“Is everyone here?” Seungkwan asked as they stood at the gate of his home.

One by one, each said a number that totaled 13 including Seungkwan himself. When he didn’t hear 14, he frowned. “Is Soo Min here with us?!” He looked over the group of guys.

“Say 14.” Jisoo nudged Soo Min who seemed to be staring off into space, her mind still in a jumble from earlier at the park’s playground, under the slide with Jeonghan.

“Huh?” She asked, looking up at him lost.

“14!” Jisoo raised his arm and pointed down to the girl next to him. “She’s right beside me.”

“Okay! Good! Then let’s go inside, then!” Seungkwan beckoned everyone to follow him into his home.

Everyone piled in one after another, filling the front entrance of their friend’s home.

“How much of the food was saved?” Soo Min asked as everyone was getting their shoes off at the door.

“I’d say about 70%” Soonyoung answered, holding two containers. Seokmin, Junhui, Won Woo and Mingyu had a few of the other containers as well. “The food we were trying to eat before it started to rain is probably the only food that was abandoned.”

“Well, since we’re here at Seungkwan’s house, we could make a little extra to replace the food that got ditched.” Jisoo spoke up, walking over to Seungkwan. They didn’t really ditch their food, they of course collected it and disposed of it responsibly once the rain cleared up.

“That sounds like a good idea.” The others agreed.

“Then how about everyone go make themselves comfortable with the remaining food in the dining room since… yeah my parents don’t want food in the arcade or living room.” Seungkwan instructed everyone besides the two chefs and helpers.

“Arcade?!” Soo Min looked at him surprised.

“Right! We should give her a house tour after we eat.” Jisoo smiled, patting her on the back.

“Sounds like a plan.” Seungkwan nodded in agreement.

With that, everyone headed off to the dining area where Seungkwan suggested they go while Soo Min, Jisoo, Junhui and Minghao headed to the kitchen with Seungkwan once more.

“Chan said he found you and Soo Min alone under the slide.” Won Woo mumbled next to Jeonghan as everyone was busy grabbing food from the containers.

“Oooh,” Mingyu grinned, “did anything exciting happen?”

“Why talk about this here?” Jeonghan said with a slight stutter. He was still trying to calm down from his actions earlier. He couldn’t believe he did that himself!

“So something did happen?!” Won Woo got excited, trying to keep his voice down.

“Please… just shut up and eat.” Jeonghan shoved a spoonful of his rice into Won Woo’s mouth.

“Omo… are you blushing?” Mingyu asked surprised to see a tint of pink dusted on the older boy’s cheeks. To their group of friends, Jeonghan rarely blushes often. Only if he’s really embarrassed or if he was in love. The guy was obviously in love right now, that or he did something really embarrassing in front of Soo Min.

“Leave me alone!” Jeonghan whined, covering his face. Why were his roommates so annoying sometimes?

“Something wrong over there?” Jihoon asked as he was getting something from one of the containers.

“He’s blushing! He must have done something with Soo Min-ow~!” Mingyu was saying when he earned a good elbow to the side.

“Oh really, now?” Jihoon smirked, observing the second oldest behavior just now.

“Aren’t you guys being a little too nosy?” Hansol asked from his spot nearby. Sure he was on the SooHan(Soo Min x Jeonghan) ship, everyone was… but they shouldn’t pester the poor guy.

“Stop picking on my mom!” Chan frowned next to Hansol.

“Thanks, Channie.” Jeonghan chuckled.

“We may not be together anymore, but you’re our child’s mother and-” Seungcheol was saying.

“I don’t need your help.” Jeonghan rolled his eyes, cutting him off.

“Oooh… owch.” Those around held back their laughter. The parents(friends) were still bickering.

“Will those two ever get along?” Seokmin worried. Jihoon sighed, not even wanting to bother with this guy. “Find out on the next episode of ‘JungCheol’s-” Seokmin didn’t get to finish since Jeonghan threw food at him. Everyone started to laugh!

“It’s cold.” Soo Min complained as she stood at the counter, chopping some vegetables.

“Why don’t we switch places, it’s warmer next to the stove.” Jisoo suggested, walking over to take over her station. Soo Min rushed over to the stove, putting her exposed arms near the boiling pot. They decided to make some kimchi jjigae(stew) as a bonus.

“Ah! Please be careful, you’ll get burned!” Junhui worried when he saw her arms dangerously close to the pot.

“I will!” She assured him, “If only I could hug this pot!”

