Kai was home from the hospital, sitting in the stands next to Kyungsoo as the soccer team held their practice. It had been a week since Chanyeol had asked to transfer to Prep but Kai still hadn’t given him an answer.

Sehun and Luhan still hadn’t told anyone that they were together and Kyungsoo simply wasn’t as peppy as he was before. He was constantly worrying about Kai and while Kai appreciated Kyungsoo’s cautiousness, he missed the boy he had fallen for.

It seemed in the past week or so, the group of friends had grown up a little too fast.

Luhan looked up at the stands and waved to the injured goalie. He hated seeing Kai in a cast instead of on the field. It just felt wrong to be playing without the goalie.

Sehun noticed this and walked up beside Luhan, desperately wanting to hold his boyfriend’s hand but he kept himself resigned. He was itching to make contact with Luhan but knew neither of them were ready for that yet.

Minji watched on from the top of the stands and shook her head in disappointment. Where had her carefree group of friends gone? It was clearly time to shake things up a little…

~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next morning, Sehun and Kyungsoo received an envelope addressed to each of them. When they opened them, they realized that they were going to be going on a little adventure that day.

Both of the messages were completely identical, save the name of the person who had been taken hostage.

“Hostage? What the hell has Minji gone and done now?” Kyungsoo exclaimed, fearing instantly for Kai’s wellbeing. His boyfriend was still on crutches for crying out loud!

Sehun laughed a little at Kyungsoo’s protective reaction. “They probably went willingly, Kyungie, no need to worry.”

“But what does this even mean?!?” Kyungsoo objected, shoving his letter toward his best friend and roommate.

Sehun scanned his eyes over Kyungsoo’s copy of the message and read:

Dearest Kyungsoo,

You have lost your pep and it clearly needs to be restored. Until further notice I have taken Mr Kim Jongin hostage in an undisclosed location. To save the sweet boy, you must partake in a day of whimsy and puzzles to find out where I am keeping him. Don’t you worry your pretty little head, I will return him to you exactly how I found him, as long as you play along. ;)

Here’s your first clue:

You can’t look right and you can’t look left, but you can look down and up and forward. I am dark and small and I probably smell.

Sincerely,

Someone who dares

“Oh, very clever, Minji! Someone who dares! Hah!” Sehun scoffed dryly, tossing the letter down onto Kyungsoo’s bed.

“What the heck does that even mean though?” Kyungsoo asked, chewing on his nails nervously.

Sehun snatched up a stray candy bar and shoved it as his friend. “Eat this instead of your fingers. It’s much more sanitary.”

Kyungsoo mowed down on the candy bar as Sehun flopped onto his back on his bed. He wracked his brain for what the clue could possibly mean but he simply couldn’t concentrate with the sound of Kyungsoo’s hasty munching.

“Can you quiet down a bit? I’m trying to think here!” Sehun protested, throwing Kyungsoo a dirty look.

Kyungsoo winced slightly and finished the bar in one last bite. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay, but I’m trying to figure this out. You can’t look right and you can’t look left, but you can look down and up and forward. I am dark and small and I probably smell.” Sehun repeated, trying to figure out the answer to the riddle by saying it aloud.

Kyungsoo began to giggle a bit. Sehun sat up and gave him a questioning look. “What?”

But instead of responding to the question, Kyungsoo just began to laugh even harder.

“Kyungsoo! Work with me!” Sehun begged of the boy who clearly had figured something out that he simply wasn’t getting.

“Oh, uh, sorry. It’s stupid but it makes me think of Harry Potter. Like, when he lives under the cupboard in that cramped little space, y’know? I can’t imagine how claustrophobic he must’ve gotten, I mean, talk about a cruel aunt and uncle!” Kyungsoo explained, rambling on and on.

Sehun smirked as hints of the old Kyungsoo began to show up in his randomly impassioned rant about the Boy who lived and how unfair his life was. But that’s when Sehun had an epiphany.

“Oh, it’s way too simple! Kyungsoo, we are so thick as a pair sometimes.” Sehun exclaimed, jumping to his feet, excitedly.

He had figured out Minji’s first puzzle thanks to Kyungsoo’s bizarre train of thought. But that’s how they worked and it worked well.

“What do you mean? Do you know the answer?!?” Kyungsoo wondered, utterly at a loss.

“Yes! Follow me!” Sehun ordered, a triumphant twinkle in his eyes.

