Disaster Strikes
Like this....?
Aly sighed, running a brush through her curls. She was situated on a couch in the sitting room of their dorm, country music blaring through the speakers. She could only really do this when she was alone, because no one seemed to share her love for the music native to her home state.
Sue had gone out with Alexander earlier. Something about a day of relaxation and fun. Asa was with Kibum like always doing who knows what. She would have called Soohyun, but he had a schedule with Kiseop, who happened to be her second go to guy. She had even called Kevin and Eli, but they ended up having to meet up with the manager about something or other. All that was left was Dongho, and when she called him, she slowly realized he was in class and felt guilty about being upset he didn’t answer.
There was a knock on her door and she stared at it like it was an object foreign to her everyday life. The person had to knock again before she got up, turning down her music as she walked to the door, “Hell- Oh… SeungHo.” She chewed on her bottom lip. She hadn’t seen the boy since the night Soohyun had dragged her out of his apartment, “What’s wrong?”
He sighed, ruffling his hair, “I came here because I feel like we kind of ended on a sour note. May I come in?”
She shifted a bit, unsure if she felt comfortable being alone with him, “Yeah, sure.” She opened the door wider to let him in before closing the door behind him, “What’s up?”
He looked around at the pictures in the room, “Well…” He turned to look at her, swallowing, “I-I-I…” He blushed heavily, “I want to be good friends with you.”
“…I don’t know-”
He stepped forward, “I like you. A lot. But, I’ve been looking over it. I’d rather know you as a good friend than not know you at all.”
She crossed her arms, “SeungHo, I appreciate what you’re saying, but-“
“Then at least forgive me for liking you so much”
Aly struggled for words for a moment. He looked so desperate. She looked to the side, “F-Fine. But only friends.” She pointed at him, “Don’t try anything funny.”
He gave her a serious look, “Have I ever tried anything since you’ve known me?”
“…No…”
“So, why would I start now?”
She smiled, laughing a bit before pulling him into a hug, “Ah~ I missed having you as a friend.”
He sighed happily, wrapping his arms around her, “I missed you too.”
Aly pulled away, moving towards the kitchen, “Would you like a drink or something?”
“Yeah! I’d love some water.”
“Sure thing!”
----
Kibum paused in front of the girls’ dorm as SeungHo was leaving. Aly was laughing a bit, saying goodbye, and then noticed the boy. She waved, “Hey! Kibum! Where’s Asa?”
He eyed SeungHo suspiciously, “Dongho called her saying he was sick and Soohyun offered to take them.”
“...You let her go? Even though Dongho...”
“I trust her.” He waved to the now leaving member of MBLAQ, “What was he doing here?”
“Apologizing.” She smiled, opening the door, “Want to come in and wait for Asa?”
“Well, I don’t know...”
“Please?” She poked her bottom lip out in a pout, “Every one's been busy today and I was just guilted into forgiving SeungHo. I could use a friend. And it beats being alone, right?”
He tilted his head from side to side before nodding, “Alright.”
She smiled brightly, closing the door behind them.
---
Dongho’s face was red and the poor boy was drenched in a cold sweat. His head was resting on Asa’s shoulder. His eyes were drooping and his mouth was hanging open. She sighed, feeling sorry for him. She ran her fingers through his hair and hummed a soft tune.
Soohyun smiled from the other side of Dongho, “You’ve got the mothering thing down, don’t you?”
She smiled as Dongho’s eyes drooped shut and his breathing became even, “Yeah... I hate seeing people like this. So, I take care of them when and if I can.”
Soohyun looked at her, “Well, thank you for taking care of Dongho.”
She rested her cheek on his messy hair, closing her eyes, “Mm.”
---
Sue huffed as Kiseop finished his solo, “I don’t see why we don’t get more lines. We sing awesome.”
Xander nodded, “Right?”
The other two punched either of his arms playfully, and Kiseop stuck his tongue out, “You aren’t allowed to say anything. You get plenty of lines in songs.”
Kiseop had ended up meeting up with Sue and Alexander after Soohyun had gotten a call about a sick Dongho.
The group decided to go out for karaoke, after much debate amongst themselves.
And now they were attempting trot versions of songs to give it that comedic flare they were all so fond of.
