It seemed as if there was no end to the frown of thunder. It seemed as if the sun had no strength left to face the world behind its mask of clouds. It seemed as if the beating fists of rain had become the only source of freedom and slavery, and yet there he sat. Confused and frustrated.

“Kookie-”

He rose to his feet abruptly, turning on his heel to stride off in the opposite direction. Pushing the door open, he slipped out of the cafeteria without acknowledging the people calling him back. The corridors were silent and void of any moving body, and the only sound he heard were the footsteps of his feet against the white tiles. He had become quieter, unable to think of anything to say. It was almost as if someone had the life out of him. Out of all the time he had spent in such a prison, he had never felt more suffocated.

“Hey,” a hand curled around his shoulder, pulling him back.

Turning to meet the gazes of the two boys behind him, he shook the hand off his shoulder, “What?”

“Are you doing okay?” Jin frowned slightly.

“You haven’t been eating,” crossing his arms, Namjoon stared at him curiously.  

His eyes flitted away briefly, refusing to meet the eyes of the two boys before him, “I’m fine-”

“Don’t give me ,” Namjoon raised an eyebrow, “We’re not blind.”

“Is it because of Jimin and Rose?” the tiny question rolled off of Jin’s lips in a hushed sort of silence, and as if time had chose to stand still, Jungkook no longer had a reason to move. “Kookie-”

“Don’t…” his shoulders sunk lower and forward as his gaze dropped to the ground.

“Is there-”

“Three days,” the words spat out from his mouth as if his very being had become disgusted with the very thought of them, “They’ve been gone for three days.”

Silence roamed about the atmosphere creating a wall of bitter resentment between the three boys. The light lead to blindness. The purity of white became tainted and black. The very air that once gave life turned to venom. Suffocating. It was all so suffocating.

“What… what do we do now?” Namjoon cleared his throat hesitantly.

“I don’t-”

“They’re probably starving, right?” Jin cut in, “I doubt any official has brought them anything since they were locked in there.”

“But-”

“First thing’s first,” stuffing his fists inside the pockets of his blazer, Jin smiled gently, “We find their cell and sneak down food and water.”

A huff escaped Jungkook’s mouth, “And how are we supposed to do that-”

“By getting caught,” a voice rang behind the three of them, and the classic smirks plastered across JHope and Tae’s faces appeared before the doorway of the cafeteria.

“How is that-”

“Well,” Hoseok examined his nails with an air of nonchalance and pride, “If some rascal should happen to dump a pot of this very delicious porridge upon the almighty Sampson official, he’s bound to thank us, correct?”

“Are you delusional-”

Tae smirked, ignoring his friend’s last comment, “He’ll be so happy with us that he’ll take us right by the prison cell where Rose and Jimin are being kept-”

“And BAM! Cover’s blown,” JHope finished triumphantly.

Raising an eyebrow, Jungkook examined the two boys skeptically, “And what are you going to do then? Rot in a cell?”

“That’s when these come in handy,” JHope lowered his voice, pointing to the bulge in his blazer’s pocket, “You know the walkie talkies that the officials carry around with them?”

“We snatched a couple from the trash bins a week ago,” Tae nodded.

“So they don’t work-”

JHope scoffed, “What do you take us for? A couple of idiots?”

“Yes.”

“Look, we had them fixed, so it doesn’t matter-”

“By who?” Namjoon frowned, “No offense, but neither of you are that bright-”

“I happened to fix them,” JHope sent a look of disgust towards his friend, “I actually liked engineering before I got sent to this hell hole-”

“Really?” Jungkook cut in, “They work? We’ll be able to communicate when you’re-”

“Caught? Yes,” JHope grinned proudly.

Shaking his head, Jin glanced down the corridor cautiously, “So what’s the plan?”

