a/n: after a year (i guess?) i'm finally back omfg. 

i've been uninspired as of lately, and i didn't really have much time (i was on semi-hiatus until just recently) so i didn't update for a long time. D: 

but i promise it wont happen again

i guess

yeah lets just go with that 

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After quite some time, the rest of the boys had finally awoken, and they were all handed warm towels of their own to dry their wet selves off. The atmosphere was a cozy, sort of dazed one, with them saying thank-you's to their 'hosts'... That is, except for Joonmyun, who was worriedly looking at the wallclock, staring at the time frantically, eyebrows furrowed, and lips thinned out into a straight line.

The tallest one out of their 'hosts' must have noticed this, as he sent a questioning glance at him.

"Is everything alright?" Joonmyun bit his bottom lip, a light dust of pink coloring his cheeks. Yixing's eyes narrowed.

"Yes, well... Thank you for, err, retrieving us and giving us shelter, but I'm afraid we have to go now..." He trailed off.  A short male, specifically one with chubby cheeks, cleared his throat uncomfortably.

"Well the thing is... You can't." The six students whipped their heads towards the male in puzzlement. 

"Err, excuse me?" Baekhyun blinked.  

"Um, you just missed the bus going back to the city. It doesn't come back until next month." Another tall, wide-eyed and long-limbed fellow flusteredly reasoned out, eyes darting at the tallest one, frantically asking for help. The other male rolled his eyes.

"Are you...serious?" Jongdae asked skeptically.  

"Dead serious." The puffy-cheeked one huffed. 

"You see, this establishment is in a secluded area, and the fact that this is the country side doesn't really help..." 

"Establishment? Exactly what kind of establishment is this, may I ask?" Luhan's eyes were wide with curiousity. 

"We run a circus, actually."  Jongdae slapped his palm against his forehead with a groan. 

"Great. We're stuck in a circus for one month. Great. This is the best. Absolutely perfect." 

"But... Surely there's another way out--" 

"No. Trust me, there's none. And you'd be suicidal if you even think of walking all the way out." 

"Really? Well I'm sure we could stay at a nearby hotel--" 

"I'm sorry, the nearest hotel would be in Gangwon-do, which is around more than four hours from here. Don't worry, we have a spare tent which you guys can use." 

An air of resignation hung around the six boys, knowing that they wouldn't be going home after a month. The room was engulfed in silence, except for the  small sniffling sounds coming from the newcomers, who were still shivering slightly from the cold. The tension in the room was so thick, you could slice through it.  

"Um. It might not help the situation at hand, but I guess introducing ourselves might make your, err, temporary stay here less cumbersome." The tall blonde one broke the ice, shuffling awkwardly. (or maybe it was just his awkward-sounding Korean, Luhan pointed out internally) His other companions murmured among themselves, seemingly having reached an agreement to go with the suggestion. 

"First off, my name's Kris. I'm one of the leaders here in our establishment. In the meantime, if you have any problems, feel free to approach me." Kris then excused himself, muttering about how he had other stuff to deal with. The other tall, curly haired and wide-eyed boy smiled brightly at the other six boys. 

"Hi there. I'm Chanyeol! And don't let Kris-hyung intimidate you guys, he's just sort of... cold." He pursed his lips thoughtfully. Another tall, but stone-faced boy rolled his eyes. 

"I'm Sehun. I'm the youngest here." Sehun crossed his arms over his chest stoically, and Luhan noted that the boy had a lisp, which he found quite cute.

Wait, cute?

No. Annoying. That's right, Luhan found Sehun's lisp annoying. 

Because boys don't find other boys cute. 

"I'm Xiumin." The puffy-cheeked boy smiled cheekily. Luhan raised an eyebrow. 

"Chinese?" 

"No, but Kris and Zitao over here," Xiumin gestured at Zitao, the tall, dark-eyed boy, "are. Not me, though." He chuckled. 

After Zitao's introduction, everyone waited in anticipation for the last boy, who kept silent and aloof the whole time. 

"Oi, Jongin. Introduce yourself." Xiumin frowned slightly at the younger boy's unusual attitude. 'Jongin' merely shifted his eyes upward, piercing them with his gaze. 

"Kai." He mumbled, before dashing out of the tent. 

"Well." 

"That was...." 

"So..... What now?"

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Joonmyun and Yixing decided to stick together in one corner of the tent, while Baekhyun was in the other corner, drying out the things in his backpack, which was, miraculously, still attached to him when their bodies were found afloat in the river.

Joonmyun, being the eldest of the six, and also the class president, eyed the younger one worriedly. Ever since they had woken up, the younger hadn't uttered a single word, which was uncharacteristic of him. The normal Yixing was talkative, a bit air-headed, and overall a sociable kid. Needless to say, this silent, sickly and frail-looking Yixing unnerved Junmyun. 

"Hey Yixing-ah, are you alright?" The elder's voice seemed to snap Yixing out of his trance, though the boy still looked a bit shaken up, his face pale. 

"I-I'm fine. I'm just feeling a bit sick... I think I must've caught a cold." He managed to smile weakly at the other, and as if on cue, sneezed. Jumyung frowned, but said nothing else except a silent 'get well soon', and 'make sure to rest right away then', as Yixing crawled over to one of the laid-out futons on the floor.

"Christ. Of all things, how could this happen to me...." Were Yixing's last thoughts before he drifted off into a disturbed and uncomfortable sleep. 

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Luhan was walking around the grounds of the circus, taking in the scenery of their location for the first time since they arrived. To say that the place was far into the country-side was an understatement; The term 'wasteland' was more fitting, actually. Luhan crinkled his nose as he pulled out his phone, thanking any kind of higher up philosophical being that it hadnt died out on him in the fast current of river water. 

'Maybe I could contact someone, anyone, to fetch us. Someone must at least be worried about us.' Luhan searched around the place, with his arm extended out, looking for signal. 

.....

.....

And... Voila!

No signal. 

Luhan cursed under his breath as he continued his search for signal, to no avail. 

"If you're looking for signal, you've come to the wrong place." Luhan let out an undignified shriek, and nearly dropped his phone. The intruder-slash-stalker-slash-creep (that was how Luhan had labeled him in his head), who was actually Sehun, snorted in what Luhan assumed, was amusement from the other's less-than-graceful reaction. Luhan flushed out of embarrassment. 

"Th-Thehun, was it?" 

"Sehun." He corrected with narrowed eyes, but said nothing more. 

"Um... Right. So, what did you say just now?" 

"I said there's no signal here. No wifi, no cable, no technology, no signal. The nearest payphone is 3 kilometers away." He recited monotonously. 

"As Kris-hyung had said, the only way you can get home is to wait for the next bus to arrive." 

"Is there really no other way?" Sehun shrugged. Luhan sighed. 

Silence. 

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huhuhu sorry for the crappy chapter guys i'm not that used to writing/updating stuff anymore, and since it's summer, my brain's sort of lazy aishhhh

so yeah sorry for the less-than-satisfactory chapter i assure you that the next one will be better!!!1!1 

and thanks to all those readers who waited for me patiently ugh what will i do without you guys???? sigh

anywho dont forget to comment/subscribe (if you want to, i guess??)