fortythree
Yes, I'm HeroIndex:
(BH) – Baekhyun speaking
(DO) – Kyungsoo speaking
(YJ) – Young Jae speaking
(DH) – Daehyun speaking
(V) – Taehyung speaking
(JU) – Jongup speaking
(K) – Jongin speaking
(Z) – Zelo speaking
(JI) – Jin speaking
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I need to go. I need to go. I need to go. I need to go. I need to go.
That same sentence rolled around in Taehyung's head over and over again as he walked back and forth throughout his room. The thought of betraying Kyungsoo terrified him, but Taehyung also knew that he needed to get out of there. Leaving Kyungsoo meant that everything would come into light and that Kyungsoo would learn about everything, but not leaving meant risking the possibility of letting something slip and Kyungsoo finding out everything. The main difference was that if he had the chance to run away, then he had a higher chance of staying alive.
Then what about his family? Kyungsoo could easily get to his family and make their lives a living hell, but Taehyung wasn’t about to let his friends get caught in the middle of all of this either. They had enough food and supplies to last them at least a week, maybe even more. If anything, the main thing he should worry about is them getting out or maybe even getting at each other’s throats.
Was that even a possibility?
They were all fairly nice people, so it was kind of difficult to think of someone like Jongup getting all up in someone’s face. Of course, it may be possible with someone like Zelo or Baekhyun there. Though… now that he thought about it, why did he have to hide away Baekyhun, Jongin, and Jin? Those three had nothing to do with any of this and because of his negligence; he ended up dragging them in.
Oh well. Nothing he could do about it now.
Shaking his head a bit, Taehyung let out a heavy sigh before sitting on his bed. The suitcase next to him had been flung onto the bed wide open and there were clothes either successfully inside or only half way in. Leaving meant putting even more people into danger, so… he knew that he was going to have to stay. If he could just play his cards right while playing safely, then he should be able to make it out of this home free.
With another sigh, Taehyung allowed himself to fall backwards onto the bed with his arms spread out. Staring up at the ceiling, he shook his head slightly before closing his eyes slowly. No turning back. No second-guessing. He just needed to keep his head held high and make it seem like he had nothing to do with hiding any one of his friends.
Sitting up, he opened his eyes before allowing himself to get lost in his thoughts.
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“Jin! We HAVE to get OUT of here! My parents are most likely wondering where I am!” (BH) Jin raised his hands up in a defensive manner as he turned his head away. It’s been less than a day since they’ve been locked up in the basement and already, everyone is trying to find ways to get out. The windows were too small for any of them to fit, the doors were all locked, and since they were underground, there was no way that they were going to break open any of the walls. So, all that was left to find a way to unlock the locks or maybe even break them. “Open it! I want to get out of here!” (BH)
“I uh… don’t have the key…?” (JI) Baekyhun let out a loud groan before making his way towards the kitchen. Jin let out a small sigh, a bit relieved that Baekhyun had decided to drop it for the moment. Of course, he knew that sooner or later, they were all going to end up ganging up on him. What was he supposed to do when that happened though?
With a shrug of his shoulders, Jin made his way into the kitchen. So, he may not be all that hungry at the moment, but it was at least something to do for now. What better way to remove any thoughts of all of this than something good to eat? Maybe Daehyun was starting to affect him, but food really was starting to sound good right at this very moment.
While Jin looked through the fridge, Jongup was sitting on the couch, watching Zelo and Jongin play video games. Baekhyun was a little too stressed out to play with everyone else, but otherwise, seemed to be rather calm about everything. In fact, Baekhyun didn’t understand how everyone else could be okay with Jin locking them up like this. He wanted to get to the bottom of this, especially since Taehyung wasn’t here, but he just didn’t know where he was supposed to get his answers.
Jin would’ve been an obvious answer, but for some reason, that man was taking some sort of oath of silence and that meant that something fishy was up. Should he… seduce him? No, no! Of course not! That wouldn’t work anyway. So… maybe beat it out of him until he spoke? No, that wasn’t the answer either. Why would he want to hurt his friend like that? Then again… they might not be friends anymore if Jin didn’t fess up anything he knew.
What if he just broke one of the windows or doors?
