The Game Room
In Search of MeaningA/N: Sup guys! *barricades bomb shelter door* It's been a while, huh?
Jonghyun's heart raced as he aimed his rifle at the men in black suits coming around from the front of the cabin.
Bang!
One fell.
Bang!
Another.
He was thankful to have Hongbin shooting beside him, because he knew he wouldn't have been able to get all of them without the cyborg's help. Glancing to the side, he saw another explosion rip through the cabin, and Woohyun, Key, Hyuk, and Dr. Sin diving out into the open just in time to escape the flames. There was another gunshot that wasn't their own, and Leo was falling. The mechanic turned his attention back to the advancing suits after he saw Hakyeon running to Leo's aid.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
He and Hongbin continued to fend off the horde. That is, until he saw one suit walk ahead of the others; one with electric red eyes. Behind him, he heard Hongbin inhale sharply.
"," the cyborg swore in a quiet, trembling voice. "It's Yesung."
Before Jonghyun could think of questioning Hongbin, the suit raised his hand. Jonghyun momentarily became confused when he saw the appendage shift and morph into something else. He only realized what was happening when it took on the form of a large gun barrel. When a menacing red light emanated from within the weapon, he felt Hongbin's hands grip him hard by the shoulders as the cyborg dove away from the shed, dragging Jonghyun with him.
BOOM!
The shed exploded into a shower of ash and wood, and debris rained down on Jonghyun's body as gunshots echoed around him. However, he was only aware of the feeling of the soft grass beneath him. There was a horrible ringing in his ears that muffled the gunshots, but it wasn't nearly as bad as when he heard that mysterious noise after he saw Leo falling from a tall building.
Shaking the ringing out of his ears, he pushed himself up with shaky limbs. His eyes stung from the smoke in the air, and he coughed violently as he accidentally inhaled fumes and ash. He was vaguely aware of the suits approaching from a distance, but he instead turned his head to his right to look for Hongbin. But, he found the space next to him was empty.
In a daze, he looked ahead of him to search for the others, and his heart sank at the sight. He clumsily pushed himself up on his feet, and stumbled his way across the yard. The mechanic first passed by Hakyeon and Leo, and was silently grateful to see the vet already stirring.
Then, he passed Jaehwan, who was crying and kneeling on the ground with Wonsik in his arms. He glanced down at the musician as he passed, noticing the blue dart stabbed into his thigh and his fluttering eyelids as he lost consciousness. When he heard Jaehwan's sobs, he looked away.
Jonghyun staggered when his foot bumped a charred piece of firewood, and fell onto his hands and knees when he couldn't regain balance. To his right, he heard Hongbin's voice.
"It's going to be okay, Hyuk," he saw the cyborg pulling the trembling maknae into his arms. "I won't let anything happen to you." Hyuk let out a broken sob as he buried his head into Hongbin's shoulder, and Jonghyun briefly met Hongbin's tear-filled gaze before he forced himself to look away once again.
"Dr. Sin, do something!"
He heard Key's voice up ahead, and the mechanic's breath hitched when he saw the blonde screaming at the drowsy doctor with an unconscious Woohyun lying still in his lap. With newfound strength, Jonghyun pushed himself back up onto his feet, and he stumbled over the remaining distance between him and his friend. Once he reached them, his blood went cold as he took in Woohyun's paling features and the green dart stuck in his shoulder.
"W-what happened?" Jonghyun asked dumbly as he collapsed next to Key. "What's wrong?"
"The dart! They used the wrong dart!" Key cried out, cheeks wet with tears that started flowing long ago. The blonde looked down at the assistant mechanic, and shook his shoulders desperately, "Woohyun-ah! Wake up, Woohyun! Please!"
Still, Jonghyun couldn't quite comprehend the situation in his dazed state, "Why? Why is it the wrong dart?"
"The green darts are for us, the subjects from the lab," Key explained to him quickly as he tried to get some sort of response from Woohyun. "All of us have higher metabolisms than normal people, so we need stronger tranquilizers."
Jonghyun's eyes widened in horror, understanding hitting him like a freight train. He glanced down at Woohyun again, and seeing the younger getting paler by the second, panic surged through his trembling form. Twisting around, he screamed at the man behind them, "Dr. Sin, help him!"
Finally regaining enough sensibility, Dr. Sin crawled over to them. Jonghyun moved aside to give the doctor some room, hope bursting like a flame in his chest as he watched Dr. Sin lean over to press two fingers to Woohyun's jugular. However, that little bit of hope flickered and died when Dr. Sin turn to him with a solemn expression.
"W-what?" Jonghyun asked, eyes darting to Key who seemed to understand the doctor's behavior. The mechanic's chest tightened painfully when he saw Key turn away to double over the ever so pale Woohyun and wail in earnest.
"I'm sorry," Dr. Sin's hushed, sorrowful tone brought Jonghyun's attention back to the doctor. Never has he seen the man's eyes look so empty and void of emotion, like he was dead inside. "There's nothing I could have done."
That was the moment Jonghyun felt his whole world crashing down on him, and his lip quivered as he gazed down at Woohyun; his voice a broken whisper, "N-no-o." His blurred mind suddenly became unbelievably sharp, and could only seem to focus on Woohyun.
