Jeongin yelped and scampered under a nearby bench as razor-sharp lightning lit up the almost pitch black street and a deafening thunderclap shook the ground not even a second later. 

Then again, it may have been just him that was shaking. It would certainly explain why the world was still vibrating long after the street grew dark and silent once more. He just didn’t know if it was because of the cold or out of fear. Mix in the adrenaline coursing through him and it was amazing his heart hadn’t burst out of his chest with how quickly it was beating

Still, despite every instinct in his little body screaming at him to move, to run and find a dry, preferably warm place to sit this out, he was paralyzed – curled up in as tight and as small a ball as possible, his large ears pulled flat against his head, eyes open wide but seeing nothing. His breathing was erratic and yet he couldn’t seem to cut off the whine that ripped itself from somewhere deep in his chest. It almost sounded like whistling. He wanted to cry – he wasn’t sure if he wasn’t already.

He flinched and curled up even further when loud yells assaulted his ears. They were growing louder with each passing second – the humans were getting closer. He tried to stop whining but only succeeded in quieting down. It almost all flew right out the window when someone’s foot, clad in a bright red shoe, stomped down in the puddle right next to the bench Jeongin was hiding under. Dirty, brown water splashed out – to Jeongin it looked like a fountain – and onto the fox, almost like a slap across his body. He yelped but didn’t move, the storm covering up the noise. Not only was he wet but he was also now almost fully covered in mud. 

The person with the red shoe squealed and laughed and then spoke to his friends in a booming deep voice. Jeongin couldn’t actually make anything out and the voice itself did nothing to calm him. He could see one more boy, soaked to the bone, likely just as much as Jeongin was. He was laughing as well and, much to the little fox’ horror, started running straight toward the red-shoed boy, who in turn screamed and shouted some more. Jeongin closed his eyes and hid his face between his paws when he could only see the other boy’s legs. The splash he was waiting for never came, however. When he peeked over one paw, he saw only red. The boy with the deep voice had taken the brunt of the attack.

A third boy, Jeongin couldn’t help but notice his silver hair, came into view, saying something at the splashy couple, a group of three other boys followed behind him. Jeongin was preparing himself for a tsunami when the two in front of the bench moved to the group. And what a loud group it was, everyone constantly shouting at the others in order to be heard over the rain. The silver haired boy seemed to be their center as they all quieted down when he spoke.

Now that they were no longer trying to drown him, Jeongin managed to calm himself and became curious about the group. He perked up when they started moving toward a tall, lit up building, his entire body rose without him truly realizing it. He lowered his head, ears standing tall and proud, and debated whether he was really doing this.

When the door opened for the group, there was no more time left for debating, Jeongin scampered, skidding and slipping on the wet pavement, and almost came crashing down face-first into the ground when he tried to jump over the curb of the sidewalk. Regardless, he made it. The door almost closed on the end of his tail but he made it.

He had ended up in what seemed to be an apartment building. The entrance had creamy walls, decorated with paintings and a nice diamond-pattern carpet. On any other occasion it would have made him feel nice and welcomed. Alas, with the lights flickering and thunder still rumbling, Jeongin felt anything but.

He watched as the boys approached an elevator. He counted his lucky stars when a cacophony of groans sounded through the hallway and the boys turned to the stairs, murmuring about things breaking on the worst days. He was very happy he didn’t have to stay in an enclosed space with a group of 7 boys. Instead he happily, though very lightly and quietly, hopped along after them up the stairs. And then nearly bumped into someone’s leg once they stopped in the hallway near their door. He quickly backpedaled, barely containing a yip, and hid in the shadows of the hallway. He waited as they unlocked their door and started trickling in, only following once the last three boys were about to enter. Sticking as close as he could to the boy at the very rear without actually touching him, not once did he think of the possibility that he or any one of the others could turn around or make some other move out of place and spot him… or kick him. Yes, kicking would probably be worse. He also didn’t think of the door slamming shut behind them almost immediately after they’d entered, and so he let out a startled series of screams. 

All 7 boys turned from what they’d been doing to stare at him with wide eyes, looking just as startled, some even afraid, as he felt. He did the first thing that came to mind – screeched and shot off in the only direction that wasn’t occupied by a human.

And then it was chaos.