The Running Man members went upstairs together and paired off as listed:

1. Kook and Haha
2. Jae Suk and Gary
3. Ji Hyo, Kwang Soo, and Suk Jin

Their VJs kept close as they broke into their teams and scattered to search for Sujeong.

Kook and Haha: Kook and Haha entered the room where Sujeong was last seen. Still, no sign of her or where she could’ve gone.

“What do you think happened to her?” Haha asked.

“I don’t know,” Kook replied with a sigh. “She mentioned something tried to pull her down in the pool, but when I dove in to pull her out I didn’t see anything. Something weird is going on around here.”

“Wait, I see something,” Haha crouched close to the wall where he had found the helmet cam before. “It’s like black goo or something. Eww! It’s gooey and squishy!”

The VJs zoomed in on the black mysterious goo.

“Probably some kind of fungus or something,” Kook answered. “Let’s go check another room. She’s clearly not in here.”

Jae Suk and Gary: Jae Suk and Gary focused on the opposite hallway of Kook and Haha, but they searched through every room and didn’t find anything useful. Gary kept thinking back to that creepy feeling he had at the first floor bathroom.

Ji Hyo, Kwang Soo, and Suk Jin: They quickly went through the remaining rooms, more afraid of what they might find. But they found no sign of Sujeong or what could’ve happened. Ji Hyo checked her cell phone, but found no reception. The others checked their phones too, and it was the same result.

Everyone gathered back into the hallway to regroup, and then rechecked each room to make sure they didn’t miss her.

HQ: Dong Wan and Myeok rewound Sujeong’s footage to put it up to the projector and replayed it over and over again. There was still no visual of the time she disappeared, but a distorted sound could be heard. The sound guy was then given the task to isolate the distorted sound from the scuffles to decipher it. It would take some time to isolate the sound and identify it.

The staff members and the other VJs came back to HQ after an unsuccessful attempt to finding Sujeong.

2^nd Floor:

The Running Man members completed their second and third attempt at searching, but to no avail. Gary couldn’t shake the odd feeling about that bathroom.

“You look shaken,” Ji Hyo spoke up to Gary. “Is something wrong?”

“I think I know where she is,” Gary answered while scrunching his face. “Kook, come with me. Everyone else head back to HQ.”

It was definitely odd seeing Gary act this way, but Kook followed him to the first floor as they ran.

“That bathroom, man. I can’t shake off this weird feeling I have about it,” Gary breathed as they stood before the entrance of the bathroom. “Check it out.”

He used his helmet cam’s light as a spotlight as they both walked in. The few stalls that were there were empty, but as they turned to face the adjacent wall they found Sujeong unconscious, pinned on the wall by very sticky silly string as if she was crucified.

“Sujeong!” Kook gasped as they rushed to her.

He tore at the silly string and untangled her from it as he carried her in his arms when she fell. He laid her down to check her pulse as Gary pulled the rest of the silly string off her.

HQ: The rest of the Running Man members came back to HQ, worried about Kook and Gary. They found PD Myeok, Dong Wan, and the other staff members watching the sound guy work on Sujeong’s audio clip. He was finally done, and everyone gathered to watch eagerly as he pressed play.

On the screen, he managed to isolate the images out of the darkness. Red glowing orbs stared back at the camera, and the sound finally came. It was…laughter. At first, the laughter was low and deep, tauntingly on the verge of being maniacal. And then after the image out, still unable to see Sujeong disappear, the laughter increased a few pitches until it sounded maniacal, like a psycho clown. A few minutes passed, and the camera can then be seen being picked up by Haha.

“What the hell is happening?” Haha exclaimed. “Do you have a special guest or not?!”

“We do not,” Myeok shook his head; he was just as startled as they were. “We were supposed to, but they never showed up!”

Kook and Gary: Sujeong still had a pulse!

“She’ll be okay,” Kook breathed. “Let’s take her to HQ and into something warm. She’s so cold.”