Tae rummaged through his pocket, drawing out a crumpled sheet of paper, presumably torn from a physics textbook, and lay it flat against the surface of the wall, “We spent the last couple days tracking Sampson’s every move-”

“So you stalked him,” Namjoon scoffed, “An official. You stalked a damn official-”

“Shush,” JHope waved his hand in annoyance, “Anyway, every afternoon at precisely 1:30, Sampson always stops by Ms. Park’s classroom to ‘chat.’”

“If we catch him on the way there,” Tae smirked, “He’ll be furious. Not only will he be smelling lovely the rest of the day, but there’s no way he’ll be able to make an appearance to Ms. Park-”

“And that’ll be enough to send you to the basement?” a frown crossed Jin’s lips as hesitation slowly spread from him, to Namjoon, to Jungkook.

JHope cleared his throat, “‘Tis the power of love!” he declared, “Trust me. If he isn’t able to see Ms. Park today, then-”

Tae swiped his hand across his throat, “Dead.”

Jin bit his lip, “I don’t-”

“It’s worth a try,” Namjoon shrugged, “After all, it’s just two idiots we’re sparing- Hey!” he cringed as Jin brought a fist down upon his head.

Setting his jaw, Jungkook nodded, “When do we start?”

***

The cold metal doors to the room had already swung shut, locking every camper inside, and there he sat among his friends, huddled around the tiny, battered object emitting JHoseok’s voice. “JHope? Can you hear me?” Namjoon muttered into the controls, keeping a cautious eye open for any unwanted snitchers.

“Roger that. Tiger responding,” JHope’s voice answered almost immediately, “Target in sight. I repeat, target in sight-”

“Shut up, idiot,” Yoongi grabbed the walkie talkie, “Quit fooling around and get the job done-”

“Aye, Commander Suga,” Hoseok sighed- just before the surprised fumbling and scrambling of feet against the floor crackled against his voice, “Operation in commision! Tiger and Rabbit advancing-”

Jin snatched the walkie talkie from Yoongi’s hands hastily, “No messing up, got it?”

“I got it.”

“If it doesn’t go to plan-”

“Abort mission.”

Jin exhaled slowly, “Is everything in place?”

“All pawns in position-”

Rolling his eyes, Namjoon crossed his arms, “Just speak normally, will you?”

“But that would take all the fun- target in place!” JHope whispered excitedly, “Rabbit, pull the string, I repeat, pull the s-”

“Just get it over with!” Yoongi snapped.

“Shut up, Suga-” Tae’s voice sounded just as a deafening crash crackled through the air.

Jungkook started forward, “Tae-”

“Well,” JHope spoke slowly after a long pause, “That wasn’t supposed to happen.”

The walkie talkie slipped from Jin’s hands and rattled to the floor. As all eyes turned curiously to the group huddled in the corner, the six remaining friends glanced anxiously at one another.

“What wasn’t supposed to happen?!” Namjoon whispered angrily into the speaker, “Hoseok, if you f-”

“Um… do you think he’s dead?” Tae’s voice rang out once more.

“Calm down,” JHope laughed nervously, “He’s just knocked out… I think…”

    Jin sighed in relief, “You were just supposed to-”

    “I know, I know,” JHope spoke hastily, “But this might be better. He has the keys to the basement, so if we just snagged them-”

    “First hide the body,” Namjoon rubbed his temple irritably, “My god… idiots…”

    “Hey! We’re not dumb,” Tae retorted, grunting slightly as the snapping of a door resonated in the background, “Target is concealed. I repeat, target is-”

“We heard you the first time,” Jin sighed, “Just go safely, okay?”

“Yuck…” JHope grumbled in the background, “Why did you make me drag him into the closet?!”

“Your hands are more filthy than mine-”

“No they’re not-”

Exhaling slowly, Namjoon worked his jaw, “Just shut up and get moving, okay? You can’t get caught.”

“We’re moving, we’re moving…” the distant clamoring of footsteps echoed about a corridor the six friends could not see.

