“-so, like, Renjun was complaining about this one Chinese meal he misses, I think it was like some spicy beef or whatnot,” Haechan said, munching on his candy bar while Mark put in his last dollar bill in the machine. “He found a restaurant here that sells it and wants to go tomorrow.”

 

The pair had been taking longer than necessary, first heading to the vending machines to grab the snacks that their whiny friends had asked for (they still loved them, though). They had seen Taeyong and Jaehyun near the end of the hallway but didn’t get the chance to yell hello, although now that Mark thought about it, he was going to need Taeyong’s keys. 

 

“Are you sure the computer room is opened?” Mark asked, reaching into the machine to pull out another milky way. 

 

Haechan shrugged. "We should have ran after Taeyong and asked him for the keys."

 

"Well, there's no harm in checking." Mark stuffed the last remaining candy bar into his hoodie. "Besides-"

 

The power went out.

 

"Jesus Christ, what is going ON today?" Donghyuck yelled, kicking the wall in anger.

 

Mark looked at the control pad of the vending machine, the lights not displaying anymore. "Well, at least it happened after we got all the candy."

 

"Let's just go to the room and get everything figured out." Haechan grabbed Mark's arm and pulled him further, the two walking through the hallway. "We got a karaoke session we must complete."

 

Mark sighed. "For Ukiss."

 

"No, Marina."

 

"Ukiss."

 

"MARINA!"

 

"UKISS!!!"

 

"MA- uh, Mark, look-"

 

Haechan was pointing at a figure at the end of the hallway. It was a small hallway at the end of the school, since this was the only vending machine that had Mark's Reese's pieces. They were near the classroom the 127 unit used, although they weren't hearing screaming as usual since it was in one of the main hallways and they were hidden. 

 

"That looks like an older guy," Haechan said. "Creepy."

 

"Yeah, let's go to the computer room and get things checked out." Mark grabbed Haechan's arm, ignoring his pulsing heartbeat, and the two walked towards the computer room.

 

The school's WiFi was controlled in here, not the main office like most people would think. The lights were controlled by the main office, however, so they'll have to check it out later. 

 

The door was locked, as expected. Luckily, Mark had experience in picking locks from that one summer he tried to impress Haechan by sneaking into the community pool together at night, and now he just used it for when he forgot his keys at home. 

 

Taking the paper clip he always kept in his jeans, Mark kneeled down and got to work while Donghyuck watched, as usual. 

 

"Doesn't the school have cameras or something?" Donghyuck asked him. "You're going to get arrested."

 

Mark managed to get the door opened. "Haechan, remember buddy, you're my partner in crime, you'll get arrested, too."

 

"That's cause I know how not to get caught," Haechan said, pretending to flip imaginary long hair. "You can’t even steal a fry from Johnny."

 

"You literally steal all my fries during lunch."

 

"That's not stealing, that's borrowing." Haechan walked into the room, Mark following suit, closing the door behind him. "Mark, I can't see."

 

", my bad." Mark opened the door again slightly so they wouldn't be in pure darkness. The room didn't have windows, and with no power, it was pitch black. "If only our phones were working."

 

 "Mark, you're forgetting that Mr. Park is a crazy lunatic," Haechan said, heading towards the teacher's desk, cursing when he hit the edge. "Remember, he thinks technology will stop working and there'll be an apocalypse."

 

"Yeah, like zombies or aliens or some ." Mark walked slowly to where Haechan was, waving his arms around in order to not bump into anything. "Didn't Mr. Byun say that he keeps emergency supplies everywhere?"

 

"Precisely." Haechan pulled the cabinets from the desk, rummaging around. When he didn't find anything, he pulled another one and was also disappointed. "Nothing here."

 

"Doesn't he keep a flashlight on his desk?" Mark roamed his hands around until he felt something. A light suddenly appeared, a soft glow on the desk. He picked the flashlight and used it to point at Haechan. "Found it."

 

"Okay, but how are we going to fix the wifi when there is no power?" 

