Jongup watched as the girl he now knew as Hyosung alternately fussed and scolded Himchan who was currently lying on the couch with a small bag of ice on his head where a lump had formed. He felt someone push him from behind and was brushed aside by Sunhwa who was carrying some water for him.

                “Himchannie,” Sunhwa cooed, kneeling down to offer him the water, effectively blocking Hyosung “here!”

                “Thank you,” he smiled at her. Jongup could see the blush spread on Sunhwa’s face. He could also see Hyosung’s indignant expression. He was used to hearing Himchan talk about girls liking him, but he always thought he was just full of hot air. Looks like he was wrong…

                “Don’t mind her,” Zinger said from behind Jongup quietly, “she’s been trying to get Himchan’s attention for years. I guess this is her chance.”

                “I don’t mind,” Jongup offered politely. At that Zinger crooned and pinched his cheeks a little, smiling broadly, “Uh…”

                “You are an absolute sweetheart, you know that?” She laughed at his red face and left to join Hyosung.

                “And don’t mind Zinger,” Jieun said next after noticing how embarrassed the younger boy looked, “are the other boys coming soon?”

                “You mean is Yongguk coming soon?” Hyosung teased from the living room. Jieun’s face reddened and she glared at the older girl.

                “When I called they said they were on their way. It’s about a thirty minute drive. They should be back soon.” Jieun thanked him and also joined the other girls plus Himchan. Himchan looked at Jongup and gave the boy a thumbs up before Sunhwa nudged him and asked him a question.

                 Satisfied that his friend wasn’t in any real danger, Jongup sighed and ran a hand through his hair. This was definitely not the trip they’d all been hoping for. He took a few steps back before turning to go to the kitchen. Now he needed something to drink. As he reached the kitchen he was startled to see the back door shaking, as if someone was trying to open a locked door.

                “Hello?” Jongup asked with some trepidation. The door immediately stopped shaking. Cautiously he approached and found that the door actually wasn’t locked either. He reached for the door knob, becoming acutely aware of the scent of flowers beginning to fill the air. The moment his fingers touched the knob the door began to shake again, but this time it flew open, narrowly missing Jongup’s face. 

                “I’m sorry! Are you okay?” Zelo asked after realizing he’d nearly taken Jongup’s nose off.

                “Yeah, I’m fine.”

                “Is Himchan okay? What happened?” Yongguk came in next, walking past Jongup and Zelo.

                “He’ll be okay we think…”

                “Seriously Dae, you look horrible,” Youngjae said next after also walking past Jongup and ushering Daehyun in, “have you been sleeping at all?”

                “Not really…”

                Zelo looked to Jongup, shrugged, and followed after the older boys. Jongup looked outside for anyone else. Relieved that no one else was there, he shut the door and locked it.

                “Awww, that’s so cute! He took your hand!”

                “Hyosung!”

                “So you two finally telling us what we already know?”

                “I swear to god Kim Himchan I would murder you if you weren’t already hurt.”

                The second youngest boy laughed at that, momentarily forgetting his worries.

~~~

                “No.”

                “Come on!”

                “No.”

                “It’s just an Ouija board!”

                Without another word Yongguk took the offending board “game”, walked to the back door, opened the door, and tossed it out. Youngjae gave out a indignant, “hey!” as Yongguk walked back.

                “Jieun already told you she didn’t like them. Hell, even Daehyun said he didn’t like them. So we’re not doing it.”

                “Besides,” Hyosung added in from her seat on the couch, “that’s how we all end up on some vengeful ghost’s hit list. I vote for finding a scary movie to put in.”

                “I’m hungry,” Zelo whined a little, laying his head on Hyosung’s shoulder. She patted his head and smiled.

                “We can get some food instead.”

                “Great! The women can cook!” Youngjae shouted out, earning him a glare from Zinger.

                “What?!”

                Jongup listed to the others begin to bicker amongst them. After introductions were made, they all helped the girls move in their belongings to the rooms. Yongguk and Himchan had given up their room to them, along with Youngjae’s. Yongguk opted then to move into Jongup’s while Himchan went to Youngjae’s.

                To say the least Jongup wasn’t looking forward to sleep tonight. While the girls’ presence had managed to add some levity to the situation, in the back of his mind Jongup was still seeing that girl under the bed. He knew he was dreaming, he had to have been dreaming, but it didn’t help put his mind at ease. Youngjae and Daehyun also looked disquiet from where he sat. Daehyun looked ready to pass out while Youngjae kept giving him worried glances.

                Jongup really didn’t like the scary movie idea either.

                “Oh hey, guess what the little old lady told me today?” Youngjae suddenly piped in the middle of the conversation, “this place is haunted.”

                Jongup felt his blood run cold at the elder’s words. He glanced around the room, watching as most of the students just laughed and threw popcorn at Youngjae. He did note how Daehyun seemed to pale and that Himchan seemed to be forcing his laughter.  Maybe he wasn’t the only one having dreams and expriences…

                “You mean that old story?” Sunhwa laughed and waved Youngjae off, “the one about the girl who haunts people here? Give me a break.”

                “You know it?” Youngjae asked, his interest piqued, “So you know that her victims…”

                “Look. A girl went missing around these parts about a year back. Her body was never found. Since this just a vacation home, the locals began to suspect that a ghost is now living in this usually empty house. And the local kids have nothing better to do than scare themselves,” Sunhwa flicked hair before continuing, “a boy broke  in here a couple of months ago and the kid scared himself so bad he had a heart attack.”

                She paused and looked around the room. Everyone was staring at her expectantly.

                “Oh come on. He lived. He had a preexisting heart condition.”

                A collective sigh of relief filled the room. They began their chatter again with Youngjae asking Sunhwa to explain in further detail what she heard. Hyosung rolled her eyes when Sunhwa leaned on Himchan, though the younger girl didn’t notice. Clearly annoyed, Hyosung then turned to Zinger and Zelo, asking them what they would like for dinner. Daehyun looked ready to pass out but a quick nudge from Youngjae awoke him and he leaned in to listen to Sunhwa’s narrative.

                All the while Jongup couldn’t shake the feeling of dread in his head. He looked up the stairs into the currently dark corridors.

                It was all a dream. He was just having bad dreams…

                Maybe he could sleep on the couch tonight? But then Yongguk would be in that room all alone…

                “Jongup,” he jumped a little when a hand was placed gently on his arm. Jieun smiled at him apologetically before continuing, “you okay?”

                “Yeah. Sorry.”

                “Why are you apologizing?” Yongguk asked next. Jongup glanced down and noted how Jieun and Yongguk’s hands were intertwined, and raised his brows up in slight amusement. Yongguk didn’t miss the look and turned his gaze away, pink beginning to spread on his cheeks, “shut up.”

                “How long have you two been going out?”

                “A month,” she replied happily, leaning her head on his shoulder, “we’ve known each other through Hyosung for a while now, but he only just asked me recently. It was so sweet. He came to the musical I was in and brought me a dozen roses with a note asking me to go out with him.”

                “Really?” Jongup couldn’t hide his smile. He never knew the elder would be so cheesy. Himchan yes, but Yongguk? Who would’ve thought.

                “Jieun, please,” Yongguk begged a little.

                “I’m embarrassing him,” she laughed brightly before continuing, “Himchan and him talk about you four a lot. It’s nice to finally meet all of you.”

                “Nice to meet…”

CRASH!!

                Everyone jumped, Zinger and Youngjae right to their feet. It sounded as if someone had slammed a door.

SLAM!!

                The sound was coming from the kitchen. They were all on their feet and rushing over to it, Hyosung, Himchan, and Yongguk taking the lead.

Creeeeak…SLAM!!

                The backdoor that led into the kitchen from the outside was swinging open and shut, each time resounding almost deafeningly through the room. Himchan strode over to the door and shut it, locking it securely. He looked back to the others, shrugging his shoulders a little uneasily.

                “Guess we didn’t lock it.”

                “Old house do that. I’ll ask my uncle to have someone check the frame to make sure it isn’t warped,” Sunhwa offered. While the rest of the group made their way back to the living room, Jongup stared at the door.

                He’d locked the door himself…