At this point, the door opened to reveal Kevin, who was pouting. Sue stood, offering her seat, “Couldn’t convince Eli?”
“Nope~ He went back to the dorms.” Kevin sat down, pulling Sue into his lap playfully, “Something about one, not liking karaoke, and two, he felt bad that Aly was by herself today.”
Sue huffed, “I swear, if one more person confesses to her, I’m going to knock out the next guy I see and elope.”
Alexander puffed his cheeks out, “It’s not her fault, you know.”
Kiseop laughed, “You guys act like everyone likes her.”
Sue pointed at the boy, “What, you haven’t noticed? Being in this group has been like watching a drama. Or reading a really bad fanfiction.”
Kevin shook her, “Or an awesome one.” He pouted again, “I’ve been enjoying the drama.”
Alexander crossed his arms, “I don’t think you guys are being very nice.”
Sue moved from Kevin’s lap to sit across from the boys, “Xander, chill out. We’re just poking fun.”
Kevin playfully shoved the older boy, “Seriously. Let’s karaoke.” He picked up the songbook, “LET’S DO MADONNA.”
Kiseop groaned loudly, “Only you and Asa like that song. Let’s sing Gee.”
The group cheered in agreement and they began the familiar song.
---
Aly blinked up at Eli, “You didn’t have to come back early.” She smiled, “I appreciate it, though!” She ushered the boy in, “Kibum and I were just about to play chess.”
Eli wrinkled his nose, “Seriously? That sounds boring. Like, painfully boring.”
Kibum crossed his arms, “Well, no one asked your opinion.”
The girl hushed them, “Let’s not fight right now, alright?” She pointed to the kitchen, “We have all kinds of snacks in the kitchen. Help yourself.”
---
Soohyun turned his head to look at a now sleeping Asa, whose cheek was resting on Dongho’s head. The boy was fast asleep as well, his breathing heavy and unsettling. He sighed at the scene before opening his phone. His thumbs brushed over the screen. His wallpaper was a picture he had taken of a certain blonde girl without her knowing as she was dozing off during a group get together. He closed the phone and smiled, considering his possible future.
That’s when the unthinkable occurred.
The driver swerved as the ground began vibrating violently, causing the vehicle to flip unintentionally down a steep hill and into a drainage pipe that had been secured a fair distance below arm’s reach.
During the confusion, Soohyun quickly grabbed hold of the other passengers in a bear hug of sorts, closing his eyes tightly as they tumbled.
Asa had awoken and was screaming as she clung onto the maknae of U-KISS to keep him safe.
Dongho had awoken also, but the weak boy could only grip onto their arms as tight as his sickly body would allow him to.
The tremor continued even after the now crushed car had stopped spinning.
Soohyun hushed them loudly over the vibrating noise, “It’ll be over soon. Just keep holding on tight.”
Asa’s eyes were screwed shut as she whimpered, keeping a tight hold on the sick boy between them. She hummed loudly as she heard Dongho break into sobs, his face buried into her shoulders. Soohyun tucked Asa’s head beneath his chin and kept the two in a tight hold.
---
Kevin was the only one out of the four of them to really understand what was happening right away. Growing up in California, the boy had experienced several earthquakes in his lifetime. Though, this one was far worse than the ones he had remembered.
The boy stood quickly, ushering Sue to the frame of the door, instructing the two others vocally to follow. They huddled together, Sue was held by Kevin, Kiseop was at her back and Alexander had his long arms around the entire group.
Through the tangle of arms, Sue watched as the tiles of the roof began falling around them. The first thing that came to mind was that she had really hoped the friends not with her now were safe. Sensing her concern, Kevin tucked her head under his chin, “Stay still until it passes, alright?”
She nodded silently.
---
Eli and Kibum both instinctively dragged the blonde girl to the archway leading to the kitchen as the vibrating began. Aly found herself sandwiched between the two U-KISS members she had probably spent the least time with, and found herself feeling more awkward than afraid.
That is, until their fridge toppled beside them, several cabinets and things hanging on the wall following suit. Aly let out a small scream in surprise and Eli decided to make light of the situation, “Did something fall on a cat?”
The girl frowned, punching his chest softly, “This isn’t the time to joke!”
He laughed at her expression unintentionally, and she huffed, “RUDE!”
