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heavens-moonlight · 4 months

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𝗕𝗢𝗥𝗗𝗘𝗥𝗟𝗜𝗡𝗘𝗦 | 𝟬𝟮 : 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗕𝗨𝗧𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗙𝗟𝗬 𝗘𝗙𝗙𝗘𝗖𝗧

𝟬𝟭 : 𝗠𝗜𝗦𝗔𝗗𝗩𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗨𝗥𝗘 | 𝟬𝟯 : 𝗙𝗜𝗡𝗘 𝗟𝗜𝗡𝗘𝗦

Author’s Note: Well, here we go...The game has finally started but who will survive? As always, let me know your thoughts and all comments are greatly appreciated! ♡

The dorms are much more spacious than anticipated as Yoon-Seo and Jung-Won beeline for the sole coffee table in the middle of the room, occupying either side. You instead, opt to unceremoniously plop yourself down onto one of the sizeable bunk beds, plugging your phone in to charge, having depleted the power source earlier on the bus ride over.

With a familiar chime, the battery icon flashes, but you do a double take as you realize the bar has gone back up to more than 50%. "That's strange..." you whisper more to yourself than anyone, but Yoon-Seo hears you.

"What is?"

You flip over onto your stomach and turn your phone screen toward her. "Look." You point to the upper right corner, forefinger tapping at the yellow bar, lightning symbol on display. "I'm sure it was at 26% earlier but all of a sudden it's paused at nearly double what it was previously."

"Maybe you mixed up the percentages?" Yoon-Seo suggests.

"I don't think so..." You scratch your head in confusion as Yoon-Seo shrugs, neither of you having a clue in the slightest.

"Electronics are good when they work," Jung-Won says, padding over to the chair by your head where Yoon-Seo left her backpack. You place the phone face-down on the nightstand and see her slip a small gift box inside the unzipped bag, making a shushing motion with her pointer finger against her lips. Smiling, you mimic the locking of a key and throw it away behind you, keeping Yoon-Seo's birthday surprise between the two of you. "Ugh, I need to take a coding lecture but my laptop's failing to connect to the internet."

Yoon-Seo scoots her back against the side railing of your bed and crosses her arms, tsking at Jung-Won. "You keep badgering me nonstop for reading, but who else except you would willingly study during a school trip?" Yoon-Seo shakes her head. "Stop acting like the top of the class, Madame Mensa."

Jung-Won doesn't look up from her laptop screen, monotonously correcting the nickname. "Mensa is the name of the organization. You're supposed to say Mensan for the people. How many times do I have to tell you?"

You laugh at the habitual repartee between them, but get cut off by a ding signaling an incoming notification. Peering over Yoon-Seo's shoulder, you eye as an app materializes on her home screen, one you don't recognize nor have you ever seen it in the default bundle all phones come with.

"Jung-Won, what's this? I said I don't need it."

"It's really not me. I haven't touched your phone at all."

Curious, you grab your own phone and glance down at it, the same little round-edged square making its appearance. "Yoon-Seo, I have it too. Neither of us downloaded it or scanned the QR code when we arrived."

[ ᴡᴇʟᴄᴏᴍᴇ. ᴛʜᴇ ᴍᴀғɪᴀ ɢᴀᴍᴇ ᴡɪʟʟ ʙᴇɢɪɴ sʜᴏʀᴛʟʏ. ᴘʟᴇᴀsᴇ ᴘʀᴏᴄᴇᴇᴅ ᴡɪᴛʜ ᴄʜᴇᴄᴋɪɴɢ ʏᴏᴜʀ ᴀssɪɢɴᴇᴅ ᴏᴄᴄᴜᴘᴀᴛɪᴏɴ. ]

"Mafia game?" As you touch the screen, an envelope unfurls following animation. "Wasn't this what they were playing earlier on the bus?"

"Yeah..." Yoon-Seo confirms distractedly, verifying her own occupation. "I guess I'm a civilian, not that I expected to be anything else. How about you guys?"

"I'm also a civilian."

[ ʜᴀɴ sᴇᴏʟ-ʜᴡᴀ ɴɪᴍ, ʏᴏᴜʀ ʀᴏʟᴇ ɪs ᴀ ᴅᴏᴄᴛᴏʀ. ]

"Me too," you fib, hoping that it wouldn't be questioned. You weren't a very good liar to begin with and hoped this would pass. Maybe there would be a reward for winning the game, but either way, at least you knew your closest friends were on the same side as you.

Still, for some odd reason, it didn't seem fit for you to reveal your real character. Being a doctor seemed too important of a role to just go around telling everyone willy-nilly. The three of you rarely kept secrets from one another, and so you trusted that a white lie for the game this one time could be forgiven.

Before any of you can discuss the odd happenings of the unexpected game further, paragraphs pop up in successive order, outlining the standard rules:

𝟣) ᴀʟʟ ᴘᴀʀᴛɪᴄɪᴘᴀɴᴛs ᴡɪʟʟ ʙᴇ sᴇᴄʀᴇᴛʟʏ ᴀssɪɢɴᴇᴅ ᴀs ᴀ ᴄɪᴛɪᴢᴇɴ, ᴅᴏᴄᴛᴏʀ, ᴘᴏʟɪᴄᴇ ᴏғғɪᴄᴇʀ, ᴏʀ ᴀ ᴍᴇᴍʙᴇʀ ᴏғ ᴛʜᴇ ᴍᴀғɪᴀ. ᴛʜᴇ ᴅᴏᴄᴛᴏʀ ᴄᴀɴ ᴘʀᴇᴠᴇɴᴛ ᴛʜᴇ ᴇxᴇᴄᴜᴛɪᴏɴ ᴏғ ᴀɴʏ ᴘᴀʀᴛɪᴄɪᴘᴀɴᴛ ᴛʜᴇʏ sᴇᴇ ғɪᴛ, ᴡʜɪʟᴇ ᴛʜᴇ ᴘᴏʟɪᴄᴇ ᴍᴀʏ ᴄᴏɴғɪʀᴍ ᴀ ᴘʟᴀʏᴇʀ's ɪᴅᴇɴᴛɪᴛʏ ᴏғ ᴛʜᴇɪʀ ᴄʜᴏᴏsɪɴɢ.

𝟤) ғʀᴏᴍ ᴇɪɢʜᴛ ɪɴ ᴛʜᴇ ᴍᴏʀɴɪɴɢ ᴛᴏ ᴍɪᴅɴɪɢʜᴛ, ᴀʟʟ ᴘᴀʀᴛɪᴇs ᴡɪʟʟ ᴅɪsǫᴜᴀʟɪғʏ sᴜsᴘᴇᴄᴛᴇᴅ ᴍᴀғɪᴀ ᴍᴇᴍʙᴇʀs ᴛʜʀᴏᴜɢʜ ᴠᴏᴛɪɴɢ.

𝟥) ᴏɴᴄᴇ ᴛʜᴇ ᴄʟᴏᴄᴋ sᴛʀɪᴋᴇs ᴛᴡᴇʟᴠᴇ, ᴛʜᴇ ᴘʟᴀʏᴇʀ ᴠᴏᴛᴇᴅ ʙʏ ᴛʜᴇ ᴍᴀᴊᴏʀɪᴛʏ ᴡɪʟʟ ʙᴇ ᴇxᴇᴄᴜᴛᴇᴅ ᴀɴᴅ ᴛʜᴇɪʀ ᴏᴄᴄᴜᴘᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ᴡɪʟʟ ʙᴇ ʀᴇᴠᴇᴀʟᴇᴅ ᴛᴏ ᴀʟʟ ʀᴇᴍᴀɪɴɪɴɢ ᴘᴀʀᴛɪᴄɪᴘᴀɴᴛs.

𝟦) ᴀғᴛᴇʀ ᴠᴏᴛɪɴɢ ᴄʟᴏsᴇs ᴀɴᴅ ᴀ ᴘʟᴀʏᴇʀ ʜᴀs ʙᴇᴇɴ ᴄᴏɴᴅᴇᴍɴᴇᴅ ᴛᴏ ᴇxᴇᴄᴜᴛɪᴏɴ, ᴇᴠᴇʀʏᴏɴᴇ ᴡɪʟʟ ɢᴏ ᴛᴏ sʟᴇᴇᴘ ᴀsɪᴅᴇ ғʀᴏᴍ ᴛʜᴇ ᴍᴀғɪᴀ ᴛᴇᴀᴍ.

𝟧) ᴛʜʀᴏᴜɢʜ ᴛʜᴇ ɴɪɢʜᴛ ᴡʜᴇɴ ᴇᴠᴇʀʏᴏɴᴇ ɪs ɪɴ sʟᴜᴍʙᴇʀ, ᴍᴀғɪᴀ ᴍᴇᴍʙᴇʀs ᴍᴜsᴛ ᴇxᴇᴄᴜᴛᴇ sᴏᴍᴇᴏɴᴇ ʙᴇғᴏʀᴇ ᴅᴀᴡɴ.

𝟨) ᴋᴇᴇᴘ ɪɴ ᴍɪɴᴅ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴛʜᴏsᴇ ᴡʜᴏ ᴀʀᴇ ᴄɪᴠɪʟɪᴀɴ, ᴅᴏᴄᴛᴏʀ, ᴀɴᴅ ᴘᴏʟɪᴄᴇ ᴀʀᴇ ᴏɴ ᴛʜᴇ sᴀᴍᴇ ᴛᴇᴀᴍ. ᴡʜᴇɴ ᴇɪᴛʜᴇʀ ᴛᴇᴀᴍ ᴄɪᴠɪʟɪᴀɴs ᴏʀ ᴛᴇᴀᴍ ᴍᴀғɪᴀ ᴏᴠᴇʀʀᴜɴs ᴛʜᴇ ɢʀᴏᴜᴘ, ᴛʜᴇ ɢᴀᴍᴇ ᴡɪʟʟ ᴇɴᴅ ᴀɴᴅ ᴛʜᴇ ᴡɪɴɴᴇʀ ᴅᴇᴄɪᴅᴇᴅ.

[ ᴘʟᴇᴀsᴇ ғɪɴᴅ ᴛʜᴇ ᴍᴀғɪᴀs ᴀɴᴅ ʙᴇɢɪɴ ᴄᴀsᴛɪɴɢ ʏᴏᴜʀ ᴠᴏᴛᴇs. ]

You're still trying to wrap your head around the summarized instructions, sensing that there was much more to the game than meets the eye. Why was there no outlining of the individual tasks required for those with specialized occupations? How many of you were assigned to each role? What happens after execution?

