10:05

                                    

                                          

the sky was getting darker more quickly than park seonghwa would've liked. before he'd even unchained his bike from the lamppost, the sky was awash with twinkling stars.
                          
his house is the furthest away from the treehouse, on the outskirts of illusion city, resulting in a twenty minute bike ride (fifteen minutes if he pedals hard enough).
                          
a minute into his journey, seonghwa breaks into a sweat.
                          
five minutes in, and he knows something isn't right.
                          
his bicycle, newest edition and well-cared for, keeps slipping on the smooth pavement. as if there were no friction between the road and wheels. he struggles to pedal in a straight line.
                          
he looks behind him, eyes widening in astonishment.
                          
he'd exerted himself to the maximum, pedalling as hard as he could go, yet he'd only moved a couple kilometres. usually, he'd be far gone from the street he was in. he could still see the treehouse's blinking lights from here.
                          
after risking another fall off his bike, he finally gets off to check out the unusual situation.
                          
strange.
                          
despite it not raining for a couple weeks (the korean summer drought was upon them), his tyres were wet.
                          
drenched, even.
                          
he touches the liquid gingerly and sniffs it. the substance burns his nostrils and his lungs cry at the fumes.
                          
the smell of fire and thunder.
                          
gasoline.
                          
why was his bike soaked in petrol?
                          
confused, seonghwa decides to carry on with his journey. whilst he maintains a calm exterior, his heart is pounding in his ears and he doesn't dare look behind him.
                          
he hears a twig snap. his heart catches in his throat.
                          
he's watched too many horror films to know what that means.
                          
the wheels on his bike can't seem move quickly enough as seonghwa feels eyes following the back of his sweaty neck. he's panting now, mouth dry and hands shaky. he feels trapped.
                          
and suddenly, the bike lurches forward, and seonghwa's heart stops.
                          
and then fire. fire everywhere.
                          
everything is happening too quickly; there's a branch stuck in his wheel, alight with an angry fire that hungrily licks up the rubber tyres and burns the metal.
                          
burning him, too.
                          
he screams. it's ugly, it's off-tune with the ringing in his ears and the crackling of flames that hurt so much.
                          
his lungs ache within his chest, begging for salvation from the thick smok that blinds his senses.
                          
the fire has eaten up the gasoline so quickly, that he can no longer move; his legs are lost beneath the melted remains of his bike and the monstrous fire that devours the rest of his skin.
                          
he screams again, this time he's swallowing red as the fire enters the roof of his mouth. everything hurts. the pain numbs the racing thoughts in seonghwa's brain that's slowly cooking inside his skull.
                          
the smell of ash and cooking meat fill his nostrils; the last thing he knows before he succumbs to the flames.

                          
—
                          
welcome to illusion city! 

                          
population: 8