Taecyeon crouched in the leafy branches of a tree, with Joong Ko next to him, as a soldier - a real, battel-worn, cruel soldier - marched past just metres below their tree. He  shone his torch around on the ground, and swept it up the trees. 

Taecyeon hled his breath as he silently shifted and leaned in closer into Joong Ki, next to the trunk.

The torch shone through their branches ...

And the soldier marched on.

He hadn't noticed anything.

Five minutes later, Joong Ki jumped nimbly down from the branch and stood in in front of his.

"Go," he hissed. "Sun's nearly up. They'll catch you - and me. Go. Now."

Taecyeon nodded, before wrapping his arms around his new-found friend for a great bear hug. Joong Ki hugged him back, then broke off.

"See you soon ..." he whispered and darted off through the trees. 

Taecyeon started to slide through the undergrowth back towards his cell, wiping the mud and the leaves from his hair and clothes as he went. 

He climbed in throguh the window, locked it, swiftly changed, and leapt into bed just as the bell rang.

Ruffling his hair, he yawned and sat up, feining tiredness. Across the room, Nichkhun was giving him a strange look. Junsu frowned. 

"You been anywhere?"

The question ... 

Taecyeon shook his head, a confused, false expression flitting across his face. 
"No. Where would I go?"

Wooyoung cut in, pointing to the window. "The Outside. The Plains. The forests."

Taecyeon shook his head again, but his heart was thudding so hard and fast in his chest he was afraid that the other five boys would notice. 

"The Plains?"

Junsu shook his head and turned back to his wardrobe. "Never mind. As long as you're not ... caught ..."

Taecyeon gulped.

*Present day*

Taecyeon hefted the gun onto his shoulder, wincing. God, this weighs a ton ...

He slung it onto his back and marched off. Just another kilometer to go ...

He scowled. Sometimes, he really wished he could just run off and live wild. Only problem ... he'd probably be dead in a few days. And Joong Ki ... his cell-mates ... brothers? ... 

He really didn't want to leave them. 

"SOL! Faster!"

Taecyeon gritted his teeth and marched faster, the strap of the heavy gun pressing into his shoulder. 

[...]

[...]

[...]

He turned a corner, and winced, turning his face to the ground.This was his least favourite part of the training enclosure, the hell-hole.

The whipping posts.

Even before he stepped in, he could still smell the metallic, overpowering stench of blood, and he stiffened, marching quicker to get out of this place. Luckily ... and he had never been caught doing anything wrong, but he had still been forced to watch, watch as the soldier screamed and thrashed on the posts, as the leather strip lashed again and again against his or her bare skin. Yes, that's right.
They even did it to women.

He marched out of the room and gave a small sigh of relief. 

"Sol! Total time is 4 minutes 23.9 seconds! Record and return to your cabins!"

Oh well. 5 minutes wasn't so bad.

At least ... is he got over ten minutes, he was sure to get punished. The stocks, probably.

He shivered at the thought and almost ran back to his cell.

And bumped into a very certain Joong Ki on the last corridor.

"Uh ... hi?"