Jung-Won's voice interrupts your thoughts, the thread of worries pausing in its unending tangling inside your mind. "If you push a name, a vote gets cast apparently."

"You elected someone already...?" It was quite obvious how much Eun-Ha pushed for Yool determinedly in the group chat, and reluctantly, you and Yoon-Seo follow suit, knowing full-well Yool's obsession with the game and his caliber for winning streaks.

Pensively, you start scrolling through the partakers' list, seeing your classmates' yearbook photos, including your own. Being the overthinker that you are, your mind starts spinning with all of the possibilities on how this game could end, but you had no clue why it even began in the first place. The awareness of budding anxiousness courses through you as a slight breeze from the window sends goosebumps raising on your arms at the late revelation. "But guys...why does this app have our identifiers?"

Yoon-Seo turns to you, eyebrows knit together in agreement. "Right. We didn't even sign up earlier. Who granted them access to gather this protected information?"

Jung-Won bites at her nails, eyes shifting back and forth across her phone screen, the glare of its light reflecting off her glasses. "The internet isn't working either. How are we able to play the game anyway?"

Silence encases the vicinity around your trio, no one knowing what to say to the other, all questions remaining unvoiced and unanswered.

"Why don't we go back down to the lobby and see if there's anyone we can ask?" you propose, Jung-Won and Yoon-Seo readily assenting.

The reception desk as you head downstairs is as empty as it was the moment you came in, maybe even more so as reticence settles over the expansive building, the sky having gone ominously dark from a single look out the glass doors of the entrance.

"Our teacher hasn't come back yet? He left so long ago..." Yoon-Seo walks around the reception desk, circling for any clues. "Nothing could've happened, right?"

"What if he got into an accident?" Jung-Won states bluntly, drumming her fingers against the marble countertop.

"Yah, don't say it like that..." you warn. "Words can be dangerous. You don't know what it can subject someone to."

Before Jung-Won can list more outrageous possibilities, Jun-Hee sidles up on the opposite side of the counter where you're spinning back and forth in the chair slowly, lost in thought.

"Hey Jun-Hee, do you know when Seonsaengnim will be back?" Yoon-Seo directs at him while she flips through the binder of contacts placed beside you. "These numbers aren't what we need at all. They're just for the retreat center's use like maintenance and all that."

Jun-Hee shakes his head. "I can't reach him." He pulls out his phone, only to sigh and slip it back inside his pocket. "Are any of your guys' devices working?"

"We don't even have service." You look around once more, surveying areas within your eyesight in case any adults would spontaneously reappear. "Shouldn't there be at least one staff member or at the very least a security guard on patrol at night?"

"I guess they all went with our teacher." Jun-Hee walks up next to you and settles down on the counter to your left.

You raise an eyebrow. "Every single one of them? They didn't think to have anybody stay behind as a chaperone?"

"Well, when you put it that way..." Jun-Hee begins. "It does seem a little unnecessary for all of them to up and leave."

"Then, what do we do now? How long do we wait?" Jung-Won stares at the clock ticking away. "It's barely nine o'clock. Surely, it wouldn't take him twice as long to pick up the others and return here, right?"

"There must be a phone in the staff lounge," Yoon-Seo stops her rummaging around under the desk long enough to say. "Jung-Won, let's go and search there."

"You're leaving me here alone?"

"Not alone," Yoon-Seo waggles her eyebrows so only you can see. "With Jun-Hee, of course."

Jung-Won conceals her smile behind her hand not so discreetly and begins to drag Yoon-Seo away. As they pass, Yoon-Seo pats Jun-Hee on the shoulder and cautions him. "If she gets lost, you'll be in big trouble."

He turns to her. "You've known me since we were babies, who do you take me for?"

Yoon-Seo merely ignores him and follows Jung-Won upstairs happily, an extra spring in her step, making it known how proud she was of herself. Rolling your eyes unnoticeably at their less than subtle tactics, you could only hope they were actually going to find a phone and not saying that purely for reasons of ulterior motives.

The hush after is stifling without the buffer of Yoon-Seo and Jung-Won. Jun-Hee is staring straight at you, hands bracing the counter on either side of him waiting for you to say something, but you're staring down at the floor, purposefully refusing to make eye contact.

"Are you mad at me?"

That was the last thing you expected him to say. "Of course not." You look up at him briefly, but what a mistake that was. With you lowered in the chair and him sitting up on the raised desk, your eyes meet his lips first and your mind automatically reels back to the kiss on the bus. Darting your eyes back to your lap immediately after draws out a weary sigh from Jun-Hee.

"Even now you can't look straight at me. At least tell me what I did wrong so I can fix it." When you're thinking of what to reply with, Jun-Hee grabs the chair's armrests by your sides and pulls you in closer, leaning his head down so that his form towers over yours. With nowhere else to look now, you're forced to gaze upward and the expression on his face has your stomach tightening in knots, guilty. "Now you're finally looking at me." A beat passes before Jun-Hee's eyes become downturn. "I'm sorry."

Your gaze softens as you glance into his dark brown eyes, seeing your own image in his irises. "I'm the one that should be sorry." You place your hands that were settled in your lap onto his forearms, and he instantly gazes down at the contact before looking back to you, his attention unwavering. "Don't ever apologize to me when you didn't do anything wrong, Jun-Hee."

His eyes dart back and forth between your own, questioning. "Then why have you been avoiding me? Did something happen while I was sleeping earlier on the bus? If there is or I made you uncomfortable in any way—"

"No, no, it's nothing like that," you're quick to salvage the situation and dismiss the notion entirely, even though he couldn't have been more spot on. He had always been an observant person. This you knew too well.

I didn't want you to find out my feelings for you and lose you as a friend all in one.

Instead of the full truth, you tell him only half of it. "I didn't want you to find out how tired I felt and have you worrying over me. I know you're the class president with greater, more important responsibilities, but I also know, above anyone else, that I can't burden you with my troubles just because I'm your friend."

"Seol-Hwa, even then, you could've told me." His hands move to rest on your shoulders. "You'll always be my top priority." In a much quieter voice he says, "And I'll always worry about you."

"Jun-Hee..."

He looks you dead in the eyes, expression open and filled with warmth. "I don't like when you're sad. You look the prettiest when you smile." You don't even get a chance to get a word in before Jun-Hee plows on, turning his head away slightly. If you didn't know better, you'd think he was abashed to be saying the things he did. "In the gymnasium earlier, you were laughing so carefree with Yoon-Seo. It's been a while since I've seen you like that with me. I can only be happy if you're happy..." He's almost sulking, his countenance like that of a kicked puppy.

You laugh genuinely, your head hitting the back of the chair. "Kim Jun-Hee, are you jealous of my friendship with Yoon-Seo right now?"

"I got you to smile this time!" He grins back brightly at you and the two of you sit there looking at one another, neither grin dropping. The soft exhalation of his laughter trickles into your ears once again, Jun-Hee being so content with having you in his presence, and you bask in how happy the sound makes you. Any previously existing tension disintegrates in an instant, and oddly enough, you feel closer to him than ever.

The moment gets cut short when a text from the app's group chat comes in, a start contrast to the discussion earlier, votes having already pooled in for Heo Yool.

[ 💬 sᴏ-ᴍɪ: ʟᴇᴇ ʏᴏᴏɴ-sᴇᴏ, ᴄᴏᴍᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴛʜᴇ ᴘᴏᴏʟ ɪɴ ᴛʜᴇ ᴀɴɴᴇx. ɪᴛ's ᴜʀɢᴇɴᴛ. ]

The oddly specific and demanding tone of the message irked you to no end. "What is this about?" Never once have you seen So-Mi try to interact with your friend group voluntarily.

Jun-Hee waves his hand dismissively. "For the event tomorrow, we're interviewing everyone about the trip and the general experience."

"Even in this situation?" you ask incredulously.

Jun-Hee chuckles. "You know how So-Mi is." His eyebrows lift pointedly.

You pat his thigh accidentally, having missed his knee entirely and feel the muscles tense beneath your hand although he doesn't move away. "Don't you find it odd?"

Jun-Hee tilts his head, equal parts confused and curious. "About...?"

"Everything." You gesture around. "The lost signal, the disappearance of supposedly responsible adults, this automatically installed app that has our personal data, and the mafia game we're all in even though we didn't choose to play?"

Jun-Hee mulls it over for a second. "I honestly have no idea what's going on." He ruffles your head affectionately. "But don't worry so much. I'm certain once morning comes, everything will be alright."

"I sure hope so."

Your conversation quietens as heavy footsteps pad across the glossed floors and you squint to see the figure in the distance.

"Joo-Won?"

Jun-Hee turns around at your discovery and notices your classmate's bloody nose, a spark of recognition flashing across his eyes. "Where are you going?"

Joo-Won looks from Jun-Hee to you, and back again nervously, seemingly deciding whether he should say something or not. "W-Well, the guys wanted to see me for a second. So..." he stammers out.

You frown, knowing of the relentless bullying Kyung-Jun's group puts him and Da-Bum through.

"Wait there," Jun-Hee directs, hopping off the desk, and Ju-Won picks at his fingers, clearly on edge at the impending encounter.

"Be careful," you add in as an afterthought before he can leave.

"I will, now that I have you fretting over me." Jun-Hee smirks cheekily.

"I'm being serious, Jun-Hee." You fix him with a stern but caring gaze. "Try to be less confrontational. It won't be good for you or Ju-Won to get on Kyung-Jun's bad side."

He nods, understanding. "I'll try my best." Waving, he begins to lead Ju-Won away, the latter shuffling after with his head down pitifully. "I'll see you soon. Don't go anywhere where I can't reach you!" Your eyes trail after their distancing forms, agitatedly until you can no longer hear their footsteps echoing down the hall.

Not even a full minute has gone by before Yoon-Seo and Jong-Won show up again, trudging down the same stairs they climbed up less than an hour ago. Judging by their walk and the look on their faces, their search must've proved unsuccessful.

"Nothing came up?" You fall into place with the two as your all make way toward the pool.

"The phone lines..." Yoon-Seo begins, dishearteningly. "None of them worked. Every single ring had us fooled."