Walking up to one of the nearby windows, Baekhyun examined it as he tried to see if he really would fit through it. Sadly, the windows were far too narrow for him to fit through. So what else was left? The door? Looking over to one of the doors, he thought on it for a moment before making his way over to it. The door looked pretty solid, so busting through it would most likely not be a possibility. The hinges weren’t even on this side, so unscrewing it wouldn’t be a solution either. The other door was basically the same as this one, so there didn’t seem to be any other option left for them.
“Hey! You’re too tense! Just sit down, relax, and play some games!” (JI) Baekhyun turned towards Jin, whom was currently holding a plate of food. He didn’t understand how anyone could be so calm in this situation, but judging by everyone else’s current actions, it seems like they weren’t bothered by it at all. So… maybe it really was an actual game or contest that he hadn’t been notified of until they got here. With a sigh, Baekhyun rubbed the back of his head as he nodded. “That’s the spirit!” (JI)
Something still felt wrong, but Baekhyun decided not to question it for the time being. Who knows? Maybe the truth will be revealed if he played along with whatever it was that was going on right now.
Or… he could get the others to help him out.
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Minutes turned into hours. Hours turned into days. Days… turned into a week.
It had been a whole week ever since Jongup and Zelo went missing. It hadn’t even been that long since their disappearance before Daehyun also heard about Jin, Jongin, and Baekhyun’s disappearances as well. So, Daehyun had a feeling that Jongup was with these four. The problem was… what, exactly, had happened to them to make them disappear like this?
There were so many possibilities swirling through his head and so far, none of them seemed to have a positive outcome. It was driving him mad not knowing what happened to Jongup and in response; anything that he did ended up not going the way he would hope for. It was a mess and as much as Daehyun wanted to fix it, his mind just couldn’t stay together long enough to do just that; not with how he was coping with the situation.
A sigh escaped Daehyun’s lips as he laid on the window seat, his eyes seemingly vacant as he stared out the window. He wanted to do something that could help find Jongup and the others, but there wasn’t really anything he could do. Anything that could be done had been left to the police as well as Young Jae and Hanbi’s informants. So, all he could do was wait and see if anything surfaces.
Letting out another sigh, Daehyun blinked a few times before a trickle of life finally seemed to emerge in his eyes. It took a moment or so for his vision to focus before he slowly pushed himself up to a sitting position. He shouldn’t be acting like this. No matter what he was feeling, he had to remain on track and keep up with the things he needed to do. Yes, Jongup and his friends were all missing, but Daehyun still had responsibilities that couldn’t be put off.
Turning his back towards the window, he took in a deep breath as he leaned against the window. Looking up, Daehyun’s eyes widened as he saw Young Jae staring at him from the doorway. Quickly pushing himself off of the window, Daehyun smoothed out his clothes as he cleared his throat. “Y-Young Jae… Uh… What are you doing here?” (DH)
“Just… checking in on you. You… um… haven’t cooked lunch yet and I got worried.” (YJ) Daehyun quickly jumped to his feet as he looked over at his alarm clock by the bedside table. Was it that time already?!
“Crap! Sorry! Sorry! I’ll get started on it.” (DH) Daehyun quickly jogged out of the room, leaving Young Jae by the doorway. Young Jae frowned a bit by Daehyun’s reaction, watching as Daehyun turned the corner to head towards the kitchen. He could’ve been better at trying to cheer Daehyun up, but Young Jae wasn’t exactly sure how to do that. What was one supposed to say in a situation like this anyway? ‘Sorry that Jongup and four other boys are missing, but you’ll see them soon?’ That wouldn’t really make anyone feel better. Yes, it would get their hopes up, but if he did see them and they weren’t… in the best condition… then Daehyun might end up even worse than before.
Following after Daehyun, Young Jae tried to roll his thoughts around in his head. Maybe he could get Daehyun to do something to get his mind off of things. It could work, but the main question then would be what would that something be? It’s not like Daehyun would be willing to try everything at a moment’s notice, but maybe there was at least one thing available to them.
As he entered the kitchen, Young Jae saw Daehyun walking here and there, gathering ingredients and any other items necessary for what he planned to make. Sitting down at the island, Young Jae absentmindedly watched Daehyun as he let his thoughts continue to roam around.
