A/N: Well here is chapter 17! Yeah, I've been updating a lot lately and I've promised more drama, but I'm having a hard time putting it in!!! I feel like I'm just stringing this along!!! Gah! I KNOW what I need to do next chapter, but don't expect the heavy stuffs till chapter 19ish.

                Your Pov

                “Ah ha!” Shindong sat up from his lying down position in the grass.

                “What?” Eunyhuk bit a large chunk out of a banana.

                “I know what we should all do tonight!” Shindong pulled a flyer from the pocket of his school trousers. He unfolded it and held it up for all of us to see.

                “Paintball? Cool!” Kangin loved anything physical.

                “Does that mean I’ll be, sweating?” Zhou Mi wrinkled his nose.

                “Only if you get caught and have to run away.” Siwon told him. His boyfriend wasn’t one for physical other than…”AHEM”. But this was an activity with their friends, and he didn’t want Zhou Mi to look like a party pooper.

                “Are you sure you have time?” Kibum kept in mind of Siwon’s time consuming schedule.

The play in October was a big hit. It was sold out almost every night, and one of their last shows, both Kibum and Siwon got very lucky. At that showing was a talent agent, that absolutely loved Kibum and his acting skills. Without hesitation, he gave Kibum his card and advised him to come down to their agency. Within a matter of days, Kibum was enrolled as a student in training, and was expected to make his debut as an actor any moment. The agent couldn’t do the same for Siwon, but admired his great looks and tall physique. With some connections, Siwon was immediately jumped on by modeling companies that were searching for a fresh new face. I now knew two famous people!

“Yeah, I don’t have a shoot till this weekend,” Siwon nodded. Zhou Mi remained neutral, but it made me wonder how calm he could be. I knew if Donghae was a model, constantly being touched by other people (mainly women, but in his case, I guess men), I would be so jealous. But I also had to remind myself that Donghae had his dream of being a famous dancer. Either way, I would have to guard my man. I frowned and bit into my sandwich.

“I’m so in!” Han Geng rubbed his hands together excitedly, “Time to break out my ninja skills!”

“I might not be the best in sports,” Ryeowook piped in, “but I’ll try my best.”

“It’s settled! Everyone is going to be there so I better not hear any excuses, arachi?” Shindong scoped us out with a long stare. We all stared back or shook our heads yes.

“Alright! It’s paintball time!”

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

                The paintball facility was at a warehouse outside of Seoul. It was considerably big and had signs pasted all on the outside and stuck in the ground, advertising. The drive there wasn’t bad, and parking spaces were available for our mini vans. Shindong, the coordinator of this event, lead the pack into the building.

                Inside it was pretty dimly lit. The front desk was set to face the customers as soon as the door was opened, and on the wall behind it were more signs stating the prices and options. An older man, probably in his mid-thirties, greeted us with a wave. He wasn’t a typical older man. I could see that by observing his arm tattoos, spiked up hair, and casual clothing that consisted of a tank top and worn out jeans.

                “Hi! Welcome! What can I do for you all?” The man scanned our huge group.

                “We’ve come to play one round,” Shindong told him.

                “So till there’s one man standing?” The man confirmed. Shindong nodded and the man punched in some things on a touchable computer screen. He faced us again, “And how are we paying? As one balance collectively, or separate bills?”

                “Separate,” Shindong answered again. That signaled us all to dig into our wallets and pull out the ₩15,000 fee. When all of the money was collected and accounted for, the man lead us all back to a room behind a curtain.

                On the walls was all of the equipment needed to play paintball. Padding, guns…..and night goggles? That probably explains the dim lighting….

                “Have any of you been here before?” The man asked as he counted all of us.

                “No, none.” Kangin spoke up and received a vest from the man who was handing us all our own.

                “Okay then. So this is how it works,” The man then went into a demonstration on how to put on the padding, helmet, and how to hold and fire the guns. He also mentioned that this course was in complete dark, which is why the goggles were provided. The area we would be fighting in was made up of all walls, cut and posed like a maze. There were no dead ends, so a person could not be stuck. The game would also go on  for as long as necessary, until there is a last person standing.

With everyone suited up and with guns loaded we were all sent into the maze. You see, to make it difficult, there were many entrances to the maze, so one person could not track the other. Ryeowook and I, the “weak” ones, made a pact not to shoot each other until we were the last ones, so we entered at the same spot.

It was really annoying. Everything I saw was a grey or green. That, and you couldn’t see your surroundings without fully whipping your head in one direction because of the limits of the night goggles. There could have been someone in the far off corner of my right eye, but I could not see him because the lenses didn’t reach to the same extent my eyes would regularly. Ryeowook had also left me, so now I was on my own. As I slinked my way on the wall, I found a corner which I immediately went for. I leaned up against the crevice and faced the paths in front of me. This way, I wouldn’t have to worry about someone sneaking up on me.

It was quiet for a while, until a sharp smack, followed by many rapid other smacks, filled the room. No one had yelled out defeat, so the attacker must have misfired. As I thought that, a groan and a shot echoed.

“Crap! I’m done!” Kibum’s voice rung in the air. There were heavy footsteps and the noise of a curtain swishing, signaling that he exited.

