his eyes opened to a pale, cracked ceiling, ebony irises glazed over. lips cracked, throat parched, baekhyun swallows thickly when he sits up, his bones creaking as if they'd give way any moment. his dark eyebrows raise to his forehead, his gaze prancing cautiously around the room, again noticing the mass of mirrors facing his bed. he could swear that a few more were added to the assortment, but he chose to ignore it as he caught sight of the same, daunting message carved into the door, almost too small to make out.

but baekhyun knew what it said, all too well as he pushed himself off and crawled towards the door on all fours, pricking his index finger on a pin sprawled across the floor. "shit," he cursed, eyebrows knitting together as the stinging sensation shot through his finger. lifting the now bleeding finger to his mouth, he licked the blood off and carefully removed the pin, holding it firmly between two fingers as he continued his journey towards the door.

and yet again, baekhyun felt the peculiar shiver run up his spine at the sight of the message, to the point where baekhyun couldn't take it anymore and decided to scratch it out using the pin. brutal, violent, and frenzied scratches replaced the previous words, a small pile of wood shavings pooling near baekhyun's knees.

exhausted, he slumped, bringing his knees to his chest as an eerily familiar tune pranced about his mind. easily, he found himself singing the words quite loudly, lips seemingly moving on their own as he formed each syllable.

"and all the kids cried out,
please stop you're scaring me.
i can't help this awful energy,
goddamn right you should be scared of me,
who is in control?"

his eyes began to close, the rest of the song becoming nothing but languid humming. while a part of baekhyun wondered just how he knew the song, just how he managed to remember the tune and the lyrics, he didn't question, and continued to hum out the notes to each word.

soon, another voice joined in, unbeknownst to the byun as his voice traced over the sinister melody. however, when he noticed, his face paled and his singing ceased in his throat, eyes darting around the room in concern and alarm.

yet again, baekhyun was terrified into silence, the only sounds audible being his startled breath and heavy thudding of his heart.