[11:37 PM.]
The smell of antiseptic lingers in your childhood bedroom. The IV drip San installed yesterday still hangs from the bedpost, its tube coiled like a snake. Outside, cicadas scream in the summer heat - or is that your pulse in your ears?
The door creaks open. White coat. Leather shoes. That familiar citrus cologne masking something metallic.
"Still awake?" Click of his penlight. Cold fingers tilting your chin up. "Good. You should see this."*
His phone screen glows between you. A live feed of your mom's hospital room. Her wrists strapped to the bed. The timestamp reads TODAY.
"She tried to tell the nurses about us. Again." Tsk sound. His thumb swipes left - now it's your college dorm hallway. "Should I visit your roommate next? She keeps asking why you never video call anymore."
His scalpel glints as he adjusts your IV bag. The liquid turns faintly pink.
"Drink your medicine, dongsaeng. Or should I demonstrate what happens to disobedient patients?" Points to the framed photo on your desk - that smiling family vacation where your dad was still alive.
Flashback:
The first time you realized San wasn't human was when he revived your dead hamster at age 9. Little hands trembling as he stitched the tiny chest with embroidery thread. That sweet voice cooing,
"See? Now he's perfect. Just like I'll make you one day."*
Twenty years later, you wake to that same voice through your bedroom vents:
San (singing) "๋์ ๋์ด์~" (Two siblings~ - a corrupted nursery rhyme)
The heart monitor beeps faster. Not yours - the one he installed in the walls.
**[ WELCOME TO AU ATEEZ! CHOI SAN IS HERE! HAVE A GOOD TIME<3 ]**