A blur of black and white sliced through the air, blurring grey in its speed, followed by raucous cheers and the sound of sneakers pounding the dirt.

"Nice kick, Minseok!"

"Wow, where did the ball even go?"

"No fair, it's a home run for sure! I want hyung on my team next time we play kickball!"

Sehun sighed and patted his disappointed friend on the shoulder. "It's fine, Tao. We were going to lose anyway. I'll go get the ball."

"How are you going to get it when you don't even know where it is?" Tao shaded his eyes with a hand and gazed at the horizon, searching for the soccer ball. "Dude, I don't see it. You think Minseok kicked it out of the galaxy?"

Sehun didn't respond. He had already jogged off the kickball field and into the bordering trees, scanning the ground as he went.

When Minseok goes back to college, kickball games will be much less tiring, he thought as he panted. I think I've completed a marathon in the last week just chasing after his balls.

A little smirk tugged at his lips. Chasing after Minseok's balls. Hehe.

Broad shoulders and towering height aside, Sehun was only a teenage boy after all. 

But seriously, how far did he kick it? I'm going to have to cross the creek if I can’t find the ball in this clearing, and if I go beyond the creek... No one liked to talk about what lay beyond the creek. It was a taboo topic in Sehun's town, something little children were spanked for speaking about in public.

The women's prison. It had been built nearly thirty years ago, commissioned by the government and then promptly forgotten. Larger prisons constructed in the more densely populated areas of Korea pulled administrative attention away, and this prison had soon faded into the murky depths of old projects draining government funds. A new inmate only arrived at the prison once every few years, and these days, even the government officials responsible for checking on prison conditions neglected to visit - it was too wretched a place for them.

Sehun shook himself. He didn't want to think about the prison. He wasn't going there, he was going to wherever the soccer ball was. No point in thinking about such an awful place.

A buzz from his cell phone distracted him.

From: Tao

Yo if you found the ball, don't come back yet. Your ex showed up at the field, and she really wants to talk to you.

Sehun cursed and sent Tao a grateful message for the tip-off. His last relationship hadn’t exactly ended well, and he was in no mood to talk to his ex. How much longer can I reasonably avoid her? he wondered. At some point she’s going to show up in front of my house, and I have to go home eventually. Maybe I should just stay out here forever.

In his distracted state, Sehun had already reached the creek, no ball in sight. In retrospect, the ball probably had been in the clearing behind him and he’d just missed it while reading Tao’s message; Minseok’s kick was strong, but it wasn’t that strong.

In front of him, half-buried in the mud, a signpost wobbled, its words just barely legible. Squinting, Sehun read aloud, “Geomdaemun Women’s Prison Ahead. Do Not Trespass. Do Not Pick Up Hitchhikers.”

He snorted to himself. Do not pick up hitchhikers. That’s a good one. The sign’s location near the creek was probably the result of a strong storm considering it was monsoon season and the creek was nowhere near the road where this sign belonged. Unable to help himself, he snapped a picture of the sign and sent it to Tao with a quick “LOL.”

The response was immediate.

From: Tao

Yo you’re at the prison?!?! What’s it like there? Are there crazy female axe murderers inside? OMG are they hot? Take a selfie with an inmate for me!

Sehun scowled. Considering Tao had nightmares for weeks whenever he watched “Casper the Friendly Ghost,” it was weird how morbidly curious he was about the women’s prison. Then again, it wasn’t really, because all the townspeople were secretly curious about the prison, although no one would ever admit to it.

From: Tao

Sehuuuun, why you no respond to meee? Are you dead? Did a prisoner find you and murder you?!

Sehun smirked and tapped out a response.

         Yeah. She killed me, and now she’s coming for you.

But before he could send his message, another buzz from his phone interrupted him.

From: Tao

Well . All jokes aside, your ex overheard Minseok bragging about kicking the ball so far that you still haven’t come back, and now she’s going after you into the forest. That’s one dedicated girl you got yourself.

A grimace pinched Sehun’s features. Why did he ever think it was a good idea to date a track athlete? Given how fast a runner she was, he probably only had fifteen minutes before she found him, no matter where he scampered off to. Out of the corner of his eye, the signpost caught his eye, and an idea tugged at his mind. It was a crazy idea. Absolutely illogical. Borderline criminal in its insanity, really. You’re not doing this, Oh Sehun. You’re not.

His phone buzzed again.

From: Tao

Hehe is this a good time to mention that she’s really pissed off at you for avoiding her the last few weeks? Like, really, really pissed off?

