“Key!” Jonghyun shouted as he entered the apartment.  “Key!  Come look at this!” 

He heard the computer room door open and a disheveled Kibum stumbled out.  “Jonghyun,” he complained, “I was sleeping.” 

“Well, I guarantee this will wake you up,” Jonghyun told him, gesturing for him to come over to the couch. 

Key followed, rubbing his eyes with his knuckles.  “You know,” he commented, “Every time I go to sleep, I secretly hope to wake up and find out that this was all some weird, wacked-out dream.” 

Jonghyun grimaced and agreed.  “I know exactly what you mean, man.” 

“Unfortunately, it never is,” he sighed.  “Okay, now what was it you had to show me?”  Jonghyun pulled a teddy bear from behind his back.  Key gasped, recognizing it instantly.  “What the heck?  Where did you get that?”

“I don’t know; it was just sitting at the end of a hallway.  I didn’t know what it was until I read the tag,” Jonghyun explained.  “It had your name on it, so I figured you’d want to see it.” 

Key hadn’t made a grab for it yet, he was just staring wide-eyed at the bear, a sad smile on his face.  “Yeah,” he mumbled. 

Jonghyun cleared his throat.  “Actually, can I ask you something Key?”

His friend looked up, snapping out of his reverie.  “Um, yeah of course.  What is it?”

“What surgery is it talking about?”

Key exhaled, looking down at his hands. 

After a few seconds of silence, Jonghyun hurriedly broke in.  “You don’t need to tell me.  Never mind!  I’m sorry I asked.”  His words tumbled out one after the other as he tried to ease the awkward tension. 
“Key, really.  I’m sorry it’s none of my business—“

“Jonghyun,” Key interrupted, “Really, it’s fine.  It’s not a big deal; it happened a long time ago.  I don’t mind telling you.”  While he was talking, he reached out for Jonghyun’s hand, but his fingers brushed the bear’s fur.  

All of the sudden, Key started to disintegrate.  Literally fade away before Jonghyun’s eyes. 

“Key!” he screamed, standing up to rush to his friend.  “Key!  What’s happening?!”

Key didn’t answer him; he just stared ahead as his legs crumbled into nothingness, and with a slight “schwoop” he vanished into thin air. 

“Key!  Key?!”  

Jonghyun collapsed onto the floor, searching the carpet for some sort of clue, a trapdoor, dust, magic runes, anything.   He found nothing. 

Then he remembered.  Key had touched the teddy bear.  Whipping around, his heart stopped.  The bear was gone.   Simply…gone.  Just like Key. 

Jonghyun cradled his head in his hands, shoulders shaking softly.  What the heck was happening now?  

Suddenly, the bedroom door burst open, and Onew ran out.  “Jonghyun!  What the crap are you screaming about?  Where’s Key?  Did you find Taemin?”   

Seeing his friend’s broken state, he approached slowly and crouched down to his level.  “Woah, man, sit up.  Come on.”  He eased Jonghyun up and onto the couch.  “Take a deep breath.  Yeah, like that.” 

Jonghyun looked considerably calmer, but his eyes were still wild, holding some horror he had seen. 

“Jonghyun, can you tell me what happened?  Slowly, from the beginning,” Onew suggested. 

Jonghyun nodded and took another deep breath in and out.  Carefully, he began to tell Onew the bizarre incident, starting with the finding of the teddy bear and ending with Key’s sudden disappearance. 

“Okay, that’s certainly not normal.  Where’s the bear now?” Onew asked, looking around the couch. 

“That’s just it,” Jonghyun muttered.  “The bear’s gone too.”  

“So, Key touched the bear, and now they both—what—vanished?” Onew summarized questioningly.

Jonghyun nodded, adding, “Yeah, but the bear had Key’s name on it.  Like, it was his toy from a long time ago.  It didn’t do anything when I touched it.” 

“Hmmm.” Onew turned away, puzzled, when they both froze.   “Did you hear that?” he murmured, nudging Jonghyun. 

“Huh?”

Onew sat up sharply.  “There it was again!  Please tell me you heard that.” 

Jonghyun nodded.  “That giggle?  Yeah I heard it.” 

“Boys, boys, boys,” came the voice.  The voice.  Jonghyun and Onew both sprang to their feet, looking around desperately for the source.  “It seems three of your friends have already figured out the game!” 

“The game?” Onew whispered questioningly to Jonghyun, who shrugged in response.

“As of now, you two are behind.  Get your head in the game, boys, ‘cause right now your future doesn’t look too bright.”

And with that, the power went out. 

A/N: What's going to happen next?  What is this "game" they're talking about? I want to hear what you guys think so far!  Thank you for supporting me; I appreciate it so much!  <3 More to come soon!