“Do you need a jacket, or something?” Seungkwan asked, worrying for the girl and her sensitivity to temperatures.

“She’ll be fine.” Jisoo assured him. Soo Min just glared at her friend.

“And you said it wouldn’t rain.” She muttered before accidentally touching the boiling pot with her forearm due to not paying attention just now. She jumped back with a small shriek.

“Are you okay?!” Everyone dropped everything they were doing and circled her.

“I’m fine.” She assured them, looking at the faint redness on her arm. “It was so brief, I’ll be fine.”

“Are you sure? I have a first aid kit you can use.” Seungkwan mentioned, looking to Junhui.

“That’s oka-”

“Let’s just be sure!” Junhui frowned, pulling her away from the kitchen following Seungkwan to get the first aid kit.

“Aish, your mother can be so reckless sometimes.” Jisoo sighed, shaking his head.

“She’ll be okay, right?” Minghao asked worriedly.

“She’ll be fine, don’t worry.” He assured his son(friend). “In the mean time, can you help me with these vegetables?”

“Sure!”

Finally, the extra food was finished and the five from the kitchen joined the rest of their friends in the dining room. Everyone looked excited to see the bonus dish that was made, especially Jeonghan who is very fond of stews.

They all began to eat again, this time nothing was going to ruin their indoor picnic.

...

The lights went off.

“Ah~!” Everyone exclaimed, startled. There were no windows in the dining area, making the room dark when the power went out due to the storm that had started back up outside.

“Are we ever going to eat in peace?!” Won Woo complained knowing he dropped the piece of meat he was about to eat when the lights went off. He was irritated!

“Everyone, just remain calm!” Seungkwan said at the head of the table.

“You have any candles we can light?” Mingyu asked in the darkness.

“Let’s make this romantic!” Seokmin chimed.

“How is it romantic if there’s only one girl and thirteen guys?” Jihoon chuckled.

“We’ll leave Jeonghan and Soo Min alone…” He whispered to who he thought was Jihoon, but it was Jisoo.

“Wrong person.” Jisoo held back a laugh.

“I’ll go find the candles!” Seungkwan said, carefully getting up from his seat. There was faint light coming from the dining room entrance, but it wasn’t much since the stormy clouds outside hindered any sunlight.

“We’ll come with you!” A few others said, also getting up. Soo Min had got up as well, but failed to say she was. This would be challenging now.

“Ahh~!” Won Woo yelped when he felt someone touch his side for a brief second.

“What? What’s wrong?” Hansol asked, worried.

“Someone just touched my side, who was is?!” He asked, straining to see in the dark.

“It wasn’t me.” Mingyu said close by.

“Wasn’t me either!” Soonyoung claimed.

“Wait?! Who got up from their seat?!”

“Me.” Two voices said in sync. That sure didn’t help identify.

“Who’s still seated?” He asked instead.

“Jisoo.” Jisoo said.

“Jeonghan.” Jeonghan said next.

“Hansol.”

“Channie!”

“Jihoon.”

“Junhui.”

“Minghao.”

That was the end of the voices.

“Seungkwan already left the room, so who’s still here?”

“Mingyu.”

“Soonyoung.”

That was the end of the voices, again.

“And me.” Won Woo added. “So that means Seungcheol and Seokmin must have left with Seungkwan… wait.” He paused. “Soo Min, are you still here?!”

There was no answer.

“Did she leave with the other three?” Mingyu wondered out loud.

“I didn’t see her leave.” Soonyoung mumbled.

“Of course you didn’t, idiot! No one can see in this almost pitch black room!” Won Woo sighed, shaking his head.

“Uhh~!” Suddenly they heard Jisoo shout in his seat.

“What?! What?! What?! What?!” Everyone immediately asked.

“N-Nothing.” Jisoo chuckled, embarrassed. “I thought I saw something…” He added, hoping not to draw attention to his spot.

He felt Soo Min rest her hands on his shoulder just now. She patted him twice on his shoulder before swiping her finger across his lips, hinting for him to be quiet. Being friends for such a long time, he knew what she was up to. This translated to: I’m going to play a prank on everyone!

If there was one cool thing Soo Min could do, it was her eyes adjusting to dark rooms quicker than others. You could almost say it was like she had cat eyes.

“I guess we just wait for the other four to come bac-Ah~!” Soonyoung said until he felt a hand brush against his arm for a slight second.

“What?!” Won Woo asked startled.

“Someone just touched my arm!”

