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[ A/N: Holy cringe warning. ]
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Cassius watched the trio move toward the mouth of the street.
Jinseo walked with a protective hand on Hazel's shoulder, her stride graceful yet hesitant. Just before they reached the end of the street to turn the corner and walk back to the main road, she slowed herself down, throwing a glance back over her shoulder.
Her brow creased as she studied him from afar. He remained watching them leave, his shadow seemingly swallowing the light around his feet. As her eyes lingered for more than necessary, a fragment of the past forced itself to the surface.
A fragment from years ago, outside a weathered, aging house.
She saw her younger self, breathless and desperate, chasing after a boy who was walking away. "Wait! Si-Eon!" The young girl yelled, reaching for him to grab but the distance just kept getting further.
Just as the her younger selfs mouth moved again, the memory snapped shut, bring her back to the present.
The fragment, however, did not shut out the feelings that it brought back.That old heaviness she had a hard time suppressing back then, while also clouding her mind with confusion.
Why did that moment return to her now?
She refocused her eyes, putting them back onto the boy in the distance, a flicker of hope and pain rising in her chest: 'He does feel familiar. But to be him was impossible. His siblings had called him Cassius when they left, not 'his' name...'
Doubt quickly over rid her intuition.
With a final, lingering look, she turned the corner with the two siblings, trying to shake away the old feelings welling up.
Cassius waited a few seconds more, making very sure they were gone. He was still motionless, the only movement being his blonde hair catching wind, until the last echo he could hear died out, leaving the street to the heavy, stagnant silence of the morning again.
He turned back to the boys. The gentle, warm vibe of a older brother taking its goodbye.
"Now that they are gone, how 'bout we kick things off, yeah~?" Cassius said, his voice sending a ripple of dread through the leader's chest.
When Cassius was about to speak again, a sudden realization crossed his mind. He looked passed the five boys, then looked behind himself.
He now remembered where they stood at, which wasn't the best of places for the shit he was about to do. He thought to himself, 'this'll be troublesome if someone were to see me with them...'
After another moment's thought and a quick glance behind him, Cassius spoke again. "Before we start, why don't we first duck into that alley just over there."
He thumb lightly to the side, drawing all eyes toward the narrow passage a few steps away.
The boys had no time to think it over as Cassius already started moving.
The five boys glanced at one and other, then looked back to Cassius's back. The leader, who was most effected by the new guy, inhaled shakily. He looked back at his crew and nodded to them, gesturing to follow Cassius into the alley.
He could tell they didn't have much of choice here. The guy had a damn gun, and the fear of it crushed any thoughts of escaping.
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Once Cassius reached the halfway point of the alleyway, he stopped. With his back to them he, waited for the five boys to file past him until their own backs were facing the dead end, leaving him guarding the only exit.
With them now facing him again, he lightly clapped his hands together. "Now let's kick things off~."
He reached into his waistband for the second time, and pulled out the Smith & Wesson revolver.
With a practiced flick of his thumb, he released the cylinder. One by one by one, he plucked the bullets out of the chamber, letting them clatter onto the ground.
Cling cling cling cling~!
The steel clings ringing out like ominous funeral bells.
He kept a single round in his open palm, letting the boys see it. After a second of them observing it, he slid that single bullet back into one of the five chambers.
Bbzzzzzzzz! Click!
He spun the cylinder, the whirring sounding like a weird bee, only for it to stop with a final click.
"You see, I find violence to be a bit... predictable sometimes. Though I love it, I also do love something completely different," Cassius mused, digging into his pocket and pulling a clean, still new, silver coin.
'Where is this... going?' Tae-ho, who was watching Cassius, thought to himself.
Cassius held it up between two fingers, showing them. "Let's try something with a bit more flavor. The second thing I love after violence; would have to be games~."
"And I call this game... Catches & Clicks~."
Having a bad feeling grow inside of his gut, the leader tried to speak out, too protest, but his throat had tightened into a dry knot. He could only watch as Cassius stepped closer, the pink slides slapping softly against his feet.
"Lemme explain the simple rules, so your guys small brains can understand, alright~?"
Cassius playful mocked them, with both voice and gestures.