Kibum shook the two back into reality, “I don’t know if you two realize this, but we’re kind of in the middle of an earthquake. And it kind of just took half of this dorm room down.” He was yelling over the loud noise, “We need to just stay still right now.”
The two nodded silently, but Aly stuck her tongue out at the rapper with a huff before looking down. She wanted to make sure she got in the last punch if it was going to end.
Unfortunately, it hadn’t been that easy.
In the blink of an eye, the entire outside wall of their second floor dorm room had collapsed, taking a good chunk of the inside with it. Kibum had instinctively pulled the girl closer, worrying that if something were to happen to her, Asa would probably kill him.
Soohyun too, but he was more afraid of what the brunette girl would do.
Eli took that as a cue and pushed the two against the arch, holding on tight. He thought briefly that he should have been more worried about it earlier, but he pushed the thought back, deciding that worrying now was probably more important.
---
The tremors had finally come to an end, and Soohyun was the first of the three to open his eyes. He unbuckled himself, falling to the roof of the car which was beneath them at the moment. And he helped Asa safely unbuckle Dongho, opening the door and helping him outside before moving to assist the girl.
Dongho was placed carefully on his back, Asa’s purse beneath his head as he groaned in pain. Not only was the poor boy sick, but he had gotten injured during the fiasco. His head was pounding and he was starting to sweat again.
Soohyun moved to unbuckle Asa only to find that it had been jammed somewhere in all of the commotion. She hissed as he moved her around, “S-stop. My arm...”
He looked up at it and cringed. It was covered in fresh blood, and looked as though it could have been broken. Soohyun gave her a light pat on the head, smiling brightly, “Just stay calm, alright?” He moved to the front seat to try and find something to cut the girl down with, only to come face to face with the lifeless body of the driver.
He covered his mouth as he gagged.
Asa frowned, “Is everything alright?”
“Y-yeah.” He reached for the first-aid kit from the glove box and opened it to reveal a pair of medical tape scissors. Those would work, “I’m gonna cut you down, and once we get outside, I’ll fix your arm up.”
She nodded thankfully, “Mm. But, you’re bleeding too.”
“Huh?”
“Your head...”
He reached up to find what she was talking about and laughed a bit at the red substance on his fingers, “Bah. I’ll be alright for now.” He began cutting her down, “We’ll worry about it later.”
---
Sue sobbed as Kevin and Kiseop moved the rubble from Alexander’s legs. She held her hand over , trying to keep as quiet as she could. The eldest boy had pushed them away as part of the roof collapsed on his legs, and now that the shaking had finally ceased for the time being, Kevin and Kiseop were getting him out from beneath everything.
As soon as he was free, they helped him up, his arms draped around their shoulders.
Sue moved in front of them, trying to clear a path as the two boys dragged Alexander from the broken building, “What would happen if we couldn’t get out?”
Kiseop sighed, “We’re idols. They wouldn’t let us die in here.”
Kevin nodded, “Granted, they’d probably be looking for you, not us. We still aren’t very popular.” He grinned before winking, “Guess we’re lucky, huh?”
Alexander slapped the boy over his head playfully, “Yah! My leg is killing me. Stop flirting!”
Sue’s cheeks puffed out in a minor pout, “That was flirting? You’re not very good at it.”
Kiseop laughed out loud as Kevin gaped at the retreating girl’s back, speechless. He stepped over a rather large pile of the fallen building, helping Kevin lift Xander over it.
The group came to a halt as they reached the main hall of the building. Everything was caved in and the windows and doors had been blocked off by the remains.
Sue frowned, turning to the boys, “I hope you were right about earlier...”
---
Aly coughed as dust and debris kicked around them. Something smelled like it was on fire, but it wasn’t a strong scent, so the fire obviously wasn’t in their dorm. She had broken away from the boys to assess the damage done, and found herself shaking uneasily at the sight.
Somewhere in all of the madness, the second floor had become the basement level. And the three of them were trapped like rats in the now tiny dorm until someone came to dig them out. Luckily, the roof of their room had stayed stable despite the building collapsing, but that was just some sort of miracle in itself.
She looked back to Kibum and Eli with a frown, tears forming in her eyes, “A-Are we gonna die?”
“Aish. You cry a lot.” Eli crossed his arms uneasily, looking away from her.
