!" Mia answers, and shame wraps around Jeong-Soon's heart, loud and heavy and there. Here he is, unable to get Gregory Gan out of his head while his totally devoted girlfriend shoulders their relationship completely. Then Mia's turning to him, a symphony of pure joy composed in every fragment of her face, and his chest twists even more. "What do you want, babe?"

"Uh. Why don't you choose something for me?" Jeong-Soon suggests, if only to make her happy at getting to do something for him, especially since he's paying for their ice cream. Mia lights up at that, and rattles off something that evades Jeong-Soon's hearing---not that it matters, since he'll eat it anyway.

After he pays, Jeong-Soon's left to wander into one of the bright pink booths while his girlfriend continues chatting with the girl at the counter. He lets his eyes and mind wander, briefly allowing himself to think about the day before, when he'd been tangled up with Gregory Gan and everything had felt so wrong---and yet, so deliriously right. How they'd been as close as the fateful day Jeong-Soon had fallen, and fallen hard. How he'd felt Gregory's hot breath on his chest, and how he'd wondered if they would have been able to ignite the flame.

His feelings suddenly rear their ugly heads, plucking restlessly at his chest, pizzicato on the fibre-thin strings of Jeong-Soon's heart. He shuts his eyes tightly, hands balling themselves into fists. Don't think about him, don't think about him---

"Hey, babe. Penny for your thoughts?" Mia questions as she slides into the seat opposite Jeong-Soon, making him jump. She giggles, pushing a bowl of golden-brown ice cream to him, a matching bowl already sitting in front of her. "I got both of us Toffeenut Caramel Swirl."

"Thank you," Jeong-Soon says.

Mia laughs, reaching across the table and twining their hands together. Her dark eyes are full of love and mirth, so different from Gregory's angry, fire-filled, impossibly black irises. "No, thank you. It's been so long since we've gone out." Her dimples flash momentarily, two little indents in her chubby cheeks, and Jeong-Soon resists the urge to poke them. "I really like being with you, you know. We really haven't been spending enough time together lately."

Because I'm still hung up over a guy I kissed two years ago, Jeong-Soon thinks guiltily. "I'm sorry," he says.

Mia shakes her head, chuckling softly. "Please don't be."

Jeong-Soon stares at his girlfriend, drinking in every inch of her beautiful features, revelling in her warmth. Remorse slithers around him---for what exactly, he's not sure. "I'm sorry," he repeats, then coughs nervously. "About yesterday, I mean. I really...I really don't know what happened." I don't know why the headphones decided to tie us up like that. I don't know why the headphones were in my bag. I don't know how the headphones suddenly had wires.

I don't know why the headphones are doing this to us.

"Babe, please." Mia's still smiling, but the slightest hint of strain lines the corners of her mouth, and Jeong-Soon wonders if he might have gone too far with the apologies. "It's fine. I believe you, and I know you'd never willingly mess around with him." If only you knew. "It was weird, that's all." It was more than weird, honestly. "But it's alright, really. It's not an issue. Nothing happened, and the important thing is that you aren't hurt." I don't deserve you. I really don't.

Before Jeong-Soon can open his mouth again, Mia squeezes his hand reassuringly. "Let's just enjoy our ice cream, okay?" Then she hesitates, before saying, "I love you."

Jeong-Soon knows he should reply---he should say it back, and he should mean it. But he can't, afraid that he'll accidentally throw up out of sheer panic, afraid that it'll come out as a lie, afraid to give his heart away when it already belongs to the mess that is Gregory Gan.

So he just sits there, hand in his girlfriend's, spoon rigid in his overly sweet ice cream as the phantom world around him dissolves into multicoloured haze.

٩( ᐛ )و

Jeong-Soon's relieved when he sees Magnus and Aimee in class. Magnus looks none the worse for wear, a band-aid plastered over his nose as he waves cheerfully to Jeong-Soon. Aimee's combat boots are kicked up on a chair, as usual, and her expression is calm.

