Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The traffic light blinked to red, the two cars slowing to a stop to join the long queue that was already starting to form in front of the busy afternoon crossroads. Jisung stared out of the windows, trails of raindrops blurring the outside world.

Next to him, Felix huffed under his breath, probably dissatisfied with something happening in his game. Jisung shot the screen a glance, but couldn’t make out much. He’d already taken out his lenses after their schedules ended, and he didn’t have the energy to try and make sense of the fuzzy blobs on the phone. Jeongin was also doing something on his phone, but Jisung couldn’t see more than a bright white coming from his screen, so he had no clue what it could be. In the front seat, Seungmin had his eyes closed, leaning against the glass of the window as he was probably listening to a podcast, same as always.

They were heading to their dorms, and though Jisung no longer lived with them, technically, he still liked to switch up cars every now and then simply for the vibes. The 3racha car was often… loud, or sometimes not even used because they were all night owls and didn’t go back to the dorms at the same time anyway. Opposite to that, the Minho & the kids’ car (as dubbed by Minho himself) was often a calm and peaceful place. Everyone did their own thing, the radio played softly in the background, and if they talked to each other, it was never to the level of shouting or belting as the 3racha car often got to.

So yeah, Jisung had asked to switch with Minho today, and he was really, really glad he did. He needed this after the grueling hours of working on those stupid songs. He was stuck on a couple of them for weeks now and at this point, it wasn’t even funny anymore how often he’d replayed the same couple of beats and verses.

“Do you think this will take much longer, sir?” Seungmin broke the silence, turning to the driver as he popped out one of his earbuds. The traffic jam they were stuck in appeared to be never ending, and Jisung could understand the slight impatience in Seungmin’s tone. He wanted to get home as quickly as possible too; they had an early start tomorrow again.

“Sorry, kid, but the next intersection where we can cut off is ten minutes away at this rate. I think it’ll be another thirty before we’ll be arriving at the dormitories.”

Seungmin sighed, putting back his earbud. “Ah, okay…”

Jisung felt the same disappointment, turning back to the window and staring at the blurry raindrops racing each other across the glass.

It was weirdly meditative, the way he didn’t even have the means to focus his vision and could just stare at those little reflective drops of water trail across the darkened glass. Like little sparkly dots dancing in front of him. The air oozed warmth and blanketed him, and the soft beats from the car radio finished it all. Jisung didn’t really mind, actually, if the traffic jam would take a bit longer. He was quite comfortable.

Felix yawned loudly, making Jisung huff in amusement. He looked away from the window (with a bit of a struggle, but he didn’t pay it any mind).

“You can lean on me if you want,” he offered, but Felix shook his head, pressing his lips together as he suppressed another yawn.

“ ‘m not tired.”

Jisung shot him an unimpressed look, nudging Felix’s leg with his shoe.

“I am too, Lix. And Innie’s already gone.”

They both looked over to Jeongin, who was breathing far too controlled and slow for him to be conscious anymore. He looked so small, curled up like that, his socked feet tucked atop his seat as his hair shielded his face. Felix sighed.

“I’m serious. I wasn’t-” Another yawn cut him off, and he made a small noise of annoyance afterwards. “I felt so energized just now. There’s this stream I wanted to watch when we’re home, and I still have to finish my dailies…”

Though his words did sound excited, Jisung watched in perplexment as Felix’s eyes started drooping in the middle of his sentences. He looked exhausted, but now that Jisung thought about it, Felix had still been a ball of energy when they’d ended practice just fifteen minutes before. Maybe he was already crashing? Somehow, that explanation sounded wrong.

“Sung, something- something’s not-”

“Felix?”

But Felix’s words were petering out, his head lolling to the side before his hands dropped his phone on his lap and his chin met his chest. He was asleep.

Now that was weird.

“Hey, Minnie, something’s wrong with Lix-”

Jisung bent forward to look around Felix and towards Seungmin, but found the younger already asleep against his side of the car as well, his mouth agape as he breathed softly.

Jisung frowned. Seungmin was awake less than a minute ago, and now he looked like he was sleeping deeply already. And the worst thing about it all? Jisung could feel his own mind slowing down as well, as if he was in bed, at the edge of falling asleep himself. This was far too coincidental to be natural. Something was weird. Something was wrong.

He knew this could be his anxiety talking. His paranoia sometimes reared its ugly head when he let it, but this time he didn’t fight it. Felix had tried to say something, maybe warn him for something, but what?

Immediately, his mind drew up a list of possible doom scenarios, going from having been drugged to slowly dying because of air pollution, and he shook his head, trying to dispel those thoughts before they could bring him to a full-on panic.

He turned to the driver, his last hope. The man was pointedly looking forward, occasionally zipping the car forward a bit and then stopping in the queue again. He looked unbothered, just doing his job. It wasn’t a driver Jisung knew, but that was nothing out of the ordinary. Their company gave them different drivers every couple of months, depending on their schedules and the company they hired the people from.

The driver glanced for just a second in the rearview mirror, meeting Jisung’s eyes and quickly averting them again.

That was the last straw.

Jisung didn’t care if this was all just his imagination, he was jumping into action.

Step one of overcoming your fear: you have to confront it head-first.

“Hey, sir,” he called boldly, forcing himself to sit up straighter and open his eyes wider so he didn’t look and feel as tired as he did. “Are we almost home?”

The man grunted, but didn’t give him an answer. Not like how he answered Seungmin normally before.

“Well, are we?”

The man flat-out ignored him this time. That was just rude. The warmth all around him still made Jisung drowsy, and the soft pitter patter of the rain and the radio only made it worse, but he didn’t care. Fighting sleep was a skill he’d perfected over the years (an advantage of being part of the infamous 3racha, he supposed), and that’s why he was easily keeping himself aware. The rest had no such luck, which meant that it all came down to Jisung.

Since confronting the driver hadn’t gotten him any results, he went to the next step.

Step two of overcoming your fear: if confronting doesn’t work, get Chan.

He wasted no time in pulling up the 3racha group chat and messaging their leader, shooting him (and Changbin) a short message of: something weird’s going on, but idk what, and waited with bated breath for a response.

True to his reputation, their number one insomniac responded in a matter of seconds. But his answer did anything but ease Jisung’s mind.

U 2?
Lino, Jinnie and Bin are all out. This isnt normal

Jisung’s stomach dropped. His fingers shook slightly as he typed his response.

just stay awake, we’ll figure this out once we’re home

Jisung nodded to himself, gripping his phone tightly. He could do that. He was the champion of staying up when he was tired. His mind wouldn’t let him rest anyway.

The driver cleared his throat, making Jisung look up, though the man didn’t seem to want to say anything. Instead, he reached out to turn the radio a bit louder.

“Oh, that’s really not necessary, sir.”

The man ignored him again, going back to driving and pulling the car forward a bit. Jisung frowned. As soon as they got to the company tomorrow, he’d tell their manager they should change drivers again. This one had no manners at all.

Now that the radio was louder, he tried focussing on that to stay awake, but the soft low-fi beats only did the opposite. It was rhythmic, making his heart beat just as slow and controlled. Almost as if…

Jeongin’s breathing came to mind. Jisung turned his attention to his members and realized that all of them were breathing in the same pattern. Slow. Rhythmic. With the beat.

Jisung’s heart tried to speed up in fear at what he had discovered, but he found it couldn't anymore. It slowed down just as fast, making him involuntarily sag against his seat as his body was forced to relax by an unknown force.

It was almost as if the radio was doing this.

Suddenly, the driver turning it louder painted a far more sinister scene in his mind as he slowly connected the dots. He could feel his energy dissipating, his breath evening out, his eyes becoming heavy, but he fought it with every ounce of strength he had. He couldn’t risk falling asleep. Not like this. Not when something was wrong-

He could barely type anymore, his eyes not focussing at all on the words. Shit, he was losing the fight, wasn’t he?

He waited a second, then another. Chan never responded.

Jisung’s body slowly stopped responding to him too. His heart was seized with fear as his phone dropped from his lax hand and thudded between his shoes. In the back of his mind, the thought popped up that this really was the crappiest way to die. There were no awesome gun fights, no dramatic accidents, no yelling or crying or screaming or epic sacrifices. Everything was peaceful.

And that was the worst thing. Jisung was helpless to stop any of it, but he also felt so relaxed that he wondered if he even should want to stop it.

With that as his last thought, his eyes slipped closed, and his head hit the glass next to him. He was asleep soon after.

Chapter Text

The worst thing when Minho woke up wasn't the complete silence around him or the hard surface he could feel under him. It was the awful crick in his neck, one that he only got when he fell asleep upright sometimes and none of the members were there to move him to his bed. He already dreaded the amount of stretches he would have to do to get the muscles to feel alright again, and he softly groaned, not even bothering to open his eyes as he allowed himself to mourn his neck for a minute.

But then he realized just how silent and just how hard the surface under him was, and he finally opened his eyes, looking around in confusion as darkness met him everywhere he looked.

He couldn’t still be dreaming, could he? He felt far too aware for that.

“Guys?”

He didn’t think he’d get an answer, but it still couldn’t hurt to try. He weakly pushed his hands under him so he could sit up, but as soon as he could properly see around himself, the urge to call out for them became far more prominent.

“Guys!”

What the hell. There was no one.

He’d awoken on a small heightened platform, barely the size of his body when he was splayed out flat, and peering over the edges brought him a bad case of vertigo as it seemed to be raised very high. He was in some kind of dark room, he could tell from the ceiling above him, but the walls were all so far away that he could barely make out where they began or ended. Everything was pitch black, even the ground underneath him.

He only knew how high up he actually was because of those things: the white, bodiless arms that seemed to literally grow out of the floor. They were like frozen statues, the hands reaching for the platform but none of them ever touching it. And they were everywhere. The entire floor was covered in them, only small specks of black in between showing that there was, in fact, a floor under them.

Needless to say, Minho was properly creeped out.

“Guys! Hey!”

He had the feeling yelling any louder wouldn’t yield any better results, and so he pulled his knees up to himself, hating how small he felt in such a big, soundless space.

This was literally his worst nightmare.

He shut his eyes, letting out a shuddering breath. He had to calm himself down. Letting his fear take over wouldn’t get him out of here. He shouldn’t let himself be so weak.

He didn’t know where the others were, and the last thing he remembered was that they had been driving back to the dorms at the end of the night, but who knows what happened after that. While panic was trying and failing (for now) to get a hold of him, he also noticed how drowsy he still felt, as if he could fall asleep without any problem again if he wanted to.

He didn’t, but he could.

“Come on, Lee. Think.” He pressed his knees closer to his chest, trying to give himself some semblance of control back in the way he curled his back and dug his fingers into his skin. “You’re not a pussy. You can easily figure this out.”

Maybe this was an elaborate prank. Or still a dream. Or just some test that he’d forgotten about. He didn’t know what kind of idol company would test their idols by putting them on a platform surrounded by creepy white hands, but he wouldn’t put it past JYP either. That man was weird, alright, he would be capable of doing something like this.

“Haha, very funny,” he tried, raising his voice just so that it sounded as if he was annoyed at whoever was behind this. “Are you gonna give me the objective soon or what? This is honestly such a stupid idea for a SKZ code. Whoever thought of it should be fired immediately.”

No answer came, but it’s not like he expected any. Still, he had to test if anyone was there, listening or watching, and so he continued goating, trying to lure them out.

“What? Is this funny to you? Do you think I’m interested in playing the scared little idol for some dumb game show, huh? Give me a break, guys. You’re seriously demented if you think this could have worked on Lee Know. You should have tried Jisungie. Or Yongbok-ah. Even Chan-hyung would’ve been better. You seriously do not know anything, do you?”

The room remained silent, and it was seriously starting to get on his nerves. Insecurity tried to creep into his chest, but he stomped it down, welcoming irritation for it in its place.

If he just kept talking, someone was bound to respond sometime. He just had to be the ultimate winner in this game of endurance.

In the end, it wasn’t the response he’d been expecting that finally made him stop talking. No one appeared, no speaker system turned on, and no cameras popped up anywhere.

He was mid-rant, trying to come up with every insult he’d ever heard (didn’t matter which language, he’d heard a lot of insults from his English members, but also from his other friends in the industry—Korean, Japanese or otherwise, he was very creative), and then it happened.

“You fucking bastards, absolute brainless shits, dickheads, fuckwits-”

The platform shook, as if one of its pillars was suddenly displaced and caused the whole thing to tilt in a very dangerous way. He yelped, hands shooting out to grip the edges of the platform with white knuckles. He kept it up until the platform stabilized again on its own after what felt like ages, the room returning to its immobile, soundless stage.

“What was that for, huh?!” he yelled at the ceiling, shooting daggers at the darkness above him. His heart was beating a thrumming march in his chest. “What the hell was that?”

Of course, no one answered, but he got the feeling that he was being watched now. Goosebumps trailed over his back and he shivered.

“If you want me to shut up you should say it to my face, cowards!”

Though he didn’t want to risk eliciting the same response with the shaking platform (he was afraid of heights, thank you very much), he still refused to quiet down that easily. They had to do a lot more than just scare him for a second to get him to shut his mouth. And besides, it felt like they were toying with him. Raised on a small platform with weird modern art all around him, he felt as if on display. This was a sick kind of circus, and whoever had put him here enjoyed it, he just knew it.

“I’m not a damn animal for you to put on a performance, you motherfucking freaks!”

If Chan were here, he’d have an aneurism, but Minho didn’t care. He wasn’t here, and so Minho was free to be as foulmouthed as he wanted.

“Pathetic fetishizing bastards! When I get out of here, I’ll pop out all of your eyeballs and put them in the airfryer! You psychos, don’t think I won’t hesitate to sue your asses as soon as I get the chance! I’m fucking rich if you hadn’t noticed yet, I’m Lee Know from Stray Kids!”

A small voice in the back of his head was hissing at him to shut up already, but he literally, physically couldn’t. Sass and snides were the only way he could deflect, the only way he could distract himself enough so he wouldn’t fall into a full-on panic attack.

Is this how Jisungie felt before going outside on some mornings? How did he ever manage to survive that? Minho’s heart felt like it was trying to beat his bones into a pulp and jump out, while his hands were clammy and shaking. His eyes darted all around him, desperate to find a door that he might have missed or another way out. He couldn’t find anything, but he had to keep trying.

“You sick scumbags! I’ll make you regret it if you don’t let me out right now-!”

Or so help me I will stab every one of you and feed your livers to Lino-hyung’s cats!

Minho stopped in the middle of his sentence, mouth hanging open as that sudden thought had popped into his head.

He wasn’t the one to think that.

And it sounded suspiciously like Jisungie.

“Sungie…?” He muttered the name softly, as if scared that he would actually receive an answer this time, but it stayed quiet. Had he imagined it…?

Fucking hell, son of a bitch, when I get out of here, I’ll put Lee Know on your asses! He’s rich, if you didn’t know, and he can buy the best lawyers in the entire damn country to put you stupid assholes in jail!

Minho blinked, not taken aback by the amount of swearing (Jisung tended to have a very foul mouth if he felt threatened), but by just how in-character these thoughts were for Jisung. It was like the younger was directly screaming into his head, his thoughts reflecting perfectly what he would say if he wanted someone to listen to him. In fact, Minho had actually given him permission for it.

“Sungie, If you’re ever scared of someone and I’m not there, just say I’ll sue them all. That’ll keep them off your backs. Show them all how your hyung is not afraid to mess with them if they should ever mess with you first, okay?”

“You’re gonna go broke with that promise, hyung.”

But this couldn’t be happening. It was simply not possible. There was no way that Minho was actually hearing Jisung’s words right in his own mind, not when the younger was nowhere to be found and Minho had been alone ever since he’d woken up here.

He knew it was stupid, and it was just a desperate guess on his part, but even so, he tried it.

He tentatively reached out with his mind, imagining Jisungie in front of him, and thought.

Sungie?

The slew of insults stopped abruptly, and Minho held his breath.

Then, just as quiet, the voice responded.

Minho-hyung?

And oh my god, this wasn’t happening. Were they actually communicating through their minds? He was going crazy. There was no other explanation.

But no, when he thought again, trying to send it out like he was throwing a frisbee and hoping for Jisung to catch it, he actually got another answer again.

Jisungie, is that really you?

It is, hyung. I’m… so relieved to hear your voice.

Minho swallowed heavily, his heart clenching at the thought of Jisung being all alone, wherever he was. Minho could handle it, but Jisung? That poor boy got scared of so much, both being in crowds and being in total solitude. This must be total hell for him.

How are you… in my thoughts?

How are you in my thoughts, hyung?

Minho huffed, something easing inside of him at the snappy tone Jisung asked that with. That was the rapper, alright.

I was cursing out my captors when I suddenly heard you do the same. Are you… stuck somewhere too?

If that was even possible, he felt Jisung humm. It was like a phantom vibration on his own vocal cords, and somehow his mind knew exactly that that meant that Jisung had hummed, though he couldn’t hear it. This connection was really starting to creep him out.

Where are we, hyung?

Hell if I know. I just woke up on a damn platform with no way down. There are no doors and no one’s been answering me either. I thought I was all alone.

Same, actually. Even the platform part. I’m too scared to get off.

Wait, you think you could get off then?

Well yeah. It’s not that high, I could easily step off, but… when I tried it the first time, something exploded.

What?!

And it was weird, the way he just knew that Jisung had flinched at his loud tone. He could feel his own muscles wanting to do the same, to copy the move as if he was feeling just as jittery and on edge as Jisung. He had no idea what was happening anymore.

Not wanting to scare the younger again, he ‘lowered’ his voice and asked the question again, quieter.

What do you mean, exploded?

Just as I said. I think there are small mines all around me, and if I try to step off the platform, I’ll trigger them.

And damn, that was way scarier than some random modern art hand statues that Minho was dealing with.

Do you think you can avoid them?

It’s not like I can see them, hyung!

The outburst was not entirely unexpected, but it still made Minho’s ears ring. How that could happen while all the sound was happening inside his brain, he didn’t know.

Sorry, sorry. I didn’t mean to yell at you.

It’s alright. It was a stupid question anyway. If you could have avoided them, you’d be doing some reckless stunts right now, I’m sure.

Jisung’s huffed in their minds. Wow, do you have so little faith in me?

Actually, I do.

Rude.

Not as rude as your choice of words to our captors right now.

Don’t act as if you weren’t cussing them out just as much.

Minho shrugged, his lips pulling upward a bit now that they were in familiar terrain. Bantering, he knew how to do.

They deserve it, though.

They totally do.

It was quiet for a bit, the both of them having said everything they wanted to say. Minho took the small drop in conversation as a moment to look around again, hoping against all hope that he would be able to see something more than the black walls and white hands all around him. He hesitantly shifted himself until he was on his knees, and leaned forward, very carefully looking over the edge of the platform.

He didn’t see anything, but as he moved his hand along the edge to look on the other side, his fingers brushed against something and he gasped.

Instantly, Jisung’s worried thoughts flooded his mind again.

What is it, hyung? What is happening? Are you okay?

I’m fine, Han-ah. Just surprised. I think I found something.

What is it?

Minho reached for whatever it was, his hand coming back from under the platform with a small paper. He unfolded it, frowning as he read the English words on it.

Huh? What could that mean?

Apparently, reading the letters had transmitted them directly to Jisung. Minho didn’t want to dwell on the technicalities of it all before he answered.

I have no clue. It was stuck under my platform. Do you think you have a paper like this too?

Jisung didn’t respond, meaning that he was probably searching for it himself. A couple of seconds later, it was like he returned to Minho’s mind, his presence filling up the empty space again as his voice read:

What could that mean? Minho didn’t have any kind of note written under it like Jisung had. He turned the paper, finding it blank on the other side. Why did Jisung have more on it than him?

I don’t know. But it’s weird that it’s all in English, don’t you think so?

Jisung had a point there. Minho looked back at the text, trying to find any hidden meanings behind it.

Do you… think the others are somewhere here too?

We don’t even know where we are, Jisungie.

No, but I mean, like, stuck. Do you think they’re stuck somewhere too, like us?

Could be. I don’t hear any of them blaring through my head though.

They fell silent again. Too many questions were popping up one after the other, and as stuck on their platforms as they were, they had no way of answering any of them. Minho hadn’t felt helplessness like this in a long time, not since the survival- Nope, he wasn’t thinking about that. He sighed and shuffled back to the middle of his platform, dropping his trembling hands in his lap and toying with his fingers to distract himself a bit.

I hope they’re not.

Jisung’s thought came so sudden that Minho startled, already having gotten used to the silence again.

You hope they’re not what?

I hope they’re not stuck like us.

Minho agreed. It was already awful that something like this was happening to Jisung of all people, but to imagine another one of their team in a similar predicament… It wasn’t a comforting thought at all.

How do you think we got here, hyung? Jisung asked softly. The last thing I remember is being in the car…

Same for me, Sungie. I think I dozed off at some point, but that’s all I can remember.

Wait.

Jisung’s thoughts cut off. Minho hated how his heart immediately jumped at not hearing Jisung anymore. He was already getting used to having the younger in his mind, what if he had disappeared? What if their communication was cut off all of the sudden and this had been their only chance to talk? What if something happened to Jisung? What if he was hurt?

Goodness, I’m alright, hyung, don’t worry.

Minho sagged the second Jisung’s voice popped back into his mind, his panic ebbing away again

Then don’t disappear on me like that, for God’s sake.

I’m sorry, I didn’t know it would scare you that much.

Minho wanted to avert his eyes, to put up an unbothered facade and deny that he was scared, but he knew it wouldn’t have any effect. Jisung couldn’t see him anyway, and for some reason, he had no control whatsoever over his tone in his thoughts. He didn’t have any chance to mask the worry that still held him in an iron grip.

I was scared I’d lost you again.

The thought came unbidden, and he tried to reel it in the second he’d thought it, but it was too late. He could feel another heart speeding up, phantom beats spreading up on top of his own. That was no doubt Jisung’s, which meant that-

Did I just fluster you?

Wha-what? No, of course not! I was just scared you were suffering from brain damage, you- you absolute doofus.

How Jisung was stuttering inside his own mind was a mystery, but Minho couldn’t help the smirk that formed at hearing Jisung’s flustered tone.

For some reason he refused to acknowledge, it made his own heart beat faster as well. Deciding to ignore that and give Jisung a break from his teasing, he shifted back to the topic at hand.

Why did you disappear?

I was revisiting my memory.

What?

Somehow, Jisung sounded embarrassed as he answered. You know, like I tried to remember what happened. I read some people have some sort of mind palace and I wanted to try it, to walk through my memories and try to see if I know what happened.

And?

I… got lost.

Of course you did.

Hey, I tried! The last thing I know is that something was weird in the car.

Weird how?

Like, everyone was falling asleep even though they hadn't been that tired before. Lix even said that something was wrong. Channie-hyung told me the same was happening in your car.

It was? I don't remember.

No, I think you were already asleep by the time we realized something was going on.

So you think we were drugged or something?

I mean, that's the only thing I can think of. I tried to fight it too, but I failed. Channie-hyung stopped responding too.

Well, that's… ominous.

Tell me about it.

He could feel Jisung sigh.

Hyung, do you think… do you think this is a kidnapping? Like, with ransom and things like that?

If so, then it's a very extensive one. My room is gigantic.

Yeah, true. I… really hope the others are okay.

Worry about yourself first, Sungie. Thinking about them won't do us any good right now when we can’t help them anyway.

I guess you're right.

He didn't sound convinced in the slightest, and Minho wanted to do anything to lessen the panic the younger was no doubt feeling. He hugged his knees back to his chest, hoping that maybe Jisung could feel it too.

Don't worry, Sungie. We're gonna get out of here. As you said, if those bastards don't let us go soon, I'll send an army of lawyers after them.

A sense of chuckling bubbled up in his throat, and knowing that it came from Jisung, he couldn't help but be relieved. It meant his distraction was working.

And afterwards, let's get Chan-hyung to treat us all to tteokbokki or something. I'm starving.

Can we get pizza, too?

We'll get everything, anything the others want too. We'll make the biggest buffet the company's ever seen. It's gonna be insane. The financial department is going to be crying because of us.

Jisung didn’t respond immediately, but Minho just knew he was smiling. That was one good thing about this. They might have been stuck somewhere they didn't know, but at least he wasn't as alone as he'd initially thought. Just hearing Jisung's voice, no matter how weird it was that it was inside his head, was the only thing keeping him sane right now.

And wow, he never thought he'd ever think that way. Most of the time, he couldn't wait for the rapper to finally shut up. How the tables had turned, hm?

What are you thinking about, hyung?

How annoying you are, he didn't hesitate to think.

Somehow I doubt that.

You don't know what I think.

You're thinking right now, aren't you?

Do you want to join Hyunjin in the airfryer next time?

The banter was safe, it was Minho's love language, and if he would have taken any more time to think about it, he would have realized that a special kind of sass was specifically reserved for his members.

But he didn't get the chance to think any more things, as without warning, the platform tilted again, making him yell out in shock as he clamped the edges of it in fear.

It rocked back and forth once before it stopped. Minho's pulse beat against his eardrums painfully.

What was that?! Hyung, why are you suddenly feeling so dizzy?!

It's nothing Jisung-ah. If he could have panted in his thoughts, he would have. He felt winded from the constant jump scares.

It's not nothing! I can feel your nausea pressing on my own chest! What happened?

The platform moved.

What?

It becomes unstable sometimes. Like it's gonna fall.

Wait, hyung, how… high is your platform?

You don't wanna know.

And he truly didn't. Minho didn't even want to know himself, and Jisungie's fear of heights was worse than his own. He held back from glancing over the edge again, knowing that the sight of all those frozen hands reaching for him would only make him more queasy.

Jisung was silent for a bit, and it gave Minho the time to calm himself. He needed to keep it together so the younger wouldn't suffer. Whatever this connection was between them, it was as much of a blessing as it was a curse, and he refused to give Jisung any more reason to panic. Jisung already dealt with enough.

Hyung, I think I can see a door up ahead.

What? Are you sure?

Yeah, I can barely see it, but I think there's one in the wall the furthest away from me. Maybe if I can get to it, I can get to you.

Don't you dare, you said there were mines-

I'll be fine, hyung. I have to try. Even if it doesn't lead to you, maybe I can get out of here and alert the authorities or something.

I don't like this plan at all.

And I didn't ask if you liked it. I'm gonna step off my platform. I'll keep in touch if I find something.

Jisung, no-

But Minho could feel Jisung's presence retreating again and he cursed. Jisung was already reckless on a good day. Fueled by panic and the instinct to save their members, who knew what kind of stupid things the younger would be capable of?

Jisungie, stay right where you fucking are.

No answer came, and the silence gave Minho goosebumps. He just got the younger back, he couldn't go back to being completely alone again so soon. He hated how helpless he was, how Jisung could just choose to retreat like this from their connection and leave Minho in even more darkness than he already was. There was nothing he could do, no way to pull the younger back to safety and or convince him to come back.

He left Minho, and Minho was fucking helpless to do anything against it.

A sudden burning razed over the skin of his right leg and he yelled, his hands shooting out to cradle it in pain.

What the hell was that?!

Jisung, I swear to God, if it is your fault my leg feels like it's about to fall off…

Ugh…

The thought from Jisung was almost too quiet to make out, but it's not like there were any other sounds around, so Minho heard it loud and clear.

Jisungie! Hey! Answer me, what happened?

Maybe you were right about the mines…

Jisung's voice was laced with pain. Minho felt much the same, the skin on his leg was burning, though pulling his pant leg up revealed unblemished skin.

Can you walk? Was the first thing he asked. Because if this was what he was feeling, he couldn't imagine how Jisung must be feeling.

It's alright, but…

Jisung trailed off, and Minho waited patiently until he spoke again.

I ran back to the platform. The explosion- I can't- the sound is too loud, hyung. I'm scared…

You're okay, Sungie. Just… stay on the platform please. You gave me a heart attack.

I'm sorry, hyung…

Minho sighed, rubbing his leg with a grimace. It really hurt, the phantom pain of the burn from the explosion still tingling across his skin.

They couldn't risk letting Jisung walk around again. And it was not just because if he got hurt Minho would feel it. Jisung shouldn't be getting hurt at all. They had to think of something else, something that would get them both out without possibly losing a limb in the process.

They were stuck. With Minho unable to move anywhere at all and Jisung being surrounded by literal explosions, they had no way out. The only solution Minho could think of was to wait for rescue from outside. And oh, how he hated that.

He just had to hope that someone even knew they were gone.

Minho massaged his skin, rubbing careful circles on it in order to alleviate some of the pain for both him and Jisung.

He didn't like to be as helpless as he was, but his hands were tied.

They had to wait for rescue.

At least he wasn't alone, or else he would have lost it a long time ago already.

I'm scared, hyung.

I know.

He hesitated, but decided that they were in it together now anyway, and added:

Me too.

Chapter Text

Chan didn't know who was after him, but it didn't matter. He launched himself around the corner, almost losing his balance as he hit the opposite wall with force, and stumbled forwards with a sting in his hands from the rough stones.

One moment, he had been trying to interrogate their driver, the next, he woke up in a maze of hallways that seemed never ending, ominous growling chasing him right on his heels, the source never in sight.

He didn't want to stick around to find out either, and so he ran. Away from what could very well be a monster ready to tear him apart. He was desperately trying to find someone, anyone else, or maybe a door that he could hide behind—anything that would give him just that one moment to finally catch his breath. Hours of practice made his muscles exhausted, and abusing them like this was bound to give him even more pain the moment he stopped, but he didn't have a choice.

The growling behind him seemed to become louder, and he sped up his pace even more. He had to find the others. If he was here, alone after having failed to save them, and he found out that they were in even more danger than he was, he wouldn't be able to live with himself.

Think, Chan! He berated himself, panting as he took a wild turn left and ran into another endless string of hallways. Was it just him, or were the halls becoming narrower? His shoulders bumped against the walls every now and then, making him grunt in pain and frustrating him because it slowed him down.

He rounded another corner, and finally, it seemed his prayers had been answered. At the end of the hall, one single door greeted him, its wooden facade unassuming and ordinary. With another boost of energy, he made it to the door and yanked it open, relieved that he found it unlocked.

He threw himself inside and slammed the door closed behind him, pressing himself against the wood to finally, finally catch his breath.

The growling grew louder and it sounded like fists started to rain down on the other side of the door, pounding against the wood and making it rattle in its hinges.

He couldn't stay here, he had to keep moving.

Heaving another large breath, he pushed himself from the door and started running again, following the hallway to find the maze continuing onwards and onwards.

He found more doors, but all of them only led to smaller and smaller hallways, until his head was brushing against the ceiling and he sometimes had to run with his shoulders diagonally so he wouldn't get stuck in between the walls. The growling never stopped, but Chan also never saw the thing it was coming from.

Was this a nightmare? Was any of this even real? His fear pushed him forward, making him too scared to stop and turn around, to find out. He didn't want to know what kind of creature was chasing him; he just wanted to escape it.

“Hello?!”

A voice from further down the narrow hallway had Chan's eyes widening.

He wasn't alone!

He ducked into the next door, having to resort to almost crouching as he stumbled forward and tried to keep running.

“Who's there?” He yelled back, hoping he would be heard.

None too soon, the other voice responded.

“Hyung! Is that you?”

And he would recognize that voice anywhere. He rushed forward, pressing his hands against the walls to push himself more and be even faster than before.

“I'm coming, Lix! Just hold on!”

“Chan-hyung!”

Chan pushed himself to the right, finding the next part of the hallway to be so low and so badly illuminated that he had to crawl on all fours through the darkness.

“Lix, call again so I can find your voice!”

“Chan-hyung, I'm right here!”

He was getting closer, he could hear it. He crawled over the cold stone, ignoring how fear was gripping him at the throat, the urge to cover his ears and close his eyes almost unbearable. He had to push through, for Felix, but also for the others. If Felix was close by, then maybe they’d be able to find the rest of the group and get out of here, wherever ‘here’ was.

“Felix?”

“Yes, hyung, I think you’re getting closer!”

Even now, the ceiling seemed to be inching lower and lower, but it gave Chan just enough space to go on without having to bow his head.