Yongguk, so far, seemed to be able to handle it much better than Daehyun. Yes, it was evident that Yongguk was worried and maybe even scared for Zelo’s safety, but he also seemed to be confident that they are all still alive. Hope was a powerful thing, especially when it came to Yongguk. Young Jae has known him for quite a while now and if he has learned anything about Yongguk, it’s that his gut instinct is almost always correct. So… maybe there wasn’t too much to worry about?
“… -ocolate sound good to you?” (DH)
“Huh?” (YJ) Young Jae sat up as he looked up at Daehyun with curious eyes. The two stared at one another before Daehyun chuckled a bit. Using his hands to lean against the island, he adjusted his feet a bit before smiling slightly.
“I said… does hot chocolate sound good to you?” (DH)
“Hot chocolate? Oh! Uh… Yeah! That sounds great. Are you making hot chocolate?” (YJ) Daehyun chuckled again as he nodded. Pushing himself away from the island, Daehyun turned around before making his way back over to the stove. With a small sigh, Young Jae laid his head on the table before staring at Daehyun once more.
Was he doing okay? Should he say something? It might be okay to ask, but at the same time, it might not be. For the time being, however, he was going to have to remain quiet about the whole thing and just watch over Daehyun. Who knows? Maybe he was adapting to the situation by trying to remain strong. Either that, or he was trying to hide his emotions, which would technically be the same thing.
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It has been a whole week since he had hidden his friends away and so far it seemed to be working. Kyungsoo hasn’t continued asking about them, which may or may not be a good thing. Either way, Taehyung couldn’t relax for even a second. If he gave away any sort of hints or information on his friends, well… he may not be the only one who ends up dead.
Maybe this was a little too risky. Okay, yes, Jongup and Zelo may have ended up getting beaten up, but at least they would be alive. What he’s doing right now may have ended up sentencing them to death… and that was definitely much worse. Would there need to be something done? Would he have to transfer his friends somewhere else? It would be rather risky, but… it might be the best thing to do. The problem, if he ended up going with that idea, would be how and when he was going to transfer his friends without getting seen.
“Taehyung! Is there any news on Baekhyun’s whereabouts?” (DO) Taehyung looked up as he saw Kyungsoo walking over towards him. Pushing himself off the wall, Taehyung pulled out his phone as he began to pretend looking through it. He knew exactly where Baekhyun was, but the problem was that he couldn’t exactly give out that information. “Taehyung! I demand an answer!” (DO)
Looking up from his phone, he could see both the worry and anger on Kyungsoo’s face. For the number of years that he’s worked under Kyungsoo, Taehyung has not seen Kyungsoo lose his composure so easily. Was he truly worried about Baekhyun or was he just missing the fact that he hadn’t been laid for over a week? It was rather difficult to tell with Kyungsoo, but giving him the benefit of the doubt, Taehyung decided to go with his first guess. “I haven’t found out anything about him yet.” (V)
Kyungsoo let out a groan as he balled his hands into fists and began pacing back and forth. Taehyung was a little worried that Kyungsoo might end up taking out his frustrations in a non-healthy way, but all Kyungsoo did was let out another groan before stomping off.
When Kyungsoo was out of the room, Taehyung let out a relieved sigh before slipping his phone back into his pocket. It was getting really dangerous now, so it might not be the best time to move his friends. Then again… Kyungsoo could be slipping up while in this state. He hasn’t even asked about how Young Jae, Daehyun, or Yongguk were doing in this situation, which is rather odd. However, as long as he played his cards right, then everyone would show up unharmed.
Though… now that he thought about it, his friends were probably running low on food by now.
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“… How much food is left?” (BH)
“I… think there’s a shelf full of canned food left. It might last us a week if we ration it out?” (JI) Baekhyun turned around and walked off before anything else could be said. Jin looked at the pantry for a brief moment before closing the door and rubbing the back of his head.
What else was he supposed to say? With literally just a shelf of canned food left, which by the way, isn’t that big of a shelf to begin with, they would have to start rationing it out if they wanted to survive. Okay, so he had the key to get them all out of this place, but he still believed that Taehyung was telling him the truth. He just had to also believe that Taehyung was going to come back for them sooner or later… preferably sooner.
