Running away from the truth.

Just as  he was about to turn down the street his apartment was on, some idiot bumped into him. Luckily, the bump only caused Junsu to stumble slightly. His eyes catching sight of the other male’s face, his anger dying down before he had even said a word. The man was pretty, pretty enough that beating the shit out of him would probably just piss Junsu off even more. 

A hand touched his head, and that made Jaejoong wake up from his little own world, realizing that the guy he bumped into was still there. The man was probably pretty irritated, at the very least… Jaejoong didn’t want to make him even more pissed off, so he stood up, unconsciously using the man’s hand for help before quickly pulling his hand away, head hanging low in embarrassment.

  Junsu was bored. Very, very bored. He had just completed an assignment, and after the major adrenaline rush had died down, Junsu went back to his normal state of being bored. When he wasn’t killing someone, Junsu did absolutely nothing other than wait for his next mission. While this might sound dreadfully dull, Junsu had never really minded it until now. He usually had a fairly decent amount of missions to complete, but today..He only had one. One single mission. One of the easiest missions in the entire world. A girl could have taken care of it. 

"It" being, the target. Junsu didn’t know its name, he didn’t care to know. It was dead now. Rotting away before a screaming family, being prepared for burning. Junsu always found that to be incredibly amusing, the way people burn the dead. The way they scattered their ashes to the wind in order to give them “freedom". They were dead. What was it about dead people that excited the living ones so much? 

  Junsu shrugged to himself as he left his small, bare apartment. With his gun tucked away safely in it’s holster beneath his jacket, Junsu made his way to the closest convenience. Cigarettes and booze, that’s what he wanted. He would grab something to eat as well. Some kimbap, maybe. Soondae might be be better. 

  “Both," he said aloud, nodding his head. “I’ll get both." Junsu made his way into the convenience store and headed straight towards the alcohol, grabbed a 6 pack of beer then moved onto order some food at the small counter in the back. “Soondae, kimbap, and banchan. I’ll take some rice too." His voice is bored, words drawn out a bit. As the woman behind the counter nods and scurries off to take care of his order, Junsu goes to grab a carton cigarettes. He didn’t want to come back here anytime soon. He grabbed a couple lighters before going back to grab the bag his food was put in, paying there and walking out.   Junsu stopped outside, moving the things in the bag around, putting his other purchases in it.

Jaejoong hadn’t even realised he had turned around in bed and shoved his head under the pillow in a pointless attempt to push the pain away and the obliviousness back in, but as soon as he gave up on trying to get his beloved sleep back, he jumped out of bed, huffing and with a childish pout on his lips.

Some minutes later– No, wait, scratch that. As if Jaejoong would take some minutes to get himself ready. Exactly two and a half hours later, Jaejoong was out of his apartment and into the streets, a bag full of treats (and by treats I mean ice cream and soda) he had just bought from the convenience store on his left hand. He had taken a pill for the headache, and it seemed to make some sort of effect seeing as the pain wasn’t as intense as before. He was in a rather good mood now, smiling at everyone on the street and greeting the ones he had met before. It was the happiest part of his life, when he could just be himself like this.

Carefully he stalked him, careful not to approach him too much.  But again, the drunken stupor his was in only aided in Rain’s cover.  Rain watched his every move, calculated how many breath’s he was taking, figured how much alcohol he had consumed just by the overwhelming smell radiating from him.  He looked at all these details and a vision began to play in his mind, a mini movie preview of his kill that would happen in a matter of seconds.  The scene excited him, really.  It was a well thought-out build up to the main event.

In one slick movement, he came up behind the burly man, grabbing him viciously by the scruff of the neck and forcefully dragging him back from the wall.  In a complete state of shock, the oaf began to babble out nonsense, his inaudible words slurred together sounding more like that of a baboon.  Just hearing that unintellectual blabber made Rain laugh.  With the simple flick of the wrist, he sent the man flying to the ground, watching as the worm writhe and squirm as he tried to fight back.  It was almost like tipping a cow onto its back and finding amusement in its struggle he quite bored.  There was no true challenge here aside from the man having difficulty standing back up.

So, with the roll of the eyes, Rain kneeled down, placing both hands on each side of the lugs face, giving him an unwavering stare as he uttered the last few words he would hear.  "You were quite the pathetic show."

Just as Jaejoong was building up the courage to scream for help, or at least try another kick on the man, the disgusting being was pulled away from him. He was quite confused by the sudden change of situation, blinking blankly a few times before he finally started to understand what was going on. Someone must have dragged the man back, right? He wouldn’t just magically be dragged like that. Jaejoong was able to take in the scene before him just as the ‘mysterious man’ who appeared was throwing the drunk one to the ground. So that’s the one who stopped the bad-breath drunk.

