Chapter Text
It starts with Seungmin being in charge of buying groceries, as he strolled through the streets listening to, of course, none other than Day6 with his earbuds tucked in.
‘PuppyM would go crazy over this.’ Seungmin thought as he gazed at the snacks he bought for his companion.
He looked up to see Changbin entering an alleyway.
Seungmin was very confused. Wasn’t he supposed to be with Jisung right now?
He crossed the street and entered the same alleyway where Changbin was.
“Hyung? What are you doing here?” Seungmin asked as he watched Changbin facing the dead end of the wall. The older turned around and greeted him,
“Why, hello there! Excellent timing." Changbin said as he smiled and waved, "I was expecting to see you soon. This saves me tons of trouble from searching everywhere else.”
Seungmin twists his face in confusion ‘Why is he speaking like that? And what does he mean by searching?'
“Um…what?”
“It’s nice to meet you, Kim Seungmin.” His grin widened, almost unnatural. Seungmin felt his heartbeat quickening, his grip on his bag tightened. This isn’t Changbin hyung.
“And now, goodbye.”
The last thing he sees is a large black tendril aiming straight towards him.
—
—
—
“Hyuuung your phone!” Jisung drawled out, waving Changbin’s phone around as the ringing sound played.
“Alright, alright I got it geez.” Changbin sat up, walked over, and snatched his phone from Jisung's hand. Dwaekki peered over the rolling chair curiously as Changbin faced him for a second,
“Just stay here. Look after Sungie for me, okay little buddy?” Changbin smiled and patted his head. Dwaekki gave him a salute(?) or at least he attempted to. It was kind of hard to do that with his stubby arms.
Changbin huffed a laugh,
'Cute,' he thought, briefly exiting the studio to answer his phone.
He looked at the screen, it was from Seungmin. He accepted the call,
“Hey Minnie, what’s up?”
“Hello, Changbin. I was looking for you,” the voice answered. Changbin stopped his track. This wasn’t Seungmin’s voice. It almost sounded like-
“...Who is this?”
“My name is Changbin. Seo Changbin.” The voice replied, clear and straightforward.
‘What.’ Changbin froze.
It was his own voice replying to him.
“Well, doesn’t matter anyway. I want you to meet me at the overpass near XXX. Of course, alone.” The man with his voice chuckled darkly, “You don’t want anything happening to your precious little brother, now do you?”
Changbin felt a flare of anger rising, also alarmed,
“Wait what the fuck do you mean!? What the hell did you do to Seungmi-”
bzzt
The call ended.
—
—
—
Changbin ran to the highway overpass, where he was instructed to meet. He looked over the bridge, jumped down, and landed on the grassy patch. There, he saw a man with the matching appearance, voice, and outfit leaning against the bridge wall, his expression relaxed with an air of casual confidence. Changbin's breath hitched at the sight of fresh blood-certainly not his own-smeared on his clothes. The figure stepped out of the shadows,
“You arrived quicker than I expected.”
“Cut the crap, tell me where the hell is Seungmin now.” Changbin retorted harshly, trying to locate his missing little brother.
The clone merely smirked, “Hey, let’s not rush this; we haven’t had our lovely chat yet. I’m sure you’re quite curious about where I come from and what my purpose is.”
“...” Changbin's glare only grew more intense and impatient. The clone shrugged;
“Well, let’s just cut to the chase now, shall we? As you can obviously tell, I am your clone. Even though I may seem like your exact copy, only our appearances and abilities are the same but our personalities are different.
To be honest, I don't know how I was created. I woke up in this state. But I know my time is limited, and my body is warning me that I'll soon disappear."
“I can feel my instincts telling me I’ll have to kill you and take over your body. So...if it's no trouble, can I have your body, please~?” The clone asked with a faux innocence, nearly taunting.
Changbin only scoffed, “And if I say no?”
Not even a millisecond later, the clone struck his fist onto the ground where Changbin was, breaking the earth underneath. Changbin barely dodged in time.
“I wasn’t asking,” the clone remarked coldly.
“Try me, dipshit,” Changbin’s lips curled into a grim smile.
He placed both hands on the ground and released his dark, shadowy tendrils. The tendrils moved upward to strike down at the clone. The clone shielded himself with the wall of darkness, and both sides clashed.
The clone sent its sharp tendrils toward Changbin, who quickly leaped into the air. He blocked one of them with his arm, twisting around before ripping it in half. Suddenly, the ground shook and multiple sharp tendrils erupted from the ground underneath him. One tendril managed to hit him, hissing as it grazed his cheek.
Changbin shoved himself back and slid across the floor but recovered quickly. The clone’s tendrils struck him again; Changbin dodged each of them as he readied to summon his tendrils. He aimed his tendril at the clone, but the clone caught his arm and threw him aside, colliding with the ground so hard he left a small crater.
