Hello 👀 I have a Seonghwa centric OS for you. Warnings for horror and body horror (no gore) Two smut scenes, too.

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Seonghwa needed some time off the busy hustle of life. Every day was a circle of working, eating, and sleeping on repeat. He barely even noticed himself doing the same over and over again. As if to sidestep the bleakness of life crushing him, his mind had dissociated into a blank void to let his body run on autopilot. Multiple times a day, Seonghwa lost his train of thought when planning basic tasks, and multiple times a day, he surprised himself with tasks he had already accomplished but couldn't remember doing.

It had been like this for months now. Summer had passed by him without him noticing that the world still turned. News filtered through the radio and the TV, informing him of floodings, political disputes, and yet another trivial celebrity scandal.

Life flashed past Seonghwa without him partaking in it. And he needed time off its bleak repetition to ground himself.

In his office job, he couldn't exactly demand a week off abruptly. Thus, his time spent away from the trot of his life had to be narrowed down to a single evening. Just a few hours had to suffice to get his vacant gaze back into focus. The last days of summer were just shy to bleed into the orange and yellow splendour of his favourite season. They promised to tickle some optimism back into him.

In his chunky old car that he had inherited from his mother when he had moved out from home a few years prior, Seonghwa drove to the outskirts of town. It was one of the colder days, the kind that had you pull out your long coats already when it was just barely still too warm for them.

Yet, Seonghwa stepped out of his seat, bundled in his beloved black coat that reached until his knees and a cosy sweater underneath. He was late. As his boots crunched on the gravel and he hit his car door shut, the last rays of the sun already filtered through the lush foliage trees. In the distance, dark clouds bunched on the horizon, ready to strike.

Sighing, Seonghwa put his keys in his pocket and took off. A lonesome jogger returned from the path straight into the woods, nodding at Seonghwa politely as they passed each other.

For a while, Seonghwa stared at the large sign that broadcasted the different routes he could take. There was one 4,6 kilometres long; he could walk that effortlessly. Another one had 9,3 and the longest 12,2. The path he had to take down to meet the according loop trails, however, started the same.

With his hands in his pockets, Seonghwa wandered down the road. He would just decide according to his mood and the weather, how long of a path he would take.

As he found himself alone in the rustling and bustling woods, peace returned to his mind. The noise of the wind shifting through the leaves pleasantly cleared all worries away and the faint breeze that smelled of the winter and snowy days pushed his burdens right off his shoulders orange. His path was littered with slugs that had yet to retreat into their hiding spots after last night's rain. He rounded them carefully so he would squish none under his boots.

Seonghwa tipped his head back to stare up into the vibrant greens of the treetops. The setting sun framed each of them with a golden lining that shone onto the trail he walked on.

Rhythmic and lulling, his steps crunched under his weight.

Nature was gorgeous and offered healing, as always. Nature didn't care about his office job, about rent, about what to eat tomorrow. Nature simply smiled at him gently and presented its clear air and the absence of the bothersome humans in his apartment complex.

If only Seonghwa could rid himself of the dim grey veil shrouding his eye from its beauty.

He didn't know how long he walked, but soon, he couldn't hear the distant street anymore. Most birds had already taken off down south, for the only ones he heard were a crow's throaty calls from time to time.

As the sun fully disappeared to leave only its red trail in the sky, the air got colder, too. Thankful for his coat, Seonghwa huddled inside of it cosily. He kept orderly to the right side of the path so that a possible jogger or cyclist could pass him without trouble. Yet, he spotted no more people.

He wasn't surprised. His watch said that it was nearing nine already.

Seonghwa walked and walked, and the further he walked, the further his thoughts strayed. Away from what usually plagued him and the blank void befuddling his mind. They strayed to wonder what the numbers on the chopped trees meant. To his care not to squish a slug under his shoes. To the grass he plucked from the sidewalk to play with it between his fingers.

After what felt to have been a long while of being buried in quicksand, Seonghwa could finally breathe again. Greedy, he inhaled all the precious air he was given.

Night had fully fallen and birds and mice rustled in the undergrowths when Seonghwa started to wonder. He had yet to see a junction where he could circle back to his car. Had he overlooked it as he was lost in thought?

Curious, Seonghwa glanced over his shoulder. The woods were dark and nondescriptive, not giving away if he had missed something.

Seonghwa slowed as yet another gust of wind pulled on his hair. Should he just turn around? But the junction had to be near, and the way back likely was faster with how this one curved. He felt as if he had been walking for two hours already when the shortest route couldn't take longer but half an hour for him.

Perplexed, Seonghwa glanced at his watch as he came to a full stop. It read 11:37 PM.

A tight fist squeezed Seonghwa's heart. He had to be up at four to get to work on time. If he turned back now, he would barely get any sleep by the time he was home.

Not taking any chances of getting lost, Seonghwa turned to trudge back the same wide trail he had come. His pace was faster now. The eeriness of the chilly night in the forest unsettled him, and he would have liked to be back as soon as possible to get some sleep.

Inwardly, he cursed himself as it all crashed back down onto him. His stress at work, his need to be on time. A hundred and one thoughts that all related to the same issue spun around his brain like a solar system.

Seonghwa scoffed to himself quietly. At least he had remembered to finish his papers at home before he had given up an entire night of precious sleep for a walk.

Just as he called himself to calm down and to relish in his trek, as long as it lasted, since he could still worry about his trouble later, he spotted a light in the distance. Once more, he slowed to squint at it. Did his tired minds play tricks on him? Had he reached the street already and not wandered long at all?

He wanted to study his watch again to see if it had played a swindled at him, so he stumbled towards the light. It drew him in as if he were a moth. The warm, dancing glow relieved some of his unease about the darkness and the noises of animals roaming around. In its shine that attracted idle insects, Seonghwa doubted a boar would attack him.

Upon further investigation, Seonghwa discovered that the light source was an outdated torch. On a straight branch stuck into the ground danced a little ball of fire.

Fascinated by how he could have overseen such an obvious thing, Seonghwa reached his hand out for it. He didn't know whether he wanted to warm himself or actually wanted to touch it to assure he wasn't dreaming.

Seonghwa majorly lacked sleep. He wouldn't be surprised if his eyes played jests on him.

"I would not recommend doing that, Sir," a quiet voice said behind Seonghwa. Seonghwa flinched so hard he nearly knocked into the torch as he stumbled back, his eyes wide.

Just as stunned, the stranger defensively lifted his palms. He stepped back respectfully until Seonghwa had cleared his throat and smoothed out his coat. How embarrassing. Where had this guy come from?

"Excuse me, I didn't mean to startle you. Not the best time of day to appear behind people in a forest," the man smiled awkwardly. His little teeth showed a boyish grin when he scratched the back of his neck. Seonghwa instantly felt bad for reacting so paranoid when it was just a stranger with a piece of well-meant advice.

"I apologise as well. I swear I didn't plan to burn the forest down," Seonghwa said. Shy laughter tumbled from the other man's lips.

"Oh, you are amusing! What are you doing out here so late? You don't look like a jogger."

Now that he mentioned it, he did neither. His outgrown blond hair oddly matched the white shirt and vest that looked just as dated as the torch next to Seonghwa. The red and black striped fabric of his vest was decorated with golden buttons and little chains connecting them over his torso. His shirt had leather buckles pinching the fabric around the man's bicep, and he wore matching black pants.

"Ah, I went on a late-night walk and forgot the time," Seonghwa explained with a bashful smile. Elated, the other man clapped in his gloved hands.

"I see, I see! Well, you look tired, my friend. If you aren't on your way home already, why don't you drop by to see the show? I promise it will give you some joy." He lowered his voice to a secretive whisper. "And I will also let you in for free." His playful wink made the corners of Seonghwa's lips quirk, but confusion still settled on his features.

"What show?"

"Why, our circus show, of course!" With a festive hand, the stranger gestured at the torch. When Seonghwa looked at it curiously he noticed just now that the torch had never been alone. Two meters away from it stood another one to mirror its position. And then, like a path leading into the forest through the undergrowth, more torches followed in regular intervals to lead up to the vague shape of a giant circus tent. The entrance flap was open to invite the guests into its yellow and red striped halls.

Awed, Seonghwa stared at it.

He couldn't remember ever having been to a circus. Maybe he was back when he was too young to think yet. But even if the big tent was the only part of it he could make out, a giddy joy filled Seonghwa's chest.

One last time he questioned how the hell he could not have seen all this on his way here, but he didn't care anymore. For now, he wanted to explore the tent and the faint music and fragrance of candied almonds that wafted from it.

When he rose his shining eyes to the doorman, he received a joyous grin.

"Feel welcome! The show lasts only an hour, so I hope you can enjoy all of it. My name is Yeosang and I hope that you have a good time tonight, Seonghwa!" The man said as he politely beckoned Seonghwa onto the path.

He had an hour. He had given up on sleep long ago, and he wouldn't let the sole adventure he would ever experience outside of work slip through his fingers. A nightly circus show sounded perfect.

Already halfway down the path, he remembered to thank Yeosang. When he turned to peer at him through the torches, Yeosang waved at him cutely. The dancing flames turned the buttons on his green striped vest into playful lava moults.

Careful of his step, Seonghwa continued into the circus. The tent was warmer than the outside and dimly lit to adjust to the night setting. The circular rows around the sandy manège were already filled with visitors, but there was a lot of space still. Seonghwa figured he could just pick a seat as he brushed past a group of whispering teenagers and a family with a toddler.

Up in the higher rows, where he could overlook everything and would be safe from vicious clowns and their water guns, Seonghwa sat down. There was only one other person in the row with him, a woman in a hoodie at the far end of it. Lazily, she chewed her gum as she waited for the show to begin.

When a vendor with candied almonds came through, Seonghwa purchased a bag of them. The delicious treat melted on his tongue until he could savour the crunch of the nut as he savoured the atmosphere. Luckily, the vast tent wasn't too loud, and even the little groups spoke in hushed whispers. The two boys in front of Seonghwa discussed whether they would see lions tonight since they had seen no cages outside but found lions 'hella rad.'

