Note: Time to let go...

Unlike any other filming days, Jihyo arrived the earliest that day. She went into the room where the PDs were at and had a brief talk with the head PD. The day’s mission wasn’t demanding. It was riddles after riddles. They didn’t have to use their physical skills, just their brains. After the discussion, Jihyo bowed lightly, hugging the PD and made her leave. Outside, the other members started gathering.

“Did you tell him?” Gary asked, approaching Jihyo. She nodded and smiled at him. The other members smiled at her, as if they had known this way before that day. The other staffs were clueless..

“Jja… Let’s start today’s mission.” The PD said. “Today’s theme is group friendship test.” The members’ faces flashed smiles, thankful that it was coincidentally this week’s mission. They were all wearing light blue sponsored t-shirts. The cast looked at each other and nodded, exchanging silent supports. The staffs who were oblivious to the situation were confused at the members’ unusual behavior. They would usually voice their opinions, although the staff knew that they were close off screen too. “Ok, you may now enter the building.”

“Ne,” Jaesuk said, leading the members. “Today, we promise you that we’ll give you our best.” The other members smiled beside him, forming a circle.

“Running Man… Fighting!” They chanted.

One by one, the members entered the set, and the door was locked behind them.

“All of you won’t be able to go out from this door. You must all try and find your way out of this building.” The PD explained. “There are 10 levels to this mission. Each level is represented by a room, and each room will get you closer to the exit.” The members nodded and entered the first room ahead of them. The members were on a lock down. There was no cameraman, no staffs, no PD. The cameras were installed in each room. The rules were posted on the doors of each room. There were speakers that the PD could use to communicate with them, but all their phones were taken away. They had no one but each other.

Mission 1: Take the stick lying in front of you. Make 2 lines and stand alternately. Everyone must hold it using their index fingers only, and lie it down on the red rectangle on the other side of the room.

The room was empty. There was only a table with the stick on top, and across, a red rectangular sticker that had been placed on the floor.

“This one?” Jaesuk asked as he picked it up. “Ok, let’s do this!” He said.

“Isn’t this too easy?” Sukjin asked. Everyone put their fingers up and the moment everyone touched it, the stick goes up. They all laughed. It wasn’t as easy as they thought it would be. “Ah, it’s not easy.” Sukjin admitted, making everyone laugh.

“Ok, everyone relax your fingers.” Jongkook said, taking charge of the situation. “Now lower it. Starting from Jaesuk hyung on the left.” He said.  They smiled. It was working. “Slowly, slowly. Don’t get too excited.” Jongkook reminded. And they succeeded placing it in the red rectangle. The second door immediately opened.

Mission 2: Solve 10 riddles hidden in the room.

In the room, there was a table, 7 chairs, and 7 pens. On the sides, there were empty cupboards and shelves. The cast started searching around the room. Opening the door of a cupboard and pushing the shelves around. Haha started searching under the table, and saw a list of questions stuck to it.

“Ya!” He called out. “They’re all here.” He tore off the paper and sat on the table. The members gathered around the table and solved the questions. They could see that 7 questions were geared towards each member’s specialty, while the other 3 were something they were all not familiar with. They were questions of sciences, arts, and logical puzzles.

But once again, the members solved it in no time. The staffs looking through the CCTV were surprised to see them solve it faster than they had expected them to. The door opened.

Mission 3: Point to the right person.

“Can you all hear me?” The PD tested the speaker. Everyone answered yes in unison. “Now I will be dictating the questions and you will have to point to the person that matches my description.” He said. The members nodded. “We will begin… Point to the person whose phone number ends with OOOO.” The PD said.

Everyone smiled, they called each other too often to miss this one. Getting five of these questions right wouldn’t be a problem. They all looked at the camera, waiting for the count. And they all pointed at Sukjin.

“The one whose favorite thing to cook is chocolate.” They all laughed at the instruction, but pointed at Gary. The list continued on and they missed some, but they reached 10 counts in no time.

Mission 4: ?

“It doesn’t say anything?” Gary said as he looked at the paper stuck on the door. They signaled the PD and staff, in case it was a mistake, but they didn’t get a reply. That must’ve been the mission then.

“How can we do a mission when there is nothing written on it?” Haha asked, confused.

“Ah!” Jihyo said suddenly. “Is it one of those games where you have to find clues to open the door? “Igeobwa, oppa…” Jihyo said as she approached the door leading to Mission 4. The cast all looked at it, and she was right. The door was different. It had a keypad. There must be clues hidden for them around the room that would earn them the passcode.

Again, they all searched the room, looking for clues. Kwangsoo started going through the box of pens that was lying on top of the table. Sukjin went scanned the walls thoroughly. Haha looked under the table. Jaesuk scraped the walls. Jongkook climbed the shelves. Jihyo looked through the drawers of the desk. Gary flipped the chairs over. Nope, nothing.

“Our nametags.” Jaesuk said. They all turned to see him. “It may be under our nametags.” He said. And there it was, the password, and the order.

Mission 5: Telephone charades. Choose your order and stand in a line facing the door to mission 6. Number 2 to 7 will wear headphones, and number 1 will listen to a sentence. You must relay the message to number 7 with actions only, and in the end, number 7 must relay the sentence back to the camera.

“Do we know the category?” Gary asked.

“Oppa… I think you should go first.” Jihyo said to Jaesuk. Jaesuk nodded, agreeing as everyone agreed. The order was decided: Jaesuk, Jihyo, Haha, Gary, Jongkook, Sukjin, and Kwangsoo.

They didn’t get it done in one try, but instead of blaming one or another, they laughed at how the gestures changed so much. At their 6th try, they finally got it done.

Mission 6: Stop the bomb from exploding.

With a logical, almost mathematical riddle, the order of how the wires should be cut was shown. The members had to cut it in order. The members took a look at the wires, and were overwhelmed to learn that there were 12 different colored wires. They took a while to even solve the riddle.

“Red should go first.” Sukjin said.

“But that couldn’t be right, hyung. There must be a color before red.” Kwangsoo said, pointing at the clue that suggested so. They were determined to finish this.

After a while, they decided that they have the right solution, and cut the wires one b