She breathed in deeply, hurt a bit by his comment, but her reply was cut off by Kibum, who shoved the other male in the shoulder, “You could be more sensitive to the situation.”
The rapper scoffed, “When did you become the girl whisperer? You’re not known to be very sensitive either, you know.”
Kibum’s stance went from defensive to serious, “Would you care to repeat that? I don’t think I heard you right.”
Aly sobbed loudly from where she was standing, making the two break from their momentary fight. Eli shifted uncomfortably again and Kibum walked to the girl, petting her head, “We’ll be alright. The lack of oxygen to his brain is making Eli a jerk.”
Eli huffed, “I was just pointing out a fact!”
Kibum glared at him for a moment before turning back to the younger girl, with a smile, “Since Asa and Soohyun aren’t here, I’m automatically your caretaker. I won’t let anything happen, alright?”
She nodded, but continued to sob despite the nice gesture.
He guided her to the floor and instructed her to sit. She did as she was told, and he pointed at Eli, “Sit. Now.”
The boy rolled his eyes in rebellion, but sat anyway, “I’m not sitting because you told me to. Just so you know. My legs hurt.”
Kibum smirked before seating himself down, “Yeah, yeah.” He looked between the two, “So! Shall we play a game to pass the time?”
“Ugh. Why do I feel like you’re our dad or something?” Eli leaned back on his hands, “You don’t have to entertain us. We’re going to die.”
Aly sobbed harder, face buried into her knees. Kibum rubbed his temple before punching Eli in his shoulder, “You’re not helping!”
---
Soohyun frowned at his cellphone. Why wasn’t he getting service? He just wanted to call Aly and make sure she was alright. He gasped loudly in pain, “Asa! That hurt!”
She sighed, “Don’t be a baby.” The girl had her left arm in a hand-made sling that Soohyun had crafted professionally from his over shirt and some of the bandages from the first aid kit. Her right hand was patting rubbing alcohol onto Soohyun’s head in an attempt to keep the wound from getting infected, “You didn’t even get hit that bad. When you break your arm, you can come and talk to me.”
He flared his nose a bit in frustration, closing his phone, “Whatever.”
She finished, tossing the cotton ball to the side and wrapping gauze around his head, “There.” She stood, moving to the other side of Dongho, who was asleep once again. She placed her hand over his forehead, “If his fever doesn’t break soon, he’ll need to go to the hospital.”
Soohyun bit down on his bottom lip, looking up the wall of the half pipe, “Well, that’d be amazing if we could get out of here.”
She ran her hands through Dongho’s hair as she spoke, “What do we do?”
He walked around a bit, “Let me think for a while. For now, though. Let’s get a water bottle out of the back and use it to wet the rest of that shirt.” He pointed to the bits of his over shirt left over from making her a sling, “We can put cool water on his forehead to try and cool him down for now.”
“Right.” She moved to do as he instructed as he moved further down the area they were currently stuck in.
---
Sue’s eyes began drooping as time went on, “I don’t think I can stay awake much longer...”
Kevin sat beside the girl, holding a glass of water, “Then sleep.” He took a sip, “We’ll be here for a while.” The boy smiled cutely at her, “You can even use me as a pillow if you want!”
She glanced at him, “Really?”
He set down his cup and gave his thigh a firm pat, “There isn’t much cushion, but you’re welcome to use it if you’d like!”
Sue didn’t hesitate. She was too tired to even think about it. It seemed like the girl was out as soon as her head hit his thigh. Her breathing evened slowly, and once Kevin was sure she was asleep, he played with her hair a bit before looking up at Alexander and Kiseop.
Alexander was having issues with peeing somewhere that wasn’t a bathroom, so Kiseop had volunteered to take him. Kiseop smirked at the two, but didn’t say anything about it, “So. Now we wait?”
Kevin nodded, pulling out his phone, “Either someone comes to find us or we get cellphone service. I hope the others are alright.”
“Mm. It’s going to be dark soon, won’t it get colder?” Xander mused as Kiseop helped him sit on a bench.
“What are we supposed to do? This is a karaoke building, not a house.”
Kiseop bit down on his bottom lip, “We’ll figure something out, Kevin.”