Enchanted by the easy mood and the tent that seemed to have functioned as a portal to take Seonghwa into a world where he only thought about fun, Seonghwa already enjoyed himself even before the show started. But the second that the lights changed, he perked up in his chair.

The entire audience quietened and directed their anticipation at the middle of the tent. The entrance was shut by now, and from the wooden entry under the first row stepped a ma.

The spotlight that flashed on to illuminate him was not as blindingly bright as Seonghwa had expected. Fascinated, he watched who he presumed to be the circus director as he strode to the middle of the sand ring. His step was easy, and he turned as he walked, taking in his audience. He wore one of the top hats and the stereotypical twirled moustache that was probably fake, but it fit him.

His wand twirled through the air once, twice, then he sunk into a deep bow. Some applause sounded for him as he straightened and smoothed out his black jacket.

"Dear audience, I welcome you to Dio's Wonderland! Where a sideshow is the main show! Please greet with me the special stars of our night. The freaks!"

A hint of unsettlement bubbled in Seonghwa's stomach. He knew little about freaks, only that some poor disabled people in the past had been crudely used as laughingstock by the public. He had heard no one be titled a freak outside of movies or books.

Through the same door as before, now stepped a row of men. Orderly and with their steps in synch, and yet they were all so oddly unique that Seonghwa didn't know where to look first.

The leader of the troupe was a rather short man with a mullet framing his neck. He wore an outfit that Seonghwa would usually expect on a doll. A white blouse just like Yeosang's with a corset on top that connected it to his bloomers. The corset was striped in black and blue and it matched the little decorative hat that perched cheekily on the side of his head. His lacy bloomers were black and led to horizontally striped tights in the same colours as his corset. His legs ended in chunky Lolita shoes.

When the man waved at the crowd, Seonghwa spotted some stains on the palms of his hands, but he didn't know if they would be used for a trick or if they were a tattoo. He couldn't make them out in the distance.

The second man's otherness was more apparent. His black-clad arms and legs were unnaturally long and gangly. He walked with his upper body bent, but his arms still dangled at the same height as his ankles. His legs were long enough that his hips aligned with the first man's nape. If he walked upright, he would probably be taller than any human Seonghwa had ever heard of.

Not wanting to be judgmental about his appearance or figure out the trick with the stilts already, Seonghwa watched on. The next person was - to his biggest surprise - Yeosang. With a cheerful grin, he smiled and waved at the crowd. When he spotted Seonghwa in the shadow, he got an extra bright grin.

Seeing nothing wrong with him, Seonghwa watched as he marched ahead. In between, he must have turned since he continued to walk backwards with his greetings still ongoing.

The man behind him was two men. Seonghwa counted two legs, but also two torsos and four arms. They were joined at the hip and clad in one big sweater that veiled their form. The two of them stuck tightly together, one head blond, the other raven-haired. The arms that were next to each other had to wrap around their two backs, since they didn't fit otherwise.

Awed by them, Seonghwa eyed the next man.

He was also visibly different. His appearance was that of a young man apart from his jaw. While he had cheeks and a forehead and eyes and all that, he lacked lips. His dentures were exposed like a sight of a zombie movie and smoothly blended into his regular skin. He also had too many teeth. The normal row was topped by a second, slightly above row that split his jaw unnaturally wide.

The last man also seemed relatively normal to Seonghwa. His regular outfit of striped pants and a white shirt gave nothing more away than a slightly odd walk, as if he had trouble moving his limbs in the way he needed to.

Intrigued by their charms, Seonghwa watched them assemble in the manége. They formed a circle around the director to face the crowd. The gangly one was closest to Seonghwa, and Seonghwa had to give it to the circus that their costumes didn't look bad. He was sure that the man had stilts under his long clothing, but he would indulge the idea of uniqueness for the show.

"Feast your eyes as they perform their tricks! Ladies and gentlemen, my name is Dio and I wish all of you a fantastical evening!" With a rich laugh, the director motioned to his rarities for the audience to ogle. They weren't the regular gig of a rabbit in the hat and jumping through rings. The spreading group mostly just walked around at first to show off their weirdness, that got cheered at by the onlookers. Seonghwa couldn't quite understand the hype, so he tried to squint at them more. Was he just too kind to laugh at people with body troubles? Real or not, he wasn't into that kind of show.

He didn't know when the music set in. The shrill sounds of the calliope sounded just a bit too far off to be pleasant. They gnawed at his brain as they permeated his ears, but Seonghwa blamed it on the late hour.

"First, we have Hongjoong! The man with the four mouths!" Upon Dio's enthusiastic call, the leader of the troupe stepped into the middle of the arena. When he stretched both of his hands up for the people to see, his corset rode up as well.

If Dio hadn't described the point of interest to them, Seonghwa would have mistaken the patch on the man's stomach for yet another unusual tattoo. However, as the crowd went wild in their cheers, Seonghwa strained his eyes to see.

It had to be an optical illusion, after all, and a damn good one at that. A projector had to be hidden somewhere in the lights above. Like a living body part, the large gaping mouth in the man's stomach opened to grin at the people. It had teeth and a tongue that flicked out over them in a display straight out of a horror movie.

Now, after all this time, Seonghwa could guess what the spots on the man's hands were.

Trapped between fascination and horror, Seonghwa stared at the unsuspecting face of the man, tried to make sense of what he saw. There wasn't an actual medical condition that could make mouths grow on one's stomach and hands, right? Even outside of his doubtful, tired state, Seonghwa wasn't so sure what he saw.

Hongjoong walked the manège in his pretty outfit. He allowed the people in the first row to touch the curiously flicking tongues on his palms. The squeals of the kids when they got licked denied Seonghwa's theories that it had to be a trick. But could it be anything else?

The peak of Hongjoong's oddness was him feeding some almonds to the mouth on his stomach. It wolfed them down like a beast that hadn't been fed in days to grin pleasedly. Repulsed, Seonghwa watched it grin and stick out its tongue at the cheering crowd.

As the director called the next man in to show off, Seonghwa nervously cast a glance left and right. The eyes of the surrounding people were filled with a shine of morbid fascination. None of them seemed repulsed and instead cheered Hongjoong on.

"The man with the endless limbs! Yunho!"

Even more irked than at the beginning, Seonghwa stared ahead to make out the stilts in the thin sliver between the man's pants and shoes. When he couldn't see well, he slinked from his place unobtrusively to get two rows closer. He didn't dare for more. His heart hammered in his chest as his instincts protested against what he perceived. He didn't want to call them abominations or a curse of nature, but he couldn't keep his guts from clenching uncomfortably as he came closer.

Yunho went in circles like a well-trained horse. His long arms dragged on the ground left and right of him and left trails in the sand. His head hung from his shoulders in a smile that looked eerier the longer Seonghwa stared at it.

He saw no stilts. What was going on?

Upon Dio's beckon, Yunho straightened his spine with an uncomfortable cracking sound. The audience held their breath as he stood to his full height that reached far above the lantern in the middle of the pillar that held the tip of the tent in place. His full height had to be well over three meters and even then his limbs looked oddly disproportional.

Seonghwa gulped when he watched Yunho feel his way up the pillar that he needed to stand upright. Like a spider's legs, his thin fingers climbed the wood to wrap around it.

Everybody clapped for the giant when he held himself up shakily. Upon Dio's mark, he dropped back down like a docile horse and joined Hongjoong at the sidelines.

Seonghwa watched him slink off with burning eyes. He had to blink to rid them of their tiredness and assure himself that he was awake.

Could people become that tall? Was he an android? But his facial expressions looked so real.

Befuddled, Seonghwa directed his focus on Yeosang, who stepped forward next. He still looked kind, harmless, and unfitting to the rowdy bunch that swayed back and forth to the repeating music.

"Yeosang, the man who looks identical on the front and back!"

With his arms spread, Yeosang turned. Seonghwa's mouth dropped open when a backside never appeared. One side of Yeosang wore a red vest and the other side a green one so they could be told apart and the seam connected under his arm that had no backs either. His fingers curled onto whatever side was currently at the front and Seonghwa even saw his double-sided feet with twenty toes when he showed his profile.

Horrified and awed at the same time, Seonghwa slinked one more row downwards with soft knees. If Yeosang was a hologram, it was too perfect for a modest circus like this one. His faces could interact individually and one of his sides pretended to cry while his other made children laugh.

Petrified, Seonghwa sat in his seat, leaned as far over the row in front as he could. This circus was anything but normal. And neither had been the circumstances in which he had found it.

His guts clenched once more, supplying their discomfort with his current situation, but Seonghwa wanted to stay. He found it rude to leave in the middle of a performance, and he saw no danger in this setting. The people around him were relaxed, and the children enchanted. He was just tired.

"Wooyoung and San, the lovers joined at the hip!" Dio laughed about his own joke and a few adults fell in.

Like a drill, the music bore into Seonghwa's brain. The same up and down, the endless cranking of the calliope never-ending.

Wooyoung and San bickered with each other and pretended to pick a fight that had them shoving at each other. Their two feet stumbled around left and right since they had no way to part, and a few children giggled amusedly at the act. It ended with both of the men huffily crossing their arms to turn their heads away from each other, but they still leaned against each other's shoulders in an affectionate display of closeness.

Cheers rained at them as they pretended to have difficulties bowing in unison, since one was always out of tact. They were the first ones that made the corners of Seonghwa's mouth quirk. He didn't know if it was real or if that sweater just hid their midsts well, but he found their performance less unsettling than the prior ones.

Seonghwa didn't notice himself swaying to the music in the same hypnotic manner as the other lonesome visitors in the circus. Only the groups and their distractions via each other escaped the spell.

"Our Mingi, the man with a corpse's jaw!"

When Seonghwa spotted Hongjoong playing with a child near his place, he rose to slink further down the rows. His display was the one Seonghwa had most trouble believing. It was impossible to recreate authentically.