“You don’t think Seungkwan’s house is haunted, do you?” Jisoo said dramatically. He was definitely going to enjoy this little prank.

“Of course we’ll help you!” Seungkwan jumped excitedly.

“Yay!” Soo Min smiled brightly. She had just asked Seungkwan, Seungcheol and Seokmin to help her pull a prank on the other nine guys, excluding Jisoo who already knew what was up.

“What do you need us to do?” Seokmin asked curiously.

“You have to make them believe I was with you three the entire time.” She started to explain.

“Of course, we can do that.” Seungkwan nodded.

“Is there any rooms I can stuff some of the guys into when I grab them?”

“That sounds… horrible.” Seungcheol shook his head.

“There should be a hall closet a little ways down the second hallway that’s conveniently connected to the left of the room.” Seungkwan answered.

“Your house would be great for Halloween! Spooky Boo’s Haunted House of Horror!” She grinned.

“I like that idea!” Seungkwan nodded excitedly.

“Did you see that?!” Soonyoung exclaimed.

“What?!” The others asked. By now they had gotten a tad paranoid once word of unexplained touches was mentioned. Who was touching them?

“The faint light that was coming from the entrance is gone now!”

Soo Min had asked the three helpers to block off any light coming from any windows near the dining room, making it even darker.

“Oh my god…” Hansol was starting to get nervous.

“It’s okay, t-the others should be b-back soon.” Chan tried to assure his friend.

“What should we do?!”

“We could try to leave the room.” Jihoon suggested.

“We could, but don’t you think it’s a little dangerous? What if someone gets hurt?” Junhui replied worriedly. His inner Chansey was showing.

“We should just wait for the others to come back.” Jisoo spoke up. “We’ll be fine.”

“Are you sure?” Suddenly a voice whispered. It was uncertain if it was male or female.

“Who said that?!” Hansol panicked.

“It wasn’t me!” Everyone exclaimed.

“Ahh~! Ah~! Ah~!” Suddenly Won Woo began to shout, his voice fading.

“Won Woo?!” Mingyu gasped. “Won Woo~?!”

There was silence.

“Oh my god!” Hansol felt chills running down his spine. What the heck?!

“Ahahaha! Someone is playing a joke on us.” Jeonghan said in a shaky voice.

“Who, though?” Jisoo wondered.

“The other four, they’re not back yet, are they?” Jihoon replied. “Of course it has to be them.”

“Ah~! No~! Oh my god~! Let me go~! Help~!” Hansol was the next one to start shouting.

“Ahh~!” The others panicked, not sure what to do. They didn’t know where their younger friend was in the room, or where to go to. They didn’t want to run into the table or each other trying to help!

Hansol’s voice faded into the darkness, just like Won Woo’s.

“Mommy! I’m scared!” Chan said frightened.

“It’s just a joke, Channie. It’ll be over soon!” Jeonghan tried to assure his son(younger friend).

“S-Seriously… is Seungkwan’s house really h-haunted?” Jisoo tried to give his best ‘I’m scared out of my mind’ voice.

“You watch scary films all the time, what’s with you?” Jeonghan chuckled from his seat.

“I don’t watch many paranormal movies!” Jisoo defended.

“Then, who’s next to go?” Jihoon said amused.

“You.” The voice from earlier whispered next to his ear, making him involuntarily shout. Just like the other two, his struggling voice disappeared into the darkness...

“M-Maybe his house i-is h-h-haunted!” Soonyoung hugged himself tightly.

“Why?!” Jihoon almost shouted but Soo Min silenced him just as quick.

“Pulling a prank, just like you said.” She giggled softly.

“You scared the out of us!” Won Woo complained quietly, his heart still racing.

“Why?” Hansol asked, a sad look on his face. “Why would you do this to me, mom?”

“Awww, I’m sorry!” She cooed. “I thought to abduct Chan, but worried he’d knock me over from fear.”

“Most likely.” The three nodded in the dim lit hall closet.

“Just stay here for a bit.” She said, opening the closet door again. “The prank is almost over.”

“Are you going to bring someone else in here?”

“Nah, don’t want to overstuff the closet. I’ll come back for you three in a few minutes!” She said with a small wave.

When the door closed, the tree boys sighed.

“I never thought she’d be the type to pull this kind of prank.” Won Woo mumbled.

“And the timing? Seems sort of random, doesn’t it?” Jihoon added.

“When you least expect it.” Hansol nodded.

“Let's get her back.” Won Woo mumbled, opening the closet door quietly.