Woohyun, his best friend who was always so lively and radiant. A co-worker and roommate who always , and made each day more interesting than the last. And when Key entered their lives, his joyful spirit only shined brighter. Over the past weeks, Woohyun had doubled in radiance, and tripled in playfulness. Jonghyun is used to seeing him constantly on the move, whether it's in the form of bobbing his head to the music they played in the automobile shop while they worked, or when he was running through neon lit halls as they played laser tag. Even in times of hardship, Woohyun was the one who tried to stay positive; smiling wholeheartedly whenever he gave Jonghyun a reassuring pat on the back.
But now, the ever so radiant, happy-virus Woohyun has been reduced to the unmoving cold body lying before him. His best friend of ten years was gone forever.
"No," Jonghyun shook his head as tears rolled down his cheeks. "He can't be," he said in denial as he shuffled closer to Woohyun, and cradled his head with shaky hands. "Woohyun," the platinum-haired man cried out, gently shaking the said man. When there was no response, he shouted louder, "Woohyun!"
Nothing.
"Woohyun-ah!"
Still nothing.
"No!" Jonghyun's wail joined Key's as he felt the warmth fade from Woohyun's cheeks. "NO!"
Jonghyun recoiled from the body like it burned him, and he twisted almost violently as he turned away from the scene. He doubled over to rest his head against the soft grass, and clutched the sides of his head like he wanted to block out the entire world. But it was already blocked, blocked by the image of Woohyun's lifeless body lying in Key's lap.
And Jonghyun screamed.
"AAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
He screamed at the horror of it all.
"AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
He screamed as the suits surrounded them.
"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
He screamed, and screamed, and screamed........
"AAAAHHHHHHHH!"
Jonghyun jolted awake, one hand flying to his burning raw throat as he tried to take in his surroundings. Except, there were no surroundings. At least, not any that he could see, for he was completely engulfed by darkness. The only hint he had was the feeling of the cold wall pressed against his back.
The only sound was the echo of his escalated breathing and shuffling of fabric as he wiped the sweat and tears from his face. He swallowed as he willed away the images from his dream, and carefully felt along the floor and wall for more clues that would tell him where he was. Feeling nothing but cold concrete, he slowly pushed himself up onto his feet.
He continued to feel his way along the wall, but only managed to take a few steps before he encountered another wall. Shuffling to his left down the new wall, he was once again greeted by a third. Only, this one didn't feel like concrete. It was smooth and metallic, providing a stark contrast to its concrete counterparts. Growing curious, he continued down the metal wall until he came up to the fourth wall, which happened to be concrete.
Is this the door, then? Jonghyun wondered as he backtracked towards what he guessed was the middle of the metal wall.
Based on what he mapped out with his hands, he guessed that the room was no larger than 4 feet by 4 feet. Unfortunately, while feeling the walls of the room he didn't find anything that felt like a light switch. To his dismay, neither could he find a doorknob on the metal wall.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
He banged his fist on the metal, and the noise sounded hollow, meaning there was space on the other side.
"Hey!" Jonghyun croaked, his voice already strained from the screaming he had done earlier. "Let me out of here!"
For what felt like an eternity, Jonghyun continued to bombard the metal door with his fists and words, hoping someone will eventually respond. To his dismay, his efforts resulted in nothing, leaving him only with the silent darkness of the small cold room. With a sigh, he halted in his attempts in favor of resting his head and sweaty palms against the cool metal.
This must be the lab, Jonghyun concluded. I wonder where the others are... He let out a shaky exhale, Woohyun, it seems like I'll join you soon enough. At that thought, Jonghyun shook his head. No, I can't think like that. If you're seeing me right now, you're probably saying, 'Keep your together, Jjong!' The mechanic laughed airily at the image of Woohyun smacking him upside the head, That's right, there's no way I'm quitting here. Woohyun gave his all to protect all of us, so I need to do the same. He'd never let me live it down if I meet him in the afterlife without doing at least that much.
Wiping away the few tears that managed to escape, Jonghyun slowly backed away from the metal door until his back met with the concrete wall opposite of it. Taking a deep breath, he charged forward and threw all of his weight and momentum into the solid barrier that separated him from freedom. His grunt of pain was accompanied by a loud metallic BAM as his right shoulder collided with the immovable material. With a hiss, he stepped away from the door rubbing his aching shoulder.
Okay, busting it open is not an option, he thought to himself, feeling like an idiot for even trying. Sighing, he carried on to check the walls again to make sure he didn't miss anything that could possibly provide him an escape. Countless times he walked in circles, feeling his way around the small room. Due to the pitch black, he had no idea how much time has passed since he woke up.
For what felt like hours, he searched the room until he was certain there was nothing left for him to explore. He tried reaching up to the ceiling, but even when he jumped he couldn't touch it. Exhausted by his efforts, he leaned back against the metal door and slid down to sit on the floor. Even though he already couldn't see anything, he closed his eyes as he tried to force himself to relax.
Everything's going to be okay, Jonghyun.
They can't keep you in the dark forever, just wait until someone comes to get you.
Breathe in.
Breathe out.
Breathe in.
Breathe out-
EGH-H-H-H-H-H-H-R-R-R!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Jonghyun could only jolt slightly in surprise at the loud buzzing sound, before the door behind him suddenly rose causing him to fall back onto the cold floor. He opened his eyes only to clamp them shut when the light overwhelmed his se
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