It was stuffy in the room. It was so stuffy that simply breathing was a difficult task resulting in staggered huffs and puffs. Also Joon was in a very uncomfortable seated position, and was pretty sure he was missing a shoe. Out of fear he kept his eyes shut, believing that opening them would result in being dragged off somewhere more disagreeable. He’d been kidnapped; that was a sure fact. Who knows how long he had been unconscious in the taxi or in this box of place.

“Lee Joon, open your eyes. I know you are awake”

He cursed in his head loudly, knowing that cooperating with the captor was the only smart choice. He’d seen enough horror and action movies - and been in one himself - to know this. He peeled open his eyes. Well, just the left one.

He was in a stall, as if he was a racing horse about to be released. Carefully he turned around, inspecting the graffitied walls for a door. A blinking camera light greeted him, mocking him in the upper right corner, as he tugged and jiggled a door handle. It began to blink in rhythm with the same voice from earlier. Whether it belonged to a male or female was unclear as it calmly gave commands.

“You are one of the last, so we will not delay longer. Please proceed to the common room”

This room, tis voice; it was real. Being stabbed in the neck by the driver, Mir’s I-am-about-to--my-pants face as this happened; both real. Nervous about what awaited him in the common room, whatever “common” or “room” meant in this situation, he chose to look at his feet. He indeed was missing a shoe.

The floor remained as grey speckled tiles, matching Joon’s current mood, as he followed the hall. When the voice had told him to move on, the door creaked open to reveal a short passageway. As soon as he shuffled out of it, it shut itself. Many things rushed through his mind - thoughts of paranoia, fear, and vomiting everywhere - but he had to shove them aside. He had to cooperate.

“Just think of this as a bad concept you don’t want to do, but you have to. Go along with it” reasoned Joon in his mind  

Then he heard him.

“Joonie!”

Mir came running from metres away, meeting him at the hole in the wall he’d just exited from.

“It’s ok. This is a variety show. Well, we’re pretty sure. It’s just idols here so what else could it be” he quickly muttered, leading the both of them over to a group people.

Luckily the common room was just that. It did need a good cleaning though, the walls having red and brown rust like stains smeared on them. A desk, a few random chairs. and cameras were all that were in the room. Other than the door Joon had just entered from, two others connected the room to elsewhere. The room could have been at one point a classroom, or waiting room for some business. He could breathe more easily now in the larger space. As for the people, going by body shape and voices they all were male. Joon estimated that that he was older than most of them, seeing as he recognized some as members of young rookie groups like VIXX and NU’EST.

“What type of show is this” remarked Joon, strolling up to three of the guys

A man of similar height turned around, giving a quick greeting nod when he saw Joon.

“I don’t know but I’m sure we won’t be sitting around answering questions about ideal types” replied Nichkhun.  

Joon squinted at Nichkhun and then eyed the other meandering idols, confused at how at ease they all seemed. If he had to be drugged in order for be a part of the “cast”, how did they end up here? He slowly posed his question,

“Well I got a surprise injection to the neck by some wacko, - and that doesn’t exactly seem legal or like some MBC show - so how did yo-”

“I am Mai Hasegawa. Welcome to Battle Royale”

A stick thin women entered the room, not needing high heels or soles to give her height. She was a full head higher than most of the men in the room and weighed probably as much as one of their arms. A dark green button up shirt showed off her slimness, paired with fitted black jeans. They matched her extremely black hair which was slicked back in a long ponytail. What stood out the most was the thick leather tool belt wrapped around her waist and left leg, like a snake protecting its master. Joon’s eyes bulged as his gaze dropped from the belt to her shoes, a knife strapped to the inside of the left boot.

A young boy laughed, giggling as she eyed her audience. Her eyes eventually fell on him, calmly saying

“Please, be silent when I speak”

“You’re being so tsunde-”

Out of the leather belt she retrieved a gun, pointing it at the boy while sighing,

“Please; Minhyuk”

At first, he did remain quiet. Then his lips began to tremble as he laughed, leaning on the shoulder of the person beside him even.

“Oh man, my manager is testing me. You scared m-”

He interrupted his own sentence with a shrill cry, Mai shooting a single round into the wall behind him. If the gun had been just a couple centimetres to the left, it would have blown of Minhyuk’s ear.

Joon let out a large yelp before covering his mouth. That was real too; the gun, the bang, the hole in the wall. Everyone backed up against the nearest wall, getting as far away as possible from this woman. She had good aim and a loaded weapon.