"One of us tosses this coin with a thumb-flick. You catch it, then hide it in a fist fast enough so the opposite person doesn't see. The other party will then proceed to place their guesses. You guess right? You're safe and skip your turn with the clicker~!"
He tapped the barrel of the revolver against his temple, the boys sweating at the sight of it.
"However, if you guess wrong? You take the gun, put it to your head, and pull the trigger. Then we swap roles if you don't die. We keep going until one of us blows a hole in our head~!"
"Basically Russian roulette but not at the same time," Cassius added.
The leader's breath came in shallow draws, trying his absolute hardest to listen and not miss a single word. If he can't protest, whine or plea his way out of this, he might as well listen.
He looked at his friends, but they were all statues, glued and frozen with fear, their eyes glazed with the realization that they weren't dealing with a vigilante, but a fucking lunatic.
"I'll even give you," he pointed the gun toward the leader, "a handicap~."
"H-huh? What do you mean...?"
Seeing the mix of shock and confuion on each one of their faces, a smile couldn't help itself but spread across his face.
"To make it fair, when it's my turn to guess, I'll close my eyes and not look at your hands..."
To emphasize the point, Cassius let his eyelids flutter shut. Standing there before the crew, he looked utterly at peace with his blue irises behind lids.
But, for some odd reason, the absence of his gaze was worse than the weight of it; it signaled a suicidal arrogance that suggested he didn't consider them a threat.
"Your turn first," Cassius whispered, his eyes still firmly closed.
He balanced the coin on his thumb and sent it upward. Ting~!
It spun into the air, a silver blur that caught the yellow glow of the sun. The ring of the metal echoed off the brick walls, a high-pitched vibration that seemed to vibrate in the leader's very teeth.
The five member crew watched the coin glide, their irises reflecting the spinning dud in the air.
"Catch it," Cassius prompted. "And let's see how much you trust your luck..."
The leader reached out, his hand shaking so violently he nearly missed it. Smat!
The coin slapped into his palm with a dull sound. He squeezed his fists shut, hiding the silver away, the tension in his arms solid.
The silence that followed was eerie, broken only by the hyperventilating pants of a man whose sanity was beginning to slice into a thousand pieces.
"Let the game begin~!"
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[ First POV: Tae-ho, Leader Of The Bullies. ]
"Let the game begin~!"
The silver coin bit into the meat of my palm, its serrated edge pressing hard against the roughness I've gained throughout my life.
My hand was a mess of sweat and grey concrete dust, also slick enough that the metal almost slid toward my wrist before I clamped my fingers down.
The sound of my own breath hitching in my throat was all I could truly hear.
Across from me, the guy who was making me act like this, just stood there, a small smile at the corner of his mouth.
Those blue eyes of his that filled me with fear were gone now, hidden behind closed lids that looked unnervingly relaxed.
So this... this is who those brats were talking about.
Their brother, Cassius.
Damnit! N-now I understand why that bratty girl said we wouldn't wanna be here when he shows up!
This guys a fuckin' psychopath!
For a second, the overwhelming fear I felt seconds came slipping back in. Hard. It was so thick that it made my knees feel like they were made of water.
Fuck! Fuck, fuck, fuck! I should of listened! I should of fucking listened!
My pulse thrashed from my neck, thumping loudly into my eardrum, drowning out the city noise as it left nothing but a buzzing noise.
I looked at the matte-black Smith & Wesson, now sitting on the ground between us with a singular purpose, then back at the man standing before me.
Now that I think about it, hadn't he just... just doomed himself of every advantage he had?
He'd dropped the spare bullets, and capped himself via closed his eyes.
Plus, handing me a coin and a choic---
Wait. H-he capped himself... right, then... then I have this on lock....
'I... I can win easily...'
When that thought floated into my mind, a cold, sharp clarity began to seep through the terror I felt.
I'm a survivor....
Y-yeah! Come on now! You don't get to run a crew in this district by being a coward who folds the moment things get heavy. You do it by finding the crack in the wall.
And this... this arrogant prick just handed me a whole sledgehammer to break it!
How could I see this idiot as a demon.
How could this fucker be the one who paralyzed my guys with a look. He was just a fool. A delusional, self-important idiot who thought his "aura" was enough to keep him safe while he played games with his damn eyes shut.
He had surrendered the board, like a complete stupid fuck!