Making his way over to the archway, Jin leaned against the wall and crossed his arms as he watched his friends talking amongst themselves. They had to be planning something if they were speaking in hushed tones and that… was definitely not a good thing. So… how was he going to be able to handle the situation if they end up doing something unexpected?
“Okay… So… we’ll jump him, search his pockets, and see if he has anything to get us out of here. Agreed?” (BH) Jongin wasn’t exactly sure if that was the best way to approach this, but it seemed to be a good idea. Zelo, however, was all for this idea. If it meant getting out of this place, then it was probably the best thing to do. Plus, with the four of them, they could definitely overpower Jin and search his person easily. “Then it’s settled. We’ll jump him when he least expects it.” (BH)
“Who’ll distract him?” (K)
“Who else? Jongup should.” (BH)
“M-Me?! Why me?!” (JU) The other three quickly shushed Jongup, trying to keep him from attracting Jin’s attention. When they all looked over at Jin, Jin grinned and waved his hand before looking back up at the television screen. Turning back to look at one another, Baekhyun let out a relieved sigh before looking back up at Jongup.
“Because he likes you the most! You’re kind of Daehyun’s brother, so he has an instinctive protective nature over you! I guess…” (BH) While Jongup did understand the logic behind Baekhyun’s words, Jongin shook his head in slight disapproval. That may be true, but Jongin doubted that that would be enough to distract Jin so easily. If anything, Zelo probably should be the one to distract since… well, he talks a lot. That’s good enough to distract someone, right? “Alright! So… go do your thing, Jongup and we’ll wait and see when the best opportunity will be.” (BH)
“Oh… alright!” (JU) Getting to his feet, Jongup made his way over to Jin while the others watched. Jin raised a single brow once Jongup came to a stop in front of him. Was this part of their plan or did Jongup really have something to say? “Heeeeyyy there… Uh… Did you know that… um… girl goats give milk like girl cows do?” (JU)
Either this was an elaborate scheme to get him off his guard or… Jongup was being Jongup. Either way, Jongup’s question had successfully managed to get Jin to laugh a little since he hadn’t expected a question like that. With a brief nod, Jin held a smile as he adjusted his position a bit. “Yeah. I’m aware of that. Anything else you’d like to share?” (JI)
“Uh… Did you know that… milk is good for you?” (JU)
“Mhm. Anything else?” (JI)
“Annnd… um…” (JU) Without any warning, Jongup grabbed Jin before pulling him into a restricting embrace.
“W-What the-…!” (JI) Instantly, everyone else ran over to the two before they began searching through Jin’s pockets. Despite Jin’s protests, it seemed like no one really cared for what he had to say or the amount of wiggling he was doing. However, when it became evident that there was nothing of use within Jin’s pockets, the group seemed to give up as they took a step back from Jin.
“He doesn’t have anything.” (K)
“What if he’s hiding it somewhere?” (BH)
“What would he be hiding though?” (Z)
“Is THAT what this is about?! I’m NOT hiding ANYTHING!” (JI) Once Jongup released Jin from his hold, Jin took the moment to smooth out his clothes before folding his arms and looking at the group as a whole. When they each looked away in slight embarrassment, Jin sighed as he rubbed the back of his head.
He couldn’t truly be angry with them. After all, he really did have the way out of this place. He just happened to be smart enough not to hide the key on his person. However, one way or another, he was going to have to tell the others why they were locked in here. The sooner he told them, the more bearable it would be for them to stay here longer. Who knows what would happen once Taehyung got back?
“Okay… I think everyone needs to learn the truth. Go uh… sit on the couch.” (JI) Jin could see the confusion and reluctance on a few faces, but Baekhyun seemed to actually be thrilled that they were finally going to be able to hear why they were locked up in here. As the group made their way over to the couch, Jin took in a few deep breaths as he tried to roll around what he wanted to say in his head. Would they understand or would they think it’s a joke?
Well… only one way to find out.
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[[ My Own Thoughts:
Not the most exciting chapter…
But at least it’s moving along *-*
Don’t worry!
The exciting stuff will be coming soon.
Comments are loved!
I love talking with everyone!
It’s also nice to know how I’m doing with each chapter! ]]
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