“Who are you” murmured the man closest to Mai.

She stopped stalking around in the center of the room, sitting down on a desk. Casually she leaned on her knees with a loud exhale,

“That doesn’t matter Kevin. The only thing that you should be asking about is Battle Royale”

Abruptly she jerked her head up from her legs, glaring at the people who lined the walls. She began to walk towards them, speaking in a disappointed tone,

“You do know what Battle Royale is....”

No one dared to say anything since she still wore that tool belt. Joon kept his mouth shut.

“L-like the Japanese show?” stuttered Mir, curled up in a ball on the floor

Immediately Joon took in a large breath, expecting Mir to be the next target.

“Wow, you are right Mir” she flitted over to his shaking figure, crouching down to his level, “Did you know that South Korea has its own Battle Royale too, and has for the past decade?”

She saw the blank stares that everyone had, all defense mechanisms in hopes she didn’t pick on them. Unimpressed she took on a harsh tone, launching into a lecture,

“Of course you all wouldn’t know. You all are celebrities, idols, gods perhaps to some. People who believe they are above the law and do not need to follow rules. This is exactly why you have been chosen to compete. You will learn what real success, pride, and victory feels like. Battle Royale isn’t some fake program where you show off your funniest scripted jokes for a few laughs from teenage girls. It’s a game of skill, strategy, and survival”

The tallest boy yet one of the youngest looking stepped forward, cautiously inquiring

“Hi, I’m Zelo and so... Battle Royale...” he removed his hat, giving him a reason to avoid her icy stare, “An obstacle course outside in the rain? With drill sergeants maybe? And no food rewards?”

As a precaution, the guy beside Zelo shuffled a fair distance away from him. Mai didn’t have her gun at the ready - casually twirling it around in her hand - so that made the rest of the room relax slightly. It made Joon more nervous though; she was unpredictable and way too nonchalant. With a large grin she began to laugh maniacally,

“Zelo, that’s so cute! I’d take you home right now if I could it was that cute.”

Those moments where a joke is told and only the teller understands it; that situation was happening right now. The laugh bounced off the walls and right back into her open gnashing mouth. No one joined in. Each person was too consumed with questions of why she knew everyone’s name, why she brought them here, and who she even was. Joon was caught up in these queries, so much that he didn’t notice the end of the laughter.

“No Zelo, not that. A real game with real consequence” she strolled straight up a new target, locking her eyes on to his, “A game where you kill; or get killed.”

On her cue, one of the doors swung open and a line of soldiers marched out obediently. The final man pulled along a rack of large duffle bags numbered 1 to 21. They all bowed to Mai when they marched past her, then lined right back up along the far wall, making their own wall of bodies.

“With every game there are rules. To expla-”

Sharply she turned her head towards a shaking and crying Zelo. He continued to in large breaths with his head buried in his lap, crouched on the floor. Before anyone had time to pity, comfort, or step out of the way, Mai whipped a knife at Zelo. It lodged itself in his forehead, right between the eyes. His body toppled over from the impact, his head thumping loudly against the floor. Cooly she sauntered over to his jittering body to remove the blade.

“There isn’t room for tears. This is the real world boys, not one your company has made up for a music video” she spat, wiping the blade off on her pants

Panic spread throughout the idols as they watched the scene. Initially it was big eyes and gulps, but escalated into running and pounding on walls. Zelo’s body lay still with blood dripping down the face. Chaos had descended fully. In response, the soldiers drew their automated weapons and shot wildly and rapidly into the air.  

“Get yourselves under control!” bellowed Mai

Joon grabbed Mir who laid face down on the floor, hauling him over to the new forming crowd. “Keep him safe, keep your best friend safe” was what he thought over and over. They were fortunate because no other idol seemed to have a bandmate present. Many knew each other as did Joon, but not many were close friends. If they had to kill each other though, perhaps having a good friend around was not an advantage.

“Let me try again” Mai returned to her seated position on the desk, this time putting her back to them all, “The rules - watch the video.”  