Slowly, a form became visible in the dark.

“Lix!”

And indeed, coming closer revealed Felix, curled in on himself at the dead end of the small hall, pressed against the wall as he looked up with sparkling eyes.

“Hyung!” he snicked, flinging himself across the small distance and crashing against Chan, both of them toppling over to the floor. He clung to Chan like had been starved of physical touch for years. Maybe in Felix’s perspective, that was even close to the truth. Chan couldn’t imagine how scary it must have been for the younger boy on his own, all alone in the dark, in a tiny corner of a place he didn’t know.

“I’m here now, Lix,” Chan muttered, returning the tight hold by tenfold as he held the boy close. “I’m so glad I found you.”

Something painful pulled at his heart, seeing the way Felix was so tiny in his arms. Having him here helped Chan calm down his own fear, he could only hope the same counted for Felix.

“Hyung, what is happening?” Felix asked after a while, shifting so they could both lean their backs against the wall and prop their feet up against the opposite wall. They sat, side by side, Felix’s arm never letting go of Chan’s in a way that indicated just how much he still needed the comfort.

“I have no idea,” Chan admitted. “Last thing I remember, I was…”

“We were in the car, right? Going back to the dorms?”

“Yeah, that’s right.” Chan frowned, thinking back to it. He remembered the way Changbin had stopped talking halfway through a sentence, his eyes drooping, and a yawn escaping from his mouth. He remembered asking what was wrong, only to see him fall asleep right in front of his eyes. Looking over to a sleeping Minho and Hyunjin, it hadn’t been long before Chan had felt that something was wrong, and when Jisung texted him, his fears had been confirmed.

Whatever had happened, they’d been put to sleep by something, and now they were here. Stuck. Separated.

This could be bad.

“Do you think the others are okay?”

“They have to be. I’m sure they’re alright. I’d… feel it, if that wasn’t the case.”

Felix shifted so he could look up to Chan, lifting his head from where he’d been leaning on the older’s shoulder.

“You’d feel it?”

Chan nodded. “You guys always joke about it, but I seriously feel connected to you all.” He put a hand over his chest, rubbing it a bit. “Right here. I sometimes sense it when someone is hiding something, whether that would be Sungie’s anxiety, your occasional sadness or a hidden injury after practice. It’s never that… defined. But I can usually guess which member the bad feeling’s about.”

“Wow, hyung. You make it sound like you’ve got super powers.”

Chan smiled softly. “Nah, mate. I think it’s more my leader's instincts than anything else.”

“Never thought the day would come where you’d admit you’re the mom friend of the group.”

He huffed. “I’m not admitting to anything. You can’t prove it anyway.”

Felix poked him with a finger, some of their combined fear dissipating in the air as they teased each other.

“You’re a meanie, hyung. I’m telling Minho-hyung.”

“He’s not gonna do anything. He enjoys your pouty face far too much.”

“Then I’m gonna tell Changbinnie hyung.”

“He’ll just pout along with you.”

“Then I’m gonna tell Innie.”

Now that struck the right cord, and Chan instantly tensed. Felix giggled, laying his head back against Chan’s shoulder now that he had found the right blackmail.

“You are evil, Lix.”

“Hmhm. Learned it from the best.”

“Me?”

“No, Innie. Keep up, hyung.”

Chan huffed, the two of them lapsing into silence. It was still so dark, and now it was also quiet. It was nerve wracking. It felt like any moment now, the growling could come back, and something could slither into the same hall they were in, the darkness concealing them until it was too late and they’d attack. Chan’s mind had a blast conjuring up all kinds of scenarios, from snakes to wolves to even demon possessed people, and the only thing that kept him grounded was Felix’s tight grip on his arm. Felix, one of the only members that could be possibly more scared than him in a situation like this. He had to keep it together for Felix. Protecting the younger was enough incentive to keep his own panic at bay. For now.

“You don’t have your phone with you, do you?” Felix asked. Chan took stock of himself, and sighed when he noticed that his phone wasn’t in his pockets anymore.

“No, you?”

“Me neither, otherwise I would have turned on the flashlight by now.”

“Oh, right.”

Felix looked around Chan and into the dark pit that Chan had come from.

“Do you think we should move? Do you think we might be able to find the others if we leave here?”

Chan had been thinking the same thing, but truth be told, he’d been trying to prolong the moment before they needed to move again. He was scared, yes, but it was manageable right now. Sitting still, having Felix hugging him, and hearing the two of them breathe softly in the calm silence—it was alright. But having to go out there again? Risking the chance that whatever had been following him would get back on his trail? With Felix thrown in the mix this time?

It sounded like the worst scenario possible. He’d rather stay here, safe and together.

But then again, his ‘leader instincts’ wouldn’t let him hide away for long. He could already feel himself getting antsy again, with not having the other members nearby. They needed to find them, make sure they were safe and protect them if they were not.

Felix was right, they needed to move. Chan wished they didn’t.

“We should, you’re right. I came from a maze just now, though, so we have to stay together okay? I’m not losing you again.”

Felix smiled softly. “Same to you.”

He let go of his hug, but intertwined their fingers instead.

“Here. I’ll hold your hand the entire time. That way, neither of us will get lost.”

“Or we both will.”

“Now, now, hyung, that’s not a positive attitude. We just have to believe we won’t get lost! Easy peasy!”

“Right, easy peasy.”

With some rearranging and shuffling around, the two of them lowered themselves to all fours, Chan in front and Felix behind him. When they were ready to go, Felix gently squeezed his hand.

“Let’s find the others, hyung. And let’s not get lost.”

Chan huffed. He began to crawl forward. They just had to believe they wouldn’t get lost… yeah, right. Easy peasy.

Chapter Text

Mirrors. Everywhere. Hyunjin had had his fair share of trouble with mirrors, but even then, he’d never hated his own reflection as much as he did now.

It was a maze, made out of mirrors. As soon as he awoke—sleepy and groggy and cold—he’d been surrounded by them. He could barely tell where one mirror ended and the other began. And it didn’t matter where he looked. He saw himself in the reflection of the reflection of the reflection of the reflection-

And it never ended.

Against all logic, Hyunjin had tried to stay optimistic, had made the stupid choice to move from his spot and try his luck in finding the way out.

He never should have done that.

Because there was no end to this, and now he was lost. He had the urge to punch the mirrors blocking his way once more, and he gave into it, smashing his fist against the reflection of his own face and watching in anger as the shards rained down around his feet.

It wasn’t as cathartic as he’d hoped.

Because of his own stupidity, he was stuck in the maze, with no way to go back to where he’d first woken up. Not that he’d left anything behind there (thank God), but that space had been slightly bigger than the mirrored paths he was walking through now, and he was beginning to feel awfully claustrophobic.

He wished the others were here.

Hyunjin took a random turn left, then right, and then another left. He made sure he wasn’t walking in circles, but still he didn’t find anything else than mirrors, mirrors and more mirrors.

“Anyone! Please! Let me out of here!”

But of course no one answered. Just like the past hour he’d already been trying to call out.

Hyunjin didn’t like to show himself as anything but strong, but even he had to admit that he was terrified. Last thing he knew, they were going home from practice, and the next, he found himself in a maze of mirrors with no end or beginning. Had he been kidnapped? Was he in a coma? Was this hell??? And where were his members????

Needless to say, Hyunjin was freaking out.

“Anyone! Answer me! This is not funny anymore!”

It had taken him at least two hours to calm down. Or, so he guessed, since it was hard to tell the amount of time that passed when one was stuck in a never ending maze of horrors.

And yes, there were horrors other than his own face.

It happened randomly, and he hadn’t even noticed at first. One moment, he was walking through the maze, looking around desperately for any sign, when all of the sudden a new form caught his attention.

He turned around.

And saw a mannequin next to his reflection.

He screamed, twisting around to find a lifeless doll standing in the corner between a couple of mirrors, the reflection of it traveling all the way to him and making it seem as if it was standing everywhere at once. He’d turned tail and ran the other direction, but of course it didn’t seem to matter.

Now that he had found one, more and more mannequin’s popped up. They were following him, he was sure of it, and they all stood so still. They didn’t move, didn’t talk, didn’t do anything, but it was precisely that that shot shivers down his spine. This whole place was haunted, and he was being stalked by dolls.

After running along mirrors upon mirrors, Hyunjin had finally collapsed, too tired to go on anymore. He had practiced for hours with the group, alright? He wasn’t in top condition at the moment.

He chose to lay on his back on the ground, keeping his eyes firmly on the not-mirror ceiling. There, no mannequins were haunting him, looking at him with those non-existent faces. There, it was just black. No him, no dolls, no nothing. Figuring he wasn’t getting out of here any time soon, he decided right then and there that he was gonna take a nap. Creepy mannequins be damned, he was tired.

He curled up and closed his eyes tightly, refusing to look at any more mirrors. When a shiver from the cold racked up his arms, he sighed out loud.

Please, anyone. Find me.

Hyunjin blinked his eyes open, but pressed them closed as soon as he realized that nothing had changed, and no, the maleficent mirror maze was not a dream. He threw an arm over his face, groaning loudly.

“Whoever put me here,” he threatened, “I hope you lose all of your favorite people to your bullies. No, wait, I hope you fall in the toilet one day! And that you lose your keys in the process! I hope no one brings you a towel either!”

He knew he was being pitiful, but it was all he could be anymore. He needed to vent his frustrations in some way, and punching the mirror had really hurt before. His knuckles still pulsed from the hit. He was left with his words, whether he liked it or not.

“I hope your computer crashes and you lose all of your family pictures! And all of your game process! And all of your passwords!”

He narrowed his eyes at the ceiling.

“Are you even listening to me? I’m cursing you and your family right now! I hope you have the worst year ever!”

Having no idea what else to do, Hyunjin pushed himself upwards again, figuring that he probably should try to get out of here again. Not that he thought he had any chance, but he wasn’t a coward, and he was never going to give up. He wouldn’t be able to face the members otherwise.

Careful of his hurt hand, he pushed himself to his feet, cracking his neck from left to right. He did a few stretches as sleeping on the ground had made him feel very stiff, and then he was on his way again. He trailed his left hand along the mirrors and followed the path they gave him. Once or twice, those darn mannequins made him jump, but he got better at just ignoring them, following the touch of the cold glass more than what his eyes told him.

He was getting so sick of mirrors.

Until they gave him exactly what he had been searching for, and at the same time, exactly what he didn’t want to see.

One of the mirrors in front of him was different from the others, showing not his reflection, but a room behind it. It was clearly double-sided glass, and Hyunjin could imagine it was far too thick to simply burst his way through, but still he felt drawn to it.

And especially, the person he could see in the room behind it.

“Innie!”

He rushed to the mirror, placing both of his hands on the glass and feeling for a possible place he could push it open or out of the way or- he didn’t know, but he needed to get through.

“Innie, I’m here!”

Jeongin didn’t seem to hear him. He was sitting in the middle of a big, all white room, no windows or doors anywhere and two simple strips of lights illuminating the space from the ceiling. He looked so small, hugging his knees as he hid his face in them. Hyunjin blanched when he realized the boy was shaking.

All those hours Hyunjin had been stuck in the maze, Jeongin had been here?

His heart broke into a million pieces at the thought.

“Jeongin! Innie, hey! HEY!”

It didn’t matter how hard he shouted, Jeongin didn’t react at all. Hyunjin pounded on the glass, hoping against all hope that the boy would hear that. Palms flat, he hit the glass over and over again, his hands stinging from the onslaught of hits.

“Innie, please, I’m here!”

Jeongin moved. It motivated Hyunjin to pound even harder, hope exploding in his chest as his eyes were pinned on his friend.

“Innie!”

Jeongin lifted his head, a clear sheen of tears clouding his eyes as he almost met Hyunjin’s gaze. Almost, because he looked at one of the other walls, and it seemed he was none the wiser that Hyunjin was even there.

“JEONGIN!”

A loud rattling sound startled Hyunjin and he yelped, flinching away from the mirror when, all of the sudden, a white wall was pushed right across the other half of it, blocking his sight.

“Hey! What the hell!”

He couldn’t see the room anymore, the wall having closed off his only way of seeing Jeongin. Hyunjin grit his teeth, white hot anger pooling in his stomach.

“Screw you, whoever you are! I will get to Innie! You’re not gonna stop me!”

At that, he gave one last kick against the useless glass, hissing when his shoe didn’t protect his toes from the blunt force of it.

Whoever was doing this, they didn’t want him to communicate with Jeongin. Well, they could suck it. He would find a way to see Innie again, even if he had to break all the damn mirrors in this entire maze. Seeing Jeongin so small, so sad, had lit a fire in his heart. He was not gonna stop until he could hug the hell out of his member.

Mark his words, Hyunjin would find Jeongin, and wasting no time in doing so, he stomped away from the mirror, sure that somewhere in this gigantic maze, another one would give him a view of that room again. He just had to find it, and luckily for him, his Stray Kid Radar was going wild.

His gut was telling him right where he had to go.

Wait for me Innie, I’m coming for you.

Chapter Text

Changbin woke up in a bad mood, and while that wasn’t that unusual for him, the situation that caused it certainly was.

The last thing he remembered, he’d been talking to Chan in the car back from practice. Afterwards… it was blank. But waking up in a locked room that looked like a very poor excuse of an escape room, he knew that whatever had happened wasn’t right. He’d have known if they would have brought him to another schedule. Chan would have told him. This was not scheduled. This was not right.

Now, contrary to what people might have thought of him, he was not someone who’d just punch his way out of any situation he didn’t like (that was more a Minho or Han thing to do, though the latter never had much success with that strategy). He was more of a thinker, the type to analyze everything he was given before he would decide on the best course of action. He liked to have all facts in a row, to know what there was to know, to be in control.

For all intents and purposes, Changbin wasn’t someone who thought with his fists.

But, looking around the room and seeing the puzzles littering every possible surface, from the table to the small cabinet to the chair, it was very hard to resist the temptation to just punch the lock off the door and get this over with.

Did whoever had put him here really expect him to just finish a whole escape room by himself?

He swept the weird triangle pieces from the only seat in the room without much care, making room so he could fall down on it, gritting his teeth in frustration.

This was a very deliberate set-up, and he knew what it was asking him to do. He refused to give into it. He was not just a lab rat for someone to give assignments to. There was a reason Stray Kids were how they were: they didn’t take being ordered around all that well. It was the whole reason they insisted on making all of their music themselves, the reason they had fought tooth and nail to stay together in the formation Chan had wanted.

It was the reason they were rising to fame too, as they were steadily gaining recognition for the fact that they were them and not just another product put together by the industry’s higher ups. Stray Kids was unabashedly them and that was who they were going to remain. Changbin was not just going to throw all of his pride out of the window the second he was kidnapped and locked in a tiny, dusty room with a clear objective for him to follow. He wasn’t a rat for others to put in a maze to find its way out.

Fuck that. He’d get out in his own way, and when he found whoever did this to him, he would make them regret it.

Changbin leaned his elbows on his knees, contemplating his best next move. He could yell and try to attract outside attention, but for some reason, he felt like that wouldn’t do anything for him but cause more trouble. No one had bothered him here yet, and he didn’t see any speakers or anything of the sort that would suggest anyone wanted to give him orders. He could solve the puzzles—like was clearly the intention—but what then? He’d just be playing right into their game.

He could try and break the lock? He was one of—if not the strongest in the team. He could probably do it.

Changbin rubbed his chest and frowned. But he didn’t know what was out there. Who knew what trouble could be waiting for him outside. Maybe the big lock hanging from the door was merely a decoration, a ploy for him to get his hopes up only for his kidnappers to then crush it and make him despair.

Maybe an army of guards was waiting right outside of his door. Maybe he was in some lab, and he really was being tested like one of those experiment rats. Maybe this was all a very, very elaborate joke, meant to give him a heart attack from stress. Maybe, all of his members were in similar rooms, and they just had to get to each other before a camera would be shoved into their faces and they would all have to pretend that it was funny.

It was not.

Changbin rubbed his chest harder. There were too many unknown variables. Changbin hated it.

But his gut—no, his heart—was still screaming at him to get out. There was this pull, it pulsed against his skin uncomfortably, trying to get him somewhere, and he wanted it gone. He’d never felt anything like it before, but he knew, instinctively, that he needed to follow it. Maybe this was anxiety. He’d taught himself to be a pretty confident guy, but he remembered what it was like to doubt and be scared.

But no, this wasn’t like that. This felt… deeper. Like a pull to something that was just as much part of him as anything else. It didn’t scare him, it felt like it had always been there. Like it was only heightened, stronger than normal.

Changbin dropped his hand, huffing. Pondering like this wasn’t getting him anywhere. It didn’t matter what he was feeling. He needed to get out, and that was a fact. He eyed the tiny triangle pieces on the ground, gaze shifting to the wooden board on the table that they clearly had to be put in in order to solve the puzzle. He sighed.

He really hated following orders.

The pieces all clicked into place after what felt like hours of fumbling and messing up. The mechanism under the wooden board clicked, and Changbin felt it separate from the layer under it.

Finally!

He made sure not to cheer, not sure if there were hidden cameras anywhere and not wanting to give his kidnappers any satisfaction of seeing him react to their stupid tricks. He would make sure that his footage would be so boring, that they’d scrap the whole joke. No one played with Changbin like this.

Without any preamble, he pushed the wooden board off its box, letting it clatter to the ground. Inside, a small piece of cloth was stored.

An awfully familiar piece of cloth. He didn’t even remember what his members had been wearing precisely, but somehow he knew.

This was Seungmin’s.

“How did this get here…?” He picked up the piece and rubbed it between his fingers, the soft gray fabric smooth to the touch. Now he knew for sure that he was being toyed with. People didn’t just leave pieces of clothing behind unless they wanted him to jump to conclusions and assume the worst. Well, the joke was on them, because Changbin knew this piece hadn’t been taken by force. Not only was it cleanly cut—not ripped or burned or even dirty—but Changbin could feel it.

He would have declared himself mad for it in any other situation, but yes, he could feel it.

Seungmin was alright, and if his kidnappers thought they could stress him out with this, then they were sorely mistaken.

He pocketed the piece and looked over to the next puzzle: a set of gear wheels hung on the wall, some gaps clearly needing to be filled in order to get the whole mechanism moving. He pressed his lips into a thin line. This one seemed to ask for even more precision from him, as the wheels were so small that he feared they would crack if he held them too tight.

Well, no matter.

He got to work.

The first few cogs were easily secured in place, the click echoing through the small room whenever he got one right. He could figure out their placement well enough, the biggest of the bunch going in all the central places. It was when he got to the really small ones, the ones whose diameter were shorter than his pinky, that things got tricky.

The first slipped through his fingers because of his carelessness. He cursed under his breath and picked it up quickly, trying it out on the different pins to look where it would connect right. The second almost broke in two, and he wasn’t even exaggerating. It bent in his grip and he didn’t know how quickly he had to let go of it before he had ruined the whole puzzle and made escaping impossible.

Curse his stupid strength. He almost wished he wasn’t as much of a body builder as he was (except that he was proud of it, and a little voice that sounded suspiciously like Chan was whispering in his ear that he should ‘never hate any part of who he was’.)

(Inspiring words, truly.)

Changbin made sure to make his hold extra gentle as he went to pick the small wheel up again. It felt like he was holding a leaf instead of a piece of metal, the thing so fragile (apparently) that it could snap in half with just one wrong move.

Because of the puzzle’s delicacy, Changbin’s tempo slowed down to an unbearable pace, making him more and more frustrated. For some reason, he felt like this puzzle was designed specifically to target him. Him and his stupid chubby fingers, his ugly bulging muscles, his-

No, Changbin, happy thoughts. This was just who he was. His members loved him for it. He loved him for it.

And he was not going to be bested by some stupid delicate puzzle.

When he finally placed the last wheel in the right spot, he quickly pushed the button next to the first wheel in the row and the cogs started turning, the metal clicking and grinding against each other as the mechanism moved. Next to the gears, a small plate shifted and a hole in the wall appeared.

There was nothing in it.

“Are you kidding me?!” he exclaimed, irritated.

They were toying with him.

Changbin turned around, scanning the room for the cameras he was sure had to be there. He didn’t know where they were, but that didn’t matter. He needed to make clear that even if he was trapped here, he was still in control. He was not some puppet for them to play with. Letting the bubbling pool of anger inside of him guide him, he showed his middle finger to the room at large, showing that whoever was watching could very well suck it.

“Fuck you,” he spat, adressing his invisible audience. He would make his footage unusable. It was their own fault for trapping him in a tiny room without any warning and expecting him to go along with it.

He held his hand up for a couple of seconds just to make sure it was really seen, and then, he turned his attention to the next puzzle, a panel with nine buttons on it in different colors and with different numbers next to them. He was going to solve every single puzzle in this damn room if he had to. They would not get the satisfaction of seeing him lose.

He was going to get out no matter what.

The button puzzle was a code, for which the hints were easily put together. Pushing them in the right order gave him an empty vault. Another dead end. He did a puzzle in which he had to unravel strings knotted together, he solved the riddles in the files on the table, he put all the right pieces in all the right places, and still: nothing.

Eventually, there was only one puzzle left. Changbin wouldn’t lie to himself; his heart was beating out of its ribcage because this could very well be a fake too and then he was screwed. He didn’t know what he would do if that turned out to be the case, but he was already coming up with some rather nasty insults he could spew if everything turned out to be a waste of time.

Clinging to the last pieces of hope like they were the rocks and he was seconds away from slipping off and drowning in a raging storming sea, Changbin seated himself in front of the last puzzle with trepidation that made his fingers shake.

He was going to get out. He needed to get out. His gut told him he had to.

The square box he held had a peering hole in the front, with some sort of miniature maze inside. He thought that was all there was to it, but when he moved the thing so the tiny metal ball in the maze started rolling to the side, the ball went the other way.

Oh, great. He was looking at a mirror reflecting the maze. Of course, they wouldn’t make it that easy for him. On the sides of the box, multiple slits had wooden pieces sticking from them, and when he pushed one into the box, he saw a wall in the maze move at the same time.

So he had to solve this maze through a mirror and with changing paths. Just great.

It’s not like he expected it to go smooth at the first try, but he still felt himself get more and more frustrated the longer he kept shifting and pushing the maze around, deforming it constantly but never getting that stupid ball into the hole on the other side of the maze. It felt like hours before he managed to get it halfway, and then he found he had to backtrack a part of the path because it turned out to be a dead end that he couldn’t open up with the wooden pieces.

In the end, it took him at least fifteen tries (and starting over three times) before finally, finally, the tiny ball dropped into the hole and a soft click! came from the box, a flat drawer revealing itself on the bottom. He pulled it open all the way. Finally, a key slid against the wood, the sound of the metal thudding against the drawer being music to his ears.

He refrained from cheering, but couldn’t help subtly pumping his fist. Hell yeah, he’d done it!

With no time to waste, he got up and raced to the door, pushing the key into the lock and- click - it opened.

“Fuck yes,” he breathed out in relief. He threw the lock away and pushed the door open, heart pounding in his chest as he came face to face with the unknown.

Chapter Text

Seungmin had tried everything. He’d tried climbing the cage, pushing himself through the spires, begging to the cameras, even screaming for help—nothing worked. He’d woken up here more than an hour ago, but still, he couldn’t get out. There was one ledge on the top of the cage, which was clearly the entrance he’d been put through while he was unconscious, but other than that, there was no door or lock that he could try to break out of.

In other words, he was utterly helpless.

Now, he was sitting criss-cross in the middle of the cage, the pile of folders stacked in front of him mocking him as they tempted him to open them. They’d been there from the moment he woke up, but he’d barely glanced at them, too busy with trying to escape.

He didn’t know what was in them, but somehow, he felt like he didn’t want to know.

Seeing no other choice, though, he was quick to give in, snatching the file on top of the pile and opening it before he could hesitate.

The page that greeted him made his blood turn to ice.

The photo was what unnerved him first, the smiling face of none other than Jeongin staring at him from the paper as if it was taunting him for his helplessness. The text under it made matters only worse, because not only did it state his name, age, birth place and family, but it had detailed paragraphs on everything about him. His likes and dislikes, his skills and weaknesses, his fears-

Seungmin blanched as he read through the list. It was thorough. Someone had clearly done a lot of research.

• ‘fear of being alone’
• ‘fear of being dropped from the group’
• ‘fear of losing his voice’
• ‘fear of being forgotten’

Reading the bullet points, his stomach twisted and made him nauseous.

The next files were just as bad. Felix, Jisung, Hyunjin, Changbin, Minho, Chan—there were files on all of them, the pages giving detailed descriptions on who they were and what exactly could break them from the inside out. The last file he refused to open, knowing that what he’d find there wasn’t something he needed to see.

This was sickening. Whoever had taken them—because they’d been taken, Seungmin was sure of that—knew too much about them and had clearly planned this.

The one question in his mind right now was why they would show him this. Was it to toy with him? To make him panic? To use as a bargaining chip for something bigger? What could be bigger than them, literally being kidnapped from their company’s cars and put into cages who knows where, with no way to get out and no way to contact each other?

Actually, now that he was thinking about it: what had happened in the cars? One moment he’d been listening to a podcast about deep sea life in the pacific, and the next, he had woken up in this cage, locked in and with no way to escape.

Had they been drugged? Was it through gas or through something they ingested? Seungmin couldn’t remember if he had drunk anything weird beforehand, but who knew what water tasted like if it had drugs in it. He certainly didn’t. But then, they’d have to have drunk from the same source of water, as going to every single one of their bags and drugging each bottle individually was too much work to do unnoticed.

And that brought forth another question: who had done this? Was it someone who had access to the practice rooms? Was it someone from the outside? Were the drivers alright, hurt, or were they in on this whole plan?

All the questions made Seungmin’s mind spin, and he massaged his temples, wary of the upcoming headache. It was no use going through all the what if’s, not as long as he didn’t have a way out of here anyway. He might as well be forced to stay here until he withered away, with no food or water, dehydrated until he died a slow and painful death.

Seungmin had always been told he was one of the more pessimistic members, and he guessed he could see that now. He did not like the directions his mind was going in.

He closed the files and put them all back onto the pile. Maybe he could at least use it as some sort of pillow to sleep on. He could already imagine the crick in his neck from sleeping on a stack of papers, but it was the only thing he could think of.

He was imprisoned, and he didn’t know if he would ever get to see the outside world again.

A buzzing sound made him tense up, his eyes snapping all over the place to find its source. When light suddenly burst from one of the walls, he yelled in surprise, covering his face with his arm until his eyes had gotten used to the sudden flood. He slowly lowered his arm.

On one of the walls—the one closest to his cage—a grand collection of monitors hung. He hadn’t noticed them before in the darkness, but now, the rows upon rows of screens all turned on to show him… different rooms? He squinted, trying to figure out what exactly he was looking at.

Empty hallways, dark corridors, and-

He gasped, eyes zoning in on the screen where he saw a person moving. If he was not mistaken, that looked a lot like Chan, his form racing through hallway after hallway as he seemed to be on the run for something. Seungmin followed the leader from screen to screen, sometimes losing him before he found him again in a monitor further along the wall. Chan seemed panicked. Or no, more so than that: he looked downright scared.

“Chan-hyung…!”

He followed Chan all the way until he suddenly disappeared from view, not popping up on any of the other screens afterwards.

He searched the screens desperately, scanning row after row, but nowhere did he see the familiar broad shoulders or brown bangs of their leader.

No, instead, he found all of the others.

Changbin and Jeongin seemed to be locked in rooms as well, though theirs varied greatly in size. Changbin often came very close to the camera before turning his back again and blocking the view, while around Jeongin, it seemed a desert of emptiness surrounded him, making him appear painfully small.

And then there were Minho and Jisung, who were both stuck on platforms in dark rooms that had details Seungmin could barely make out. He thought he could see some scorch marks on the floor in Jisung’s room, and… were those hands? Sticking out from the ground and reaching for Minho’s platform as if they were frozen in time?

Felix was in a space that made it almost impossible to find him, but luckily his blond hair was light enough to be visible in the murky darkness he was stuck in. Hyunjin was a tricky one too, as Seungmin wasn’t sure which one was the real one when he saw a screen with a thousand mirrors reflecting the dancer in every which way.

Seungmin could guess what the point of all these places was… Felix was scared of the darkness. Minho was scared of heights. Jisung hated being alone. Chan had always had a fear of those thriller films with chase scenes in them. And Jeongin… it was as the files had said. He was afraid of being alone, of being ignored, of being left behind.

All of these rooms seemed to be catered specifically to their fears… It made Seungmin’s heart speed up and blood rush through his ears. This is what the files were for: it was research, all of it conducted so it could create the perfect prisons for each and every one of them. Seungmin looked around his own cage, wondering what kind of fear this prison was playing off of.

He didn’t have to wait long for the answer, it seemed, as without warning, speakers crackled to life next to the screens, and a distorted voice made him jump in his place.

Seungmin’s head snapped towards the speakers, and he shot them an angry look.

“What the hell is all of this?” he questioned them. “Why did you take us?”

Seungmin scowled as the voice directed a question back at him.

“I asked you first.”

“And I didn’t. Now stop being so cryptic and just tell me already! Why are we here? Why did you lock us up like this?”

Seungmin’s eyes widened at the information they gave him so readily. They weren’t beating around the bush.

“What does that mean?” he asked, trying to make sense of the words. ‘Experiment’ already rang uncomfortably, and being called a subject was not good for his mental health at all, but most of all, it just made him mad. Who were they to call him that? Who were they to play with his members like this, to treat them as test monkeys and experiment on them without their consent?

Now that sounded like some fairy tale nonsense right there. Souls that link together? Like in those romantic soulmate stories? He called bullshit.

He made sure to tell them just that.

“What the hell do you mean by that?”

Seungmin was really getting pissed off by the voice asking him questions without answering his own first.

“What does that matter?” he sneered, shoulders hiking up. “I don’t have to tell you anything. Now answer my question, what is your stupid experiment really about?”

It almost seemed like the voice was disappointed. Seungmin’s scowl deepened.

The voice was really chatty for someone who was giving him zero answers. The only thing they did was spout nonsense, talking about their ‘research’ as if it was the most normal thing in the world to research fate of all things. Seungmin didn’t like this one bit.

“I was a trainee that happened to be in the right place at the right time, nothing more.”

And it was true. Seungmin had been lucky that he had caught the attention of Chan when he did. He’d been in the running for a couple of possible debut projects before, but he’d always been dropped from the formation before any concrete plan was ever made. The group never actually talked that much about where they had been before, but Seungmin remembered it well. The continuous loop of training, the showcases, more training. It had been a trying time for all of them, and he’d been lucky to have gotten the question from Chan if he wanted to be in his team for that particular showcase. He hadn’t known it would literally be the group he’d debut with, but he’d still done his best, and in the end, that was how he was where he was now.

He’d been lucky, that was all.

“And what do you know about anything, huh? Who are you, anyway?”

“Stop asking that already! If you’re not gonna listen to my answer then why bother!”

Seungmin sat up straighter. “Reconsider what? I’ve already given you my answer! I was lucky and a trainee at the right time! There’s nothing more to it!”

It was quiet for a bit. Whoever had spoken with him had left the microphone, that much was clear. Seungmin had half a mind not to start screaming for them to come back, but he didn’t want to give them the satisfaction of looking that pathetic, so waited anxiously for when they would return.

A sudden alarm blared through the speakers, making him practically jump out of his skin. A small, red light blinked in the upper corner of the screens, and Seungmin’s gaze was immediately pulled to it, finding the small sign to be on the camera footage of Hyunjin’s weird mirror room.

Wait, was that…?

One of the mirrors suddenly showed something different than endless reflections of Hyunjin. It seemed to have become a window to one of the other rooms, Jeongin’s to be exact, and Seungmin could see the moment Hyunjin realized the same thing. The boy sprinted towards the glass, pounding on it desperately in the hopes of getting their maknae’s attention, but nothing happened. A quick glance at Jeongin's screen showed that he indeed didn’t react at all. Sound must not travel through the glass, then.

The voice spoke up at that moment, startling Seungmin.

Seungmin bit his lip, not caring if he drew blood or not. So this was how they were going to play it? Dangle his members over him like a prize? An award for playing along and being obedient?