You stare at her in shock. "But—"

"We tried contacting 119 and even picking up incoming calls immediately, but no one answered." Jung-Won hangs her head despondently.

"This trip is starting to take a very wrong turn..." you hypothesize out loud. You don't even get to explain to Yoon-Seo and Jung-Won your reasoning before Na-Hee comes by, skipping over joyfully, oblivious on how to read the room.

"You all came." Na-Hee grabs your hand and Jung-Won's in each of her own, motioning with her head toward Yoon-Seo to enter. "Yoon-Seo, you should head inside." Without questioning it, Yoon-Seo does as she's told.

You slip your hand out of Na-Hee's nippily, and her smile wanes faintly, somewhat hurt. Hyun-Ho had confided in you that he liked her, but given what you knew about Na-Hee, you weren't fond of the idea. Not wanting to disappoint him, you don't say anything when he brings her up, but the things she has been a bystander for following in So-Mi's schemes never sat right with you. Silently, you hope that one day Na-Hee would come to her senses for Hyun-Ho's sake, but you've been proven wrong time and time again.

"Are these solo interviews or what?" you inquire curtly.

"They want to record Yoon-Seo first. You can come in a bit later."

"Can't be that special of footage." Jung-Won pulls you by the elbow, sidestepping Na-Hee and pushing the doors open of her own volition.

You're met with So-Mi, Ji-Soo, Yu-Jun, and Woo-Ram, all crowding around Yoon-Seo and singing her happy birthday with a makeshift cake comprised of stacked choco-pies.

So-Mi steps forward, offering Yoon-Seo the sweets and urging her to blow out a single measly candle that wasn't even lit beforehand.

"Since when have you done stuff like this? You barely give her the time of day." Jung-Won eyes So-Mi suspiciously, voicing your same exact thoughts.

Yoon-Seo is way too nice, proceeding to thank So-Mi. You, on the other hand, didn't buy into the latter's nice girl act whatsoever, and clearly, neither did Jung-Won.

So-Mi shoots Yoon-Seo a saccharine smile. "Don't mention it. We should celebrate since we're friends." The word doesn't roll off her tongue easily, openly not a genuine desire. "We brought a present too." You narrow your eyes at the group as they're trying to hide their shrewd smiles, albeit unsuccessfully. "Let's start with a birthday beating and plunge!"

Instantaneously, you try to drag Yu-Jun, leaving Jung-Won to fend off Woo-Ram, away from Yoon-Seo with no luck. More force would just topple all three of them straight into the water. You didn't particularly care if the boys fell to the very bottom depths of the pool, but Yoon-Seo shouldn't get soaked, no less on the night of her birthday. She didn't deserve this horrible of a treatment for simply being too trusting, genuinely wanting to see good in everyone with no ounce of judgment or malice.

So-Mi guffaws hysterically in the background, bent over clutching her stomach like the sight is the funniest thing she's ever witnessed. "Put her down," she orders in between giggles, wiping away a tear from her eye. "She's about to cry." Standing akimbo, she bites back her sneer, turning to the rest. "We went too far, didn't we?"

"You think?!" Jung-Won rounds on her, eyes blazing with anger.

You haul Yoon-Seo back up to her feet as the boys scatter, high-fiving. As she stands up again after you've barely let go of her hands, So-Mi swiftly shoves her over backwards, sending her diving into the water with a loud splash, droplets flying every which way.

"Are you crazy? How could you do that?!" Jung-Won kneels next to you by the edge of the pool, watching as Yoon-Seo resurfaces.

"You ok?" You reach out a hand to her, close enough that she can grip your fingertips.

"Yeah, I will be."

You breathe a sigh of reprieve, but it's rather short-lived when Yoon-Seo starts kicking madly underwater, her arms and legs flailing before she sinks beneath, no longer visible.

"Yoon-Seo!" you shout, but hear no response.

"What a funny 'prank' to you guys, huh?" Jung-Won yells crossly at So-Mi's group, everyone standing shell-shocked. How they have the conscience to even feel the tiniest bit of remorse is beyond your understanding.

The group tries to urge Woo-Ram to go in, but in hindsight, being on the receiving end of the prank didn't seem so appealing anymore.

Livid, you turn around to heave So-Mi backwards and she goes tumbling to the ground, the silver platter she was holding in one hand clattering and smashing cake crumbs all over her. For whatever reason, Ji-Soo is still recording, but you could care less about the captured situation. "Be glad it's not the pool I pushed you into." She's stunned enough that she can't find it in her to form words.

Na-Hee opens her mouth, outwardly wanting to apologize, but swallows the excuses when you glare at her in turn. "I was right about you all along. You'll never change."

You kick your shoes off and jump in after Yoon-Seo without hesitation, Jung-Won screaming for you in the background. Thankfully, Yoon-Seo is still conscious, but scarcely, and you manage to guide her toward the rungs of the poolside ladder. Jung-Won yanks Yoon-Seo up and over the edge, throwing a hand down to you.

"Yoon-Seo lost her shoes. I saw them earlier but couldn't reach them, so let me retrieve them too."

Jung-Won looks into the chasmic pool apprehensively, more concerned after what happened, but nods in acknowledgment, going back to propping Yoon-Seo up. "Come back quickly, Seol-Hwa."

Everyone is huddling around Yoon-Seo while you plunge back under, holding your breath comfortably as you grab her sneakers. Right as you're swimming on the path of return, something cold clamps onto your leg, refusing to let go. The vice-like grip tightens, pulling you downward to drown in darkness. No matter how hard you kick, you can't resurface due to the invisible power.

"Seol-Hwa!" Jung-Won calls out to you, frightened. "I'm going to get help, hang on!"

The last thing you see are spindly, mottled, black fingers, color washed out grey in the lighting; something sinister and otherworldly. As it curls tighter around your ankle, so too does your chest constrict, the coldness of the touch seeping into your bones and you find the sense of prior trepidation returning in full force before everything sinks into oblivion.

Lungs burning and head throbbing, you open your eyes groggily, the pristine white walls of the infirmary slowly coming into focus. In the bed next to yours, Yoon-Seo is still asleep.

The digits on your left hand are numb, and you look over to see Jun-Hee gripping it like a lifeline, head resting atop his arm by your knees. Your body protests as you turn on your side, muscles stiff, trying to draw your hand free. Reaching out, you card your fingers tenderly through his hair, the ends still yet to dry. Did he jump in?

After a while, he wakes up with a start, eyes flickering to your face. A shaky sigh of relief escapes him seeing the tiniest of smiles from you, any prior sense of unrest vanishing.

"Are you in pain at all?" He cradles the back of your head, helping you sit up as you dangle your legs over the bed's edge, seated knee to knee with him.

"How long have you been here with me?" You sweep the fallen fringe away to the outlines of his face, fingers lingering against his forehead. "You should've gotten changed at least." Your hand falls back to your lap when you can see his eyes better, unshielded. "You'll grow sick at this rate, Jun-Hee."

"Says the one I'm stressing over."

"I'm fine now," you assure.

"Why didn't you wake me up as soon as you came to? Do you know how terrified I was?" His brows are furrowed in concern still, and you lift your hand again to smooth the crease lines away.

"But you rescued me," you speak quietly.

"I thought you were dying in front of me and that I wouldn't be able to save you in time. I can't lose you; do you know that?" His hand comes up to cup your face delicately, barely daring to touch it wholly, almost afraid you would disappear if he did. "You're someone I can absolutely cannot let go of." You don't realize you're crying until Jun-Hee runs his thumb over your cheek, wiping away the twin trails of tears. You're not usually one to cry, but in this moment, you were overcome with emotions. "Why are you crying?"

"I was worried. Not for me, but for you." His hands are shaking where they're pressed against your face. You put your hand over his, expecting him to pull away at your next words. "I know you like to avoid the water as much as you can after..." you trail off, teardrops still falling. "You willingly jumped in to save me when I know how deep-seated your fear runs."

He smiles sadly at you. "I found out that the care I have for you outweighs any of my existing fears." His hands have stopped shaking and you drag them down, yours coming along with it to hold them together. "I told you earlier to not go someplace where I can't reach you but after this, I'm willing to follow you to the ends of the earth. Even in death, as long as it's with you, I wouldn't mind the thought."

Your heart stutters in your chest at the sincerity of his words, and you know that your feelings for him would never fade. Not in this lifetime. "Jun-Hee..."

"Seol-Hwa? Jun-Hee?" Yoon-Seo's trembling voice has the both of you looking in her direction, but Jun-Hee is yet to release your hand.

"Yoon-Seo..." you reply, eased now that she's awoken. "How are you feeling?"

"I can't recall what happened at all." She holds her head, staring blankly ahead. "But somehow, I find I'd rather not remember." Yoon-Seo moves over to sit on your cot, back-to-back with you. The warmth radiating from her is welcoming. "Seol-Hwa, thanks for always being there. You're a good person through and through."

"Tell that to yourself." You smile and lean your head back against hers. "What are friends for?"

"Saving one another's lives now apparently," Jun-Hee jokes, lightening the atmosphere.

"Then I owe you one," Yoon-Seo continues. "I'll be your Superwoman next time."

"You and Jun-Hee really are like one another. What did you both do together when you were babies to make you fearless like this?" you question, exasperatedly fond. "Readily giving up your life for another person?"

"Only because we know you'd do the same. That kind of sincerity comes once in a lifetime."

The door creaks open just as Yoon-Seo ends her sentence, So-Mi's group filing in self-consciously, Jung-Won leading them in with her arms crossed.

"Apologize," Jun-Hee states emotionlessly. "Right now," he emphasizes, leaving no room for argument. "Pranks are supposed to be harmless, not harmful."

So-Mi grimaces at his harsh tone. "I'm sorry," she's quick to apologize. "Seol-Hwa."

She's not looking directly at you but past to the side of you, gaze straying to your hand in Jun-Hee's where he's absentmindedly rubbing circles with his thumb into your palm, not aware of his own actions. One corner of So-Mi's lip twitches, but aside from that, she doesn't comment on it. If the others have noticed, they don't say anything either.

"I'm not the one this should be reserved for."

You see her bite her tongue, annoyed at having to repeat herself once again, but not yet dropping her fake performance. Plastering on the most pitiful puppy eyes she can conjure up, she shifts her attention to Yoon-Seo, still pale. "I do feel guilty. We truly just wanted to wish you a happy birthday." So-Mi forces the waterworks on, squeezing one teardrop out at a time.