He didn't know how much closer he planned to get. The circus tent was relatively small, with only eight spacious rows of visitors disrupting the stairs that followed at regular intervals. Without listening to Dio's longer speech, he ducked down the stairs so he wouldn't block anyone's sight.

Seonghwa was about to sink in the second row so he could keep a low profile but see well when, at once, a bright spotlight got directed at him. He froze like a thief on the run in the middle of the stairs. The light didn't blind him, but it exposed him to the crowd that applauded at him now.

What had he missed?

"Please, step forward! No need to be shy about your interest!"

Hesitantly, Seonghwa stood to his full height. The many eyes on him unsettled him. Waiting, ready to see him do something interesting.

Seonghwa descended the stairs until he stood in front of the very first row and leaned against the solid wall that separated the artists from the crowd. Insecure, he looked at Dio and tried to ignore the prying eyes of the freaks on him.

"Cup your hands over the balustrade!" Dio grinned and mimicked framing his own chin with his hands. Seonghwa did as he was told.

Since he had ignored the freaks, he had lost count of them in his direct line of sight. So when Mingi suddenly popped out right in front of him after crouching behind the barrier, Seonghwa startled. Dio laughed at him and the crowd clapped for his heroic help as Mingi carefully laid down his chin in Seonghwa's hands.

With big eyes, Seonghwa stared at him. At the teeth that glistened with spit as a regular person's would. At his gums that blended into his skin.

Mingi looked back at him with bottomless dark eyes. He gauged Seonghwa's reaction as Seonghwa cradled him gently and with his knees soft like jelly. The look in those eyes had Seonghwa's blood run cold in his veins.

"It's real," Seonghwa whispered as his thumbs brushed Mingi's cheeks and found no traces of wax or makeup.

When his eyes met Mingi's again, they were even wider than before.

"You're real."

Abruptly, Mingi pulled his head back to return to his walk. Seonghwa stumbled backwards and tripped over the legs of a man nearby. With a chuckle, the stranger helped Seonghwa sit down next to him as Seonghwa muttered an apology.

Like a personified gravestone, Seonghwa sat stiff and frozen in the first row. The spotlight had left him together with Mingi and shrouded him back in privacy. Seonghwa looked at Mingi unhinge his jaw and open his mouth wide to show off the tendons behind his upper row of teeth, but he saw nothing.

Why were those visitors here? To study these unique people and enjoy their quirks? Or did they believe it was a trick? What would they tell their kids? That they had medical wonders right under their noses but laughed at them like a seal with a ball?

The last freak got introduced while Seonghwa still sat frozen. He was Jongho, the man with the melting limbs, and soon, Seonghwa understood the name. As Jongho held his strong arm out, the weight of his bone seemed to drag on his skin and flesh as if they were goo. Gravity pulled them down to deform his arms and fingers at any moment. They melted into shapes nowhere human and back into place when he shifted the position to the opposite. As he walked and his knees kept melting underneath him, his zombie-like trudging pattern made sense.

His face was the only part he showed off that didn't melt, but when he concentrated really hard, he could make his eyebrows and his chin sag to dangle off his skull.

A scream was stuck in Seonghwa's throat as he watched them from up close. This bunch of grotesque creatures reminded him more and more of a horror movie, even when he had sworn to himself not to judge them.

He wanted to leave. The tent seemed stifling suddenly. The hour of the show had dragged on forever, but when Seonghwa glanced at his clock, it was still 11:37 PM.

Seonghwa wanted to go home and get a good night of sleep.

The music ate away at his sanity as Dio held his last speech. The freaks circled the last round and Yunho made a child squeal when he stretched his arm over to the third row to shake the little girl's hand. When he pulled back, she giggled again.

"Hey, fellow, you look pale," the man next to Seonghwa sat with a gentle nudge on his shoulder. Weakly, Seonghwa looked up at him. His fingers dug into his thighs, holding on for dear life.

Something here was terribly, horribly wrong. He sweated under his coat even when the tent never heated up, warm and cold shivers travelling over his skin as if in a fever fit. Had the shadows in the back of the tent been that dark before? He couldn't remember.

"I'm fine," Seonghwa whispered. He wanted to ask the man why he was here and what he thought of the performance when the crunch of sand in front of him distracted him.

When he looked up, he met Hongjoong's eyes. They held a certain sharpness as they studied Seonghwa's face and tense body. Then he held his hand out. He offered the palm to Seonghwa and the tongue inside of him flicked at the air playfully.

Seonghwa swallowed his fear as he slowly reached his hand out. The mouths on Hongjoong's hands and stomachs didn't seem quite human. They had no lips, only the deep red depths of their caves and tongues. The teeth were sharper and more than Seonghwa could remember humans having.

He was curious to know if Hongjoong's actual mouth looked the same, but at the same time, he didn't need to see to know the answer.

Gingerly, Seonghwa unclenched one of his hands to reach it out towards Hongjoong's. His fingers trembled when the tips aligned with Hongjoong's proximity.

And then, wet and hot, the tongue licked over Seonghwa's fingers.

He flinched back immediately. His expression got stuck between horror and an apology for treating the other man like that, but Hongjoong's lips had curled into a devious little grin.

"You taste of burnt almonds," he hummed at Seonghwa through his sharp teeth. Then he strode off to bother someone else.

Seonghwa couldn't take it any longer. The wetness of Hongjoong's saliva still clung to him as he rushed along the row and excused himself when people confusedly drew their feet in. He ran straight out of there, the realness of Mingi's and Hongjoong's touches lingering.

Once the flap of the tent was closed behind him, Seonghwa could breathe again. The music was dulled out here in the nightly air and the thick scent of sugar evaporated.

Seonghwa didn't stick around. Without looking back, he hurried down the torch alley and back onto the main path.

As if the devil were on his heels, Seonghwa ran back to his car. He didn't take a break even when his breath rattled in his chest painfully. Only when the deserted parking lot and his old vehicle were back in sight, Seonghwa slowed his steps. Relief flooded his heart as he willed his heated muscles to slow down.

Had he hallucinated all that? Had his eyes played a trick on him? It was late, and he barely got any sleep for weeks now.

Seonghwa didn't want to question it. He merely halted in front of his car and slipped into his seat. Back home, he would get a lot of rest and in the morning reflect and google about what he had seen tonight. He didn't doubt it was all a big fake and that this circus purposefully scared people. If it had been real, more audience members would have been terrified.

Shaking the memory off, Seonghwa pulled out of the parking space. Through the foggy night, he carefully drove through the forest. He was less scared of it in his car, but he didn't want to run over a buck.

As the forest ended, a patch of fields smoothed out the path down to the city. Seonghwa kept his eye out for deers and rabbits frolicking under the night sky. The streets were deserted, and only the lights in the far city assured Seonghwa that life and humanity were still fine and breathing.

As he looked left and right to watch over his surroundings, Seonghwa soon spotted a discarded trailer on a field path to his right. At first, he thought little about it. It could just be a farmer's tools. However, the closer he got, the clearer its shape mapped out under his headlights. The trailer had fallen over rather than being safely stored at the side of the road. The front right corner dipped into a ditch and the entire right side looked as if it had taken a severe dent in the fall. Through the wrinkled metal, Seonghwa could make out the letters of the owner.

Dio's Wonderland.

Seonghwa had hit the brakes before he knew what he was doing. Alone and shrouded in the bright light of his car, he stood in the middle of the road on a foggy night. His heart hammered in his throat as he stared at the trailer.

How had it got here? He had left the circus behind him, and the traces on the earth still looked fresh.

For a moment, Seonghwa asked himself what he was doing. He had enough adventure for a night and absolutely no responsibility for this matter. And yet, he found himself leaving his car to jog over to the trailer. The doors were tightly shut and stuck as Seonghwa undid their buckles. Gingerly, he pulled one door open, to peer into the darkness.

Nothing moved. He could see the outlines of some lumps under the moonlight. Likely just a costume trailer that had slipped off the road. The circus staff would find it once they went to search.

Just as Seonghwa wanted to shut the doors again and go to sleep finally, a hand crawled up from the darkness. A hand that had a mouth in its midst.

"H-Help us, please," a rough voice pleaded in the darkness.

Shocked into freeze mode once more, Seonghwa stared at the eerie hand. Then, he carefully reached his hand out towards it. He shivered at the little lick it did on the sweaty palms of his skin before his fingers slipped to hold on to the wrist of the man. A moderate pull was enough to free Hongjoong from the other lumps. Groaning, he crawled up the incline of the slippery trailer.

As he hung from the edge in front of Seonghwa with his upper body, Seonghwa had to agree that he looked green in the face.

Was this how the freaks got transported? In a windowless trailer used for boxes?

"What happened to you?" Seonghwa asked with a trembling voice. The wound above Hongjoong's brow didn't seem to be from the crash. Much rather, the thin bleeding line reminded Seonghwa of a scratch that big rings would leave if not handled with care.

"Dio," Hongjoong muttered as if it was all the explanation needed.

And Seonghwa understood. He understood why these people were in a freak show, why they were transported in a trailer, and why they had wounds on their faces.

They didn't choose to join the circus.

"I should call the police," Seonghwa said as he pulled his phone from his pocket. He hesitated when Hongjoong weakly batted at him.

"No police. Look at us. Do you really want this to be public?"

"N-No, I suppose not."

Helpless, Seonghwa let his phone sink. He could hear other groaning voices in the pile of limbs below Hongjoong, and their pain wrenched his heart with the need to help.

"What can I do?"

They arguably terrified him, but they were people. People who talked and suffered just like other people. And Seonghwa wouldn't leave anyone to suffer when he could do something.

Hongjoong whimpered in pain.

"Can you... Take us with you? I know we are a lot of people but... I'll make it work and we'll be out of your hair in a flash. Just help my family, please."

Seonghwa gnawed on his lips as he looked back to his car. He couldn't possibly fit all of them inside of there.

