* * *

Jaehwan’s hurried footsteps echoed through the deserted street. Though he’d been searching for hours, that man, that bastard, seemed to had vanished right into thin air.

Completely out of breath, Jaehwan collapsed against a wall, panting heavily, eyes half-lidded.

The question, the most striking question of all, the one that had been evading his mind during the whole meeting with his new roommate – he now knew what it was. And yet, Jung Leo had so conveniently vanished, before Jaehwan even had the chance to ask it.

I guess I’ll ask him on Monday… thought Jaehwan, his insides kicking nervously. But seriously, how did he KNOW-

Just when Jaehwan pulled out his phone to try dialing Leo again (whose number had, for the past hour, been oh-so-conveniently unavailable), someone called him instead.

“A video call from… Hongbin?” whispered Jaehwan, his breath freezing before him. Suddenly, he grinned. “Man, he will not believe what kind of nutjob I got for a roomie!” He tapped the green phone icon.

In a matter of milliseconds, the bright smile fell of his face to shatter on the concrete below.

What the video showed was an unidentifiable room, dim and vague, and a trembling, shaking silhouette.

“H-he is… COMPLETELY… insane…” sobbed Hongbin.

In a state of absolute shock, Jaehwan stared at his phone. He could barely even see his friend – either the video quality was low, or his own hand was shaking too much.

“WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU???” Jaehwan screamed at the phone. “I’ll come get you right now, just tell me WHERE??”

For a split second, Hongbin looked right at him. Never in his life had Jaehwan seen Hongbin’s eyes get so huge and so full of absolute terror.

“WHY are you still standing there?? RUN, you bastard!!!” shouted Jaehwan. Even though he had absolutely no idea what the hell was going on, running away seemed a much better idea that just standing there.

But all Hongbin did was stumble to the floor.

“I can’t run…”

“Just TELL me where you are!!!” The screen was getting even more dark and blurry – or was Jaehwan crying?

“I can’t run…” repeated Hongbin, voice monotonous and flat. He sounded like a broken record.

“WHY THE HELL NOT???” roared Jaehwan. By now he had earned the weirdest looks from the passer-bys, but who cares when your best friend seems to be in mortal danger!

Right then, something very odd appeared in Hongbin’s eyes. “He’d be so sad if I ran…”

 “WHO are you talking about?! Whoever he is, get the . out of there!!!” Voice hoarse from all of the screaming, Jaehwan could now but whisper into his phone.

For a moment, Hongbin looked as if he’d finally take Jaehwan’s advice. He stood up, shoulders shaking, then quickly glanced all around him. He looked like a hunted animal.

“I wanna… Remember that mountain place we went to? I wanna… I’d love to go there again with you. Like, take pictures, and… play basketball…” Hongbin laughed, but it sounded so wrong and forced, it made Jaehwan’s skin crawl. “Even though you at it.”

If Jaehwan could slap Hongbin through the phone, he’d beat the crap out of him right now. “That’s all fine, Hongbin, but how about you GET YOUR OUT OF THAT .IN PLACE!!!” It all reminded Jaehwan of a bad horror movie, where the characters lack any kind of common sense.

Except Hongbin was anything but stupid. Thinking back, Jaehwan had always admired his best friend for his calmness and wits.

And remembering that scared Jaehwan even more.

To his relief, Hongbin had obviously started to run – the nondescript room melted into another one, just as dark. Soon the video got too dark and too fuzzy, but Jaehwan took comfort in hearing Hongbin’s breathing, ragged and uneven as it was. “Run, run, run…” Jaehwan chanted into his phone, “run, run, just run…”

Suddenly, the entire screen turned black.

“What’s going on?” panted Jaehwan. His body felt tired, as though he’d been running himself. “HONGBIN!!! WHAT THE HELL IS-”

Later, Jaehwan couldn’t even remember how long he’d been standing there, listening to the rhythmic beeping of his phone and the thumping of his own heart, Hongbin’s last scream playing over and over in his head.

* * *