What a pretty field…

                Those were the first thoughts in his head as he looked around. He was surrounded by beautiful, tall sunflowers. Some nearly reached his chest in height. Idly he ran his fingertips over one, taking one petal off after a moment. At that moment he heard a giggle behind him. Turning, the plants behind him were moving as if someone had just run through them. The laughter was becoming fainter.

                “Hello?” He began to walk towards the sound in the direction he’d seen the movement, “Hey! Wait! I can’t see you!”

                The bright afternoon sun felt hot on his skin, causing sweat to bead on his forehead.  He paused to wipe it with the back of his right hand but stopped when a rusty smell filled his nose. Pulling it down, he looked at his hand to see a smear of blood on it.

                “What the,” he mumbled while using his clean one to wipe his forehead again. Nothing.

                 The giggles resumed and he spun around. They were behind him again, the sunflowers rustling. A spot of red on one of the larger flowers drew him close. Two specks of blood stained the yellow petals. More rustling and giggles ahead of him. Despite his better judgment, he continued on. Feeling a chill creep up his spine, he looked up and froze.

                The sun that was once above him was rapidly setting and a cool night breeze was brushing over the field. He swore he could hear the giggles turn into harsh whispers. He suddenly wanted to run and hide somewhere deeper in the fields. That overwhelming urge drove him to delve in faster, trying to escape the harsh whisper that only grew louder and louder the farther he went.

                Just like he’d expect his foot caught on something and he fell to the ground, barely catching himself on his hands. He became acutely aware that something was looming over him…and he knew he had to turn and look…

                BAM!!!

                Jongup suddenly shook awake at the sound of the car door slamming shut. He blinked his eyes until the sleepy blur was gone from them and say up straight in his seat. His neck ached a little from the odd angle he’d had it as he slept. With a quiet groan he peered out the window and found that they’d stopped at a gas station. Yongguk and Himchan, the two oldest, were already walking to the station. He could barely hear Himchan scolding Yongguk for forgetting the map.

                “It’s not my fault you picked a place we can’t find on GPS!”

                “I told you to pack the keys too. Did you forget that?”

                “Stop nagging!”

                Jongup ran a hand through his hair, shaking himself awake fully now. A sudden knock on the window next to his head made him jump a little. Daehyun laughed a little, waving apologetically before turning back to the pump to get gas for the car. Zelo (as he liked to be called instead of Junhong) was out there with him, the pair quietly chatting about something or another.

                “Hey!” Jongup jumped again. Youngjae’s laughter filled the car and he turned fully in his seat, resting his head on the back of it to stare at Jongup, “sleeping beauty’s kind of skittish when he wakes up. You excited about this week?”

                “Mm,” Jongup affirmed noncommittally.

                All six of them had grown up together since Jongup had been in grade school. Eventually they all split apart: Youngjae and Daehyun ended up in a different school from him and Zelo while the older two went onto college. Even when Himchan and Yongguk had moved on to college they still came back to visit them regularly. That’s actually how this whole trip had come about. Without going into detail on how they managed to make it happen, the four younger boys were released into the olders’ possession by their parents when Himchan said they had a friend whose uncle owned a country home. The idea was that they could go hiking or camping, maybe swimming if they took the time to drive to the local lake/reservoir. Truth be told it was less about going places as just being together. Himchan’s idea of bonding.

                Jongup didn’t even know these friends of Himchan and Yongguk, but he really couldn’t say no when the pair rolled up in the rental van to pick him and Zelo up from their school. Youngjae and Daehyun were already in there at the time with all their things packed up. Thus began their mini roadtrip.

                Four hours later and here they were, almost in the middle of nowhere. Himchan swore there was a town near the home (to which Youngjae responded “This is how bad things happen to dumb college kids.”), so they’d have all the amenities they’d need.

                Feeling the need to stretch out, Jongup crawled over the middle seat to get out. Youngjae laughed as he stumbled out groggily, nearly running into Zelo. Daehyun joined him, amused by the younger’s clumsiness. Laughing a little himself sheepishly, Jongup stretched and wandered off towards the store where Himchan and Yongguk had gone. Not really needing to go inside, he opted to walk to the side of the building. He paused though when he saw the small group of wild sunflowers growing. He squatted down to look at them, scaring off a butterfly that had landed on the yellow flowers.

                The sunflowers reminded him instantly of the dream he’d just woken up from. That feeling that someone was looming over him returned, causing him to shudder. It was just his imagination. It was a long trip and he’d fallen asleep. School’s been difficult and the dance team was losing members…it was stress…

                Jongup let out a startled yelp when hands suddenly landed on his shoulders. He would have fallen forward off balance had those same hands not grabbed him, helping him up to his feet. Yongguk looked at him in concern, noting the paleness of his face.

                “You alright? We were calling you.”

                “Yeah. I’m okay,” Jongup laughed, “just sleepy from the drive.”

                Yongguk threw and arm over his shoulders and guided him to the others who were beginning to pile back into the van.

                “You’re sure you’re okay? We can stay here and rest a bit.”

                “I’m fine, really,” he laughed at Yongguk’s concern and slipped out from under his arm to jog back the rest of the way.

                “Alright! Let’s get going!” Youngjae said excitedly.

                “Out,” Yongguk ordered the former who had sat behind the steering wheel.

                “Aw, let me drive. I promise I won’t wreck it.”

                “Out.”