…

Soo Min had secretly slipped out of the dining room without being noticed by the remaining five who were trying to figure out what was really going on.

“Let’s go in now.” Soo Min said to the three who were on standby halfway down the hall. They nodded and they turned their flashlights on.

When they entered the dining room, the five looked at them relieved but stilled when they saw Soo Min with them.

“Sorry it took so long,” Seungkwan apologized, “I had to find some batteries for the flashlights as well as finding some matches for the candles. Is everyone okay?” He asked, shining the light on them. “Eh? Who’s missing?” He asked confused.

“The ghost took Won Woo, Hansol and Jihoon!” Chan exclaimed jumping up and rushing over to Soo Min’s side, clinging onto her. “It was so scary!”

“What ghost?” Seokmin asked, looking spooked suddenly.

“If Soo Min was with you all this time… then who was it that took the other three?” Mingyu’s face looked pale.

“Hansol?! Where’s Hansol?! Where’s my son?!” Soo Min looked panicked when she ‘noticed’ said person missing. Her panicked expression had the others believing it wasn’t her pulling the prank.

“I think y-your house is haunted, Seungkwan!” Soonyoung jumped up and down, scared. “Can I go home?!”

“What?! You just want to go home when three of our friends are missing?!” Seungcheol frowned.

Just then, the lights went back on. There were sighs of relief followed by laughter by the returning four.

“Why are you laughing?” Soonyoung frowned.

“You guys looked totally scared!” Seungkwan pointed.

“Because we were!” Jeonghan frowned.

“Even though it was a prank?” Seokmin asked with laughter in his voice.

“So where are the other three?!” Chan asked curiously.

“Let’s go fetch them.” Soo Min smiled, leading him to the second hall, down to the hall closet. When she opened the door, Won Woo, Hansol and Jihoon were gone. “What?”

“They’re not here.” Chan frowned.

“But they were there a minute ago!” She said worried. “Did they get up and leave on their own?” She pouted. She could now see another door down the hall and figured someone must have taken them, countering her prank.

She marched back to the dining room, Chan following close behind her.

“Where are they?” Seungkwan asked when he noticed the three she hid weren’t with her.

“Yeah, where are they?” She crossed her arms, narrowing her eyes at him.

“What are you talking about? I don’t know.” He said innocently.

“Trying to counter my prank, huh? It’s not working. I know you had someone take them from the hall closet. I couldn’t see it before, but there’s another door down that hallway.”

“I didn’t! All the staff are off on the weekends, there’s literally no one else here but us!” Seungkwan said seriously.

“He’s telling the truth.” Seungcheol confirmed.

“Then?” She frowned, looking down towards the hallways again.

“His house really is haunted! I want out!” Soonyoung exclaimed, trying to run away but Seokmin stopped him, laughing as he held the boy back.

“I’ll go look for them.” Jeonghan offered when he saw the concerned look on Soo Min’s face. Of course she was worried about her son(younger roommate).

“I’ll go too!” Soo Min step forward. “I have to find my baby!” She wailed, earning a laugh from the others.

“You really had my heart racing…” Jeonghan mumbled as he and Soo Min were walking down the hallway.

“Good!” She giggled. “With Seungkwan’s house being so huge and it being so dark, I just had to pull a prank on you guys!”

“You’re just a handful, aren’t you?” He chuckled as they reached the second door of the hallway.

“Yes, yes I am.” She nodded.

When he opened the door, she was shocked to see another hallway with several doors on each side.

“Really?!” She asked. “For real?! Like are you serious?! What?” She stumbled over her words. What is this?! Scooby Doo?!

“No telling where they could be hiding.” Jeonghan sighed. The plan was to look in each room.

“Why this many rooms?!” She asked, still shocked. “Are they even used?!”

“Probably not.” Jeonghan scoffed. “Just for show.”

“I’m getting a headache.” She sighed, holding her head.

“Maybe we should just go back… see how long it takes for them to come out when they realize no one is looking for them?”

“Maybe… let’s just at least try.” She giggled at his suggestion.

They both started looking into the empty rooms separately. Once they covered about six rooms with at least eight more rooms left before the end of that hallway and the start of another hallway… the lights went out again when a loud clap of thunder sounded off.

Soo Min jumped and clung to Jeonghan’s side while hearing someone shout in the room she was about to check. She calmed her racing heart and chuckled quietly. So they’re in there, huh? She thought before looking up to Jeonghan. She brought a finger to her lips in the dim light from the flashlight Jeonghan brought along and pointed forward, hinting they should skip that room. He nodded agreeing and the continued down the hall, not bothering with the rest of the rooms.