Mounted on the ceiling a projector flickered to life. The image of the smiling BoA filled the screen. Dressed casually in an orange t-shirt and ball cap, she cheerfully began to chatter,  

“Welcome to Battle Royale! You are fortunate enough to have been chosen for this international broadcast; that must be a first for a few of you. Anyways, the rules. We are in an emptied area of the city, which was done just for you. You must feel special”

Joon scoffed quietly, covering his mouth just in case Mai was looking.Special - that’s one way to put it. He thought unlucky bastard was more accurate. The video recording continued, BoA happy as ever,

“Everyone has a bag which contains supplies for survival; food, water, and a weapon”  BoA motioned to the green zippered bag before sticking her hand in it, retrieving an axe, “Who ever gets this is super lucky. You also get a map of the area. This is really important because there will be danger areas where you cannot go, or else you’ll be eliminated from the game”

Gracefully she hopped over the table she had been standing behind. With one hand on her hip, she waved with the other. In a sickly sweet tone she ended her segment,

“Good luck; fighting!”

The projection came to a finish, fading away to leave just the dirty wall. Mai swung around to face them again, her voice like the elementary teacher that all the students feared,

“Before we continue, these gentlemen will be distributing the supplies and also putting a collar on you - for identification purposes”

With a flick of her hand every soldier was with an idol, fitting the with metal bands around necks. A distinct beep was made when they were fastened, causing a little light on the front to come to life. Joon looked around at the others and their new jewellry, not having some himself. Instead of a burly man in camouflage Mai came over to him with a collar and duffel bag.

“Don’t play with this. It will only get you killed Joon” she warned gently, clicking the collar in place

After finishing she stepped back to her post in the centre of the room. She began to pace back and forth as she explained.

“In these collars are a tracking device so that we can monitor the game. Wouldn’t want any cheaters. They are waterproof, shockproof... basically they are indestructible. If you try and break or remove them it will kill you. So please, don’t be stupid”

Suddenly she stopped walking, her right foot frozen above the ground. Purposefully she planted it on to the ground with a stomp before continuing,

“Aso, there is a new rule this year. Traditionally only one person can win but there is a way for two people to win. You must find your partner and be the last two alive. To do that, you must find your matching number. That is all I can say. Questions, comments, or concerns about anything?”

Hesitantly a boy no one seemed to recognize raised his hand. She nodded to him, allowing him to speak. His voice broke as he asked his question,

“I-If you win, do you get to go h-home?”

Mai bobbed her head once,

“Yes”

“What if everyone does nothing - no one tries to win?” the boy added, a slight hint of hope in his voice.

A second later and Mai had taken something out of her belt. Everyone braced themselves for a gun or knife demonstration, but no one bled or screamed. Twenty one pairs of eyes stared at the little metallic square she gripped in her hand. Authoritatively she strutted over to the left side of the crowd, beckoning over a single man. With a little push of her thumb on the tiny square, the light of the man’s collar began to blink furiously. This was clearly not a good sign. The half a dozen people around him themselves against the walls.

“H-Hyunseung! Hyunseung!” the man stumbled as people pushed him aside, crying “What’s happening! Help me!”

“Eunkwang, stop!” Hyunseung began to approach him slowly, still yelling “You can’t touch the colla-”

The collar emitted a final beep and blink before detonating. From Eunkwang’s neck sprayed a fountain of blood. It only took moments for him to fold on to his knees and then on to the floor face down. Immediately Hyunseung ran towards the body, as if there was actually a chance his friend was still alive. His face contorted as he looked at the limp figure, holding back a cry. Mai turned her back to them, calling

“ To answer your question, that would happen. All of you would die.”

Hyunseung still was kneeling beside the body. Zelo’s body still laid on the floor too, pale and vacant. This was indeed serious. Mai pointed at a man with equally intense eyes and expression as her own,

“You’ll be leaving one at a time. Kris, you are first. Pick up your bag and go”

Kris threw his bag across his body, only giving one look away. He bid his friend goodbye quickly,

“Good luck Baekhyun”

Then disappeared out the third door.

Jaejoong, Taemin, Chunji, Zico, Sandeul, and G-Dragon were the next the exit into the battlefield. When G-Dragon’s footsteps were out of earshot, Mai’s eyes searched for the next person.

“Lee Joon; go” she commanded

For a moment he closed his eyes, letting his surroundings dissolve into nothing, He needed to be calm and strong. He opened them again, flicking a quick look over to Mir. Who said that Mir couldn’t be his partner, there was a chance he could be. There were already two less people in the competition. Loudly Joon gulped, picking up the duffel bag and beginning to drag himself out of the room. He passed the remaining idols, trying to convince himself that this wasn’t a fight to the death - that he wouldn’t have to kill or be killed by one of them. He knew that was the biggest lie ever though. Mir was able to catch his eye, just in time for him to whisper

“Run away, as far and as fast as you can”  

And this was the only thing Joon did when he got outside. He ran.