Fragility.

It was a word that summed you up perfectly. From your plush pink lips, petite as they were, right down to your pale and bare toes framed against the fluffy cream carpet beneath you.

Typically this would have been a miserable sight, but because it was you he was observing, it simply looked perfect.

“Go on in then...”

His cold tone whispered through your ear, your wobbling legs seeming to have a mind of their own as they obeyed and stepped inside. In place of softness you now found something hard and cold. The surface beneath you had changed, from fine carpet to polished glass.

It surrounded you now, faintly reflecting your own frightened visage back at you, proving so clearly that you didn't want this, but had no choice.

To refuse to appease him would only lead to the others getting hurt. You didn't want that.

“Don't look so worried, [Y/N]...”

Saeran waited for you to turn around in your fancy prison, leaning casually against the edge of the entrance as he watched you. “...I made it nice for you, didn't I?”

True. A small sofa that converted into a bed. Plush pillows in Molang and Totoro designs. Even a mini fridge for whenever you got hungry or thirsty, and fairy lights that hung and glimmered from corner to corner. This glass case he wanted to trap you in was far from ugly, or uncomfortable. But to be sealed away in the centre of his bedroom, treated like some limited edition doll...how could you feel even remotely optimistic about this?

“Didn't I?”

But again...this was an unfortunate necessity. His threats weren't light. There was a strong possibility he would try to hurt those you cared about...even his own family. All because he insisted on one simple thing.

She's MINE.

So here you were.

A pair of pale and slender arms wrapped around your middle, Saeran's firm chest pressing to your back and lips meeting the shell of your ear. His voice spoke ominously into it:

“Are you ignoring me, [Y/N]?”

You gulped, snapping free from your daze immediately and shaking your head. “N-no sir--”

He only squeezed your harder, chuckling darkly.

“...'Sir'...” he hummed, allowing his nose to brush against your neck as he shifted his head further into the crook of it, “...You don't need to call me 'sir'. Just call me 'Saeran', alright? Or if you like, you can call me 'Ray'.”

You didn't care.

“Either way, I want you to feel relaxed.”

You didn't know how you could, especially when he stepped in there with you and closed the door. A matching glass lock fit into place and he slid the key back around his neck, shimmering with hints of blue. His ice-like eyes were just the same, cruelly observing you as you slipped free from his hold and backed away a few steps.

It was sickening. To see so clearly the world around you, but know you couldn't step into it.

“This is all you'll know now...” he came stepping closer, the solution to your entrapment dangling so temptingly before his burgundy tank top, his slender hands drawing themselves across the clear walls as he walked. Eventually he reached you, and one of those hands came up to cup your cheek, thumb running almost tentatively across your skin.

“I'm the only person you'll see, because I'm the only person you need. You shouldn't be a part of their pathetic world when you can be with me instead.” he purred out lowly, leaning closer and closer until you were pinned against the far wall of the container. “That's what they call true love, isn't it?”

Like hell.

This wasn't love. It was a filthy obsession, one he saw fit to revel in. He had to be mad. Only someone who was genuinely twisted would be capable of doing something like this.

He tugged you down by the collar he'd placed upon your neck and had you thrust down upon the sofa beneath him. His well-built form soon clambered over you and made sure you were completely caged between his arms and legs. All you could see was his slightly shadowed face. Pink and white hair. Mint eyes...

“I've done all this because I love you, [Y/N]. Because I need you somewhere safe, somewhere I can keep an eye on you at all times...”

Saeran was speaking so softly it almost seemed alien.

“If I didn't do this, who's to say what would happen?”

You knew how he could really be.

“So...just relax...okay?”

His lips met your neck, and then your own. His mouth captured yours, hands coming to run down your sides, knowing you weren't going anywhere anyway. That fact alone left you with no choice but to let him kiss you, as much as you wanted to resist.

You felt so pathetic though. It was enough to make you well up, feeling his tongue invading every corner of you, his eyes shut with a rush of ecstasy that you weren't privy to. How could you enjoy any of this when it was under duress? You had only stopped struggling so much because you were afraid.

But you still cared about them. All of them. You were certain they cared about you too, and were probably fighting for you somehow, somewhere, right now.

So why weren't you fighting for yourself?