"I don't think I've ever been pushed into a pool as a birthday present before," Jung-Won mutters not so quietly under her breath.

Yoon-Seo elbows her subtly. "It's okay. Don't cry, So-Mi."

You and Jung-Won both whip your heads toward Yoon-Seo, in pure disbelief. Neither of you would've accepted that half-baked, insincere apology.

"Really?" So-Mi's eyes widen on cue, as if she didn't expect Yoon-Seo to be so pardoning. "Will you forgive us?"

"Of course, I accept. I'm alright now, so let's just put it in the past."

Jung-Won doesn't attempt to hide her distaste as she groans aloud. "Yep, totally fine. You just almost went and saw King Sejong is all."

"That's enough," Yoon-Seo whisper-yells.

"Alright, everyone out," Joon-Hee cuts in, feeling the tension in the room. "We'll all talk later."

So-Mi is the first to leave, unmistakably irritated and shamed at the same time. No matter how hard she tries to mask it, you see right through her well-crafted persona. Na-Hee lingers, the last one to exit. Before the door slams shut, she catches your eye, but in finding a look of indifference staring back at her, she turns away without saying a word, the light from the hallway dimming once more.

"That wench spilled crocodile tears."

"Jung-Won ah," Yoon-Seo expresses tiredly. "She said she was sorry."

"I don't care. It wasn't genuine. She acts up because you're the only one that gives way to her."

Yoon-Seo gets up to drag Jung-Won away and out into the hall as the latter begins to raise her voice. Their conversation lowers, but you can hear the last bit of it as they step outside.

"What would you like me to do then?"

"You don't have to do anything," Jung-Won reasons. "I'm only saying I don't tolerate her or her victim mentality, and neither should you."

"Shouldn't we head out too?" You turn to Jun-Hee.

He shakes his head lightly. "Stay and rest a bit more."

"I really am fine." You give his hand a squeeze in affirmation. Despite saying so, you continue to shiver in only your thin white button-up still damp in random patches from being submerged earlier.

Jun-Hee opens the backpack by his feet and tugs out his uniform cardigan, wrapping it around your shoulders. "Here, put this on. You're still cold to the touch."

"Then what about you? Sitting in wet clothes isn't comfortable."

"I have extras I brought with me." Jun-Hee's name tag still pinned to the sweater falls into his line of vision and he can't help smiling to himself that you haven't noticed it's positioned right over your heart. "Plus, it looks better on you anyway."

"It what?" You lean forward, tilting your ear in his direction, not sure if you heard correctly or if they were still water-logged.

"Nothing," Jun-Hee evades, suppressing his smile. It seemed too far-fetched a thing for him to say in either circumstance, so you leave it be, not wanting to wander down the winding paths of your own thoughts. He crouches down and draws the heel of your socked foot to rest on his knee, his free hand untying the laces of your shoes placed to the side.

"I can do it myself," you tell him, flustered from all the attention you were receiving.

Without looking up, Jun-Hee proceeds to put your sneakers on your feet. "I know you can." He goes so far as to knot them tight, tying bows on both sides. "But I want to do it for you." His fingers reach out to trace the shoelaces all the way to the ends of the aglets, remembrance in his eyes.

Embarrassed, you put your feet back on the ground but he looks up at you, eyes twinkling with mischief. "You kept them."

"Of course, I did." You gaze down at your shoes. "You gave them to me."

His own white sneakers come into view, and you wonder why you never noticed his laces, dyed in your favorite color, and yours in his own. "So did I. I didn't think you would."

"Why not?" You toe his shoes with yours. "Just because we made them during summer camp a few years back? A gift is a gift," you reply, nearly pouting.

He laughs at the faux cross tone of your voice, but as his eyes trail upward, the sound chokes and dies off at the end. "Uh...your shirt's now see-through..." He coughs awkwardly and stands up, looking away, a slight tinge of pink dusting his cheeks. "I'll see you out there." Jun-Hee picks up his backpack, hurriedly slinging it over one shoulder before turning to look back at you once more before leaving.

Only a short bit of time has passed, but the moment you step back out with Jun-Hee's cardigan on, you slam straight into Hyun-Ho. He steadies you by the upper arms, eyes widening upon seeing you. "Seol-Hwa!" Before you can react, he throws his arms around you and gives you the most suffocating of hugs, larger form squeezing you tight as his arms encase you, rocking back and forth.

"Hyun-Ho. Can't. Breathe." Your voice comes out punctuated, every pause a ragged intake of air.

He lets go soon after, yanking your head every which way to assess for any injuries.

"Ouch!" you exclaim. Hyun-Ho doesn't know how to control his strength so every pat comes out more like slaps. "Alright!" You try to push his hands away but they're hell bent on checking your well-being. "Ok! That's enough!" You say with finality, laughter bubbling up as your cousin continues to shake you around like a rag-doll. "Yah! If I didn't have any bruises, I sure do now!"

Hyun-Ho steps back, chiding. "Where's the thank you, huh?"

"For giving me new injuries?"

"Is that how you repay me?" Hyun-Ho scoffs. "I was the one who found you in the pool first."

"Y-You were?!" You splutter. "How come no one told me?"

"I said I found you. I wasn't the one who saved you." He shrugs like it was common knowledge.

"Aish." You shove his shoulder but he stands his ground, not budging an inch. "And you're thick-skinned enough to request a word of thanks?"

"Obviously." He flicks you on the forehead, drawing a scowl from you. "I went and got Jun-Hee for you."

"Ok, and...?" You're more baffled than ever.

"Geez, this ungrateful brat." Hyun-Ho tries but fails to hide his smirk. "Who do you think handed you over so you could be carried by Jun-Hee all the way to the infirmary?"

"What?!"

"You looked more comfortable in his arms than on my back, but really, it was no big deal." He shrugs. "All in a day's work for me."

"You—" you point a finger at him, gawking and at a loss for words.

"Also, nice change of outfit by the way." He raps his forefinger on Jun-Hee's nameplate, nails clacking on the piece of plastic. "I know it's your favorite brand."

You gasp as you finally notice, immediately unpinning the white rectangle and slipping it in your skirt pocket. "I'm going to kill him," you mutter under your breath.

"Why not kiss him instead?" Hyun-Ho jests, knowing well enough by now to evade your incessant slaps to his back, running down the hallway as you give chase after.

The two of you come to a stop when the rest of your classmates congregate from the other end of the hallway where Jun-Hee and So-Mi were making an announcement about retiring for the night and trying to contact the teacher again tomorrow morning.

Yoon-Seo taps your shoulder from behind and tilts her phone screen toward you where a timer has popped up.

Before anyone can so much as take a step toward their rooms, the intercom comes to life.

[ ᴠᴏᴛɪɴɢ ᴇɴᴅs ɪɴ ᴏɴᴇ ᴍɪɴᴜᴛᴇ. ]

With everything that has happened since you got here, the mafia game had slipped from your mind.

Suddenly, Yoon-Seo's meter starts counting down from 59 seconds, and with the ding comes a renewed sense of excitement from everyone around you, sleep long forgotten.

While Yool and his friends incessantly chatter away, trying to place blame on one another in good fun, you're the exception. Questioning the origins of the game, you feel a sense of foreboding, an ill-omened current in the air. You were known among your friends to have good instincts, but you hope against all hope that this time, your intuition wouldn't be true.

Jun-Hee walks over beside you, placing a hand on your shoulder that makes you jump out of your skin. "Seol-Hwa...? Did you hear anything I said?"

Hands trembling, you grip onto the rolled-up sleeve cuff of his shirt. "I...don't think we should've voted."

You eye the shaking numbers on Jun-Hee's phone screen, growing shades redder by the minute as it nears zero. He doesn't get a chance to reply as successive announcements come in.

[ ᴛʜᴇ ᴠᴏᴛɪɴɢ ʜᴀs ᴄᴏɴᴄʟᴜᴅᴇᴅ. ʜᴇᴏ ʏᴏᴏʟ ᴡɪᴛʜ ᴛʜᴇ ᴍᴏsᴛ ᴠᴏᴛᴇs ᴡɪʟʟ ʙᴇ ᴇxᴇᴄᴜᴛᴇᴅ. ]

Seconds later, Yool lets out a guttural scream of agony, clutching the side of his head.

"Oi, look at this kid. Gosh, he's just begging for attention again," Eun-Ha utters with clarity, unfazed by Yool's prankster tendencies. While everyone laughs at her statement and his actions, you study his face contorted in pain, veins popping up in his neck.

That kind of intensity isn't for show.

"Jun-Hee...Something's not right," you undertone tremulously, fingers slackening from the grip you had on him. The moment those words leave your lips, Yool falls to the ground, slumped over.

As his friends crowd around, Jun-Hee is rooted to the spot, intertwining your hand with his, holding on tight. You can tell he wants to go help as well, but he keeps throwing glances down at you and ultimately decides against it.

A sickening cracking sound has you sliding your eyes slowly over to see Yool's neck snapping rearward, the rest of his body contorting into a standing position in descending parts. Like a puppet controlled on a string, his limbs bend in odd angles, much more grotesque and inhumane compared to his earlier stint in the gymnasium. As his head straightens again, screams ring out down the length of the hallway.

You press yourself against the wall, finding it hard to breathe as you look directly into Yool's rolled eyes, now completely white, no irises in sight.

The White Butterfly's Murder.

You knew. You knew that butterflies were often seen in the spring as a divination of death, a harbinger of impending demise if it were to encircle someone while in flight. But to have it be white, the color of innocence yet also the color of surrender, you can't help but to wonder if these were all signs you should've heeded. Would we still have ended up here?

Eyes are windows to the soul, they say. Here, you realize, now stands a soulless individual.

Eun-Chan and Yeon-Woo have both fallen to the floor in a heap, staring up at their now unrecognizable friend with nothing but absolute fear in their expressions.

A mindless Yool throws himself side to side, intentionally crashing his head against pictures framed on the wall, glass shattering into a million pieces and raining the floor with shards akin to glitter.

But not all that glitters is gold.

You can't tell if it's the glass reflecting light, or if your tears are distorting your vision, but the scene hazes and blurs, turning into the illusion of a haunted nightmare you so desperately want to wake up from.

The horrific effect doesn't end there as Yool proceeds to crouch down and thump his head repeatedly against the floor, prostrating himself as if he's paying for sins he doesn't even remember; sins he can't even begin to atone for.

