You hated lightning—you hated it with every fiber of your being, especially when it left thirteen boys in a time period where they didn’t belong.

“Ugh, it’s absolutely freezing,” you grumbled, eyeing the stormy skies under the shelter the small local convenience store provided for you against the heavy rain. “It’s in the middle of summer!” you complained, to no one in particular. You sighed, your breath wispy and visible. The skies rumbled ominously, a bright light flickering on the horizon.

“You should get inside, miss, it’ll thunder soon,” a voice called out, breaking you out of your daze. You turned to see the clerk from the store poke his head out, with a small smile.

“Uh, yeah…” you muttered, scratching your head. You were hoping to wait out the rain before running home, which was at least 3 blocks away. “Thing is, I was hoping the rain’ll let down before I head home,” you sheepishly admit, rubbing your arms to create warmth against the cold air.

“Yeah, doesn’t look like it’ll give up anytime soon though. Middle of summer and it's blistering cold out,” the clerk laughed at the irony. He then ducked his head back into the store, coming out with an umbrella. “Here, you come here often, right? You can just pay me back later,” he held the umbrella towards you with a friendly smile. You smiled at his kindness, accepting it politely with two hands. His face was familiar–you saw it every time you visited after work, yet you never bothered to figure out his name.

“Sorry,” you took a quick look at his name tag, “Mister Lee.”

He shook his head, scratching his cheek. “You can call me Jinwoo, I’m still a student.” He laughed awkwardly, making you blush with embarrassment.

“Sorry, I just assumed you were older because of your height,” you muttered, fumbling with the umbrella. He flashed you another smile. 

“That’s okay, I get that a lot. You’re…?”

“(y/n). I work at a nearby university—”

“The one downtown?” Jinwoo blinked. You nodded, surprised that he guessed it so fast. “I go there as a student,” he continued, seeing your confusion, “I didn’t know you worked there. Excuse me for my informality, miss.”

You shook your head. “No, it’s alright, it’s only a part time job as a teacher’s assistant. I’m still young, just one or two years older than you, I hope,” you laughed, watching as his tense shoulders relaxed with relief. Before he could say anything else, there was a loud boom in the distance, making you both jump in surprise. You whipped your head up towards the sky, your mouth pulled into a frown.

“I think I’ve kept you here for too long, you should go,” Jinwoo muttered, looking you and the sky in worry. The rain was coming down even harder than before.

“Yeah,” you nodded, popping the umbrella open, “thank you for the umbrella.” With one last smile, you left Jinwoo and the safety of the convenience store and rushed home.

Even the umbrella couldn’t save you from the downpour—the wind was so fierce, the umbrella flew backwards and broke, leaving you defenseless against the wrath of the rain. When you got home, you found out the entire neighborhood was experiencing a blackout.

“God dammit,” you groaned, tossing the umbrella in the doorway, stumbling into the kitchen, where you pulled out a flashlight and some candles from the cabinet, lighting them up and placing them around the house. Somehow, even with the source of light, something seemed off, almost as if something bad was going to happen. Brushing off the ominous feeling, you decided to change and clean up, oblivious to what was about the happen next.

When it hit midnight, the lightening outside seemed to be drawing closer, as you heard the loud booms in the sky. The winds were making your windows rattle and the rain didn’t seem to let up.

“When will this storm be over?” you grumbled under the warmth of your blankets. You in a breath and held it when a loud boom went off, seemingly to be right above your apartment.

“Dear god,” you let out a breath, pulling the blanket off your head. You blinked at the dimly lit room, hoping whatever came with that boom didn’t hit anything in your terrace because your landlord would make you pay for it. As you were about to get up and check, a deafening boom shook your room, accompanied with a blinding light that flashed through your window, making you scream in shock. Hurriedly diving under your covers again, you shut your eyes and hoped that Death would spare you just this one time.

Biting your lips in apprehension, you let out a shaky breath. Before you could even gather your senses, you heard thirteen different voices at the end of your bed, making your eyes shoot open in terror.

What the hell?!