"Four... one- eighty two." 

The door to Hyunjae's apartment beeped, showing a green light, as it unlocked and let in the male whose hands were shaking while holding the door handle.

"Close the windows, lock all of the doors..." He muttered to himself, taking a deep breath and trying to figure out the situation with his own house's floor plan.

I can protect myself. I don't fucking need Juyeon.

I've been doing this longer than him or anyone else I know except for Sangyeon. I don't need to be a burden.

As he was on the staircase, a beeping sound from the front door startled him.

The security camera monitor had lit up, detecting a presence outside.

Since he was farther away from the monitor, he couldn't make anything out of the black and white of the video display, but that didn't mean he would take another step forward to check.

Yves? Breaking into his apartment?

No. As someone in the second highest rank, she wouldn't do this dirty work herself.

Maybe it was the twins, who he had last seen on the rooftop that day.

His first mission with Juyeon.

"Get out of my head!" Hyunjae grabbed his hair, yelling out in frustration.

There was now a constant beeping, the security system warning him that there was a moving figure somewhere outside the house.

"I can do this without Juyeon. I'm not weak or helpless." Hyunjae chanted to himself like a prayer as he walked up the stairs to the safe where he kept his weapons.

Taking out a shotgun, he slowly made his way down the staircase again, hands trembling around the black metal of the gun.

"Leave me alone." He spoke to the thin air, as the security system stopped, signaling two things.

Either the person outside had walked away.

Or they were inside the house right now.

Turning to check the kitchen beside the staircase railing, he saw an empty space, finally reaching the bottom of the elevation and turning off the safety.

Hyunjae pointed his gun around him, looking left and right as he ventured to check the hallway and living room.

While turning to the direction of the living room TV, he felt a presence behind him.

A small rush of air that a normal person would mistake for air conditioning or central heating.

But not Hyunjae, who had spent almost the last year on the run.

From Yves?

His life?

The legacy of his father?

The people who were after him?

The enemies he had made without understanding why?

The enemies he did understand the hate for?

With less than a jerk, he swiftly turned around, pulling the trigger as a gunshot sounded in the house as well as a crash.

There was a figure to his side.

He shot there.

The presence was behind him now, as he squirmed to get out of the grip that was taking away his source of air.

Dropping to his knees with weak eyesight now, he shot all around him, hoping to get at least one shot on the person.

Hoping to shoot the consequences that were coming for him after running.

Hoping to shoot away the hurt he just went through.

Hoping to at least graze the skin of his paranoia, which didn't allow him to even be safe in his own home.

Gunshots, crashes, glass breaking, were all sounds heard in the apartment as he squeezed his eyes shut, screaming and crying all together.

Wailing for someone to save him.

Hoping to get back the breath stolen from him.

And then silence.

When he looked up, there was no presence, no figure, no intruder in the apartment.

Only broken vases, a glass of water now shattered on the kitchen floor, craters in the walls from his incessant shooting.

"I don't want to be alone!" He screamed, the sound bouncing off of the walls.

"Don't leave me alone..." His voice got quieter.

"Jaehyun."

Now, there was a figure.

The door had actually opened, and someone was walking towards him slowly.

He was wracking in sobs, all of his adrenaline deflating into misery.

"Please stay away from me. I didn't do anything wrong to you. Please don't kill me." He muttered, defeated in the war against not only the "intruder" but himself as well.

A pair of arms wrapped around him, not like the ones he imagined taking away his breath intake, but comforting ones.

Ones that didn't want him to cry.

He turned around with more tears running down his face to see who it was.

Upon seeing the person, he choked on another urge to cry.

"I can't do this, Kevin."

The 98 liner took a look around the house, flinching at the destruction all around.

Kevin took the gun out of his hands, turning the safety back on and sliding it on the floor away from them.

"You wanna tell me what happened?"

It took the older a second before he started.

"I thought someone was breaking in. I couldn't breathe and I felt people all around me trapping me in my own home."

He was finally able to catch his breath, calming down from his defensive frenzy.

"And with Juyeon?"

Did Kevin hear something?

"I left." Hyunjae didn't elaborate, Kevin nodding in understanding.

"We can talk about it later. Are you okay with coming to my house?" The younger asked, seeing him uncomfortably shivering from the former fear. "I think you would feel safer there."

Jaehyun nodded, getting up while holding Kevin's hand.

"I don't want to be alone, Kevin." He said, as the two walked out of the house.

The hallucinations come when I'm alone.

It's cold and empty when I'm alone.

But I am alone now.

"You're not."

- - - 

thank you for reading!

remember to vote, comment, and add to your reading lists <3

i promise theres actual plot in the next chapter but i also promise that every chapter is really important and means things 

(this close to spoiling every single detail ive put in this book thats supposed to be revealed at the end)

anyways ily guys as always i cant thank you enough for reading and enjoying my book and you always make my day <33

self promo:

dandelions

a jujae short-story/songfic

by yutayakiprince

two boys see each other every year, every night of their shared birthday. they've grown up, only seeing each other eighteen times in their lifetime, but still connected more than they could even be to their closest friends. and when they finally meet in person... what feelings will rush through their hearts?

chapters are already up on my acc profile and the updates are currently ongoing! hope you'll like it <3