Everything about this was wrong and he knew- he knew he shouldn’t. He wouldn’t be able to face the members if he’d let himself get persuaded so easily. He was not going to be an easy target. Hell no. Their kidnappers would have to pull out a lot more if they wanted to get Seungmin to listen to them.

“Screw you.”

It was silent for a bit, and Seungmin watched how Hyunjin kept assaulting the glass as if he actually had the chance to break through it. He could understand the need to; they all knew how insecure Jeongin could still be, despite how many times they reassured him. Their maknae was scared of a lot of things, and just like the file had said, one of his worst fears was to be left alone. To be neglected. To be forgotten.

Of course, the group had vowed to never let that happen, but this situation was anything but normal. It was out of their hands. He couldn’t imagine how it would appear in Jeongin’s perspective, though—going from being in a car together like usual to waking up in a giant room all alone, with no one around and no way to get out. Seungmin could half relate, except he had some weird speaker voice he was talking with. Jeongin was all alone. It must be ten, if not thousand times worse for him.

Before Seungmin really realized what that meant, he was confronted with the direct consequences of his stubbornness, as on Hyunjin’s screen, a wall shifted back behind the glass and Jeongin was cut off from Hyunjin’s view again, the glass mirroring his reflection just as it did before.

The screens emitted no sound, but Seungmin could practically hear the frustrated yell Hyunjin let out as he kicked the glass. He stomped off soon after, and disappeared from the camera’s view, leaving behind a trail of reflections in his wake.

Seungmin’s guilt skyrocketed. On Jeongin’s screen, he could see how the younger had lifted his head, seemingly staring at an empty wall. Seungmin knew it was the very same one Hyunjin had been behind just now, and he wondered if Jeongin had seen. If he had maybe caught a flash of something, or maybe, if he’d felt it.

Seungmin quickly dismissed that thought, though. He sounded as crazy as the speaker voice if he went in that direction. People couldn't feel others through walls, especially not if they weren’t even aware there were other people around. It was just a coincidence, nothing more. It did break Seungmin’s heart, however, as he watched Jeongin rub his eyes. He was probably crying. It made Seungmin want to cry as well.

“Why are you doing all of this?” Seungmin asked the speakers, sadness filling his words. He’d trade places with any of the others in seconds. Not only because he couldn’t bear to see them all in such vulnerable stages, but because he had a privilege that the others hadn’t. He could see them. He knew they were there, that they were alright. He was the only one out of all of them that wasn’t alone and isolated.

It wasn’t fair. None of this was. Hate bubbled up, hate towards their kidnappers for treating them like this. None of them deserved any of this.

“Why are you doing this to us? Why are you showing me this?”

The speakers crackled, the sentence that followed sending shivers down his spine.

Chapter Text

When Felix had woken up in a dark, tight space, his lungs had stopped functioning for a solid minute. He’d been so scared, and even now, hand securely tucked in Chan’s bigger one, he could feel his heart beating an erratic rhythm in his chest. Sure, it helped that Chan was here and he wasn’t alone anymore, but they were still somewhere else. Somewhere unsafe.

And the others weren’t there.

That was the one thing his mind kept repeating. The others weren’t there. He loved Chan, he really did, and being in his presence already soothed a large part of his worries, but that didn’t mean he was all okay again. Felix was a touchy person, always had been, and everyone knew it. He loved having his members close, throwing an arm over their shoulders, feeling their warmth, their safety near him.

And without them, he felt empty. Like a piece of himself was missing. Like he wasn’t whole.

He never voiced this out loud, though, knowing that was most likely the only one in the world who had such an unhealthy connection with not one, but seven other people. He knew he was too dependent on them, he knew he couldn’t stay with them forever.

But that didn’t mean that it didn’t hurt.

And now, being forcibly separated, feeling Chan’s quick pulse through their intertwined hands because Chan was worrying just as much about the others as he was, he couldn't deny just how much it really hurt. It was a pulsing, constant kind of pain, just under the skin over his heart. And it hurt.

“You still good, Lix?”

Felix blinked out of his thoughts and nodded, before realizing he was crawling behind Chan and the older couldn’t see him.

“Yeah, I’m alright. Do you think we’re almost back at the door?”

Chan had told him about the many hallways he had run through before he’d found Felix, and he’d told them of the door that led to these specific low, dark halls. If they could find that, they could get to spaces with more light, and maybe they could even find another door that would lead them to the others. That’s why they were trying to crawl back to the door now, and gradually the ceiling was getting higher again. Felix guessed that if he were to try, he could now stand in a bow again with his legs at their full height. He didn’t try though, content to just crawl forward behind Chan and let the other lead the way.

“I think so. I don’t remember this hallway being that long.”

Felix tried his best to ignore the fear that made his hands clammy and the constant buzzing of pain in his chest. They were going to find the others. They were going to be complete again.

If the others were even there.

He didn’t want to think too much about it, but the doubt was at the back of his mind. What if the others weren’t here? What if only Chan and him were here, what then? Would they be able to escape with just the two of them? Were the others alright? What could have happened to them? Felix wasn’t even sure what happened to him. He’d been wasting time in the car until they would get home and he could sit behind his computer set-up again to properly watch the stream he’d been wanting to watch this whole week. But instead he’d suddenly gotten so tired and before he could even really warn Jisung of how wrong that was, he’d lost the fight and fell asleep.

And now he was here. Terrified. With only Chan there to keep him from keeling off the edge and not descend into a full-blown panic.

“There it is.”

The hallway brought them to a single door. Chan’s knees cracked as he stood, and he and Felix shared a glance before he opened it carefully. Felix gulped, body leaning forward so he could look into the hall that appeared behind the door. Luckily, it was empty.

“We have to be careful now,” Chan whispered, “we might not be alone.”

“That’s reassuring.”

“Yeah... Just stay close, alright? We’re gonna have to stay together.”

Felix squeezed Chan’s hand as he took a hold of it again, coming to stand beside him. “I’m not going anywhere, hyung.”

Chan seemed to be reassured at that, and he stepped out into the next hall, pulling Felix along with him. “Okay, let’s go.”

Felix felt almost like a preschooler on his way to school with the way he silently trailed behind Chan, hands linked, and he let himself be led. The silence all around them didn’t make it better. It allowed him to think too much, to worry too much and to have no distractions whatsoever to divert his attention from the pain. His best bet was to fill the silence with talking, but he didn’t know how happy Chan would be if he started talking and attracted unwanted attention. So, he kept his mouth shut.

It gave his mind free reign.

Because what if these tunnels went on forever? What if they would never get out? What if these halls were actually deep underground and they would never see a window or sunlight ever again? Chan and Felix came from a city with so much sunlight; he didn’t think they would be able to survive without it. And again, what about the others? What if they were searching through these halls as well? What if they were all in different places, and Chan and Felix would never encounter another human being, let alone their members?

What if they would be stuck like this forever? What if this was it?

“You’re so quiet, Lix,” Chan whispered in front of him, casting him a short glance over his shoulder. “Tell me what’s on your mind, hm? It might help you to voice it out loud.”

Felix huffed. He couldn’t help but feel fond of the way Chan immediately knew something was up.

“So is this that leader-sense you were talking about?”

Chan huffed as well. “That it is. Now, what’s bothering you?”

“Hyung… it’s just… aren’t you scared right now?”

“Of course I am. I’m only human after all.”

And the way he said it so easily, as if admitting that someone was scared was the most normal thing in the world. Felix really admired that about Chan. He didn’t keep anything back when he wanted one of the members to open up to him. ‘I want you to know you can confide in me,’ he’d once told Felix, one late night after Felix had been crying for home, ‘and the only way to let you know that is if I open up first. I want you to trust me.’

And here he was again, proving just how safe he was. Felix didn’t know whether to hit Chan or burst out crying. He did neither. Instead, he took a practiced breath in through his nose and out of his mouth, forcefully calming himself.

“I’m worried about the others.”

“That’s only natural, Lix. I think the others are worried about us as well.”

“I hadn’t even thought of that… do you… do you think Sungie’s okay?”

Because that was the first one that came to mind as soon as he thought of the others being worried too. Jisung, who’d been sitting right beside him in the car. Jisung, the member that was also the most prone to anxiety out of all of them. He couldn’t imagine if he was already this stressed, how much of an actual hell this must be for Jisung.

“He has to be okay. I would feel if he wasn’t.”

“Right… leader instincts.”

Chan nodded. “Exactly. So don’t worry about them in that sense, okay? They’re alright. We just have to find them.”

Which was easier said than done. Soon, they came upon more doors, two this time, one on the left and one on the right. They stopped walking and looked between them in doubt.

“Eeny meeny miny moe?”

Felix shrugged, which Chan took as a sign to start the little rhyme. They picked the left door, and found themselves in another winding hallway. Neither of them commented on it, but Felix was already getting sick of the windowless walls and the never ending steps echoing through the space. It was doing bad things to his nerves, and he already wished to be sitting again. Not back in the darkness, not like he was, he would never want to get back to that, but his feet were already starting to hurt.

“So, how much would you bet that Lino-hyung has already escaped to give our captors a piece of his mind?”

Chan snorted in surprise. “How much do you wanna bet that Seungmin beats him to it?”

Felix snickered softly. “You’re on.”

When they encountered three more doors this time, Felix took the initiative to choose the first one, and Chan allowed him to tug him along. More halls, more doors. It didn’t feel like they ever got further in the building, nor closer to getting out. It was like a never ending maze, impossible to ever figure out from the inside.

The longer nothing happened, the more Felix felt like something was going to happen.

This couldn’t be all there was to it. They were missing something. Or something was waiting for them. He didn’t know which one option was scarier.

A low, scraping sound had him whipping around and out of Chan’s grip the moment he heard it.

“What was that?!”

The hallway seemed to stretch endlessly behind them. There was nothing there.

Chan’s hand quickly grabbed Felix again, pulling him along. “Let’s not wait to find out,” he said, and Felix could hear the tremble in his voice. Felix swallowed heavily, feet stumbling along as he and Chan rushed through the hall and hopefully away from the noise.

Because noise meant someone was there. Noise meant danger.

They rounded the corner and Chan tugged mercilessly.

“We need to find another door,” he said. “We’re too out in the open here. We need to hide.”

“Where, though?” Felix asked desperately. “The only thing we’ve seen here are open halls.”

“There must be a room somewhere. Or another dark corner. We need to find that and hide until whatever that is loses track of us.”

“Why are you talking as if you know what it is?”

Chan didn’t answer that, but as he pulled Felix around another corner, Felix could see the grim line of his mouth. This was serious. It occurred to him then that Chan had been walking through these halls for who knows how long before he’d found Felix. Maybe this wasn’t the first time he’d heard noises like that…

“Hyung-” Felix began, “-hyung, what is following us?”

“I don’t know, Lix.”

“But then why-”

Another scraping sound, and this time, it was accompanied with a low growl that resonated along the walls. Felix’s eyes widened.

“What the hell is that?!”

Chan started running. Felix followed his lead.

“Let’s not stay here to find out!”

They ran through the halls in blind panic, the growling behind them picking up, along with quick footsteps of someone—or something—that seemed to be getting closer and closer.

“Shit, why isn’t there another door?!” Chan cursed, his grip on Felix’s hand unrelenting. Felix held him just as tight, not wanting to get separated at any point because then he wasn’t sure he would be able to keep up with Chan’s long strides.

“Do you think we’re gonna be able to shake them off with just a door?” Felix panted.

“We don’t have another choice!”

And they really didn’t. Felix took a look over his shoulder and his blood ran cold at what he spotted before they turned another corner.

Fur. Big, dark eyes. And teeth.

There were actual wolves after them.

“Hyung, they’re-!”

“There, a door!”

At the end of the hallway, one single door greeted them. Felix's heart skipped a beat. It was still too far away. They weren’t gonna make it there before the wolves got to them.

“It’s too far-”

“No, it’s not!”

And Chan pulled harder, Felix’s arm actually hurting from the force behind it but he didn’t care. He tried to keep up with Chan’s pace, he really did, but it was useless. He didn’t have those insane calves like Chan. He was a stick in comparison.

It was only a matter of time before he snapped like one.

“Shit!”

He tripped over his feet, his own fucking feet, but his hand didn’t slip from Chan’s grip. No, Felix wished it had, but it didn’t. Instead, he got pulled along literally by the arm, while the rest of his body took a nosedive to the ground, and he felt the muscles in his arm pull themselves apart at the sudden twist and assault. He screamed in pain.

It took only one second of indecision, one second of doubt where Chan looked around, where their eyes connected and Felix could see the guilt, the pure flood of fear in his leader’s eyes, before it all went to hell.

He wasn’t fast enough to get up. The wolves reached them. There were two, one for both of them, and they wasted no time in jumping right on the two boys. The wolf that went for Felix was big, its fur a lifeless gray that only accentuated the white piercing teeth in its mouth. It snapped its teeth at Felix, growling loudly, and Felix screamed again, scrambling away while his arm was still on fire and tears of terror built up in the corners of his eyes. The other wolf, a literal demon-looking black one, had gone for Chan, but Chan was faster. He threw himself in front of Felix, spreading his arms out wide and shielding the boy from both of the predators.

“You’re not getting to him!” He screamed at the wolves, his tone unlike anything Felix had heard before. “Fuck off!”

But of course the wolves didn’t relent, and they snapped their hungry fangs at Chan instead.

And actually found their target this time.

Chan’s shriek of pain rattled Felix to his core, and while he could only watch the broad back that shielded him from the wolves, he could see the blood splash on the wall beside them in horrifying detail.

“NO!”

Felix had never moved so fast in his life. One moment, he was on his elbows, backing away from the monsters that were after them, and the next, he was flying up and wrenching Chan away from them, twisting himself around the older until it was his back that was shielding Chan. The wolves growled again, but Felix pushed them both to the side right on time before either of them could bite again, and he wasted no time in jamming his hands under Chan’s elbows and hauling him away.

He just had to make it to the door, he just had to be fast enough-

But of course he wasn’t, of course, because these were blood-hungry wolves and he stood no chance against their force of nature. Chan was struggling in his hold, presumably to stand up and help Felix, maybe even protect him again, but Felix was having none of it. When the wolves launched for them again, an ugly scream tore itself out of Felix’s throat as if that would be enough to scare the animals off for good, and he pulled as hard as he could to get them both away in time. The black wolf was faster, though, and his teeth sunk into Chan’s useless leg, the one already dirtied with blood. Chan jerked in Felix’s hold, screaming in pain again.

Something inside of Felix snapped. Anger and pain and tens of thousands of other emotions flooded him in an instant, the whole world tunneling down to only him and the danger. Everything became sharper, clearer. He never let go of Chan as he went straight for the wolf, pure survival instincts guiding him at this point, and with one swift move that surprised even himself, he kicked the wolf right in its jaw, his heel ramming into the animal’s nose and forcing it to let Chan go. The animal mewled in pain, stumbling away pathetically, which seemed to surprise the other wolf as it briefly watched its partner and not Felix.

Those few seconds of distraction were enough for Felix to drag Chan closer and closer to the door. He slung his arm up and managed to open the door with one strong twist on the nob, and he virtually threw them both to the other side, slamming the door closed and immediately jamming his shoulder against it so the growling and angry claws on the other side wouldn’t be able to get through. They did try, but Felix held strong, and after a minute or two of fighting for dominance, it seemed the wolves lost their will to fight and the growling stopped.

All became quiet again.

Too quiet.

Felix panted, his whole chest heaving up and down with the force, but what really had his heart hammering out of its ribcage was the way Chan was sagged against the wall next to the door, far too much red coating his entire leg. The older was clearly holding back his whimpers, but he was cradling his leg as if it was about to fall off. Felix really hoped it wasn’t.

He dropped on his knees beside Chan, flailing his hands above his injured leg in panic.

“Hyung, how can I help, what can i do, oh god-”

“Lix, it’s okay, we’re okay-”

“No, we’re not! How can you say that when you’re bleeding-!”

“Panicking isn’t going to help, and besides it doesn’t hurt that bad-”

“STOP playing the fucking martyr already!”

Felix yelled so loud that even his own ears rang from it. Chan’s mouth snapped closed. Both of them looked at each other, millions of emotions passing between them. Felix could feel the tears from before threatening to fall, but he refused to cry here. He wasn’t even the one that got hurt, he shouldn’t feel like this, but it was all so- so frustrating and he was so fucking scared and-

In front of him, Chan gasped, his bloodied hand shooting up to grab at his chest with wide eyes.

“Lix, is this…” he trailed off, his gaze seeming to search for something. “Do you feel this too?”

Felix frowned, not understanding what Chan was trying to do now. He still wasn’t acknowledging how he was literally bleeding out right now, but it also didn’t sound like he was purposely diverting the topic at hand.

“You’re mad.” He said it like a statement, but something in Chan's tone still sounded questioning, as if he wasn’t sure himself how he knew. Well, Felix called bullshit, because he’d literally yelled at Chan just now. It was very clear that he was mad.

Felix scoffed. “Of course I am, hyung! You shouldn’t have thrown yourself in front of me like that. You’re not invincible! I don’t care that you wanted to protect me, it should never be at the cost of getting hurt yourself!”

“I couldn’t let you get hurt.”

Chan said it with so much conviction, it struck a chord within Felix, one that rattled him to his bones. Still, he wasn’t going to give in that easily, even when Chan made him wanna curl up and cry like a damn baby in his leader’s arms.

“Well, I don’t want you to get hurt either! Have you thought of that? It hurts me just as much!”

Something unreadable passed Chan’s face, setting Felix further on edge.

“How much?” Chan asked.

“How much what?! Hyung, stop being so cryptic and just own up to this! You shouldn’t throw away your life like that without even hesitating! That’s not healthy!”

It almost seemed like Felix’s plea fell on deaf ears, as Chan gave no direct response to it other than gritting his teeth a little more against the pain. It made Felix even more furious, all of the stress and fear of the last hours building up and exploding outwards.

“Are you even hearing me? You could have died!”

“I’m sorry.”

Felix fell silent immediately, panting from his outburst. Chan’s apology made something in him crumble, that build up tower of bad feelings toppling over and crashing without mercy. It only left remnants in its wake, shattered pieces of something so frail that Felix felt like he was falling apart. Unbidden, the tears in his eyes spilled over.

“You could have died!” he yelled again, though now it was much more desperate, much more like the wail of a newborn child screaming for comfort. “You could have died and I would have been all alone! I can’t- Chan, I can’t live without you!”

The most heartbreaking was to see Chan’s own eyes fill with tears, and Felix broke. He flung himself against Chan, hugging him as tight as he could without ever coming close to his still bleeding leg.

“Please-” he begged, pressing his face against Chan’s warm chest. He could hear his heartbeat like this. Chan was alive. He was still alive. The wolves hadn’t devoured him. “Please, don’t leave me, Chris.”

Chan’s hands became a steady weight on Felix’s back, holding him close and keeping him from completely crumbling apart.

“I’m sorry,” Chan spoke softly. “I’m sorry. Thank you for saving me.”

And Felix cried. He cried for all that could have happened and all that—Thank God—did not happen. He cried like this was the last moment he ever could, like this was all he could still do. He’d almost lost Chan. He’d almost lost one of his most precious friends, his safe space, his home away from home.

“I’m sorry, Lix.”

Felix shook his head roughly, smearing his tears all over Chan’s shirt.

“Don’t-” He snicked. “-ever do something like that again.”

“I won’t. Not if…” A sniffle came from Chan as well, and it broke Felix’s heart even more. “... not if you really feel like this when I do. I never… want to make you feel like this again.”

Felix’s eyebrows pulled together, something in Chan’s words sounding strange to him. He weakly pushed himself away from Chan, just enough to see into his eyes. When he saw the deep-rooted pain and anguish in them, he was taken aback. He wondered if he looked the same if he were to look in a mirror, if he had the same look of heartbreak on his face.

“Hyung, what…”

Chan gently put a hand over Felix’s heart.

“This is going to sound weird,” he said, “but I think my leader instincts just got a lot more real.” He looked imploringly at Felix. “Do you… feel it too?”

Felix looked down at his chest as if that would give him the answer, but he didn’t have to, not really. The feeling he’d had from the very beginning—the one where it felt like he was incomplete, somehow, like a part of him was missing—was thrumming even stronger than before. But more than that, something new had added itself to that layer of pain. Fear. Exhaustion. Pain, a lot of it.

Felix’s eyes trailed from his own chest back up to meet Chan’s. He could feel pain. Pain in a very specific area.

“Hyung, is this how your leg…?”

“It hurts, yeah, but I think adrenaline is still holding the worst back for now. Are you saying you can feel it too?”

Felix nodded, too perplexed to do anything more. It felt like another heart had joined right next to his own, twin beats beating softly in his chest and synchronizing as if they’d always been doing it. It felt good. Safe. He could see the same relief in Chan’s face, the same understanding of what was happening reflected in his eyes.

It was like a single puzzle piece had joined, making the bigger picture a little more complete. Both of them felt it, meaning that this was not just some weird fluke, and that Felix’s weird feeling from all this time had far more logic behind it than he’d initially thought. This couldn’t be real. He never thought that the hole could be filled, he thought…

His eyes widened and something passed between their gazes.

There was still space left in the puzzle.

Felix got the distinct feeling that he knew how many pieces were still missing.

Chapter Text

Jeongin had never felt this alone in his life. Not when he moved from Busan to Seoul and had only a single mattress on the lower half of a bunk bed to call his home; not when his friends kept getting eliminated one after the other; not when he himself was in danger of being dropped from the first team he’d ever joined and he spent all his time training, training and training even more just to be able to stay. He’d never felt this lonely, and that was saying something. Maybe he’d gotten too used to the constant chaos his members would bring wherever they went. Maybe he’d just never really imagined he’d ever be left behind like this.

Whatever the case, he was alone. He’d called out, of course he had, but no one answered. After at least an hour of talking to himself, then yelling, then screaming, he’d finally stopped. Shut his mouth for good. No one was coming.

He’d been left behind.

It scared him so much that it paralyzed him, pinned him to the spot unable to do anything anymore. And more than that, he felt scared for his members too. Because if he’d been alone for so long now, what had happened to them to not come and get him at this point? Wherever they were stuck, it must be similar if not worse then where he was, because there was no way any of the others would just take being locked up like this without a fight, and Jeongin was sure that they would be far more successful in fighting against it too. He’d just yelled pathetically. They could actually stand up for themselves.

The room he was in was so large, that he wondered if it had been a gym or maybe a storage unit before it had been turned into the prison it was now. All the walls were white, and save from the two strips of light on the ceiling, it had nothing. No windows, no doors. The floor was a cold slab of concrete that made shivers trickle down his spine the longer he sat on it, but he didn’t have any other choice. There was no furniture, nothing he could climb on or lean against other than the cold walls, which he chose not to do because he was already cold enough like this.

In the silence. Alone.

It was almost like a sensory deprivation cell, and he’d briefly wondered if maybe that was it. If he had been put here in a form of torture. Who knows, maybe after days of silence and no one to talk to, whoever had put him here expected him to go insane. Or to do anything they wanted just to get out. Personally Jeongin didn’t think they had to try this hard; he was already close to his breaking point and it had barely been a couple of hours at this point.

He sat, curled up to preserve some heat, and let his mind wander. He had nothing else to do. The first thing he thought about was his friends. He’d promised to come online that night after practice, but of course he never showed up since he’d been taken to this place. Would they be worried? Would they assume he had just forgotten, or fallen asleep, or only gotten home late after overworking? All of them were prone to do all of those things, so they probably didn’t think much of his disappearance… Those were the struggles of having so many idol friends. They probably didn’t think anything of it when he didn’t show up.

Then he thought about his members, worry stinging in his stomach again because if they still weren’t here, coming to get him out, then where were they? He couldn’t picture any of them ever giving up, so this had to be bad. Maybe they were hurt, or they were already…

Jeongin’s breath shuddered and he let out a quiet whine. No. He wouldn’t think like that. He had faith in the others. They wouldn’t be defeated this easily. They were still okay. Something in his mind told him they were still okay. They had to be. They had all been in the cars together, meaning he was definitely not the only one that had been taken. The others were okay.

Trying to fill up the silence, he started humming to himself. First some simple lines from some of their own songs, but that only reminded him of just how quiet it was without the rest, so he stopped. He moved on to some of his favorite trot songs. That actually helped. He got louder the more he hummed and eventually he bopped his head with the beat, relishing in the short distraction that the songs could give him.

But it didn’t last long. Once he was tired of humming, he fell quiet again, and the room loomed over him once more. Like giants staring at him and waiting for him to break, the walls seemed to stretch on endlessly. He felt so infinitesimally small here. It was like he was just a dot of black in a sea of white. One smudge in an otherwise spotless room. He hated this. He wanted out.

At one point he dozed off, head on his knees and hands clasped around his legs. He startled awake an undetermined amount of time later, his neck and back hurting from the uncomfortable position. He couldn’t tell how late it was since there were no windows and it freaked him out. It was impossible to say if it was the next day already, or even the day after. There was no concept of night or day here, and he had no idea now how long he’d been stuck here.

He had no idea how long he’d been missing.

Deciding that he was sick of waiting and sitting, he pushed himself from the ground, his legs protesting at having been curled up for so long. Once he stood and shook off the cold that seemed to stick to his clothes, he took to walking along the walls, one hand outstretched to feel across the concrete. The material was rough and icy under his hand, but he didn’t mind. At least this meant he could still feel; he could still see. Not everything had been taken from him.

When he got to one of the walls, he suddenly stopped.

This one felt different. Not in texture or in temperature, but… He scrunched his eyebrows together, trying to figure out what it was that made him stop.

Something was different. His gut said something was different. With careful steps forward, he followed along the wall, hand trailing over the blinding white. In the middle of the wall, he stopped again, lifting his hand to chest-level.

Here. He felt something. Like a heat, lingering behind the concrete. He could feel it. Something was here.

Safe.

The word popped up in his mind without warning and he blinked. This spot felt familiar. Like something he’d felt before. Like he needed to get behind this wall. Like he knew exactly what was behind it. After hours of cold and silence, he was more than a little tired, he would admit, but somehow this didn’t feel like something he was only making up. Something pulled him to this spot.

He was far too desperate to care if it was real or not. He needed something to hold on to.

Spurred on by the weird sense of here, safe, need to get behind it, Jeongin wasted no time investigating the entire wall. He let his hands rove over it until he had felt every spot. Nothing was there, but somehow he knew. He went to the ground next, not caring how weird he looked to touch everything along the wall with feverish intent. He needed to get behind this wall; he just knew it.

The moment he heard it, he froze. Farther along the wall, there on the ground, his fingers had grazed over a part that seemed to be able to be pushed down. Just the slightest bit, but still. When he pushed it, he heard a small click on the other side of the wall. He waited with bated breath as it sounded like a mechanism was activated, and he watched with wide eyes as slowly but surely, the wall started to slide. It moved to reveal a wall of glass behind it and he could see through it, finding a maze of mirrors on the other side.

Jeongin sucked in a breath, staring at the new wall with trepidation. The feeling got stronger.

He needed to get to the other side of the glass.

While his first instinct was to hit the glass until he broke through it, he knew that realistically his chances were very slim at succeeding. Pushing that intent down, he started searching for another button again. If one panel had allowed him to find this glass, then surely another was around to open the glass itself. He fell to his hands and knees and started feeling around, feeling very much like he was a blind man in search of something he should have been able to see. All thoughts of worry and panic were banished to the back of his mind, the surge of hope that now shot through him at being able to get out was enough to drown out anything else.

After he’d searched the ground, he began feeling the walls on either side of the glass, and it was then that he finally felt something give under his fingers again. He cheered softly when the push set another mechanism in motion, the clicking and hissing louder this time before the glass started moving. It opened up all the way, revealing a giant opening for him to enter the mirror maze. He put a hand on his chest to steady his breathing.

This was it. His gut was telling him he was closer to safe now, closer to the warmth. Following the pull he felt, he let his feet lead him into the maze, trusting the feeling inexplicably. He didn’t know how to explain it, but he just knew he was going to find the others this way. They had to be okay, and if not, then he was going to be the one that would find them. He would save them. He would not let them feel as alone as he had been.

He went into the maze.

Chapter Text

Jisung had gotten so used to the silence around him and only Minho’s voice in his head, that when the door on the other side of the room suddenly opened with no warning, he let out a mighty scream. He could immediately sense Minho’s heart speed up in alarm at Jisung’s shout, but he couldn’t give the other an explanation, as he was too focussed on scrambling backwards across the platform and screaming out again when his leg flared with pain from the large burn wound he had on his calf.

Jisung! Jisung, talk to me! What is happening?!

Jisung was frozen, his eyes locked on the door as it slowly creaked and opened. Light streamed in from the other side. He thought he’d been locked in, but if the door was opening now, it meant that someone from the outside could have easily gotten in all this time. Maybe it was one of their kidnappers, finally coming in to make their demands or torture him for information. Oh god, Jisung really hoped it wasn’t to torture him for information. He didn’t know anything. If they wanted to get something out of him that he didn’t have, he was doomed.

Han Jisung, answer me!

“N-not now hyung…” Jisung stuttered, too deep into his panic that he failed to realize Minho wouldn’t be able to hear him out loud.

A dark figure appeared in the doorway, and Jisung held his breath. He might have been spewing insults at their unknown captors for hours before he and Minho got into contact, but now that someone was entering his room, all of his fire had been stolen from him. The light from outside made it hard to distinguish any features from the person, but from the build Jisung guessed it was a guy. A not so tall, but very buff guy. He gulped.

For a second, everything was dead quiet. The person remained in the doorway, and Jisung squinted at them to try and see more.

“...Jisung?”

The voice had him stilling in place, a very tiny flare of hope lighting up in his chest. It couldn’t be… Was it really…

“Jisung, is that you?”

And oh my god that was Changbin. Jisung could have sobbed in relief. In fact, he felt tears already prick in the corners of his eyes.

“Changbin! Oh my God, you’re here! How are you here?!”

Without answering, Changbin made the move to step inside the room, but Jisung cried out before he could ever finish the movement.

“Don’t come here!” Changbin froze, his leg stopping mid-step. “The floor’s boobytrapped. Take one more step and you’ll get caught in an explosion!”

“What?!” The older exclaimed. “Please don’t tell me you know from experience!”

Jisung grimaced. “Doesn’t matter, just don’t try to get here!”

Jisung, I swear I’ll haunt you to hell if you’re trying to get past the mines again.

Minho’s voice startled Jisung so suddenly that he shifted, yelping when his wounded leg flared up with pain. Changbin threw out a hand in an aborted motion to help even if he was too far away, and even from only his silhouette, Jisung could practically feel the urge to cross the room coming from the other rapper in waves.

“Sung, are you okay?” Changbin called.

“I’m- I’m okay!”

Jisung! Answer me!

“Stop calling out to me!”

Jisung tensed the moment he realized he’d said those words out loud. Oops. Maybe it wasn’t smart to let Changbin know that he’d already gone crazy and could talk to someone else with his mind.

Luckily, Changbin seemed to take it as a personal remark.

“I won’t stop, not when I’ve finally found you! Do you know how long I’ve been searching this empty place? You’re the first person I’ve found, Sung, I’m not leaving you alone again!”

With growing horror, Jisung watched as Changbin strode into the room, not cautioning his steps or caring at all where he put his feet, just walking straight through the middle.

It was barely one second, one second of pure silence, and then the world exploded.

Jisung screamed, his hands flying up to his ears and pressing down hard to drown out the deafening sounds of so many explosions at once. His head rang with them, his whole body vibrating with each and every BOOM that echoed through the room. It was ten thousands times worse than the confetti explosions during award shows and those already scared the shit out of him.

JISUNG!

“Jisung!”

He distantly realized that some of the yelling wasn’t just in his head but actually outside of it, and with the greatest difficulty, he wrenched open his eyes to see-

Changbin. Battered and covered in soot and a couple of small burn wounds, but alive. Changbin was bent over Jisung, shaking him at the shoulders, his face full of worry.

“Jisung, are you alright? Oh my God, your leg!”

