A/N: I hope you enjoy this suspenful chapter! Things are starting to look kind of grim for Running Man! What's going to happen?! ~Author Crystal

Blue Team: The blue team made it to the second floor and entered room D-4. They found the bells and tied them to their shoes, jingling them hoping that the red team would hear their intentions. The VJs chuckled nervously.

“Running Man, start!” the announcement was made over the intercom, and off they went as they scattered into the dark hallway, noticing it was, in fact, getting darker.

Day turning to night, perhaps?

Red Team: The red team flinched as they heard the announcement, immediately nervous as they stepped out into the noticeably darker hallway. They their helmet cams.

“Let’s split up to cover more ground,” Gary suggested. “Sujeong and Suk Jin can cover the second floor. Kwang Soo and I will cover the first floor.”

They bumped fists and wished each other good luck before scattering. Sujeong took the northern stairs while Suk Jin took the southern stairs. Gary headed his way back to where they first entered, and Kwang Soo headed to the cafeteria.

Let’s view those who are upstairs first, shall we?

Suk Jin: 

Suk Jin quietly and slowly climbed the stairs with his back against the wall. His breathing hitched and he froze, hearing the sounds of bells not too far from above. He pressed himself against the wall in the middle stairwell, almost as if he could melt into the wall, waiting for the bells to disappear. He covered the light of his helmet camera and held his breath. Eventually the sounds of the bells stopped, and he continued to creep up the stairs.

As soon as he opened the door, Kook and Ji Hyo grabbed at him. He tried stepping back into the stairwell to close the door on them, but Ji Hyo pulled him forward by the shirt as Kook reached behind him to rip off his nametag.

“Ji Suk Jin, out,” the announcement rang over the intercom.

“Game start,” Suk Jin laughed into the camera and took his nametag back.

Before Kook and Ji Hyo split apart, another announcement was made.

“Song Ji Hyo, out!”

“Ehhhh!” Ji Hyo gasped. “But I just started!”

Two of the staff members took her and Suk Jin away to the jail while covering their mouths.

But who got Ji Hyo out?

A few minutes before…

Kwang Soo:

Kwang Soo carefully started in the cafeteria, looking under every chair and table. Not finding anything, he crept into the kitchen, his eyes covering every inch as he rummaged through cabinets and drawers. His eyes kept roving over the oven, thinking it would be impossible and ridiculous to have a hint in there. He ignored the feeling and searched the cabinets above and the refrigerator. Still, nothing.

Just for curiosity’s sake, he opened the oven door to find two pieces of paper stapled together with the R sticker. He grinned and brought the paper up closer to the cam helmet light.

‘It’s Song Ji Hyo’s name!” he whispered with a gasp of surprise.

He danced and posed before hearing the announcement.

“Song Ji Hyo, out!”

Kwang Soo flipped to the second page and read it aloud.

“This is Song Ji Hyo’s exam you helped tutor her in. She failed. Therefore, the punishment is your nametag is now BIG.”

“Ehhh,” Kwang Soo sighed in disbelief as a staff member ran to him and took off his nametag to add a bigger one on him.

The staff ran off out of view, and Kwang Soo ducked back as he heard the sounds of bells nearby. The bell sounds eventually faded away down the hall past the cafeteria. With a sigh of relief, he snuck out into the ever darkening hallway to head to the next room.

Sujeong:

When Sujeong heard that Ji Hyo was out, she was ecstatic. Although it was no surprise that Suk Jin would be out first. She had already climbed the stairs to the second floor and stealthily walked down the back hallway into an empty classroom. She heard bells the entire time, but wasn’t fazed.

“Where are you, you little hint you,” she whispered while fumbling through old textbooks and papers in the first desk she came across.

She gasped and ducked back behind the tall stand-alone cabinet in the corner adjacent to the door. She covered her light and peeked, watching a dark figure zip by. There was no sound of bells. Who was that? A staff member?

Slowing down her heartbeat she continued to rummage through the desks. Finding nothing, she crept back into the hallway to the next classroom, that dark figure nowhere in sight.