He wasn't even pointing the gun at me; he'd placed it in the center of a game where I had a ninty-percent chance of winning outright. And if I won? If he guessed wrong with his closed eyes?
He'd have to pick up that iron and pull the trigger on himself.
The image of his skull painting the brick wall behind him flashed through my mind, and for the first time since he came, the bile in my throat didn't taste like fear.
It tasted like delicious spite.
My heart still thumped loudly, but the rhythm of it was changing. The panic, doubt, and fear was hardening into a focused anger.
How dare he? How dare he treat me like a toy in some twisted game? Just thinking about it is starting to make me even more angry.
He must really think I'm some bug he could play with before he crushes me. Thinking as if he was so far above us that he didn't even need to see to win.
Fucker!
I'm gonna kill him. I'm gonna watch this cunt die by his very own hand because he was too proud to just finish it.
Cocky faggot! Watch how I make you suffer, bitch!
I forced my jaw to unclench, the muscles aching from the tension. I also focused on my legs next, locking my knees until they stopped their pathetic trembling.
I drew a breath, slow and shallow, filtering out the reek of damp garbage and ozone until I could hold the air in my lungs without my chest heaving.
Gulp~
I swallowed the spit that watered my entire mouth, making sure my throat didn't click or get too loud. If he wanted to listen, I'd give him nothing but the silence of a grave.
I shifted my weight, feeling the grit of the pavement through the soles of my shoes. Every movement was small. I eased the tension out of my shoulders, letting it flow down my arms and into my knuckles.
I wasn't going to be no victim anymore. I was a person who had found the one opening I needed.
I looked at his closed eyes one last time, my lips pulling back into a thin, silent line of pure malice.
You should have kept them open, you arrogant son of a bitch...
I extended both of my fists forward, centering them in the space between us.
Since it was already thumb-flicked by this bastard, I switched the coin into my left hand.
"Choose," I told him.
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Cassius didn't hesitate; his hand rose with a slow, agonizing deliberation, his eyes still sealed tight.
Seems like he doing the first one with his eyes closed...
He truly is overconfident...
He pointed a long finger toward my left fist, his expression as placid as a monk's.
I uncurled my fingers, revealing the silver coin resting in the center of my palm.
'Well... ain't that some luck...'
He'd won the first coin-toss, but I didn't let my face betray the disappointment.
It was still a fifty-fifty shot, I guess, nothing more than a baseline for the carnage to come.
I handed the coin back, my fingers brushing his skin, which felt warm compared to the chill of the alley.
Cassius opened his eyes, and the playful light returned to his gaze. He took the coin from in-between my thumb and index.
Without a gloat or sarcastic word, he balanced the silver on top of his thumb nail. Ting!
With a flick that sounded like a rock hitting a bell, the coin vanished into the slight sun beam above us all.
Before long, it hit the peak of his flick. As the coin descended, he reached out and snatched it from the air with a criss-crossed speed that was actually quite fast.
I see...
He was trying to hide the result, which is normal I suppose. But he didn't realize how sharp my focus had become.
Survival has a way of sharpening the senses until the world starts to move in slow motion. So, I was going to use it to the fullest.
I watched (focued) on the specific angle of his thumb as it caught the metal. I saw a quick glint of silver reflect off his wedding ring finger just before his fist closed.
'Gotchaa~!'
I raised my own hand and pointed at his right fist with absolute certainty.
When he opened it, the coin was sitting there, mocking him with its presence.
A surge of euphoria crashed through me, hot and fuckin' intoxicating~.
I was beating him at his own game, stripping away the monster image in my mind until only a man remain---
No! Tae-ho, calm down. Don't get to over your head, dumbass! This is only just the beginning....
Forcing the surge back down, I took the coin back.
I stared directly at Cassius, and from what I could get from his expression, he didn't look bothered; he simply let his eyelids flutter shut again, returning to his blind handicap.
'Alright, let's go.'
I placed the coin on top of my thumb again, and flicked it upwards. Ting! Watching as it spun through the air.
When it came back down, I caught it and tucked it away.
I looked at my hands, moving my gaze from them to Cassius, his face a mask of serene indifference.
"Choose," I said, the word coming out steady and sharp.
Once again, he didn't hesitate, pointing his finger toward my... empty right hand~!