                Youngjae huffed, but complied, getting back into the middle seat with Daehyun. Himchan looked back at all of them, map in hand, and reconfirmed that everyone was good to go. A collective ‘yes!’ was all they needed and they were back on the road. Himchan flipped on the radio and a song filled the car.

                Boom! Clap! Boom boom clap!

                Yongguk immediately turned it off.

                “Hey!” Himchan whined.

                “God I hate that song.”

~~~

                It was dark by the time the boys arrived at the house (due in no small part to them getting turned around a few times even with a map). After they all got out of the van, the boys took a moment to give the house a once over. To their amazement it was clean and in excellent repair. It was also relatively large. There was even a boat covered by a tarp at the side of the house.  The younger boys had joked that it was going to be one of those old country houses that was gathering dust and rot. Himchan snorted at their disbelief.

                “Sunhwa’s uncle owns this place. They’re loaded. Of course it would be nice,” he motioned for them to follow as he walked up the path to the house.

                “Sunhwa?”

                “Yeah, our friends,” Yongguk explained, hefting his bag over his shoulder, “they’ll be joining us in another day or so.”

                “So by friends, you mean girls right?” Daehyun asked, his brow raising quizzically.

                “College girls,” Himchan called back with a laugh.

                Both Zelo and Jongup looked to each other, their faces turning a slight shade of pink. Youngjae threw his arms around both boys, grinning at their obvious shyness.

                “Don’t worry. You’re too young for them anyhow. Just leave it to the older kids.”

                “You’re not much older than us,” Zelo stuck his tongue out and ran to join Yongguk, “it’s not like you ever had a girlfriend or anything.”

                “Yah!” Youngjae ran after him, forgetting his bag while he was at it.

                Jongup sighed and reached down to retrieve it for him. Before setting off after them he paused and looked up at the house again. The lights were coming on one by one (Himchan was already in there). By no means did it look uninviting. However, he couldn’t shake the heavy feeling that was setting in. Daehyun nudged him with his elbow, bringing the younger boy’s attention to him.

                “It doesn’t feel right, does it?”

                “Just a little. We’re just tired,” Jongup offered. Daehyun shrugged in response, casting one last wary glance at the house before nodding to Jongup. The pair made their way to the home to join the others.

~~~

                Jongup lay awake staring at the ceiling fan. There were four bedrooms and they had all drawn lots to see who would sleep where. Yongguk and Himchan were rooming together in one room, Daehyun and Zelo in one, and he and Youngjae both got their own rooms. Eventually they’d have to move to the other rooms when the girls arrived but for now they lucked out.

                Though Jongup wasn’t feeling so lucky at the moment.

                The house was too quiet. Away from the city, there wasn’t the sound of cars or sirens or other late night noises he’d grown accustomed to. The house creaked and ‘groaned’ on occasion, but nothing too loud. The digital clock on the bedside table read one fifteen am. Heaving out a long breath, Jongup shut his eyes, willing sleep to overtake him.

                Sunflowers again. He ran his fingers over the soft flowers and looked up into the sky. It was a fully moon this time, the sky shining with stars. Jongup heard the faint giggle again, feeling something brush up against his back. Spinning around he was met with the rustling flowers again. He immediately ran towards it. He called out a few times, but whoever he was following was always just out of his sight.

                The harsh whispers began again and Jongup stopped running. Backing up instead, he cautiously backpedalled his way back through the field. The whisper was suddenly a shout and Jongup fell backwards, his foot snagging on something again. Someone loomed over him at that moment, her hair hiding her features from his view. She raised what looked like a shovel before bringing it down on his head…

                “Gah!” Jongup sat up in bed, his heart pounding. Reaching over to the bedside table, looking for the lamp switch, he knocked the alarm clock off and it clattered to the floor. With a groan, he swung his legs over only to knock it further away and under the bed. Making a noise of frustration he knelt down to look for it.

                The moment his hand touched the clock a pair of eyes opened and stared at him from the dark recesses beneath the bed.

                Letting out a surprised noise, Jongup reeled back and fell to his on the wood floor. The girl who was staring at him was gone. Gasping and trying to regain his breath, Jongup rose to his feet and immediately left the room.

                A tired Himchan opened the door after Jongup knocked quietly. He frowned at first, looking ready to scold him for waking him up, but it faded almost immediately when he looked at Jongup’s face.

                “Something wrong?”

                “Can…” Jongup felt incredibly embarrassed to ask this but, “can I-I sleep in here with you two?”

                “What? Have a nightmare? Poor baby,” Himchan chuckled, teasing Jongup a little. Again the emotion passed, replaced by concern when he looked at the boy’s face, “yeah. Sure. Come on. I can set up the futon by the bed…”

                “Can I…sleep ON the bed?” Jongup cringed a little at how much like a little kid he must have sounded at that moment. Himchan didn’t seem to notice however.

                “You can share with me. Come on,” Himchan opened the door wider and Jongup rushed in gratefully. Before he shut the door, Himchan paused to look down the hall. It sounded like someone else had walked across the wooden floors based on the creaking. Something else made Himchan wonder at that moment as well.

                “Jonguppie,” he asked, going back into the room and shutting the door behind him, “did you use a flower scented shampoo today or something?”

A/N: Reposting this after the site ate it because of server issues. This is why you save copies my dears. ^^ I focused on Jongup this chapter, ideally I'll hop around to other characters as well. Good? Yes? No? Comments = LOOOOOOVE.

~hiikyoung