"How's the nose, dude?" Jeong-Soon asks as he ushers Mia in and closes the door behind them.

"It's nearly completely fine! It doesn't even hurt anymore!" Magnus exclaims happily. Aimee rolls her eyes playfully before slotting her earbuds back in.

"That's good," Mia says. She wrinkles up her nose. "What are you going to do if that guy comes to class today?" That guy. It hits Jeong-Soon that Gregory's been reduced to a mere guy, another blank face in a writhing, nameless crowd. Not Gregory Gan, with his bright, dark eyes and his sinful mouth and his tendency to figuratively light himself on fire.

Magnus shrugs. "Dunno. I don't think it matters. Let bygones be bygones, am I right?" He laughs, in surprisingly good spirits for someone who'd been punched in the face just a few days before.

Aimee pulls out her right earbud. "I'll kick him in the groin with my combat boots if he shows up today." Then she pops her earbud back in and goes back to whatever world she'd been in earlier. Magnus looks like he's in love.

"I'm so sorry I'm late!" Marilyn bursts through the door in a surprisingly dowdy cardigan and ripped jeans, her blonde hair sticking up from her head in all directions. While the messy hair's nothing unusual, her style is---Jeong-Soon's so used to seeing her in revealing outfits that the concealing clothing comes as a shock. "I was..." Her blue eyes scan the room, and Jeong-Soon just knows she's searching for Gregory. When she doesn't see him, her smile momentarily disappears. "...busy."

"With what?" Magnus pipes up with a cheeky grin.

Marilyn returns the expression. "None of your business, young man." Then she frowns. "What happened to your nose?"

Magnus opens his mouth, but Jeong-Soon doesn't hear his answer---before he can react, headphones have slammed themselves over his ears. Unfortunately familiar headphones, glistening with crimson iridescence. Horrified, he ignores Mia's quizzical look, searching for where they could have possibly come from.

Then the music starts.

Jeong-Soon recognises it from his One Republic phase. It had been one of his favourites, but through the accursed headphones, the song sounds distorted. Twisted. Evil, almost. It rings through his brain, clarion in the clashing confusion of his mind.

"Would you rescue me?"

He gives up on looking for its source, instead focusing on ripping the headphones off his head. They seem stuck to his ears, pasted on with invisible superglue.

"Would you get my back?"

"Shit," Jeong-Soon mumbles aloud, trying to avert his eyes from his girlfriend's concerned, confused gaze. Get off get off get off---

"Would you take my call when I start to crack?"

He finally manages to push them off his ears, feeling them slip down to his neck. Jeong-Soon heaves a sigh of relief, only for it to turn into a choked gasp of alarm when something wraps around his throat, stealing the breath straight from his lungs. His hands scrabble for purchase, two fingers finally closing around the edge of something thin and flexible.

Wire.

Jeong-Soon stands up so fast he knocks his chair over, trying to take in air past the confines of the wire. Mia is at his side instantly, hands reaching for the wire wrapped around his throat. "Babe, what---"

He bats her palms away, choking, suffocating, dying. "Mia---" he wheezes, and that's enough for the rest of the class to turn their attention to him. Magnus and Aimee's mouths fall open. Marilyn's eyes widen in horror---

---and the wire loosens, falling slack around Jeong-Soon's neck. He gulps in air like he's never tasted it before, but the sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach refuses to go away. He shuts his eyes, the wire buzzing against his throat impatiently, and its demands are suddenly clear---something has happened to Gregory, and Jeong-Soon must answer the call.

"Marilyn---can I be excused?" Jeong-Soon pants, still tugging at the wire. It refuses to disentangle itself from his neck.

"Yes, of course," Marilyn replies immediately, sounding perplexed.

"Do you want me to come with you?" Mia enquires.

Jeong-Soon shakes his head. "It's okay. I can---I can handle this myself." The wire starts to tighten again, and without wasting another second, he barrels out the door.