Changbin breathed heavily, kneeling on the ground. Tasting the metal on his tongue, he forced himself up and lunged forward again.
The clone only shows a sinister smile.
Something constricted Changbin's neck as it suddenly lifted him into the air, sent him soaring through the pillars, yanked him back, and confronted him face-to-face with his clone.
"Giving up already?" the clone taunted. Changbin spat blood on his face as a response.
Then a single sharp tendril pierced Changbin’s shoulder. Feeling intense, agonizing pain, he held back from screaming.
The tendrils pulled back, and the tightness around his throat loosened as he fell to the ground, leaving him staggered. His breath came in ragged gasps as he coughed and sputtered. Changbin glared at the clone with fury burning in his chest.
“That was fun; too bad it’s over now.” The clone stood, wiping the blood off his face, “But before I kill you, there is something I would like to show you,” he gleefully stressed.
In the blink of an eye, Changbin sees the most horrific thing he has ever laid eyes on.
They revealed Seungmin, bloodied and bruised, bound by several dark tendrils.
“Minnie…” Changbin whispered, his voice shaking with unrestrained rage.
His blood boiled to the pits of his stomach.
“When I was looking for you, he showed up at just the right moment. But when he realized I wasn’t his Changbin, he really fought back and unleashed a bunch of destructive sound waves. Very impressive ability, I should say. He turned out to be a tough opponent and managed to figure out some of my techniques for a time.” The clone chuckled, his eyes fixed on Changbin.
“For his cute angelic-looking face, he was very feisty and persistent, I’ll give him that,” the clone added, his air of confidence and nonchalance never once wavering.
“I asked him where you were, but never once did he reveal your whereabouts. Even if I ‘prodded’ him a bit, he refused.” The clone rolled his eyes, waving his hand around lazily as he explained.
“If I recall, he said something along the lines of ‘I’m never giving up my hyung to you, nor letting you hurt him!’ How adorable! I admire his loyalty. I really do. Maybe I did punish him a little too hard as he was quite…disobedient,” muttered the clone, seemingly pouting.
Changbin was frozen on the spot; he felt everything and nothing all at once.
“You should’ve seen his poor, pitiful face; I almost thought he would’ve given up at some point. It had me nearly in tears,” the clone mockingly pretended to wipe his eyes from nonexistent tears. In the next second, his face was devoid of emotions.
“Luckily for you, he still refused.”
In the corner of Changbin’s eye, he sees Seungmin looking up, coughing weakly with blood trickling down from the corner of his lip as he uttered, “...h’ung…” he tried to writhe from the tendrils that restrained him tightly in a desperate attempt to escape and reach his hyung.
“Oh, didn’t I tell you to stop squirming, little puppy? You know what happens if you stop listening,” the clone said jadedly.
With a simple flick of his wrist, the tendrils twist and tighten around Seungmin, cutting it deeper.
“AAAAAHHHH!!!”
Changbin stares blankly, unable to comprehend what’s happening in front of him as his baby brother lets out the most gut-wrenching scream, the sound of blood splattering echoes loudly in his ear. The younger’s scream gradually shifts into a painful groan as he coughs out blood. His breaths were short and ragged, as if there was glass stuck in his throat.
The tendrils release Seungmin as he drops to the ground, coughing and gasping as he flinches from pain with every movement he makes, “....h’urts…” Seungmin whimpers, undoubtedly suffering from the immeasurable pain and torture he had just endured. He slowly lifts his head and raises his arm towards Changbin as if trying to reach him. A small, weak voice calls out,
“…Help me…hyung…”
Changbin snaps.
-
Within seconds, Changbin lunged forward and landed a solid punch to the clone’s jaw, sending him flying miles away.
Seungmin suddenly felt strong but gentle arms carrying him in a bridal style; his legs were dangling as they kept bouncing up and down until Changbin skidded to a halt and gently laid the younger one on the grass with patches of flowers scattered around him. Seungmin looked up sideways, feeling the flower lightly brushing against his face, and saw that Changbin was staring at him.
“…Hyung?”
He could not read Changbin’s expression but felt a warm hand placed on the side of his face and the same hand reached out to brush out small strands of his hair from Seungmin’s face. The older man's expression had that blank-eyed, almost scary look on his face, but his aura screamed fierce and protective.
This was his real hyung. His Changbin hyung.
That clone was fucked. Seungmin could tell.
Changbin slowly stood up, darkness swirling around him steadily, but dangerously alluring and enchanting.
Then all hell breaks loose.
The clone emerged from the dust, releasing his tendrils once more. But as if he had teleported, Changbin appeared behind him and struck numerous tendrils at the clone, each strike growing more forceful and powerful. The clone cried out.