~~~

                He was running through the field again, but this time he wasn’t following someone.

                Someone was following him.

                The field seemed to dissolve around him and Jongup was left in the house. Somewhere a door slammed and he immediately ran for the back door. He tried the door knob but it wouldn’t budge. He quickly looked down at it and swallowed his cry of distress. Someone had broken a key in the lock.

                Somewhere within the house someone called out to him. Jongup knew that if this person found him he’d be dead. Instantly he was running up the stairs, taking them two at a time, and tripping up at the last two. Still managing to keep his pace up, Jongup kept running down the hall, trying the bedroom doors until he found an open one. Rushing through the door, he quietly shut it behind him and went to the window. Before he could open it the door rattled as someone tried to enter. Frantically he scrambled down under the bed.

                Someone walked into the room and Jongup held his hand over his mouth to muffle his breathing. He saw the feet walk around a moment, pacing back and forth before turning and walking away. The door opened and shut as his pursuer left the room. After waiting a few moments, he felt secure enough to creep out.

                Or so he thought. The moment his hand reached out from under the bed a knife came down and impaled it, sinking into the wood floor…

                Jongup hit the floor hard, panting. He looked around the dark room frantically. Someone stepped in front of him and Jongup shouted out in terror, scrambling to his feet. When that person grabbed onto his shoulders he reacted violently, lashing out at his “captor”. He successfully knocked him away and immediately turned to run out of the room.

                Running down the hall, Jongup was only vaguely aware of other doors suddenly opening and voices filtering into the otherwise quiet darkness. Lights were beginning to turn on, but Jongup didn’t spare a moment to them. He wanted out of the house. This instant. Right now. He had to hide. He had to get away.

                Someone was shouting out to him, but he was already down the stairs and out the back door. The chill of the night air hit him as rocks and sharp dried plants pricked his bare feet. He found himself tearing through a dried up field until he stumbled and collapsed onto the ground. He had to keep running. If he was caught then he’d die and…and…!

                Jongup slowly pushed himself up and sat on the ground. Still shaking, he took a moment to look around and take in his environment. He was awake, he knew that now. Despite his lucidity he couldn’t stop his body from trembling. His hand still throbbed from where the knife had stabbed him. And the fear he felt when he’d first woken up still hadn’t totally left him.

                “Jongup!”

                “Where are you!?”

                “JONGUP!!”

                Not ready to face the others quite yet, Jongup scrambled up and continued deeper into the field until he found a small clearing. Sitting with his knees pulled up to his chest, Jongup buried his face into them in an attempt to hold in the choked sob from escaping. Even though he was awake the fear, terror, and utter helplessness he’d felt in the dream was still there.

                He didn’t notice Jieun finding and sitting quietly next to him, rubbing soothing circles on his back. And it wasn’t until she took his hand, hissing sharply in surprise, that he noticed the dark, red purple bruise forming on the back of his hand.

A/N: Back to Jongupie. ^^ Aigoo, thank you to all my subbies! I appreciate all the support! Anyone have any requests for who's perspective they'd like to see next? It can be either B.A.P. or Secret. ^^ Your comments are my energy!