"Cha Eunwoo?" Jeonghan very well recognised the figure standing in front of him.

"Can't believe that I'm the last person you see before you die." Eunwoo smirked as he walked closer to Jeonghan with his hands in his pockets, "Fate."

"You very well know that it's not possible." Jeonghan stated in a mocking tone.

"And what if I end your will to live?" Eunwoo stared into Jeonghan's blazing red orbs.

"You can't." Jeonghan squinted his brows, "No one can."

Eunwoo laughed briefly, "You would be deeply disappointed in yourself Yoon Jeonghan. Because the person you've been hating for all your life, is actually very innocent."

"What the fuck are you talking about?"

"That day, Seungcheol wasn't the one who changed the credits from your name to his own." Eunwoo stated, "We did it. And do you know, on whose orders? Your dad's."

Jeonghan's body fell numb. Did he hear it right? No! No way!

"And I know you won't believe me that easily." Eunwoo pulled out a shining gem, "You know about this thing right? It will help you to see the past, enjoy!"

Within a moment, a cloud was fixated in front of the two. And it was exactly the day when everything had gone wrong.
-----

Jeonghan and his teacher Sana were almost at the end. The climax was the small message in the name of Jeonghan through the clouds in the sky.

But at the last moment, Hyungwon and Sanha played their spells to change the message. Henceforth, instead of Jeonghan's name, a message on Seungcheol's name popped up.
--------

"Your dad wanted you to hate Seungcheol and he succeeded." Eunwoo continued, "Directly or indirectly, you are definitely the shadow of your father. You're exactly the person you never wanted to be. You're in this illusion because your own father has ordered us to make you suffer the most. Oh did I forget to tell you? Your beloved father is now ruling the demonic world."

Jeonghan just stared at the ground. He was short of words. All of this was too much for him. This overwhelming feeling was ready to demolish him.

"I pity you Jeonghan." Eunwoo grinned, "You didn't trust your love and made everyone suffer because of your stupid betrayal story. Everyone blamed him for no reason just because of YOU. The actual victim is not you Jeonghan, it's Seungcheol. He is the one who deserves everyone's support and YOU are the one who deserves to die. YOU are a traitor, a disappointment, a disruption to your friends' peaceful life."

Eunwoo stepped forward, "YOU don't deserve anyone. Can't you see how much they've fought and hurt each other for no reason? Don't you think you're responsible for destroying umm- 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and if you include yours then 8 lives? Do you really think that you deserve to live after all of this?"

After successfully gaslighting Jeonghan with a partial reality check, Eunwoo disappeared after which Jeonghan's orbs turned blue. With that, his will to live and escape the illusion decreased drastically.

Jeonghan felt like his whole world had stopped. He couldn't stand properly. What did he just witness and hear? What was it?

"Are you happy now?" Jeonghan turned around to see Seungcheol standing with his hands crossed against his chest.

"Seungcheol-"

"Don't take my name from your filthy mouth." Seungcheol furrowed, "What did you achieve from all of this Jeonghan? What did I do to deserve everyone's hatred during all these years? What part of my sufferings made you happy?"

"I'm sorry."

"And? How exactly is your pathetic sorry going to fix everything? You ruined our lives Jeonghan, you're so fucking selfish to understand anyone's point." Seungcheol glared at the younger, "You're just like your father. Both of you disrupted so many lives for your own good. Now enjoy! Victory is yours."

Seungcheol stepped closer, "You always rant about how I failed to stand by your side right? But have you ever wondered how many times you fucking failed to stay by our side just because of your stupid revenge game?"

Damn, that was indeed true.

"I'm so disappointed in you Jeonghan." Joshua was the next to appear after the former had vanished in thin air, "How could you do this?"

"Joshua- I myself didn't know-"

"You knew everything. You should have at least tried to trust Seungcheol." Joshua cut him off, "Since you hated him, we also believed that he was the culprit. Your selfishness divided our friendship into two groups. We craved for each other's love but the misunderstanding created by you destroyed it all."

"Wait- I didn't-" Before Jeonghan could complete, Joshua disappeared as well.

"Hyung!" Hoshi called, "That was a cheap move to be honest. I supported you with all my might but turns out you're the evil one. I disrespected Cheol hyung so much, just for you. I fought with my love. Now what am I supposed to do? How am I going to face them?"

"Hoshi-"

"He was right hyung." Mingyu appeared, "Do you know how much we suffered when you weren't here? You only saw all the wrong things which didn't even happen with you but never looked at our misery. Why? Because you simply didn't care. You're a self centred arrogant narcissist."

"NOO!" Jeonghan cried while clutching his chest. It was brutal. He loved his family the most. He was strong against anyone but them. He could endure anything but not his family hating him. Never.

"Look at him trying to act all emotional again." Wonwoo's voice echoed as he was next to show up, "Why are you crying now? Do you think we'll fall for your melodrama again? Stop it hyung, don't be so cheap. Don't steep so low for your selfishness."

"I'm not selfish, please I'm not." Jeonghan weeped, "Please don't hate me."

"You DESERVE to be hated." Woozi walked up, "Wow I must admire you hyung. You single-handedly ruined several lives at once. That's a great talent. But at the end, you showed your true colours. You walked exactly on your father's filthy footsteps. Shame on you."

"The only one who stayed happy among us, was you." Seokmin arrived, "You got everything you wanted. Only we were the dumb ones who thought you were in so much pain. I never thought I would have to say this to you but I hate you hyung!"