He picked her up and carried her in his arms bridal style as he followed Gary back to HQ.

HQ:

“Sujeong!” Nearly everyone gasped as she was carried in and laid out on a row of desks in the back of the room.

Gary and Haha grabbed cloth and jackets and wrapped Sujeong in them to warm her up. She still wasn’t waking up.

“How’d you know where she was?” Haha asked Gary.

“I had a weird feeling about the men’s bathroom on this level earlier during the mission,” Gary explained. “I can’t really explain it. I don’t know how I knew.”

“We gotta get her to wake up,” Kook added, worry prominent on his face. “She’ll get really sick if she doesn’t warm up.”

He kneeled beside her and gently shook her. He noticed she was getting bluer and colder.

“Come on, Sujeong,” he whispered, placing a hand to her forehead. “You have to wake up.”

Very slowly she came to, her eyes fluttering as her weak hand grabbed for Kook’s wrist. She blinked a few times, eyes focused on Kook’s features and his hand on her forehead.

“You’re so warm,” her hoarse voice whispered. “What happened?”

“You disappeared on us, literally,” Haha answered. “We want to know what happened to you too.”

“Did you see who grabbed you?” Jae Suk interjected.

Sujeong shook her head slowly, vaguely remembering what happened to her. “What’s going on?”

Suddenly the intercom , and that same maniacal laugh filled the air.

“Congratulations on finding the missing guest! You should listen to your instincts more often, much like what Gary did,” the voice cackled. “Remember, you must complete all of your missions in order to leave the school. There is no escape. Beware that if you do, there will be dire consequences! I dare you to try!”

“Who are you?” Kook roared.

Laughter was the only response. The intercom cut off, and silence filled the air.

“You lied, Myeok,” Kwang Soo broke the silence. “You said there are no guests.”

“I didn’t lie,” Myeok shook his head. “We are in the dark as much as you are. We only know of the games and missions to give you. WE can’t leave either.”

“Where is Chief anyways?” Suk Jin asked.

“Could he be a part of this? Is he planning things that even his own staff doesn’t know about?” Kook added in.

“Could be…” Ji Hyo trailed off. “It’s a bit extreme though.”

“Let’s first get Sujeong to feel better,” Kook suggested. “And then we can look for the crazy person.”

Sujeong, with the help of Kook, managed to drink some water and was able to stay sitting up without falling over. Kook rubbed her arms to try and keep her warm in the bundle of cloth and jackets.

“Let’s go over to the cafeteria and we’ll have dinner. We’ll make Sujeong some soup to help warm her up,” Myeok suggested.

Everyone headed to the cafeteria. Sujeong successfully stood up on her own.

“Let me carry you,” Kook insisted after seeing her wobble in place.

“I’m fine,” Sujeong said through chattering teeth while taking a step forward. Her legs gave out and she fell forward; Kook caught her. “…maybe not…”

She curled into Kook’s arms, immediately attaching to his warmth as he carried her, following everyone into the hallway.

“I’m sorry, Sujeong,” Myeok whispered. “I never had any intentions of letting you get hurt this way. I don’t know what’s going on either. I promise from now on that you will be safe. I will end this as fast as I can so we can all go home.”

Sujeong just nodded before nuzzling back into Kook’s warm chest.

“Why are all the cameras still rolling?” Kook asked.

“We need to document everything that’s going on,” Dong Wan answered. “It might help us figure out what’s going on.”

“If she wasn’t hurt I’d be making fun of her, and how cute Kookie is holding her in his arms like that,” Haha grinned, watching Kook blush.

“I’m with you there,” Jae Suk added with a smile.

“If I weren’t so cold I’d let Kook smack you both before I come after you with a drop kick,” Sujeong joked, weakly raising her fist.

Kook sat her down next to him at the table as they waited for the food to cook. Kook noticed some pink back in her cheeks, and he smiled as he rubbed her head.