And with that, their adventure began.

~~~~~~~~~~~

“Min! This is about the most insane thing you ever convinced me to do. I bet we’re practically torturing poor Kyungsoo by doing this.” Luhan shared, still wary on how exactly his best friend had coaxed him into being a part of this ridiculous game she had concocted.

Minji rolled her eyes. “Do I really have to explain this for the fiftieth time? You guys need something to pull your minds off of soccer and all the drama that’s been surrounding you lately. Et voila! The reason you are here is because you are helping me to give Sehun and Kyungsoo a day like they used to have, full on whimsical nonsense and geekery.”

“You talk about them like they are test subjects or something!” Kai said, putting his two cents into the exchange.

“Can’t you two just both except that I’m giving your two boys the days of their lives?!?” She protested, huffing with annoyance at their sheer ignorance of her intentions.

Luhan narrowed his eyes at his best friend in protest.

Kai raised an eyebrow. “Our two boys?”

Luhan coughed intentionally, hoping that Minji would receive the message that she had had a slip of the tongue. He really wished she had more discretion than she was displaying as of late.

 Her eyes grew wide as she realized the mistake in what she had said. “Oh! I just mean, ‘your boys’ as in… the other half of your group of friends… right, yes. That’s what I meant.”

Minji was terrible at lying and even worse at trying to back peddle when she had messed up. Luhan regretted not trying to clear up the mishap on his own.

Kai felt like something else was going on but decided not to delve into it any further. He stuck his hand into the bowl of nachos that Minji had provided at his request and munched away happily.

Luhan could tell that Kai wasn’t fully satisfied with the answer that Minji had given him but was happy to see Kai so easily distracted by the food. He bit his lip in worry but then decided to relax. It was going to be a long day of waiting; he might as well make himself at home.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Why are we in the locker room?” Kyungsoo asked, completely confused.

Sehun had failed to explain any part of what he had figured out, instead only dragged Kyungsoo along for the ride. But once they made into the locker room, he threw open one of the lockers and shoved Kyungsoo inside.

“WHAT THE HECK, SEHUN? IT’S DARK IN HERE.” Kyungsoo cried, in complete horror at what his friend had just done to him.

“Think about it. There’s no room in there to turn your head right or left, but you can look down, up and forward. Plus, you just said it was dark and I’m pretty sure the football equipment at the bottom is already suffocating you.” Sehun explained and Kyungsoo began to understand.

The boy jumped out of the locker and they began to race around the change room, throwing open lockers and inspecting them. “Now we just have to find the next clue in one of these then.”

“I think I already know where it is.” Sehun said, walking over to the section Luhan, Kai and his lockers were in.

He knelt down and put his combination into the lock. Kyungsoo rushed over him and began to anxiously chew on his fingernails again. Sehun gave him a warning look and then he shoved his hands into his pockets, solemnly.

Sehun got frustrated when his combination didn’t work, letting the lock fall back against the locker. “She changed the lock combo! Damn it!”

Kyungsoo sighed, knowing that it couldn’t have been that easy. Minji really was a clever girl and they shouldn’t have underestimated the complexity of her challenges.

Sehun proceeded to try birthdays, initials via some sort of alphabetical code they made up, completely random number sequences but finally, Sehun gave up again, pouting in frustration.

“It has to do something with us… right? Or… what about the date of the day you tried out for the soccer team?” Kyungsoo suggested, at wit’s end.

“You really think so…?” Sehun asked, raising an eyebrow speculatively.

 Kyungsoo shrugged. “Minji’s all about the sentimentality of our friendships, maybe just try it.”

Sehun decided to give it a try, because why the hell not? He twisted the lock to the correct day and much to their delight, it sprung open.

“Yes! We are so badass. Take that Minji!” Kyungsoo cried, pumping his fist up in the air triumphantly.

Kyungsoo and Sehun jumped up in excitement. They threw their arms around each other and did a happy-dance/hug thing.

This really was thrilling. They had figured it out together, just the two of them, it was just like old times.

When the celebration was over, Sehun opened his locker and sure enough, there was a note inside that read:

You can’t give it back but it’s great when it’s there. Enjoy it while you can, for it can only stay fresh for so long. Follow your nose, K.

Sincerely,

Someone who dares

“I guess this one is on you. Any ideas?” Sehun asked, turning toward Kyungsoo.

His stomach rumbled and Kyungsoo followed his instincts.

“To the cafeteria!” He cried, and Sehun chuckled before skittering off after his bubbly friend.

Minji was happy to see the boys looking so joyful and determined as they ran out of the locker room, their next clue in hand. Kyungsoo had a knowing look in his eye and Minji knew that he was going to especially enjoy the next challenge.

But until then, she was just glad to see her boys looking alive again. 

A/N I FREAKING LOVE MINJI! She is so fun to write about!!!

Lets see if you guys can break my record for most comments for a chapter! It stands at 22 comments for chapter....................... I actually have no idea XD!

That is your challenge, DON'T FAIL MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

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