"How did you get away though?" Baekhyun asked. It was the question Chanyeol had feared the most.

They sat next to each other on one of the bunk beds and talked about the good old times. Baekhyun was his age and they had always been in the same classes back in school, so they spent a great deal of their childhood together. It changed when Baekhyun started doing social work and when he lost control of his life. They were walking into completely opposite directions, so they didn't really have many chances to talk during the last couple of years but in a way they were still friends.

It had been over two hours now since they got locked inside the stuffy room, so it was nice to talk to someone, especially someone he knew but it wasn't like they could just go back to being the children they used to be. It was nice to talk but it freaked him out to know that there was someone who actually knew him and his history. He couldn't just mingle with the crowd that way and make up stories about himself.

Although Baekhyun probably was his least problem. Kim Jongin was still glaring at him from his corner like some predator that just waited for its chance to attack.
He had no idea why Jongin was on the ship anyway. He was supposed to be a hero that hunted down criminals. But here he was. Among the criminals.

"I was lucky I guess," he finally shrugged. "There was a riot among the other prisoners and I could escape with some others." He tried to make it sound as if he was just that brainless idiot who didn't realize in how much danger he was.
He was literally meant to be dead and just to think of that made his stomach turn.

Everything just became a mess. He thought of himself as a freedom fighter. He was invincible and they couldn't harm him. If he was strong enough, he could change the system. All it took was force and there would come a day when they were free.
And then they arrested him.
And Jongin was among them.

Baekhyun suddenly punched his arm and smiled. "Well, I guess we're in the same boat then," he said and actually seemed happy. "It's good to have a friend around."
Chanyeol rubbed his arm in mock pain and tried to act blissfully ignorant. So maybe it was nice to have a friend around but it made things harder that way. He knew it wouldn't be easy to be among refugees but he had at least hoped to be around complete strangers.

"What do you think? When are they going to let us out?" the guy who introduced himself as Sehun asked no one in particular and stood up to pace around the room. "There's not even a toilet in this hole."

"I'm sure these people know what they're doing," Baekhyun said and seemed quite optimistic. "If it was that easy to get us out of the country, we wouldn't have to depend on smugglers."

It was funny how it was Baekhyun who seemed the least scared. Baekhyun who literally spent years fighting for the Special Citizen's rights, just to be continually slapped in the face and who finally abandoned his cause to save himself. Most people fled because there was no hope but Baekhyun probably thought of fleeing as the chance to change things from the outside.

The others meanwhile all seemed to get more and more stressed out. Sehun started to kick the door, the guy called Suho was apathetically staring at a wall, the Kyungsoo boy seemed to have  a nervous tick and kept fiddling with the zipper of the back he held close to his chest and Jongin sat around and acted as if he didn't give Chanyeol a reproachful look.

"You know that guy who talked to us?" Kyungsoo said after a while and Sehun in particular seemed startled. It was the first thing any of them had said in a few minutes. "He doesn't have a barcode. So he's probably really Chinese."

"So?" Baekhyun asked and didn't really seem to see the point.

"Well, you know what they say. They always get a scapegoat. Someone who is trustworthy. Who wouldn't believe a guy who talks like you and who has a name like you?" he muttered. It was almost as if he wasn't really talking to them but to himself as he stared at his hands instead of them. "Kim Minseok, that's what he said. But it's not like he prove that he's Korean."

"So what? Who cares about his nationality?" Baekhyun shrugged. "I'm just glad that he understands me if I have a question. I talked to other guys from other ships and they probably thought it was enough to be able to say hello and how much they were charging." He threw himself back and leaned against the wall, as if to prove how unconcerned he was.

"What he means is that it's fishy," Jongin said flatly and Baekhyun looked at him uncomprehendingly. "They could be slave traders."
It was the one thing neither of them wanted to hear. It wasn't even like it was unlikely and they knew it but to have it voiced out didn't really help the atmosphere.

When the minutes passed without anything happening, it was as if they really were prisoners, as if every second they spent in their cell just confirmed that idea. The air suddenly felt stuffier and the room smaller.
When the lights suddenly started to flicker and turned off completely after another hour had passed, they thought that it was really it. Baekhyun managed to light up the room but their moods were down. It was as if the awkwardly bright light just deepened the shadows of anxiety in their faces.

"So, they probably bring us to China, right?" Sehun asked nervously and tried to make it sound as if he was fooling around. "What do you think they sell us as? Fighters? slaves?"
No one answered.

When there was a rumble, Suho and Baekhyun jumped up and were at the door with Sehun as if they could hear anything if they just stood close enough to it. Kyungsoo was burying his face in his bag and Chanyeol sighed. He looked at Jongin, the only one who really seemed calm and frowned.
He knew Jongin. He knew his poker faces and what they really meant and that smirk he saw at the corners of his mouth really worried him. It was as if Jongin actually expected to meet slave traders. As if all he wanted was to attack them the way he attacked other criminals. As if he was on a mere hunting trip.

They heard hurried footsteps behind the door and moved back when it opened. None of them wanted to be closest if this was the moment they were going to be taken away, as if they could avoid the inevitable if they could just get someone else to be in front of them.
The one who appeared behind the door was though didn't really look particularly malicious. It was the other guy they met when they boarded the ship who spoke Korean.

"Hi, I think I didn't introduce myself earlier," he said with a smile. "My name is Luhan. Welcome aboard!" When everyone was just staring at him warily, he continued, "Well, anyway, as you might have noticed, we're currently running through some turbulences."

"What kind of turbulences?" Jongin asked dryly.

"Turbulences of a technical nature," Luhan smiled and folded his hands in front of his chest as if he was a teacher talking to a group of children. "We're taking care of the problem but it is essential that you stay calm."

There was another grumble and the ship started moving violently. Suho tumbled to the floor and Baekhyun let himself fall back on the bunk bed while Luhan took hold of the door frame.

"Where is Kim Minseok?" Jongin asked from his corner, still completely calm.

"He is," Luhan began friendly when a screeching noise interrupted him. Outside they heard someone yelling and the room suddenly grew incredibly cold. "He is taking care of the problem," Luhan said and barely managed to let go of the door before a thin layer of ice was forming on it.
Ice started to cover the floor, causing the ones in the room to draw back even further. Their breath became clouded when the lamp above them suddenly burst. Tiny sparks rained down on them when Sehun started to scream. A gust of wind blew through the room that caused Luhan to slip and fall backwards out of the door.
He muttered things to himself in Chinese as he tried to stand up on the frozen ground when there suddenly was a flash that swept him away.

They all just stared at the open door in shock. All they could see was the metal wall opposite it and the place where Luhan stood a few seconds ago.

"Do you think," Suho said quietly. "That we're under attack or something?" He was taking a step forward. "Maybe they're here to save us." He was slowly walking out when Jongin suddenly shoved him away as he made his way to the door.
Jongin was about to leave when someone suddenly stepped in.

That person was breathing heavily as he gestured to the door. "My dear fellow countrymen," he said and held his side to gain his composure. "This is the moment when you should panic and escape like wild monkeys." He grinned and cleared his throat. "Although it would probably be wiser to stay calm. Whatever you do, try to kill whoever it is you meet outside."

Chen.
They should have thrown him out when they still had a chance.