Gary:

Gary entered the first room near the entrance of the school. Firstly, he took notice of the nailed, barred, and chained doorway being blocked and completely covered. All of the windows were nailed shut and blocked by wood, with no sign of daylight or night. He shook off the weird feeling and entered the room that he found to be the teacher’s lounge. Old papers and books scattered everywhere, covered in dust. There was no sign of anyone having been in the room recently. He carefully looked through a few piles of dusty papers and books before giving up to search the adjacent room; the teacher’s bathroom. Using his camera light as a search light, he peered into the men’s bathroom, which was pitch black. Shuddering, he shook his head and walked backwards out of the entrance of the bathroom, nearly yelling out when he bumped into Jae Suk. Jae Suk grabbed Gary and covered his mouth with one hand before ripping off his nametag.

“Gary, out!”

Gary’s shoulders slumped as two staff members dragged him away.

Sujeong:

Sujeong gasped as she heard the announcement about Gary.

“We’re being knocked out so fast,” she whispered. “Now it’s only Kwang Soo and me…He better not betray me!”

Her luck changed as she came across two stapled papers together with the R sticker on it underneath the nurse’s old desk in the nurse’s office.

“Hehe, it’s Jae Suk’s name,” she giggled.

“Yoo Jae Suk, out!”

Jae Suk:

“Ehhh?” Jae Suk’s mouth dropped. “But how am I out? Is there a catch to ripping off the nametags?”

He sighed as the two staff members took him directly to the jail. He saw Suk Jin, Gary, and Ji Hyo sitting there.

“Welcome,” they laughed. “So unusual to see you here so early!”

Sujeong:

Sujeong turned to the second page and read it aloud.

“You helped Jae Suk cheat on this exam, which he received a zero on. Therefore, your punishment is that you will have no light source to guide you.”

“Wae?!”

A staff member came in and removed her head cam’s flashlight before putting the head cam back on her. She stood there in the dimness of the shadowed room, her heart racing. While her eyes adjusted to the ever growing darkness, something s by her legs, and she let out a terrified scream. Kook and Haha was already up stairs when they heard the scream nearby, and started running towards the nurse’s office.

Sujeong heard the bells, and dashed out of the room, blindly turning the corner before running down to the end of the hallway to enter the women’s bathroom. She huddled in the corner to take deep, controlled breaths while closing her eyes.

Kook and Haha entered the nurse’s office, but found nothing. Kook headed back downstairs as Haha began searching through the rooms one by one on the current floor.

Kwang Soo:

Kwang Soo steered backwards as he heard the sounds of bells coming from the stairwell at the end of the hallway. He ended up retracing his steps towards the gym. All the way at the end of the other side of the basketball court, he saw a flat object sitting in the basketball net. He danced and ran his way towards the basketball sitting under the bleachers. He tossed the ball and knocked the paper out of the net, flinching as the bouncing ball made lots of loud, echoing sounds against the cold floor. He quickly picked up the paper and ran underneath the bleachers, only to be disappointed to discover that the words “Fake” were printed on the paper.

He ducked down and covered his light as he heard bells come into the gym. He saw Kook and froze, watching him look around. The basketball was still rolling around, as if it was moving on its own in large circles on the court. Kook kicked it, and it disappeared somewhere into the darkness. It never bounced back.

Kook walked out, and Kwang Soo felt relieved as the sounds of bells slowly faded away. Curiosity got the best of him and he flipped to the second page.

”Punishment: Gigantic nametag with wings.”

Kwang Soo just clicked his tongue and bundled up the paper before throwing it away. A staff member ripped off his big nametag to replace it with an even bigger nametag, now equipped with shiny golden angel wings. Humiliated, he skulked out of the gym to get to his next destination; the auditorium.

Sujeong:

Sujeong blindly walked into the hallway, groping around the darkness until she entered the next room, which happened to be another empty classroom. Using the shadowed outlines of desks and chairs, she sat down at each desk, feeling around each piece of paper she came across for that R sticker. Funny thing was, even if she was able to find one, how was she going to read it without light?

