The decision was easy to make when you weighed out the pros and cons. He also allowed me to make the decision so of course, I picked Jonghyun over two guys who had threatened us earlier. 

 

"We aren't going to help them, Baekho. We can't afford to," I said and we started sprinting towards Jonghyun and his partner. 

 

"Why?" 

 

"How do you think we would beat these oversized cats?! They don't even have real guns." 

 

I caught a glimpse of the two before the cat devoured them. There was no way we would have been able to save them. We could barely even save ourselves as we dove under the covers of a floor mat that Jonghyun and Ren were under as they hid from the predators. 

 

"Thank goodness you two made it safely," Jonghyun said in relief and he sounded genuine about it but Baekho didn't seem happy about it despite giving me the choice. 

 

"How do we win this?" I asked, cutting to the chase. I wasn't going to last any longer out here with my nose threatening to put me out of commission.

 

"It's a game of catch."

 

"Yeah, the cats are chasing us and we are, by no means, of any threat to them," Baekho retorted. I could sense the tension between them or maybe just Baekho's sudden display of dislike towards Jonghyun. 

 

"We may be small but we have our advantages," Jonghyun said. "We can work in groups and catch them. I'm sure there are traps placed around the area to help us. We just need to find them." 

 

"And how are you so sure about that? You played this game before too? Just like the last round?" 

 

I frowned and held his shoulder. Baekho glanced at me and I gave him a questioning look. He sighed and backed down. 

 

"Sorry. We are just on edge here," I said and Jonghyun shook his head. 

 

"It's understandable... With your cond-" Ren grabbed Jonghyun's arm and he gasped softly. 

 

"His what?" Baekho blurted out. 

 

"It was nothing," Ren said with a slight hiss. "Let's stop wasting time with them and just continue this game." 

 

"Right... We have to win," Jonghyun whispered. I was starting to get a little suspicious of what was going on. Maybe Baekho was right about me being involved with Jonghyun before but it wasn't something I could recall now. Yet he knew that I had a condition... 

 

"Come on, Minhyun. I don't think we should trust Jonghyun unless he can tell us more about what's really going on," Baekho said and I blinked in surprise. 

 

"But... He can't. It's not that he doesn't want to," I said softly and Baekho scowled. 

 

"Still, who knows if anything else he's said so far is true. Maybe he's Prism!" 

 

"That's a bold accusation you have there!" Ren snapped back and Baekho pursed his lips. "Go away! We don't need you to win either." 

 

"Ren, please..." 

 

"Fine!" 

 

Baekho held my arm and we wriggled out from under the mat again. I was confused but my legs just followed Baekho as he searched for another hiding spot. I glanced back and noticed Jonghyun looking at me with worried eyes. I turned away and tilted my head at Baekho, somehow a weird feeling tingled in my chest as if I've felt this before but differently.

 

"Where can we even go?" I asked Baekho and sighed as we jogged around the floor level, trying to find a place to hide. 

 

"I don't--" Both of us jumped in surprise as our wrists started to shake in unison. Hoshi's face popped up along with a green tick and a red cross. Baekho clicked the tick and it connected us to Hoshi. "Hello?" 

 

"Ah... Testing, testing... Baekho?!" Hoshi's voice emitted from the cuffs. 

 

"Yeah, it's me. I can hear you." 

 

"Oh wow! I thought this was a total scam but thankfully it isn't." 

 

"Where are you guys?" 

 

"We found some kind of cheese trap and we are hiding nearby it now." 

 

He turned to look around as I stayed on the lookout for any cats instead. 

 

"Is there anything else nearby that can help pinpoint your direction?" 

 

"Well... If its of any help, there's a black cat near us now." 

 

"Come on, Minhyun." 

 

"Huh? We are finding for Hoshi?" I asked in surprise since it felt as thought we stood a better chance surviving alone earlier. He nodded and we started finding for the black cat instead. 

 

"I see you guys. We are on your right." 

 

Following Hoshi's directions, we made our way to the cheese trap. We found them peeking out and waving towards us once we caught sight of them. We rushed over and laid low beside them. 

 

"Oh thank god. You're both alive," Hoshi said in relief. 

 

"I'm glad you two are too but we need to work to catch these cats now," Baekho said and I frowned but remained quiet otherwise. 

 

"Catch them?" Hoshi asked in confusion and shock. 

 

"Yeah. This is a game of catch so its either us or them." 

 

"Huh... How do we do that?" 

 

"The usual bait and trap," Baekho said and Hoshi took a deep breath. "Minhyun and I will bait the cats and you two will try to catch them. We have this mouse trap... But I saw an empty cage earlier too so we can try to catch them in there too." 

 

"I think we should split up then," I said and Baekho quirked a brow at me. "One of us can handle the mouse trap and another one can try the change. It'll be faster..." 

 

"I think we should stick together. It's not safe to be alone right now," Hoshi said. Baekho looked between the both of us and had a look of conflict cross his eyes. I pursed my lips. 

 

"What do you think, Woozi?" I asked the quieter male. 

 

"Huh? Me? I think... We should just try and see if this even works... Just because diamond head says this is a game of catch, doesn't mean he isn't lying to us and a mouse trap isn't exactly a way to catch a cat... We should try the cage..." 

