Her Signature

[CW: Kidnapping, Non-consensual Behavior, Gore]

“Welcome to Episode 603 of ‘That’s My Signature.’ Where we cover all the latest news, gossip, and more for the world’s greatest group ever! Signature~.

Today I have a very special guest in the studio with me. Can you guess who it is?” I paused momentarily, making a note of the recording time in a notebook; 18.37 seconds, slice in a clip of my beloved’s voice singing a solo from ‘Moments in Moments’. It was one of the group’s least popular songs, but I couldn’t make it too easy for those so-called fans that are only following the trend. “Did you get it? Well, you’ll just have to stick around and find out if you’re correct. Now, a word from our Sponsor! VikingVPN…” I hit pause again to find the wording they had sent me to use when I heard the breathing behind me turning into a wretched groaning.

There was a nearly constant drip coming from the stone wall behind Seo-jun. The masonry had been corroded away to the point where I could see large cracks where the mortar had once been in several spots along the antique wall. The packed dirt floor was darkened from the moisture near the wall base. The building was stable enough to support what I needed. When I first found this place, I was sure it was held together by nothing more than the strands of dusty cobwebs that stuck to everything. No one had lived here for years, but with a bit of cleaning, I was able to turn the colonial root cellar into the perfect place to run the secret recording studio for my very own podcast. I had to extend several cables up the contorted teetering wooden stairs across the subterranean space; it was the only way to power this shack from the generator out back.

“Oh! June! You’re awake, finally! I was really starting to worry you wouldn’t wake up.” I spun my chair around to see my idol looking around. I did my best to keep my comment light and playful, but I had been worried. Due to Seo-jun’s unexpected tolerance, I had to use a larger dose of the powdered drug than I had planned.

I’m probably not what anyone would expect hearing I kidnapped my ultimate bias. I’m not some coke rim glasses hunchback with bad acne. I’m actually quite pretty if I do say so myself. Staring into Seo-jun’s eyes I could see the faint recognition flickering. I had managed to attend multiple concerts since Signature started their US tour. Four of which were VIP passes that let me meet the band. Of course, the last of those was the most important. Without last night’s pass, we wouldn’t be here now.

“Your mouth probably tastes like cotton, right?” I did my best to stroll to the small brown mini fridge I had squeezed under the stairs. I was wearing my cutest outfit, which involved a pair of four-inch stiletto pumps. I knew my hesitant steps made me look like a newborn giraffe on the clay floor but Seo-jun was far too polite to say anything. “It’s a side effect of the drug I slipped into your water bottle.”

“Why…” Seo-jun’s voice crackled as he nearly choked on his parched and swollen tongue.

“June, don’t talk yet.” I cracked open the bottled water tip-toeing my way back, more gracefully this time. I stepped between his legs; the strain of the rope on his thighs made my heart tremble. He was so strong. My knee willfully swept the inside of his right thigh. The firmness of his dancer’s muscles made my skin alight as if I sat before a heater after coming in from the cold. The tingle that surged through my body bordered on pain as I ached for him. “Open up. This will help soothe your palette.”

Gently I placed the plastic on his elegant apricot lips. He drank so greedily. Water began to flow backward, sputtering, spitting, I had to pull the bottle back before he choked. After the third sip, we had managed to sync our timing and I was able to satisfy his thirst. Setting the bottle aside, I ran my fingers through his alluring raven tresses that had become disheveled on the trip.

“There we are, aein.” Even by the faint light from my string of glowing stars I could see him blush as I called him my lover. My heart was fluttering at all his boyish charm. “I’ve been under your spell since you were a trainee. I thought I was fine watching you from a distance but the closer I got to you the more I knew, I was destined to be Mrs. Gyeon Kira. I tried to tell you in my letters, but you never wrote me back.”

“Kira? You know the company won’t let me get married. Not at this point in my career.” He spoke as eloquently in English as his native tongue. I could hear the desperation in his voice, his love for me. “That’s why I couldn’t respond to your letters.”

His voice had bewitched me with his every song. Now I knew it was even captivating when speaking. It was hard to believe he wasn’t the main vocalist. Not that In-su wasn’t exceedingly talented but he had no right to be center and main vocalist when Seo-jun was far more accomplished, stylish, and refined! What was Red Love Blue Entertainment thinking?! June was the visual, the lead singer, and the sub dancer. HE DESERVES CENTER! I had to take a few slow deep breaths to calm myself again. I couldn’t go crazy now, not in front of my June.