For a moment longer, he lingered without an answer.

It was the only adventure he would ever get apart from his horrible job.

When he turned back to Hongjoong, he offered his hand once more to help him out of the trailer.

"Okay. You can come with me. But I will have to drive twice."

The hopeful smile that blossomed on Hongjoong's lips made it worth the scare. With sluggish movements, he allowed Seonghwa to drag him out of the trailer entirely. One of his legs seemed to be injured since he held it painfully, but he could stand.

Together, they peered into the darkness below. Seonghwa didn't want to shine his flashlight at their eyes, and he feared their grotesque appearances in a moving mass.

"Wooyoung, San? Mingi? Can you get up here? Seonghwa wants to take us home," Hongjoong called out delicately. Seonghwa must have told him his name somewhen he couldn't recall.

More movement came into the pile. Soon, the lovers and the man with the corpse jaw were safely outside of the trailer. All of them leaned into each other, still nauseous after their fall.

"Take care of the others, Yunho, we'll be back in a bit," Hongjoong promised his remaining friends as they shut the heavy trailer doors. Seonghwa prayed that no one else would touch it while they were gone, even when no soul was anywhere near.

He wondered. If this all was just a trick of his mind, then others might not even be able to perceive the trailer.

Seonghwa helped them all to pile into his car. With Hongjoong by his side, he took off again and set out for the last ten minutes to his home. The tension in the car was thick enough to cut with a knife and Seonghwa could feel all of their scary eyes on him, but he had nothing to say. In silence, he took the freaks home.

His apartment laid silent after they had arrived with the lift. Seonghwa wondered whether the night guard of the building had anything to say about the weird trio he brought into his house, but he couldn't muster the energy to care. As Seonghwa stood behind the door to put up his coat, he noticed that the entire squad, apart from Mingi, was smaller than him. The protective streak in his chest swelled at that revelation.

"I don't have a lot of space. In the wardrobe in my room, you will find a bunch of blankets and an inflatable mattress. Maybe you can make it work. Feel free to use the couch, too." Helpless, Seonghwa gestured at his living room. It wasn't meant to fit eight people, by far not. But yet, the trio that would stay here sighed relievedly. Their smiles told Seonghwa that a few blankets on a wooden floor were more than they had expected. His heart ached for them.

"Let's get the rest of your friends."

Hongjoong and Seonghwa dipped out again to make their way back to the place of the accident. Alone in the car, Hongjoong dared to speak up.

"Thank you. We won't forget your kindness tonight," he muttered. He was huddled in his skimpy outfit and goosebumps decorated his arms from the cold night. He looked so small and thankful in his corner that Seonghwa turned up the heater even when he knew it would be too warm in the car in a few minutes when they were five people again.

To fit Yunho in his car, Seonghwa had to lay his seat flat so the man could curl into the space of the trunk and the seat. Jongho and Yeosang fit without troubles and they leaned into each other. Yeosang had a nasty gash on his forehead and altered between passing out and waking. The shoulder he rested on kept deforming and sliding out of shape, so Jongho regularly patted it back into place with indignant hands. With a dry throat, Seonghwa watched them in his mirror.

When they returned to Seonghwa's flat, the others had already spread out. Mingi rested on the couch and hugged the giraffe plushie that Seonghwa kept there to his face. The soft toy looked obscene next to his exposed jaw, but he looked cosy, so Seonghwa didn't have the heart to take it away from him.

San and Wooyoung were still busy pumping up the air mattress, and they decided Yeosang would get to rest on it since he looked the worse out of all of them.

Seonghwa offered them disinfecting spray and a package of bandaids he found in a drawer. As they all fixed each other up, he lowered the blinds so that no curious eyes from outside would watch them.

Hongjoong overlooked the process of getting comfortable at Seonghwa's side. Once everybody was accounted for, they crawled into their makeshift nest. San and Wooyoung shared one blanket. Yeosang and Jongho had huddled close on the narrow mat. Mingi laid on the couch and Yunho had spread out in the main area uncomfortably, his feet still brushing the desk.

They all looked to be one uncomfortable pile and there was no blanket left for Hongjoong to either rest on or cover himself with, but it seemed fine for the troupe. Seonghwa could only guess that they were used to being constricted in cramped spaces to sleep.

Awkwardly, he rubbed the back of his neck. He had to brush his teeth and fall into bed to sleep like a dead person, but he didn't know how to say his goodbyes to Hongjoong. Or the dozing group of horror figures in his living room.

"You, uh. My bed is big, so... I don't mind you sleeping there. Better than if you kick furniture at night," Seonghwa said vaguely as he gestured towards the pile of people. He didn't know if Yeosang had chosen to sleep on his back or his stomach, but it also didn't matter.

Hongjoong smiled, softer than before.

"Do you maybe have a sleep shirt for me if it's not too much of a hassle?"

Of course, Seonghwa did. He wouldn't have let the other man sleep in a corset and bloomers, no matter how tired he was.

Hongjoong had already crawled into his bed as Seonghwa got ready. He was so fatigued he didn't even care anymore. It all felt like a fever dream and he just waited to wake up to them all having been part of his sleep.

As he laid down next to Hongjoong, Seonghwa left a polite space between them. With his back to Hongjoong, he curled up and forgot everything about horrendous visages as he fell asleep before his head had hit the pillow.

-

Seonghwa awoke to the gentle touch of lips to his. It was the softest method of waking him, and Seonghwa sighed into the kiss dreamily even when he was barely awake. It had been a long while since he had last been woken so sweetly, and he missed those days.

Eyes still closed, Seonghwa basked in the warmth of his bed as his brain activated itself slowly. The drowsiness of sleep clung to him as he opened his mouth for the tongue swiping across his lips and asking for entry.

The foreign tongue curled around Seonghwa's and offered him a lazy game that slowly brought the spirits back to him. As he got more aware, Seonghwa noticed the sunlight brightening the room to filter through his lids in an orange glow and the fingers on his face right next to the mouth that kissed him.

Something wasn't right.

The moment Seonghwa remembered he had no lover who would kiss him awake, he also gained an awareness of how odd that kissing position was. His eyes flew open to push the person off, only to find an entire lack of such on top of him.

He was staring at a palm with a mouth in its middle that kissed better than quite some humans Seonghwa had kissed before.

The need to shove the hand off and grimace was great, but Seonghwa reminded himself of his manners. With a glance at Hongjoong, he saw that the man was still fast asleep on his stomach on the other side of the bed. His blue hair fanned out around his head and Seonghwa's shirt was a size too big on him.

Seonghwa pushed his lively hand off him and went to the bathroom to brush his teeth very weirded out. As he got ready for work, he gradually remembered the prior night and all the weird aspects it had brought. He didn't dwell on it for too long. First, he would have to concentrate on work. With the decision to get coffee and breakfast on the way, Seonghwa brushed past the horde of sleeping men to go to work.

Like any other day, his workday was mundane as much as it was stressful. After being stuck in traffic for a while, Seonghwa spent his day at work rushing through documents and emails before the weekend would begin. His shoulders were tense again, and he regretted his late-night activities last night that got him multiple comments about the darkness of his raccoon eyes.

During his break, Seonghwa wondered what the men in his house planned to do. They didn't seem to be the type to casually work normal jobs. As bad as the situation back at the circus had been, it had provided them with shelter and safety.

The rest of Seonghwa's day passed in a blur of letters and numbers. When he finished, he instantly jumped into his car and threw his tie off to return home. From one source of stress to the next. He didn't regret taking them in, but he also counted the precious hours of his day that dealing with them would cost.

On his way, Seonghwa halted at a pizza place and got tons of pizza for all of them. He could imagine they were hungry.

Returning home to the big makeshift nest in his living room was... Odd. Seonghwa had friends over before but never so many at once, and never so oddly demure and insecure while unsettling ones. His visitors hadn't pulled up the blinds. They loomed in the darkness until he came in to surprise them with pizza. At first, he startled at the sight of Yunho hunched over in his kitchen, but he played it down as he set down the pizza. Both Wooyoung's and San's faces lit up.

"Dinner," Seonghwa muttered, "I can go shopping later to get you stuff to eat during the day."

"About that."

When Hongjoong appeared behind Seonghwa to squeeze past between him and the wall, a prompt reminder of the morning flashed in Seonghwa's mind. Had Hongjoong been aware of what he had done? His gaze hadn't changed, although he looked far more well-rested and refreshed today. He wore Seonghwa's shirt over his tights.

"We collected our savings to thank you for letting us stay. It's not a lot, but the circus didn't pay us. So it's... basically stolen money, but we hoped you would accept it just for its general worth." He sat down at the table with a worn wallet to scrape its contents onto the tabletop. It was around 6oo in crumpled notes and a pile of coins that Hongjoong herded together with his hands.

The sight was heartbreaking as Hongjoong looked up at Seonghwa with a proud grin.

"We can't do more to pay you, but Yeosang suggested we compensate you correctly after we got new jobs. So we hope we won't stay for too long and that we aren't too expensive."

All the assembled men nodded along. Their determination filled the pizza-smelling room.

Seonghwa didn't know what to say. He wanted to hug them all, all of their poor, battered and hunched forms that got abused for presumable years. He had always been a hugger, and the need to pour some love into his miserable roommates nearly had him ruffle Hongjoong's hair when they were nowhere close.

"I can't take this," Seonghwa whispered with a glance at the now empty wallet in Hongjoong's hands. He couldn't avoid their gazes. Wherever he looked, a disappointed frown stared back at him. The darkness lingering deep in their eyes was the only thing holding him back from handing out hugs.

"Oh... We figured since we don't know how long we will have to demand your shelter, it would be at least a good paydown." Upon Seonghwa's beckon, Hongjoong meekly sorted the money back in.

Wooyoung and San had crossed one of each's arms in a big signal of upset in front of their bodies.

"It's not as if we could spend it anywhere else. We collected it for two years for a moment like this. Can't we show our gratitude?" Wooyoung asked. San nodded, the frown on his face matching that of his lover.