Changbin’s gaze moved down, gasping when he spotted the large burn wound that had singed half of Jisung’s pants away. The rest of the fabric was clinging to his skin, and it had hurt too much to remove it so it still hung in tatters from the edges of the wound. Changbin made a wounded sound as if he was the one with the big burn instead.

“Dammit, so you did try to get through the room? What were you thinking!”

Finally, Jisung felt like he was coming back to himself a bit, his body still shaking from the adrenaline and fear, his ears still ringing though it was gradually lessening. Enough to let him realize just what Changbin accused him of.

“What was I- Seo Changbin, what were you thinking?! You almost blew us both up even though I warned you not to come here! Are you stupid?! Do you not have a single bone in your body that wants to live? I told you there’d be explosives and I-”

Jisung’s breath hitched. His own voice hurt him as he yelled, but it was all he could do not to completely fall apart. Changbin was just letting him yell too, not interrupting him or berating him further. He was just looking at Jisung with that concerned expression of his, and it pissed Jisung off.

(It also relieved Jisung more than he could ever put into words, to not have to be alone anymore. Yeah, he’d had Minho as company in his mind, but to be held, to be together with someone physically and in the same room—it was way better. Minho helped too, though.)

He continued on: “I warned you not to come here. Why would you ever risk it all like this when you knew I wasn’t directly in harm’s way? You didn’t need to come to me! I would have been fine on my own, but you- you-!”

Finally putting a stop to Jisung’s frantic rant, Changbin wordlessly pulled him into a hug, holding him in those strong arms of his and Jisung couldn’t help it-

He melted.

“You damn fool, do you know how much you scared me?” he snicked as he lifted his arms to return the hug. “You could have gotten seriously hurt. You could have died.”

“But I didn’t,” Changbin murmured, rubbing Jisung’s back. “I ran as fast as I could and I dodged most of it.”

“But you-!”

“I’m okay, Sung, I promise.”

Jisung snicked again, too overwhelmed with worry, fear, but frankly also relief that he didn’t know what to feel anymore. Changbin holding him helped. It felt like the rapper was actually holding all of Jisung together before he could break into a million unfixable pieces. Jisung relished in it.

He’d been alone for so many hours, but now, he finally wasn’t anymore. He wasn’t anymore, not like-

Oh my God, Minho-hyung!

Jisung! Are you okay? Are you hurt?! I could feel your screams- you didn’t try to escape again, did you? I can’t feel more hurt but I know how much that leg is still hurting and I-

Jisung winced, trying to keep his physical reaction as small as he could not to alert Changbin. He could literally feel the strain on his knuckles, which meant that Minho was holding onto his platform with all he had. He must already be so terrified, and Jisung was only making it worse. The older boy’s thoughts were a flood of worry and concern for him that was getting so fast and panicked that it was hard to even hear words in it anymore. He felt guilt slam into him at the thought that it was all his fault for scaring Minho like that.

Hyung! he cut Minho off, instantly halting the tsunami of thoughts barreling into his mind. Please, I’m okay, I promise. I didn’t go off the platform.

Then what- Sungie, what happened?! You disappeared again! You promised you wouldn’t do that!

I’m sorry, I was just busy with- well, something else. The door to my room opened, hyung.

It what?!

Yeah and it was Changbin! He found me. But then he tried to get to me and set off so many of the mines that I… lost it for a second.

Minho was quiet for a bit, probably taking all of that in and Jisung waited patiently. On the outside, his snicks were quieting down, Changbin’s rubs helping him with that.

Can you feel my heartbeat, hyung? Then you know I’m not lying.

What kind of detective crap- I never said you were! It’s just- God, Sung, do you have any idea what my mind came up with while you were M.I.A? I thought you were dying.

This time, Jisung couldn’t hold back the flinch at Minho’s words, hating that he was putting the older through so much. Changbin must have felt it too, because he shifted, and soon, he was pushing back from the hug to create some distance between them again.

“How are you feeling now?” he asked. “I’m really sorry for scaring you like that.”

Before Jisung realized, he subconsciously repeated that sentence in his head. I’m really sorry for scaring you like that.

A phantom feeling came of tension releasing from his muscles. Minho must be forcing himself to relax, which was as good a sign as any that he had heard the apology and was accepting it. Jisung couldn’t ask for more.

“Yeah,” he said out loud, “Yeah, I think I’m okay now.”

Just please, let me know when something’s happening on your side again? I don’t know how long I can take this if you keep disappearing on me.

I’m sorry. I’m really not good at this brain-talking yet.

Neither of us are, Sungie, it’s okay.

I’ll try to be more careful, though, okay? I really don’t want to scare you like that. Ever.

I believe you.

“...sung? Hey, Han Jisung.”

Jisung blinked back to the forefront of his mind and registered Changbin snapping his fingers in front of his face.

“Huh? Sorry, what did you say?”

Changbin frowned. “Are you really okay? None of the explosions touched you, did they? How are you feeling? Is it your leg?”

Before Changbin could anxiously begin to examine Jisung’s leg, he shook his head, quickly reassuring the other.

“No, no, I’m okay, really. I just got… lost in my thoughts for a sec.”

Maybe… I’ve got an idea.

“Oh, okay, if you say so…” Changbin didn’t look very convinced, but Jisung wasn’t really focussed on it. He curiously turned back to his conversation with Minho.

What is it?

You know how we can feel each other's pain and movements sometimes? What if it works the same with sharing our hearing? That way you don’t have to disappear if you want to talk with someone else.

You think that’s possible?

I mean, we don’t know if we don’t try.

Changbin’s attention had already shifted back to Jisung’s leg, the older scanning the wound intently. It gave Jisung a bit of space to fully withdraw himself into his mind, trying to test out Minho’s theory even though he had no idea where to start.

Okay, so how do we do it?

Maybe… I don’t know. How do you keep cutting off the connection?

That was a good question. Jisung didn’t really know it himself either.

I just want to focus on something else and then I do, he tried to explain, like shifting between watching a film on tv and reading something on your phone at the same time.

So it’s like shifting your entire focus?

Yeah, you wanna try?

It’s not like I have much else to focus on, Sungie.

Try your own hands or something, I don’t know.

Wow, so fascinating.

Now’s not the time to sass me, hyung!

“I think we can’t treat this here,” Changbin suddenly said out loud and Jisung jumped, having almost forgotten that the other had been there. “We don’t even have water, let alone bandages or ointment. Is it hurting a lot?”

“Uhm- yeah, kinda.”

All of a sudden, the feeling that Jisung had had all this time vanished and he shuddered. His mind was empty again and terribly quiet. The constant feeling of someone being with him, of that voice inside his head completely disappeared.

No wonder that Minho kept panicking every time Jisung did this to him. Even though it should feel normal not to have someone else in your head, now it just felt so wrong.

The moment Minho popped back in was like Jisung’s head finally pushed from the surface of an ice cold lake. He could breathe again, and his shoulders slumped involuntarily.

Wow…That was awful, hyung.

Now you know what it feels like. Sorry not sorry.

Jisung rolled his eyes, belatedly realizing that Changbin was not only talking again, but also looking at him. Changbin raised his eyebrows.

“No need to react like that,” he said, “I’m just trying to look out for you.”

Jisung bit his lip, not really knowing if he unintentionally had just hurt Changbin or not. He didn’t know what the other boy had said. Gah, keeping up with two conversations at once was so confusing!

Hyung, I’m gonna have to cut you off again. I think Changbin is getting a bit suspicious of me zoning out so much.

Don’t leave! The thought was so quick and so quiet that Jisung imagined it to have slipped through Minho’s grasp before he could hold it back. He felt bad for having to do this, but he really couldn’t have Changbin realizing he was talking with one of the others through his thoughts. Changbin would declare him crazy. Or no, better yet, he would accuse him of lying and making up excuses and then leave him alone while he went to look for the other, more sane members of their group. Jisung couldn’t let that happen. He didn’t want to be left alone in this room again.

With pain in his heart, he fully focussed back on his physical surroundings, completely cutting off the connection with Minho. Changbin was grumbling something while looking around the room, not paying attention to Jisung anymore, and it was a small relief. It didn’t last long, though, and soon, Changbin was turning back to Jisung, a determined expression on his face.

“I’ve got a plan, but I don’t think you’re gonna like it.”

Leave it to Changbin to give Jisung so much stress with a single sentence. Perhaps seeing the trepidation on Jisung’s face, Changbin quickly went on to explain:

“The path that I used to get here, do you see it?” And with that he pointed towards the ground that led to the door, clear burn marks scorching the black floor. “I think because I’ve already set off the explosions there, it could be safe to walk across again.” He turned to Jisung with a grimace. “It might be worth a try, right?”

“You want to walk back out there?” Jisung asked, incredulous. His leg throbbed as if to forcefully remind him of just what was waiting for him all around the platform. “Are you crazy?”

“It’s our only way of getting out of this room,” Changbin argued. “And I don’t know about you, but I don't really want to stay here. It’s dark and far too dangerous.”

Changbin was absolutely right in that aspect, but… Jisung was more than a little afraid. Not only of what was in the room, but also of what could be out there. What if their kidnappers were somewhere close by, waiting to separate them again in a sick game of hide and seek? What if there were more traps? What if it was even more dangerous out there than in here? What if there were guns or axes or monsters or-

But then again, if the others—if Minho was out there somewhere and Jisung could find him… shouldn’t he try to take the risk?

He looked down at his leg, bracing himself for what they were about to do.

“You’ll have to support me,” he said, and he could see from the corner of his eyes how Changbin straightened up. “I don’t think I can walk on my own like this.”

“Of course, just use me as your walking cane.”

Jisung breathed out deeply, trying to prepare himself. “Help me up?”

Changbin didn’t need to be told twice. He carefully held out an arm, which Jisung grabbed onto, and together, slowly, they lifted from the ground. Changbin pulled mostly, while Jisung tried his best to jostle his leg as little as possible. Still, it wasn’t as smooth as it could have been, and once or twice he hissed when a spike of pain shot from the wound all the way up his leg.

With heavy breathing and a slightly wobbly balance, he finally got all the way to his feet, leaning heavily on Changbin’s arm.

“Are you ready?” Changbin asked him.

“No, but when will I ever?”

And so, with very cautious steps, he and Changbin got off the platform and onto the first scorch mark on the floor. They froze for a second, waiting.

Nothing happened.

Jisung could have laughed from relief, but he was too focussed on not falling over. Changbin did let out a small chuckle, but it sounded more hysterical than anything else.

“That’s not a bad start,” he said, trying to raise their spirits. Jisung huffed.

“Don’t celebrate before we’re at the door.”

“Right.”

Another step where they carefully shuffled to the next scorch mark, very aware of all the unblemished ground around it. It’s like they were trying to do stepping stones, albeit very small ones that were clearly not meant to fit two people at the same time. Jisung leaned closer against Changbin, practically fusing together with him.

With every step, every shuffle, a bit of pain pulsed from his leg, but it was honestly manageable.

It was only halfway through the room that he realized that he’d been losing his focus. Like a tap slowly dripping water into an unused sink, another presence was trickling back into his head.

His wall between him and Minho was slowly fading, and he didn’t have either the concentration or the energy to build it back up.

…ung? Are you…. already?

Minho’s voice was vague, as if he was talking from far away, but Jisung could feel the other returning steadily.

Unaware that Jisung was losing his focus, Changbin dared another step forward, making Jisung almost fall as he hadn’t anticipated the sudden movement.

“Woah! Sorry, did I go too fast?”

Jisung clamped his hands around Changbin’s arm as his heart went crazy. His leg pulsed with more pain than before, as he’d had to put more weight on it to stabilize himself.

“Sorry, sorry, I wasn’t paying attention.”

Changbin shot him a worried glance. “I’ll go slower, okay? Just let me know when you need a second more.”

Jisung nodded, his dread growing as more and more of Minho’s thoughts trickled in.

He must be trying to come up with a plan or something, if it’s taking this long. Or maybe he’s having a fight with Changbin. Knowing those two, they can either be having the best brainstorm session of their lives or they're ready to tear each other's throats. I hope he comes back soon. It’s so quiet here… I don’t like the quiet anymore. When we get back, I’m never locking myself in my room alone again. I miss him. When will he let me back in? I hope the others are okay. It’s so quiet here…

Jisung listened to the thoughts, heart aching for Minho. He’d gotten lucky with Changbin, that he wasn’t alone anymore, but Minho didn’t have that luck. He was still all on his own, in a scary room and with no way to get out. He didn’t even have a door or a floor to try out. He was stuck and all Jisung could do… all Jisung could do was let him be a little bit less alone through their thoughts.

Hyung, I’m back.

Jisung! Thank god- Uh, I mean- so how’s Changbin?

They shuffled forward another step, and Jisung furrowed his brow, his brain fighting to focus on two things at once.

We’re trying to escape.

WHAT?!

Jisung winced, but could hide it behind a misstep that Changbin was quick to help him with. Jisung shot him a wry, but thankful smile.

Yeah, we’re following the path Changbin used to get to me. We’re almost at the door.

That must be the dumbest plan I’ve ever heard. One of these days you’re gonna give me a literal heart attack, I swear.

Sorry, hyung.

Jisung could feel the imitations of a sigh in his throat.

It’s alright. Just- be careful.

I always am.

No, you’re not.

They really were almost at the door now, giving Jisung tentative hope that they were actually getting out of here. After hours and hours of having been stuck in darkness with only Minho’s thoughts as his company, he was finally seeing some light again. The warmth and strength of Changbin at his side was already more than he could have wished for, and he was sure that he would never take the other rapper for granted ever again.

“Almost there, we’re almost there, Sung,” Changbin was saying, supporting him as he limped another step forward.

Jisung was just about to retort, that yeah, he could see that, but then a sense of vertigo hit him so hard that he couldn’t do anything about it.

He fell.

Changbin yelled out. The world spun uncontrollably and Jisung felt as if his whole body was tilting to the side, slipping, falling-

And then something snatched him and he hung limp. It was too late. In his fall, his injured leg had moved too far, just a little too far, and now his foot was touching unblemished territory. Changbin and he could only lock eyes for less than a millisecond.

And then the room exploded again.

Chapter Text

“JISUNG!!!”

Both in his head and out loud, Minho had never screamed that desperately before. He’d tried cutting the connection off before his vertigo could have been transferred to Jisung, but he’d been too late. One second, his platform was tipping, tilting, and he was sliding off of it and towards the depths of the room below him and then he felt it-

Burning pain. Everywhere. Then nothing.

Jisung had disappeared.

Minho knew for sure that it wasn’t voluntary this time.

Before he could scream the other’s name again though, he slipped just a bit too far and not just his legs, but his torso went over the edge of the platform. With terror skyrocketing through his entire body, he flung himself back on it, hands gripping the edge because his life depended on it.

Panting, he hung from the edge of the platform, his legs dangling in empty air.

Shit, he couldn’t hold on for long like this.

“Dammit,” he grunted, arms straining from the weight they had to lift. If he didn’t get himself back onto the platform soon he’d fall. The white hands were coming for him, inviting him down, but he refused to die like that. He didn’t know exactly how deep the drop would be, but to hell with it. He would not be leaving Jisung, leaving the others, before he knew they were safe and sound.

So with colossal efforts, he heaved himself up, his arms shaking, his hands cramping from how tight he was holding the platform's edge. It was pure adrenaline making it possible, his whole body overflowing with panic and the need to survive. Grunting, he finally got most of his chest back on the platform, and for a second he lay flat like that, heaving out breaths like he’d just come back from the edge of drowning. Only when he didn’t feel like fainting immediately, did he push through and use the last of his strength to fully tug himself back onto the platform.

Now that the immediate danger had passed, he realized his mind felt a little fuzzy and it worried him. Was this from Jisung’s side? Did that mean he was okay? Was he knocked unconscious?

Minho hated not knowing, but right now he couldn’t do anything but focus on his own less than ideal situation. His whole body shook. He liked to think it was because of the extortion, but he knew it was mostly from the terror. He’d almost died just now. He had difficulty wrapping his head around that.

“Get it together, Lee,” he hissed at himself, curling in his legs and hugging them tightly. He wanted to be as far away from the edge as possible.

Those damn kidnappers. They were teasing him. They were toying with him like he was just some stupid coil spring they could keep pulling at until he snapped.

“F-Fuck you!” He yelled to the room at large, hating how his voice shook. He felt like he was right back where he started when he’d woken up—scared, alone and desperate to be heard. Only now, he knew Jisung was at least somewhat alive, the fuzzy undertones in his own mind being proof of that. Still, he was back to being alone. Jisung couldn’t answer him right now, and so he just had to settle to yelling at his capturers again, not knowing if they could even hear him in the first place.

“You’re a bunch of fucking cowards! You assholes! Stop toying with me like some fucking piece of meat you can just throw around!”

No one answered of course, but Minho needed to get this off his chest. First the stress of waking up somewhere unknown, then the multiple heart attacks from having Jisung come and go, the faint pain he could feel from the other boy, the weird bond they shared, the fucking platform that kept tilting-

It was too much.

“Fucking fight me, shitheads! I’ll obliterate each and every one of you when I get out of here! The police won’t even find any of your remains as I will have shipped them off the the middle of the fucking pacific! Just try me! I’ll fucking sue you!”

Knowing Jisung wasn’t listening in gave him all the room to go loose, and so it took a while before he fell silent again, having used up all of his most creative threats and insults that he could think up at the moment. He was still pissed, but he moved on to simmer in silence.

The fuzziness in his head remained. It was getting kind of hard to think through it.

And maybe it was because of that, or it was because he was truly getting at his end’s wit, but he moved from his spot again.

And this time, right towards the edge.

He knew it was stupid, he knew that it could end very, very badly if he did this, but he needed to know for himself. How high up was he and… what exactly were those hands? Not having screamed all of his brain cells away, he still had the mind to lay flat on his stomach, legs spreading out to stabilize him, before he ever tried to reach downwards.

If he could just know how hard the material was from the hand statues, then maybe he could climb down from them…

But he couldn’t reach them. His hand swept through the air and he pushed himself as flat against the surface of the platform as possible, but he couldn’t reach. All of the frustration of trying build up until he let it out in a growl. He moved to sit up again.

Useless. He was useless. Just like he couldn’t help Jisung in any way, he also couldn’t do anything for himself because he was stuck and he had no other ideas as to how to get out of here. Useless, useless, useless!

He straightened up, legs coming up to curl under him as he got ready to very carefully crawl backwards to the middle of the platform again.

But then it shook. Blind panic taking a hold of him, he flung himself back to lying on his stomach, holding both ends of the platform with his arms outstretched as he clamped onto it for dear life. They were not throwing him off again!

“Fuck you!” he screamed, voice cracking as he closed his eyes in fright. “Fuck you, fuck you, fuck you!”

Even after the platform stopped shaking, Minho refused to move. He kept his eyes shut firmly, trembling all over.

A feeling of pure despair washed over him then, a truth that he had no choice anymore but to accept.

He was never getting out of here.

Chapter Text

Felix was carrying him with his good shoulder, the other one looking bruised and painful from how Chan had pulled at him before. Together, they shuffled forward, too pathetic looking people, wounded and barely hanging on. Chan tried to hide just how much his leg was killing him, but of course with the weird, sudden influx of feelings that weren’t his own at all, there was no hiding anymore. The pain exchange went both ways; Chan could feel his shoulder throbbing while, occasionally, Felix would let out a whimper of his own at the pain he could feel from Chan.

They were a mess, the both of them, but at least they weren’t being chased anymore.

Small mercies.

“Can we-” Felix grunted, both from Chan’s weight around his shoulders as well as the flare of pain that came from Chan’s bleeding leg. “-Can we take a break?”

Chan debated it. On the one hand, he didn’t think he’d be able to get up again if they stopped now. But on the other, he really longed to finally give his leg some much needed rest.

In the end, it was the thought that he could perhaps stem the flow of blood a bit more if they sat down that he agreed. Felix carefully lowered him to the ground first, making sure he was seated against the wall before slowly coming to sit beside him. Both let out large sighs of relief at the same time, the pain for both of them momentarily lessening.

“It’s not getting better, is it?” Felix asked softly. Chan pressed his lips together.

“It is. I already feel it less.”

“Hyung.”

Chan sighed. There was no hiding from Felix anymore. This sudden sharing was more of a curse than anything else, and he wished he could just put up a brave face and say that he was alright.

But Felix could feel what he could, and so they both knew damn well that the situation was only getting worse. The pain wasn’t going away. The blood wasn’t stopping. They had wrapped Chan’s button-up shirt around the wound to prevent too much blood loss, but even that thing had been soaked for a while now.

He didn’t know how long he’d be able to hold on. Softly, he massaged his shoulder, noticing how Felix slumped a bit in response.

It was really weird, this sharing their feelings thing. Not only did Felix share Chan’s pain, but Chan could also feel every little change in Felix’s demeanor. When his fear threatened to overwhelm him, when his worry won the battle for dominance, when exhaustion pulled at his limbs and made him stumble. He’d always been attuned to the others, it was his job, but this—this was a completely different situation. It had never been so real before, so tangible. He felt like he couldn’t really distinguish where Felix started and he ended. Distantly, he wondered if that also meant that they were thinking the same things, but quickly dismissed that.

Sharing feelings was already weird and unnatural enough. Sharing minds was too crazy.

“We should keep going.” Even as he said it, Felix didn’t really look like he meant it. He had his eyes closed, head leant back against the wall, his whole body tense. The massage barely helped, Chan could feel the muscles in his arms burning. He’d been leaning too heavily on the younger, he already knew that, but this sharing loop had made everything so much worse. The longer he leaned on Felix, the more he felt everything ache, making him need to lean more and more and continue the cursed cycle.

They weren’t going to last long like this, constantly feeding each other more and more pain, more and more exhaustion.

“Yeah,” he still agreed, neither of them making a move. “Just ten seconds more.”

“Ten seconds more,” Felix echoed and the both of them fell silent.

It startled him when his stomach twisted all of a sudden, his chest getting tight. He knew immediately that this was not coming from him.

“Are you thinking about the others?”

Felix jumped, eyes flying open. “How do you- Oh.” The younger sagged back against the wall. He rubbed his chest. “Yeah. I can’t help it. I’m really glad to not be alone anymore, but as long as the rest is out there somewhere… I just can’t feel right.”

Chan could definitely relate, and not only because he felt Felix’s side of things. He’d felt the same even before the wolves had attacked. As long as the others were out of his sight, as long as he didn’t know if they were safe, he could never feel at peace. His leader sense had always been a vague thing, a sort of buzzing in the back of his mind that simply drew him to things or people or situations. Now though, it felt like that buzzing was everywhere; in his hands, in his legs, in his chest. He’d never felt this restless, never felt this empty before.

Like almost everything inside of him was missing, and only Felix being with him gave him that little tiny piece back that was the part of a larger whole.

“Come on,” he said eventually, grunting as he straightened up and his shoulders protested. “We really should get going. The others might be waiting.”

Felix sighed. “Right…” With far too much effort, the both of them wobbled to their feet, Chan going back to lean against Felix instantly. “Ready for it, hyung?”

“Born ready.”

Felix huffed and slowly started to shuffle forward again. Every muscle in their bodies was protesting, but they were nothing if not stubborn. The winding hallways were making Chan feel like they were going on in endless circles. The only thing that kept him (and subsequently Felix) sane were the occasional doors that broke up the monotony. Not that there was ever something else behind them than more white halls and winding paths, but at least they gave something to work towards.

It really seemed like there was no way out of the maze.

With every step, his leg screamed at him. With every step, it was a battle of will to keep his body going, to not lean too much on Felix, to try and keep himself upright. His body trembled. Sweat trickled down his temple. Next to him, Felix was breathing heavily, no doubt feeling the double exhaustion that came from the both of them.

They were going to bring themselves down like this and Chan—Chan was helpless to stop it.

He should have felt it coming, but he was still caught off guard when it wasn’t him who collapsed first. Felix gave a low grunt, before all of the sudden, his knees buckled and he fell to the ground, immediately bringing Chan with him because he wasn’t able to stand fully on his own. The moment he landed and his leg hit the ground, a piercing flash shot all throughout his body, making both him and Felix groan in agony.

“We need… we need to go on,” Chan panted. Felix nodded, but the movement brought dizziness to the both of them and Chan closed his eyes. His lungs felt too tight. His shoulders hurt. His leg… his leg wouldn’t listen to him at all. “We need to… go… on.”

But neither of them moved, both panting and sweaty, the shared pain and exhaustion too much for their bodies to bear. This was it. The hallway stretched out on both sides, no door anywhere in sight, which meant that they had no way to protect himself if anything were to come for them again.

Chan had never felt so scared. He knew most of it came from Felix, but a little bit of his own fear mixed into it and made it even worse.

They couldn’t go on like this anymore. They were too weak. A little bit of leader sense, a tiny voice, was screaming at him, begging him to stand back up and go search for the others, but he simply couldn’t. The shirt hung soaked around his leg. His body wouldn’t listen anymore.

Chan didn’t know how they were ever going to get out of here.

Chapter Text

The only thing that kept him going was the memory of Jeongin, all alone in that white, giant room.

The mannequins seemed to follow his every step, appearing in the mirror’s reflections at such random intervals that Hyunjin was surprised (and a little scared) everytime. He could barely make out where the floor ended and the reflection began, and it made him stumble against a mirror more times than he could count.

The maze was never ending. Above him, the dark ceiling wasn't of any help, and neither was the dark floor. He wandered in an infinity of his own reflections. It made him dizzy. It made him despair like he never had before.

But he had to get to Jeongin, so he pushed through all of it with straightened shoulders and a grim line on his mouth.

He had to find him.

There was this itch to yell his name, but Hyunjin refrained. Something about this whole place was… eerie in a sense, and it felt illegal to scream through it (and maybe his voice hurt from having already tried that for an hour in the beginning, who was to say?).

It felt like hours, maybe even days (if he was being dramatic, which he was) when all of a sudden, the sound of footsteps echoed through the mirror maze. Realistically, Hyunjin knew he was walking and that the footsteps could have been his own, but they weren’t. They didn’t match his pace.

They were faster.

They were getting closer.

Shivers ran down Hyunjin’s back as he looked from side to side, frantically searching for a hiding place. He could barely see where the floor was, least of all where there were corners to hide, but he hated to be a sitting duck like this.

“Shoot, shoot, shoot-” he hissed, pressing himself against a mirror, crouching down low. Maybe, if whoever was in here with him didn’t look down, they wouldn’t find his reflection. Maybe they would take a wrong turn and get further away again.

For some reason, Hyunjin didn’t really feel like finding out what kind of suspicious persons could be hiding in a maze such as this, especially not since Hyunjin had obviously been kidnapped and put here against his will.

Maybe his kidnappers were coming to hurt him. Maybe they were sick of watching him lose his way constantly.

Hyunjin pressed against the mirror as hard as he could, squeezing his eyes closed and curling as far into himself as was physically possible.

The footsteps were almost here.

“Don’t come here, don’t come here, don’t come here…”

“Hyung, if you talk I’m only going to find you sooner,” a very familiar voice sounded from somewhere close by. Hyunjin’s eyes shot open and he looked around. Was that voice real or was his brain torturing him with the one kid he wanted to save?

“Oh, so now you stop talking? Am I getting farther away?”

Slowly, Hyunjin pushed himself back up again, trying to see through the endless reflections if it really was true.

“Innie… is that you?”

And before he could get a verbal answer, something moved in the reflections, something not mannequin-esque at all.

“Innie, oh my god!”

Tears sprung into his eyes as soon as he saw what really was their maknae making his way over to him. Because of the mirrors, he saw Jeongin on three different sides, so he stayed where he was, hoping the younger would find him on his own.

“Can you follow my voice?”

“What do you think I’ve been doing all this time? You mumble when you’re scared, hyung.”

The words may be sarcastic, but the tone was anything but. Jeongin sounded just as relieved as Hyunjin felt. Hyunjin snorted, feeling lightheaded.

“Fair, but at least it’s a good thing this time.”

“Yeah, this time.”

One of the reflections seemed to be different from the others and Hyunjin moved closer to it, trying to see…

This Jeongin stopped far too close to him. Almost like Hyunjin could touch him. Hyunjin was far too afraid to do so.

“Are you… the real one?”

Jeongin answered by stretching out his own arm, and as soon as real, warm, flesh fingers poked Hyunjin’s sleeve, Hyunjin couldn’t help it—he let out a snick, a couple of tears overflowing, and he threw himself at Jeongin, clinging tight.

“Innie!”

To Hyunjin’s surprise, Jeongin curled his arms around him. The younger hated skinship, but this situation was apparently an exception.

“That took way too long.”

“Tell me about it.”

Hyunjin burrowed his head in Jeongin’s shoulder, relishing in the skin to skin contact that he’d thought he’d lost forever. It was heavenly to feel something else than cold glass and cold floors. This was real. Jeongin was warm, and safe, and breathing, and here. He was here.

“How did you get here?”

“I found a secret door,” Jeongin explained, cradling Hyunjin just as close—something he would never do under normal circumstances. “I was in this big room with no doors or windows, but there was a button in the wall, and it pushed one of the walls aside and brought me here. I just followed the maze to you.”

“I know you were in that room, I saw you.”

“You saw me?”

“Hmhm. Through one of the mirrors. It was a double sided window. I couldn’t get to you.”

“So that’s why…” Jeongin’s mumble trailed off, and Hyunjin let him have his thoughts. He didn’t really care about the logistics of anything anymore. All that mattered was that he was finally not alone anymore.

“The others,” Jeongin said eventually, trying to step away from the hug, “do you know-”

Hyunjin’s hand shot out and kept Jeongin in place, his heart skipping a beat.

“Don’t let go.” His hand tightened around Jeongin’s arm. “Don’t disappear behind the mirrors again.”

“Hyung.” Jeongin sounded pained, but at least he didn't move. “I’m not going anywhere.”

“Still. I can’t- I don’t want to let go.”

“Okay.” Jeongin uncharacteristically let Hyunjin trail his hand down until they were clasping their hands together between them. Hyunjin let out a big breath, trying to calm himself down from his irrational burst of panic. He was fine. They were fine. He wasn’t gone.

“We should try to find the others,” Jeongin said. “They must be around here somewhere too.”

“We can’t be sure, for all we know, we’re the only ones that were taken.”

Jeongin shook his head. “No, they are around here somewhere.”

“How can you know? Did you hear them in the maze too?”

“No, I…” Jeongin looked doubtful. “I think I can feel it.”

“What…?” Hyunjin searched the younger’s face. Jeongin looked unsure, but even then—his eyes met Hyunjin’s straight on, showing that he wasn’t unsure about what he was saying but more about… what Hyunjin thought of it. If he would believe it.

“Okay,” Hyunjin gave in, finding nothing but hope in Jeongin’s eyes. He’d heard crazier things before. “Can you lead us to the others then?”

“It’s not really a clear feeling, but…” Jeongin turned a bit, making Hyunjin panic for a second again before he realized that Jeongin was holding his hand tightly. “I think I can feel something safe that way.”

“So that’s the others?”

“I don’t know.”

And having been trapped in a maze of mirrors for what could have been hours, Hyunjin was not above it to admit that his brain might already have been a little fried, but even if it wasn’t, he would have blindly believed Jeongin anyway. He’d believed in supernatural things all his life, so why would an unexplainable feeling tying them to the others not be possible? If Jeongin said he felt it, Hyunjin would believe him. He trusted him with his life.

“If it really feels safe, then we should try it. Can you lead the way?”

Jeongin nodded, pursing his lips. “I think so.”

And so they went on their way, Jeongin in front as Hyunjin trailed behind him, their hands intertwined and giving him that anchor that prevented him from drifting away into the endless reflections around him.

Jeongin was here now. Soon, the others would be here too.

Chapter Text

“Shit, shit, shit.” Changbin shook Jisung’s limp body, trying to wake him up. He’d only just come back to consciousness himself after the explosion had knocked both of them out, and his head pounded. Burn wounds on his right calf flared up with every movement, but he ignored it with gritted teeth, finding Jisung’s situation more important than his own.

Jisung’s skin was red and blistered all along his left side. A bit of his shirt was singed away around his stomach, and his hand was dark. He’d gotten the full front of the fire.

