As Bizarre as It Gets

Luminor walked in and, to my surprise, Kiro was right behind him. He said hello to me but he barely made any eye contact. From the looks on their faces I could tell something bad was going on.

I motioned towards the sofa and said: ''Have a seat, boys.''

They both sat down and glanced around nervously.

''Can I make you a cup of coffee or something?'' I asked.

''No thanx,'' they said.

I wished Strify was there too. From all five of them, I got along with Strify the best and I wanted him to be there when something obviously wasn't right.
''Where's Strify?'' I interrupted the painful silence.

They just looked at each other for a second.

''Please, start talking,'' I said, nervously running my fingers through my hair.

I sat down too, putting my arms around myself because I suddenly became aware I was wearing only panties and an XXL Marilyn Manson t-shirt.

''He's at home. We thought it would be the best if he stayed with Yu,'' Luminor finally answered.

''What do you mean? What's with Yu?'' I asked and stood up to get my cigarettes and an ashtray.

When I sat down again they were still quiet. I fired up a cigarette, waiting for their explanation.

''You guys...'' I said and shook my head slowly, ''I'm sure there is a good reason why you're both here in the middle of the night.''

They looked at each other again and Luminor started explaining: ''We noticed Yu was acting strange. He didn't talk to us about anything except our music. We all thought he would come around eventually but he didn't, he was just getting worse. He stopped eating and sometimes he stays up all night playing guitar in his room. A-and yesterday morning...''

Luminor's voice trailed off and Kiro and him looked at each other once more.

I offered Luminor a cigarette and fired it up for him. He exhaled the smoke, looking intensly at the coffee table in front of him.

''What happened yesterday morning?'' I asked and stubbed out my cig in the ashtray.

Luminor took a deep breath and said: ''We got worried and after the rehersal Strify asked Yu if there was something wrong. Yu said everything is ok, but Strify wouldn't let go of it and they started shouting... And Yu punched him.''

''What?'' I couldn't believe what I'd just heard.

After a moment, I continued: ''Wait a minute. Yu punched Strify and you left them alone together?''

Luminor frowned and explained: ''They won't fight anymore, I'm sure.''

''How can you be so sure?''

''Because it was a misunderstanding. We had no idea how many emotions Yu kept bottled inside. After he punched Strify, he went to his room and wouldn't come out anymore. It took us time but we got to the bottom of the problem.''

Luminor looked at Kiro once more and we noticed Kiro had fallen asleep.

''Does he always fall asleep in the middle of a conversation?'' I asked.

''Well... Maybe not always.''

''Tell me what the problem was, please,'' I whispered so I wouldn't wake Kiro up.

''Yu punched Strify out of jelousy.''

''What do you mean 'jelousy'?''

''We all saw how good you and Strify get along and there were some rumours about the two of you hooking up.''

''Why would Yu get upset about me possibly hooking up with Strify? Which I'm not, by the way.''

''Damn it, Carly. Do I have to draw everything on a piece of paper? Yu was jelous of Strify because he has feelings for you,'' Luminor was staring to lose patience with me.

I was shocked but an idea formed in my head: ''Then why did he want to set me up with Shin when we met?''

''That... That was before. Now he turned into an emotional wreck. He apologised to Strify and all but he's still not leaving his room and about six hours ago he started hysterically crying... We didn't know what to do. He won't talk to us anymore and we thought that... Maybe he'll talk to you,'' he said and looked intensly into my eyes to make sure I understood everything.

''You want me to come with you now?'' I asked.

''Yes. Please.'' There was something desperate in his voice that let me know things were serious.

''Fine. Just give me a minute,'' I said and walked towards my room.

I stopped in the doorframe and turned around to ask: ''You won't ask me about my opinion on it all? You won't ask me how I feel?''

''I wanted to but I thought it was too personal.''

I took one step into my room but I turned around to say one more thing: ''Luminor?''

''Yes?''

''I'm sorry I called you a fucking freak. I didn't mean that.''

''I know you didn't,'' he said and smiled.

I smiled back and disappeared into my room. I put on a pair of blue jeans, a black hoodie and a pair of sneakers. I combed my hair with a few rapid movements of the brush and applied some lipgloss. Fuck it. I wasn't on my way to the Oscars.

When I got out of my room, Luminor and Kiro were standing up, being visibly impatient.
The three of us got into Kiro's car and kept quiet to their place. Each one of us was sleepy and worried. I was afraid that Kiro would fall asleep behind the wheel but his eyes were wide open and he was focused on the street. That reassued me enough so I crawled back inside myself. We had no idea what we would find once we got to their place.

@}--,---

We entered the apartment. There was a dim light inside, coming from the kitchen. Strify was sitting at the table and stood up when he saw the three of us. As he walked towards me, he stepped into the light.

He was wearing black silk pajamas that looked expensive. His two-coloured hair was a bit wavy and his face... Oh, gods... His face...

''Oh, Strify...'' I said breathlessly, ''Come here.''

I pulled him closer to the lamp so I could take a better look at him and in the corner of my eye I could see Kiro and Luminor go into Kiro's room.

I traced his jaw line with my fingers. His left cheek had a big purple bruise and his lower lip was a bit swollen on that side. A small dark crust next to his lip ring let me know there had been blood.

''The metal cut your lip when he punched you,'' I whispered.

He got a little glassy-eyed and it took him a moment to find his voice saying: ''It's not as bad as it looks. Come with me.''

I followed him to a small living room that was separated from the kitchen and I sat next to him on the couch.

''When you called me and said you wanted to talk, I had no idea so many things were going on. I couldn't believe it whan Luminor told me,'' I confessed.

''I had no idea either. He is my best friend, I can't believe I didn't see what was going on.''

''He should have talked openly with you about his problems. If he had, none of this would have happened.. It's not your fault, Strify.''

I reached to touch his shoulder but he jerked away from me and lifted his hand like he was guarding his face.

''Hey... It's alright...'' I whispered and moved closer to him.

I hugged him very slowly and he put his head on my shoulder. I waited for him to speak first.

''I keep telling myself it doesn't hurt but... Yu is strong... I was so scared... I thought he would hit me again but the other guys got between us.''

''Luminor said you've straightened things out.''

''Yes. Yu and I talked for a long time, just the two of us. He snapped only because he was holding everything inside. Otherwise, he would never hurt anybody. Yu is a great guy, Carly.''

He pulled away and took a long look at me. He said: ''There are many rumours about him and he's got a certain reputation but most of it isn't true. He's a wonderful person and it hurts all of us to see him suffer like this. All we ask of you is to talk to him. It would mean a lot.''

''I know. That's why I came here tonight.''

''Let's go,'' he added and I followed him to the doors of Yu's room. Without any warning, my stomach tied itself in a knot. A lump formed in my throat and my hands trembled so I lamely crossed my arms to hide the sudden anxiety attack.

'Pull yourself together, Carly,' I said to myself when Strify quietly knocked on Yu's door.