A hand clasped over , and she tried to scream as she was forcefully pulled into the darkened wall; her helmet cam clattering to the floor aimed at the solid black wall.

Kwang Soo:

Kwang Soo dashed into the auditorium, hearing bells in the hallways echoing in both directions. He found two sheets of paper on the way, and grasped them tightly as he hid underneath the stage. Shaking with adrenaline, he read the first sheet.

“Kim Jong Kook,” he gasped and yelped in excitement.

“Kim Jong Kook, out!”

Before he could even read the second page, he heard his nametag being pulled off. He jerked away, but it was already too late as he saw Haha’s smug face come into view.

“Lee Kwang Soo, out!”

He ran after Haha. Before he could reach him, the staff members were already there to take him to the jail. Haha rubbed his hands together before heading back upstairs.

“It’s just you and me now…” he whispered.

But where was Sujeong?

Haha bounced back up to the second floor, cockily strutting down the hallway.

“Oh Sujeong, where are you?” he emphasized it by jingling the bells louder with every step.

He entered the room where Sujeong was last seen, noticing an object on the floor near the back wall.

At the Jail:

Kwang Soo entered the jail, still clutching to the unread paper as he sat down.

“So, now it’s just between Haha and Sujeong again,” Jae Suk chuckled as Kook entered the jail. “Feeling jealous, Kookie?”

Laughter filled the room as Kook growled and glared at Jae Suk.

“What’s that you’ve got?” Suk Jin asked.

“A clue,” Kwang Soo sighed while looking at it. “…and it’s another fake one.”

“So that means Sujeong still has a chance to win,” Gary pumped his fist.

Kwang Soo bundled the paper and flung it at Kook, who jumped up and fumed, already wanting to put him in a headlock.

Haha:

Haha picked up the object to find that it’s a helmet cam.

“Sujeong’s helmet cam?” Haha whispered as he brought it up to his face. “It’s against the rules to not have a camera on you at all times. PD Myeok, what’s going on?”

Minutes before…

HQ: The Computer Room

The PDs and FDs stared at the monitor which was giving them a view of Sujeong’s helmet cam. Things got weird when she entered the empty class room and walked towards the back where she sat down at one of the desks. The camera out and distorted noises could be heard. The cam clattered to the floor at the wall, and then silence.

They waited for a few minutes, and announced Kook and Kwang Soo out before focusing back on Sujeong’s camera. They heard some rustling, a bell, and then saw Haha pick up the camera to his face.

“Sujeong’s helmet cam? It’s against the rules to not have a camera on you at all times. PD Myeok, what’s going on?”

Myeok held the intercom microphone close to him.

“Haha, go to the jail immediately. Running Man is temporarily suspended until further notice. I repeat, Haha go to the jail. Running Man is on temporary suspension.”

Startled, Haha did as he was told and rushed to follow the staff members to the jail.

“Is there something wrong?” Jae Suk asked as Haha came in.

“It’s Sujeong’s cam,” he explained while handing it to Myeok as he entered behind him.

All the staff members and VJs followed in afterwards with grim and confused expressions.

“Sujeong has gone missing, is not on any of our monitors,” Myeok explained as he rewound the recording to the cast what happened. “We can’t decipher much since the video feed cuts out for a few seconds before she disappeared, but the audio reveals that she did indeed struggle and was dragged away. So as of now, we need to find her and make sure she is safe. I can tell you, honestly, that this is not a prank or a joke. We didn’t plan this, nor do we have any special guests.

“Right now I need everyone to pair up and search for her. She was last seen on the second floor in room E-4. Check every room and every stairwell. I will stay in HQ with the sound guy and Dong Wan to observe the monitors. Running Men, take your VJs with you. I want everything recorded. Other staff members need to also pair up and search every room.”

With worried glances everyone did as they were told. Myeok, the sound guy, and Dong Wan went back to HQ to turn on the lights, but none of the switches were working. Everything else worked, but the lights were shut off…permanently.

One of many Kwang Soo's dances:  :D