"Just eat, please," Seonghwa pleaded. Two years. That little money in two years. He supposed it made sense since they paid no rent or food for themselves, but he felt bad taking all that from them.

At least, their hungry stomachs didn't resist the fragrant meal any longer. Each of them found a pizza after their tastes and Seonghwa ate the one that interested nobody else. As he munched on his slice, he sat down next to Jongho, who was a heap on the ground. His legs had melted into a gooey mass surrounding him. Seonghwa promised himself not to let the macabre sight disturb him.

"Ultimately, I can't stop you if you can only clear your conscience about getting help by paying me. But let's settle that once you are safe and in no need of money for yourselves anymore. You can't go out into the world with nothing on your hands."

Seonghwa's compassion seemed to move them. Yeosang cooed at him and Mingi did what could be considered a smile with that face.

"That is true. Mingi, Jongho, Yeosang and I went out to search for work today. We are the only ones who can do it, since the rest is too obvious. But Woosan cook wonderful dishes and Yunho already declared he would do the housework in our new home," Hongjoong recounted proudly. Interested, Seonghwa looked around among them. Hongjoong could wear gloves and Mingi a mask or makeup to be safe. Maybe Yeosang just pulled a hat over his face and wore big shirts? And as long as Jongho wasn't too visible as he melted, he was also fine.

"I got an interview next week! I found a nice bakery to work at," Yeosang chirped proudly. Jongho also announced that he had found something in the fast-food industry.

Seonghwa couldn't help his awe at their determination. Getting out of their restraints had been the largest step to take, but they weren't scared of their future. On the contrary, they were motivated to plan a life that promised more.

They had so much more spirit than Seonghwa had felt in years. He didn't doubt that their path would also be rocky and that Dio might try to find them again and ruin things, but they knew that, too. And yet they were fully invested.

"Impressive. Good job, you all. If you want, I can look into the legalities of house buying for you."

"Oh, that won't work. We aren't registered as people," Hongjoong waved it off. When Seonghwa tilted his head curiously, the man gestured his pizza slice among them.

"Look around. This is not what disability looks like. If we tried to explain this in a human way, we would end up as lab rats. Anything else? Pure horror. We'll keep a low profile. I figured we could buy an old camper van and build it into a home."

Befuddled by the lack of identity but too polite to ask, Seonghwa just nodded.

"A camper van sounds like a good idea. In that case, you are mobile, too, and can switch places if you feel threatened by people finding out about you," Seonghwa agreed around a bite of pizza. When his eyes crossed with Yunho's through the room, Seonghwa bravely withstood any uncalled shivers. The other way smiled at him in that eerie way. As much as his terror still constricted Seonghwa's heart, he was glad that he could call the troupe something akin to friends.

They shared their ideas and hopes for their van design with him. All of them feared that squeezing all seven of them inside would become an issue, but San argued he and Wooyoung didn't take up a lot of space. After dinner had ended and they had cleared away the pizza boxes, Seonghwa pulled his laptop close to search the internet. Interested, the freaks hovered in various positions around him and regarded the display. Seonghwa felt Yeosang's breathing in his hair and Hongjoong's shoulder pressing against his, but he minded neither of them.

As night fell and the group gradually dispersed to huddle down, their enthusiasm about their van idea and the independence they pursued lingered. Yeosang and Jongho whispered hushedly and under giggles with one another. While Seonghwa distributed some books to the desk nearby in case they woke up at night restless, the merry group bickered while already in their nests. Hongjoong had retreated to Seonghwa's room again. They hadn't needed to mention their arrangement again. Seonghwa had noticed how their gazes had lingered on each other for a while as Hongjoong had disappeared.

Seonghwa tried not to think about how long it had been since he had last had a pretty boy in his room wearing barely anything. Hongjoong was more than just that. He was pretty and terrifying all the same.

After all lights were shut off and Seonghwa had brushed his teeth, he was ready to sleep in long into the weekend. He had paperwork to do as homework, as always, but that wouldn't occupy his time as much as being on the job.

Seonghwa switched into his pyjamas in the bathroom and tapped back into his room on quiet feet. Hongjoong had already curled up under the blanket, but he shifted his head when Seonghwa approached. This night, he faced in the direction of Seonghwa's side of the bed.

"I wanted to thank you again," Hongjoong whispered as Seonghwa slipped under the covers. Warmed by Hongjoong's body, they surrounded him like a fluffy cloud.

"What for?" Seonghwa stared at him through the night, barely able to make out the shape of his features. He had drawn the curtains shut earlier, and they blocked out all light from the city.

"Your understanding. Despite allowing such impure creatures into your home, you try hard to meet us in the middle."

Seonghwa pulled his pillow closer to dig his head into it comfortably. His eyes slipped shut sleepily.

"I don't regard you as impure. I want to view you as people."

Hongjoong chuckled, his voice soft in the night.

"That is because you have no idea about the impure thoughts we have. You have a choice, Seonghwa. But the kinder you treat us, the more our dark sides will want to take you apart."

Seonghwa's heart skipped a beat at that obscure promise. It fuelled fear into his fragile human heart, but it also carried intrigue. Intrigue how far this would go if it took its natural path. Intrigue how different of an experience it would be.

"Don't worry," Hongjoong added when he noticed how Seonghwa had locked up like a scared bunny in the sheets. He was blind to the mayhem inside of Seonghwa's mind while the curiosity of his messed up sexual desires battled his common sense. "I have my eye on them."

Hongjoong didn't continue after that, his soft breathing replacing his sleepy murmur. For a while, Seonghwa tossed and turned since he couldn't fall asleep. Much rather than pass out, his brain wanted to interpret Hongjoong's words and to take apart their meaning. Seonghwa asked himself whether he could defeat this fear of his guests in order to indulge in people again after a long period of loneliness.

Ultimately, it was his dick talking when it agreed enthusiastically. Anything involving a different person sounded like a dream come true. Seonghwa bet that if he had Yunho in front of him at the same moment, his body wouldn't betray him like that.

When an hour had passed on the red digits of his alarm clock, Seonghwa rose with a subdued sigh. He didn't want to disrupt the precious sleep Hongjoong got; he had years to catch up on, after all.

On soundless soles, Seonghwa tiptoed past the bunch of slumbering bodies on his floor and into the kitchen. As quietly as possible, he opened the fridge and blocked its light with his body as he retrieved the milk. His microwave peeped unnecessarily loud as he guarded it, as if through his body, all noise would be cushioned. He stood there, his arms crossed as he waited and remained unnoticing of the presence behind him moving.

It was only when he looked up and saw Yunho looming in the corner by the window and bent over so he wouldn't hit his head on the ceiling that Seonghwa finally startled. Glad that he hadn't retrieved his milk yet, he disguised his flinch with a stretch.

"Oh, hi. Did I wake you?" He whispered with a smile. In the back of his mind, Hongjoong's words still ghosted around like a sheet on a hook. Seonghwa's stomach was a terrified ball.

Yunho tilted his head at him. He wasn't very talkative, and that made him all the eerier to Seonghwa's eyes. Looming in the shadow of the room like that, Yunho's unnatural body shape and height unsettled Seonghwa.

He chuckled nervously. Maybe Yunho sleepwalked.

When he turned to retrieve his mug, he put it on the counter for a moment to let the porcelain cool off. Wincing, he closed the microwave. Nobody complained.

As Seonghwa stirred some chocolate powder into his mug, he used a plastic spoon to minimise noise. It had been a long time since he had played the game of not waking people in his own house, but he was glad to remember how it worked.

Yunho stood in the corner creepily like a lamppost and watched him. Before Seonghwa picked his mug up to retreat to his room and instead just potentially wake Hongjoong than all six of the others, he felt as if he should bid goodbye to Yunho. Just as he turned to the man, however, another shift behind him had him frighten and whip around.

Mingi seized Seonghwa's hands when the man raised them defensively. His eyes glowed unnaturally in the dark as he looked down at Seonghwa.

When Mingi pushed him backwards, Seonghwa tumbled at first. His tongue was stuck to the roof of his mouth and he didn't dare call out since he wasn't in danger and didn't want to insult them. Thus, he just let Mingi manoeuvre him into the corner Yunho waited at in that lifeless position.

Seonghwa's back collided with Yunho's stomach and curled into his hunched form. His ghostly fingers caught Seonghwa's momentum at his shoulders, wrapping around him from behind creepily.

Mingi pressed into Seonghwa and caught between the two of them, Seonghwa was scared. His eyes had adjusted enough to the darkness for him to see Mingi's scary jaw looming so close above him and Yunho's body curling in the corner of the ceiling.

Meek, Seonghwa leaned between the two tall men, entirely engulfed by their frames. Mingi's grip on his wrists was strong, and the careful twists Seonghwa tried didn't get him out of that situation.

Hot, Mingi's breath brushed over Seonghwa's face. Rather than him, Seonghwa found Yunho far more unsettling with how he stood behind him wordlessly and held onto him with spindly fingers.

"Are you scared?" Mingi whispered in the space between them. He sounded triumphant, as if that had been his full intention. Seonghwa shuddered when Yunho rose a finger to stroke his cheek without having to let go of his shoulder.

Mingi was lithe, but his height made up for his missing broadness. The body that pressed against Seonghwa's was muscular in all the right places and rendered Seonghwa defenceless and open for him to press against.

"Are you trying to make me be?" Seonghwa whispered back. His voice was brittle with how fast his heart galloped in his chest. And yet, he felt just as earlier. As much as fear clouded his intuition, his body stretched towards Mingi's on its own accord. Mingi couldn't grin, but amusement flashed in his eyes.

"Indulge me," Mingi grumbled in his deep voice. His slightly overgrown black hair fell into his eyes as he leaned in. Restless, Seonghwa looked up at him as Mingi opened his jaw to let his tongue roll out. It was longer than a regular person's tongue and coiled at the tip as if beckoning Seonghwa in.