As I followed his fingers direction, seeing what he pointed at, I let a slow smile split my mouth as I opened both hands to show him the truth.
He was wrong, and the realization of it was a thing that felt better than any win I'd ever had.
For the first time since he walked into this alley, the mask he put up slipped. Cassius opened his eyes, and I caught a small widening of his pupils: a genuine movement of surprise that lasted only a millisecond second.
I guess he hadn't expected to lose, hadn't even planned for the possibility that a "mutt" like me could outplay him.
I seized that moment of mild doubt and twisted it, leaning forward until I could smell his cologne.
My ego exploded into a vicious, spoken malice that I didn't even try to contain. I wanted him to feel the weight of his own stupidity.
"Ehh~? What's the matter, big man? Couldn't see which hand it was~?" I mocked, my voice dripping with a familiar contempt. "You and your stupid rules, Man..."
I gestured toward the floor, where the Smith & Wesson lied flat. "Now pick it up. You made the guess, dumb fuck, now honor it."
Much to my disappointment, Cassius didn't argue or try to deflect with a clever remark.
Guess he isn't a dishonorable person, eh~.
He bent down and gripped the heavy steel, the barrel scraping against the grit as he brought it up.
He brought the small revolver to his temple, his finger curling around the trigger with steady finger.
I followed the hammer pull back, the pull shifting of the mechanism. He didn't flinch, didn't blink, and nor did he look away from me as he squeezed the trigger flat.
The hammer fell back into place with a hollow CLICK!
He was safe.
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I threw the coin back to him, the S&W back in its original place.
Cassius plucked the silver coin from the air, positioning the silver over his thumb before flicking up. Ting!
My focus kicked back in.
As it came spinning down again, Cassius's hands flew out in a dizzying dance. His hands criss-crossed in a blur, weaving a complex web of motion that derailed my attempts to track the metal.
To me, it looked like a desperate display compared to his earlier calm ones. That did not stop me, though.
I focused on his left wrist, betting on a subtle hitch in his movement.
I pointed.
He opened his hand...
Empty.
Damn...
The thought that I'd guess wrong didn't crush me as much as I thought it would.
What he did, though, was just sharpen the edges of my resolve.
I leaned down and gripped the Smith & Wesson, the steel feeling heavy and cold against my damp palm.
Okay, Tae-ho. This one should be safe. If I go off the logic that this is only the early stage, this shouldn't be the bullet one.
Even though I didn't hesitate as I brought the barrel to my temple, my hand still trembled slightly, as I was still afraid of miscalculation.
However, I trusted my gut to navigate the minefield he'd laid out. Since it had helped with many things before.
This event being the only one it hadn't warned me about.
Click.
The hammer fell back onto a empty chamber.
As I brought the gun away from my temple, I let out a shaky breath, the tension leaving my spine for a fleeting second. I didn't let the relief linger for more than that.
I shoved it down, forcing my eyes back toward the man standing across from me.
I took the coin back, my knuckles pressing against my skin as I prepared the next toss. But, before that, I waited for him to close his eyes again, too resume the arrogant handicap that he had placed upon himself.
He didn't.
Cassius kept his eyes wide, staring at me with a piercing intensity.
Was he was done playing the blind monk? Well, I was prepared for this outcome anyway. It was only a matter of time before he did this, and now seemed to be that time.
So, without pointing it out, I sent the silver spinning into the humid air, when it came down, I caught it in a quick criss-cross and presented my closed fists.
Hm? What the...? He... he closed his eyes again? When? Was it when I flicked the coin up? That... well, that could be the only way since I wasn't looking at him in that second.
My~my, he really isn't a dishonorable person!
"Choose," I said. His eyes opened, gazing at my eyes first before they fell down to my closed hands.
He hesitated, his gaze darting between my left and right hand. After a second of back and forth, he finally pointed to my right hand.
I opened my hands.
Empty.
He was wrong again.
'Oh~. Now look at that expression~!'
Doubt bled into his features, turning his face into a mask of surprise. I was about to mock him again, to crack more of that will of his, only for my ears to pick up a quiet, frustrated mutter that barely left his lips.
"Fuck..."
