When Sujeong arrived at the computer lab, she found it empty. All the electronics were disconnected and taken apart. Everything that the crew had brought in with them was packed and gone. The monitors were dark, and wires were frayed and cut. Her heart hammered in , knowing that half of her assumptions were right.

“Myeok PD did lie to us. He knew about Choi being here. But he was telling the truth about the other mysterious things happening. He doesn’t understand what’s going on,” Sujeong whispered to her camera. “So who else or what else is here with us? Is this school really haunted?”

There’s something else I’m missing, she thought as she walked out of the computer room and bumped into Kook.

“Oppa, something is going on here. PD Myeok and the staff are missing,” Sujeong explained before Kook could ask what was wrong.

“Are you sure? They were all with us when we were sleeping,” Kook looked at her confused.

“Let’s go check back in the room then. I mean, even all the VJs are missing,” Sujeong replied and took him by the arm, leading him back upstairs while cautiously keeping an eye out.

They found Haha searching the second floor in the hallway. He kept his distance though, not trusting either of them.

“Haha, did you check the room you guys were sleeping in?” Sujeong asked.

“No, but no one is in there now,” Haha said slowly, confusion showing on his face.

“Myeok PD and the staff members are missing, including the VJs. There’s something going on,” Kook added as he followed Sujeong into the room.

Her deduction was right. The room was empty. Even the sleeping bags were gone. So where could have they gone? She turned back to Haha and Kook, nervous and afraid of what was to come.

“Okay guys. I know you have a lot of questions, but right now you’re gonna have to trust me,” she blatantly stated. “We need to form an alliance, the three of us. There is someone else here, but I don’t know who it is. We need to find that person and finish this so we can go home. Right now we are on our own. Are you with me?”

She held out her hand palm facing down, and Kook only took a few seconds to think before putting his hand over her own. Haha stared at her for about a minute before deciding to put his hand over Kook’s.

“What about the others?” Haha asked.

Sujeong shook her head. “I haven’t seen anyone else. Let’s find the clues while searching for the unknown person.”

In agreement, Haha and Kook followed her lead as they took the stairs back down.

Jae Suk

Jae Suk remained on the first floor, meticulously searching through every room he came across. It was eerie to him, that he hadn’t come across any of the other members, or saw any of the staff members. He just came out of the computer lab, his expression full of confusion.

“Where is everyone?” he asked to the camera. “Why can’t I find one single person? And why can’t I find a clue?”

He headed for the cafeteria and kitchen next, unaware of the shadowed figure following close behind.

Kook, Haha, and Sujeong

As they reached the bottom of the stairs, they saw a crumpled dark figure leaning against the back wall down the hallway. Slowly they crept up to it, and noticed that it was one of the staff members half dressed in a green monster costume, unconscious with the monster head in his arms.

“What the hell is happening here?” Sujeong whispered as Kook checked for a pulse.

“He’s alive, just knocked out. Let’s take him into a room where he’ll be safe,” Kook answered and carried him into the room across the hall.

“Looks like he’ll be out for a while,” Haha observed. “I’ll stay here and watch him until he wakes up. You two go and try and find the others. I don’t think any of us are safe until we find each other and stick together.”

Kook walked out the door with Sujeong following, her mind racing with so many thoughts. Now I’m alone with Kook, but how am I supposed to take him out? And what about that poor staff member? Will he be ok? How do I get Haha out? What am I supposed to do now? And what’s up with the monster costume? Are the staff members dressing up like monsters to scare us?

She accidentally bumped into Kook’s back as he suddenly stopped in his tracks. She peeked around him to see what he was staring at. It was a staff member in black! He didn’t seem to notice Kook or Sujeong as he crept around in the shadow filled hallway.

“Should we follow?” Sujeong whispered.

Kook gave the barest of nods. “Let’s see what he’s up to.”

Jae Suk:

Jae Suk arrived in the cafeteria, noticing it was eerily quiet… too quiet. He carefully kept to the walls and tried not to bump into anything. His camera light was slowly fading, so it was becoming hard to see. He gasped with delight as he saw a hint in the middle of the floor with the blue R sticker beckoning him. He picked it up stealthily and leaned back against the wall, taking quieter breaths as he heard footsteps in the hallway. He stuffed the hint in his pants pocket and scrambled away from the doors and hid into the kitchen behind the counter. He slowly peeked over the countertop to see a staff member cloaked in all black with a black mask on, and quickly hid again just as the figure glanced over in his direction. After waiting a few seconds, he peeked over the counter again, but the figure was gone. Jae Suk’s heart raced as he sat there and tried to figure out what to do next…

Kook and Sujeong:

The staff member cloaked in black eluded them and was hiding in one of the rooms down the hallway. Kook wanted to separate to cover more ground, but Sujeong stuck by his side, knowing it was the only chance she was going to get if she was going to take Kook out.

After searching through a few of the rooms, they entered the one where the staff in black was waiting quietly in the darkest corner of the room; behind the door. Kook entered first in a low half crouch, his eyes bouncing around while keeping Sujeong safe behind him. She stood at the doorway and closed the door behind her just as the figure cloaked in black leapt onto Kook and pinned his arms behind him, dropping him to his knees. Kook was taken by surprise, too surprised that the strength from him died out instantly and he couldn’t escape.

It had taken Sujeong a little bit to realize that the figure they were following was indeed Choi. But the moment they had stepped into the room, she knew he was behind the door waiting. So that was why she decided to close the door.

“Sujeong, run!” Kook gritted his teeth and tried to struggle.

Choi released Kook and pushed him in Sujeong’s direction with a chuckle. Kook immediately kept Sujeong behind him with his arms stretched out, her back nearly against the door.