Jin rubbed his temple irritably, “At the end of the corridor, there should be a locked door- do you see it?”

“Exit in sight, I repeat, exit in-”

“Hobi, shut up,” Frida snapped.

“The smallest key should be the one to unlock it. Don’t take too much time,” Jin warned, “The cameras are bound to turn back on any second-”

“It’s unlocked,” Tae’s voice became muffled under the creaking of a door, “Now what?”

“Follow the stairs all the way to the bottom,” Jin glanced anxiously towards the group of girls eyeing him curiously, “There shouldn’t be any officials at this time of day, but be extra cautious. Are there any hiding spots close by?”

There was a pause before Tae spoke again, “No.”

“…” Namjoon grabbed the walkie talkie, “Get down there as fast as you can then.”

“The small key should open the door at the bottom as well,” Jin continued, “After that, you’re on your own.”

“Well that’s reassuring,” JHope drawled, footsteps clattering softly against the staircase, “Okay… door’s open,” as if on cue, the creaking of a door crackled against the tiny speakers of the walkie talkie.

“We’ll fill you in once we find them,” Tae whispered harshly, “Give us ten minutes.”

Biting his lip, Jin nodded hesitantly, “Good luck.” With that, the faint beeping of the device cutting the connection signaled the end of their conversation.

Silence fell between the friends as all seven pairs of eyes bore into the small device. Anxiety held their minds and tension clung to their voices as they waited. Just as the clock slowly grew older with each second ticking by, their patience slowly waned. Yet there was nothing more they could do other than wait. Just wait.

Swallowing hard, Yoongi frowned, “Are they-”

“Rapmon?” a small voice rang throughout the entire room, and just that tiny question tipped the scale.

“Kookie-”

“Rapmon-”

“Where’s Hobi?”

“I want Tae-”

“Kookie, will you choose me next-”

“Me too, Rapmon!”

“Spend the rest of free time with m-”

Sighing, Yoongi sunk to the floor, “Here we go again.”

“I wish he was still single,” a girl muttered remorsefully.

Frida’s gaze snapped towards the plump girl in the back, “What did you say?”

Recoiling, the girl shook her head, “N-nothing!”

Another girl stepped forward, “Stop being so fake, Braun. We all know you’re just scared we’ll take him from you.”

“Scared?” Frida snapped, “I’m not-”

“I honestly don’t see why he likes you,” the girl examined her nails, “You’re such a -”

Eun Sung pushed Frida out of the way, “You have a lot of nerve saying that to her face.”

Shrugging, the girl stared nonchalantly at her, “We’re all thinking it.”

“You-”

“Eunnie,” Frida caught her arm, “Don’t.”

“What does Jin see in you,” a third girl sneered, “You’re just a dumb blonde-”

“I feel so sorry for him,” a girl sighed, “They have no freedom-”

“Such a pity.”

Normal. This was normal. It happened all the time… so much that it hurt. Each word was a dagger to the heart, and each glare was enough for one to collapse to her knees. Even though they healed, every scar remained, and after time, there was not a patch of skin left unscathed. It was normal. Painfully and bitterly normal.

“That’s enough,” Yoongi rose to his feet once more, “Want to know why I chose her over you?” glaring at the crowd, he stuffed his fists in his pockets, “She doesn’t ing annoy me when I’m sleeping.”

“Look,” Jin pursed his lips, “I know you’re jealous, but that’s no way to justify what you’ve said. Insult me all you want, but don’t you dare hurt Eunnie.”

The group of girls frowned, “But-”

“EVERYONE SHUT THE UP!” Dokmon shouted suddenly.

"Language," Jin muttered, but no one was listening- as always.

Raising an eyebrow, Jungkook’s gaze flitted down to the device in Dokmon’s hand, “Are they-”

“They’re back.”

I'm so sorry I updated late! Thank you all so much for reading!!! Please leave comments sharing what you think! I'm always open to new ideas! Until next time... ;)