Saeran moaned, and something about the sound of his pleasure ticked you off, enough so that your teeth came clamping down on his tongue at the best opportunity. He winced wildly and stiffened when it happened, pale eyes flashing open and zeroing in on your now defiant expression. His filled with fury, and he ripped back just to clutch his maw, feeling the raw blood oozing out and dripping from the corner.

“...You...BITCH!”

The shift was immediate. 'Ray' ceased to be, and some new kind of monster took his place. Two hands shot down and seized your neck, squeezing and crushing without any hesitations. Immediately you started wheezing and squirming, cheeks going red and eyes fluttering as he choked you.

“S—Sae---!!”

He didn't care. He was the one who didn't care this time around, he only wanted to repay you for your resistance in some way he saw fit.

Really though, he had no intentions of killing you. When you blacked out he pulled back, stopping himself from going any further. All his efforts couldn't go to waste, not now.

In time you'd come around...

“...Sorry. You gave me no choice, [Y/N]...”

His lips met your forehead this time, as he lay down carefully beside you, holding and caressing you closely.

You were fragile. He didn't want to break you.

In time...

…

“...?”

Confused. Bewildered. Lost.

Just a sample of the words that could have described you in that moment you awoke beside him.

Saeran was still sleeping. Dozing away, almost looking too innocent in that moment. But you knew better.

Oh you did.

And that key was too tempting.

Was it a risk? Of course it was, a mighty risk indeed. But the alternative was to sit pretty and live out the rest of your days like this, and just the thought was enough to sicken you. Even if you were scared, even if your fingers trembled ceaselessly and your heartbeat hurt, you still reached up to take it anyway.

You could feel his breathing pulsing through your hands as they cautiously lifted the chain from around his neck. Some of his soft pallid hair brushed against your skin while you removed the pendant, and for a brief moment you happened to touch his cheek with your knuckle. This made you tense like a rock of course, but he seemed asleep still.

Good...then I have a chance.

For now you had the key, clutched in one slightly sweating palm. Getting away from him was a whole other matter, but you took it step by step so you weren't rash. Easing yourself down, you passed by his chest and heard the beat this time, steady and relaxed. He only shifted slightly as you softly wriggled free, which boded well. Eventually you made it, and like a bullet you were up on your feet, while still being careful to pad along with little sound.

The door was right there. You hurried to it on your tiptoes and fumbled with the key. If you dropped it would it smash? Could you even break these walls by using something? No...he'd have thought of that, all of it. Everything here was so calculated and perfectly set up, he must have.

Far simpler to just be careful and unlock it. Such a basic motion, just insert and turn.

Yet you were shaking, and you clumsily ended up doing just what you feared. The key slipped between your fingers suddenly and clattered on the glass below.

This mistake didn't destroy the key.

But it did destroy your hope.

If you had only been one second faster, you might have made it. Sadly that wasn't the case. Sadly, Saeran's fingers curled through the back of your collar and hauled you back so fast and harsh that you choked. Sadly, he had enough strength on his side to send your already weakened body careening across the floor.

You were in an even worse situation than before.

“While I was sleeping, hm? Smart...”

Dazed and pained, you lay there on your side after skidding to a halt, watching with half-hooded eyes as his tan boots trod towards you. Soon enough his hand was in your hair and pulling you back up by it, his switched self not caring how much you were suffering.

You met the cool glass again as he slammed you up to it, his own body meeting your front and keeping you crushed. Still his nails were digging into your scalp, his other hand cupping your jawline and tilting your head up.

Mint eyes met you. Some humanity still lingered, but he was furious nonetheless. At times like this you didn't know what he'd do, and it was this side of him that truly made you fear for all the others. What if it came to the point where he couldn't hold himself back? Where it didn't matter what you did to please him?

“...After all I've done to try and keep you safe, try and keep you untarnished, you throw it back in my face by trying to leave me...”

His brow collapsed into sorrow, and a pang of regret hit you again.

“How could you do this to me...?”

How could someone so deranged speak in such a tragic tone? How could he look so disheartened when this was all his own making? How could he expect you to feel sorry for him?

Saeran let his head thump beside yours, his heavy breathing steaming up the glass. His chest almost seemed to heave a little while he leaned against you, as if he were barely holding back a sob.

As if this had truly hurt him.

It dawned upon you then.

More than the key. More than this cage. More than you yourself.

He was the most fragile of all.