••••

CHAPTERTHIRTEEN

❝FADINGCONSCIOUSNESS❞

"How“ long has it been since we last seen the light of day?” Hoya complained dramatically. He walked with a stagger, obviously feeling drained from the long journey.

“Five minutes,” Dongwoo answered.

“You lie!”

Dongwoo checked his watch, “You’re right! I stand corrected. It’s only been two hours.”

Sunggyu, Dongwoo, Woohyun, and Hoya had been walking in the abandoned underground transit tunnels for quite a while now. It was damp and quiet. And dark as hell. Everyone had to carry their own flashlight (courtesy of Dongwoo’s backpack) in order to see just a few feet ahead of them. It also smelled.

It smelled like Leeteuk.

Woohyun sighed as Hoya continued to whine over how long they’ve been walking. He was beginning to aggravate the young man. However, the brunet was quite exhausted himself, so exhausted that he became used to the constant pain wracking through his body. His left arm hurt tremendously, his neck was sore from being choked by Tao, and there was this constant pounding in his head and ringing in his ears. He must’ve hit his head exceptionally hard during the car crash. Despite the pain, Woohyun was sure Sunggyu was feeling worse.

Woohyun looked to Sunggyu, who was leading the group down the damp tunnels. He was wobbling slightly. The burnet was sure he would drop at any moment.

“–there, Woohyun?”

Said man snapped out of his thoughts at the sound of Dongwoo’s voice. He looked to his blue-haired companion, waiting for him to repeat himself. Hoya was standing next to him, eyeing him with a frown.

Understanding the look, Dongwoo repeated, “You alright there?”

“Um, yeah, I’m okay. I was just lost in my thoughts,” he nodded, glancing back at Sunggyu. The leader stopped walking and was eyeing the three of them with an abnormal look.

Weirdo. Woohyun thought.

He turned back to Dongwoo. “But can we, maybe, take a break or a few minutes? I’m a bit weary.”

“You sure you’re okay?” Hoya asked. He looked skeptical. Dongwoo was giving him the same look. Woohyun concluded that he must’ve looked like a wreck on the outside.

“Yeah, don’t worry about me,” Woohyun gave a slight smile to help deter their worriment towards him. It wasn’t a complete lie, though. The brunet was okay enough to continue on. He just needed to rest for a moment. The pressure in his head had not ceased.

“Yeah, sure,” Dongwoo looked in the direction they came from. “I think we’ve traveled far and long enough to take a break. I’m a little tired myself.”

As the three made their way to a platform attached to the tunnel walls, Sunggyu did not immediately follow. He instead grabbed a nearby trashcan and dragged it over to the platform. He then checked the inside of it, nodding to himself slightly.

“Dongwoo,” Sunggyu’s voice was rough and harsh as it reverberated in the tunnel. “Do you have a match or something? I want to start a fire.”

Said man did not say anything as he rummaged around in his bag. He pulled out a couple of matches and handed them to his boss.

Woohyun leaned against the tunnel wall and slid to the ground, watching the flames come to life inside the trashcan. He could already feel the warmth of the fire. The brunet had to admit it was quite cold. He wished he still had Dongwoo’s Batman hoodie to wear. But because his left arm had to be in a sling to prevent further damaged to his injured shoulder, he had to abandon it.

“Hey, Woohyun?” Dongwoo pulled him out of his thought again. He sat down to his left. Sunggyu took the spot to his right. A small, painful groan could be heard from him as he tried to get into a comfortable sitting position. Hoya leaned against the wall next to Dongwoo.

Woohyun hummed, feeling overly worn out. Now that he actually got to sit down and rest, the pain in his body seemed to intensify.

“What is your time like?”

“What do you mean?”

“Where you grew up… was it anything like this? You’ve never been through anything like this before, right?”

Woohyun shook his head. “Life… was simple for me. I lived with my mom and my older brother before h