“AH HA! I SEE YOU!” Kangin yelled and fired many shots.

“MISSED ME!” Leeteuk yelled back and shot as well.

“YAH! GET OUT FROM BEHIND THE WALL AND FACE ME LIKE A MAN!”

“SAME GOES TO YOU!”

“WE’LL DO IT ON THE COUNT OF THREE, OK? SO WE’RE EVEN!”

“WHAT THE HELL? ARE WE FIVE?!”

I sighed and rolled my eyes. If those loud mouths kept it up, they were going to be found by the others and eliminated! Shots were taken again and again and soon there was the sound of empty clicking. Out of nowhere, two shots were taken and I could hear that they had hit human contact.

“! Was that you, Teuk?” Kangin asked.

“No, it wasn’t me! I’m out of bullets!”

“So if we were hit and we’re both out of bullets, then who it us?”

“The other people in the game, you idiots!” I wanted to scream at them. It must have been one of our more physically skilled, like Hang Geng or Sungmin, who took those precise shots. For minutes now, there’s just been aimless shooting and only three have made a hit. I was beginning to get bored and regret my decision in hiding in the corner, but I saw something that made me not want to move an inch.

In front of me, maybe ten feet away, two of my friends were caught in a sudden death moment. Well, one was. The taller figure, who must have been Siwon (the height was a giveaway) was being backed up to a cut out wall by a tiny figure. The smaller boy had a gun poking at Siwon’s chest, not faltering whatsoever.

“Drop it,” The smaller boy’s voice commanded in a whisper. It was hard for me to detect who was the smaller figure because he had his tone of voice in one I’ve yet to ehar from any of my friends. Since I was so close, I could hear the two of them, but I doubted anyone else could. The taller did as the shorter asked.

“Good,” The smaller boy jabbed at Siwon’s chest with the gun, “I want you to feel utterly defenseless before I kill you.”

“Who, are you?” Siwon gasped. The shorter did not answer and simply pulled the trigger. After the shot was fired, he removed the gun to reveal a neon purple splotch, right where the heart would be. It gave me shivers. Which one of my friends was that ruthless?!

I didn’t have time to mull over that because the shorter boy was now stalking off dangerously close to where I was hiding. His gaze wasn’t reflected at me, but I could sense he knew someone else was close. I inched my way in the opposite direction, practically painted to the wall. He raised his gun, but a louder noise distracted him. He hesitated but eventually ran off. I covered my mouth and let out the air I had been holding.

In no time everyone was dropping like flies. The order then proceeded: Shindong, Heechul, Yesung, Zhou Mi, Eunhyuk, and Donghae. So out of all of us, me, Henry, Ryeowook, Sungmin, and Han Geng were left.  I was surprised Ryeowook managed to survive this long, like me. I thought for sure we’d be the first ones out. Feeling brave and also with the fact I couldn’t win this thing, I escaped from my hiding space and crept in the open, looking for targets.

I saw a black figure far ahead of me, and I sunk into a crouch position and hopped from wall slab to slab, protecting myself and gaining distance between us. When I thought my prey was close enough, I raised my gun and poised my fingers over the trigger. I took a deep breath, pulled back, and saw my prey get snatched away. The figure I was aiming at was shot right on the leg. He threw a little hissy fit and announced:

“I saw you on the ground hiding, you little sneak!”

Oh my god, Sungmin was out. He was voted on being one of the finalists, along with Han Geng. It’s possible Han Geng shot him, and saved himself an easy win for the finale. I still couldn’t get over it though. How was I, this close to winning it, when I hadn’t done anything at all! I almost screamed when there was suddenly a gun pointed at my temple that was concealed beneath the helmet.

“Gotcha!” The voice giggled audibly. Henry lowered the gun from my face and I smacked his arm.

“So, go ahead, shoot me! By the way, how did you know it was me?” I realized that Henry had me perfectly trapped. He was standing right in front of me, so I couldn’t make a quick escape.

“It’s easy to tell. The way you stand, it’s unique. And cute,” Henry added so I would not take the word unique in a personal way. Without me replying, Henry s an arm around my shoulders, but remained front on. I had to admit, it was weird seeing him in goggles, but it was also weirder having him so close and in an intimate way.

“So what are you going to do with me now?” I murmured, “Protect me till we’re the last ones standing and then shoot?”

“I was thinking along the lines of dual suicide,” Henry chuckled.

“Well,” I cocked my gun up secretly, “I’m not.” And then I took a shot, getting him right in the stomach. Henry jumped back in surprise and rubbed at the bright orange stain.

“Oh, now that’s cruel!” Henry complained.

“Well guess what? You’re out!” I shooed him off with my hand. But as I was flailing it stupidly out in the open, one of the last four sniped me in the arm.

“Ow!” I jerked back.

“You are too,” Han Geng said creepily and then disappeared off into the darkness. Henry and I gave each other a shrug and headed out.

“You know, I don’t get how it’s possible.” I said to him.

“What?” Henry pushed back the curtain and we were met with the sight of the rest of the guys lounging on chairs with their helmets and goggles off.