Is this fucker questioning his own luck, doubting the very reality he'd tried to manufacture? D-don't laugh Tae-ho. Hold it. Hold it in, you glorious bastard!
Inwardly, a vicious, knowing heat began to flood through my chest. But outwardly, I kept my face that of flat stone.
Hehehe~! So he does have another weakness...
Cassius reached for the gun, and I saw it: a slight, unmistakable tremor in his fingers. Well, that's understandable. Three chambers were already empty, leaving only three more left. One of them holding the end of his and my story.
I watched him bring the iron to his head, my mind screaming a single, repetitive chant: 'Yes. Yes. Yes~!! Come on! Be the fuckin' bullet!! BLAST A HOLE IN HIS HEEEAD!!!'
Internally, I was practically vibrating with the anticipation of it.
Click.
'Shit!!'
Dammit!
This... this means I can't lose again or I'm fucked! Shit!
Wait....
No. No no no no. Calm it down Tae-ho. Breaking concentration now wouldn't do you any good. So calm the fuck down.
Focus!
Only two chambers remained. Now, the next pull wouldn't just be a gamble; it would be a coin toss with death itself. Cassius grabbed the silver coin from my hand, his movements becoming a desperate blur as he flipped and caught it, trying to make the metal disappear into the speed of his hands.
I used every ounce of my brain power to follow that silver glint through the shadows of his hands. I thought I saw it settle in his left hand, but a seed of doubt started to take root in my gut. I pushed it down, refusing to let his desperation infect my own logic.
I pointed to his left hand, my finger steady despite the chaos in my heart.
He opened his palm.
Empty.
'FUUCK!!'
The silver was in the other hand.
I was wrong. I was wrong dammit!
I looked at the gun lying on the floor, the weight of the next fifty-fifty shot settling onto my shoulders like a shroud.
One of those two chambers was for me.
The heavy steel of the revolver sat in my palm like a chunk of ice. Two chambers left. One was empty air; the other was a piece of death designed to end my life.
My mind spiraled back into a chaotic, screaming loop of fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck. The control I'd worked so hard to build was gonna crumble.
I raised the barrel to my temple.
'Please please please please please! Please don't be the bullet! PLEASE!!'
I squeezed my eyes shut, my finger twitching against the cold curve of the trigger. Every instinct I possessed screamed at me to drop the weapon and run, but I was pinned by the gravity of the boys boring eyes.
'AAAAAAH!!!'
Click.
The hammer fell on the fourth empty chamber.
"Haaa... haaa... haaa..." I patted. Pats that were of relief escaping my lungs as I threw the gun onto the ground.
TikTikTik!
It skidded across the concrete, the metal screeching against the stone, while I slumped forward with my hands on my knees.
'I'm alive... ha... haha... thank fuck...'
Now, our lives, both mine and his, all fell down to one. More. Chamber.
The next one wasn't going to a shitty gamble anymore. It was a certainty. One hundred percent. If Cassius lost the next toss, he was a dead man.
All I needed to do now was make sure he doesn't see this next catch!
I snatched the silver coin from the ground, which Cassius had dropped, my movements energized by a sudden jolt of adrenaline.
'.... What the hell?'
To my goddamn bewilderment, Cassius let his eyelids flutter shut again, returning to that arrogant, blind handicap even after he'd clearly lost his nerve.
"...."
Hahaha! Yes! Do that! Good boy! You beautiful fucker!
I didn't care why he went back, nor was I gonna after.
I positioned the coin again, then sent silver spinning into the air for, hopefully, the last time. I caught it in a blur, faster than I did before because I wasn't taking any gambles this time.
"Choose," I said.
Cassius reached out, his hand hovering before he pointed toward my left fist.
I uncurled my fingers, revealing the empty, sweaty palm.
He was wrong...
He... he... he was...
'YEEEEEEES!!!!'
The immediate realization sent a massive wave of dark, thrill that washed away every trace of my fear.
Cassius had to pull the trigger on chamber five. He was already dead; he just hadn't fallen over yet.
"TEEHEHEHEHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA~~~~!!!!"
A manic laugh erupted from within my throat. Which, also, had snapped my guys out of their long trance.
I totally forgot about these morons. But I was too high right now to care about 'em.
They swarmed me, their voices a rising tide of praise, shaking at my shoulders and shouting about my genius and coolness.