Blood is pouring in rivulets down his face, pooling around him like the expanding rings of a target, leaving only the center for his body to stay dead centered.

A broken sound escapes from your lips and Jun-Hee pulls you into his arms, shielding you against him, screening your eyes from having to look any further. Where your ear is pressed against his chest, you can hear the pounding of his heart, but even that sound alone is not enough to drown out that of Yool's head bashing against linoleum.

You squeeze your eyes tight, hard enough until you see spots, but these faint flickers of light are not lucky stars you can wish upon tonight.

If you could, you'd wish to be able to wake up. To start again from the beginning.

But you can't.

Rather, frozen in this cruel reality, you can only escape once you cease to wake up again.

And Yool does just that.

A thousand footsteps running toward a bitter end.

A crash as hope falls apart.

A thud to cease the beating of a heart.

And then...complete silence.

Before you lose consciousness, you feel that same vice-like grip from the pool return in full force, unbreakable chains around your heart.

This time, you're not sure anyone will come to your rescue.

This time, you don't know if you'll make it out alive.

𝟬𝟭 : 𝗠𝗜𝗦𝗔𝗗𝗩𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗨𝗥𝗘 | 𝟬𝟯 : 𝗙𝗜𝗡𝗘 𝗟𝗜𝗡𝗘𝗦

© 𝐀𝐥𝐥 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐭 𝐠𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐍𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐇𝐚𝐬 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐞. 𝐈 𝐝𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨, 𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐮𝐞, 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫-𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐭. 𝐀𝐥𝐬𝐨, 𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐝𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐳𝐞, 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞, 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐮𝐭𝐞, 𝐨𝐫 𝐮𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐚𝐝 𝐦𝐲 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐞𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐦 𝐢𝐭 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐚 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞.

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heavens-moonlight · 3 months

Text

𝗕𝗢𝗥𝗗𝗘𝗥𝗟𝗜𝗡𝗘𝗦 | 𝟬𝟯 : 𝗙𝗜𝗡𝗘 𝗟𝗜𝗡𝗘𝗦

𝟬𝟮 : 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗕𝗨𝗧𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗙𝗟𝗬 𝗘𝗙𝗙𝗘𝗖𝗧 | 𝟬𝟰 : 𝗖𝗥𝗜𝗠𝗦𝗢𝗡

Author’s Note: I took a longer break writing my thesis than I initially thought but hope that this chapter more than makes up for it! Until next time! ♡

With a faraway buzzing resounding in your ears, you gradually become aware of your surroundings. As you tentatively open your eyes, a wave of disorientation sweeps over, leaving you feeling as though you're drowning on air. The distant memories from the previous night hazily blend together like blood diluted in water and your subconscious' defense imprisons the events in obscurity. Panic clutches at your chest as you struggle to piece together the fragments of your current reality.

Your fingers search blindly for your phone and find it lying haphazardly next to you. With unsteady fingers, you bring the device to your lap, your face hovering over the screen. Even in the blackened reflection, you observe the mirror image of yourself, startled by the disheveled appearance staring back: tousled hair, bleary eyes, and a pallid complexion to only amplify your unease. As you attempt to regain your broken senses, a deep-seated yearning for clarity burns within you, setting aflame the naivety and innocence of yesterday when you existed in ignorant bliss.

Body heavy and sluggish, your limbs are anything but in your control. Everything seemed foreign: the room, the suffocating silence, and even your own self.

What could you trust when there was not a single thing to ground you to the present?

You reflexively flinch as a hand caresses the side of your face, fingers running down your cheek and following the curve of your neck, and you automatically swivel your head to the right, finally exhaling on a shaky breath as you register it as Jun-Hee's touch. Instinctively, you lean into the warmth, his gaze tethering you and his presence, a safe haven.

"You're still here with me," you whisper out.

"I'll always be here," he replies, tucking a strand of your hair behind your ear. "For as long as you need me."

"Then, can I ask for forever?"

Jun-Hee's eyes soften, imperceptibly sad at the uncertainty of being able to keep his word. He nods anyway, determination in his eyes to see it through to the end. "Just say the word. I'll come running to you." His hand cradles the back of your head as he pulls you gently toward him, arms circling around you to draw you into a comforting hug, holding tightly as if he's afraid to let go. "It's a promise I intend on keeping. Forever."

Over his shoulder, you see the rest of your classmates scattered on the floor, lying in unnatural positions. One by one, everyone begins to wake up, the action of their movements suspended in slow motion.

You sit up properly beside Jun-Hee, back pressed against the solid wall keeping you upright as the cold of the plaster seeps through your clothes to your skin underneath like ice has hardened in your veins. Wanting to find even an ounce of comfort, you hug your knees tightly to your chest but your fingers tremble all the same and you resort to balling your hands rigidly, fisting the fabric of your skirt until your nails dig crescents into the palms of your hands.

The action doesn't go unnoticed by Jun-Hee who slides his hand over and uncurls your fingers to replace them with his own, entwining the digits. When you look up, he gives your hand a squeeze and the faintest of smiles he can muster in reassurance.

You two sit side by side without saying another word as the others continue to come to, pressed so close against one another that you can feel the rise and fall of each other's respirations.

"What happened?" Jung-Won murmurs.

"I don't know..." Yoon-Seo gets up into a sitting position and wraps her arms around herself, eyes glossed over beneath sweat-soaked brows.

"Yool..." Eun-Ha cries from the opposite side of the room before she can even get his full name out.

The previous night's events come reeling back in full force and you feel bile rise in your throat as you bite your lips to keep it from quivering, the gravity of the situation settling upon the group.

You watch Yoon-Seo sway on her feet as she makes a dash toward the hole in the broken window, looking down at the ground. As her breath audibly catches in her throat, you squeeze your eyes tight, shutting it against the onslaught of a vivid array of images your mind conjures up of a lifeless body, twisted and mangled beyond recognition. The imagery of it alone is so gruesome, so chillingly permanent, that you can feel the lingering touch of death permeating around in the air, fingertips reaching out for the nape of your neck, and it sends an icy tendril down your spine. Feeling goosebumps crawl its way onto your skin, your eyes open again with a shuddering breath just in time to see Yoon-Seo staggering back to her original position as far away from the sight as possible, mortified beyond consolation.

In the midst of everything, the announcement ceases to quiet.

[ ʜᴇᴏ ʏᴏᴏʟ ᴡᴀs ᴀ ᴄɪᴠɪʟɪᴀɴ.

ʙᴇғᴏʀᴇ ᴛʜᴇ ʟᴀsᴛ ᴠᴏᴛᴇ ᴄʟᴏsᴇᴅ, ᴛʜᴇ ᴘᴏʟɪᴄᴇ ᴜsᴇᴅ ᴛʜᴇɪʀ sᴋɪʟʟ. ᴄʜᴏɪ ᴊᴜ-ᴡᴏɴ ᴡᴀs ᴇxᴇᴄᴜᴛᴇᴅ ʙʏ ᴛʜᴇ ᴍᴀғɪᴀ. ʜɪs ʀᴏʟᴇ ᴡᴀs ᴀ ᴍᴀғɪᴀ ᴍᴇᴍʙᴇʀ.

ᴀʟʟ ᴘᴀʀᴛɪᴄɪᴘᴀɴᴛs, ɪᴅᴇɴᴛɪғʏ ᴛʜᴇ ʀᴇᴍᴀɪɴɪɴɢ ᴍᴇᴍʙᴇʀs ᴀɴᴅ ʙᴇɢɪɴ ᴛᴏ ᴘʟᴀᴄᴇ ʏᴏᴜʀ ᴠᴏᴛᴇs. ]

Woo-Ram abruptly springs to his feet and points to the ceiling, crazed. "This fucking broadcast. Who's in charge of it? Why is it even on?!" he shrieks in anger mixed with trepidation.

As calm as one can be in such a situation, Hyun-Ho gathers a small group to explore and find clues in the turn of strange events. "The studio's on the second floor. Let's go see if we can figure this out."

At the sound of a scream coming from the bathroom, you and Yoon-Seo meet one another's eyes and run in its direction without a second thought. Jun-Hee is forced to let go of your hand but he rushes after you in haste.

Upon entering, Da-Bum is retreating in stunned silence from the stalls, attempting to crawl under the sinks. Kyung-Jun throws his leg out and kicks at Da-Bum like a stray dog, a look of utter disgust on his face. It seemed like no matter what the latter did, it would always be wrong.

Empathizing with him, you go over and angle a hand down. You two weren't particularly close, but Jun-Hee and Yoon-Seo were always there to help in his time of need and you felt bad for him regardless. Da-Bum can't hide his surprise as he gingerly accepts your hand and gets up, though he still stays as plastered to the sink counter as he can without becoming one with it.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I—I'm fine," he stutters. "Thanks." His attempt at a smile comes out more like a grimace, but it's genuine. You return a slight nod, curious as to what kind of fault Kyung-Jun keeps finding to use as leverage and lord it over Da-Bum that it has reduced him to nothing but pure meekness.

Your lips draw into a thin line when you turn around to see Kyung-Jun pester Jun-Hee, shoving him forward so hard he stumbles. "Banjang." The formality of the title comes out with more spite than respect. "You open the door."

Seeing Jun-Hee hesitate, you reach for his hand without a word and hold his gaze, not in view of anyone. "I'll do it." You don't wait for his objection before stepping forward and swinging the stall door open with no hesitation.

"What the fuck..." Kyung-Jun curses. "How are you not even the least bit scared?"

"My parents were surgeons. I've seen enough blood flowing to fill oceans."

"Yeah...let's not mess with her..." You hear Jin-Ha mumble in the background before a thwack follows, most likely Kyung-Jun having slapped him behind the head as he usually does.

As the stall divider creaks inward on its hinges, out drafts a thick musty stench, causing those congregated closest to you to gag and recoil in horror. The soft ceiling lights suddenly flicker overhead, briefly casting eerie shadows across the bloodstained tiles, and in that fleeting moment before bright white washes out crimson red, you spot a figure hunched over with their back facing towards you in the farthest corner of the stall.

The rest jump away in terror as the body slumps forward, revealing a mutilated head attached to a face frozen in a hauntingly peaceful expression of sleep, never to awaken again. Hiccupped and punctuated gasps give way to deafening silence as you and your classmates realize that this discovery only confirms the unleashing of something far more sinister than you could have ever imagined.