“Sung, wake up. Sung, please.”

Jisung had tripped. It must have been Changbin’s fault, it couldn’t have been anything else. Maybe he’d pulled too hard, been too fast, and it had caused Jisung to stumble, tipping off one of the bombs that then set off a whole set of them around the room. They got blown through the door, so there was one good thing about it, but it didn’t even come close to outweighing the bad.

Nevertheless, they were out of the room now.

Changbin didn’t know what he would do if Jisung were to die right here. Lose his mind, most probably. He didn’t even want to think of it as an option. Jisung had to wake up.

As if on cue, Jisung groaned, his eyelids fluttering. Changbin sucked in a breath, stopping his shaking and letting the boy come back in his own time. It still took a while for him to fully wake, but Changbin had all the patience in the world now that he knew the younger was at least alive. He sat back, wincing when his leg protested fiercely at being curled up like that.

“Jisung? Are you okay? Woah, careful there.” Jisung tried to sit up, looking around like he wasn’t fully awake yet. Changbin rushed to help him out, and he supported the other’s back until Jisung was resting against the wall next to the open door. “How are you feeling?”

Jisung closed his eyes. He swallowed heavily.

“Like garbage.”

“Yeah, I can imagine that. Don’t try to move too much. Catch your breath first.”

Jisung did as told, taking in greedy gulps. His face scrunched up. His breath stuttered every once in a while. “Sorry.”

“It wasn’t your fault. I was too fast.”

Jisung didn’t say anything more, but his eyebrows furrowed. He shook his head minutely.

“I was,” Changbin protested guiltily. “I’m sorry, I should have been more careful. If I just slowed down for that last bit, then we wouldn’t have been…”

Jisung didn’t look like he was listening at all. Changbin frowned, wanting to touch him but not daring to with all the wounds the younger had collected. It could be Changbin’s imagination, but Jisung’s lips quirked up for a second, as if he was smiling at something.

“Sung?”

Jisung’s eyes opened again. “Hm?” He looked so disoriented, Changbin’s chest pressed with more guilt. It threatened to drown him.

Jisung could have a concussion. This wasn’t good at all.

“Did you hit your head? Where?” Worriedly, Changbin tried to twist Jisung’s head so he could look at the back, but Jisung softly swatted him away.

“I didn’t… hit my head, don’t worry.”

Changbin didn’t believe him at all. Jisung looked to be half-there. His eyes were hazy. His words were slow.

“Are you sure?”

It took a second or two before Jisung answered.

“Hm,” Jisung hummed. “I’m okay, just- let me get my bearings for a sec, then we can go on.”

“Go on? Sung, we should take a proper rest. You’re in no state to walk around anymore…” Changbin trailed off, put off by the fact that Jisung didn’t seem to be listening anymore. He was staring at the ceiling. Changbin followed his line of sight, finding nothing there. “Sung?”

Jisung didn’t respond. Changbin reached out again to feel for a head wound or a bump or something, when Jisung blinked, seeming to come back to the present.

“Sorry, did you say something?” Changbin couldn’t do anything but frown, unsure of what part to repeat. This was freaking him out. He had never dealt with an injury like this, and he didn’t know how to proceed. Should he force Jisung to lay down? Should he bring him back to the dark room just because it would be better than the brightly lit hallway? But that was too dangerous, they could set off even more mines.

They were stuck, and Changbin didn’t know what to do. Apparently he took too long to respond, because Jisung promptly started pushing himself up, hands on the wall behind him, legs shaking visibly. Changbin flew forward to support him, trying to push him back down.

“Hey no, don’t move yet.”

Jisung shot him an irritated look. “Oh, not you too. We don’t have time to stay here forever, hyung. The others are out there. We need to get to them and get out.”

“We don’t even know if the others are here. I haven’t seen anyone before I found you. There’s no way for us to be sure we wouldn’t be walking in circles.”

Jisung pressed his lips into a line, looking anything but pleased. He blinked slowly.

“I- well- It’s a…. feeling,” he settled on after a short pause. “I think the others are in this building somewhere. They have to be, right? After all, we’re here together.”

“Sung…”

Changbin’s hand lingered on Jisung’s uninjured arm. He was hesitant to let the other go, the risk that Jisung would start running away from him far too likely. With the way Jisung’s concentration seemed to wane and his eyes seemed to unfocus from time to time, he was more of a loose cannon than usual. Maybe Changbin should convince him to lie down; he was literally swaying on his feet.

“We can’t just go out and blindly search for them,” Changbin argued. “I only did because I didn’t have any other choice, but I could just have well wandered forever without finding anyone else. I got lucky. Now that we’re at least together, we should regroup, think of a better plan. You should rest.”

Jisung mumbled something, before saying louder: “No.”

“No?”

Jisung looked down the hallway, unexplainably focussed on something invisible to the eye. Changbin followed it again, but once more, there was nothing there. “No, we have to search for the others. There is no other plan.”

“But Sung, we have no idea where to even start. We can’t just start walking and risk getting more hurt or worse-”

“I swear, you two…” Finally, Jisung’s eyes shifted to look at Changbin, the younger looking at him pleadingly. “We have to try. He- Everyone must be so scared. They could be in rooms like I was, in danger, stuck. They could be trapped somewhere, their only option to wait for someone else to get them out. We can’t let hi-the others stay alone like that.”

“And I’m not saying we should either, it’s just that we can’t be sure of anything yet-”

“Please.” Jisung returned the hold Changbin had on him in the same manner, raising a hand to grab onto his elbow imploringly. “We don’t have a choice. The others are stuck. We need to save them.”

They were talking in circles. Changbin sighed, knowing that it was useless to keep arguing. When Jisung had set his mind to something he couldn’t be persuaded to change directions anymore. The only thing Changbin could do was support him and make sure he wouldn’t kill himself in the process.

Still, that didn’t mean he wanted to give in so easily either. They were pees of the same pod after all; Changbin could be just as headstrong.

“No,” he said, “I’m not going to uselessly wander and you cannot afford to do so either. You’re too wounded. You’ll work yourself into the ground if you keep pushing yourself.”

Jisung’s jaw ticked. He didn’t give a response.

Instead, he started walking, slipping out of Changbin’s hold without another word.

Changbin acted on instinct alone. His hand shot out to grab Jisung’s closest arm, forgetting for a second that it was far too burned and ruined to touch. Jisung cried out instantly, recoiling and stumbling, which made him hiss in even more pain as his leg almost buckled from under him. He wobbled to the side, shooting Changbin the most nasty glare.

“Fucking hell, Changbin, you fucking- what is your problem-”

But Changbin’s fire could be just as big as Jisung’s, and his fear and insecurity were fueling it tenfold. “No, what is your problem? I know you can be stupid, but right now you're downright self-destructive. Do you really have so little regard for your own body that you wanna ignore everything going on right now? Would you really rather kill yourself than rest for one damn moment?”

The fact that Jisung’s eyes glazed over right at that moment was the last straw for Changbin. He tugged, pushing down the guilt at using Jisung’s weaknesses against him. The skin felt hot in his hold, the arm so blistered and ruined that barely a little tug was needed to get the desired effect.

Jisung hissed. The light returned to his eyes. Changbin took his chance.

“Tell me what’s going on with you, Sung,” he demanded, tone going icy. He was done being soft about it. If Jisung needed someone to force some sense into him, Changbin would do what was necessary. He would never let Jisung put his life on the line, not if he could help it. “Tell me. Now.”

Chapter Text

He saw it all happen. The screens gave him the perfect view.

First it was Jisung. The moment he tried to climb off his little platform, Seungmin’s heart jumped to his throat. The explosion rocked the camera, blinding out the view for a second before Jisung’s collapsed figure reappeared. He was curled up, clutching his leg. Seungmin almost felt like he could feel the hurt physically too.

Then it was Changbin, running through the same room with bombs as if it was merely a field of innocent stepping stones. The screens whitened out again and Seungmin couldn’t breathe for a solid second before Changbin finally came back into view. He was still standing at least, but Seungmin could tell the older boy was favoring one leg over the other.

And then it was Chan. At this point Seungmin had tried it all: screaming, begging, shouting every foul word he knew. Nothing worked. He was helpless to watch the chase, the way Felix and Chan had to run for their lives so they wouldn’t be torn to pieces. The bloodlust of the wolves was palpable through the screens as Seungmin followed them with a white-knuckled grip around the bars of his cage.

The moment Chan jumped in front of Felix and the wolves descended—it would forever be ingrained into Seungmin’s mind. When the wolf tore through Chan’s leg with its giant teeth, Seungmin cried out as if he was the one being hurt. Even though Felix managed to get them out, to throw the door closed and bring them to safety, Seungmin didn’t feel any relief.

This was all happening because he didn’t know the answer to that stupid question.

He tried climbing the cage, anything to escape, only to slam back into the hardened floor of his cell, his whole body bruised from the heavy hit. He tried negotiating, promising he would do anything if they would please, stop this, none of us deserve this, why are you doing this to us? It was pathetic, the way he would beg the speaker voice for help, but it was the only thing he could do.

And the only thing he got as a response was the same cursed question.

None of his answers ever seemed to satisfy them. He didn’t know what they wanted to hear, but it certainly wasn’t the truth. No matter how he tried to say it was a coincidence, that it was Chan’s choice, that it was pure luck, or even that it was because of his skill—none of the answers were enough.

It got worse and worse. The moment Minho’s platform started quaking and he almost fell off, Seungmin felt tears burn behind his eyes. The moment Jisung tripped and the explosions were so big that they completely whitened out the screen’s feed for an entire minute, he screamed both their names, banging against the bars that held him captive. He cried for his members, for the helplessness that had him in a chokehold, for the unfairness of it all.

He was useless. Trapped. Forced to watch.

And every time came the same question:

“I don’t know, okay!” he cried, entire body shaking from both anger and terror. “Please! I really don’t know what you want me to say!”

Finally the speakers crackled to life to give him something else than the constant repetition. Seungmin was a sobbing mess at that point.

“Yes!” Seungmin sobbed. “Yes, so please stop.”

On the screens, Minho was struggling to pull himself back on the platform. On another, Changbin was finally attempting to sit up, Jisung lying unconscious on the other side of the hallway. Even from the distance of the camera, Seungmin could see how badly he’d gotten injured in the explosions.

“Figure it out?” That didn’t sound good at all. Seungmin wetted his lips, trying to calm himself down so he could think rationally. He needed to keep it together now that the kidnappers were giving him another choice. “What is that supposed to mean?”

It was far too dangerous for the situation, but hope surged through Seungmin upon hearing those words and he clambered back toward the bars, pressing himself as close to them as he could.

“How?! Will you let me out? Are they close? Will you let them come here?”

The voice didn’t answer any of his questions, but merely said:

Suengmin blanched at the words. Save? Was there more danger he wasn’t seeing? Were their kidnappers planning something even worse than what was already happening? Was the constant danger all of them were in not enough?

“What do you mean by that?” he asked. “Save from what?”

So they weren’t going to give him anything more. Seungmin should have expected that. His eyes darted to the screens. All of the others seemed to be in some kind of danger—heck, he was in danger himself—but if he really had to choose…

Quickly scanning them, he went over his options. Minho was back on his platform, holding on for dear life while he seemed to be in the middle of a panic attack. Jisung was just waking up, groggily talking with a sickly white and worried Changbin. Jeongin finally managed to get through the maze and find Hyunjin, the two of them clinging to each other in a tight hug that Seungmin was more than a little jealous of.

And Felix and Chan… were down. They were lying in the middle of a sterile white hallway, clearly having fallen down. A trail of blood led down the path that they had come from. They both had their eyes closed. Seungmin feared that they had both lost consciousness and that would not be a good sign. Chan especially looked like he was getting weaker by the second.

It wasn’t a difficult choice at all. Even if the voice had said ‘member’, his best chance was to pick someone that wasn’t alone so he could reach as many people as he could. Out of the duos that were already together, one worried him the most out of all.

“Bang Chan. I chose Bang Chan.”

“One minute?! But I-”

All of sudden, both Felix and Chan’s heads snapped up, their eyes flying open. Felix, being the stronger one of the two right now, carefully sat up, his whole body trembling.

“Was that Seungmin?” His voice sounded from the speakers. Seungmin could sob in relief at finally hearing a familiar voice.

“Guys!” he exclaimed. “Guys, it’s me!”

Felix looked around, his eyes finally settling on the camera that must be hanging in a corner of the ceiling. It felt like he was looking right at Seungmin.

“Seungmin?”

“Felix, I don’t have much time,” Seungmin quickly said, the time limit hanging above his head like an invisible weight ready to drop. “I can see all of us. I’m in some sort of surveillance room, and I can see you through the cameras. The others are in other rooms, and they are in the same building-” Or at least, he hoped they were. “-you need to get to them. Jisung is hurt badly and so is Changbin. Minho is trapped and Innie and Hyunjin are stuck in a maze. You need to find them. I can help you with directions-”

Seungmin jumped. Felix and Chan didn’t seem to have heard the voice, which made them worried when Seungmin suddenly cut off.

“Min?” Chan said, his voice weak. “Min, are you still there?”

“Yes, shit, I really don’t have a lot of time left. The kidnappers talk to me, they say we are part of an experiment. They’re using our biggest fears, I don’t know why. They said more danger was coming for you. The only reason they’re letting me say this is because they want me to answer some question about us. I think they wanna know what makes us special, but I don’t know what-”

His next words got caught in his throat when he spotted what was happening on one of the other screens. With growing horror, he watched as a new, unfamiliar reflection joined the ones in the mirror maze Hyunjin and Jeongin were in. The reflection was moving—it was alive.

The figure seemed to be going straight for the two members, something small and dark in their hand, catching the light…

“Seungmin?” Felix called out, “Seungmin, what’s happening?”

But Seungmin was rendered speechless, fear closing his throat in a vice-like grip. He’d chosen wrong, the danger wasn’t coming to Chan and Felix but to-

“Hyunjin and Jeongin, they’re in danger, they-”

The figure raised the object to chest level and Seungmin cried out in abject terror. The gun shot soundlessly. The voice from the speaker sealed his member’s fates.

Chapter Text

“Hyunjin and Jeongin, they’re in danger, they-”

The speaker cut off with a cry. Felix tensed, his heart dropping.

“Seungmin?” he called. “Seungmin!”

But the hallway had returned to the silence again. Felix swallowed, the burn of tears growing with every second of no response. He turned to Chan, seeing the same helplessness and worry reflected back on him.

“Seungmin he- he tried to warn us about something.” Felix pressed a trembling hand against the hard floor, trying to raise himself up. “We’re in danger, we need to- we need to keep moving…”

“I can’t.” Chan’s voice was broken. The brief appearance of Seungmin and his abrupt disappearance had left them both reeling, their feelings all over the place. Felix himself felt like he was in the middle of a vortex, immensely strong currents tearing his entire body apart. They’d had a connection, one moment of confirmation that they weren’t alone, that the others were close, and they’d lost it again. They’d lost Seungmin, and who knew what was happening to him now. Maybe the kidnappers hadn’t liked him warning them, or they had given him a time limit, or they had cut off the boy before he could finish as punishment for something. Whatever the situation, all Seungmin’s words had done was make Felix even more desperate to move, to find the others, to get out of here.

But he could see how Chan was at his limit too. In fact, he could not just see it, he could feel it. The same pain that Chan was feeling throbbed in his own abdomen, in his own leg. They were both short of breath, shaking, weak, and they only fed more of their own exhaustion and pain to the other, creating an endless cycle that would only break them down more and more.

But—and Felix had to try really hard to remind himself of this—there was another thing they shared right now more than ever. Hope. They’d heard Seungmin. They knew he was okay (relatively) and he had confirmed for them that the others were around too. They just had to keep searching. Who knew, maybe they were only one hallway away from one of the others.

Felix had pushed through exhaustion before. He’d had dance practices where he felt almost as bad as this and still pushed through it. He could do the same now too.

“You can,” he said stubbornly, reaching out to help Chan up. “We have to keep going, hyung. Just lean on me. We’ll make it.”

“No, Felix, I can’t-”

“You can.”

He didn’t allow for any more protest, hauling Chan up to his feet while he barely kept his own balance in the process. They were a mess together, but still, Felix slung Chan’s arm back over his good shoulder and set his first steps forward, his feet dragging.

What followed was the slowest passage of time that Felix had ever experienced. They moved even slower than a snail’s pace, but at least they were moving. He could tell they were from the specks of blood, the trail growing behind them as Chan limped along with him. Everything hurt, but Felix would not let that stop them. The others were counting on them. He would not disappoint.

Seungmin had said that Jeongin and Hyunjin were in danger. Felix needed to find them. If only Seungmin could have given them more details before he disappeared, like if they were close, or what kind of maze they were stuck in...

Occasionally they stumbled upon a lonesome door, but none of them ever led to more than winding hallways. The only thing that helped Felix keep his hopes up was that the amount of doors seemed to be increasing. They seemed to be getting closer to the center of the building, a part where more rooms branched out from the halls and where the halls felt more purposeful than just as a means for distraction. It was starting to become less of a deliberate maze and more of just a very big floorplan.

Evenso, the only rooms they encountered were dark. Empty. No sign of their members anywhere. Felix hobbled forward, Chan a silent weight against him. They didn’t need to share words, the exchange of their weary feelings was more than enough to know what the other was thinking.

If Felix were to be honest with himself, he actually liked that part of this situation. The sharing feelings, that is. He’d always felt connected to the members and even more so to Chan, so to have that connection literally solidified into something tangible, something that he could reach out to and use—it was more than he could have ever dreamed of. Why he and Chan had so suddenly connected was still a mystery to him, but were it not for the dire situation, he would not have minded it in the slightest. He liked having the members close. He liked knowing what they felt. Sure, it was far more literal right now than it had ever been before, but he could not say that he hated it at all.

Chan and him had already been something like platonic soulmates in his mind, and now they just shared one more thing that brought them closer. When all of this was over—and it would be, he just had to believe that—he could not wait to see how this new connection would develop. Would he and Chan learn to control this? Would Chan finally confide in Felix now that there was no use in hiding anymore, the way Felix had always hoped he always would? Would they share many new feelings together, as one? Would they grow even closer?

Felix pushed open another door, panting softly. Another dark room. It was empty. He let the door fall closed and tugged Chan along.

“Lix.”

Felix kept his eyes forward, scanning the hall for more doors. There were two, about twenty meters away from them. They could get there faster if he just pushed a little more, if he really channeled his strength in his back and kept most of his weight on his left leg. His hand was cramping from where it was holding Chan’s bicep and his whole shoulder was screaming at him to drop his arm.

Those two doors had to be where the members were. They had to be.

“Lix.”

“We’re almost there, hyung. Look. Maybe they’re over there.”

With the next step Chan’s leg spasmed shortly, making Felix pull harder at him so he wouldn’t fall. They both cringed at the pain that shot through their right hip, but Felix pushed through it.

“Lix, we don’t have to rush like this. We need to be careful-”

“We’re almost there. Then we can rest.”

They both knew that wasn’t likely. The past ten doors had been dupes already, and Felix wouldn’t let either of them rest before they would find the others. As long as they were separated, more danger could catch them off guard. They had to get together. They had to find each other. It was the only way to stay safe.

All of the sudden, there was a hand on his chest, stopping Felix in his place.

“Breathe,” was all Chan said, making Felix realize how his throat didn’t seem to be letting air in anymore. He wheezed, blinking quickly. Huh? This wasn’t- this wasn’t normal. He’d never felt like this before.

His free hand came up to envelop Chan’s in panic. Chan just kept talking softly. “There you go. Just breathe. It’s not bad if you need to use a second to catch your breath.”

“I didn’t even…” Felix sucked in a breath. “...realize.”

“I know the feeling.” Chan’s lips crooked up in a self-deprecating smile. “Forgot to take care of myself far too often while producing too. I think we share that habit now.”

Felix nodded, letting Chan help him get back to a calmer breathing pattern. He’d been so focussed on walking, on keeping Chan upright, on getting to the others, that he’d completely pushed aside anything that could come in between that. Maybe Chan was right; he’d never felt such a single minded focus before except for a couple of moments when he was a trainee. Not even when he was dancing did he lose track of his own body like this. Being too conscious of his body, that he’d had countless times, but this never.

“Better now?”

Felix purposely moved his chest up and down, forcing a deep breath out. “Yeah. I don’t know what came over me. Thanks.”

“That’s what I’m here for. Think you’re okay to go on?”

“I…” Felix hesitated. “Maybe we can take another second?”

He knew he made the right decision when he could not just see, but feel how Chan was proud of him. The older gave him that soft smile of his, the tired lines of his face making him look even more grateful for the temporary break.

They both took the time to catch their breath, just standing in the middle of the hallway and giving their bodies a very much needed moment of rest. It helped Felix feel more settled, the stress and urgency of before leveling into a more balanced weight. The tunnel vision widened out, which made the endless search feel less despairing. They were getting closer probably, but that didn’t mean that they had to rush themselves into the ground. The others were searching too. The others could find them too.

It didn’t all depend on Felix and Chan.

Before he really knew what he was doing, Felix’s attention turned to the left, his eyes looking further than the white wall there. The others… it felt like they were that way?

“What is it?” Chan asked, probably feeling the change in Felix’s mood. “What are you looking at?”

“I think…” Felix struggled to put his gut feeling into words. If he had to guess, this was something just as weird, just as impossible, as what he had with Chan. Like the feeling that he wasn’t alone. That he was connected to someone else in some unexplainable way. He would have written it off in any other situation, but in this neverending building where he and Chan had already had more than one impossible thing happen to them, he knew not to ignore it.

He even had a suspicion of who the invisible hand of the compass was pointed towards—he could recognize that sense of warmth anywhere.

“I think I know where Jeongin is,” he said. Chan hummed and- there it was again, the pride. Felix wasn’t sure he deserved it for this, but Chan certainly seemed to think so. He was proud of Felix.

“You have always been more attuned to our youngest, haven’t you?” he said, easily accepting Felix’s words. The amount of sheer trust he had in Felix never failed to amaze the younger. “Where to?”

Felix pointed in the direction his gut was pointing him to. Chan nodded, determination flowing across the bond to fill Felix’s chest with purpose.

“Lead the way.”

Chapter Text

If it wasn’t for the fact that Jeongin wasn’t alone, he would have cursed out this mirror maze for hours already. Only Hyunjin—grumbling beside him but still holding hands with him because they were both too afraid to get separated again—made the whole situation bearable. His feet hurt, his whole body was tired and thirsty and hungry, but as long as he wasn’t alone, he would not complain about anything. Not now that he knew what the alternative felt like.

(He was going to develop so many separation issues with this in the future, wasn’t he? He wasn’t looking forward to that…)

“Let’s go left here.” He pulled Hyunjin around the corner. He was just going through the maze blindly, having left behind any strategies after the first couple of minutes. True, there was his gut feeling, vaguely guiding their way and giving him the slightest sense of where to go, but it was barely of any help in the never ending twists and turns of their own reflections.

He didn’t know what he was doing. At all.

“Right here.”

The empty room he’d been in before had made him realize more than a couple of things. He didn’t like to be alone, for one. He already knew that, but this had solidified it to him like someone had wanted to hammer it right into his ribcage, lodging that fear right inside of his bones with no way of getting it ever out again. He hadn’t liked to be alone before—now, he was terrified to be alone.

But more than that, he didn’t like not knowing if the others were alright or not. He was so used to having the members around, to being with them 24/7, that having been separated from them so forcefully was… awful, to say the least. He never wanted to feel that kind of despair ever again. Not if he could help it.

He never wanted to question if the others were even alive ever again.

It was what spurred him on to walk faster, to pull Hyunjin along and to try to accurately sense where they had to go even if he had no idea if he was right.

He was so focussed on being the one leading them, on searching for the way out, that he barely saw it.

A reflection moved. One completely dark, without a visible face.

It wasn’t either of them.

He saw one split-second of a reflection on something silver and a spike of terror struck his chest.

“Hyung, get down!” he yelled, instinctively dropping to the floor with Hyunjin in tow and covering his head. It proved to be the right call: next to them, the mirror promptly shattered into a million pieces, large shards of glass raining down on them.

He’d only heard that sound in movies before.

The sound of a gun firing.

“Holy shit- Ah!” Hyunjin cried out when the glass shards rained down on them and some managed to slice the skin on their arms. The harsh rain seemed never ending, but could have only lasted a single second. The realization of what it meant had Jeongin’s heart threatening to burst out, its quick pace of thump, thump, thump pounding right in his ears.

Someone else was in the maze with them. And they were not friendly.

When no other shot rang out immediately, Jeongin pushed himself to his arms and knees, mindful of the glass around him. “We gotta shake them off,” he said, crawling backwards. “We’re too exposed here. We have to run.”

“Innie, wait-”

Jeongin grasped Hyunjin’s hand back in his, hauling the other to his feet and making a run for it. Hyunjin yelped, his whole body flailing as he tried to keep up. Both fell into a sprint neither had ever done before, their feet pushing them forward faster than ever. Jeongin shot quick glances over his shoulder, trying to figure out where the figure was.

It was impossible with the countless reflections that positioned them everywhere. A thousand of the same person appeared to be all around them, some close, some kilometers away. But no matter in what direction he looked or how far away he seemed, one thing stayed the same:

The barrel was always pointed at them.

At one point, their positions switched. Hyunjin accelerated his pace so he could run in front, Jeongin starting to slow down as his muscles screamed at him to stop. In all of their panic, Jeongin’s vague gut feeling had been squashed down completely. They were just running blindly, no longer trying to get out but simply to get away. The others could wait. They had to survive first.

Another shot echoed through the space. Somewhere, a mirror shattered.

“Shit, shit, shit,” Hyunjin was murmuring, speeding around another corner and quickly redirecting their path when they almost crashed against a dead end of mirrors. The figure loomed over them, appearing at every corner. Jeongin barely avoided running headfirst against another mirror, Hyunjin saving him from his fate by using some of his dancer reflexes to swerve them around the split in the path and towards the right side.

There was no time to think, much less look, as another shot landed only a couple of meters behind them. Glass skidded across the floor. Jeongin stepped in one piece, hissing when it pierced through the hole of his shoe and sliced his foot. It hurt bad, but at least the piece didn’t stay stuck. Little drops of blood left a trail in its wake, which was not a good thing at all. It was a way to track them.

“Maybe we should separate-” he started to say, not wanting to be the one responsible for leading the shooter to them both, but Hyunjin was having none of it.

“No way, I’m not letting go of you.”

“But hyung-”

“Just hold on.”

It must have been a cruel joke, or maybe even a blessing in disguise, but only now that they weren’t trying to get out, did Jeongin suddenly spot something in the corner of his eye. A dark part of a wall without reflection. There was a mirror missing. Could it be…?

Without a word, he switched their positions again, dashing forward and changing their direction towards the dark wall. It could be a dead end, but it could also be the relief they were searching for.

Please, please, please, he prayed in his mind, please-! He thrust out a hand, waiting to hit the wall-

And it swung away from him, revealing a hidden door. A white hallway spanned out on the other side, a stark, painfully bright contrast from the dark mirror maze they’d been running through all this time. A hysterical laugh escaped him before he could help it. He and Hyunjin met eyes, a crazy sort of hope surging between them that made him want to do somersaults and scream at the top of his lungs.

They had finally found it. The exit.

“Go, go, go!” Hyunjin pushed Jeongin through first. A gunshot sounded from somewhere behind them, the sound of glass exploding quickly following. They weren’t in the clear yet, but at least the shooter would lose an advantage this way—they wouldn’t be able to see them any longer. They would be on even ground, and the door that they closed behind them as soon as they were through would create another minor obstacle for the shooter to go through.

Not all hope was lost yet.

Buzzing with adrenaline, Jeongin twisted on his heel to start running again, his hand finding Hyunjin’s on pure instinct at this point. He couldn’t even feel the wound on his foot. The urgency of the chase had fully drowned out anything else that might have been on his mind and were it not for the little drops of red, he would have totally forgotten about it. His legs pushed off, his breath kept short in preparation of more sprinting.

But without warning, Hyunjin stayed in his spot, causing Jeongin’s arm to almost pop out of his socket as he was pulled back.

“Hyung!” Jeongin looked back at him, uncomprehending. He tugged on their intertwined hands impatiently. “Come on, we have to keep running-!”

Hyunjin shook his head, his face looking pale. He put a finger to his lips. “I think I hear voices.”

“Well, yeah, the shooter’s close-”

“No, not them.” Hyunjin’s eyes flicked over Jeongin’s shoulder. “It’s coming from over there. There’s more people, at least two.”

Jeongin strained his ears, trying to hear what Hyunjin was hearing. They didn’t have time for this, they needed to go, to get out of here-

He froze when he finally heard the shuffling, the footsteps coming closer. He and Hyunjin locked eyes. Hyunjin put a hand over his mouth to muffle his voice.

“We’re not alone.”

Chapter Text

Minho kept yelling at him through their link.

Jisung could understand why—it was his own fault for constantly leaving Minho in the dark without prior warning—but did he have to keep yelling right through everything Changbin was saying? Jisung had a hard time keeping track of two conversations at once and he could tell that both of his hyungs were getting fed up with him.

But—well, news flash, he could very well think for himself. He didn’t need Minho threatening him or Changbin trying to order him around. He knew what he could take and when he was at his limit. True, he was almost there, but he wasn’t yet. He could still go on. He needed to still go on.

He needed to find Minho and save him.

His arm flared with pain as soon as Changbin pulled on it and he cried out, pain and anger mixing inside of him to form a very dangerous concoction that was ready to explode.

“Fucking hell, Changbin, you fucking- what is your problem-”

“No, what is your problem?” Changbin shouted back. “I know you can be stupid, but right now you're downright self-destructive. Do you really have so little regard for your own body that you wanna ignore everything going on right now? Would you really rather kill yourself than rest for one damn moment?”

Jisung was fuming, ready to shout back, when Minho decided to drop his own two cents into the conversation.

Sungie! I felt that! Stop fucking ignoring me! I swear, if you don’t stop hurting yourself right now, I will kill you-

It was too much. He couldn’t handle this. Another tug from Changbin made tears spring up in his eyes, the burns on his arm raw and abused. He focussed back on the older rapper’s words just in time to hear him spitting venomously.

“Tell me what’s going on with you, Sung. Tell me, now.”

It was too much.

Jisung folded over, dropping to a crouch, making himself as small as possible. Both his healthy and his burned hand covered his ears. He shut his eyes.

“Shut up!” he screamed, body trembling. “Both of you, SHUT UP!”

A snick followed his words, his emotions getting the best of him. He was in pain, he was scared, and most of all, he was overwhelmed. He tried to keep it in, but he couldn’t anymore. He was crumbling. Falling apart.

He must have shouted in his mind too, because Minho fell silent at the same moment Changbin did, the both of them finally giving Jisung a moment of quiet. Another snick burst past his lips. He rarely cried like this, had always been more the kind of person that transformed pain and sadness into anger to vent it out, but he couldn’t keep it up anymore. It was all too much. He was so overwhelmed right now.

A very gentle touch tried to pry his healthy hand from his ear and he jerked away, curling even further into himself.

“Jisung, hey. I need you to breathe.”

Jisung screwed his eyes further closed, heaving out a sob. Changbin was lowered at his side, trying to get him to calm down, but he couldn’t. Minho was quiet, but Jisung could tell he was still there, no doubt feeling the way Jisung felt like he was drowning. The others must still be mad at him, just like how he was still mad at them, but his body didn’t seem to care anymore. He couldn’t stop, couldn’t calm down, and that only further pushed him into his panic.

Everything was easier when he was angry. When that protection disappeared, the rawness underneath escaped, showing the true ugliness of just what anxiety could do to a person. Jisung was trapped in his own mind, banging against the walls while his body failed to draw in air.

“Jisung, breathe. Come on, breathe with me,” Changbin was ordering. Jisung barely heard it. Static rushed through his ears, the pressure of his hands making it worse. Unlike how other people often recalled panic attacks, Jisung was always painfully aware the entire time. He didn’t lose track of anything. Instead, he was forced to watch his own body sabotage itself, had to wait until it had fully broken down and he could finally start to pick up the pieces once he was back in control. There was no ‘breathing’ that could help him out now. He just had to ride it out and survive.