 

Everyone had conflicting opinions and obviously, it was hard to back down when we had no idea whose idea was better but a low growl made us all jump. 

 

"Another question, how do we even lure it into a mouse trap?!" Woozi squeaked and pulled Hoshi away as the cat swiped at the trap, flipping it over like a harmless fly. 

 

"To the cage!" Baekho yelled as he led the way. I just followed him blindly since I didn't have much of a choice either. I saw the rather large cage and we all paused at the front of it. It was open and the cat wasn't too far behind us. 

 

"Hoshi, Woozi, go that way and hide," I said in a rush and pulled the door open with Baekho's help. "When the cat comes in, shut it." 

 

"What are we doing?" he asked while the other two didn't have much choice but to hide as I suggested. 

 

"Bait, like you suggested." I climbed into the cage and he followed along. 

 

"By going inside?!" 

 

"We are the mouse!" I snapped back and the cat stopped right at the door. It growled at us and stretched its paw inside, trying to claw at us as we run to the back of the cage. "Fu-" 

 

I tripped over the hole as its claw caught our chain, stumbling a little. Baekho tugged it away and it growled as it started to circle the cage, finding for a way to get us as we stood at the back of the cage. 

 

"What now?" Baekho asked. 

 

"We get it to come inside." 

 

"How?!" 

 

"I don't know!" I looked around for something to help us but there wasn't anything in the cage that could help us lure it in. Only us. "We have to do this then. I'll get close and once it comes in, pull me back." 

 

"That's... Dangerous," Baekho said, sounding like he wanted to argue but knowing he didn't have a say in the matter since he was probably stronger than I am. "I'm pulling you back at the first sign of danger." 

 

"Okay." I jogged to the middle of the cage and the cat hissed, coming closer again. "Come on. Come in here, kitty." 

 

"Minhyun..." 

 

"Shush... Come on." I motioned my hands for it to approach and it steadily came closer. 

 

Just a little more... 

 

It's first paw entered the cage and I gulped. It didn't seem to be in attacking mode as half of its body was inside and it was just inches from me. I breathed in shakily and took a step back slowly. 

 

"Come on..." I tried to steady my breathing and continued walking back slowly as it followed me. I could tell Baekho was shaking even if he wasn't directly beside me. The cat was almost inside when a loud scream from elsewhere distracted it. It growled and suddenly, it's pupils became slits. Hostile. It lifted its paw and Baekho hurriedly pulled me away. We ran to the side of the cage as it charged towards us but since we were small, we squeezed through the holes of the cage while Hoshi and Woozi slammed it shut. 

 

"Lock it, lock it!" Hoshi squeaked as Woozi jumped and tried to get the latch. 

 

"They're too short!" Baekho gasped and I was a little too fuzzy to hear anything. 

 

"We are here to help!" 

 

With the help of whoever those people were, the cat was trapped and hissing at us, ramming and clawing against the cage. 

 

"Minhyun, are you okay?" Baekho asked as he pulled me up. I nodded and sneezed again. "Hah. Probably not the right time to ask you now." 

 

We started glowing and in a flash, we were sent back to the main hall. Everyone looked around for one another. Hoshi and Woozi with another pair was there. So were Jonghyun and Ren. 

 

"Guess we all did it?" Hoshi was the first to speak as he looked around. 

 

"We did," Woozi said and Hoshi started cheering and hugging the smaller male who didn't seem to be much of a fan of the motion. 

 

"Oh my god! We are alive! Thank you so much, tall guy!" 

 

"No problem. You can call me Joel." 

 

"I'm never doing something like that again," his partner said. "Oh hey. Sorry. I'm Aron." 

 

Everyone else started to introduce themselves and exchanged fist bumps except me. I still felt a little dizzy from the fur and dust earlier. 

 

"Baekho, I need to rest," I said softly so I didn't disturb the rest from introducing themselves to one another. I could hear Baekho introducing me as well but I was already zoning out by then. 

 

"Okay. Let's get you to the bathroom first. Sorry, guys. We gotta call it a day first." 

 

"No problem, see you around." 

 

We headed back to the room and I hurriedly wash up to stop any further reactions the best I can. 

 

"Oh my. Your poor partner seems to have caught a little problem there," I heard Prism's voice as I poked my head out from the bathroom. 

 

"Why didn't the game system take away his allergies?" Baekho asked and looked at me. 

 

"I wonder why. Maybe it's a glitch?" Prism said jokingly. Baekho scowled and looked like he wanted to lunge at the other but held back. 

 

"What's the prize this time?" 

 

"Oh, you get to choose between this or this." He motioned his hands out and two bubbles formed before us. One had a katana inside and the other was a sniper. 

 

"Weapons? We don't want weapons. Give us more answers!" Baekho demanded and I placed a hand on his arm. He seemed really agitated but calmed down a little. 

 

"Answers, answers, answers. I'm sure even if you get them, you'll never be satisfied." 

 

"Let's just take our prize, Baekho," I said tiredly. 

 

"Isn't there medicine for him?" 

 

"Nope. Just these two."

 

"The gun isn't fake, right?" Baekho asked and Prism made no response. He grumbled and turned to me as I laid down. "What do you think?" 

 

"I think..." 

 

~~~

 

I think... 

 

> katana... 

 

> sniper...