Yoon-Seo goes to kneel down beside you and the two of you inspect Ju-Won's lifeless body propped carelessly in the far corner. Everyone protests vehemently as you decide to touch Ju-Won but you go ahead with it anyway, first putting a finger beneath his nose to see if he's still breathing and then proceeding to check his carotid artery, knowing you'd find it pulseless. "He's dead..." you confirm monotonously, pulling your fingers away from Ju-Won's stiff, cold neck, completely detached and feeling more miserable by the second.

"It's the mafia game," Da-Bum voices, everyone's attention turning to him. "A real game of murderers versus survivors." Silence falls upon the group at the possibility of a playground game escalating to this extent. "What if we all wind up dead too?" he ends his revelation, much quieter this time.

Kyung-Jun yanks him by the collar of his uniform, threatening him to say another word. "Shut your mouth before I shut it for you, idiot. Who says we're going to die, huh?!"

"Cut it out!" Jun-Hee shoves Kyung-Jun backward, berating. "Do you think now is the appropriate time to pick a fight?"

Yoon-Seo's arm comes into the corner of your vision and before you can stop her, she's already swiped at the still wet blood on the floor.

"You don't even have gloves. We could've used a paper towel to soak it up," you say in surprise.

"It's alright. I don't mind." Yoon-Seo even goes as far as smearing the blood back and forth between the pads of her fingers, the liquid tracking over the lines etched in her skin.

"Birds of a feather sure do flock together," So-Mi says condescendingly, scoffing under her breath.

"We could say the same about you and your lackeys," Jung-Won rebukes.

"This b—"

"The blood has yet to dry," Yoon-Seo cuts in, ignoring So-Mi entirely.

"He hasn't been dead for long then," you conclude, Yoon-Seo nodding in agreement.

"What now?" Kyung-Jun asks, eyeing in revulsion as Yoon-Seo doubles over and begins to dry heave, turning away from the corpse and the stall altogether. You pat her on the back consolingly, knowing the average person without prior exposure to cadavers can't stomach the sight.

"First, we need to find a way out of here. Tell the others that we're leaving and we're not coming back." Jung-Won helps Yoon-Seo up as Jun-Hee turns around to grab your hand and hoists you to your feet after voicing his decision, everyone beelining for the building's front.

The entrance doors open against harsh midday sunlight, air humid and warm with the sunbeams just as dazzlingly bright as they were on your way here and you can't help but lament the loss of its splendor. Where once you observed it slanting across Jun-Hee's face resting in peaceful slumber, devastatingly beautiful, now it only spotlights the fear on his face, eyes dull even in the onslaught of sunlight, tragically devastated.

You stare blankly across to the dense woods in front, its darkness a stark contrast to your side of the curb and find fear gnawing at your insides, terror clawing at your mind. The once peaceful surrounding you stepped foot into now brings with it a sense of premonition of a malevolent presence watching your group's every move with ill-intent.

Shaking yourself out of the stupor and spiraling negative thoughts, you zone in on Jun-Hee's voice as he addresses everyone, pointing down the road to the left. "I saw a gas station over that way yesterday. We can try walking there."

You and Jun-Hee step forward slowly, hand-in-hand, falling in matching steps in order to survey the surroundings. The same couldn't be said of the others, desperate and frenzied in their exit. He makes sure to always be on your outer side, no matter which direction you guys were facing, making it his priority to protect you.

The group barely makes it halfway past the courtyard before an alarm blears, ear-aching and soul-crushing.

[ ᴛʜᴇ ɢᴀᴍᴇ ᴍᴜsᴛ ᴛᴀᴋᴇ ᴘʟᴀᴄᴇ ᴡɪᴛʜɪɴ ᴛʜᴇ ʙᴏᴜɴᴅᴀʀɪᴇs. ᴘʟᴇᴀsᴇ sᴛᴀʏ ɪɴsɪᴅᴇ ᴛʜᴇ ᴠɪᴄɪɴɪᴛʏ. ]

"We're not allowed to leave," you say nearly inaudibly, despondently, raising a shaky figure towards white lines drawn in chalk. "These lines..."

Not for the first time since the morning, the air is thick with futility and it lies heavy on your chest, your attempted escape seemingly thwarted at every turn by an unseen force. As everyone frantically searches for a way out, the group's dejectedness grows with each precious passing moment at the realization of being trapped in the grip of something far beyond human understanding. Shadows lurk menacingly in the spaces between the leaves on the trees and you feel as though the wind brushing past them bring whispers of dread echoing through the currents of air. You all knew with a sinking feeling that if you didn't find a way to break free soon, you may never make it out alive.

Jun-Hee immediately informs the group of your dreadful discovery, trying to remain composed. "Everyone, listen up. Don't move any further and wait here for a moment."

"What for?!" Lee Sang-Hwan argues.

"We've been warned!" Jun-Hee yells back with the same amount of frustration he receives.

"I could care less! This is all bullshit anyway!" Sang-Hwan throws his hands up in the air, peeved. "What nonsense are we believing in? If we stay, we're certain to die. I'd rather take my chances of being alive and choose to leave, then."

As Sang-Hwan strides by, you tug on his arm as hard as you can and he momentarily stops. "If you go, you're not choosing to live. You're choosing to die, Sang-Hwan," you beg, tears already beginning to well in your eyes.

He considers you for a minute before avoiding your eyes to wave you off and it's clear the conversation is over. It leaves you consumed by regret as he yanks his arm free, sending you stumbling. Jun-Hee steadies you, watching in dismay as Sang-Hwan jumps down the curb and lands with both feet outside the white lines.

"You fucking idiot!" Kyung-Jun berates in the background, opposed to the less than reasonable choice even with his history of rash behavior.

"This can't be happening," you whisper to yourself in disbelief, on the verge of collapse as Kim Hyun-Seok follows suit, neither of the two taking heed of the game's warning.

[ ғᴏʀ ʙʀᴇᴀᴋɪɴɢ ᴛʜᴇ ʀᴜʟᴇs, ʟᴇᴇ sᴀɴɢ-ʜᴡᴀɴ ᴡɪʟʟ ʙᴇ ᴇxᴇᴄᴜᴛᴇᴅ. ғᴏʀ ʙʀᴇᴀᴋɪɴɢ ᴛʜᴇ ʀᴜʟᴇs, ᴋɪᴍ ʜʏᴜɴ-sᴇᴏᴋ ᴡɪʟʟ ʙᴇ ᴇxᴇᴄᴜᴛᴇᴅ. ]

"I should've tried harder to stop them..." Jun-Hee squeezes your hand so firmly you start to lose feeling in your fingers, but it ceases to matter. Feeling numb is a thousand, a million, times better than the sight you're forced to witness in the moment.

Helplessly, everyone can only stare at the gruesome scene playing out a few feet away in the desolate street.

Just as Yool had shown last night, both Sang-Hwan's and Hyun-Seok's eyes roll to the back of their heads until only the whites are visible.

The two, running forward seemingly possessed, suddenly stop only momentarily to turn back around to stand facing one another, the murky white depths of their eyes filled with hidden madness. Their figures riddled with malice abruptly charge full speed at one another with no intent to stop and all intent to collide.

In a macabre ritual, they begin to speed up in unison, their footsteps growing louder in fervor as they build up momentum, soles stomping against the ground. With a sickening thud, their skulls crash with a bone-crushing force, the sound reverberating in your ears, unceasing.

The gut-wrenching sound of flesh separating from bone continues on as no one dares to stop them for fear of the same gruesome fate, yet not having the heart to dare to watch. In their nightmarish embrace unable to control their own bodies from being compelled by some unseen influence, the brutal force exponentially growing with each repeated hit, every sickening impact sending blood spattering to the ground in patterns you would soon not forget.

Neither of the two were ever the wiser to seek to break free from the twisted and morbid dance of agony and death, a chamber of nightmares of horrific proportions succumbing to unknown urges driving them towards mutual self-destruction, a descent into darkness and despair that knew no bounds.

As you fall to the ground, you take Jun-Hee down with you, your hands still locked tight. You hit the scorching hot pavement below you with a thump, the sound paralleling the two boys' heads coming into contact with one another, blood immediately spilling upon impact and staining their once pristine white shirts.

You can't drown out the gasps, the cries, and the screams piercing straight to your heart, fully aware that you all had unwittingly become part of this deathly game, no more than human sacrifices.

At long last, Sang-Hwan falls listlessly backward, the first to have trespassed and disobeyed the rules, and now the first one to go.

Just when you think it's over, an unsatisfied Hyun-Seok in a possessed manner wields the largest and sharpest rock nearby above his head only to slam it down against his own skull until brain matter rains down onto the ground around him.

You close your eyes tight, unable to bear witness to the final harshest blow delivered. As the last drop of your tears fall to the ground, droplets soaked in blood, swimming in the sight of the event ingrained behind your eyes, so too does Hyun-Seok.

How could the suffering of death be salvation for the living?

The aftermath is painful, silence enveloping the remaining students like thick fog in the early morning, no end in sight.

You're staring straight forward absentmindedly, head devoid of thoughts.

"AISH!" Startled by Seung-Bin's outburst, you flinch as he slams his phone onto the ground, cursing at it in every way.

Why Da-Bun has to grovel and pick up the phone to return it to the bully, you'll never understand. Especially even more so when Seung-Bin merely snatches it back aggressively, no word of thanks.

Mi-Na is the first to speak up. "What do we do now? Will we all die if we stay here?"

"Our teacher will be back soon. Let's wait a little more." Jun-Hee's expression is entirely blank, his words coming out like a tape recorder, the lines memorized and playing back in an endless loop. You're not sure whether it reassures the others, but it doesn't seem like Jun-Hee has strong hopes for that possibility either.

"No one's coming!" Ji-Soo gets out between tears. "How much longer must we be around dead bodies?" She stamps her feet angrily against the floor, hiccupping at every word due to her crying. "I can't stand it."

Stepping up, Eun-Ha retorts back exasperatedly, "Can you not call them bodies? They were people we knew...our very own classmates."

"Were—" Ji-Soo emphasizes heartlessly. "They were people we knew, but are dead now. What else am I to call them?"

You close your eyes and lean against the stair railing, a headache coming on. Fighting isn't the solution to getting out but the others seem to believe it is. Even Kyung-Jun hasn't said a word, unusually quiet and not confrontational for once.