Seonghwa grit his teeth around a shudder of horror when Mingi's tongue touched his lips. It made its way between them to twist around Seonghwa's far smaller muscle. A weak whine escaped Seonghwa's lips through their kiss, that could hardly be called a proper kiss. As Mingi rudely slipped his tongue down Seonghwa's throat to mimic fucking him with it, Seonghwa's legs got weak. His eyes had slipped shut in bliss, but he felt Mingi's teeth against his lips, felt Yunho's creepy fingers holding him up around his waist.

Tucked away in their corner and out of sight from the others, Mingi ravaged Seonghwa's mouth until it tingled pleasantly. Their bodies sought each other out, pressing close between the occasional grind of Mingi against Seonghwa's stomach.

It was so much. Seonghwa was overwhelmed by Yunho's looming presence and the way Mingi dominated his mouth with no abandon. Heat and chilly fear created a devilish mixture in his veins that had Seonghwa twitch weakly in Mingi's hold.

With a slick noise, Mingi pulled his tongue back from Seonghwa's mouth one more time to let the other man gasp for air. His lips had become swollen and throbbed from getting kissed so roughly as he sucked on Mingi's tongue.

When Mingi dropped one of Seonghwa's hands to pull his hips closer instead, Seonghwa weakly pushed him off.

"No, wait-" He couldn't do this. Not this late at night, not when he was near collapsing already and not when Yunho's presence made his heart rate jump. Especially not with their sleeping friends nearby.

Mingi looked more than displeased. His dark eyes flashed dangerously as he leaned in again, forcing Seonghwa to squeeze tighter into Yunho.

"Making demands?"

"Later," Seonghwa stammered, unaware of what he was saying, "you can continue later."

Despite his special features, Mingi was attractive. All of them were in a twisted way. Seonghwa was flattered by their attention on him, but he couldn't bear the current situation. If he found himself alone with Mingi, he wouldn't mind.

Trembling and terrified, Seonghwa stood between the two men, and he loved every second of it. He felt more alive than in a long time, and the adrenaline and lust in his veins exhilarated him.

"I want you now." With a growl, Mingi pulled Seonghwa back in. At the last moment, Seonghwa escaped his greedy hands. As fast as he could, Seonghwa ducked out of his grasp and snatched his mug before he fled to his room. Without a big Yunho in the way, his flight was smooth.

They didn't follow him as he arrived in his room with his heart hammering at the speed of lightning. Alone and knowing they listened to him lingering on the other side of the door, Seonghwa gasped for air.

With his eyes blown as if he had just taken a whiff of some shrooms, Seonghwa crawled back into bed. His arousal throbbed against him angrily as he slurped his milk to calm himself down. But even once he laid back down, he couldn't help his shivers and trembles.

It was no wonder that he woke Hongjoong. One moment, Seonghwa laid there as a wreck after such little sensations. The next, Hongjoong's arm slipped under his head to press his palm to Seonghwa's lips. With a muffled groan, Seonghwa allowed the mouth on Hongjoong's palm to kiss him. These kisses were lazier, less aggressive and pushy than Mingi's. They made Seonghwa shut up in his little whimpers and busied him casually.

"I heard you in the kitchen," Hongjoong whispered as he scooted closer. His chest pressed to Seonghwa's back so he could wrap his other arm around Seonghwa's body more comfortably. His palm connected with the hardness in Seonghwa's pants and massaged it gently. Nimble fingers mapped out Seonghwa's shape while one of Hongjoong's many tongues stifled his moans.

"Mingi can be a lot. Although I feel you would like him." His fingers snuck under Seonghwa's pants. Faint sucks on Seonghwa's nape barely registered in his brain as Seonghwa's mind struggled to catch up with the other tongue trailing over his shaft. When Hongjoong cupped his hand around Seonghwa's tip so the man could trust up the opening of his mouth inside his arm, Seonghwa's eyes rolled back. Indulgent, Hongjoong's tongue in Seonghwa's mouth busied him.

"He got you this riled up when you should be scared of us. Maybe your impure thoughts match ours?" Hongjoong purred into Seonghwa's ear. His normal tongue played with its shell, driving Seonghwa mad with how many tongues he felt on his skin. The lower one dug into his slit, lapping up the pathetic dribbles of pre-come.

Seonghwa arched into Hongjoong, the heat in his belly swiftly boiling over. Being touched by three different men in a night after such a long drought had its effects, as Seonghwa soon had to bite down on the tongue in his mouth gently to ground himself. His hips jerked into the tight hold on him. Hongjoong's hand teeth skimming over his swollen tip in the barest hint of something dangerous finished him off. With tears in his eyes from how hard he tried to stay quiet, Seonghwa came into Hongjoong's hand. Pitiful, he moaned around Hongjoong's palm as he made a mess. The thought of where his dick had just been didn't register in his brain.

Hongjoong pulled back from him with a chuckle as soon as Seonghwa was spent. Seonghwa rolled onto his back to watch the other man lift his hand full of cum to his mouth. His normal tongue tangled with the white-stained one as he lazily tasted Seonghwa's semen. Horrified, Seonghwa watched the liquid transfer through Hongjoong's open mouth.

When Hongjoong was done, he pushed himself up on his elbow. He put a hand under his chin so it wouldn't dig into Seonghwa's chest as he rolled over to peer up at him. Breathing heavily, Seonghwa stared back.

The question that had been burning in the back of his head ever since he first saw them in that circus finally escaped his lips in a hoarse whisper.

"Hongjoong... Why are you how you are? You and the others? You're not human, right?"

"No," Hongjoong breathed against Seonghwa's lips. "We are monsters." With that, he leaned to kiss Seonghwa sweetly and pull him into his second make-out session of the night that left his mind blank and the minutes of the clock ticking away unbothered.

-

Seonghwa had gone shopping on the afternoon of the next day. Yeosang had insisted that he accompanied him just so Seonghwa wouldn't have to carry all the groceries himself and thus, they made their way to the nearest store with Yeosang with a cap and a big hoodie from Seonghwa in tow. As usual, the blond man carried his casual glee as he hummed to the songs on the radio that he didn't know and showed interest in Seonghwa's job.

He didn't mention how tired Seonghwa looked. Undoubtedly, they had all taken notice of last night's happenings in one way or the other. Seonghwa was thankful for his tact, so he allowed Yeosang to push the cart when the man begged him to while he wandered around with the grocery list pulled up on his phone.

Shopping for eight men was no easy feat, but the general disinterest they seemed to have in food aided Seonghwa. Yeosang listed off their preferred few things and once Seonghwa had collected them all, he noticed with a frown how empty the cart still looked.

"Did the circus not feed you well?"

Yeosang hummed, dragging his legs over the ground as he hung on the cart.

"They did, but we don't require a lot." He didn't have to word it out loud for Seonghwa to remember Hongjoong's words from last night. He probably hadn't expressed the self-deprecating term when he had spoken of the troupe as monsters.

With Yeosang in tow, Seonghwa did the rest of his shopping. He bought toothbrushes for all of them - unsure how many Hongjoong used - and a fresh pack of towels and body wash. Yeosang picked up the shampoo by smell and gleefully placed it in the cart. It vaguely remembered Seonghwa of the smell in the circus tent. How had he got from the horrors there to the domestication of these people? He didn't know.

Seonghwa shrugged off the lingering sense of dread as they left the store. On their ride home, Yeosang nibbled on some peanuts he had picked out.

They came back to an argument. Wooyoung and San discussed their sleeping arrangements with Jongho while Hongjoong tried to get them all to calm down and be thankful for what they had. When Seonghwa came in to catch them amid it, Hongjoong winced, but the conversation went on.

"You are the one who keeps sloshing over! When you laid near the cupboard last night, your weird body kept hitting that box!" Wooyoung pointed even if San was the one talking. Seonghwa's good old IKEA Kallax was filled with his various items and dishes, books filling the white wood in a visually pleasing aesthetic.

"I can just put the box away," Seonghwa called out when the discussion found no end. Huffy, Woosan shook their heads in scary unison.

"No! You won't make any more effort for us. But Jongho has to sleep in the corridor!"

"Yunho needs the corridor!"

"Then you sleep in the kitchen!"

"How about I take the couch instead?" They had been switching with the couch, and this night it would be Jongho's turn to sleep on it.

"No!" Multiple voices protested at once.

Cueless, Seonghwa scratched the back of his head. Behind him, Yeosang nonchalantly put the groceries away.

When the helping thought came, Seonghwa stepped in to grip his Kallax at the edges. The grid-shaped shelf had no back, so he could easily slip his hands in from both sides to pull it closer.

"How about this: A while ago, I still had this in the kitchen. Help me move it over and then you can stretch out better," he suggested warmly. As his guests still warily eyed him, Seonghwa dragged the heavy thing further back.

"See and then-" Seonghwa ended in a yelp when a foot caught onto the edge of the shelf. A vase in the middle wobbled dangerously, threatening to fall.

And that was the good vase from Seonghwa's mother.

Seonghwa surged forward, his arms stretching through the narrow space of the single shelf among the pattern of it. He managed to catch the vase before it could tumble out on the other side, but his head knocked the bottom of the shelf above from its place. As it unhinged, it came crashing down on Seonghwa's back, including the heavy books. Defeated, he hung in his Kallax with his vase in his hand. His stomach tensed as he didn't dare put all of his weight on the compartment bottom.

"Oh dear," Jongho muttered. He stepped in to take the vase from Seonghwa's hands carefully and put it down on the dining table. Seonghwa gave him a crooked smile before he stretched his arms out to pull back out of the shelf.

A surprised yelp left him when the askew board above him dug into his shoulder blades. It had successfully got stuck in place to frame the most narrow part of his hips and trap him. Helpless, he thumbed at it, unable to wedge it free from his position and unwilling to break it (and himself.)

"This is... really embarrassing. Can somebody get me out, please?" Seonghwa pleaded as he fruitlessly twisted and turned. From his bent-over position, he had to look up extra far to his silent guests.

