You mostly stay locked up in your room the next few weeks. Your parents were out for a whole month of vacation in Jeju, leaving you alone, and you spend your limited independence finishing whole bottles of soju. You haven't spoken to any of the RFA members after Luciel's outburst, although Yoosung and Zen left you about a hundred messages and fifty missed calls.
At school you mostly spend your time alone, not even bothering to catch up with your other friends. The dark circles under your eyes became more prominent, and you try to keep it hidden using your eye cream. You see the worried look in their faces but you just can't find it in yourself to care anymore.
You still see Luciel—walking down the school hallways, eating in the cafeteria, sleeping in the library—and you find yourself hiding every time, his last words to you ringing in your head.
"What happened the night after the party?" Yoosung interrogates you. You were on your way to class when Yoosung saw you, and he runs after you, successfully cornering you. His amethyst eyes seem to burn holes into your head, trying to get the answer out of you. You turn your gaze away from him and muttered "I'm going to be late for class."
"Something happened to you, Joohyun." Yoosung continues, not having heard what you said, or maybe he just chose to ignore it. "You've been acting strange since the party. Drinking? Park Joohyun, you never drink. And after the party, you seem to be more withdrawn. It's making Zen hyung and I worry. It's making your other friends worry. So spill Joo. Maybe it's something Zen hyung and I can help you with."
You try to push him away but he held his ground. You feel yourself getting angry then. Who does this guy think he is? You tilt your head up to look at him straight in the eyes and he flinches. "Get out of my way Yoosung," you tell him, the words enveloped in fury that the blond can feel, his eyes turning into a mixture of fear and concern for you. You push him away again and this time he lets you. You walk to your class, Yoosung watching your retreating figure, wondering what on earth happened to you that changed you.
You were in the library trying to do some schoolwork, a few days after Yoosung tried to corner you, when Ray decides to take the chair right across from you. You weren't aware of him at first but he cleared his throat to get your attention and you looked up, meeting with mint green eyes. For a second you thought that it was Luciel, and you were about to say something when you remember: Luciel hates you. You had to bite your tongue to stop yourself from saying the name Luciel. Instead, you say "Ray."
Ray gives you a smile so reminiscent of his own brother that made your lower lip tremble. You give him a small smile of your own, hoping he doesn't notice your trembling lip, but it seems that nothing escapes those mint green eyes. His smile grew wider.
"What are you doing on such a fine day?" He inquires, leaning over to read your homework.
"Ummm... it's my homework."
"Are you planning anything after this?" You stare at him and he stares back at you, smile never leaving his lips, an eyebrow cocked upward questioningly. You briefly wonder what this guy could be planning.
"I have class after this," you reply slowly. "Why?"
"Would you want to ditch class and go to paradise with me?"
"I have class," you repeat.
"And I'm asking if you want to ditch it to go to paradise."
You narrow your eyes at him, suspicious. You've seen how much illegal substances this guy takes and you wonder if he's under the influence right now. He continues to smile at you and you realize that the smile he gives you is actually very different from the one his brother used to give you. Ray gives off a more…sinister feeling. His smile gives you an unpleasant tingling sensation in your spine.
"What paradise are you talking about?"
He gives you an elegant shrug and a reply: "That depends on what kind you need." You open your mouth to turn down his offer but before you can get the words out of your mouth, the white-haired person sitting across from you adds, "If I were you, I'd take the offer. I will show you the world my brother tried so hard to keep you away from."
You close your mouth, gulping your own saliva. With your heart hammering inside your chest, you ask "What are you talking about?"
He gives you a smile and stands up and stretches his arm out to you, giving you a cryptic "You'll see." You stare at his hand, remembering that day in Luciel's room, when he told you he hates you. Tears form in your eyes, clouding your vision, and you wipe them away with one hand.
You decide to go with Luciel's twin. If Luciel won't give you answers, you think, then maybe his own brother will. You feel Ray's hand envelop yours, and he pulls you out of the library.
You both end up in the mansion, and as Ray leads you through hallways, you remember Luciel. You pass by the redhead's door and you stop in your tracks, wondering if he's inside. Ray calls for your attention and you turn your attention back to his twin brother, stopping in front of a door not far from the redhead's. There was no sign to indicate that it was Ray's but you're sure that you're standing right in front of his room. He turns the knob and pulls the door open and you catch your first glimpse of the room.
His room isn't that different from his brother's. One side of the wall was filled entirely with computers, his bedsheet dark blue instead of red. A pair of Ionic columns line the floor-to-ceiling window. You see a vase of velvet blue roses resting on top of a table in the boy's balcony.
"Beautiful, aren't they?" You hear Ray's voice beside you. You shift your attention back to him and was startled to see gentleness in his usually icy stare. The look he's giving the flowers warms your heart. "But we're not here to check out the roses, are we?" he continues, the soft gaze in his eyes gone. You find yourself wishing that the moment lasted a little longer.
Saeran pushes you inside his room. You hear the door click close behind you and Saeran tells you to sit anywhere you want. You sit on the edge of his bed and wait for him as he rummages inside his enormous closet.
He joins you a few minutes later, a package wrapped in manila paper on his hands. He saw you staring at it and gives you another one of his smiles, laying the package on the table inside his room. He motions for you to join him and you did, voicing out your question of what was inside the package. "This will take you to paradise," is all he tells you before long fingers ripped open the package. It was a box, and inside it are two packets of the same kind Rika orders you to deliver. You look at him in shock, and shake your head.
"Are you crazy?!" you cried. He looks at you, gives you one of those cigarette-looking sticks you see Zen and Yoosung use to inhale the substance, and you adamantly refuse.
"Do you want my brother telling you that you don't belong with us?" he asks quietly and you wonder how he knows.
"He's right you know," he continues, goading you on. "You definitely don't belong with us. All of us in this organization are crazy in the head, some more than others. We make look normal to you, Joohyun, but we're not. You've seen Zen and Yoosung use them don't you?"
You don't answer him, knowing deep in your heart that he's right. Luciel himself has told you, hasn't he?
"You're not like the rest of us. We're…all corrupted and you're not. We chose to be here. Rika just forced this upon you. Leave." Those were Luciel's exact words.
But do you want to be like them? Zen and Yoosung, both of them don't. You remember Yoosung's uncharacteristic fury at his own cousin the night the blonde announced you to be their organization's newest member. Luciel's words echoed inside your head. "You're not like the rest of us."
A steely look settles on your eyes as you finally decide. Ray saw the look on your face and gave you a smile, once again offering the white, cigarette-looking stick. You give the stick a look. That stick, which is only slightly longer than your middle finger, will take you to a path darker than you can imagine, and you're not entirely sure if you can go back. But you know that at the end of this dark road, Luciel will be waiting. Paradise, Ray calls it. Surely it's not all bad. Your arm stretches out and your fingers curl around the stick.
A/N: Hello hello~ It is I, olympicmayhem, back at it again with another chapter. Not much Luciel in this chapter as you can see… actually, no Luciel at all lmfao It's all baby Saeran~! Yay~! Leave comments and suggestions? Thanks for reading!
-olympicmayhem
P.S: THIS FANFIC HAS REACHED 30 PAGES IN MY WORD FILE! MUCH WOW. THIS TRULY IS THE LONGEST FIC I HAVE EVER WRITTEN.