"Jun-Hee, will you do something? We need to go home!" Ji-Soo continues, throwing all responsibility onto his already heavy shoulders, slumped over with burden.

"Will you shut up and stop running your mouth?" Eun-Chan spits out through gritted teeth. "How can you say that after seeing what happened to those earlier when trying to leave?" He looks her dead in the eyes, taunting. "Go on your own, then. See what happens. Just know no one will save you from the consequences you bring upon yourself."

Yu-Jun has to physically restrain his girlfriend before she makes a bigger scene than she's already doing. "So-Mi," he begins tiredly. "Don't you know when the teacher will be back?"

In the faintest voice you've ever heard from her, she replies while chewing on her nails. "How can I when I don't know how to contact him?"

With all at a loss for what to say or ask, Yoon-Seo suddenly staggers upstairs, tripping in the process as she hurries away. Immediately, you, Jung-Won, and Jun-Hee follow after her without question.

Climbing the emergency exit stairs takes you all to the roof overlooking the entirety of the building and surrounding foliage.

"Yoon-Seo, what are you doing?" You watch as she holds her phone up to the air as high as her arm can reach.

"Testing it, just in case." Finding service a lost cause after a few minutes, she turns back. "What did the broadcast say? That we must stay within the boundary?"

"The game must take place within the boundaries..." Jung-Won repeats swiftly, akin to a rehearsed line she's familiarized herself with.

"What if that boundary—" Yoon-Seo points directly down in front of her, leaning over the roof's barrier, "—is indicated by that line? The announcement came on when we tried to cross it earlier."

"We're not allowed to step foot past it as that counts against us and is the equivalent of our whole body being out of the game," you state.

"Then how far and wide does this line go?" Yoon-Seo makes way to the opposite end, facing the back of the building this time.

"It doesn't look very wide since it was drawn in chalk," Jun-Hee adds.

Jung-Won studies the basketball court and allocated sports area. "Which is the actual line here, though? Can't we leave if there's a line break?"

"We won't know until we try," Yoon-Seo settles, the four of you making it your mission to figure out some sort of solution and loophole in the game.

After multiple near missteps and walking the fine line between safety and danger in testing the limits of the borders, your small group manages to come up with a loose plan and present it to the others who haven't yet budged an inch away from the lobby since you've been gone.

Jun-Hee leads the explanation, pointing at a map stuck to a random whiteboard you found earlier. "There's a mountain at the end of the trail and a village. We just have to find people and ask for help."

Jin-Ha brings up a point everyone else is either too scared to ask about or too scared of the answer. "That sounds too simple. What if we try and end up dead too? What then?"

Joo-Young crosses her arms, visibly uncomfortable. "He's right. Isn't it too dangerous?"

"It's annoying to just wait. It won't hurt to give it a shot." You would've given Kyung-Jun the benefit of the doubt as to why he was being so accepting of your group's ideas all of a sudden, but of course, he would never sacrifice himself for anybody's sake. "But do we all have to go? That's so inefficient." It's not hard to read between the lines at what he's implying.

"Yeah, we can't all go," Jun-Hee agrees calmly. "I'll go on my own."

You whip your head toward him. This wasn't what you discussed earlier. "I'm volunteering, then."

"But—"

You shoot Jun-Hee a look that leaves no room for argument, near impossible for him to change your mind. "I'm not letting you shoulder all the responsibility."

"I'll come with," So-Mi interjects. Any other situation you would've scorned her for inviting herself when no one wants her there, but you reluctantly allow her presence this time and this time only.

"Me too," Yoon-Seo says with conviction, turning to you.

"No, stay here." You pat her on the arm. "I don't think the mountain trail will be good for you."

"It's a rough hike," Jun-Hee concurs. "I also think you should sit this one out."

"They're both right, Yoon-Seo," Jung-Won reasons. "You'll become a liability if you end up lagging behind. Let's stay here together."

"I can't develop the plan and then make my best friends do the hard work for me." Yoon-Seo as always, is too kind and selfless.

So-Mi on the other hand, drags Woo-Ram into the center of the circle on a whim amidst ongoing discussion.

"Why me?!"

"You're not volunteering. You're volun-told." So-Mi doesn't give him a chance to decline. "Na-Hee, Ji-Soo, and Yu-Jun, you'll all come with, right?"

"No," Ji-Su says resolutely, the only one of So-Mi's friends with a backbone.

Yu-Jun looks more relieved than apologetic with his girlfriend's choice. "I won't either if she's not."

"Where's your sense of loyalty?" So-Mi glares at both of them in turn.

"Don't ask for what you don't have either," Jung-Won chimes in, raising an eyebrow at So-Mi.

Eye twitching but not replying, So-Mi turns to Na-Hee beside her, wanting to coerce her into participation. "You won't come, then?" Na-Hee's silence is as good of an answer as any.

Hyun-Ho parts the crowd as him and Dong-Hyun flank either side of you and Jun-Hee. "This is an interesting mix. Barely brains and no muscles. You lot are too weak to hike a mountain. We'll go too." You roll your eyes fondly at his over-confidence, but deep down you know he's only coming because you can't stay still, a penchant for getting into danger.

Na-Hee belatedly steps forward, tucking her hair behind her ear and dragging her foot on the ground. Everyone looks at her oddly, surprised by her sudden joining and abrupt change in decision. "I'll go as well."

You belatedly wonder if everyone has pure intentions for going or merely with ulterior motives to tag along because of someone they harbored feelings for.

Despite Yeon-Woo and Eun-Chan trying to prevent Eun-Ha from leaving, she brushes them off, allowing them to stay in her stead. She's the last to round out the rag-tag group, sending you a meek smile that you return in full.

Everyone else waits anxiously as the hiking group disperses to prepare supplies. Jung-Won and Yoon-Seo trail you like twin shadows, their nervousness skyrocketing the closer it is to dispatch time.

To Hyun-Ho's and Dong-Hyun's annoyance, you pester them to help you carry the hiking gear you saw the first night in the gym when Yool was digging through the storage room, surmising it would prove useful should a situation arise for it.

When it comes time to depart, Yoon-Seo hugs you tight before she does the same to Jun-Hee. "Safe trip guys. Please all come back to us."

You smile reassuringly at her. "I promise."

Yoon-Seo nods, and with that, her and Jung-Won send you off with light waves, your small group splitting for the very first time in a long time.

The hike itself is a lot rougher and steeper than you had previously imagined, especially when it's high noon out. Jun-Hee is in charge of leading the way, the paper booklet Yoon-Seo had kept in her possession now in his hands. He looks exhausted, simultaneously trying to upkeep the group's morale, sanity, and safety. Even if you weren't biased, you didn't think anyone else in the class was better suited to be the leader.

Everyone stops at the foot of a particularly tall dirt hill, rocks protruding out randomly in various spots.

"This looks like it'd be easy to slip on." You look around for the area that seems sturdiest.

"Be careful," Hyun-Ho reminds, pointing a little to your right where there's a divot in the soil. How it got there, you have no idea. It didn't seem like anyone tried navigating this area before. "I think you should climb the middle of the slope. Even if it's the highest, the sides are holding it together."

You nod, digging the toe of your heel into the dirt and are wary not to lean with too much force forward or backward so that you don't lose your balance.

Most of the others have scaled the slope already, but both Hyun-Ho and Dong-Hyun decidedly stay behind in case anyone falls or trips. The two of them watch you carefully, eyes focused on your feet.

To your left, So-Mi is also starting to climb while Na-Hee stands further in the back, observing.

Jun-Hee sticks a hand down and it stops in between you and So-Mi.

"Thank—" So-Mi begins, mistakenly thinking he was going to help her.

He moves it slightly to the right, his palm having faced you the whole time. You look up and meet his earnest eyes, head nodding at you. When your hand finally rests in his, he grips it strongly but tenderly as Hyun-Ho and Dong-Hyun give your feet a little boost from below, pushing you over and onto the slope with ease. Even though you could manage just fine on your own, the actions of the three boys warm your heart.

A permanent scowl rests upon So-Mi's visage as she sends you a glare, seemingly wanting nothing more than to throw rocks at you but in a show of effort to save face, she reaches out to Woo-Ran instead who has no choice but to come to her aid.

Dong-Hyun climbs up soon after, Na-Hee trailing his steps with Hyun-Ho watching below. As soon as you peer over to watch, she slips with a yelp.

"Are you alright?!" Hyun-Ho scurries over and looks at the state of her ankle, already turning red at the site. He gazes upward at you, his worry etched into the crease of his brows. "I think she sprained it."

"Can you try bending it slightly to check whether she'll be able to continue?" you suggest, sliding back down the slope, Jun-Hee following close behind.

Hyun-Ho has only encircled Na-Hee's ankle and yet she makes a sound of great pain, wincing at his touch. "Na-Hee can't walk like this." He turns to you, eyes clouded over with unease.

"Luckily a first aid kit was packed last minute." Jun-Hee turns around so you can unzip his backpack and grab the supplies. "We should put a splint on her ankle."

Hyun-Ho agrees and helps you dig through the container for anything that can be used as a makeshift bind.

"She should've been careful," So-Mi voices the obvious, not in the least bit supportive. "Na-Hee, will you be okay?" she asks, more out of obligation than care.

Na-Hee makes an ambiguous noise of agreement but doesn't turn around to look at So-Mi.

"We don't have the right materials for a splint, but let's try wrapping her ankle as tight as we can so there's better support when she moves and it won't hurt as much."

You work in taping up her ankle with Hyun-Ho holding it steady for you, Jun-Hee looking on proudly and fondly at you, smiling to himself.

Hyun-Ho sighs as Na-Hee still isn't able to bear much weight on her injured leg. "Maybe we should just head back."

"No," So-Mi hurriedly contests, standing akimbo above. "Let's keep up a bit more. It's a waste to come all the way here and then head back without achieving anything."

Dong-Hyun adds in, much nicer than So-Mi. "We should keep going only if her pain is bearable."

"The walk back will be just as tiring," you say to Na-Hee as you pack up the first aid kit and return it to Jun-Hee for safekeeping. "It's your call whether you think the rest of the distance is doable."

She peers over at Hyun-Ho then to you, looking indecisive. On one hand, it would be a waste of effort and all the help she received to turn the excursion useless. On the other, she would only slow the group down, prolonging the expedition.