Jisung, you have to let Changbin help you, Minho suddenly broke through the static, you don’t have to ride this out.

Oh, right. He could hear those thoughts. Jisung had never had someone in his head before when one of these happened. He didn’t know if it was a good thing or not,especially since Minho’s voice temporarily broke through his previous panic, only to give him a whole other reason to hate himself more.

Minho could feel all of this too. The constricting of his chest, the fire in his lungs. He was hurting the both of them right now. It only stole more of his air away to realize that, made the shaking grow worse and tears pool between his eyelashes. He wanted it to stop. He needed it to stop-

You know what? I’ve got an idea, Minho continued. Maybe he sensed the shift within Jisung, the way the distraction wasn’t helping in the slightest and only giving him more ammunition to use. Let me talk with Changbin.

“W-what?” Jisung stuttered, belatedly realizing that he’d said that out loud. Changbin immediately went to respond, to repeat his reassurances, but Jisung opened his eyes and shook his head as he met the older boy’s eyes.

What? he repeated in his head. His whole body was shaking, his muscles protesting at the cramped position he was in, but he couldn’t move yet. The only thing that seemed to be coming back online was his mouth.

Let me talk with Changbin, Minho repeated patiently, You can repeat what I say. I think we should tell him about us anyway.

But he’ll…

I know it’s scary. You only have to repeat my words. Let me do the talking.

I don’t know if I can.

You can.

Minho sounded so sure. It was hard to argue with him, especially with the way Jisung still felt disconnected from everything. He didn’t have control back yet. He was still wheezing on the outside. Changbin was staring at him now, confused but dutifully silent.

Just repeat after me: I’ve got something to tell you, Changbin.

Jisung’s breath hitched involuntarily, both the lack of air and the weight of what he was about to do making him dizzy. Minho was right, they should tell Changbin. He deserved to know, but Jisung was so damn scared of what the other might think of him. It was only fueling his panic, making his vision dance and the static returning even worse than before. Minho seemed to sense it too.

You can do this, Sungie. You only have to say what I say. Don’t focus on anything else. Just say: I’ve got to tell you something, Changbin.

“I- I’ve got to- to tell you something, Changbin,” he stammered, stumbling over his words but managing to squeeze them out in the end. He put his focus on each sound with a singleminded focus, trying to drown out everything else from his mind and body.

Something weird happened to me.

“Something w-weird happened to- to m-me.”

I don’t know how, but I share my mind with Minho.

“I do-don’t know how, but I share- share my mind with Minho.”

Changbin made a confused noise, but Jisung didn’t pay it any mind. He simply listened to what Minho was saying. Only concentrating on moving his mouth, making his tongue form the words. It was oddly grounding. He didn’t need to pay any attention to his body, only on the sounds he got out.

We can share our thoughts.

“We can share our- our thoughts.”

So I didn’t mean to ignore you, but I was having two conversations at the same time.

“S-so I didn’t mean to ignore you, but I was having two- two conversations at the same time.”

I can feel Minho too.

“I can feel Minho too.”

We share pain.

“We share pain.”

That’s why I’m so stubborn in wanting to go on even when I’m hurt.

“That’s why I’m so stubborn in wanting to go- hey! I’m not being stubborn.”

Changbin blinked in surprise at Jisung’s sudden change in tone, his stuttering, droning words changing towards ones that sounded far more like his own. Jisung was surprised by them just as much. He suddenly realized that he could move again. It was difficult, but he slowly uncurled his hands from his head, his butt dropping to the ground as his legs splayed out in front of him and his knees finally released the tension they’d been holding. He could breathe again.

Changbin seemed to scan him for a moment before he finally asked, “Is all of that true? You can… talk with Minho?”

Jisung opened his mouth to respond, but MInho interrupted him.

So? How does he take it?

“I…” Jisung was reeling from the sudden return of his autonomy. He didn’t know who to answer first. “I…I…”

You can breathe again at least, so I’m gonna assume that it’s not as bad as you were thinking. Did he faint or something? I always thought he was too dramatic, to be honest.

Something in Changbin’s gaze turned calculating, and he hummed in interest. “Are you talking to him right now?”

Words failing him, all Jisung could do was nod quickly before his attention shifted back to Minho.

Hm, no, I felt that nod, so you are talking to him right? Does he believe us? Do I need to do some more convincing?

“Okay, you know what-” Jisung ground out, repeating the exact same words in his mind so Minho could hear it. “Both of you: shut up. I can’t talk to either of you like this. Thank you for helping me out of my spiral, hyung, but I really can’t think if you keep yapping like this.”

Yah! I distracted you and this is the thanks I get-

“Zip it, hyung.”

Changbin let out a surprised huff. He waited until Jisung turned his focus back to him, and when he seemed to be sure the younger was present again, he said: “So, Minho-hyung’s giving you a hard time?”

That made Jisung almost laugh, a soft, sort of wheezy sound coming from him. “You could say that. I’m really sorry I’ve been so weird all this time. I’m… not good at multitasking, and Minho-hyung’s all alone, so I’m the only one he has to talk to. He’s scared every time I disappear on him.”

And maybe he shouldn’t have shared that last part, but he was far too exhausted to care. Panic attacks always left him feeling winded. Keeping Minho’s dignity as the moody, nothing-can-scare-him hyung was at the bottom of his list of things to keep track of.

“This day has been something like a dumpster fire actually,” he admitted, making Changbin huff again. “I’m sorry for lashing out at you because of it.”

“Apology accepted,” Changbin said. “I gotta admit though, if I didn’t see you literally arguing like that just now, I would have a hard time believing you are telling the truth. So you say you’re sharing your minds? How does that even work?”

Jisung sighed, the weariness pressing down on his shoulders. “I have no idea. When I woke up I was all alone, but out of nowhere I started hearing hyung inside my head. I can also feel it when he’s physically in danger or hurt, and he has the same with me. That’s why he’s so impatient. He can feel-” Jisung lifted his wounded arm, wincing at the way his skin pulled. “-all this. He’s a little unhappy that I keep moving.”

“You don’t say.” Changbin eyed the burn wounds with concern. “I don’t understand though, why would you want to keep moving if you know it won’t hurt just you, but also Minho?”

“Because I know he’s out there,” Jisung answered resolutely. “He’s scared and alone and in danger, and I’m the only one who has any connection to him. I need to find him.”

“In danger? What kind?”

“He’s on a really high platform and sometimes it tilts.” Jisung shuddered, recalling the spikes of vertigo that seemed to hit him out of nowhere sometimes. “He’s at risk of falling every time it happens. I fear he’s on a time limit.”

Changbin’s eyes widened. “Shit, yeah, that’s serious. If there’s anyone that doesn’t like heights…”

“It would be half our team, but yeah, you’re right. Minho-hyung’s certainly not a steady contender. That’s why we need to get him, that’s why I need to keep going.” He made a beginning motion to push himself up again, but before Changbin even had the chance to stop him, his body did it for himself. His arms were too weak, he barely got off the floor before he fell back, plopping into the same spot with legs that felt like useless jelly. “Shit, why did I have to have an attack now of all times…”

“This is not just because of your attack and you know it,” Changbin chastised gently. “You’ve been pushing yourself too much ever since I found you in that room. It was only a matter of time before your body would stop listening.”

Jisung hung his head. “I guess. But Minho…”

“Needs our help,” Changbin agreed. His hand appeared in Jisung’s vision, causing him to raise his head in surprise. Changbin waved his hand invitingly. “But you’re not getting to him alone, so let me help. I can handle a bit of extra weight, you know? What were all those workouts for if not to show off a little, hm?”

That made Jisung huff, the corner of his mouth quirking up. He accepted the hand, and with only a bit of effort on Changbin’s side, the older slowly lifted him to his feet. When they were both up, Changbin situated himself in front of Jisung, offering him his back in a crouch.

“Get up. Your leg’s far too battered to keep abusing it.”

Jisung pursed his lips, stopping himself from snarking back. Changbin was kind of right, even though he hated to admit it. His whole left side hurt, even when standing like this, and imagining having to walk on his burned leg… Let’s just say taking an embarrassing piggyback ride on Changbin’s back seemed like a far less awful option.

“Can you tell hyung that we’re going to get him?” Changbin asked once Jisung had properly clasped his legs and arms around him. “He doesn’t need to be scared any longer now that 2racha is on their way.”

Perhaps a bit delirious from the pain and exhaustion, Jisung actually giggled at that. Obediently, he sent those exact words Minho’s way.

Oh what a relief, came Minho’s sarcastic reply, my heroes.

“He says we’re his heroes,” Jisung repeated with another giggle. He rested his head against Changbin’s shoulder, feeling absolutely spent. “I hope he really doesn’t feel scared anymore though.”

“He won’t.” Changbin squeezed Jisung’s leg. “You ready to go?”

“Yes, I’m all good-”

Something banged around the corner. It sounded like a door flying open and crashing against the wall, or maybe something heavy like a box hitting the floor. Jisung yelped at the loud sound and Changbin’s grip tightened around his thighs.

Voices entered the hallway, the people belonging to them sounding rushed and panicked.

“Hold on tight,” Changbin whispered, backing away from the sound. “I’m gonna run.”

Jisung tensed his arms, making sure he wouldn’t fall off. The voices were loud. There were at least two of them. Somehow, they sounded familiar…

“Wait,” Jisung said. Changbin stopped backing away. “Listen.”

Both fell silent, trying to tune in to the voices, but those had turned quieter too. Still, the timbre of the one speaking felt familiar, and Jisung didn’t feel any fear like he thought he would have.

Because those sounded suspiciously like some of their members.

“I think…” he whispered, “that’s the others.”

Changbin shot him an unsure sideways look, but he still started to shuffle forward instead of backwards.

“I hope you’re right about this,” he said, “because if you aren’t…”

They reached the corner of the hallway. both preparing themselves, before finally Changbin stepped around the wall and-

Jeongin and Hyunjin met their eyes like deer in headlights. The four of them stood at a stand still for a single breath, before without warning, a loud banging sound came from the closed door next to the other members. Jeongin and Hyunjin jumped, both looking in terror at the door.

“Guys, run!” Hyunjin cried out. He and Jeongin dashed forward, hands clasped together, and Changbin wasted no time in joining them in the sprint. Together they ran back the way Jisung and Changbin had come from, passing the door from the room with the mines right as another BANG! sounded from behind them. This one sounded like the door flying open again. Judging from the curses Jeongin let out, that was not a good sign.

“What are we running from?!” Changbin dared to ask while they ran, the rapper barely sounding out of breath. It was Hyunjin who answered.

“Shooter. Following us. We need to shake him off!”

That was all Jisung needed to know. The left side of his body burned with every bump of Changbin’s feet hitting the ground, but he was infinitely grateful that he wasn’t the one having to run right now. The panic that he thought he’d finally shaken came back a thousand times worse, and it was all he could do to cling onto Changbin and scan the corridor around them, trying to keep a vigilant eye while the rest were sprinting for their lives.

Hyung, he thought belatedly, knowing that if something were to happen to them (and if he were to get hurt even more), then Minho deserved to get a heads up. We’re in big trouble.

Chapter Text

Minho had been grateful that Jisung wasn’t alone anymore, but now…

Now it felt like his body kept being thrown around like a sack of potatoes and he was sick of it. He was sick of the constant pain on his skin, the tightness in his whole body, that fear that physically choked both him and Jisung.

All he could do was try to send calm, reassuring thoughts; little jokes when he was lucid enough and not feeling like he was falling into the endless depths below; small snarky comments in the hope that Jisung would get distracted for a second. He couldn’t do more than that. He clung to his platform, too scared to even look around anymore, and with his eyes closed he kept sending thoughts.

Jisung tried to keep him updated on what was happening, but even that was few and far inbetween. Minho understood it better now, though. He wouldn’t be good at sending mental messages either when there was a person with an actual gun chasing him down.

So yeah, Minho was sick of being useless. He was sick of hurting. He was sick of being absolutely, utterly helpless.

And every time Jisung disappeared from his mind, he got small heart attacks. He knew Jisung was relatively alright—could still feel his consciousness, their connection, buzzing between them—but fear wasn’t rational in the slightest. It didn’t care that logic said that Jisung was alright. Nothing in this entire situation was logical.

Minho was so, so sick of this.

A particular rough jostle made him whimper for his leg even if it wasn’t even his burns that he could feel. They’d probably turned a corner.

Tell Changbin to be more careful with his cargo! he shot to Jisung irritably. The answer he got back was just as snarky as his own words.

Hyung says that you should do it yourself if you think you can do better.

Minho scoffed, grabbing onto the distraction of a discussion eagerly. Is that a challenge? He doesn’t stand a chance against me!

You show ‘m, hyung. As soon as we get you out, you should show Changbin how it’s done.

Minho grinned. One of the plus sides of being all alone meant that he didn’t need to hold back his reactions. Nobody could declare him crazy (or a softie) anyway.

Oh, I will. Changbinnie will see what delicate handling is when done with-

Another jostle had him breathe out harshly, clenching his eyes closed as he waited for the spike of pain to abate again. He could feel from the tightness in his shoulders and the pressure on his chest that Jisung must be clinging on even tighter. Even though Jisung wasn’t even the one running, he could sense how the other was out of breath, sweat breaking out on his own skin as well. It drove home the point that nothing in this situation was right. Jisung and Changbin were running for their lives while Minho could do nothing but feel along. The darkness all around him felt like it was mocking him with his helplessness, like it was showing him just how little he could do to protect his members.

Sungie, how are you holding on? He asked, but found that Jisung’s presence was slowly retreating again. It left him feeling empty and hollow. He swallowed heavily, the pressure on his chest not helping.

Please, he thought, be safe. I’ll skin you both alive if you die like this.

There came no answer, but it wasn’t really meant to be heard anyway. Since Jisung was distracted, all Minho could do was send thoughts and pray some of them got through to offer support. He tightened his hold on the platform, staring blankly into the darkness.

You better not die, Han Jisung, he pleaded. I won’t forgive you if you do. I’ll haunt your ass for eternity if you do.

The emptiness was fully back now. Jisung wasn’t focusing on him anymore. Minho grit his teeth, letting out a growl of frustration because it was not like anyone could hear him anyway.

He was so, so sick of this.

Chapter Text

Felix was leading the way. Chan let him.

He didn’t have much of a choice. For some reason, his leader sense was dull, his inner radar only telling him that yes, the members were somewhere out there, but that was it. Felix seemed to actually be sensing where to go. Chan didn’t have anything like that.

And okay, true, maybe his pain and sheer exhaustion were taking up most of his concentration, but still. He should be feeling something. He’d always been attuned to the members, had always had vague senses when it came to them, but right now there was nothing.

He was uselessly being dragged along, and all he could was try to put most of the weight on his good leg so the bite mark in his other wouldn’t completely immobilize him from the pain. The worst thing about it all wouldn’t be that it would incapacitate him—it was that it would put Felix out of commission as well. That’s why he called for small breaks often, knowing that the younger needed them even more than he did.

He let Felix literally carry all the weight, the least he could do was try and give short moments of relief to him by sitting down for a minute.

“Can we stop over there?” he asked after they’d covered enough distance again. “Just for a second.”

“Alright.” Felix lowered him to the wall without much complaint. They were both far too tired to do much talking anymore. All they could do was keep going and hope they wouldn’t collapse before they found the others.

Chan had never felt so useless before. The weird connection between him and Felix was making everything even worse and he could do nothing about it. His own body was fighting against him, and therefore also against Felix. He was bringing the other down with him.

It made him feel utterly despicable.

A snap shot through his chest at that thought and he jolted, turning to see if Felix had felt the same. Felix was staring at the ceiling, breathing heavily and seeming to be lost in thought. Chan didn’t sense any extra worry from the other, so did he imagine it…?

He closed his eyes, trying to reach inside himself. He could have sworn he felt something pull within him…

Powerless. Weak. Paralyzed in place. Permanent Vertigo making him sick and nauseous. The height, too much, too dangerous, always taunting him, threatening him and keeping him prisoner. Fear keeping him stuck. He couldn’t help anyone. It was dark. He was alone. He was useless.

His eyes flew open and he gasped, the nauseous feeling immediately lessening.

What was that?

When he glanced at Felix once more, the younger had his face scrunched up. Then, the younger sighed.

“I guess we should get going again,” was all he simply said, starting to push himself up. Chan watched him move in confusion, at a loss as to what was happening. He’d felt feelings that were not his own, he was sure of it, so why was Felix not showing any reaction?

“Are you okay to go, hyung?” Felix extended his hand. Thoughts a jumbled mess, all Chan could do was take it and let the other help him up. The foreign feelings had disappeared. The thoughts that were so much like his own but so different at the same time were gone now. Maybe the pain was already getting to him. Maybe he was slowly losing it.

Felix maneuvered Chan’s arm around his shoulder again. “I think we’re really getting close,” he reassured Chan softly. “Let’s hope we don’t have to walk for much longer.”

Chan nodded absentmindedly. They started shuffling forward again. While his body moved on autopilot, his mind was some place else entirely, stuck on the weird (dream? vision?) feelings he’d gotten.

The only thing he knew for certain was that he wasn’t alone. Someone else was out there, feeling just as helpless as he was.

He had a strong suspicion of who it could be too.

He just hoped Minho would quickly find one of the other members to lean on, just like Chan had.

Chapter Text

“Please,” Seungmin begged, throwing away any and all dignity he might have had left to sit on his knees and hold the bars of his icy cage. “Please stop.”

On the screens, Hyunjin and Jeongin had met up with Changbin and Jisung, so now all of them were running from the gunman that Seungmin had failed to warn them about. He’d chosen wrong. All of them were in danger except for the two he got to talk to. He ruined everything, and now his members were paying the price for it.

“I’ll do anything. Please, stop hurting the others!”

His begging was getting him nowhere, but it was all he was reduced to. He refused to read any of the files again, the lists of fears and weaknesses already edged into his mind forever. He didn't even want to look at his own. Their capturers had explained it to him enough already. They knew he couldn't handle being helpless like this, having all the facts and not being able to do anything about it, and that's precisely why they let him in on everything. They showed him his members. They gave him impossible ultimatums. All to show him just where the power lied.

“I'll do anything,” he repeated desperately. “Please call the shooter off!”

Seungmin flinched when the speaker voice returned, the reminder of why his members were being shot at a painful thing.

He didn't know what the kidnappers wanted to hear.

But he had to try.

“I have,” he said with far more confidence than he really had. “So please call the shooter off. I have your answer.”

The world stood at a tipping point. It all depended on what Seungmin would say whether his members would get a moment to rest now. He had to get this right.

While he had been watching his members run around, supporting each other and being each other's only help in this horrible place, he'd never felt more desperate to join them than now. It wasn't a logical feeling at all, since it would put him in just as much danger, but none of that mattered.

They were always stronger together. And being forcefully kept apart like this… it was tearing him apart.

That’s why this was the last answer he could think of.

“It felt right,” he admitted, reaching for the most vulnerable parts of him. “When I met Chan and the others… it felt right. I wanted to stay with them because I felt like I really fit. They understood me faster than anyone else ever did. We… need to be together.”

“It is.”

There was a pause, a moment where Seungmin feared his answer would be rejected again.

But then the voice spoke again.

Seungmin couldn't believe what he was hearing. He gawked at the speakers, uncomprehending. He'd finally passed. The members they- His eyes snapped to the camera feeds, instantly finding the screen with the dark figure and the gun. It looked like the person was receiving something through an in-ear, their hand held up so they could hear it better. Then they nodded. And left.

It was over.

All the tension in his body disappeared at once and Seungmin sagged, his hands slipping off the bars. He'd finally done it. His members were safe.

His time for celebrating was cut short barely a second later as the voice returned.

Seungmin tensed back up. “What? What does that mean?”

They were giving him another impossible question. No no no no, this wasn't good. He thought they would give him a little break at least, but the torture just continued mercilessly. When would it ever be enough?

“You're not making any sense,” Seunmin shot back, irritation slowly replacing the fear and dread that had become a constant part of him. “What ‘resources’?”

Seungmin was having a hard time understanding what they were getting at, much less what all of this had to do with the question they were expecting him to answer. He tried to recall what they had said before, about the reason they'd taken him and the others in the first place. Wasn't it something about souls linking?

One part of the wording kept repeating in his mind: heightened the receptiveness. It sounded an awful lot like how drugs could make someone more attuned to spiritual stuff and things like that. These so-called ‘researchers’ certainly sounded crazy enough to try something like that. Which meant-

Seungmin sent a glare to the speakers.

“Are you saying you drugged us?” He demanded. “Just to test if we’re soulmates?”

Now, that brought chills down Seungmin’s spine. They’d been following them for longer than this? How had they never noticed? Why them?

The voice continued, unbothered by Seungmin's internal freaking out.

“You are insane,” Seungmin spat, appalled. Not only had their capturers stalked them and put them into all of these dangerous situations, but they’d also drugged them, all for some deluded purpose of linking their souls together? And now they expected Seungmin to help them? They had to be positively deranged if they expected him to just play along like this. “I will never-”

One of the screens flickered. Nothing happened, but it was clear what it was: a warning.

He swallowed his next words, the camera feeds covering the wall giving him a painful reminder of just what happened every time he didn’t play along. He could see how Changbin, Hyunjin and Jeongin were still running, Jisung a dead weight against Changbin’s back. They weren’t even aware that the threat was gone or that it could come back. They didn’t know that Seungmin’s actions were the cause of it.

He didn’t have a choice, now did he? Not if he wanted to keep his group alive.

“What exactly do you want me to do?” he asked with a heavy heart, slumping defeatedly. He had to do this. For the others. The voice sounded far too smug when it spoke up again.

“How am I supposed to possibly know that?”

Seungmin grit his teeth, his eyes aimlessly going over the camera feeds. He had no idea where to even start. They’d said the ‘links’ would be easily observable, but what was he supposed to even look for? There was no way they would manifest physically, right? Like in those stories where there were red threads or tattoos, the ones the others liked to read and watch? He had a hard time wrapping his mind around the concept of soul ‘links’ at all, but if he were to approach it rationally… The kidnappers were of the sentimental kind, so maybe the links were supposed to be about feelings or something? Mental links?

With these guesses, Seungmin went over the screens with critical eyes, desperate to find something, anything that he could give to the kidnappers before they decided their patience was up again.

Felix was dragging Chan along rather determinedly, maybe that was something? But Felix was always mentally strong in tough situations like these, especially if another member depended on him. He was a master at acting like he wasn’t scared when he needed to. This could just be him refusing to give up.

That made him look to Minho, who was doing the opposite of Felix. He’d clearly given up, lying flat on the platform and barely moving. Not that Seungmin could blame him. Minho was stuck, and not only that, but he was surrounded by his worst fears. Seungmin could only sympathize and hope that Minho would be saved soon.

And then there were the last four, who were starting to slow down, looking absolutely winded and ready to collapse. It seemed Jisung was saying something, pointing in a certain direction and actually motivating the others to keep going. Was he… taking the lead? Seungmin would not have expected that of him at all. Jisung wasn’t the type to stand at the front, especially not if others like Changbin or Hyunjin were present, who were more likely to take the lead.

It was a notable difference in character.

And maybe it was exactly what the kidnappers wanted to know.

“I think-” Seungmin swallowed, hating that he was about to rat out his members to their captors. “-that Jisung might be linked to someone?”

The voice answered immediately.

“I don’t know, I don’t- there’s no way for me to tell.”

“But I don’t know! I don’t even know what kind of ‘links’ you’re talking about! There’s no way for me to see who is linked like this.”

“Argh!” Seungmin banged a fist against the bars, instantly regretting it when pain bloomed in his knuckles. The kidnappers were delusional. They couldn’t possibly expect him to know this! Their whole so-called research was bullshit, there was no way he could ever give them concrete evidence for something that didn’t exist.

“Maybe it’s Felix!” he cried out before he could stop himself. His eyes blew wide immediately, his mouth snapping shut. Shit, if he wasn’t right about this, he’d just sentenced two of his members to even more pain. “Not that I know for sure,” he quickly amended, hoping he could still save them, “it’s just that they both seem to be going in specific directions and they’re both determined to get there, but that could mean anything! They are usually this determined with other things too. It doesn’t have to mean anything-”

“Wait, no!” It sounded an awful lot like the kidnappers were leaving him alone again. “I said I’m not sure about it! They’re probably not linked at all!”

No answer came anymore. The damage had already been done. Seungmin cursed, hitting the bars again.

“Dammit!”

Had he just sentenced his members to something awful?

Chapter Text

They’d finally stopped running after what felt like hours, and Hyunjin was so out of breath that he collapsed the second Changbin called for a break. He bent down, wheezing, and leaned a hand against the wall.

“Do you think we-” He sucked in a large breath. “-managed to shake them off?”

“I don’t hear them anymore,” Jeongin said, also sounding out of breath. “They better have lost our trail.”

“Sung, can I put you down for a second?” Changbin shifted uncomfortably. “It’s only for a minute, I promise.”

“Of course, hyung.”

Everyone took that as their invite to collapse next to Jisung on the ground, even Changbin carefully sliding beside the younger while he stayed mindful of the other’s wounds. Which—now that Hyunjin could get a better look—were downright awful. Jisung was red all over, parts of his clothes burned away to only leave tatters hanging around half of his stomach. His right arm especially looked blistered and ruined. Hyunjin couldn’t imagine how much that must hurt.

“What the hell happened to you?” he asked eloquently, more busy with his worry and the way his lungs felt like they were scorching from the inside out than if he was careful with his words.

“Mines,” was all Jisung gave him. Hyunjin had a hard time believing him.

“As in bombs?!”

“Hmhm.”

“And you’re still alive?!”

Jisung sent him a deadpan stare. “No.”

“Sung, be nice,” Changbin chided. He seemed absolutely winded too, but he managed to hide it mostly behind casual stretches with his arms above his head and in front of his chest. He rolled his shoulders. “While I’m over the moon that we got together,” he continued, turning to Hyunjin and Jeongin this time, “I gotta say that this wasn’t the best way to reunite. You haven’t been running from that lunatic all of this time, have you?” He scanned them worriedly.

“Ah, no, the shooter was a recent development,” Jeongin reassured him, “They only appeared after I found Hyunjin-hyung. We’re fine. It’s only because we had to run from them that we managed to find the way out of the maze, so we’re actually more than fine right now.”

“Speak for yourself.” Hyunjin shook his head. “I’m gonna have nightmares about this whole place for months.”

“Well yeah, I meant physically.”

“Oh, then I’m fine, yeah.”

Changbin watched them in silence, seeming to want to make sure for himself that they were really okay. He could be such a worrywart sometimes. Hyunjin would have teased him about it if he wasn’t so relieved to have finally found the older rapper. It had only been a couple of hours before that he’d genuinely thought he would be left alone forever, so he couldn’t find it in himself to be anything but relieved now. Grateful too. He would never take any of his members for granted ever again.

And curse it, he was actually getting emotional about it. His eyes burned and his nose itched. He tried to blink it away.

“We’re really fine, hyung,” Jeongin repeated when Changbin didn’t stop staring. The younger rolled his eyes. “It’s you who we should worry about, don't you think? Don’t think we haven’t noticed how you look just as fried as Hannie-hyung.”

“Yeah, so what happened?” Hyunjin jumped in, glad for the distraction from his own mushy thoughts. “Did you get stuck together? How much do you remember from when we were taken? Do you know where we are, or where the others are?”

“I wish,” Changbin answered, “It’s pure luck that I found Jisung when I did-”

As Changbin told them their story, it didn’t go past Hyunjin that Jisung was blankly staring before him, clearly zoned out. The expression worried Hyunjin. It looked far too much like the wounds were getting to him. Jisung had a tendency to get lost in his head already, but he always did so through rants nobody was able to follow; by writing works that were a level of genius no one else could reach; by absorbing himself into whatever he was doing and doing it to an unreal level of perfection. He was rarely silent like this, not present. It was weirding Hyunjin out.

Though Changbin was in the middle of recounting how they got blasted out of the room, Hyunjin just had to know.

“Sung, hey,” he said softly, not wanting to cut Changbin off. He knew how the story would end anyway—they were both here and alive, so it couldn’t have gone that bad after the blast. He subtly poked Jisung in his leg (the one that still had the entire pants leg in one piece). Jisung jolted, cursing softly. He blinked quickly, shifting his attention to Hyunjin.

“Hu-uh? Did you say something? Sorry I wasn’t paying attention.”

Jisung said it too loudly, and Changbin trailed off despite how careful Hyunjin had been. He didn’t seem to be very put off by it, however, as he gave Jisung a weird, but knowing look.

“Anyway, you can figure out the rest,” he finished. “Now, I think you should share what you told me, Jisung.”

That made Jisung jolt again, but for totally different reasons. He looked at Changbin with wide eyes.

“What? No way.”

“Yes way. You’re not going to be able to keep it hidden anyway. What was Minho saying to you?”

Jisung sputtered and Jeongin frowned.

“Minho-hyung?” the maknae asked, “What’s he got to do with any of this?”

“Jisung, wanna explain?” Changbin quirked an eyebrow. After a staring match that went on for a couple of seconds, Jisung sighed, sagging in defeat.

“Fine. But-” He pointed a finger to Hyunjin and Jeongin. “-don’t judge me. I’m not crazy.”

Instinctively, Hyunjin held up his hands in surrender. “Of course not.”

His words didn’t seem to give Jisung much reassurance. Only when Jeongin also gave a nod and gestured for Jisung to continue, did the other find the courage to speak.

“Okay, so, something weird happened when I was stuck in that room.”

He proceeded to tell them the most insane story Hyunjin had ever heard. He couldn’t help it; when Jisung told them about Minho screaming in Jisung’s mind, he snorted.

“Sorry, sorry,” he quickly backtracked when Jisung’s mouth snapped shut and he glared at Hyunjin. “It’s not that I don’t believe you. It’s just—you and hyung found out that you can hear each other’s thoughts just because you were both cursing out our kidnappers and threatening them with a lawsuit? Could you have done it any more in-character than that?”

Jisung’s defensiveness fell away instantly as soon as he realized Hyunjin wasn’t discrediting his secret. It hurt Hyunjin a bit to think the younger had so little trust in him, but he could also understand it. It wasn’t every day unnatural things like sharing minds happened in their lives.

“So you believe me?”

“Hard not to, right now,” Hyunjin promised him. “All of this situation has been weird. If I decide to believe that Innie can somehow feel where other people are, why wouldn’t a link between minds be possible? It fits perfectly with the theme.”

“Hyung!” Jeongin hissed, elbowing him. “Don’t tell them that!”

“Innie can feel… what?” Changbin looked confused. “You have something weird going on too?”

Jeongin looked away, his ears red. “No. I don’t know what Hyunjin-hyung’s talking about.” Before Hyunjin could protest and tell him that it was only fair if he shared about his safety-sense he’d used to find the way out of the maze, Jeongin quickly changed the topic. “It doesn’t matter anyway. So Jisung-hyung can talk to Minho-hyung. Do you also know where he is?”

That was apparently just as sensitive of a topic, as Jisung curled in on himself. “No. I have no idea. All I know is what kind of room hyung is in, but I have no idea where it is.”

“So you were just planning on walking around blindly in the hopes of finding him? Did you even think that through?” Jeongin asked, his tone sharp. Changbin sent him a stern look, which made the younger soften his tone. “I’m sorry, it’s just—it sounds like you would have only gotten more lost if you’d done that. Now that we’re together, I don’t want to wander through another maze again. I’ve gotten enough of getting lost for the rest of my life.”

“I have to agree with Innie,” Hyunjin said. “We need something more to go off, like Innie’s sense of-”

“Maybe we should just wait here,” Jeongin continued, ignoring Hyunjin’s affronted glare. “We could all use the rest anyway. The others are more likely to find us if we stay put.”

“No.” Jisung shook his head. “No, we can’t wait around. I’m not having this discussion again. Me and Changbin are going to get Minho out and it’s your choice if you go along with us or not but I’m not staying.”

