two months later,
christmas break

a bassy remix of "here comes santa clause" was blasting through the speakers and strings of colorful twinkling lights were strung everywhere. nearly wasted teenagers were jumping up and down, a plastic red cup in one hand and the other fist pumping in the air. they were dressed in ugly christmas sweaters and ridiculous santa hats, but they didn't mind much. they were having fun.

minji was in the bathroom upstairs, trying to calm her nerves. when she and sooyun had arrived at the party, she was already feeling really anxious. she had stayed close to soo as they made their way to the drink table. soo had gotten herself a drink and minji scanned the living room for jisung.

but then she saw something. someone in a cat mask. and she felt like she couldn't breathe. she could feel her throat closing up and her breaths were coming out as short rapids.

she immediately ran up the upstairs, ignoring sooyun's calls for her. she ran past a making out couple and right into the bathroom. she quickly turned the lights on and locked herself in.

breathe. it wasn't real.

maybe her mind was playing tricks on her again. her therapist had said that that can happen sometimes and that when it does, it's important to focus as hard as you can on other things. things that you can feel, smell, or touch.

it had gotten so bad lately. the panic attacks. the delusions. her anxiety. she couldn't tell what was real and what her mind had made up.

there was a light knock on the door. minji quickly wiped her tears away and opened the door. sooyun was standing outside of the bathroom, concern in her eyes. "you okay?"

"i'm okay now. just my mind playing tricks on me," minji said. sooyun nodded and gave her a reassuring smile. she knew that feeling just as much as minji did. "lets go back to the party."

"are you sure? we can just head out if you're not up for this," sooyun frowned but minji shook her head.

"i want to be here. if i want things to go back to normal, i have to start living again," minji responded and sooyun's smile was back. minji linked their arms and they both headed back downstairs.

"there you guys are," jisung pretty much yelled at them and it took only a second to realize he was already wasted. he held out two red plastic cups. "drink up, ladies."

minji and sooyun both took a cup and he grabbed another one from god knows where. he turned towards their dancing classmates. "it's fuckin' party time!" he shouted and the crowd whooped and cheered. it brought a smile to minji's face.

she took a long sip from her cup and winced as the liquid poured onto her tastebuds and burned its way down her throat. she looked over at sooyun. "do i even want to know what's in this?"

"pure fuel, baby!" their drunk friend yelled then he ran to join the dancing crowd as another bassy christmas remix came on. at this rate, it wouldn't take long before he started taking off his shirt and daring himself to do something stupid.

"gotta love him, yeah?" sooyun said and minji nodded her head, another smile growing onto her lips. her eyes shifted over. "well, look who's back."

minji turned around and saw jeongin. his hair was much longer than the last time they had seen him. after the trial was over, jeongin went to busan to take care of his sick grandma.

"hi stranger," sooyun said as he walked over to them. "when did you get back?"

"this afternoon," jeongin responded and sooyun nodded.

minji was looking around, taking in the loud thumping music and dancing bodies pressed close together. she couldn't help but feel envious of it all. she looked back at jeongin. "this doesn't seem like your scene."

jeongin let out a laugh and shook his head. "it's really not, but i figured i would find you guys here."

sooyun raised an eyebrow at him. "you were looking for us?" she asked. "why?"

his eyes shifted as he glanced around. "i need to show y'all something."

the serious look in his eyes made a knot start to form in minji's stomach. she glanced at sooyun, who seemed to be frozen in place. maybe she was feeling the same type of nagging fear minji was.

"come on," jeongin nodded his head towards the balcony. they all walked outside and jeongin pulled out his phone. "there's this reddit page that started after felix was arrested and everything started coming out. people were posting all sorts of things, crazy things. but for the past couple of weeks, its gotten really weird."

jeongin turned his phone towards the girls and sooyun grabbed the phone, scrolling through the page. it was a reddit page titled killkitt. there must've been at least a hundred posts of the same thing, pictures of people in animal masks with a single hashtag.

killzoo.

"what the hell is this?" sooyun asked as she kept scrolling.

"i'm not sure, but i think someone is trying to start the zoo back up," jeongin said. "i've tried finding who exactly started it, but im not having much luck."

"have the police seen this? maybe they can shut it down," minji said, the knot in her stomach tightening. she suddenly was finding it hard to breathe. "god, i feel sick."

"deep breaths, minji," sooyun turned her attention to her friend. and minji did try. but it was hard. her chest felt constricted and she felt like she was panicking. she tried to focus on something else like therapy had taught her. but she couldn't seem to do it.

sooyun gently grabbed her hands and squeezed, taking deep breaths. in and out. in and out. she kept doing it until minji started calming down. soon minji was breathing with her and squeezing her hands back.

"you okay?" sooyun asked and minji managed to nod. they looked back at jeongin and sooyun held his phone out for him to take. "what do you think this means?"

jeongin shrugged. "i'm hoping it's nothing and insensitive people are just fucking around on the internet. but i would be on guard if i were you."

minji started thinking about earlier. the person in the cat mask. what if she didn't imagine it? what if they were really there, just watching her? her eyes flicked back to the party inside, frantically searching for something that would prove she didn't make it up. her thoughts were going wild.

"minji? what are you thinking?" jeongin asked. he and sooyun both looked at her expectantly.

"this reddit.. what if they're not just people on the internet?" she asked, finally giving a voice to her thoughts. "what if they're trying to finish the job? the one that felix started."

"oh minji.. i don't know," sooyun said. she looked at jeongin. "is that really possible?"

jeongin's face scrunched into a slight grimace and he shrugged. "it could be. it's honestly hard to tell. the people on that reddit have said some crazy shit in the beginning."

sooyun's phone dinged just then and minji jumped. sooyun's body stiffened as she pulled her phone out of her purse. minji watched as sooyun's body relaxed as she read the screen. "it's just my brother. it's okay," she said and minji managed to give her a small nod.

she was way into her own thought now. the more she thought about it, the more it made sense. her eyes moved back to the crowd of gyrating bodies. her breathing quickened as she saw someone standing against the back wall. they were watching her.

"guys," she whispered. "can you see them?" sooyun and jeongin followed her gaze and minji could hear sooyun gasp.

"who is that? why are they just standing there?" sooyun's voice started to get frantic. she was terrified. "are they watching us?"

"this has to end," jeongin said then started towards the door. but minji grabbed his wrist and pulled him back.

"don't! we have no idea what this person is capable of," minji said. they all looked back at the person. only this time, they were gone. minji's eyes moved fast to see if she could spot them again. but they were nowhere to be seen.

"oh my god," sooyun cried. "where did they go?"

minji was about to respond when her phone dinged loudly, making her jump again. she pulled her phone out of her pocket and nearly dropped the phone as a text lit up the screen.

unknown
miss me? 🐱

to be continued