Before she has time to decide, So-Mi chimes in, her tone taking on more of an annoyed lilt. "If you're okay then let's keep going just a little more. Tell us when you can't push any further."

Na-Hee doesn't bother responding to her this time around.

"I can rest here with you and then we can continue on if you need a break. Are you well enough to go with the rest? I don't mind either option," Hyun-Ho says kindly. You watch their interaction and can easily see how much he cares for her.

"Na-Hee's fine," So-Mi resolves all on her own, brushing her hands against one another to get the dirt and grime off before fixing her hair. "Try to keep up," she orders. "Hyun-Ho, you're in charge of her." After giving her command, she turns and leaves without a backwards glance, continuing on the trail with Woo-Ram and Eun-Ha in tow. Only Dong-Hyun stays back with you and the rest.

"Are you sure?" You pat her shoulder. "You know you don't have to follow everything So-Mi says if you don't think it's right," you voice out sincerely.

Na-Hee's eyes flit back and forth between your own, wide and understanding the double meaning. "I'm choosing to go along because I want to this time." She pulls your hand down from her shoulder and holds it between her own. "Thank you, Seol-Hwa."

"Then we should catch up with the others," Jun-Hee concludes as Hyun-Ho supports Na-Hee along, you bringing up the rear.

The walk resolutely refuses to ease up, but once you finally reach signposts, Dong-Hyun regains his energy and drags you by the wrist, suddenly excited at the prospect of perchance leaving this hell.

Hyun-Ho and Na-Hee remain trailing behind at their own leisurely pace, slowly but surely making progress while Jun-Hee has split off with the main group at Woo-Ram's call.

Dong-Hyun draws you back every time you so much as make eye contact with a white line, and you can't help but shake your head, equal parts exasperated and endeared. "Dong-Hyun, there's more than a two-foot radius between my shoes and the borders."

"Better safe than sorry." He grabs your hand this time around as the trail becomes more curved and the lines less apparent. "If you lose so much as a fingernail, I'll lose my eyes to Hyun-Ho and Jun-Hee."

You tilt your chin down and fix him with a look of disbelief. "Be serious. They wouldn't really do that to you."

He clucks his tongue. "You don't know the half of it. They both really care about you. In different ways of course, but they're crazily protective."

"And you're not?" You elbow him in the side.

"Of course, I am. Hyun-Ho considers you like a sister, and since he's my best friend, you're automatically also my sister. We'd do anything for you."

"That's very sweet and I feel the same way about you all," you say sincerely, giving his hand a squeeze as the two of you look around and inspect the topmost wooden sign.

"Dammit!" Dong-Hyun curses angrily, kicking the pike. "It's blocked."

Eyes trailing to where he's pointing, sure enough, you've met a dead end.

Somehow, So-Mi has branched off and followed after you and Dong-Hyun, noticing the group's newfound predicament. He's nice enough to hand over his trekking pole to her, seeing the sorry state of her appearance, worn and haggard. "Over there—" she juts her head to the left, "—looks more open than here. Maybe there's a path?"

Dong-Hyun swivels to you. "Let's try." He leads you by the hand to explore the area So-Mi alluded to as she tails closely behind.

The spot turns out to be by the edge of a cliff, ominously overlooking rocky waters.

You grip his hand tighter and with your other, stab your trekking pole deeper into the ground for stability, the slope here a straight descent off the cliffside.

"It's hard to discern if there's a line here or not..." Dong-Hyun crouches down, inspecting the markings.

"Take a closer look," So-Mi instigates, but doesn't step another foot forward.

"I can't tell for sure but it looks like there is," you tell Dong-Hyun, trying to pull him back from going further. You tap his shoulder and he turns around, eyeing the trekking pole you hand to him.

"No, you keep it." He tries to push it back toward you but you take his hand and wrap it securely around the pole.

"Take a look in front." You turn his head directly downhill toward the threatening oddly shaped tree trunk, a singular sharp branch protruding from it. "If you so much as slip an inch, it'll be the end. Better to be safe than sorry, right?" Repeating his words from earlier back to him does the trick and he shoots you a crooked smile, finally accepting the pole due to your insistence. You decide to sit directly onto the dirt path shortly after, giving you more balance and a better center of gravity than if you were standing. Beside you is a chopped tree stump, small enough that you can wrap an arm around to hold you steady.

"I don't think there's a line," So-Mi pipes in, standing directly behind you.

When did she come so close?

"Really?" Dong-Hyun questions naively, using a twig to dig around the marks. "Then I think we can go."

"No, wait!" you shout, trying to reach out for him at the same time that So-Mi pretends to slip and bumps into him.

"AHH!" Dong-Hyun screams, having slid within a centimeter of the white line.

[ ᴛʜᴇ ɢᴀᴍᴇ ᴍᴜsᴛ ᴛᴀᴋᴇ ᴘʟᴀᴄᴇ ᴡɪᴛʜɪɴ ᴛʜᴇ ʙᴏᴜɴᴅᴀʀɪᴇs. ]

"Dong-Hyun!" Your heart is in your throat as you watch him hang haphazardly onto the pole you gave him mere moments ago, staked deeply into the ground.

So-Mi turns to you instead, attempting to ascent uphill to escape the grave and unforgivable sin she had deliberately committed.

You hear a loud gasp above, seeing Eun-Ha watching the scene unfold in its entirety in front of her, not believing her own eyes at So-Mi's vile actions.

Keeping your right arm around the base of the trunk you were holding onto since earlier, you scoot further down the hill and extend your left hand toward Dong-Hyun, nearly sitting in a split position facing the tree stump. "Grab my hand!"

"I can't!" Dong-Hyun resists. "I'll pull you down with me!" His head and neck are red, straining with effort. You know with the hill's slope and both of your downward positions that gravity isn't in your favor.

"I don't care!" you shout. "I have to at least try." Tears come to your eyes but you force them back, a lump already forming in your throat. "I'm not letting you go like this, Dong-Hyun!" He looks at you helplessly. "We don't have time!" you plead, begging for him to reconsider as more and more dirt scatter down from your foot digging into the ground.

"That's your bad knee. I can't let you do this, Seol-Hwa!"

You gaze down momentarily at your left leg, the scar from your past gymnastics injury long since faded but not truly gone. Determined, you reach out your hand for the last time and manage to grab Dong-Hyun's fingers, clinging on for dear life to a rock embedded in the dirt. Your knee is protesting and so is the rest of your body, but you weren't going to let any of your friends die on your watch if you could help it. "Grab on!" You tighten your hold and Dong-Hyun finally gets to his senses, using all his might to climb back up without jeopardizing you.

The two of you manage to scoot a few inches up before So-Mi starts peddling her feet beside you, sending you further downhill with every scuffle of her heel.

Your heart pounds in your ears as your arm slowly loosens around the tree trunk, hold slackening immensely. You feel your strength nearly giving in, the pins and needles sensation not leaving your fingertips. Dong-Hyun groans below from the exertion of keeping his leg from going outside the barely there line while simultaneously not compromising your position.

In the wake of hanging on by a thread, the notification vibrates unremittingly in your pocket and you can so clearly imagine the blaring of the alarms.

It sounds a lot like a death toll.

"Seol-Hwa, just let me go and save yourself," Dong-Hyun says with finality, beginning to withdraw his fingers away from yours.

"I won't!" you cry out, scrabbling for him as he starts to drift away from you like sand sifting through an outstretched palm.

You close your eyes as your arm eventually gives out and you can no longer feel Dong-Hyun's touch, preparing yourself for the announcement of execution.

But it doesn't come.

You have half a mind to see through a haze of tears Hyun-Ho's form crawling headfirst with his stomach plastered against the hill in order to pull Dong-Hyun back up with the others holding his legs steady.

Only then do you register fingers girdling your wrist tightly, Jun-Hee's strong grip around your forearm as Eun-Ha hangs onto him from atop the slope, both with steadfast looks on their faces.

Jun-Hee grits his teeth and with one last tug, he takes you up to stand on even ground, Hyun-Ho plopping Dong-Hyun down beside you, body limp and passed out due to shock.

Your legs give out, immediately reducing you to a disturbed heap on the ground, eyes unfocused with your hand placed against your chest, pounding, finding it hard to breathe, your heart seemingly existing outside your body.

The silence that settles upon the group is mournful, as if there was truly something to grieve after all.

In a half crouch, Jun-Hee settles before you, reaching out tentatively to cup your face, afraid of your reaction in the aftereffects of having been at death's door. He lowers his head to peer into your bloodshot eyes, and it isn't until then that you realizing the extent of his trembling fingers, lips quivering and breathing ragged. The look of unmistakable utter concern is etched deeply onto his face as he regards you, not daring to speak a word. This time, his eyes can't hide the anger, confusion, and downright fear.

"Seol-Hwa…" he utters, low and soft, torn to see your appearance. He's holding back tears, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down as his eyes flick over your face, the set of his jaw tense unlike you've ever seen before.

Hearing your name tumbling from Jun-Hee's lips brings you back to the reality you zoned out from and the teardrops you suspended all this time on the rims of your eyes sting from the effort, blurring your vision and gradually distorting the image of him in front of you. When the first tear falls, the subsequent ones follow, and you're unable to stop it.

In one motion, you throw your arms around Jun-Hee, and cling onto him tightly, crying uncontrollably into the crook of his neck, defenses dropped.

He presses his cheek against the side of your face, one hand holding the back of your head tenderly and the other arm wrapped tightly around your waist. Pulling you ever closer to him, Jun-Hee inhales deeply as you're back in his arms again, safe and sound. He dips his head into the line of your shoulder, tucking your head underneath his chin and sits quietly, consoling you with his presence and finds his own comfort in yours.

"I'm sorry I came so late but I'm here now. I'll always be here to save you."

𝟬𝟮 : 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗕𝗨𝗧𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗙𝗟𝗬 𝗘𝗙𝗙𝗘𝗖𝗧 | 𝟬𝟰 : 𝗖𝗥𝗜𝗠𝗦𝗢𝗡

© 𝐀𝐥𝐥 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐭 𝐠𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐟’ 𝐍𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐇𝐚𝐬 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐞. 𝐈 𝐝𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨, 𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐮𝐞, 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫-𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐭. 𝐀𝐥𝐬𝐨, 𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐝𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐳𝐞, 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞, 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐮𝐭𝐞, 𝐨𝐫 𝐮𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐚𝐝 𝐦𝐲 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐞𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐦 𝐢𝐭 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐚 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞.

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