“Then I’m not either,” Hyunjin decided. “I don’t want any of us to separate again if we can help it. Even if we don’t have a clear idea of where hyung is-” Or they had, if Jeongin wasn’t so self-conscious all of a sudden. “-we still owe it to him to try. If the roles were reversed, do you think Minho-hyung would have stayed on his ass waiting for anyone?”

Jeongin pressed his lips together. Changbin answered for him.

“No, he wouldn’t. You’re right. So what’s it gonna be, I.N-ah? You coming with us?” He stood up, groaning softly and stretching his legs from side to side. With a gentleness people rarely got to see from him, Changbin crouched down and held out his arms to the side, offering his back again to Jisung. Without a word, he helped Jisung up until he was safely leaning against him just like before. When they were ready, he turned meaningfully toward Hyunjin, who took the cue and also pushed himself from the ground.

With three to one, Jeongin didn’t have a choice. Hyunjin knew that the younger didn’t actually want to be alone, no matter how often he acted like he did. Jeongin was as dependable on them as they all were on each other (which would only get worse after all of this was over, Hyunjin was sure). He may be grumpy about it, protesting it all the way, but he wouldn’t actually go against any of his hyungs if matters were this serious. Their maknae was a smart one alright, and a true softie at heart. For who he was still upholding his mask of indifference, Hyunjin had no idea.

“I suggest we keep heading away from the shooter,” Changbin said as he started walking in the direction they’d been running in. The other two followed obediently. “If any of you hear or see anything suspicious, tell us immediately, got it? We don’t know what else could be out there.”

Hyunjin gulped and nodded. Changbin was right. They might have been able to breathe for a minute, but the danger was far from over. They weren’t even close to safety yet. Not as long as they didn’t know where the others were.

The group trudged through the white hallways in silence. Awkward for Hyunjin, but judging from the concentrated look on Changbin’s face and the unfocused one on Jisung, very necessary for the others. He wondered what Jisung was talking about with Minho. He almost wished he could hear their thoughts too, just to get a sense of what it would be like.

(But then he imagined having Minho yelling at him within his own mind and he shuddered. Actually, on second thought, no thank you.)

As they walked, Jeongin seemed to be quietly stewing in his own moodiness, just as Hyunjin had expected. Now that the direct danger was out of the way, the younger’s stoic personality had resurfaced as if nothing had ever happened. He even rejected Hyunjin’s hand when he tried to reach out, so he knew for sure that the kid was back to his reserved self. A pity, even if it signaled that Jeongin was feeling better now.

To give his own mind something to do, Hyunjin counted their steps and cataloged their turns. It was as Jeongin had said: he wasn’t keen on getting lost in another maze for the rest of his life. Though the map wasn’t really taking shape in his mind how he wanted it to, at least it kept him busy and alert.

Alert enough to notice that after a while, Jeongin seemed to be walking more and more in front of the group instead of beside them. Hyunjin zeroed in on the way Jeongin was looking in one specific direction (a seemingly uninteresting wall) and inwardly, he laughed; Jeongin was feeling that safety-sense again, wasn’t he? And here he kept trying to deny it was anything special. He was clearly starting to lead the group towards it. Changbin seemed to have picked up on it too, sharing a quiet look with Hyunjin that was all too knowing.

Weird things were happening ever since they’d been taken, but at least Jeongin’s weird thing was a positive one.

“I think…” Hyunjin heard Jeongin mumble before he took a sudden turn left and a door appeared in their line of sight. Jeongin walked to it in a straight line, clearly on his way to a specific goal.

“Wait, maybe we shouldn’t-” Changbin began, but Jeongin was already pushing open the door.

Another hallway lay behind it, but… There were voices. Everyone stilled, holding their breath as they tried to hear whether the new people were a threat or not. One of the voices was low, clearly tired and so achingly familiar that Hyunjin could fall down sobbing right then and there.

Before he could even tell the group that he knew who the voices belonged to, the perpetrators themselves appeared, twin eyes blowing wide as soon as everyone locked eyes. Then, Felix’s face broke into a smile that could have powered a thousand sun panels.

“Guys!”

Hyunjin noted how Chan was leaning heavily on Felix and how the younger was looking very unstable himself, but still he couldn’t help dashing forward, crashing against them and hugging them fiercely. He had missed these two so much.

Felix clung to him just as tightly, his hands trembling against Hyunjin’s back.

“You’re all safe, you’re all here,” the boy was repeating softly, as if he couldn’t believe it. Hyunjin felt very much the same. Separating with them was one of the hardest things he’d ever done, and he latched onto Felix’s hand even while stepping away to give the others the space for their reunion. Felix shot him a grateful smile, making all of his leftover worries melt away.

They were six now, getting closer and closer to finally being back together. Little by little, there was hope flaring inside of Hyunjin. Seeing everyone else hug and reassure each other that they were real and finally together, healed something for him. Finally, it seemed they were getting a lucky break.

Chapter Text

Changbin’s arms were aching from the strain of holding up Jisung, but he would never admit it out loud. This was no time to surrender to his limits. He needed to push through them, he was one of the only ones that was in the condition to walk, let alone carry another one of the members like this. True, Jeongin had been trying to bulk up these days, but he was in no way ready to hold the weight of an entire other person for a long time. He also seemed to be walking with a slight limp and sometimes, Changbin thought he could see little drops of blood coming from one of his shoes. He was in no state to carry anyone. Changbin literally was Jisung’s only hope.

And speaking about states people were in, this was bad. As soon as Changbin saw the Australian duo behind that door, he had to stop and swallow for a second because they looked far too close to fainting. And not only that, but Chan…

Chan was as pale as a ghost, the trail of red dripping from his leg all the way down to the floor in a disturbing sight to see. Felix was panting, sweaty, but clearly more alive than their leader. Chan’s wound… Changbin hated to assume anything before he had all the facts, but were those teeth marks?

Felix stumbled towards him, having left Chan in the fussing hands of both Jeongin and Hyunjin. He was smiling, a sight for sore eyes, and no matter how worried Changbin was for their leader, he couldn't refuse one of Felix’s famous hugs. He gently put Jisung down, letting the other lean against the wall first, before turning back towards Felix. The younger immediately folded around him, his skillful hands finding the right spots to massage even during the hug. Changbin melted in Felix’s hold instinctively.

“Yongbok-ah, I’m so glad you’re safe.”

“Me too, hyung. I’m so happy that we finally found all of you.”

As he stepped away, Felix’s hands slipped from Changbin’s back and shoulders to his biceps, kneading the muscles there with flitting fingers. He tsk’ed disapprovingly.

“You’ve been pushing yourself,” he stated more than asked. Changbin was already putty in his hands, his eyes fluttering closed as Felix worked out all of the kinks in his aching arms. “Thank you… for taking care of Sungie like that, but please be careful of yourself too, okay? We should all try to save our strength until we’re out of here.”

Wise words, but Changbin could also detect the hypocrisy in them. “Like you and Chan have done? What happened to you two anyway?”

Felix didn’t meet his eyes. “Long story. We’ll tell it another time, when we’re safe.” His hands dropped away and Changbin mourned the loss of warmth instantly. “We shouldn’t stay here for too long. We’re still not complete.”

That brought the whole group back into tense territory, and Jeongin and Hyunjin both took up one of Chan’s sides so he could throw his arms around them for support.

“You’re right,” Hyunjin was the first to agree. “Only Seungminnie and Minho-hyung left. You don’t have a way to find them by chance?”

“Well, actually…” Felix trailed off, shifting in place. “Something weird’s been happening.”

“To you too?” Jisung asked, sounding both exhausted and immensely relieved. “Finally.”

“Finally?” Chan echoed, confused. “You don’t even know what we were gonna say.”

“Has it something to do with weird feelings?” Hyunjin asked. “Things in your mind or body that shouldn’t be possible? Because you wouldn’t be the first.”

“What?”

So Jisung repeated his explanation of his and Minho’s connection, both Felix and Chan listening with gaping mouths. Hyunjin tried to hint at Jeongin’s weird senses again but got shot down just like before. Not that Jeongin’s attempts were all that successful, they could all see there was more truth to Hyunjin’s words than he wanted everyone to believe. Changbin had seen it himself too; the way Jeongin had led them to Felix and Chan was anything but natural.

“Well, our weird is a little bit different from all of that,” Felix admitted when the others were done, “but I guess it’s related to it? Channie-hyung and I… earlier we got attacked and…”

“Something linked us together,” Chan finished. “We don’t know how it’s even possible, but something happened and now I can feel all of Felix’s emotions and vice versa. He shares my pain too. I feel twice as much happiness now that we’re all together because Felix makes it stronger. We don’t share thoughts, but it comes close.”

“Wow…” Hyunjin breathed. “That actually sounds kind of cool.”

“It is.”

“It’s not.”

Felix and Chan spoke at the same time. They looked at each other, both seeming to be hurt by the other’s answer. Changbin decided to get between them before they could say anything more that they might regret.

“You said you might have a way to find Minho and Seungmin, right? What is it?”

“Oh that,” Felix turned away from Chan, missing the way the older boy averted his eyes with guilt swimming in them. Changbin certainly noticed, though. He made a mental note to confront Chan later about it. Why did he think sharing feelings with Felix of all people was a bad thing? There must be something more there.

“I have this kind of weird sensation where I’m aware of all of you in some way,” Felix explained. “It’s like I have a hole in my chest and the pieces that need to fill it are all spread out. I can kind of… sense where the pieces are.”

“And you’re saying those pieces are us?” Changbin asked, trying to sound understanding even if this whole concept sounded far too vague to him. Felix nodded.

“It’s not all that clear, but I’ve been trying to follow this feeling and- I mean, now we’ve found all of you, so maybe it works?”

Changbin shot a short glance to Jeongin, finding the younger to be frowning in thought. He thought that maybe their maknae would step forward now and admit that he had a similar thing, but nothing of the sort happened. Changbin sighed.

“There’s no harm in giving it a shot,” he said. Felix looked at him hopefully.

“Really?”

“I think it could work,” Hyunjin agreed. “Why not try it?”

The way Felix lit up shouldn’t be as adorable as it was. With just his smile, he raised the spirits of everyone around him. Changbin could practically feel the pressure falling off his own shoulders at the sight. Finally, there was some real hope. Jisung nodded along, while Chan and Jeongin kept silent.

“Then lead the way, Lix,” Changbin said, feeling like he had to take the lead in this. “There’s no time to waste.”

With both Felix’s and Jeongin’s sense of direction (even if only one actually wanted to admit they had it), the search through the halls felt a lot less despair-inducing. Changbin had taken Jisung back on his back, while Hyunjin and Jeongin were half-carrying, half-supporting Chan, giving Felix a welcome break. Already, both of them were starting to look better, a bit of their exhaustion melting away now that they weren’t constantly making each other’s pain worse.

The hallways were all the same, and since Changbin didn’t need to pay attention to where they were going, he had all the time in the world to think over all the things that had been happening to them since everything had started.

Getting kidnapped was already awful enough, but all the things that were changing—both between them and within them—he didn’t know what to make of it. He’d never thought that mind links were possible, nor sharing feelings or pain. Boundaries were breaking between them. Changbin couldn’t tell if that was a good thing. It certainly wasn’t a natural thing, which made him think: what had started it?

And maybe even more: what was next?

Up until now, the weird things happening seemed to be mostly good: feelings, thoughts, they could all be used to bring them closer together. But what would happen if the next unnatural shift would start to tear them apart? If it would take its toll and hurt one of them? Changbin had always thought that if he just trained enough, bulked up enough, he could protect himself, could protect the others. But now that their entire world was shifting, that no longer seemed to be enough. He couldn’t protect Chan or Felix from their emotions. He couldn’t give Jisung peace of mind. They were working on fixing the hollow feeling within Felix, but even that he was doing himself. Changbin couldn’t do anything for him. Finding the others, taking care of them—all of it was out of his hands.

The only thing he could do now, was try to support his members as best as he could. At least he was doing so physically already for Jisung, but he also wanted to keep an eye out on any bad things brewing. If he could stop the others from despairing or getting frustrated, he’d count that as a win. In a place like this, it was important never to lose hope. At least he could try to help with that.

He was so stuck in his thoughts that he only belatedly realized that Felix and Jeongin had stopped in front of one of the many doors in the hall. They shared a determined look, before both reached out.

Changbin perked up. Had they found another member?

They pushed open the door, revealing darkness behind it. It looked far more promising than the endless white of the hallways. Changbin curiously tried to peek inside. None of the others seemed to be very eager to go inside first.

There was something there in the darkness. Unmoving. It seemed… white? Or at least lighter than anything else in the darkness. Carefully, Changbin approached the doorway. The shapes became clearer.

He first thought they were pillars, but as his eyes tracked them up, up, up he realized there was much more to them. White statues of frozen hands, all reaching out towards the ceiling. There was something in the middle of the statues too, a dark pillar, something that he couldn’t really make out.

“What is that?” Jeongin asked. They stared at the statues, before Jisung suddenly gasped.

“Oh my god- MINHO-HYUNG!”

Changbin jumped at the loud scream right next to his ears. He hissed in pain, but his short flare of irritation was quickly drowned out by surprise when an equally loud shout sounded in return.

“JISUNG!”

Felix gasped. “Wait, this is where Minho-hyung’s been stuck all this time?” He looked up, his face pale. “And he’s all the way up there?”

“I’m afraid so, he-” Jisung stopped for a second. “Hyung says he can’t see us. He’s…” Jisung retched, burying his head against Changbin’s. “Hyung, please stop trying to look down.”

That last part must have slipped out unintentionally while Jisung was thinking it to Minho. Jisung had told them earlier that he and Minho shared senses in a way too, so was he experiencing Minho’s vertigo right now? Changbin couldn’t imagine how long the both of them must have been carrying that around all this time. He winced in sympathy.

“We need a plan to get hyung down,” he said. “Or we could try to get up there, but I don’t think that’s gonna help us much. Anyone any ideas?”

“Of course we’re not suggesting-” Jisung huffed, cutting himself off. “Hyung is saying he refuses to climb down. Of course we’re not suggesting that, you dumbass- Hyung, keep looking at the ceiling, not down!”

Hearing two conversations mixed together was a weird experience, but at least now Changbin could understand better why Jisung had broken down before. Keeping track of two conversations like this was confusing to say the least.

“Maybe there’s something around here,” Chan suggested. “Like a set of emergency stairs or an execution panel or something. We should split up and check.”

“Absolutely not,” Felix said immediately. “You are in no state to go around searching on your own. The others should handle this one. You should take the moment to rest up.”

“Then you should too,” Chan argued, “And Jisung for that matter.”

“What?!” Jisung whipped his head around. “No way in hell am I going to stay on the sidelines for this. Hyung needs all of us to help him. Changbin, let me down. I can look around on my own.”

“That’s not a good idea, Sung, I don’t think you should.”

“That’s up to me to decide, isn’t it? Put me down, hyung.”

Not wanting another fight to break out between them, Changbin had no choice but to slowly lower Jisung down to the ground, keeping his hands on him until he was sure he was standing somewhat securely on his own two feet. Jisung still swayed precariously, his face suspiciously blank. He took exactly two steps forward before he suddenly winced with his entire body, his face scrunching up.

“But hyung-” His eyes glazed over, his lips pulling into a pout. “I promise I can-”

“NO, YOU CAN’T!” Minho’s loud voice came from all the way atop the platform. “SO STAY STILL OR I’LL KILL YOU!”

Jeongin snorted, patting Jisung on his back in fake sympathy. “I guess you’re gonna have to sit this out too. You don’t wanna mess with Minho-hyung, do you?”

And so it was decided. Jisung, Felix and Chan settled down in the open doorway. The others went further inside the room to look. The only source of light they had came from the hallway, a tiny, square strip of white, which meant that Changbin was fumbling in pitch black darkness as soon as he left the safety of the doorway. He had both of his hands out, feeling around so he wouldn’t crash into any of the hand statues. Even Jisung’s room hadn’t been this dark. He could hardly see his own hands in front of him.

“Any luck?” Chan called. Jeongin answered.

“I’ve got nothing!”

“Me neither,” Hyunjin joined in. “Only more statues!”

“And Changbin?”

“I’m looking!”

His fingers bumped into another statue and he changed his direction slightly, trying to find a wall or something lower that could indicate some sort of panel. Their kidnappers had to have put Minho up there in some way; they just had to find out with what. Putting one foot in front of the other, at least he was glad that he wasn’t scared of the dark. Felix and Jisung might have protested to stay put, but they wouldn’t have liked walking around here at all. Maybe they’d just been putting up a brave front and secretly they didn’t mind having to wait in the light at all.

“Wait-!” Hyunjin called from somewhere to his right. “I think I’ve got something! It feels like… a lever!”

“Try to pull it!” Chan shouted. Hyunjin called back a confirmation, before there was a loud, grating noise that soon merged into one of a clicking mechanism and something metal screeching high above their heads. Changbin couldn’t see anything happening, but Felix’s shout painted the picture for him loud and clear.

“It’s working! It’s coming down!”

Chapter Text

Seungmin hated himself with every word that came out of his mouth, but he had no choice. They never failed to remind him of that. It was either he helped out with his kidnapper’s research or the others got hurt. It wasn’t even really a choice.

That didn’t mean that he really knew what he was doing, though. He was just rambling, trying to buy time and distract the kidnappers so they wouldn’t think about sending another threat to the others.

“Some members are more likely to strengthen a link if what you’re saying is true, right? If according to your theory, it really is about the compatibility of us together then you should look towards the members that are already close normally. They would probably develop a link faster between each other, right?”

Seungmin had to turn off a part of him, only allowing the most rational, detached version of himself to stay at the forefront of his mind. It was the only way the guilt wouldn’t swallow his voice. He was essentially betraying the others’ trust. He was becoming an accomplice just as much as the kidnappers themselves were. He had no choice, but that didn’t mean that he wasn’t an awful person for doing this anyway.

“My first thought was Han and Lee Know, but I don’t think they are linked. Lee Know is clearly alone and has given up trying to get out on his own. I think he really believes he is alone.”

It helped to use their stage or full names. It separated him from his members, made them more hypothetical people than his real friends. It was the only way he could keep talking about them as if they were research subjects, merely there for him to draw conclusions from.

“Then I thought about I.N and Bang Chan, but they don’t seem to act any differently from their normal selves either. As I said earlier, both Lee Felix and Han are weirdly determined, which could point to a link between them but could also be born from the desperate circumstances.”

“My guess would either be that Hwang Hyunjin has linked with someone, since he’s always been the most open to any kind of bond with us- er, the others- or it could be Han and Bang Chan. Do you see how they’ve both chosen to stay on the sidelines while the others search? They might be… sharing their pain?”

Seungmin was reaching for straws here. The voice still hadn’t clarified what kind of ‘links’ they were looking for at all, and so Seungmin was left to make things up. If he really went for the hypothesis that ‘soul links’ were of the mental kind, then sharing pain should be an option right? He really hoped the so-called researchers wouldn’t be able to see through his bluffs.

Luckily it didn’t.

Seungmin’s breath hitched when he spotted what was going on on the screens. Hyunjin seemed to have found a lever of some kind and was actually bringing Minho’s platform down ever so slowly. The older was gripping the edges of the platform with his whole body pulled taut, but Seungmin could imagine how much relief everyone was feeling right now. They were coming closer and closer to being all together again.

All except for him.

He had to distract the kidnappers more, make sure that they wouldn’t come between the others no matter what.

As if knowing his desperate plan, the voice returned to say the exact things he didn’t want to hear.

Seungmin tensed, dread filling him. “Another factor?” he echoed, fear turning his blood cold. “What do you mean by that?”

“A crisis?! What are you- NO!” Seungmin let out a pathetic scream of terror when he suddenly saw Chan, Felix and Jisung yelling out. They were gesturing wildly for the others to come back, to leave the lever and get out of the room. Chan was trying to stand up, but neither Felix or Jisung were strong enough to help him anymore. Felix shifted to try and drag the other two inside the room instead, trying and failing to pull the door closed before-

A gigantic wave of water crashed into them, engulfing the trio and making them vanish into the raging current that flooded inside the room. Everyone else was visibly screaming out for the injured members, but they too couldn’t escape their fate—the water took them all by surprise, making them disappear from sight in one fell swoop. Seungmin’s eyes darted up to Minho’s screen, watching how the older was frantically looking over the edge of his platform. Under him, raging waves crashed and filled the room more and more, higher and higher.

And then, to Seungmin’s horror, Minho stood up. He squared his shoulders.

And he jumped.

Chapter Text

With a loud gasp, Felix broke through the surface, his leg screaming at him. He was barely keeping himself above the water, the waves lapping at his chin and sometimes pouring ice cold water into his mouth. He sputtered, his eyes flitting all around him to try and see in the darkness. Only the top of the hand statues were visible. Their palms stretched upwards and their white was the only thing that stood out in the dark. His hair hung in his face, dripping and blocking his view.

The room was eerily quiet except for the sound of the water. He couldn’t hear anyone so much as breathe. That wasn’t good.

“Guys!” he screamed, twisting around in the water. “GUYS!”

He dove underwater, trying to see if anyone was close, but he quickly pushed himself up again, spewing water out of his mouth and coughing. It was too dark. It was like a sea of ink around him. There was no way he would find the others like this. No matter how good of a swimmer he was, this went far above his skillset.

Not that he’d ever give up.

Before he could even think it through, he reached out on instinct, tracing the connection he had with Chan and trying to locate where the older boy was.

It was confusing to say the least, not just because the water was making it hard for him to focus, but also because he hadn’t felt it before, but-

Something had happened. Right as the water had hit them. He’d felt a snap, right in his chest, and now…

There was another thread, connecting him to someone else. He knew instantly what the feeling was; he had formed another bond with one of the others. Judging from the burning agony that started spreading up from his other leg too, he could easily deduce who it was too. Jisung.

Following the thread to Chan, he struggled to swim forward. The pain made it hard to even kick out his legs the tiniest bit. He kept reminding himself that the pain wasn’t his, that he wasn’t making anything worse by moving. His arms pulled most of the weight, making him pant from the extortion. Something was getting closer to him, something that was becoming more and more visible the closer he got.

It was Minho’s platform, indicating just how high the water level had risen. It had barely avoided being submerged into the darkness. The platform had stopped moving down just above the reach of the hands, making it look like they were actually trying to pull it down. And even more disturbingly: Minho was nowhere to be seen.

Felix didn’t want to think about what that could mean.

Using the platform as his base to come back to, he swam onward until he was sure he could sense Chan just below him. He dove down, blindly reaching out. To his immense relief he caught something on the first try. Chan’s arm. He pulled with all his might, dragging him upwards, until they were both breaking the surface, gasping.

“L-lix, we have to-” Chan coughed, his hands clinging onto Felix’s side and almost pulling both of them back under. Felix’s hold on his waist was iron-tight, but even then his body was barely managing to hold him up. Every kick of his legs hurt something fierce. Chan was practically a dead weight in his arms and he couldn’t even blame him for it.

“I’m on it, don’t worry.”

Felix struggled to heave Chan onto the platform and he grit his teeth against the pain that flared in his legs. Jostling Chan seemed to make it worse, which made sense: part of the pain came from him. When he was sure Chan was safe, he inhaled sharply, immediately diving under again.

“Felix, no, come back!”

But Felix couldn’t. Jisung was close by too. Felix barely needed another couple of seconds to locate him, and with strong strokes, he managed to clasp a hand around the boy’s arm and start pulling.

The young rapper wasn’t moving, which made Felix want to cry. All of this was too much and he was terrified. What if Jisung had swallowed too much water? What if he’d been knocked out and it was all too late-

No, he shouldn’t think like that. Stubbornly ignoring the panic in his heart and the pain in his body, he had to keep moving.

Luckily for him, he had a bit more success with hauling Jisung along now that Chan’s injuries were less overwhelming. He broke the surface, quickly maneuvering Jisung against his chest as he started carrying him over to safety.

They returned to the platform just in time to see Changbin climb onto it. He was carrying an unconscious Hyunjin in his arms, his veins bulking with the strain needed to move an entire extra person on top of it. Chan helped both Felix and Changbin with their charges, huffing and puffing as more pain flared between him and Felix again. They were all messes, but at least more and more were above water and alive. Chan turned the members on their sides, and it wasn’t long before both Jisung and Hyunjin started coughing, water spewing from their mouths as painful breaths racked their bodies. The sound was like music to Felix’s ears.

With one final effort, Felix pulled himself onto the platform too, flopping onto the solid surface totally out of breath.

“Innie-” He gasped, his chest rising and falling deeply. “-is somewhere around there.”

Changbin took the cue and nodded, following the direction of Felix’s pointed finger and diving back in the inky waters. Both Jisung’s and Chan’s pain was finally catching up to him fully, making tears well up in Felix’s eyes. Neither of them seemed to be faring better. Jisung was still coughing, and Chan had collapsed backwards and was heaving just as much as Felix. Together with Hyunjin’s shallow breaths, they were a miserable trio.

It wasn’t long before Changbin returned with a spluttering Jeongin next to him, the younger’s hair dripping into his eyes as they feverishly scanned around the group.

“I’m not done! Minho-hyung, he’s- I gotta help him-”

Jisung gasped and Felix felt a tiny echo of surprise and relief coming from the other. Right at that moment, Minho broke the surface just behind Jeongin and Changbin, flailing, shaking his head so his hair stuck to the sides of his face. He flung his arms around Changbin’s back, almost bringing both back under, but Changbin managed to stabilize them both before that could happen. Jeongin quickly started helping to pull Minho along. It didn’t matter that he was pale and clearly out of breath; when they got to the platform, he pushed Minho forward first.

“Come on, help him up,” Changbin ordered and with all of them reaching out in some way, they managed to pull the last of their shaking members onto the edge of the platform. It wasn’t large enough for all of them by any means, but they made it work somehow, the more able members sitting as much on the edge as they could while the wounded lay in the middle in a pile of limbs. All seven of them took a moment to catch their breath, no words being spoken.

Suddenly, a flare of anxiety came from Jisung, making Felix turn to him. Jisung was watching him with wide eyes.

“You- we-”

Felix could guess what he was trying to say. “Yeah,” he agreed. “Seems like we formed another bond.”

That piqued the interest of the others.

“Lix?” Chan asked. Felix gestured between him and Jisung.

“I can feel his pain now too.”

“Damn,” Jeongin said, vocalizing what they all thought. “Not another one.”

Or maybe not what they all thought. Felix frowned, feeling weirdly offended.

“It’s how I managed to find Sung and Chan-hyung, actually, so I wouldn’t say it’s a bad thing,” Felix argued. “The only downside is… I’m kinda immobilized now. What with both Chan’s and Jisung’s wounds…”

“I can’t believe any of this is happening,” Minho said. “First me and Sung and now this? What the hell did those suckers do to us?”

That made Felix deflate, his defenses falling away when he recognized the pure helplessness in the older’s eyes. Minho was just as scared as he was. Everything that was happening to them was something unreal, and while Felix kept trying to see the good in it, he could understand why the others were far less enthusiastic.

Still, the feeling of almost being complete again had a way of lifting Felix’s spirits that nothing else could. He looked around the group, their dripping, wet forms a pathetic sight but something that he couldn’t be happier about. He was so relieved. Finally, the hollow feeling and the constant need to find them was gone.

(Felix tried to push the thought of Seungmin away. He didn’t want to fall into his panic so soon after having gotten to relative safety. Just a minute. A minute of pretending everything was fine and then he’d start worrying again about their last missing member.)

Staring at the dark ceiling, simply taking in the stuttering breathing all around him… it was so much better than all the time he’d spend alone. Having everyone close was helping him more than anything else could. It almost lulled him into this sense of safety, like nothing could get him now.

The sound of the water below shattered that sense almost immediately, though. His panic didn’t want to wait. It forcefully pushed itself to the forefront of his mind, demanding attention.

They weren’t complete yet. They weren’t safe yet. This calm would not be able to stay.

Felix rubbed his chest, his lungs burning and something sour crawling up his throat. If only he knew where Seungmin was too. The last puzzle piece was just out of his reach, a cruel reminder that everything was far from over. He sighed, closing his eyes as he tried to breathe through the doubled pain from both Jisung and Chan. His legs were killing him. A shiver went down his frame, his wet clothes cooling him down rapidly and making everything worse.

He couldn’t let this hold him back. Not yet. He had to hold on for a bit longer, for the others, for Seungmin. Until all of them were together again, he couldn’t give up.

He would never give up.

Chapter Text

Jeongin’s feeling of safety was stronger than ever before. Ever since this whole mess had started, he’d been feeling on edge, always searching to find the places (or people) that were safe, and now, finally, they were with seven. Almost the whole group was complete. And Jeongin felt safe.

But that wasn’t to say that one last piece remained unfilled within him.

He was ice cold all the way to his bones, the water seeping into his clothes and hair and leaving him a dripping mess. He would never admit it out loud, but he secretly liked that the platform wasn’t big enough for them to sit on comfortably. It meant they had to be squished together, sharing what little body heat they still had with each other without a choice in the matter. It helped to battle the cold. It helped to battle the ache in his muscles. And most of all, it helped to alleviate the anxiety he felt over the last member they were missing. It almost made him able to ignore that they weren’t complete, that they were still in danger, that everything was wrong…

No, who was he kidding? He missed Seungmin. There was nothing that could ever distract him from that. Even if Hyunjin’s hand had found his own again, even if Felix’s shivering form was pressed against his back—nothing could take his mind off how there was one little siren still blaring in his head. The safety around him was good, but there was something still making him fidget in place, pushing him with the unending nagging that there was a small shard of the broken shield missing.

Which is why Jeongin took it upon himself to say it out loud, seeing as everyone else seemed too busy catching their breath.

“We need to get out of here. As long as we stay here, Seungmin stays alone.”

He looked around. Minho and Jisung were leaning heavily on each other, as were Felix and Chan. The latter seemed to be holding on to consciousness by sheer will power alone too, the stubborn guy. Changbin was barely seated on the platform, trying to give as much space to everyone else, and Hyunjin was doing the same on the other end, his face pale and dripping water down his neck. Nobody looked ready to move yet. Jeongin himself was exhausted too, cold and wet and so, so tired, but he knew they shouldn’t give up yet.

“Maybe we can dive down to that lever, get us down from this thing and-”

“And then what?” Minho snapped. “Drown? This is the only thing keeping us from dying right now. Don’t know if you remember, but I can’t exactly swim and we’ve got two and a half cripples in the group right now.” He turned to Felix. “No offense.”

“None taken,” Felix said tiredly.

“I know that,” Jeongin pushed, “but I’m just saying that we can’t stay here forever. Seungmin needs us to find him.”

“But how can we do that when we’re literally stranded?” Hyunjin splashed his feet in the water. “Even if we get the platform down, the water won’t drain away. Do you think there might be another lever for that?”

“Somehow I doubt they would put that control inside the room,” Changbin said. “This came from outside the room, so we don’t even know if the whole building’s flooded right now. Even if we get out of the room, there might not be any dry ground left.”

“Man, this sucks,” Jisung grunted. His eyes were closed, his face scrunched up in pain as he leant his head against Minho’s shoulder. “m cold.”

“At least this cools down our burns,” Changbin said. He bent down to hold his arm under water. “But I can’t say I’m very happy with this either. We’re going to get sick if we stay like this for too long.”

“My eyes hurt,” Hyunjin added. “And I think I pulled something when I was trying to swim to the surface.”

“We’re a mess, aren’t we?” Chan chuckled humourlessly, his voice soft and barely there.

“At least we’re a mess together.” Felix sighed. “Only Seungmin isn’t here…”

Jisung hummed. “If only we had a connection with him too. Wouldn’t it be cool if I could just ask him where he is in my mind like with Minho-hyung? He’d probably tell us all about this place. I feel like Seungmin would be able to escape way before we ever do.”

Felix jolted all of a sudden. “Wait, that’s right! Seungmin contacted us before!”

That made multiple heads snap his way.

“What?” Minho said. “How? You didn’t think to mention that earlier?”

