*FLASHBACK* 

      The four dancers bobbed their heads as the familiar beat emitted from the speakers, "Five, six, seven, eight!" Eunhyuk screamed over the loud music. Their lean bodies moved in perfect synchronization, transitioning to the next move in one fluid motion.

      Though, through the full length mirror, Eunhyuk could see one person that was ruining the perfection that he was striving for, "Stop, stop, stop!" he yelled, holding his arms out. The dancers paused mid-step, confused by the sudden interruption. Eunhyuk turned around to glare at the problem. Though the music was still blaring, the irritation in his voice could be heard loud and clear, "Sehun, you're late again!  Stop pausing on six, how many times do I have to tell you that?!"  he said, taking off his hat and throwing it to the floor. His knuckles were oddly white as grabbed his newly dyed blue hair in frustration. He took several deep breaths and turned back to Sehun slowly, who's heart beat faster now than it did while dancing, "Look, the SMTOWN concertis in less than a week and we still don't have this routine down yet. You need to get it right!" he growled through his teeth.

    "Sorry," Sehun muttered. He wanted to say more, maybe an excuse of some sort, but even that might have earned him a punch to the face.

     "Maybe we should take five," Taemin said. He looked down at Eunhyuk, who was then crouched down with his face held in his hands, "...or ten."

     Kai whiped his sweat drenched face on his t-shirt, "Maybe that's a good idea."

     The weeks leading up to the concert were stessful ones for the idols. They would spend the majority of their days practicing, often skipping meals to get their acts as perfect as possible. Over the last few nights, several, including Eunhyuk, had forgotten what a mattress even felt like, opting to sleep on the sofas in the practice rooms instead (they decided that staying at the headquarters was easier than returning home at crazy hours when they would just have to come back to work anyways). Though staying inside was greatly supported by the SM chairman, Lee Soo Man, because it gave them more time to practice.

      Everyday at noon, he would read news reports over the intercom to inform everyone about the progress of the viral outbreak. Every report was the same: the virus continued to spread and patients were showing varying symptoms. Though, those exact symptoms had never been specified. The best way to avoid everything was to wash your hands and stay inside, he would repeat. He saw this kind of quartantine as an opportunity for everyone to give a performance like no other.

      Given their tight practice schedule, the idols had little time to do their own research, and were completely dependent on his daily announcements for updates. Because watching the news during practice times was considered a distraction, they couldn't turn on the televison in their practice room. Truly, they were disconnected and unaware of what really happened outside of the building.

      They thought they knew everything they needed to about the epidemic. 

      They were wrong. They just didn't know it yet. 

      Once Eunhyuk collected himself, he was able to muster something a little less than a glare, "I'm going to get some water. When I come back, we're starting again." his strides were quick as he disappeared from the room, leaving the door slighly ajar. 

      During the last few weeks, Eunhyuk had been consumed by an almost crippling stress. Being the oldest and most experienced of the group, he had to choreograph and teach a routine to the other three dancers, Sehun, Kai, and Taemin, to perform at the concert. It was a tradition at SM concerts for the artists of different groups to join forces and perform together. 

    But recently, this was an occasion that no one was looking forward to.

      "I miss the old relaxed, Eunhyuk. Not this one who harps on every little detail," Chanyeol said after Eunhyuk left, "I can't even imagine how stressed he's feeling right now." Chanyeol was considered lucky amongst the rest of his colleagues. He was supposed to do a rap performance with Kris, but he had last minute interviews with EXO-M in China at the time. Since he couldn't practice effectively by himself, he spent his days watching others prepare.

     Chanyeol looked down at his watch, It's noon, Lee Soo Man should be making his announcement soon, he thought.

     As expected, there was a timely scratching over the intercom and the sound of a familiar voice.

     "Good afternoon everyone," said Lee Soo Man. There was less of a cheer in his voice than usual, "Now, I'm sure that you haven't had much time to watch the news lately,"

     "Or do anything else," Sehun said under his breath.