---
Aly frowned at her cellphone, wiping her eyes dry for what seemed like the thousandth time. Kibum had been really nice, trying to comfort her, but she just wanted to hear Soohyun talk to her. That’d make her feel better.
The girl shivered a bit, rubbing her arms for friction, but jumped as a blanket was draped on her shoulders. Her eyes went bigger when she looked up at Eli who was rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly, “You looked cold.”
She nodded, “I was. Thanks.”
And then there was a pregnant pause.
He finally sat beside her, pulling his knees to his chest, “You stopped crying.”
She nodded, “For now.”
There was another awkward silence.
After a moment, a loud snore sounded from the couch from an overly exhausted Kibum, gaining loud laughter from the two others occupying the room.
After a few minutes, Eli stretched his legs out, “It seems like I always get punched for making you upset. I hope you don’t hate me.”
She laughed, “Hate you? Nah. I’ve dealt with hate before and I don’t like it. Hating other people is pointless.”
He scoffed, “You really are something else.”
She looked up at him in question and he continued, “There’s got to be something about you that isn’t perfect. I mean, no offense, but you seem like the perfect person and it irritates me.”
The girl stretched out to match the rapper, “Mm. I’m sorry you feel that way.” She bit down on her lip before sighing, “I used to always be that person that changed depending on who I was talking to. There was a guy I really liked, and I never knew how to act around him, so I’d be a different person everytime I was around him.” She could see him watching her out of the corner of her eye, “One day he told me he liked girls with straight hair. So I always wore my hair straight. One day he told me he liked girls who weren’t afraid to be mean to everyone. So, I became a nasty person and lost all of my friends. Finally, he told me he only liked girls who could be themselves. And I cried for the first time in my life.” She tugged at her hair, “I had no friends and everyone thought I was this awful person.”
She bit down on her lip, “That was when I decided that I was going to be a good person, because I did all of these mean things and I knew that just wasn’t me.”
Eli reached over and brushed her hair out of her face, “So why do you keep your hair straight still?”
Aly laughed, swatting his hand away, “I just can’t seem to forget that everyone was so nice to me when I straightened it. If it were curly again, would people be mean to me again?”
“...” He watched as her expression faltered again before pulling her into a one-armed hug, “You’re crazy. Everyone agrees you look prettier with curly hair.”
Kibum cleared his throat, causing Eli to let go of the girl and scoot away, “Sorry I fell asleep.”
Aly blinked at Eli’s sudden kindness, but chose to ignore it, looking up at Kibum, “It’s fine.”
The older boy sat between the two, crossing his legs, “Any phone service yet?”
“Ah... no.” Aly frowned at her cellphone, “I hope Soohyun and everyone are alright.”
Kibum nodded, “I’m sure they are.”
“Or they’re dead.”
“Eli!” Kibum hissed as Aly sniffled, “What’s wrong with you?”
“I’m just being realistic.” He stood an flopped over the side of the tattered couch and the room was silent once again.
---
Soohyun waved frantically and yelled as he heard voices from above them.
A group of firemen had received word that their car had rolled into the deep area, and had finally come forth to save the group.
Asa watched as Soohyun held Dongho up to the rescuers, making sure he was safe before he helped took hold of her still manageable forearm. He led her to the firemen and hoisted her up with what seemed to be little to no effort, handing her to the men above.
And finally, it was his turn to be pulled up.
Once the three of them were safely back on level ground, Asa moved to the ambulance, sitting inside before looking to Soohyun, “You sure you’re alright to go back to the dorm?”
He nodded with a smile, “Yeah. Take care of Dongho, and I’ll go and make sure everyone got out alright. I promise we’ll be at the hospital in no time.”
She bit down on her bottom lip, looking down.
The boy laughed a little, coming forward, pinky extended, “Promise.”
Asa smiled slightly, meeting his pinky with her own, “I’m trusting you.”
He waved as the doors to the vehicle shut and watched as they sped towards the hospital. Finally turning on his foot, he opened the door to the taxi they had hailed for him and mumbled the address to the dorms under his breath to the driver, who nodded, starting the car and driving to their destination.
Hey Everyone!! Sorry its been forever since we posted a new chapter! I don't know why but it took us forever to write this chapter, mostly cause we have been busy with work and school and also because this chapter is complex! A earthquake has struck, the story will obviously continue to the next chapter!
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