Sehun stared at the signpost again and then at the hill that loomed in front of him, obscuring the prison just behind it. Well, maybe the soccer ball is over in that direction, he concluded, giving himself a mental pat on the back for finding a logical excuse for this completely illogical decision. And I’d hate to lose it. It’s a really nice soccer ball, after all. Squaring his shoulders, he took a deep breath and stepped across the creek.

***

The prison was even uglier up close.

The watchtower, monstrously phallic with its bulbous, glassy top, seemed far too large for the rest of the facility, and its shadow cast everything else into blackness. It gave off an overwhelming stench of masculinity, even in this prison reserved exclusively for females. Juxtaposed against the tower and surrounding the facility was a short, rusty fence that would not, could not pose as an obstacle for any physically able runaway prisoner. No barbed wire. No snarling dogs. And strangest of all, no guards anywhere in sight.

Sehun’s eyes swept over the prison. Was it just him, or was there something off? He’d expected someone to come shoo him away the instant he got close, but there were no signs of life anywhere. Even the grass under his feet was dead. Without his permission, a shudder rippled through his spine.

“Don’t be a wimp, Sehun,” he said to himself, crossing his arms and puffing out his chest. “It’s just a prison. And you’re just looking for a soccer ball.”

Cheered by his own pep talk, he walked a few steps to the left. Nothing black and white there. He turned and walked a few steps to the right. Nope. Still nothing. He wandered farther in that direction.

Fingers fidgeting, Sehun wondered if his ex had given up on looking for him and gone home yet. Probably not, considering her tenacity. He couldn’t really blame her in this particular instance, though. It was kind of a jerk move on his part to break up with her over text and avoid her for weeks, but he didn’t want to talk to her and risk getting wheedled into staying in the relationship. Sehun hated confrontations, and his ex had a sharp mind and an even sharper tongue.

“Hey!”

Startled, Sehun quite literally tripped over his own feet and went flying face-down into the dirt. Trying to ignore the pain, he clambered to his feet and crouched, holding his arms out defensively.

“Who is it? Who’s there?” He spun in circles, searching for the owner of the voice.

A laugh, smooth and velvety, rang through the air.

“Not so high up, honey. Look down.”

His head snapped downward, and he peered at the dirt as if expecting an ant to grin up at him and say hello.

Another chuckle. “Not quite that low. Inside the fence, near the ground.”

Sehun followed the voice’s instructions. Immediately, his eyes caught on a grate in the side of the prison. Four bars, each two inches thick, covered a gap in the building that stretched from the ground to less than half a foot above the dirt. Behind the barred window, two dark eyes watched him.

“Ta-da, you found me.” Her voice filled his ears like melting caramel, all silk and burnt sugar. Hers was the voice of a woman who knew what she wanted and how to get it, and her eyes reflected it, tracking Sehun’s shaky movements with a predatory laziness not unlike that of a cat watching its dinner.

“What - who are you? What are you doing there?” Sehun stood and crossed his arms in an attempt to regain his composure, only to realize he couldn’t see the woman from there and squat back down.

Her eyebrows arched, dark and pronounced against her pale skin. “Shouldn’t I be the one asking you that?”

She’s right, Sehun realized with a jolt. Holy , what am I doing? Holy ! I’m next to a women’s prison talking to some prisoner in a hole in the ground!

He turned and fled in the direction of the creek.

“Wait!”

Sehun ignored her. He didn’t turn back, not even once. If he had, he would have seen something unreadable flash across those dark eyes for a fraction of a second, something so empty and broken it would have haunted him in his dreams for the rest of his life. Another laugh chased him as he stumbled blindly across the dead grass.

“Do come back and visit, won’t you?”

***

Sehun knew he was a lucky son of a gun.

Not only had he made it to the prison and back unseen (except by the female prisoner), he had even successfully evaded his ex-girlfriend. The only way he could have been any luckier was if he’d found the soccer ball, which was still missing in action.

But somehow, he didn’t feel lucky or happy. Rather, he felt something niggling in his gut, something that told him what he had just experienced was wrong. Why was the prison so poorly maintained? Where were all the guards, dogs, and surveillance equipment? And why was that woman trying to talk to him?

Sehun brooded for the next few days. When Minseok inevitably kicked a ball far out of range again, he watched the others hunt for it instead of volunteering to find it as he usually did. Kickball games were played halfheartedly at best. The mere thought of crossing the creek again terrified him, but he didn’t know what he was so afraid of. Was it the woman he feared?

He wasn’t sure. At this particular moment in time, there was another woman he feared far, far more.

“Sehun, she’s spotted you.” Tao nudged him, eyes darting over to the angry girl marching toward the kic