 

"Fair point." Mark looked around and saw one of the routers of the Wifi. "Maybe we should just head back."

 

"Glad the cameras aren't working since we might as well go to jail," Haechan said. "No proof of who went through Mr. Park's stuff, he's going to think there are demons after him again."

 

"Mr. Byun is practically a demon, though." Now that he could see where he was going, he made his way towards the doorway, Haechan behind him. "Bet five dollars Chen Le screamed when the lights went out."

 

"No, Chen Le is used to Renjun flickering the lights to him, my bet is Jeno." They stepped out to the hallway, closing the door behind them.

 

There, at the end of the hallway was the same figure again. It looked to be standing still. 

 

"Is he lost?" Haechan held his palm out, so Mark handed him the flashlight. "Let me go ask him real quick."

 

Mark nodded, so Haechan took that as a cue and walked towards the man, shining the light in his direction. 

 

"Hello?? Sir??" Haechan waved his hand, hoping to draw attention. "Are you lost?"

 

The figure snapped its neck to their direction instantaneously, not saying anything. They couldn't see his face that well, but it looked to be blank and expressionless. 

 

"Why does he look like a serial killer," Mark whispered to Donghyuck, who kept waving the light to the man.

 

"Hello? Sir? Is everything okay?" Donghyuck continued asking the man, shouting louder.

 

It wasn’t until the man started sprinting towards them that Mark realized he was probably right. 

 

He hastily grabbed Haechan’s arm, dragging him back into the classroom and locking the door. 

 

The man must have reached up to them quickly when they started hearing pounding on the door. By the way he was hitting it, surely he must have broken it by now, but thankfully, Mr. Park was a lunatic and installed a metal door compared to the other flimsy wooden doors in this school. The school couldn’t say anything since he was a two-time nobel peace prize winner at the age of 25. 

 

Course, Mr. Park tried to install some technology of entering passcodes and eye scanners but the school put their foot down, saying that the school needed copies of keys for the classrooms.

 

The two held their breath, visibly shaking as they heard the man continuing to pound the door, showing no signs of stopping. 

 

“Mark, what are we going to do?” Haechan whispered, his eyes filling with tears. “Our friends, they’re in the school, he’s going to hurt them."

 

Mark grabbed onto Haechan’s hand, the one without the flashlight. Somehow, somehow, Haechan had held onto it, thankfully. “Don’t worry, they’re with each other, nothing will happen to them.”

 

Haechan nodded, sitting down on one of the desks in the room. “So we just wait?’

 

Mark sat down on the desk next to him, scooting it closer so that he could put his arm around the latter. “We wait.”
 

***

 

“So there is proof of aliens!” Jaehyun exclaimed. “The US government has just been hiding that information from us!”

 

“What doesn’t the states hide,” Jihoon said. “And I’m not sure if NASA relayed that information to the president yet, probably not a big deal to the Department of Defense.”

 

“The what now?”

 

“ Wouldn’t it be the Department of Homeland Security?” Soonyoung said to Jihoon. “Isn’t that what they taught us in Government class?”

 

“I never realized how much advantage Johnny has,” Jaehyun muttered to himself.

 

The seven of them have stayed in the nurse’s office for now. Worst part was that the power went out, but Taeyong’s keys have a flashlight keychain, which they’ve been using to see. From his emergencies course that he had taken in the summer, he had been able to take some of Taeil’s blood with a clean sterilized needle the nurse had and inject it to Xiaojun. 

 

“Well, at least those two guys aren’t a problem anymore,” Taeil said, rubbing the sore spot on his arm where they had extracted the blood. “I’m pretty sure they’re dead.”

 

They had dragged the two bodies outside, locking the main office doors with some passcode Taeyong had access to for being the president and his school's masterkeys.

 

Kun shook his head. “No we don’t.”

 

“Wait, really?” Jaehyun asked. “Why not?”

 

“Those weren’t the ones who attacked Xiaojun in the forest,” Kun explained. “The man looked different and I managed to hurt his shoulder and head. These people don’t have those injuries.”