“Well, get on with it,” Choi hissed.

Just as Kook turned around, Sujeong tore his nametag off. His mouth was agape.

“Why?” Kook stammered.

“Women will always be your weakness, Commander Kook,” Choi teased as a staff member came in and blind folded him and gagged him before taking him away.

The door closed behind her again, and she was alone with Choi.

“Just one more left,” Choi grinned as he took off his mask.

“Haha is with the staff member that was knocked unconscious. Was that your doing?” Sujeong asked.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. It’s just me and my helpers roaming around the hallways. And the Running Man members are locked away in an undisclosed room. It’s just you, Haha, and my little grasshopper now,” Choi explained.

“Just follow me then, and everything will be explained,” Sujeong stated bravely, and that earned her a raised brow. “There’s something strange going on here. If you’re not the giant black creature roaming the hallways, then who or what is it? And why is everyone else missing?”

“If it will sate your curiosity then I will follow you, but don’t spend much time worrying about everything. Just focus on finishing the mission. You need one more clue, am I right?” Choi sighed.

Sujeong nodded. “Just one more combination number for the lock.”

“Good. Then let’s not waste any more time,” Choi added and put his mask back on before following behind her back into the ever growing hallway.

Jae Suk:

He managed to creep out of the kitchen and through the cafeteria back into the hallway into the room where HQ used to be. Huddling in the corner of the room hidden behind the table, he reached into his pocket and grabbed the hint to read it.

“(2x2)+(167-164)-(190-187)=?”

“The answer is 4,” Jae Suk whispered. “But what is this number for?”

He stood up to lean against the wall, but the wall slid aside, leading into a hidden room filled with monitors all focused in every room in the building. He could see Haha tending to a staff member lying down. He could also see Sujeong roaming the hallway, and to what looked like a big dark shadow following her from behind. From his perspective it looks like it was haunting her and that she was unaware of its presence. On a few other monitors below, were views of outside the building. He could barely make out the images, but figures of unconscious staff members lay sprawled on the ground, face down, with pools of dark liquid surrounding their bodies. Is that…blood? Are they all dead?!

Jae Suk began to panic, but before he could shout out, something cold hit him from behind, knocking him unconscious.

Sujeong:

Sujeong went back to Haha, not realizing that Choi had disappeared. She panted as she closed the door behind her, out of breath.

“Where’s Kook?” Haha asked.

“He told me to come back to get you,” Sujeong lied. “There was something chasing us. I don’t know where he went. Is he awake yet?”

Haha shook his head. “I want you to stay here and watch him. I want to search the HQ room again. I think we’re missing something.”

Sujeong shook her head too. “I don’t want to be alone. There’s something trying to attack me.”

“You know, this is just a show, right?” Haha asked, though he was trying to reassure himself too. “This is all set up to feel real, you know?”

“People are getting hurt, and some have disappeared. Expensive equipment has been taken or damaged. I think this has gotten out of their hands now,” Sujeong  replied. “Something went wrong, and this is no longer just a show we’re doing. I honestly think this place really is haunted.”

“You know something, don’t you, Sujeong?” Haha’s eyes narrowed.

She bit her lip. “I…I met with the special guest.”

“See! I told you! It’s just part of the show, and everyone is pretending to be hurt,” Haha started talking louder. “This school was never haunted!”

“It’s not what you think,” Sujeong hushed. “There’s someone else here who’s involved with the disappearances and injuries. Remember that voice on the comm? It’s not-”

She stopped and saw Haha’s jaw drop and his eyes widen in surprise and in fear. She felt two gloved hands grip her shoulders, the fingers tapping telling her to be quiet.

“You were going to tell him about me, weren’t you?” Choi’s eerie voice whispered.

She shuddered and shook her head. “There’s someone or something else here other than you, Choi.”

Haha gasped and scrambled to his feet, backing away until his back hit a wall.

“Now you’ve gone and spoiled the surprise,” Choi sighed and took off his mask. “As punishment, finish Haha off yourself.”

Sujeong took a deep breath and stalked towards Haha.

“Haha Oppa, I’m sorry, but I have to,” she reached out to grab him, but he resisted.

“I won’t go down easily!” Haha spun out of her reach and backed himself against another wall.

Sujeong stretched out her arms to her sides and cornered him. He went to tackle her, but she ended up pinning him below her after they struggled and rolled around the floor. Choi laughed.

“Seems like a similar situation that the giraffe was in,” he chuckled. “Now, finish him off.”

Sujeong did as she was told and wrapped her arm under Haha to pull off his nametag. A staff member in black gagged Haha before he could yell and scream and blind folded him as they dragged him away out of the room. Choi helped Sujeong to her feet. I hope now that everyone is out that they are safe together, she thought. I wonder where the jail is…

“Now, we hunt the grasshopper. My goal is to make you the winner of today’s episode,” Choi explained while putting his mask back on. “Do everything I say and you can get the last hint from him.”

Sujeong only nodded and followed behind him, losing her train of thought.

But where was Jae Suk? And what happened to him?

A/N: Thank you everyone for being patient with me and my updates. Living in Korea has been a fantastic experience so far. Been here 10 months, and I have already resigned my teaching contract for another year :) I am feverently studying Korean and taking classes as well as learning as much as I can about the culture. Maybe even one day I can bump into Running Man and meet them in person! :3 One can wish, can't she?

Anyways, I will update soon again! I will also do some major revisions to this story and make it even better! Enjoy! Stay cool this summer! It is really hot here in Ulsan, South Korea. ^^' 

 Stay classy! :D