     "But I know that you are all aware of the virus that has taken the country by surprise. I have just been informed by authorities that there are some sort of riots," the last word sounded more like a question, "in the streets, and it is nearing the city. From this information I have been given, I advise you to all go home immediately. Since your safety is my priority, the rest of today's practices are to be cancelled. That is all." The static continued untl there was silence.

     "That's never happened before," Taemin said, taking a sip of his water.

     "I know, this virus thing has to be serious for him to let us go home at a time like this," Chanyeol said. He walked over to the televsion for the first time in days and turned it to the local news channel. The screen showed a helicopter view of an oddly busy street, packed with clumps of people weaving their way through the parked cars. Flashing red and blue police lights could be seen everywhere.

     "What the-?" Sehun began. Chanyeol held out his finger to silence him as the anchor began to speak about the scene.

     "It's complete chaos out there. The National Guard has just been summoned to fight them off-"

      The sounds of police sirens.

     "They are eating, feeding on-"

      The sound of pleas for help.

     The helicopter's camera zoomed in, showing dozens of people running as if their lives depended on it. The focus was on an elderly woman, gripping her purse closely to her side as she tried to keep up with the crowd.  A man, dragging himself along, was not very far behind, and before she could look back, he grabbed her by the collar and tugged her backwards. They both collided with the asphalt, and it appeared as if the man was whispering in her ear as he climbed on top of her. 

    Her screams said otherwise.

    Their figures were soon covered by the stampede that continued to rush past. Before anyone could make sense of the scene, the camera was back in the newsroom. 

    The shocked anchor's eyes were b with tears as she held , "Oh my God," she said through her fingers. After those words, the screen went black, and the signal was lost. 

     Confusion was the only thing that was comprehensible, "What was that about?" Taemin asked. 

    "Is there some kind of joke I'm not in on?" Kai asked incredulously, "What were they running from?"

     Chanyeol hit the TV several times, but still nothing changed, "That's not any kind of riot I've ever seen. I watched the news a few days ago and nothing was that crazy."

     Many running footsteps could be heard outside of the door. Chanyeol peered into the hallway. A swarm of trainees, some yelling, ran to the elevators and staircases at the end of the hall. He spotted a faminliar face in the crowd, "Hey, Jeno!" he yelled, grabbing the young trainee's arm to get his attention, "Where is everybody going?"

    Jeno, a favorite amongst the older singers, looked up at Chanyeol with wide eyes, "You heard Lee Soo Man's announcement, we need to go!"  

    "But you can't go home. You live outside of the city, close to the riots."

     The young prodigy shrugged his shoulders, "I'll figure it out, don't worry about me." he moved from Chanyeol's grip and continued to run down the hall, eventually blending in amongst the other bobbing heads.

     Taemin grabbed his things and walked to the door, "The kid is right, we need to leave," he said, squeezing Kai's shoulder as he passed and left, "Be safe, you guys."

    Soon after, Chen, D.O., Baekhyun and Suho ran into the room, followed by the EXO manager. "Is everyone okay?" asked the concerned adult.

    "Yeah, but what's going on?" asked Sehun.

     "I don't know, but it sounds like we need to leave now." he replied.

    "But the dorm is like a ten mile drive from here."

    "That's too far. My apartement is right around the corner, though. I can just take you there until everything blows over."

     "Perfect, let's go!" Baekhyun said.

    "But there's a problem, my car only seats five, including me. I have stuff in one of the seats, so I can only bring three of you right now."

     Sehun pointed to the members he stood closest to, "Jongin, Jongdae, Chanyeol and I can stay,"

     "Wait, what?" Chen said, not believing he was being volunteered.

     "And you can bring Kyungsoo, Baekhyun, and Junmyeon."

     "Who said I wanted to stay?" Chen continued.

     "Whatever!" their mamager said, getting annoyed by their childish antics, "After I bring them to my place, I'll take the stuff out of my car and come back for you." he said as he walked to the door, the selected members following closely behind, "I'll be back in twenty minutes at the most."

    "Don't worry, we'll see you again in a little bit." Suho said a bit sadly as he waved goodbye.

