𝐃𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐈𝐬 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐎𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐏𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐲 ―𝐝.𝐨.𝐝

Chapter 1

[ ??? POV ]

In a loud karaoke room, I sat silently and stared at the wall. There were small, colorful spotlights flying around in the darkness, sometimes entering my field of vision. I was entranced.

"Hey, J, what are you thinking about?" the man beside me asked. I flickered my gaze to him and stared at his brown bear mask.

Everyone in the room wore an animal mask that suited them. They gave me a white rabbit. I don't know why.

"Hey, stop pestering him, D," the man with a fox mask clicked his tongue, hitting D's head lightly with an empty soju bottle.

"Shut up C!" D whined. "I wasn't asking you!"

With a sigh, I rose from the cushioned chair as the bickering persisted.

"J, where are you going?" another voice asked, this time, the girl with a deer mask. She was known as "B" and was the last member who talked in the group.

I shrugged my shoulders as I walked out of the door. It was relatively quiet in the hallway compared to the karaoke rooms, and I ambled down to the vending machine.

But there was a voice that caught my attention.

There was a clear voice with a deep tone color singing a slow ballad by themself. I looked through the small glass window on the door and saw a boy that looked my age. He was skinny and shorter than me, but his face was nice to look at. I couldn't tell if his eyes were truly a golden hazel hue or if the light of the screen made it that way.

He seemed like an ordinary student.

"Shouldn't he be studying right now instead of singing alone at a karaoke?"

"..."

I stood by the door, in a blind spot, and listened for a little longer.

I finally turned away and made my way to the front desk.

The owner was watching the news at a low volume. He glanced up when he noticed me approaching.

"Oh, Rabbit," he muttered in a gruff voice. "You need spare change for your drink?"

I shook my head and handed him a few paper bills.

"I want a separate room. Give me ten minutes in it," I said.

The owner had a long stare at the money. Then he laughed.

"Rabbit, you've been coming here long enough to know that this is too much for ten minutes. Take the money and go to room 13. It has a window, but you lot always take up the one room without a window, so. Just buy me a soda once you're back, aye?"

I smiled gently and nodded my head, retracting the money and hiding it in my pants pocket.

I navigated my way through the clean hallway again and entered room 13. It was a small room compared to the one I was in with my group, but it couldn't be helped that the only open room wasn't VIP.

I took off my mask and folded up my coat inside out, placing it on the couch.

As I rolled my neck, I scrolled through the song selection, trying to recall the song that lone boy was singing. But even when two minutes passed, I couldn't seem to find it.

Frowning, I clicked on a random song and dropped the remote on the couch next to me. The microphone was already in my hand.

I twirled it for a while before putting it close to my mouth.

Then I began to sing.

I wasn't someone who sang a lot. Actually, I almost rarely sang. I did maybe once in that karaoke room because my group forced me to, but I don't remember ever singing before or after that.