‘Never again,’ Kyuhyun thought, as he closed the lid of his laptop, and left the room. Never again in a million years was he going camping. His neck felt stiff, and there was a sharp pain in his lower back from sleeping on the hard ground. To make things worse, having Changmin pressed up against him all night hadn’t exactly made matters any better. Kyuhyun had left the woods with a reinforced hatred of all things related to the outdoors — who needed nature when you had glorious artificial treats like laptops and video games?

He walked into the bathroom, reached for his toothbrush, and uncapped the tube of toothpaste. He let out a small, irritated curse as the toothpaste refused to budge — Kyuhyun blamed it on the consequences of living with so many other men. Basic things like toothpaste and shampoo never lasted more than a few days.

“You idiots used up all the toothpaste,” Kyuhyun grumbled, as he heard a series of footsteps in the hallway. “Whoever used it last is in charge of getting more — there is no way in hell I am spending my pay on more, just so all of you can — ”

His voice cut of abruptly as his eyes flittered to the mirror, and he realised that no one was standing behind him. He felt a spark of irritation; how dare they leave before hearing what he had to say? What was the point of being the maknae, if his hyungs didn’t coddle him and submit to his every whim?

“Hey!” he yelled, turning around and exiting the bathroom, toothbrush in hand. “Would you listen to my complaints?! I’m having genuine issues with the living conditions of this dorm, and…”

His voice trailed off as he realised that the house seemed empty. The light was on, but the living room looked deserted; there was no one in sight, the television had been turned off, and there were empty coffee mugs strewn across the floor.

Kyuhyun’s eyes flickered warily around the room. He felt confused. Surely, whoever he’d been speaking to before couldn’t have left already.

‘Unless they didn’t even bother to STAY to hear me speak!’ he thought angrily, his eyes narrowing. In all honesty, he wasn’t even that surprised; the majority of his bandmates loved having any opportunity to irritate him. But that didn’t mean he had to stand for such treatment; what type of evil maknae would he be if he did?

There were voices coming from the kitchen, Kyuhyun realised a moment later, almost with a start. It was strange; he was almost certain that the house had been silent when he’d entered the living room, and it wasn’t as if the kitchen was that far away. And yet, as he took a few steps forward, the voices seemed to grow louder; they filled his ears, sharp, purposeful and angry.

And very, very female.

“Get out!” yelled one of the women (they were women, Kyuhyun was sure about it. Kyuhyun had already ruled out Ryeowook as a possible suspect). “If you want to leave so badly, then just get out!”

“With pleasure!” screamed another female voice. Different this time; younger. “I hate it here! It’s torture! I want to leave!”

“There’s the door sweetheart. No one’s forcing you to stay! Go starve on the streets for all I care!”

Eyes wide (and filled with apprehension that Kyuhyun would later deny), Kyuhyun hurried to the kitchen, unsure of exactly what he would find. One thing was certain — he was sure that he would find something. Obsessed fans that had broken into the dorm; family members of his hyungs, maybe.

What he wasn’t expecting, however, was to step into that room and find nothing.

It was pitch black; dark, eery, disconcerting. Kyuhyun found himself averting his eyes as he fumbled around for the light switch. When he found it, and switched it on, his eyes widened in surprise.

There was no one in the room.

He swallowed, taking a hesitant step inside. He looked around, eyes wide, expecting to see someone. His eyes moved over every surface, every corner. There was nothing. It was empty; untouched.

There was a note on the kitchen table. Kyuhyun stepped forward, his hands shaking. He was confused; he had no idea what the hell was happening, or where those voices had been coming from. The television was off; there was no radio in the kitchen. The window was bolted shut, and there was nowhere else where the voices could have been coming from.

‘Maknae,’ the note read, ‘we went to see a movie — it’s the one you kept on mocking, so we figured you wouldn’t want to see it with us. Ryeowook’s left some food for you in the fridge for dinner. See you later’.

Kyuhyun reread the note, once, twice. He remembered the movie in question — they’d all been wanting to see it, and had been excited at the thought of a night off. He’d explicitly stated a number of times that he had no wish to see it with them.

As far as he was aware, they had all wanted to see it. So what did that mean for him? Was he all alone in the dorm?

Was there someone in here with him?

Was it so completely illogical that there were people inside here? Sasaeng fans weren’t above anything. The thought made Kyuhyun feel unsettled; he shifted uncomfortably, wondering what he should do.

“Hello?” he called out, apprehension in his voice. The word seemed to echo around the small, silent room. Kyuhyun swallowed, and jumped as he heard a sudden, sharp sound. He realised a moment later that he’d dropped his toothbrush, which had been previously clasped in his clammy hand.

What should he do? Call the police? He doubted that would end well — after all, what would he say? That he’d heard voices coming from the kitchen, but the room was completely empty? He could call his bandmates, he supposed, but the last thing he wanted was for his hyungs to mock him for being afraid (and he wasn’t scared; it was completely natural to feel slightly unsettled after an event like that).

He swallowed heavily and turned around, walking towards his room. He’d go to sleep, he decided. It was probably just a figment of his imagination. People heard things all the time; it didn’t mean anything.

He walked into his room, and got into bed. It was only after he had done so that he realised that his toothbrush was still on the kitchen floor, and the bathroom and living room lights were still on.

Kyuhyun decided to remain in bed.