     "Nobody was worried, Junmyeon." Chen said, bitterly.

     Suho continued to look at the boys from the doorway, a heavy feeling apparent in his chest that he couldn't explain. D.O. came back to drag him away, "Come on, we need to go." 

     Suho's concerned face vanished as he was pulled by the arm.

     The boys sat in conclusive silence as another pair of footsteps ran down the now empty hallway.

     Their label-mate, Donghae, appeared, holding a set of keys, "I just saw your manager, Baekhyun, Junmyeon, and Kyungsoo on the way here. Why aren't you leaving with them?"

     "He's bringing them to his apartement. He didnt have enough space in his car to bring all of us, so he's coming back for us after he drops them off." Chanyeol said.

    Donghae's eyebrows knit together,"He doesnt have to do that, I just passed one of the valets and he gave me the keys to one of the company vans in the lot. Right now there's a few left."

     Kai sat up straighter, "Really?" 

     "Yeah, I can catch them and tell them if you want." 

     Chanyeol declined the offer, "No it's okay, he'll be back in a little bit." 

     Donghae wasn't sure, but left the decision up to the boys, "Okay..."

     "Why do you have keys anyways?"

     "Because I don't have a car and my manager already left. I need to leave somehow."

     Eunhyuk belatedly made an appearance, jogging back into the room and looking around, "Good, people are still here," he saw Donghae standing in the middle of the room, "Can we go now?"

     Donghae looked at the pitiful faces of his younger label-mates, "I don't know...I think we should stay with them until their manager comes back."

     All the EXO boys looked up, "What? No, you don't have to do that, Donghae." Chanyeol insisted.

     "Yeah, I'm sure they'll be fine for the next few minutes that they're waiting here."

     "Eunhyuk is right, we'll be fine."

     "No, as your senior, I don't feel good about leaving you all here by yourselves-" 

     "Yo, guys!" someone shouted from the doorway. Everyone swiveled around to see an alarmed Amber.

     "What's wrong?" asked Eunhyuk.

     Amber shook her head, "You have to come see this."

     The boys were lead to one of the small recording studios next door. A massive window took up an entire wall. Amber stood in front of the glass and pointed down at the steets. The boys climbed onto the sofa to get a better look.

    Dozens of people walked aimlessly along the road. Some had tattered and stained clothes that dragged on the ground.

     "What are we looking at Amber?" Eunhyuk asked before a man in red pick-up truck drove up the same road. The car slowed down once he was just a few feet away from the slow-moving crowd. The man rolled down his windows and appeared to be screaming at the people to move out of his path.There was the glint of a ring on his finger as his arm hung outside of the car.  

     In a sense, the crowd did as he had asked.

      They eagerly inched their way up to the car and made their way to his open window. He seemed to be trying to shoo them away, moving his arms about until one took a hold of it.  In no time, all the beings had gathered around the now shaking car. 

     From the idols' view, it wasn't clear what they did to the arm, but the man's responding screams were carried all the way up to their third story window. After a few moments, the screams were silenced and the crowd eventually dispersed. 

    It wasn't until their field of view was clear that they noticed: the driver was no longer in the car. 

    The idols in a breath and turned away from the window.

    "Did I just see...what I think I just saw?" Amber asked. She quickly shook her head as if to clear away the thought from her mind. 

     "I don't know what I just saw," Donghae said in a voice that sounded very far away.

       That's all anyone said for the time being.

     Chanyeol began to connect the dots, and realized what they saw on TV was happning in front of their very eyes. The "riots" had finally come to the city. "Actually..." he began, "could you stay with us until our manager get's back?" 

    Donghae, Amber, and Eunhyuk nodded as they failed to form words.

    Their minds continued to race.

    If he ever comes back, Amber thought passingly. She mentally scolded herself for thinking of something so terrible.

     They were too high up to see, but if they could, they would have noticed the ring that lay in the middle of the street in a dark, thick puddle.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Even though this chapter was shorter than the rest, I hope you still enjoyed it!