 

“That’s it, you guys need to go home,” Soonyoung said. “If you don’t have cars, we’ll drive you.”

 

“You can’t do that.” Taeyong got up from his seat to look at Soonyoung. “There’s more people here in the school.”

 

“Well, they have to leave too.”

 

“We can go get them,” Jaehyun reassured Taeyong, rubbing the latter’s back. “Don’t worry, they won’t get hurt."

 

“How many people are here in the building that you know of?” Jihoon asked them.

 

“In the 127 meeting, there was like ten of us?” Jaehyun answered. “Except Winwin, he said he had to see the movie, Kun, was he there?”

 

Kun shook his head. “I don’t know who showed up to the meeting.”

 

“We saw Lucas and Ten,” Taeyong mentioned. “And the Dream unit is here as well, I don’t know who showed up.”

 

“17...18...there should be approximately 21 of us, including us five here.” Jaehyun continued to count to himself for a few seconds. “Should be five people in the Chinese classroom for WayV, 7 in the music room for the Dream meeting, and 4 in the Korean lit classroom for 127.”

 

“I can go get the other club members,” Taeil offered. “It’s just Johnny, Jungwoo, Doyoung and Yuta there.”

 

“No, no one should be alone," Kun argued, helping Xiaojun get off the nurse's bed. He was still weak, but hopefully the extra blood would help him get his strength back. 

 

"Well, someone has to get them."

 

"I'll go," Taeyong said. "We have to get Dream and WayV as well-"

 

"I'll go with you." Jaehyun headed to the door. "Kun, stay here with Xiaojun, we're telling everyone to meet here. And as for you guys, uh-" Jaehyun stopped at the two adults. "Um.."

 

"We don't know our way around this school, so I guess we'll stay," Soonyoung insisted. "Plus these two shouldn't be alone."

 

"Right, okay." Taeyong rubbed his two palms together vigorously, trying to calm himself down. "We got a plan."

 

***

 

"And then there were four~" Johnny was singing in English, causing Yuta to throw an eraser at him.

 

"Can you shut up for one second?!" Yuta yelled. He got up from his chair and headed towards the door. "I'm going to find Si Cheng, see you later, ers."

 

"Now where the do you think you're going?!" Doyoung yelled at him, leaping off his chair. "Are you trying to get murdered?"

 

"Actually at this rate, yes." Yuta unlocked the door, stepping into the hallway. 

 

"Why don't we all go?" Jungwoo suggested. "I want to see Yukhei."

 

"No one is leaving,” Doyoung said, pulling Yuta back into the classroom and slamming the door shut. "You guys can keep your in your pants for a few more minutes."

 

"Excuse me, Ten and I are waiting for marriage," Johnny argued. He got up from the desk he had been sitting on and stared down at Doyoung. 

 

"Wait, deadass?" Yuta asked, confused. Johnny looked all the time.

 

"Pfft, yeah, did you think I slept around or something?" Johnny tried to pull Doyoung off the door. "Let me see Ten!!"

 

Doyoung maintained his grip, although Johnny was proving to be stronger than him. "No!! We are staying!!"

 

"Uh, guys?" Jungwoo pointed to three figures outside the window. "There's people outside looking at us."

 

The three stopped to look at who Jungwoo was pointing. Sure enough, there were three figures outside, about 100 feet away, standing still.

 

"Are those the people who hurt Xiaojun?" Doyoung asked, stepping closer to the window. "Weird, they also have blank faces…"

 

Jungwoo sat next to the window and started tapping on the glass. "Hello? Hello??"

 

"Jungwoo, you might not want to do that-" Johnny said before a brick shattered through the window, glass falling everywhere, including on Jungwoo.

 

"Holy , Jungwoo!!" Doyoung pulled Jungwoo away from the window, the latter a face bleeding. "Guys, come on!"

 

They all made their way into the hallway, almost tripping on one another. "Where are we going?!" Yuta screeched,  hearing more glass break behind them.