“Yah,” she said weakly while brushing his hand away.

She grabbed the jackets and cloth closer to her as she sat cross legged in the chair, leaning against Kook for more warmth.

“Don’t get too attached to her,” Gary joked. “Man, I wish Ji Hyo would do that with me.”

Ji Hyo smacked him over the shoulder with a laugh. The blush on Kook grew, and he nervously chuckled. Sujeong just grinned, happy that she wasn’t chattering her teeth anymore. I owe him a lot, she thought. I might have to let him win…

After about a half hour, the food was finally ready. At first, Kook wanted to feed Sujeong, but she was able to eat on her own. Gradually, her skin flushed and she warmed up in no time. She was back to laughing and smiling. Everyone was extremely relieved, including Myeok.

After eating, Sujeong followed everyone back to HQ.

“Here’s the footage from your cam,” the sound guy said. He paused the image of the red orbs as the audio played the laughter. “Remember anything?”

She stared at the red orbs, realizing that they were a pair of eyes. She shook her head, her heart nearly throbbing at .

“All I can remember was a hand over my mouth and being pulled towards the wall out of my chair,” she explained. “Everything after that is blank.”

The intercom cut back on. “Ah, ah, ah, you shouldn’t be spending time worrying about me when you should be doing a mission now. If I were you, PD Myeok, I’d be giving them their next mission now!”

Myeok gulped at the mention of his name.

“Time is ticking,” the voice cackled before cutting off again.

Myeok handed Sujeong the mission card, looking at her apologetically before she turned over the card to read it aloud.

“Running Man! Race to the Pool! Order matters!”

Sujeong wasted no time and gathered her strength to dash out of HQ towards the pool. She was laughing, imagining what their surprised expressions are like. She reached the pool first and was given a card and a script.

“Memorize the script’s final ending and act it out well to receive 25 points! First person to arrive: You are the main protagonist.”

Kook arrived next, along with Jae Suk. They both received their cards and scripts. Kook read his first.

“Memorize the script’s final ending and act it out well to receive 25 points! Second person to arrive: You are the main protagonist’s lover!”

“Ehh!” Kook’s blush returned a deep dark shade, and he couldn’t bear to look at Sujeong, but his embarrassment was shoved aside when he noticed her distancing herself from the pool.

“Memorize the script’s final ending and act it out well to receive 25 points! Third person to arrive: You are the antagonist!”

Jae Suk grinned and nodded. “I can play this part well.”

Haha was next.

“Fourth person to arrive: You are the director! Use discretion when deciding to cut or interrupt your cast.”

“I’m going to abuse this privilege,” Haha whispered and pointed at the others secretly.

Gary was next.

“Fifth person to arrive: You are the cameraman! Do well to receive 25 points!”

Ji Hyo, Kwang Soo, and Suk Jin were the last to come in. They read theirs together.

“Sixth, seventh, and eighth place: You will be background sound effects for the cast. Do well to receive 25 points! Extra points rewarded for creativity!”

“Let’s all practice for a bit before doing the real thing,” Sujeong grinned, her mood much better than before. “Despite having a crazy person detaining us here and telling us what to do, we shouldn’t let him win by fearing him the entire time. Let’s enjoy this while we can, shall we?”

She did have a point. Everyone went to their positions and practice without much trouble.

“We’re ready!” Sujeong raised her hand to signal Myeok.

“Lights! Camera! Action!” Haha directed.

Let the curtains rise on this crazy play…

A/N Hi my favorite readers! I'll be posting one more chapter before my move to South Korea! I'll be pretty busy for the first few weeks, but once I settle in I will be able to post more. How's the story going so far? What do you think will happen next?!

Comments are appreciated, and keep subscribing and upvote! Thanks for reading and enjoying my stories! More to come soon! <3

Much love,

Author Crystal

 <3 Love Monday Couple <3