“How is Ryeowook one of the last ones standing?”

“Yeah,” Kibum nodded in wonder. I looked over at Siwon and saw that purple splotch on his chest from earlier.

“Hey Siwon, do you have any idea who hit you?” I asked him, “I saw what went down.”

“I honestly have no idea!” Siwon exclaimed, “I was walking, and I thought for sure no one was behind me. Death creeped up and held his gun to my back, whispering: ‘Turn around slowly.’” Siwon shivered.

“Man, that’s creepy!” Kangin commented.

“I didn’t hit you!” Sungmin raised his hands after a few pointed glances, “The only people I got were Yesung and Kibum.”

“Then it must have been Han Geng who got Siwon,” Heechul pointed out.

“No, Han Geng was taller. The guy who got me was a lot shorter.” Siwon disagreed.

“Then if no one here snagged Siwon, then there’s only one person….” Yesung raised his head to face the curtain slowly.

“It can’t be!” Leeteuk gasped.

“YEAY! I WON!” Ryeowook’s high voice yelled excitedly in the maze. A couple seconds later a bitter Han Geng and a glowing Ryeowook exited the course. We all stared at the tiny guy in shock. When he saw our expressions, his own happiness turned to confusion.

“What?” He questioned.

“How?” Sungmin’s eye twitched.

“How what?”

“How did you win?!”

“No offense,” Siwon added.

“Well, I’ve maybe sort of played before,” Ryeowook shuffled meekly, “Oh and spry about earlier Siwon.”

“That scary guy was you?” Siwon’s eyes went miles wide.

“No way!” I agreed, “Did you shoot anyone else?!”

“Yeah eight people.”

“Eight people?!” Han Geng was surprised too. It was clear even he didn’t get close to that number.

“Yeah. Leeteuk, Kangin, Siwon, Sungmin, Zhou Mi, Han Geng, Shindong, and Eunhyuk.” Ryeowook counted off on his fingers.

“You hit with such accuracy,” Eunhyuk rubbed the purple spot perfectly in the center of his chest.

“I have good eyesight.” Ryeowook shrugged.

“I’m hungry!” Shindong suddenly yelled, slumped over in his seat.

“Me too!” Zhou Mi whined and flopped in the same position.

“Ok then, let’s leave and go eat then,” Heechul tried to pull Zhou Mi up off the chairs, but kept huffing and puffing, going nowhere. Siwon easily flung his boyfriend over his shoulder. I giggled when Zhou Mi just grabbed Siwon’s in response which made Siwon jump.

After we changed we all piled into the cars. Donghae squeezed in next to me, and we wasted no time in joining hands. Sungmin, who was sitting next to Donghae on the opposite side, pretended not to notice.

“So who shot you?” I asked.

“Who do you think?” Donghae implied lightly.

“Henry?” I whispered.

“Yeah. I wonder who else he tagged?”

“I think I got him before anyone else.”

“You tagged him?” Donghae tried to fight his smile.

“Yeah. It’s his fault for hesitating. He literally had me trapped and didn’t do anything.”

“And you shot him straight away?”

“Yep.”

“That’s my girl,” Donghae kissed my cheek. I rolled my eyes to myself and laid my head on his chest.

“Hey!” Kangin, who was leering from the passenger seat, barked at us, “No open snuggling in the car! There must be two inches in between you two!”

“That’s harsh!” I complained.  

“Can I snuggle?” Sungmin cutely asked and matched my same position on Donghae’s right side.

“No,” This time, Yesung placed Ddangkoma on the edge of his seat more than likely to watch us. Donghae, Sungmin, and I refused to change our positions which had Kangin yelling at us again.

“Well,” I responded to his retort, “What are you gonna do about it? You can’t reach the three of us from back here!”

“Good point,” Donghae nodded and placed both his arms around Sungmin and I.

Kangin grumbled to himself for a moment, but eventually gave up. He crossed his arms and resumed his sulking stance with his head resting on the window.

“Pimp,” Kangin directed at Donghae which made the whole car laugh.

As the cars pulled back into Seoul, we decided to stop at our favorite pasta restaurant on the way back. It took us a while to find parking spaces on the side of the road. When we flooded out from the cars, I could see a waiter peering through the window. He jumped in surprise at how many people there were, and sprinted off. I laughed. That’s mainly the reaction we get when we travel out.

Just as I thought, that waiter had informed the rest of the staff, so when we entered the restaurant, the hostess  was awaiting us at the podium with a lot of menus. In the back you could see staff members moving chairs and tables. The hostess asked how many of us there were, and then lead us to the back room when she counted. As we passed other people eating, a man who I hadn’t even noticed, reached a hand out as I passed.

“Ae-Young?” His long fingers clasped on my wrist. I looked down, and my eyes widened.

“Oh my god! I haven’t seen you in forever!” I smiled and immediately went in for a hug.

“Uhm, who’s this?” Leeteuk, who I had forgotten about as well as the others, we still standing behind me.

“Oh, this is-”

A/N: Ooh I'm so mean for not revealing the mystery guy! And are some of you shocked? Ryeowook? I thought he needed and deserved a more badass side. Well, see you next week!