 

"Just go to the WayV classroom, come on!" Johnny yelled, running towards the direction of the Chinese classroom.

 

The four continued their sprint, with Doyoung tripping once, Yuta and Johnny practically pulling him off the ground to continue running. Soon enough, they heard footsteps behind them-

 

"Guys, hold up! What are you doing??"

 

It was Jaehyun!

 

They turned around to see Jaehyun, with Taeyong and Taeil close behind him. 

 

"What are you guys doing?" Jaehyun repeated again, catching up to them. "Why are you running?"

 

"Creeping men outside threw a brick at the window and are chasing us!!" Johnny yelled, pointing at Jungwoo. "Look at what they did!"

 

"Holy , Jungwoo, you need to go to the nurse," Jaehyun said. "One of you guys take him, the others need to go get WayV and meet up at the office, we'll get Dream."

 

"The Dream members, oh no." Taeyong turned around and sprinted the other direction.

 

"Taeyong! , guys go to the WayV club and then to the office, quick!" Jaehyun chased after his crush, hoping no one would get hurt in the process.

 

***

When the lights went out, Jisung was the one who screamed. 

 

Now the five were stuck in the classroom, waiting for Mark and Haechan to return. 

 

“If they don’t come back in five minutes, that means they died,” Renjun said, 

 

“They’re meditating, g-”

 

“Oh, god, not that joke again.” Jisung sighed, playing with Chen Le’s hair. The latter was resting his head on Jisung’s shoulder, having run out of energy after eating the cosmic brownies. 

 

Jeno made a face. “You’re not funny."

 

“I wonder if they have been secretly dating and are doing stuff right now,” Jaemin said. “I doubt they aren’t a couple.”

 

“They’re both idiots, I’m not surprised.” Renjun sat down on the teacher’s chair, spinning it around. “Why they would come here after school only to , I don’t know."

 

“Exhibitionism is a well-known kink, Renjun,” Jeno said, smirking at him. 

 

“Well, I don’t know if I have a stabbing kink, what to test it out, Jeno?” Renjun yelled, glaring at him. 

 

“You two, shut up!” They turned around to look at Jaemin, who was covering the ears of a very annoyed Jisung. “There’s a baby here.”

 

“Jaemin, shut up, you’re only, like, a year older than me,” Jisung said, shaking his head for Jaemin’s hands to come off. “Besides, I have a bigger than all of you.”

 

“Curse you and your stature,” Renjun muttered under his breath. 

 

“Shut up, Jisung, you’re only an inch bigger than me,” Jaemin yelled. “Plus, mine’s thicker.”

 

“Okay, I’m sorry, have you guys been comparing sizes or something?” Jeno said. “Why have I not been informed?”

 

“Why, did you want to join?” Jaemin winked at him.

 

“Sh-shut up, I’m the king of flirting in this classroom.”

 

“Hate to break it to you, Jeno, but that’s Jaemin’s title-”

 

They were startled by some twisting the doorknob and slamming the door open. 

 

“Guys, get your stuff, we have to leave now.”

 

“Taeyong!” Chen Le got up from the floor and ran towards Taeyong, giving him a hug. No one missed Jisung’s glare. “What are you doing here?”

 

“Guys, not safe, you need to-” Jaehyun stopped when he saw the inside of the classroom. “Where’s Mark and Haechan?”

 

“They went to check the Wifi,” Jaemin explained. “The internet cut off and our phones all-”

 

“Screamed and turned off? Yeah, ours too,” Jaehyun finished.

 

Taeyong’s eyes filled with more worry. “Jaehyun, what are we going to do, those two are roaming around alone-”

 

“Uh, guys,” Jeno told the group, pointing towards something - or should he say, someone - at the end of the hallway. “Whose that?”

 

Jaehyun and Taeyong turned around, their eyes widening. 

 

Wasting no time, Jaehyun shoved all of them back into the classroom, locking the door while pressing his back onto it, ignoring everyone’s confused screaming. “Guys, there’s aliens out here trying to kill us-”

 

“ALIENS?!” Renjun exclaimed. He was a big believer in aliens and conspiracies. 