Once outside, he stops, catching his breath, but the wire is having none of it. It grips his throat like a vise, pulling him into the panic room again. Jeong-Soon turns left, and to his relief, the wire slackens once more. Then he remembers what's to the left of Bailey---an alley, often inhabited by most of Bailey's delinquents---and his heart drops. He comforts himself with the fact that nearly everyone at school likes him, so he'd probably get out unscathed, but that doesn't stop trepidation from rising in his chest. When the wire starts tightening again, though, Jeong-Soon throws all caution to the wind, rushing towards the alley.

He feels it before he sees it.

The heavy bass of danger, throbbing through every vein in his body. The lure of sin, hanging thick in the air. The pounding of his own heart, thrumming against his ribs. Crescendo, crescendo, crescendo. His breath comes out in ragged gasps, and although he's not moving, his blood roars in his ears. Dread consumes him in dregs, quick and merciless.

Because four boys stand at the end of the alley, and on the ground in front of them lies Gregory Gan's motionless body, bleeding scarlet on the black tar road.

*insert 50k word appreciation post about my boyfie and how i may or may not be slightly in love with him and how i'm gonna marry him even though gay marriage is illegal here* bUt aNyWaY, iN tOdAy's NeWs

yooo TSP got featured on Wattpad's Insta account! and we've got such a prominent spot on the showcase 🥰 we're like, what, second-most prominent spot after The Omen Girl (amazhang book, btw, i've only read the first chapter so far but it is SO GOOD) my boys stand out so much haha IT'S THE COLOURS ❤💙

and ik this is petty but on Tuesday, 18-5-21, at 16:07, i was scrolling through my books and well

i somehow hit #1 in a tag that kicked me out lol this goes on the list of Reasons Why The ONC Can Suck My Tiny Dick

(note: it dropped to like 200 but STILL it was up at #1 for like three days which is good enough for me)

also TMI but i have been having The Worst stomach issues ever. like seriously, i think i shit out twice my body weight in like three days, which is not an easy feat because i'm heavy as frick. my bootyhole feels like my fantasy of having a dick shoved up it finally got fulfilled, except it also feels like we didn't have lube and everything around us was on fire. so, uh. and my parents picked up their habit of fighting again (after a one week break for the sake of my Very Fragile mental health) so i can tell you that there is nothing more awkward than being stuck on the toilet for half an hour while your parents scream at each other loud enough to break several windows outside the bathroom.

*sips water*

anygays, sorry if i like, get online less! cause i'm still in (online, rn) school so the workload is somewhat heavy. also i've been spending a lot of time on Sky (Sky: Children of the Light, amazhang game with The Best graphics ever, 100/10 recommend) because i started doing daily full candle runs to save up for the rainbow Pride cape coming out next month. since i'm doing that in my free time, i have a bit less free time for wattpad :(

music terms of the day!

affettuoso - affectionate, tender

pizzicato - pluck the strings (using fingers instead of a bow)

okay so if you guys see any mistakes PLEASE LET ME KNOW because i wrote this chapter at 3am (since my AC broke down so i woke up at 2 and thought it was 5 so i got myself super awake and then realised it was 2) so i was like kinda tired? especially since i haven't been sleeping properly sjfhdjdb my sleep schedule is SO BAD i tell you but anygays yeah i am probably rather sleep-deprived atp lol. like, i've edited like 50 times bUT STILL

i know this wasn't really a good chapter but i'm really proud of it, personally! like, i felt that my writing quality dipped a bit in the previous two chapters, but i think i'm bouncing back! like, i'm genuinely proud of this chapter, lol. i think i've managed to capture the writing i had in the first chapter again :D

also, if y'alls are feeling generous, could you please press the little star on the bottom left of the page? or leave a quick comment letting me know you're here. or both! cause most of my readers are silent readers, and while you guys and your quiet forms of support are really appreciated, voting and commenting helps the *checks smudged writing on hand* wattpad algoraratheme in getting this baby noticed more :D (you don't have to, but it would be nice :P)

hope you guys are doing okay, and thank you for always supporting me!!! i love y'alls <3

AND THANK YOU FOR 3K

xoxo, Alex