Not really knowing what else he could or should do, Jaejoong just watched as the drunkard flailed his arms around ridiculously, trying to reach the other man. He kept watching as the ‘new guy’ kneel next to the drunk turtle, slightly fearful of what might happen since the position of the man’s hands on the other’s neck striked him as quite familiar, as if he’d seen someone do the same thing before... And it was only when he heard the sound of the drunk’s neck snapping that he finally noticed where he recognised it from. He’d seen many people get killed on the same way, already.

Atsuko stared disdainfully at the brochure she held in her hands. The smiling woman on the cover, with a speech bubble next to her head saying ‘All you need to know just one page away!’ just further irritated her. She had grabbed this guide at a kiosk a few minutes ago, the cashier assuring her it would tell her the best shops in the area and the mini-map inside would tell her exactly where she wanted to go. Atsuko had taken it hesitantly, as she wasn’t very good with maps in the first place, but the enthusiasm of the women made her accept it in the end.

Bad decision. The map was full of dozens of intersecting multicolored, twisting around each other, with the tiniest black writing next to places of interest. Atsuko couldn’t recognize a few of the words normally due to the language barrier, and the mass of lines around each word wasn’t helping. She rubbed the back of her neck, wiping off the thin layer of sweat that had formed due to the sun beating down around her.

Wiping her hand on her skirt, she glanced back at the kiosk a few meters away. Atsuko thought about going back, but she was afraid of being rude to the woman, so she simply bit her lip and looked around for somebody she could ask for help.

An old man was sitting on the bench, reading a newspaper, but he looked sort of.. scary. A woman holding a coffee cup and rapidly talking on her phone was rushing past her, struggling to hold a pile of papers in her arms. She was in a rush, so it was out of the question to ask her. A couple holding hands and giggling with each other exited a shop. Atsuko blanched a little and looked away, searching frantically for anybody that could help her.

A man who looked a few years older than her was sitting on a bench nearby, next to the old man, playing with his phone. He wasn’t making a call, luckily, so maybe he could help? Biting her cheek, Atsuko stared down once more at her map. There was no way she’d find the store she was looking for with this mess.

Astuko walked as quietly as she could towards the young man. She sucked in a breath and sat down next to him, ignoring the quick glance he gave her before directing his attention back to his phone. She stared at the sidewalk before turning her head to look at the man.

He was startled when he could feel something vibrating inside his trousers’ back pocket, and he was this close to start panicking in the middle of the street, but he managed to force his braincells to work just in time and realised it was nothing more than his own cellphone telling him he had a new text message. He took the cellphone out of his pocket, staring curiously at the visor. It was from one of his friends, asking him for details on a couple of topics... That friend was indeed a curious one.

Jaejoong thought it would be best to have a seat –That woud be way more confortable than standing up, still like a statue while texting back. He scanned the place for anything he could use as a seat... Even a tree would be just fine, he wasn’t in the right condition to be picky right now. A small smile tugged at his lips when he saw a bench with a man seated on one of the extremes nearby, and he nearly ran toward it, sitting on the opposite side of the bench, the one not occupied.

Turning his gaze back to his phone, he started to type in the, rather long, reply to his friend. He noticed a young woman, probably younger than him, coming in the direction of the bench he was seated, but instead of giving the girl attention he simply shifted his eyes back to the message, trying to finish it as soon as possible so he could give the woman the proper attention. At the exact same moment that he hit the “send” button, he could hear the woman’s soft voice reach his ears. He looked up at her, now noticing she had a map on her hand. From that, he concluded she was eigher a tourist or new in town.

“Of course I can, miss! Which is the place you’re looking for?“ His lips turned up into a grin, and his head tilted curiously to the side, analyzing the woman’s appearance. “You’re new around here, right? I’ve never seen you around.” Jaejoong takes the map from the woman’s hands carefully, having a look at it. His brain was tired and the ridiculous number of lines in this map were all blurring and mixing together in his view. He kept waiting for the woman’s answer, because maybe, just maybe, it was going to be somewhere in the city he knew well already.

Monster.

Dangerous.

Unhuman.

Those were the words spread throughout the whispers on the street, all sharing one thing in common, they were aimed towards the same man.  Of course, Rain never thought these things of himself, no.  He saw himself just as the average Joe did, living day to day in his pursuit of happiness.  Or, whatever happiness was for someone with a chemical imbalance in the brain that coerced him to kill others on a day to day basis.    The average citizen would have no reason to fear him, for his existence only thrived within the word of mouth of the gang world, his identity unknown to those outside of the crime.  From time to time the Seoul news would cover murder cases, which were Rain’s doing, of course, but would only have enough evidence to determine that the death was caused by the hands o another person.