I... I feel like a God! I've never felt this much thrill in my whole life!
After my laughter turned to a grin, I stepped forward and kicked the revolver. It skated across the pavement, sparks jumping from the steel until it bumped against Cassius's pink slides. I walked right into his personal space, looming over him as he stood frozen before me, his entire body now visibly vibrating with terror.
"Look at you. All that talk. All those stupid, high-and-mighty fucking rules. And now look at where they got yah. Shaking like a little girrl~!"
I leaned in closer, my face now inches from his, making sure he could see the victory in my gaze.
"You came here to be the big hero for those two little shits, didn't you? Well, guess what happens the second your brains hit the bricks? We're going to find them. And we're going to make sure they remember exactly what fucking happened to their almighty big browther~! Kekeke!"
Cassius's hands were trembling. Trembling so violently he could barely wrap his fingers around the grip of the Smith & Wesson.
He moved like he was under a-ton of water, slowly bringing the short barrel up toward the side of his head. And I watched him do it, oooh~, yeah I fucking watched him alright.
My heart kicked up in speed, with a sociopathic, adrenaline-drunk high that made me feel invincible.
I didn't feel a shred of pity for this bitch. I didn't feel respect for his silence, either.
I felt only a childish need to humiliate him one last time before the light went out of his eyes.
I leaned in even further, my eyes wide and wild. I contorted my face into a hideous, mocking mask. I stuck my tongue out at him, a wet gesture of pure disrespect.
Fuck this guy!
"Bleeeeh~!"
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[ THIRD POV. ]
Cassius's resolve finally seemed to buckle, the weight of the looming executioner's chamber crushing the last of his pride.
He lowered the heavy Smith & Wesson, his voice cracking as he looked toward the ring of shadows.
"P-please." He gazed at every single one of their faces, his eyes glistening in the dim su light. "Just... I didn't mean to do this, Man. Come one, I'm all they have. For the sibilings' sake, just... just let this end here. I'll forget about everything!"
Tae-ho's crew, fueled by the intoxicating high of their leader's victory, surged forward with mocking laughter.
They spat insults into the dirt, jeering at the sight of the giant man reduced to a quivering heap of pleas. One of the thugs kicked a pile of trash, the debris scattering as they reveled in the spectacle of his collapse.
"Fuuuuck noo!"
They, all five of them, said in mocking unison.
"!!!"
Seeing the wall of cold, unyielding faces, Cassius slowly closed his eyes, figure shaking as the mockery washed over him.
"I'm sorry, Rachel. I'm so... I'm so sorry..."
His shoulders slumped as he brought the revolver back to his temple.
The thugs leaned in, their breathing coming in quietly, waiting for the final spray of crimson that would signal their dominance.
He pulled the trigger.
BANG!
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[Kidding~~]
Click.
The hammer fell on the fifth chamber, but the explosion, nor the bullet, came out....
Tae-ho's jaw hung slack, his mind racing through the impossible. Five pulls. Five... empty chambers?
The silver coin, the spinning cylinder --- it all crashed into a void of logic that didn't exist.
"Wh-wha???"
"It... it didn't go off...?"
One of the bous rubbed his eyes, shocked. "Was... is it broken...?"
The only answer they got, was a Cassius who stood perfectly still, his head bowed letting his fringe fall over her eyes, darkening them as the gun hung limp at his side.
He was surrounded in a eerie, motionless quiet that made the hairs on Tae-ho's neck float straight.
The anticipation they all felt removed itself from their beings.
What shattered that quiet, what made this a true display of thrill, was cassius himself....
Cassius slowly titled his head back, his neck bulging as he erupted into a booming, demonic joy of laughter~!
Not human, nor even normal.
"HEH HEH HEH, EHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA~~~~!!!"
The roar of his laugh vibrated in the chests of the terrified men around him. Cassius looked over at Tae-ho, his face turning into a mask of unhinged.
"YOU DUMB CUNT!!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!"
With a wildly theatrical, showboating flair, Cassius brandished it like a prop, dancing with a loose, giddy, explosive energy that made him look twice his size.
He brought the barrel right back to his temple, his finger moving in a blurring motion.
Click click click click click click click click click click click click~~~!!!