‘What’s going on?! His speed is faster than before!’
Changbin propelled himself into the air with incredible velocity and swung his foot downwards, smashing the clone straight into the ground with such force that it made the earth shake. As he stands over the clone, his face and expression shrouded in shadow, he slams his foot onto the clone’s left arm. Hearing a deafening crack and an ear-piercing scream, Changbin smiles sadistically at its pain.
The clone retaliates by launching multiple tendrils toward Changbin, some slashing him. But with a single hand, he snatches all of them at the same time and effortlessly rips them apart while ignoring the gash in his palm.
This time, Changbin’s tendril grabs the clone and forces him down to the ground repeatedly before Changbin kicks him across the field. He chases the hurtling clone with his new speed. Unable to do anything, the clone watches as Changbin violently punches him to the ground.
The clone’s wide, terrified eyes locked on Changbin’s as he struggled to even make a sound. But he didn't get the chance to do anything as Changbin snapped his finger; countless shadow tendrils struck him and buried him to the ground.
As the smoke clears, all that’s left is an unmoving body, the figure almost unrecognizable at this point.
Kill him, kill him
Changbin walks towards the figure and grabs onto its shirt, forcefully pulling the limp body up.
Kill him kill him KILL HIM KILL HIM
He raises his fist and slowly starts smiling again
KILLKILLKILLKILL-
“Hyung stop, he’s already dead..”
Changbin felt a tug from his shirt. He turned around to see Seungmin, his expression gentle and almost sad. The younger carefully took Changbin’s hand and placed it on his chest. Changbin’s chest heaved as his obstructed fists began to loosen more and more the longer he stared at Seungmin’s soft features.
Changbin looked back to see the clone had disappeared into thin air and faded away into nothingness. He fell on his knees. Then his mind raced, panic setting in as he realized how he must look to the younger;
‘I killed him,’ Changbin thought, slowly spiraling, ‘…With my bare hands…with these hands- I- I actually- enjoyed it..why...why didn’t I stop- why did I keep going-…I-’
Before he spiraled further, he felt arms wrapping around him in a gentle embrace. Changbin let out a breath.
"If you hadn't killed him...I would have died…" Seungmin said, resting his head on Changbin's uninjured shoulder. "You killed him, and that…that saved us both, hyung. I- I was so scared; who knows what would have happened if you hadn’t-” The boy let out a sob, tightening his hold, just a little.
Changbin felt his heartbreak; he had never seen the younger in this state before, ever so calm and collected Seungmin who knew exactly what he was doing. But now the older wished he could whisk all of Seungmin’s pain away and shield him from the world forever.
“Oh, Minnie..” The older circled his arms around Seungmin. The younger only buried his head further into Changbin’s shoulder. Even though Seungmin was taller, he looked so small and vulnerable in the older’s arms.
“Hyung is so sorry I couldn’t protect you,” Changbin whispered, barely keeping a hurt in his voice.
“It’s not your fault-” Seungmin was quick to say but was cut off.
“Seeing you hurt by that thing who literally has my face and my voice…at that moment, all I could see was red; it was a violent rage I’ve never felt before like I was truly going for the kill,”
Changbin's tone was laced with venom when he mentioned his doppelgänger but faltered and felt himself shake as he recalled the fight.
“If it weren’t for you stopping me, I think I would’ve lost even more control. It made me terrified that… that I was going to hurt you…or the others. I-..I was a monster out there. I smiled when he screamed and I couldn't stop! I just kept going- and I- What if I lose control like that again? It makes me no different from-”
Suddenly, he felt his forehead being flicked, abruptly stopping his rambling.
“Hyung respectfully, shut the fuck up.”
????????
Changbin blinked in surprise, speechless and bewildered.
“Don’t you dare say that. Don’t you dare think that! It’s not true.” Seungmin said fiercely. His expression was strong and intense, unlike the usual laid-back look he holds.
“Whether he's your clone or whatever he is, you’ll never be like him. You’ll never be him.”
Changbin felt a single tear streaming down. Seungmin’s expression softens and lets out a little half-smile. He continued,
“I know you will never hurt us or anyone else because, regardless of what happened, you’ll always be that same hyung who looks tough but is a true softie. That same hyung who dances to girl group songs, who spoils his little brothers rotten, and smothers them with hugs and kisses no matter how much they push him away.
The difference between you and him, he did this for pure evil. You wanted to protect.”
Changbin looked down and let out a shuddered breath.
“But I scared you...what would Jinnie, Sungie, Lix, or Innie think?” Changbin whispered, eyes almost glistening with tears. “What kind of hyung am I?”
‘What would Channie hyung and Minho hyung think? They’ll be disappointed.’