"Don't." Jeonghan covered his ears, "Please don't. Leave me alone, just go away everyone."

He was going crazy by every passing second. The brutality was too much for him to bear. He wasn't left with any wish to live anymore. He was done. Done with his own life.

"JEONGHAN." Seungcheol appeared again with the same words, "Why did you do all this? Be honest for once."

"I never did anything Seungcheol, trust me!"

"Why would I trust you?"

Deja vu?

"Why did you ruin everything that I had, Seungcheol?" Jeonghan asked the older.

"I didn't do anything, please trust me for once!" Seungcheol held the younger's wrist.

"I don't trust you." Jeonghan yanked his arm away.

Yes, deja vu.

It was the time to reap whatever he had sowed for all of his life.

"Seungcheol!" Jeonghan cried harder, "I'M SORRY! I never meant to hurt you or anyone. I didn't know this. I didn't know that you were innocent. The situation didn't let me trust you."

"Stop giving excuses Jeonghan!" Seungcheol's illusion screamed, "You had the choice to trust me. You could have at least tried to find out the truth. You could have chosen to hear my side. But you didn't! You were so fucking full of yourself."

"But you never tried to explain either." Jeonghan sobbed, "I know I was wrong but-"

"STOP BLAMING ME AGAIN." Seungcheol yelled, "Why do you think I owe you an explanation? Did I do something wrong? No! YOU left us all abruptly. YOU owe us an explanation for that. You just made some pathetic stories about you struggling in the outer world and gained everyone's sympathy."

Brutal, yes.

Jeonghan couldn't believe that he was hearing all these things. But his mind was too messed up to understand that nothing was true, all of it was just an illusion.

"Those weren't stories-"

"And why should I believe you?" Seungcheol cocked a brow, "After everything you conspired, why would anyone believe you? Who knows what happened when you were away? Who knows if you actually cheated on me out there?"

"Seungcheol-"

"He's right hyung." Hoshi appeared out of nowhere, "Enough is enough, I'm not going to defend you anymore. You should just die, we don't need you in our lives."

"Yes, go away Yoon Jeonghan." Mingyu yelled.

"Go Away!"

"Leave us alone!"

"We're better off without you."

"We don't want to see your face anymore!"

"Leaving us is the least you can do!"

"Look at him, shameless."

"You're so selfish."

"Ungrateful narcissist."

Jeonghan covered his ears tightly but the voices didn't seem to vanish. They were increasing by each passing second and he couldn't bear them anymore.

"Yes, I'll go away. I'll leave you all for your happiness." Jeonghan cried as he crouched down on his knees.

The noise around him wasn't stopping. He knew it was all an illusion but with time, he was losing himself.

"I don't want to live anymore." Jeonghan buried his face into his palms.

At this moment, silence fell around him. The peace he was craving for a long time finally approached him.

"Do you want to give up?" A very heavy voice echoed, "Yoon Jeonghan?"

"Yes. I want to give up." Jeonghan agreed nonchalantly. His brain, his soul was trying to stop him but he was blinded by the deadly illusions.

"Stand up." The unknown voice ordered and Jeonghan found himself following it.

"Keep walking."

Jeonghan's unsteady steps grazed through the ground. He halted just before the blood red ocean.

To any sane person, the gigantic red waves were treacherous. But that wasn't the case with Jeonghan, he found them too tempting. It was like an escape for him, an escape he gladly wanted to accept.

"Do you want to jump?"

"Yes." Jeonghan chuckled bitterly, "They'll be happy without me and that's all I want for a satisfactory death. But-"

"But?"

"I want to leave a last message." Jeonghan insisted.

"You can." The voice echoed, "Only if you promise to give up your life after it."

"I definitely will because I deserve it." Jeonghan mustered up the courage to speak, "To the younger ones, hyung is leaving now. And Cheol, please take care of them.

I know I can't say that I was never wrong but amidst everything, I loved you all the most. For my whole life, you guys were my everything. Please don't hate me okay? I can endure anything but your hatred.

I wish I could have been a better person. I wish I could have brought happiness to you instead of sadness. I was such a bad friend to you all. But it's good, I'll go now. Your happiness matters to me more than your company.

I never wanted to hurt you but I unintentionally did. Please forgive me? I know I'm a coward. I left that time too and I'm leaving again but this is because I can't see your sad faces. I'm too weak for that. I'm sorry, especially to you Cheol, I unknowingly became your culprit.

I wish you were here, to free me from this pain. I wish I could have ended my life in your arms. I love you.

I'll sing this to you for one last time.

Rolling footsteps, only graffiti about myself
A heart full of paper
There is a wind that I have drawn

don't hate yourself
You know it was a good choice
I can't even tell you it hurts so much
I must have been moaning alone

There's no way I wouldn't know
Because you are my breath

Goodbye everyone! This is the end."

"JUMP NOW!!"

A/n : NEVER BACK DOWN, NEVER WHAT-?!
Seems like Jeonghan didn't know this trend.

Don't cry y'all (in case you did), this is just fiction! What are your thoughts?

This is the shortest chapter of this work. I didn't want to add unnecessary stuff just to make it longer and couldn't add the elements of the next chapter either so yk, it is what it is.

I'm dying to publish the books in my drafts but I lowkey know I can't manage 2-3 books at once.

Anyways, take care everyone!
-Jeonghanneyonghaseyo