The spamming of the dry revolver rang through the alley like a hail of stones on tin.
Thrilled to a level even more bigger than Tae-ho's, Cassius spun in a circle, his pink slides slapping as he mocked their very existence.
"CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK!! CLICK FUCKER BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!"
Tae-ho stumbled backward as the realization of his error finally dawned on him.
He had never been in control.
He was what Cassius first seen him as: A Mere Toy.
Cassius stopped his circle dance, the gun still pressed firmly to his head, his eyes burning with a light that suggested an unholy mind.
Did you think a man like Cassius would leave his life to a stupid coin toss? Really?
The answers the boys seeked were written in the empty chambers and the mind of a man who had never intended to die.
The math had failed Tae-ho.
He'd tracked every click, every toss, every rotation, certain that the fifth chamber held the end. But the hammer had fallen on a hollow note.
"H-h-h-HOW?!! YOU SHOULD BE FUCKING DEAD!!?"
He snapped at the coin on the ground, then back to the guy standing in front of him.
"I counted them! WE goddamn counted! Every single one!!"
Tae-ho's hands flailed, grasping at the air as if he could pluck the missing bullet out of it. "Fuck! What about the damn crying?! You were just begging for your life moments ago!"
Cassius didn't bother with an explanation. It was like he didn't even see the man falling apart right in front of him.
To Cassius, Tae-ho wasn't a threat or even a person anymore.
He was just the setup to a joke only one of them understood, that being the guys himself; Cassius.
Something in Tae-ho's brain triggerd a snap, seeing as he wasn't getting Cassius's attention, he became enraged further.
The frustration was too heavy, a pressure that forced him forward. He lunged three steps forward, his fingers finding and knotting into the collar of Cassius's white tee.
"TELL ME! FUCKIN' TELL ME, YOU CRAZY FUCKER!!"
He yanked at the damp fabric ad he roared his demand, trying to shake the boy, trying to force some kind of fear into those vacant sea-like eyes currently mocking him.
Cassius offered no resistance. He let his weight sway, moving like a very heavy sack in Tae-ho's grips.
He also just kept laughing, right into Tae-ho's face, finding his expression too hilarious.
Only for that laughter to be muffled a second after.
Fhhsss-click~!!
"!!!" Tae-ho's eyelids grew, startled.
With a motion so fast it blurred, Cassius brought the black revolver up. Not to point at Tae-ho, but to jam the barrel into his very own mouth. CLINK!! The metal clinked hard against his teeth, which made the guys watching from behind violently flinch.
Cassius's finger began slamming the trigger.
Click click click click click~!!
The dry firing was rapid, a mechanical mockery of the "certainty" Tae-ho had staked his life on. Cassius stared directly into Tae-ho's eyes the whole time whilst doing it as well, a glint of delight passing through his gaze.
'... Why...'
Click click click-!!
'... Why...'
Click click-!!
'Why... Why the hell did I have to met this guy?! Why! Why me!!' Thought Tae-ho, extremely frightened at the demon standing before him. (Or what he seen as a demon.)
Tae-ho's hands went limp. His fingers slid from the crinkled shirt as the heat left his body. He'd spent the last minutes thinking he was the one holding the cage door shut.
When he wasn't.
Cassius slowly pulled the gun from his mouth. A thin, clear through string of spit trailed from the steel to his bottom lip.
To the terror of the boys, Cassius didn't go back to trigger happy display, nor to his demonic laughter. Instead, his face settled into a unsettling look of malice.
His heavy upper lids fell slowly. Beneath those lids, his irises just peeked out from under, fixed in a piercing stare that seemed to look right through Tae-ho's skull. Faint lines formed from his brows, making his skin look tight.
With the second final touch, his mouth pulled back into a needle~sharp crescent form. The corners of his lips quirked upward into his cheeks with a radiating cruelty, stretching his face into a mask of wickedness.
Mirroring the exact taunt Tae-ho had used at the start of his "fall," Cassius let his jaw slacken just enough to shove his tongue out, letting it loll to the side.
" Crazy... THIS FREAK IS FUCKING CRAZY!!"
<><><><><>
END.
[ A/N: That yuuichi expression, yk.
Also, I'm sure you've seen it by now with the gun? That's not a mistake, you'll see, it will be explained... ]