Baekhyun sighed as he looked over at Chanyeol, who was, once again, fiddling with his phone. They were still in the same spot where Luhan had left them, in some random hallway, sitting with their backs pressed against the wall. 

"You're never going to get any signals in here Yeol, we've tried so many times" Baekhyun said as he let his head fall back to press against the wall. 

Chanyeol stood, a hopeful look crossing his face as he walked around, holding his phone at various angles.

"I always...seem to get...so close!" Chanyeol murmured to himself, eyes trained on the glowing object in front of him as he spun in different directions.

Baekhyun would have laughed in any other circumstance, but he could only bring himself to smile slightly in Chanyeol's direction before closing his eyes. He felt Chanyeol slump next to him, the gentle press of his head weighing on Baekhyun's shoulder. 

And so they waited, because it was no use trying to find Lay or Luhan, they'd just end up getting further away from the other two. Chanyeol and Baekhyun had even tried testing each other to see if they could use their phones to contact the others, but no messages appeared on either one's devices anymore, unlike in the beginning of the night.

Which only contributed to the fear in Baekhyun's stomach concerning Lay, his 'text message', and Luhan's look of panic before he'd taken off after Lay. 

Baekhyun felt a damp warmth on his shoulder and he knew it was Chanyeol's tears. But the younger seemed to pull back whenever anyone tried to comfort him, so Baekhyun just kept his eyes closed, hoping his silent presence was comfort enough for Chanyeol.

The sounds of footsteps echoed down the hallway and both boys straightened up, eyes snapping open. Baekhyun couldn't tell which direction the footsteps were coming from, so he continuously turned his head in both directions. Movement caught his eye as he looked the opposite direction of Chanyeol. A figure stood at the end of the hallway, slightly shorter than the first figure Baekhyun had seen, and yet the footsteps continued despite the stillness of the figure. Baekhyun's breath caught in his throat but he forced himself to look down the other side of the hallway. Two people were walking towards the two boys on the ground, arms slung protectively around each other. As they drew closer Baekhyun realized it was Lay and Luhan.

Chanyeol almost felt the urge to cry as he saw his friends coming down the hallway towards him, and he stood to walk over and hug both of them. 

Other than the tear tracks on both Lay and Luhan's faces, the two seemed ok, and Luhan pulled Chanyeol over to the side as Lay sat down next to Baekhyun. 

"I know we've already thought of this, but this 'Game' has some sort of control over us, more than we thought before" Luhan said softly to Chanyeol, whose brow was furrowed in concentration. 

"I just watched Lay almost chuck himself off the balcony upstairs, willingly" Luhan continued, refraining from telling Chanyeol that Lay had almost pushed him over as well.

"What about the text message?" Chanyeol questioned, but was cut off as Luhan quickly shook his head.

"It wasn't real. I didn't send anything and when I checked his phone there were no messages," Luhan said, remembering how he'd looked through Lay's messages and had only found a one-sided conversation from Lay.

Chanyeol's eyes widened.

"And everything that happened to Kyungsoo, he did it to himself" Luhan added, repeating the 'hint' to Chanyeol.

"But there's nothing we can do, Hyung" Chanyeol finally replied, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"We saw what happened to Kai when he lost it, Xiumin almost died when Kyungsoo wouldn't let go of him, Kris-" Chanyeol faltered, gaze hardening as he instinctively avoided the topic. Luhan almost reached out a hand to comfort the younger, but the dark look on his face and the way he towered over Luhan kept him from doing so. 

"So what do we do?" Luhan asked instead, watching as Lay rested his head against Baekhyun's shoulder and closed his eyes.

"We rest. That's all we can really do now, I know we're all tired" Chanyeol said, and Luhan could see the emotional and physical exhaustion behind the other's tough exterior. Luhan walked past Chanyeol, settling down on the other side of Lay.

Chanyeol soon joined them, letting Baekhyun wrap an arm around his torso as he finally let his guard down.

The ground was cold, but they were all too tired to care as the remaining four boys sprawled across the hallway floor, unconsciously huddling closer together as they finally let sleep overcome them.

Luhan woke with a start, heart pounding against his rib cage. He didn't know why he'd woken up so suddenly, no nightmare, no one shaking him, nothing.

Well, except for the painful tightening in his chest that had stopped when he'd woken up.

Luhan looked around himself, spotting the other three sleeping peacefully. 

Lay had been turned towards him, a peaceful expression finally on his face. Baekhyun was turned towards Chanyeol, who was facing the other direction, curled up in a fetal position. Baekhyun's arm was still slung over Chanyeol from previously comforting the younger, and Chanyeol seemed to press back against Baekhyun's smaller form as if for protection. Luhan rubbed his face with his hands, still exhausted. 

'How have we gotten here?' Luhan thought to himself, honestly not sure if any of them would make it out of this 'Game'. 

Suddenly, red words spread across the floor in front of Luhan and his eyes flew over the message.

'The 'Game' is offering an opportunity for a substantial piece of information, competitor. Proceed to the dance studio if you wish to play. Not doing so will only lessen your chances of getting you and your friends out. You must complete this challenge alone. Waking any of the others will result in a termination" 

Luhan instantly stood, careful not to make a sound near the other three, and almost started running down the hallway. Any chance to get some information was a risk Luhan would take, no matter what could happen to him. Rounding the corner of the hallway, Luhan spared one last glance at his sleeping friends before running towards the dance studio. Various thoughts ran through his mind about the challenge awaiting him, but Luhan just tried to push them away. 

It was no use worrying anyway.

Luhan knew this path well, he went to the dance studio everyday during school, full of excitement because he loved the class; the challenge of new routines, the feeling of the music pounding through his body, the well worn-out feeling that followed the end of each class.

The emotions Luhan was feeling now, however, were definitely different as he ran through the dark hallways towards his destination. 

Aaand...Luhan's fate shall await us in the next chapter hehehe;);)