"Anyone?" Seonghwa twisted his neck to look at Wooyoung and San, the ones nearest to him. Their eyes had widened as they regarded him, showing an indiscernible expression.

Seonghwa opened his mouth to complain about their lack of help when hands found his hips. Believing they would try to pull him out, he tried to twist his arms accordingly.

"Seonghwa? This is a bad position." It was Hongjoong talking on the other side of the shelf where Seonghwa's legs still were. Worried, Seonghwa squinted through the open spaces to see if he was near something easily breakable or if something kept them from helping him.

His heart froze when a pair of hips aligned with his crotch, pressing against his bent body. Stuttering, his pulse hammered in his beet-red face.

"S-sorry, I-" He didn't know what to say. All words got stuck on their way out of his throat when his brain failed at forming their entirety.

When Wooyoung and San crouched in front of Seonghwa to study his flushed face, he helplessly pushed his arms against the shelf in a weak attempt to slip free. His embarrassment fuelled the smirk on Wooyoung's face, while San's eyes had dropped to simmering darkness.

"H-Help me out, please," Seonghwa begged as he was scrutinised in his vulnerable position. Hongjoong's hand ran over his hips and waist and mapped out his body under his clothes.

"What if we don't, Seonghwa?" Wooyoung purred at him. His honeyed tone triggered the fear of them in Seonghwa's heart, and it jumped in his chest. He whimpered at a playful push of Hongjoong's hips against his behind, mimicking inappropriate movements.

Wooyoung's hand caressed Seonghwa's cheek. His thumb swiped over his quivering lips. With big, pleading eyes, Seonghwa stared up at him.

"What if we take advantage of this unfortunate position you got yourself into?"

Once more, Seonghwa's heartbeat stuttered in his chest. Dread that the freaks would follow their dark desires now that they had him trapped twisted his heart in fear. He couldn't deny his body's interest in the press of Hongjoong against him, but he knew no one would hear him scream, too.

Alone in his flat with the seven of them, Seonghwa could either end up a beautiful mess or with his guts strung over his furniture and he wasn't too keen on making bets.

"I kissed him last night. The poor boy was all riled up over Mingi and Yunho," Hongjoong announced with a smirk audible in his voice. Whining, Seonghwa hid behind his hands. They got pulled away by Wooyoung and San each as they grinned, satisfied at his distress.

"Yunho and Mingi? You like them, darling?" San asked with a glance at the two tall men. Yunho still stood in his corner creepily, but Mingi watched them with great interest as he leaned against the corner of the shelf.

"Liked my tongue. I had him trembling like a fawn," Mingi replied smugly in Seonghwa's stead. Wincing, Seonghwa hung his head in Wooyoung's grasp.

Seated on the couch with crossed arms, Yeosang licked his lips.

"Can you show us?"

Mingi didn't need more prompting. He disappeared on the side of the shelf Seonghwa had no eyes on and shoved Hongjoong aside so he could kneel behind Seonghwa. His fingers hooking into the waistband of Seonghwa's pants to push them down his calves had him whimper.

Wooyoung shushed him gently.

"Now, now, darling. You don't want to disrupt the show, right?"

Seonghwa's whimper of embarrassment when Mingi pulled down his underwear and all of them looked at Seonghwa, who was half hard with imagination alone, got drowned by Wooyoung's lips on his. Patiently, the man kissed Seonghwa's discomfort away while San nuzzled his nape.

Mingi's big hands appreciatively ran over Seonghwa's legs, that hadn't seen a single ray of sun all summer long. He didn't doubt that Mingi's tan skin contrasted beautifully with his own, and Seonghwa felt even more delicate and pretty.

He sighed into Wooyoung's mouth before he got handed over to San. Mingi's thumbs spread him open for all world to see and Hongjoong gave a satisfied hum.

A beat of silence passed in which Seonghwa steeled himself against the unstoppable. Then, the soft press of a warm tongue to his entrance had him jolt.

Mingi dirtily licked away at him while his hands grasped Seonghwa's butt to the point of leaving red imprints on his skin. Seonghwa gasped when his tongue threatened to breach him every so often. All of his noises got swallowed by the hungry mouths on his that assaulted his quivering lips. Seonghwa was already dizzy by the time the pair pulled off him to kiss each other. The crunch of Jongho's bones as he came to sit in front of Seonghwa in their stead barely made Seonghwa wince anymore.

Seonghwa blushed when he embarrassingly moaned right at Jongho's face. Mingi's tongue had breached inside of him and massaged his muscles while Seonghwa's legs quivered and shook against his shoulders.

"You seem to be enjoying yourself, Seonghwa," Jongho hummed as he took in Seonghwa's drawn brows and his teeth sinking into his lip. Little noises spilt from him, anyway. Aching and begging for attention, his heavy length hung between his legs, entirely discarded by Mingi's tongue fucking into Seonghwa. It curled and flicked inside of him in a way no human tongue could and Seonghwa would have collapsed if not for his loyal shelf.

When he received no reply, Jongho pressed the heel of his palm to his crotch to adjust his prominent bulge.

"Want to try taking me? I can adjust it however you can take it easiest."

Fresh horror chilled Seonghwa's chest at the imagination of Jongho's shifting dick simply falling apart in his mouth. Or worse: off. But yet, he found himself nodding weakly as he reached to undo Jongho's pants for him. There was no going back already. His terror battled with his arousal and they made for a dizzying mix that had him jump headfirst in whichever his strange guests had to offer.

Jongho stood again to level his crotch at Seonghwa's height. With the help of both of their hands, they unbuckled his black-and-white striped circus pants and pushed them down his hips. The sight of the fabric triggered a memory of the manège he had first seen them at in Seonghwa. He imagined the bunch of them taking him in the empty circus, the ranks for the audience deserted as they trapped him in their midst to have their fun with him.

Jongho's length springing from his pants distracted him. When Seonghwa first laid eyes on the horrible deformation the tug of Jongho's belt had left on the man's tip, he winced. It was nearly shaped like an L; the skin stretching and bending absurdly around the edge. Muttering, Jongho reached to fix it.

Seonghwa could absolutely not understand the part of his brain that wanted the poorly sculpted dick in his mouth, but he had stopped questioning it. Instead, he just pulled Jongho in before he had to become self-conscious and wrapped his lips around his tip.

Delicately, Seonghwa hollowed his cheeks. He feared that a part of Jongho would come off if he nudged him too hard, so he was careful with his strength. Having Jongho's hand tangle in his hair was worth it, though. They figured out a rhythm that worked for both of them.

When Mingi added his long fingers to the mess he had made of Seonghwa's entrance, Seonghwa faltered a bit to gasp for breath. He still kissed along Jongho and held him in his hand so his heavy length wouldn't drop and become weird again.

Needily pushing back against the fingers, Seonghwa dived back in. He didn't notice Hongjoong appearing on their side until he pressed his hands to Seonghwa's chest. Sensitive, Seonghwa jerked against the dirty flicks of his additional tongues. The up and down motion of his head strained his neck and spit slicked his lips.

As Seonghwa gradually fell apart between all of them, Mingi grew impatient. Soon, he growled at Yeosang to join him on the other side so they could finally fuck Seonghwa into tomorrow. Ready to receive any touch, Seonghwa stood with his legs trembling. For a moment, his hardened nipples brushed the cold air as Hongjoong dipped off and took Jongho with him.

They all arranged themselves. Yeosang waited patiently, his heavy arousal resting against Seonghwa's backside as he held onto his hips, ready to go. Hongjoong needed a moment as he wormed into the shelf beneath Seonghwa so that they were only separated by the board holding Seonghwa up. With his hands back on Seonghwa's chest, Hongjoong kissed him dirtily before he beckoned Wooyoung and San back over.

Creepy in his corner, Yunho slowly massaged himself through his pants as he watched the group. When Mingi came over to make out with him and share Seonghwa's taste, the gangly man pulled the other one close appreciatively.

Yeosang gave no further warning. He slipped his tip into Seonghwa as if it were meant to be there and waited for Seonghwa's groan before he pushed in further to spread him open.

As soon as he bottomed out and Seonghwa regained a single brain cell to notice that Jongho was now sucking off the other half of Yeosang, Woosan demanded his attention. They used the split moment of rest from Yeosang's side when he just explored Seonghwa's body with appreciative hands to offer him their... two dicks. They had two.

Right next to each other and tinted in a matching angry red hue, the two lengths slapped against Seonghwa's cheek to leave a wet patch there. He winced, humiliated but at the same time obsessed with their anatomy.

Hongjoong, whose head popped up from beneath Seonghwa, alarmed him. With a sharp grin, he beckoned the lovers closer.

"I'll help."

Seonghwa and Hongjoong took one dick each and aligned their faces to challenge each other to a battle of who got more moans out of the duo. Seonghwa found himself at a disadvantage when Yeosang soon rocked into him gently and tested the waters.

Seonghwa didn't know where to lean to first. Towards the throbbing length that stretched his lips, the nibbling hands on his chest or the slow pushes inside of him. The combination of it all overwhelmed him in the best way. The heat in his body swelled and expanded beyond anything he had ever experienced. Like a waterfall, pleasure cascaded over him to leave him trembling all over.

His hands clutched onto Wooyoung's and San's hips, holding on for dear life as the shelf protested against him getting screwed into it. Yeosang was gentle, or at least gentler than the others would be. He thrust deep, but with respect to Seonghwa's human limits.

"Good, darling, wonderful." One of the many hands of the men in front of him was in Seonghwa's hair. He glanced up at them, eyes swimming in tears of pleasure. San breathlessly grinned down at him. Every push of their hips thrust them down Hongjoong's throat, too.

Without discussion, Yeosang and the lovers settled for a maddening pace on both ends. They pulled back and shoved back in at the same time, leaving Seonghwa empty and yearning and then full to the brim. He could barely take it, just weakly hanging in his spot. His weeping dick throbbed and yearned, feeling close to explosion with how much pain he was in.