“I know that, silly. That’s why we’re going to get married in secret. That way they can’t stop it. Once it’s done, I just know we’ll be so happy together.”

“Oh, yes. Of course. Who’s going to marry us? You should bring them here, right away. We really can’t delay.” He confirmed what I had known all along. June loved me just as much as I loved him. The company had been keeping us apart all this time.

“Soon, my love. There is so much to do first. The company and your manager don’t understand how much we love each other. I’m fine with hiding it from your fans, being available is part of your appeal. As long as you come home to me at the end of the day, I can be okay with you flirting for the cameras. Your manager has to go, though. Mr. Cho is just holding you back.” Wrapping my arms around his neck I slid down until I sat upon his leg. Holding him tightly, his bonds quivering with his desire to hold and comfort me. Like the actress from the ‘Love Gone Mad’ video, I lay my brow upon his shoulder. It was my favorite song by Signature. It was as if it were a beacon of June and my love for the world to see. The way the lyrics flowed about a love so powerful that I would claw the stars from the heavens to write our names for eternity.

Air forcefully was pushed from my lungs as I was thrown backward. Unable to maintain my feet in the awkwardly balanced heels, I was thrown into the recording station. The monitor struck by my flailing arms was flung from the desk. My gut ached and it was white hot pain with every attempt to draw breath. I grasped for any handhold I could find on the slick metal desk. There was a loud clatter as the chair Seo-jun had been resting upon now had all four legs crashing against the weakened cellar walls. Seo-jun had forced himself into a stand, the chair still tied to him, and he was swinging the chair legs around wildly. I tried to call out to calm him down, but I was still gasping from the unintentional blow by the arm of the chair. That’s when I heard the thick hurried boots moving through the rooms upstairs. The ancient home shutter under the invasion of the determined forces freeing the eons of dust from between her planks. Even the debris falling was like snow around my beloved’s head. I couldn’t let them take him from me. Not yet! We still hadn’t said our vows.

“I’M HERE! HELP ME! WE’RE DOWN HERE! SHE’S CRAZY!!” Seo-jun cried towards the ceiling despite the particles floating down.

Why was he calling to them? He said he wanted to get married. HE LOVES ME! He… He was betraying me. Betraying… us. I didn’t have much time; I could already hear the muffled voices getting clearer. I wouldn’t let him do this to us. He belonged to me now and forever.

It hurt; my fingers were dripping blood from the broken shard of monitor I was clutching as a makeshift blade. Seo-jun’s face was shocked as I called his name and raised the glass shard. S.W.A.T. barreled down the stairs, they were screaming for me to drop my weapon. I was half-blinded from the multiple flashlights shining in my face. I rushed to meet my lover’s embrace for the last time, there was an unexpected tug from my foot. The power connection was raised off the ground like a trip line. One of the officer’s bulky boots had gotten caught on the cord, drawing it tight.

It was sharp, warm, and gooey. I expected it to hurt, at the very least. Pulling band-aids off was worse than dying. There was no instant replay of my life. No bright light or tunnels. No reaper to come greet and guide me. No devil to tie up the thing that might be a soul and drag me away. I was just here, standing next to… well, me.

“I should have worn dancer-rated heels.” The large shard of glass planted through my left eye as my blanched face stared up from the floor. Not that the coroner leaning over my body heard me. I felt a tug, more like a need that moves you into quick action. Similar to when something gets knocked over next to you and instinct makes you reach to grab it, even if it’s a bad idea. Then I was sitting next to Seo-jun on the back of an ambulance. He was in one of those foil trauma blankets next to his manager, no one seemed to realize I was with them. Police and News crews had the street shut down with their vehicles taking up every bit of space they could. “It’s okay, June. It’s not your fault.”

“You were right, Cho-ssi. She was perfect.” Seo-jun had a hint of a smile playing at the corner of his lips while he was talking to the older man. Yet he was keeping his head low so that the cameras couldn’t capture his elation at the turn of events. He thought I was perfect? Even after all that happened? Even after he saw my ugliness?

“With all this media attention you’re sure to make center for the launch of the next album.” Mr. Cho ruffled Seo-jun’s shimmering black tufts. My anger flared as I listened to Mr. Cho and the air chilled around me. Seo-jun drew his heat-lock blanket closer but this was just the beginning.

“Well. You’re not the sweet boy I thought you were, June. But I love you, all of you. Even this blackened part. And now…” I was finally going to see the side of Seo-jun no one else ever got to see. I was going to be with him forever, one way or another. “Don’t worry, June. I’ll never leave you. Ever~.”