 

“No way, aliens are fake,” Jisung denied Jaehyun’s claim. “People are just looking for attention-”

 

“No, it is definitely not-” Jaehyun fell forward, falling flat on the floor, as they noticed that a hand had punched through the door. “Ow!”

 

“Jaehyun!” Taeyong knelt down next to him, trying to pull him away from the door. “Come on, we have to leave!”

 

Jaemin grabbed one of the metal chairs that the teacher had and started hitting on the hand, but it was no use - the alien had more strength and stamina than him. Jeno took another chair and started help him hit the arm as well, with a green liquid quite different from blood started oozing. The alien used  his other hand to jab another hole into the door, so Jeno grabbed the arm and attempted to twisting it.

 

Jaehyun got up and grabbed the chair Jeno dropped. “Guys, head to the back of the classroom,” he said. Chen Le, Jisung and Renjun moved back as instructed, Chen Le holding onto Taeyong’s waist as Taeyong stood in front of them, holding them back.

 

“On the count of three,” he whispered to Jeno and Jaemin. 

 

When he reached the number three, Jaehyun opened the door and lunged at the man, grabbing onto it’s neck and snapping it. 

 

“You know, for aliens, I thought they would be stronger than us,” Jaehyun commented. “All they can do is break doors with their bare hands.”

 

Jaemin looked into the hallway. “No one’s in the hallway.”

 

“Okay, can you guys please tell us what’s going on?” Renjun yelled at the two juniors.

 

Taeyong made a shushing noise. “Guys, no yelling, we can’t attract attention.”

 

“Let’s get them out of this room first,” Jaehyun said, kicking the alien’s body out of the way. Jaemin and Jeno stepped out with him, the other’s soon heading out. “We have to think of something.”

 

“We’re a long way from the office, but we can’t run because they’ll hear us,” Taeyong reminded him. 

 

“Do you make a run for it?” Jaehyun suggested.

 

Taeyong in a breath. “Let’s do it.”
 

***

 

Soonyoung and Jihoon led Kun and Xiaojun to the parking lot, planning to bring the car around to the front. They were gonna have to make multiple trips to take the boys home, but it was better than leaving them here at the school. 

 

They made their way around the school, thankfully not getting caught. Xiaojun was feeling a bit more energetic, so that was a plus, and he could walk now. Kun had a feeling Xiaojun might have a concussion, but they had to get him out of here first. 

 

Soonyoung pointed out where the rental car, so they made a run into the open. Soonyoung quickly unlocked the doors, so all of them got in, with Jihoon in the passenger seat and Kun and Xiaojun at the back. 

 

Problem was, when he put the key into the ignition, the car wouldn’t start. 

 

“ it, not now!!” Soonyoung yelled, turning the key over and over again to turn on the car, but to no avail. 

 

“What’s wrong, why isn’t it starting??” Jihoon asked him. 

 

“I don’t know, it’s a rental, they’re shouldn’t be a need for anything!” Soonyoung noticed a light blinking on the display, so he threw opened his door and inspected underneath the car. “Goddammit!”

 

Jihoon unbuckled and seat belt and got out, bending down to see Soonyoun. “What’s wron- oh.”

 

There was a huge puddle underneath the car. 

 

“They cut the goddamn oil and gasoline!!” Soonyoung yelled. “We’re stuck.”

 

“There’s other car’s here, maybe one of the students here can-” Jihoon walked over to a nearby car, a silver van. There was a puddle on the ground, too. “Uh, Soonyoung, we got a problem-”

 

“Do we head back to the school?” Kun asked, opening his door.

 

Soonyoung got up from the ground, ignoring the new oil and gasoline stains on his clothes. “We’re not safe outside, we have to go back in.”

 

“Uh, Soonyoung, if we go, we have to run,” Jihoon said, pointing to the distance. 

 

Soonyoung let out a groan. “How many of these ers are there?!?”