When Seonghwa grew more restless around Yeosang's slams that lost in focus and his hands weakly fluttered to the shelf to try and reach for himself, Hongjoong took mercy on him. He arched up to align with Seonghwa as much as possible and at first, Seonghwa thought they would do a game of dirty grinding.

The opposite was the case when his tip slipped into an opening. A big one that welcomed him with yet another big tongue that curled around him tightly.

Hongjoong pushed Woosan to pull off for a moment. His lips ghosted over Seonghwa's and pulled a gasp from him when he bit down sharply.

"I could bite it off. Be a good boy."

Terror washed over Seonghwa in an icy wave. When his hips bucked into Hongjoong's stomach involuntarily, he nearly passed out with how grotesque the imagination was. He didn't even want to glance down.

They went back to work of making Seonghwa fall apart. When he came minutes later with a yell around the length stuffing his throat, Hongjoong lapped all of it up. Yeosang halted while he clamped around him, but as soon as he was free, he placed his last thrusts. Dripping with his come, Seonghwa slumped in his unfortunate position moments later. He got a moment of peace when they reassembled again. He was too weak to even lift his head and glance at the corner Yunho and Mingi were in.

"Now, let's get you opened up for the real fun," Wooyoung sing-songed as he and his partner reappeared behind Seonghwa. He winced, his dick already twitching again at the implications. Yeosang had settled down on the couch sated to watch, and one of his hands lazily jerked off Jongho by his side. As Hongjoong wormed his way out of the shelf, Mingi came back over. Seonghwa whimpered around his abused throat when the man tapped the tip of his dick against his lips. He doubted Mingi would just allow the lazy rocking that Yeosang had provided.

Seonghwa relaxed his jaw to allow him in as the first dick slipped into his entrance effortlessly. Aided by Yeosang's mess, Wooyoung slipped a finger in at the side to spread Seonghwa'S velvety walls further open.

It was more than he had ever taken before; the pressure crushing. Seonghwa whimpered and whined around Mingi, but he had none of that. With both hands, he grabbed onto Seonghwa's head to thrust down his throat and shut him up. Seonghwa thrashed in his hold. His throat convulsed and his body spasmed when his gag reflex was triggered repeatedly. Through his grit jaw, Mingi stared down at him darkly as Seonghwa clawed on his thighs and hot tears spilt over his cheeks.

Mingi set a rough pace from the beginning. His thrusts went deep and uncaring about Seonghwa's struggle. As long as Seonghwa breathed fine, Mingi had no qualms about fucking his throat raw. Spluttering around him, Seonghwa was so distracted by surviving that he barely noticed the strain in his backside anymore.

Only when another blunt tip nudged at his entrance to stretch him further apart than ever before, Seonghwa's consciousness returned to his fear. But he had no reason to be afraid. Well lubed with something they must have dug out of Seonghwa's drawers, the second half of the duo slipped inside of him smoothly. Filled to the max, Seonghwa trembled against them.

Wooyoung and San were riled up already, so at least Seonghwa didn't have to go through this torture for long. The harsh thrusts from behind had the noises of skin against skin echo in the room. Seonghwa didn't doubt that all of his neighbours knew he was having an orgy in here.

Surprisingly, Mingi came first. As Seonghwa pressed his tongue against his gorgeous length, the man's hips stuttered and buried deep the last time. Choking around his come, Seonghwa tried to swallow it all but ended up gagging most of it on the ground. He must have passed out for a minute at that point because his blurry senses were only half aware of how Hongjoong licked the disgusting mixture of spit and semen off the ground and Wooyoung and San drove home to finish.

The next time Seonghwa came to be, he hung limply inside his shelf and was void of any touch. His weak groan, however, got answered instantly.

"Can you still go? I feel we already broke you," Hongjoong purred where he sat on the ground opposite of Seonghwa. Aching hard again, Seonghwa eyed him sleepily. Exhaustion pulled on his limbs and someone had opened a window in fear he would suffocate in the thick scent of sex. The cold breeze tickled on his bare body.

Seonghwa licked over his dry lips, not trusting his throat to cooperate.

"I'm fine," he croaked. Hongjoong grinned at him and motioned at the bunch of satisfied men already settled on the sidelines. None of them looked as if they would bother him anymore.

"You're nearly done," Hongjoong said. Seonghwa blinked at him slowly.

"Who's left?" He saw nobody but Hongjoong.

When something moved behind him, Seonghwa's body froze again. Spindly fingers crept over the upper end of the shelf to hold on to it as Yunho leaned over his body. Awed and terrified, Seonghwa watched how he effortlessly bent over the entire shelf.

"He'll be careful, he promised," Hongjoong purred sweetly, but it didn't settle the dread clutching Seonghwa's heart in an icy fist. The dick that rubbed against his back was thin, far thinner than the combination of Woosan, and it matched the rest of Yunho. But its length made Seonghwa gulp nervously.

But Yunho had waited all night for this. Seonghwa wouldn't deny him.

Weak, he arched his back to present his wet entrance to the man. He didn't need to plead for Yunho to fit right into him.

Seonghwa had always been a fan of training more girth, but he had never considered depth training. Yunho's size allowed him to go deep easily and the first few inches slipped in with no hassle. As he slowed along with the next, Seonghwa's mouth dropped further open in shock.

"Yunho- Wait, I-" Before Seonghwa could reach back, he already felt Yunho penetrate a deeper second entrance inside of him. Seonghwa didn't know what he entered, but Yunho's tip halted so deep inside of him that Seonghwa was terrified to be ripped apart and incredibly impressed by his own body at the same time.

"Good lord..." Yeosang muttered from the couch. All of them watched with great interest how Yunho stabilised his grip on the shelf as he allowed Seonghwa time to adjust. Entirely petrified, Seonghwa just hung there as Yunho placed the first thrust.

He was glad that Yunho went easy on him. He probably would have ripped out Seonghwa's intestines if not. With slow, creepy rocks, Yunho found his pleasure in Seonghwa's weakened body. Seonghwa was so gone, so focused on the tugs far inside of him, he barely noticed Hongjoong's hands licking at his chest and arousal.

Like death, Yunho loomed above Seonghwa and held his life in his gnarly fingers. Every thrust had Seonghwa gasp softly and reminded him of his position.

A round of slow sex that offered fresh sweat on Seonghwa's clammy skin from suspense passed. Yunho moved carefully until he reached his peak and pulled out while he came. Most of his come didn't shoot too deep inside of Seonghwa and instead mixed with the rest of the mess that dripped down his thighs. Then, Yunho pulled back to disappear into a corner behind Seonghwa's back with an airy sigh of satisfaction.

Trembling from fear, Seonghwa stayed where he was. His body ached and twitched, just as shocked as he.

Hongjoong searched his face before he jumped to his feet with a bright smile.

"Well then. Take me nicely and then we will set you free."

Not as if Seonghwa had anything left to say. His hands dangled onto the lower shelf as Hongjoong slipped inside of him effortlessly. Endowed like a human his size would be, he hummed, satisfied at the wet mess that greeted him.

Seonghwa barely even felt him anymore. He was sore and fatigued, direly in need of a glass of water. The shelf made his ribs ache uncomfortably, and his oversensitivity had long since ended in numbness. The only reaction Hongjoong got out of him was by pressing his palm to Seonghwa's dick. His every thrust drove Seonghwa in the mouth on his hand and gave him the last kick.

Seonghwa came with a pitiful yelp, his body spent. All tension had fallen from him and no muscle heeded his orders anymore. Hongjoong's harsh thrusts inside of him squelched wetly, but they became a lullaby to Seonghwa.

He dimly noticed how Hongjoong came and wrenched the board over Seonghwa's body free at the same time. When he was dragged from his position, multiple hands caught him.

Seonghwa didn't question whether he could trust them to take care of him. He merely sunk into blissful sleep.

-

Seonghwa tiptoed around his peculiar guests after that. Sometimes, he met their ominous gazes that stuck to his body and shuddered with the memories of their encounter. Every night, they surprised him out of his sleep with their sinister grins and their sharp nails and teeth.

After a week of stumbling and squeezing past one another, they had found a suitable new home for the freaks. Mingi came back from work with a recommendation of one of his colleagues, and Seonghwa called the seller of the camp van for them. They settled on a date to meet and cheerful anticipation settled among the ecstatic group. That day, Seonghwa and Hongjoong checked out the spacious van together and questioned the seller about the details. And after lots and lots of paperwork that Seonghwa guided them through, they settled on the deal.

They celebrated with pizza that night to recall the first meal Seonghwa had brought for them. While anxious that he would have to see them go, at least Seonghwa wouldn't wake to their creepy faces leaned over his sleeping body anymore. He was drained and terrified beyond sanity.

They had decided to leave the city right the next morning since they didn't want to risk Dio finding out about their plans. Thus, they helped Seonghwa clean up after the last night and filed outside into the corridor.

Seonghwa lingered at the door when he said his goodbyes, and all of them smiled at him in various degrees of warmth and eeriness.

"We'll send you the money as soon as possible. Thank you once more for your kindness," Hongjoong said at the tip of the group. Seonghwa brushed it off weakly. He was at the end of his strength, having slept barely with his paranoia and nightmares since they had come to him. His kindness to help had allowed them to suck all life force out of him.

"It's all fine. Let's never see each other again. Take good care of yourselves."

With a sinister smirk, Hongjoong pushed off the wall.

"Don't enter mysterious circuses at night, Seonghwa. Farewell."

Seonghwa watched them drive off through his window and then went to lock his door. With his hands in his hair, he sunk into a corner of the room to just scratch and rub at his scalp until he would forget that this all ever happened and how many nightmares it would implant in his subconscious.

But each night he dreamed about scary faces and bodies after that, he emerged in the morning to glance at his IKEA shelf. And while he knew he should get rid of it to cleanse his soul, it had oddly enough become his most prized possession. Which scared him, but also promised a foreboding satisfaction.