“A great one, hyung. The best one. Don’t tell Minho that,” Seungmin wiped the older’s tears away while Changbin huffed and let out a soft, sad laugh. Seungmin counted that as a win; his hyung finally smiled.
"You never scared me because you did what you were supposed to do. Binnie, you saved me. Never forget that.” Seungmin held both of his hands firmly while gazing straight at Changbin with a determined expression. He was bruised, bloodied, and beaten, yet he somehow appeared radiant and ethereal in Changbin’s eyes.
“So thank you, hyung. Thank you for saving my life.”
Seungmin softly caressed Changbin’s cheek with his fingertips, his thumb brushing against him in a gentle, repeated motion. Changbin hadn't noticed the tears that streamed down his face again, too focused on the younger's tender gratitude. The elder leaned into Seungmin’s warm hand, fully taking in the moment.
The younger doesn’t need to thank him for anything. Because he would do anything to protect his adorable but menacing little brothers. That was his duty as a hyung.
When Changbin’s eyes meet the other, a profound wave of realization hits him as he sees the wounded looking up at him, tilting his head like a curious puppy, smiling at him.
That smile.
That smile was worth protecting. So sweet, so gentle. So pure.
It wasn’t the biggest, but it still tugged on the older’s string and pulled himself together.
Cuts and bruises coated his pretty face and the mental scar might linger for a very long time, but that smile held onto that hopeful innocence still hanging on by that single thread for many years.
Changbin might cry again.
As much as he would love to leap at Seungmin and tell him he was the most precious thing in the world and wished that he could be as kind, brave, and selfless, but found himself unable to speak. Instead, Changbin gently enveloped him back into a warm embrace, letting tears absorb into the younger’s sweater.
They stayed like that for a few minutes until Seungmin spoke again;
“And what you did hyung…I can’t blame you…I’m sure Channie hyung and Minho hyung would’ve done the same. Everyone else too. I don’t want to imagine what Chan hyung would’ve done though.”
Changbin shivered. Yeah, he doesn’t want to imagine what his eldest hyung would’ve done in his place.
“And maybe we should- AGH! Fuck.” Changbin flinched at the sudden noise when Seungmin slumped against him, clutching his side in pain.
“Minnie!” Setting the younger down gently on his lap, the elder cradled him in his arms as if he were a small child.
“Shhh, it’s okay, I’m here. We’ll get you help soon, okay? Don’t push yourself.” Changbin said, lightly rocking them both back and forth.
He looks down at the younger, trying hard to ignore the painful wretch of his heart seeing his battered state.
‘Wow…that thing really did a number on us.’ Changbin thought as he looked down at himself to assess the injuries sustained from the battle, his breath hitched when he was met with blood-soaked clothes and torn flesh, similar to Seungmin.
For a couple of minutes, the younger’s body shook and grimaced in pain until his expression schooled into a calmer state.
Seungmin looked up at Changbin; he smiled and laughed softly, quickly breaking into a small fit of coughs. Changbin smiled sadly, softly squeezing the younger’s hand.
“I almost forgot our asses nearly got handed by your evil twin,” Seungmin deadpans; Changbin couldn’t help but chuckle and Seungmin continued, “Why haven’t we called Chan hyung by now?”
“There’s no way our phones are still intact after this,” Changbin tiredly states.
“Great. I haven't got the chance to save that one photo I took, and it was hilarious,” Seungmin pouted cutely, muttering disappointingly.
“That’s what you’re worried about? I’m more worried we have to walk home in this state.” The older laughed, almost a bit exasperated. Knowing Seungmin, Changbin would’ve guessed that the photo was a perfect blackmail material.
He reached down in his pocket to check the sorry state of his phone; it was indeed cracked badly. But surprisingly, it turned on and was somehow still functional.
After calling Chan, Changbin placed his phone back in his pocket. His adrenaline began to wear off and now he felt very exhausted.
“What are you thinking about, hyung?” Changbin looked down to see Seungmin staring up at him with his puppy eyes and puckered lips, tilting his head slightly in curiosity.
“Oh…just relieved that we’re alive.” The older sighed softly while absentmindedly petting the younger’s hair. He plucked a nearby flower and tucked it behind his baby brother's ear.
“Hehe, I’m glad,” Seungmin giggled happily, curling closer to his hyung as he kicked his legs up and down with childlike glee. The flower drifted slowly in the gentle breeze.
“I love you, hyung~”
‘Oh, what an angel. A true epitome of a puppy. And this is the same cheeky little shit that roasts the shit out of us 90% of the time. An actual menace. God, this kid is gonna be the death of me,’ Changbin thinks fondly. His cute aggression was triggering exponentially.
With a lump in his throat, Changbin whispers back,
“...Love you too…” as he tries not to burst into tears again.
He failed miserably.