“Seriously, the power is out again?” Soonyoung complained as Seokmin was lighting some candles, Seungkwan held the flashlight to help his friend see what he’s doing.

“How long do you think this storm is going to last?” Jisoo wondered.

“Maybe a few more hours?” Seungcheol shrugged. “I wonder how SooHan are doing?”

“They have one of the flashlights, so they should be okay.” Seungkwan assured them.

“What about the other three, though…” Chan worried.

“It’s their fault for trying to hide.” Mingyu sighed.

“You okay, hyung?” Chan asked, resting a hand on his tall friend’s shoulder.

“I’m fine.” He assured the younger boy.

“You miss Won Woo, don’t you? That’s aright! I miss my mom and second mom!”

“Why do you keep calling her second mom?!” Seungcheol laughed.

“Because she’s going to adopt me!” He beamed at his father(older friend).

Mingyu chuckled, Chan was so cute sometimes.

“Everyone will be fine, no need to worry.” Jisoo said from his seat.

“But it rained and three of our friends are missing…” Minghao frowned at him.

“You’re supposed to take after me, not your mother!” Jisoo played hurt making everyone else laugh.

“This is kinda spooky yet… fun.” Soo Min said quietly as she and Jeonghan were sitting in one of the many rooms in the third hallway. Why there was so many, no one would ever know. But they served useful as a good hiding spot, anyways. Yes… these two were hiding, too.

“I’m curious why you wanted to come hide in here?” He asked, playing with the flashlight’s hand strap between his fingers.

“Not really sure, either.” She shrugged next to him.

“Even more so… with me?”

“Why not?” She smiled at him. “We don’t get much alone time to begin with.”

“So you… want to be alone with me?” A smile tugged at his lips.

“... maybe.” She blushed realizing she had really said that. At his grin she looked away, embarrassed.

“Having twelve friends wanting to know your every move gets kind of annoying sometimes…” He admitted. “It’s nice just to get away from them and not have to worry about them butting in.”

“Exactly!” She agreed. “They’re good people, but… need some space sometimes.”

“Yes.” He nodded.

There was a brief moment of silence before she asked a question.

“Earlier… at the park?”

“What about it?” He asked in reply, even though he knew what she was talking about.

“What… were you trying to do?” She asked shyly.

“Trying to catch you.” He answered calmly.

She looked up at him, surprised with his answer. “So… if Chan didn’t interrupt…?”

“Maybe I would have catched you.” He smiled.

“And what about now?” She almost whispered.

“You… won’t flee… will you?” His gaze landed on her lips.

She stilled, watching him lean in closer to her like before. Would he be successful this time?

Chapter fifteen!

Total cliff hanger, hahahaha! Can you imagine being in a dark room with 13 people! Like… where is everyone?! Look all you want, it won’t matter! HAHA

what even? Won Woo /facepalm

So… this chapter seemed random. Sorry about that. I don’t know why it turned out this way, but I suppose it’s entertaining? This would have been nice for Halloween! Haha~!

Spooky Boo’s Haunted House of Horror~!

Be afraid, be VERY afraid!

Ps, still don’t know SEVENTEEN all that well yet, so I really wouldn’t know who’s a scaredy cat and who isn’t, I’m just going off the personalities I know so far >___< Though I am curious, despite already writing this chapter lol, is there anyone who’s a scaredy cat? Or are there any who are like NU’EST Minhyun, not even phased by scary things? HAHA I did see somewhere Won Woo likes scary movies too.... but for the sake of this story, I'm making him a bit of a scaredy cat lol

Also, I realize this is chapter 15 now. So many chapters and not enough progress! I’m sorry! I’ll try to hurry things along so I don’t drag this story out >< But I have so many ideas for this… what happens if it just keeps going and going and I hit the chapter 50 mark?! LOL JK XD

Hope everyone enjoyed like always! ^^

Also... it's been raining a lot where I live and just a few minutes ago, I kid you not, I think a lightning bolt touched down somewhere close by! THE GROUND SHOOK AND IT WAS SO LOUD AND THE LIGHTS FLICKERED OFF.... WAAAAAAA~! I ran out of my room screaming looking for my mom and twin, like... OH MAH GAH ARE YOU TWO OKAY?! Haha now I'm in my twin's room cuz I'm too scared to be alone in my room.... OTL I'm a scaredy cat, I know! HAHA