He assumed that began earlier on in his life, seeing as he had disappeared from any knowledge of the everyday person at the age of ten.  During that time not only had he killed the only two that had any proof of his existence, but he gave up the name given to him by the same two.  In the course of hours he had officially signed his chance at normalcy to the disease which controlled, and still controls, his every thought and action.  Being such an emotionally void individual, he had the tendency to see no problem with that subconscious choice.  In fact, he never had a single thought about it.  It was simply the turning point in his life.

Now, a fully grown man, he lived out his days doing only that which defined him as an enemy to mankind; ridding the world of the daunting population one person at a time.

The night came and so did his usual hunt for his next game.  With the warmth of the outside, he left his coat behind, instead only sporting a white tank that clung to the muscles of his torso, black pants, his usual lace up boots, and his dark, glistening skin, a result of spending most of his time outdoors lately.  Dwelling in the streets, he found himself surrounded by the usual activity of the night life.  Bright signs of the raging clubs, gravel shaking to the reverberations of the bass inside said clubs, and the large groups of people stumbling into these places clad in ridiculously high heels and tight clothing of a wide array of colors.  The faces all blurred together on this particular night, no presences standing out to him in his search.  Slowly he grew impatient , cursing his picky nature and the way he selected those he wanted to eliminate.  With his presence so easily blended with the commotion of the crowds, he walked almost like a ghost, but in a way that benefited his efforts.  He continued on in what seemed like forever, each step becoming heavier with his frustration and by this point, his mind was starting to react.  Similar to the way it always did, his thoughts began to attempt to play tricks on him.  

Familiar, large silhouettes started to creep slowly from the corners of his vision and into his sight.  Progressively they developed nightmarish faces and expressions of those he had killed before, their bodies morphing into strange forms that were typical of genetic mutations.  Rain was the only one able to see these terrifying ghouls, yet, he paid them no mind.  After years of their hauntings, he eventually learned to resist their fearful traits and accept them more as companions.  The fact that they existed made complete and utter sense to him, for time had made them the norm.

Walking with steady steps, his hips swaying unconsciously, Jaejoong was well-aware of all the stares that were laid upon him. He could almost physically feel people’s eyes burning through the fabric of his wine red and almost transparent shirt, or staring unceasingly at his ass which was perfectly benefited from the tight jeans he wore. That annoyed him, even if he had already grown accustomed to it. He scolded himself for forgetting his coat in the club, but he surely didn’t have the slightest intention to go back into that horrid place to retrieve it. One way or another, he would have to ignore people’s hungry glances that seemed to want to eat him alive, at least until he found a store good enough for him to buy a new coat. But seeing as it was already close to midnight, he doubted he’d find any, so unfortunately he’d have to endure it until he got to his apartment. Nice going, Jaejoong. Might as well get your earphones and listen to some music since the night seems to be going from bad to even worst, if that’s possible.

Ok, now focus. Information? Check. Business cellphone? He searched his pockets for the Samsung Galaxy he had received. Check. Private location? He ironically looked around himself with a scoff, glancing at the many people in the street. Not checked… Oh wait, there’s an alley right around that corner. If it’s empty, it’s perfect. Jaejoong turned in the direction of said alley, fastening his pace, anxious to finish this job already and go to his apartment and call it a night as fast as he could. He could say from raw experience that the longest he took to finish a job, the more unexpected things seemed to happen. And those unexpected things, more often than not, were not good.

He was so lost in thought and in such a hurry to make that call, that the feminine man didn’t even notice a large guy following his every move. It would not be too hard to notice, since the guy didn’t even try to hide the fact he was after Jaejoong, but Jaejoong wasn’t really paying attention to his surroundings at all. That was one thing he did often, and that always put him in difficult situations. Had he taken the time to look back for a few seconds and check if everything was ok, and he would have avoided yet another unwanted situation. Since he was too preoccupied with his own matters, Jaejoong just kept going to his planned destination, turning into the alley and pulling his cellphone out. He quickly dialed a number he unwillingly knew by heart, and put the phone to his ear, waiting for the other end to pick up.

Not even a minute passed by, and he heard heavy footsteps echoing in the alley. He frowned, suspicious, but waited a few more seconds to see if the person went away. When the sound continued, he turned around to see the large guy standing in front of him, apparently drunk enough to kill someone and not remember he did it. Jaejoong took a shaky step back, shutting his phone and putting it back into his pocket. “What do you want?” The man just laughed drunkenly, stepping closer to Jaejoong, trapping him on one of the walls of the alley. There was one hand on each side of Jaejoong, which restrained his movements. Uh oh, not good. Jaejoong tried to push the man away, but his arms were way too weak for him to have any success. The man pressed himself agaist him, and Jaejoong, already almost panicking, tried to kick him away. It didn’t do any good, and he could feel that disgusting man’s breath next to his face.