“We’ve been a bit preoccupied, Minho, calm down,” Chan said. “But yeah, we heard him through the speakers.” He gestured vaguely to the ceiling. wincing and quickly putting his hand down again. “He sounded really urgent and told us about some… what did he say again, Lix?”

“He was talking about some experiment. He said he could see all of us through cameras and that our kidnappers want something from us. They’ve been using our fears to do something, but I have no idea what.”

“Well that explains this room,” Minho grumbled, some of his anger bleeding from his tone and making way for resignation instead. Jeongin could understand exactly how he felt. The white, empty room he was in before was hell, one that had seemed specifically catered to him. Seems like his guess wasn’t that far off. If their captors wanted to make them terrified, separating them and putting them in rooms like these would be a great way to do it. Even now, the waiting white palms of the hand statues poked out from the water like claws of ghosts ready to take their next prey. He was sure those would be giving him nightmares for weeks to come.

He wondered what kind of terrors the others had been subjected to before he found them. Had it been as awful as the mirror maze from Hyunjin? Had the shooter chased someone else before they had found the two of them? How did they even get wounded like that? He remembered Jisung saying something about mines, which explained the burns on both him and Changbin. But how had Chan gotten the large gashes on his leg? And why was Felix so pale?

He hated not knowing any of these things. It soured the safe feeling he had around them and warped it into confusion and fear instead. He couldn’t help anyone if he didn’t know what they’d experienced or what was out there, waiting for them. He couldn’t keep them safe at all.

“He didn’t manage to tell us anything else. He barely had the time to warn us that Hyunjin and Jeongin were in danger before the connection was cut off,” Chan continued. “We haven’t heard from him since. We don’t know what happened to him or why he could even talk to us in the first place.”

“But you said he could see all of us?” Changbin asked. “That means I was right about the cameras…”

“What kind of experiment could they be doing?” Jisung asked, a bit of fear tinging his words. “Could it be related to the weird things that have been happening?”

“If so, then this whole situation is even crazier than I thought,” Minho said. “Our link shouldn’t even be possible, let alone as part of some experiment. I don’t even wanna know what they’ve done to us to make something like this possible.”

That made everyone fall quiet. Jeongin absentmindedly rubbed his chest on the spot where he could still feel that last bit of safety calling out to him every now and then. Minho was right. This wasn’t normal. None of this even felt real. If this was really part of some experiment and their captors had done something to them…who’s to say they didn't do more? Were they about to mutate physically? Were they dying? Were their brains changing until they would ultimately become different people?

“Oh, that’s right,” Jisung said, snapping his fingers. “Hyung, didn’t we find something weird too? Wait, I think I put it here-” With some grunts of effort and elbowing multiple others in their sides, Jisung pulled a small, drenched paper from his jeans. It had barely avoided turning into mush, but Jisung still held it up like it was a trophy for him. “Look! I found this under the edge of the platform in the room I woke up in. Minho-hyung found one like this too.”

“Can I see?” Jisung handed it to Chan, who carefully read the smudged words from the paper. “Soul Link Test 446, Subject 128, note: HR level 2.” He lowered the paper grimly. “So this really is an experiment. And judging from the numbers… we’re not the first they’re trying it on.”

“More than a hundred people came before us?” Hyunjin asked, appalled.

“What does your paper say, hyung?” Jeongin asked. Minho searched his own clothes, until he found his piece of paper in his back pocket too. He handed it over to Chan as well.

“Soul Link Test 443, Subject 125. So that confirms it. I’m guessing the gap in the numbers is for the rest of us. Whoever took us really only sees us as test subjects.” A visible shudder went through him, Felix having it at the same time. They looked at each other. “This has to be one of the results. I know I’m always joking about my leader sense, but this… this is completely real.”

Felix nodded. “Same for me. I’ve always felt connected to you all-” He turned towards Jisung. “But never so literally.”

“Is it bad…” Jisung hesitated. “...That it scares me?”

“You’re not alone in that,” Chan reassured. “I think we’re all terrified.”

Murmurs of agreement rose up from the group. Changbin sighed. “Better not think about this too much for now. We’ll only make each other more and more anxious the more we speculate. All that matters right now is to find Seungmin and get out. Everything else can wait.”

“You don’t wanna figure out what all this could mean?” Hyunjin gestured around the group. “Are you really saying you’re not curious about them sharing pain and thoughts and being able to sense each other?” With that last part, he particularly looked at Jeongin, who was quick to avert his eyes.

“I agree with Changbin-hyung,” he rushed to say. “There’s no use discussing any of this when we barely know anything. We need to find Seungmin and get more answers.”

“But that brings us back to the start,” Minho argued. “We’re stuck here and we have no idea where to even start looking for Seungmin. Maybe it’s better if we get some rest for now. The water might go away in time.”

“We can’t count on that.” Chan shook his head. “And the longer we stay here, the more I- the more we get weaker.”

“Do you think someone’s looking for us?” Felix asked in a small voice. “Do you think they’ve realized we’re missing?”

“They have to, otherwise I’m suing them the second we get back,” Minho stated. “We’re ditching the company if I learn that they aren’t using all resources available to find us right now.”

“Agreed,” Jisung said. They look at each other, something silent passing between them that Jeongin guessed was a conversation in their heads. Jisung’s face pulled together a bit, Minho tilted his head minutely. Jisung nodded.

All of a sudden, he turned to Jeongin.

“Can you sense him?”

Jeongin recoiled. “What?” More than one of the others watched him with stupidly knowing looks and he curled a bit in on himself. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Innie, we all know you could feel us before,” Hyunjin said like the traitor he was. “There’s no way we would have found our way out of the maze without you leading me. It was because of you that we managed to meet up with Chan-hyung and Lix, and don’t act like you weren’t leading us just as much as Felix when we were searching for Minho-hyung.”

Jisung’s face was full of understanding as he added: “I know it can be scary to admit, but I promise none of us think you’re crazy. Believe me, sensing the members is way less insane than sharing minds like hyung and me. No offense, hyung.”

“None taken. This is batshit crazy.”

Jisung nudged his head Minho’s way as if to say, see?

Jeongin looked around the group, his heart skipping a beat when he found everyone looking at him with nothing but openness and understanding. He cursed his weakness for the group. He never stood a chance to keep this a secret did he?

When he finally met Hyunjin’s eyes, he felt his last defense crumble. The fact that he’d already told one of them and didn’t get screamed at was enough to convince him.

“Fine,” he said through gritted teeth, “I could feel you, I guess. Don’t know how to turn it on and off, though.”

“But can you try to feel for Seungmin?” Chan asked. Jeongin shrugged.

“I can try.”

“I will try too,” Felix said, already closing his eyes. “I don’t know how this works either, but I’ve been sensing all of you since I woke up. Maybe I can…”

He fell silent. Jeongin watched him for a minute before he sighed and closed his eyes too, focussing all he had on the soft tugging in his chest.

The safety around him, he could feel it, but that one missing piece… It felt like he was casting out a fishing rod, throwing it around in his mind and waiting impatiently for it to hook on its prey. He had no idea what he was doing. It was like vague clouds in his mind surrounding him and the others. He moved past that and reached out further, throwing the line out under them, beside them, even to the ceiling.

That’s when he suddenly felt like the line hit something. He scrunched up his face, trying it again. The line seemed to hook onto something, a sharper tug coming from it as soon as he reached the ceiling. Could it be…? He tried once more to be sure, but when he was certain this couldn’t be anything else, he opened his eyes, immediately meeting Felix’s own wide ones.

“He’s above us,” they said in unison. Everyone slowly looked up towards the darkness above them.

“But how-”

A sharp gasp from Hyunjin cut Changbin off and everyone turned to look at him. He was staring with wide eyes at the ceiling, his hand coming up to clench his shirt.

“They’re right, I can-” His eyes fell back down to them. “I can feel him too.”

Chapter Text

To say Jisung was overwhelmed was an understatement. Minho’s thoughts kept popping into his mind when either of their focus on the conversation wavered, making it hard to listen to the others discuss their awful situation. On top of that, he could feel Felix’s fear as if it was a tangible weight pressing on his lungs, making it hard for him to keep from hyperventilating and doubling over right on the spot. His own heart already felt like it was hanging from tatters. Exhaustion pulled on his bones and he was soaking wet. He was cold. He was terrified. He was in so much pain-

Jisung, focus.

Jisung jerked at Minho’s voice, blinking back to the present. He kept forgetting Minho could hear all of his thoughts now, even his small, instinctive doubts and worries. He focussed back on the conversation around him, trying to quiet his mind.

“You don’t wanna figure out what all this could mean?” Hyunjin was saying. He gestured around the group. “Are you really saying you’re not curious about them sharing pain and thoughts and being able to sense each other?”

Jisung shrunk a bit in on himself, feeling like he was being targeted specifically. What with his two bonds right now, he was clearly the worst freak of all. Hyunjin looked around the group, almost purposely not looking at Jisung while everyone knew he was talking about him.

“I agree with Changbin-hyung,” Jeongin said, which made Jisung aware he missed a bit of the conversation. He rubbed his leg just above where his pants were singed off, trying to give himself a bit of reprieve so he could stop focussing on the pain pain pain that still thrummed from it. At least Minho’s shoulder against his was a steady weight that kept him from completely zoning out, but it was getting harder and harder the more time passed.

The dark was getting to him. The sound of the water felt like it was chipping at his last remaining courage bit by bit, leaving him nothing but a shivering shell filled with anxiety.

Felix was scared too. He could feel it now, which was—God, it was really weird. Sharing a mind with Minho was one thing, but actually feeling someone else’s emotions? That was a step too far even for the crazy he’d now gotten used to.

Jisungie.

Right, the conversation. Jisung rubbed harder, the pain grounding him for a second.

“Do you think someone’s looking for us?” Felix asked in a small voice. “Do you think they’ve realized we’re missing?”

That felt like a hit in the face and Jisung’s chest constricted, all leftover air rushing from his body so quickly that he felt dizzy. Minho’s voice came from next to him, but he had far too much trouble pulling his focus to that instead of the speed his heart was racing at.

“They have to, otherwise I’m suing them the second we get back,” Minho stated. “We’re ditching the company if I learn that they aren’t using any resource possible to find us right now.”

“Agreed,” Jisung said softly. He looked at Minho, who was already looking back intently.

Don’t think too much about the company right now, though, okay? Minho thought to him. I’m sure they’re searching.

Jisung barely kept himself from whimpering out loud.

I don’t know, hyung. Who knows what our captors have done to our drivers, and what if they created some sort of alibi for us missing? What if everyone thinks we’re just sick at the dorm?

Don’t think like that. They’ll notice we’re missing sooner than later. Just hold on and trust that, okay? Trust me.

I… I’ll try. It would be easier if all of us were here.

Seungmin, you mean?

Yeah.

You know, maybe I’ve got an idea for that.

Jisung frowned. What is it?

The others were talking about sensing members. Do you know who they were talking about?

Minho tilted his head minutely, nodding to the group.

I know about Lix and Innie, Jisung answered. I don’t know if any of the others can do it, but those two helped us find you.

Both of them?

Jisung nodded.

They turned to Jeongin first.

“Can you sense him?” Minho asked out loud, seemingly catching the younger off-guard.

“What?” Jeongin said, sounding defensive immediately. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Innie, we all know you could feel us before,” Hyunjin said, easily jumping on the new conversation topic. “There’s no way we would have found our way out of the maze without you leading me. It was because of you that we managed to meet up with Chan and Lix, and don’t act like you weren’t leading us just as much as Felix when we were searching for Minho.”

Color drained from Jeongin’s face, making him look just as scared as Jisung felt. He rushed to reassure the younger.

“I know it can be scary to admit, but I promise none of us think you’re crazy. Believe me, sensing the members is way less insane than sharing minds like hyung and me.” He shot a wry smile at Minho. “No offense, hyung.”

Minho softly bumped his shoulder against Jisung’s. “None taken, this is batshit crazy.”

Jeongin looked around the group, seeming to weigh his choices. It didn’t take long for him to fold.

“Fine,” he said, “I could feel you, I guess. Don’t know how to turn it on and off, though.”

“But can you try to feel for Seungmin?” Chan asked. Jeongin shrugged.

“I can try.”

“I will try too,” Felix said, already closing his eyes. “I don’t know how this works either, but I’ve been sensing all of you since I woke up. Maybe I can…” He fell silent. Jeongin watched him for a minute before he sighed and closed his eyes too.

It was kind of weird, seeing two of their members so quiet and still. The whole group watched them with baited breath. It didn’t look like anything was happening, but Jisung could feel the turmoil grow inside of Felix. More and more desperation and fear was circling between them. His grip tightened on his knee, his finger digging into his skin in an attempt to distract himself from it.

It was too much. He needed to keep breathing, he couldn’t lose it here…

It felt like ages before Jeongin’s face scrunched up and Felix jolted. Their eyes flew open and they looked at each other in shock.

“He’s above us,” they said in unison. Everyone slowly looked up towards the darkness above them. It loomed over them like a swirling mist ready to descend. Jisung couldn’t see anything in it. His heart hammered in his chest.

“But how-”

A sharp gasp from Hyunjin cut Changbin off and everyone turned to look at him. He was staring with wide eyes at the ceiling, his hand coming up to clench his shirt.

“They’re right, I can- I can feel him too.”

The spike of confusion and hurt that came from Felix came out of nowhere, but it hit Jisung like a physical hit. He whimpered soundlessly, fighting to get his lungs to expand and take in air. His knuckles turned white from the strain.

Hurt. Confusion. Jealousy. Guilt. So much guilt. This was his fault. This was all on him-

He couldn’t breathe. Felix’s feelings were choking him, pushing against his own and overloading him. He curled up as small as he could go, closing his eyes and trying to breathe.

It seemed only Minho noticed it. He reached out to Jisung, softly tapping him on his hand.

Sungie? Hey, you okay? Is your leg acting up?

“Felix? What’s wrong?”

Chan’s question made Jisung’s eyes snap back open, immediately honing in on the other side of the platform where Felix was sitting. The younger was hunched over in a very similar manner as he was himself. His breaths were coming out in panicked wheezes, his eyes screwed shut. Jisung’s gaze was drawn to the younger’s hands, balled into whitening knuckles around his knees just like Jisung’s own were.

His heart plummeted. He was giving Felix his anxiety. Because of him, both of them were having an attack now. He had to stop this. He was overreacting and now it was hurting the both of them-

Jisung, focus on me, not on Lix. Remember how distraction helped last time?

Jisung met Minho’s eyes desperately, tears welling up.

Hyung, it’s my fault-

No it’s not. Just focus on me and my thoughts, okay? You can get this under control.

“Lix, you gotta breathe. Can you breathe with me?”

The voices speaking through each other made it difficult for Jisung to distinguish who said what. Especially since Minho’s voice in his head felt so close. He searched Minho’s eyes for something to hold on to, trying his best to ignore the rest of the group as they all focussed on Felix.

That’s it, just only look at me. Can you tell me what triggered you?

Jisung shook his head immediately. The guilt was like a pressure on his tongue, closing up his throat and stealing his words.

Not in our minds either? You don’t have to talk to me, remember? I can hear you like this. I know you think you can’t talk right now, so don’t force yourself.

Jisung’s eyes widened. He kept forgetting that.

It’s Lix, he thought quickly. Minho didn’t look surprised at that in the least.

Something he’s feeling?

Jisung nodded, sucking in a deep breath, his chest shuddering.

Can you tell me what he’s feeling?

He’s- I’m- I can’t make out what is his and what is mine, but- I’m- This is my fault.

Your fault?

I’m making him freak out.

If it were only your feelings, he wouldn’t be like this, Sungie. I think you're both egging each other on right now. Do you think he feels guilty about this too?

Jisung bit his lip. The grip on his knees hurt and his hands felt ice cold. His arms strained so much it hurt.

I… I think so. I felt guilt when Hyunjin said he could feel Seungmin, but that doesn’t make sense. Why would Lix feel guilty about that?

You’re the one sharing feelings with him. What do you think?

Jisung frowned, subconsciously loosening his grip a little bit as he tried to trace the ties towards Felix and figure out what came from his side of the bond. There was guilt pooling in his own stomach, but some of it seepened in from outside of his body. There was also pain, insecurity and hurt. The hurt wasn’t physical, it was in his heart, like something was squeezing it. He had no reason to feel like this, so did it come from Felix? Was he hurting from something? What could it be? Was it a feeling he got from Chan?

This whole feeling thing was making no sense whatsoever. Jisung couldn’t unravel the ties enough to figure out what meant what and he certainly couldn’t figure out how to stop it.

But maybe, if their feelings mashed together like this in a way it made them impossible to tell apart…

Hyung, he thought, an idea forming in his mind, do you think this feelings sharing can be done intentionally?

Minho cocked his head curiously. How would I know? You’re the one feeling it. Are you planning something?

More and more, Jisung forced himself to let go of his knees and slowly uncurl from his uncomfortable position.

I think… if I can send happy feelings over the bond, I can calm Felix down.

You can do that?

Jisung gave a minute shrug. There’s only one way to know, right? Maybe if I focus on it like when I’m talking to you…

He reached inside himself, just like he did whenever he blocked Minho out or wanted to talk to him again, but this time he reached for the link he could feel between him and Felix. Like a tap leaking water, Felix’s emotions were streaming steadily and mixing with his own. He imagined how it would feel to redirect the flow the other way, to send the water back. Trying to imagine things that made him happy, he tried to send it out. Winning at award shows, eating the first piece of meat during a meal, finishing a satisfying rap, winning a stupid game that everyone is too passionate about during a video shoot—he pushed those feelings all to the forefront of his mind, imagining them drowning out the negative and overwhelm the flood with something totally different than pain and fear.

His stomach twisted, but he pushed through it. They were getting out of here. They were going to experience all of those things again. He had to believe the others, he had to believe that people would notice their disappearance and search for them. He had to keep up the hope.

Not only for himself, but for Felix too. He felt in charge of both of them now, and the feeling that he had someone else to look out for was great enough to push his own insecurities to the side. If it was for Felix, he could try to stay positive.

Wow, Jisungie, you’re really-!

“Is that better? Felix? Are you okay now?”

Jisung looked back over to Felix, who seemed to be relaxing slightly. It caught Jisung off-guard when Felix suddenly looked his way too, meeting his eyes as a sudden wave of gratitude flooded the stream between them.

“Jisung,” he rasped, his voice breathless and weak. The group around them fell silent. “Are you okay now? How are you doing that?”

All eyes turned to Jisung, making him shrug a little self-consciously.

“Just trying to think positive things,” he said softly. “Is it working?”

A small smile curled on Felix’s lips. “Yeah. I’m sorry you had to feel that.”

“I think it was a joint-effort. If there’s anyone who should be sorry it would be me.” Jisung flexed his hands, wincing as his muscles protested. “I think you’ve gotten a first-row seat to my anxiety now.”

“Oh…” Felix yawned behind his hand. “Is that why I’m so exhausted now?”

“I think that’s also just us being sleep-deprived at this point,” Minho said dryly. “Does anyone even know how long it’s been since we got dropped in this place?”

“It must have been more than a day I think,” Changbin said. “It feels like I pulled an all-nighter at least.”

“And if anyone knows what that feels like…” Jeongin nodded along. He looked up to the dark ceiling. “But that also means Seungmin has been alone for all that time, so we need to find a way to get up there. He shouldn’t be alone anymore. If everyone is okay enough to try to get up there?” He looked around unsurely.

“Well, I hate to be the one to say this,” Hyunjin said slowly, “but I really think the only way is to use that lever again.” He held a hand up before Minho could finish opening his mouth. “Before you protest, I don’t mean to put the platform down, but maybe we can push it higher up.”

Jisung didn’t need an emotional link to know that Minho’s heart skipped a beat at that. He could see it in the way the older’s face paled further, the way his hands found the edge of the platform and held it tightly.

“I think it’s the only thing we can really try,” Chan agreed. “But the problem with that is that the lever’s so far down now. Say we can reach the lever, we might not have enough time or light to figure out how to reverse it. And…” He sighed. “I’m in no condition to dive. Neither are Jisung or Lix.”

“And I’m not getting off this thing,” Minho said quickly.

“I really don’t want to swim past those hands…” Hyunjin admitted.

Jeongin shrugged. “I’ll go then.”

“No, you’re not,” multiple voices cut him off at once. Jeongin looked around the group in offense.

“Why not? I’m not injured or scared and I’m a great swimmer! Let me do it!”

“I’ll do it,” Changbin said sternly. “I don’t have any links with anyone so I’m the safest to go down there. I won’t affect anyone else.”

“But, hyung, your burns,” Jisung brought up, “You didn’t get out of my room scotch-free. Would you be okay swimming like that?”

“They’re just some scratches, nothing I can’t handle.”

“It’s not like I’m attached to anyone with my mind or feelings,” Jeongin said, a slight pout coming through his tone. “Just let me do it. I’m not hurt, I’ll be fine!”

“You know what,” Chan said, “The both of you can do it. You can switch and go after each other, how about that?”

Jeongin and Changbin turned to each other.

“It’s the best plan we got,” the older rapper gave in. “But I’ll go first.”

Jeongin rolled his eyes. “Fine.”

“I still don’t like this idea,” Minho grumbled. Jisung rubbed his back to offer him a bit of consolation, but he couldn’t do more than that. He agreed with the others that this was the only thing they could really try. They needed to get to Seungmin, and if moving the platform was the only way to try to get to him then they just had to endure it.

Changbin and Jeongin both slid off the platform carefully and got into the water. They hung on the edge of the platform with their arms hooked on it, the dim light reflecting off the water and casting small stripes on their faces.

“Wait,” Hyunjin said suddenly. “So what if we manage to raise the platform, how will you get back up here?”

Jeongin’s eyes widened. Changbin offered a sad smile.

“We’re not. It’ll be up to you to get Seungmin. Maybe we can meet up somewhere else again later.”

“Hyung!” Felix exclaimed, “No, we’re not leaving you behind! This can’t be the only way!”

“It is,” Jeongin said, suddenly determined. He pushed himself away from the platform. “We have to do this. At least none of us will be alone if this works. It’s the best solution.”

“Innie…” Hyunjin murmured.

“Hyung, you said you wanted to go first,” Jeongin said. “So go already before I get tired of swimming.”

Changbin gave a salute. “Aye Aye, captain.”

He dove under. Everyone held their breath the entire time it took Changbin to come back up again. When he did, he came through the surface with a loud gasp, blinking quickly to try and get the water out of his eyes.

“I think I did it,” he said, sounding out of breath. “The lever should be turned the other way now. Your turn, Innie.”

Jeongin nodded and took a large breath before disappearing underwater. Changbin took the time to catch his breath, while the others clung to the platform in anxious anticipation of what might happen. A soft, short ticking sound was all the warning they got before the platform started to shake, and Minho let out a surprised curse as he pressed himself down against it. Jisung plastered himself on Minho’s side, clinging to the platform too with everything he got. A swoop of fear came from Felix, and on instinct, Jisung tried to send more hopeful thoughts his way.

“Hold on tight!” he called out loud to the others, who immediately bent down to hold on too. The platform shook again, before it slowly started going up centimeter by centimeter. The only reason Jisung knew for sure they were moving up was because Changbin’s face was starting to get smaller and further away. At one point the moving paused and Jeongin appeared above the water again. Changbin dove back under. The platform started moving soon after. Next to him, Minho was breathing heavily, clearly trying to keep himself calm and in control.

Jisung looked up to the ceiling, which was getting closer and closer even in the dark hiding it. Hope started growing between them.

Seungmin was somewhere up there. They were getting closer. Soon, they would have finally found everyone, even if they wouldn’t all be together yet. They would at least know everyone was okay. Jisung thought that was worth more than anything else.

He softly rubbed Minho’s back as the platform gave a dangerous shake again and the older whimpered.

“Almost there, hyung,” he muttered. “Almost there.”

Chapter Text

Minho refused to show just how terrified he was, opting to just stay quiet and ride this out. He knew he wasn’t fooling Jisung, but at least he didn’t want to let anyone else know. The platform was almost all the way up, he could do this. Jisung’s hand on his back was a solid weight grounding him, one he had severely missed all this time being alone, and the warmth and the sound of breathing around him was helping him more than he’d ever admit out loud.

Jisung was also softly murmuring reassurances, both out loud and in his mind, though Minho doubted he even realized he was doing it double. The platform gave one final, resolute shake that had Minho’s whole body seizing up, and then silence.

It stopped.

Very, very carefully, Minho lifted his head and risked glancing around.

“I think I can reach it now,” Hyunjin said, carefully pushing himself up to stand. Everyone else held their breath as Hyunjin reached to the ceiling, his hand meeting stone. “Yes, I can touch it! Hyung, Innie, that’s enough!”

“Are you high enough?” Changbin’s shouted back.

“Yes, yes, I can touch the ceiling!”

“Can you feel something up there?” Chan asked. Hyunjin felt around, a short gasp leaving him when his fingers bumped against something pretty soon after.

“I think…” A click echoed through the space. “It’s a lock! I think I can push it open. Someone, help me.”

Minho didn’t need to be told twice. His chance to get off the platform was closer than ever, and that thought was more than enough to push him to his feet and raise his hands to the ceiling. In the dark, he searched for the lock. The metal was cold, making him jolt in surprise, but he quickly joined Hyunjin to push against it. With the two of them, they managed to push it flat in no time, a loud sound signaling that the lock was open now.

“You do the honors,” Hyunjin said, dropping his hands. Minho nodded. With both of his hands flat against the ceiling, he pushed, and slowly, a hatch started opening up, a thin strip of light breaking through the darkness.

Oh my God, it’s working! Jisung exclaimed in his mind.

The hatch opened up further to reveal a well-lit room, another ceiling that was much less high greeting them. Minho gave one look down towards the others, before he moved himself right under the hole. His arms shook as he pulled himself up, worming himself through and into the new room.

He was finally free from the darkness. He barely resisted the urge to start crying right then and there.

“What is up there? What do you see?” Chan questioned.

Minho looked around. The first thing he noticed—which brought a wave of disappointment—was that there was no Seungmin in sight anywhere. There was a large, empty cage, big enough to hold multiple people, and one wall where dozens of tv screens hung, all of them black and shut down.

“There’s no one here,” he said, confused. “Take a look yourself.”

He scooted away from the hatch, giving room for the others to climb up too. Chan was the first to get up, helped by Hyunjin and Jisung, and then came Felix, the both of them heaving from extortion the moment they were sat on the floor. In the new lighting, they looked even worse: pale and sweaty and on the brink of collapsing.

Jisung was next, also panting but able to pull himself up. His leg had become a dead weight, so Minho helped him with the last part of heaving himself up. Hyunjin was last. He practically jumped up, climbing through with a nimbleness nobody else had anymore. He was the first to stand, stepping further inside the room with a confused frown on his face.

“But… I could have sworn I felt him. He was here not so long ago, I’m sure of it.” He cupped his hands around his mouth. “Seungmin! Kim Seungmin, where are you?”

No answer came. Not that Minho had expected one. This room was desolate and empty.

Hyunjin didn’t seem to get the memo, however, and started walking around, calling for Seungmin like he wasn’t just yelling at silent walls.

Minho, in the meantime, carefully went to stand and walked to the cage. There was a pile of files stacked on the floor inside, some close enough for him to grab through the spires. He grabbed one and opened it.

His blood turned cold as soon as he read the first page.

Subject 124
Bang Christopher Chan
3 October 1997
Born Seoul, South Korea

Family:
Lucas Bang, Hannah Bang…

“What the hell…”

Everything, from his previous places of residence to his years at JYPE to his career in Stray Kids was written in meticulous detail. A picture of him filled the top right corner. The worst of it all was that his file was page after page of information. His likes and dislikes, the members he seemed to be closest to, paragraphs full of observations supporting those claims, his skills, his other company friends, his weaknesses.

Minho almost dropped the file when he read that, his breath catching in his throat.

This was… too much. Someone had not just done research on them, but actively stalked them. These notes weren’t just about things anyone could find on the internet. There were things that even Minho didn’t know about.

“Guys,” he called, too freaked out to tear his eyes from the page. “Guys, you need to see this.”

Hyunjin came over and stopped next to him. “What are those? What do they-” He cut himself off the moment he must have read the page too. “Holy shit.”

Fears:

• ‘fear being ignored’
• ‘fear of people leaving him’
• ‘fear of the dark’
• ‘fear of horror and jumpscares’
• ‘fear of loud sounds’
• ‘fear of being rejected’

Weaknesses:

• ‘the other members’
• ‘the dark’
• ‘mental torture’

Minho twisted around, suddenly needing this file to get as far away from him as it could. He didn’t even want to know the rest of the list. He threw it Chan’s way, disgusted with what he’d read.

“Be careful reading that,” he warned.

Chan frowned and reached out for it. As he opened the file and read, all color that might have remained on his face disappeared, his eyes growing wide and scared.

“What is this…?”

“There’s one for each of us,” Hyunjin said, crouching down and grabbing another file from the cage. This one showed Felix’s picture. “Shit, this is messed up. Who would ever…?”

“Our kidnappers, no doubt,” Minho sneered, his fear slowly turning into mortified anger. His insults from before rose to the forefront of his mind, and judging from the harsh stare he got from Jisung, he wasn’t able to keep them to himself.

“Those fuckers,” Jisung echoed out loud just as the thought it. “They really prepared all of this just to, what? Make personalized prisons for us? Force their weird experiments on us so we’d have no choice but to play along? Are they actually insane?”

“I mean, they sent a shooter after us,” Hyunjin said. He grabbed all the files he could reach, spreading them out over the floor. There was his, Jisung’s and Seungmin’s, the other files lying just too far away for him to grab. “I knew they were insane from the very beginning.”

Secretly, Minho was glad he didn’t have access to his own file. He didn't need to see just what weakness they’d written down for him.

“Wait, what’s that?” he wondered aloud, spotting something else inside the cage. With a bit of a struggle, he reached far enough inside to pull it out. A patch of torn fabric. He held it up towards the others, showing it to them.

Hyunjin gasped. “That’s-” He turned to Felix. “Do you feel that?”

Felix nodded, eyes wide. “That’s Seungmin’s.”

“Seungmin’s?” Jisung asked. “But does that mean that… he…”

“He’s probably fine,” Chan said, some of his leader voice coming through that had everyone deflating instantly. “We must keep believing that.”

“I can still feel him,” Felix confirmed. “So he can’t be- you know.”

Without warning, a zooming started up around them and Minho tensed. He whirled around, ready to fend whatever it was off, but then the screens turned on. Camera feeds. Dozens of them. All of different rooms and hallways and of-

“That’s Jeongin and Changbin-hyung!” Hyunjin exclaimed, pointing to one of the screens. And indeed, the camera feed was showing the flooded room, the platform raised high and Changbin and Jeongin swimming some meters under it. They were holding on to the pole the platform was attached to. They looked tired, but at least they were both holding on tight and still above the water.

“Oh my god,” Felix said. “This is the room Seungmin told us about. When he contacted us through the speakers, he said he could see us. He really must have been here.”

“So this cage…” Hyunjin trailed off, looking mortified. Minho shared the sentiment. Having been stuck on his platform hadn’t been a fun time, but to be forced to watch them all suffer while stuck in a literal cage?

“Sociopaths, every single one of them,” Minho hissed. “I can’t wait to get out of here and make their lives a living hell. They’re gonna regret ever even thinking about us.”

“You know what still bothers me the most?” Chan asked. He was looking at the files, paging through them. He held up his own, showing the first page for everyone else to see. “They call me subject 124. Just like how they called Minho and Jisung numbers on those papers. They really don’t see us as anything else but guinea pigs. Do you think… that means we’re expendable to them? Do you think if we don’t give them the results they want…?”

Felix slapped Chan on the shoulder, making himself and Jisung cringe from the impact too. He didn’t look like he regretted it, though.

“We’re not gonna think like that, hyung,” he said sternly, rubbing his shoulder. “However they think of us, we’re getting out of here alive and that’s that. They’re not gonna be able to get rid of us that easily. We’ll find Seungmin, and Innie and Changbin-hyung will come back to us in their own time. We are making it out alive.”

Chan shot a wry smile the younger’s way. “Noted. Sorry, Lix.”

A look passed between them, one deeper than their words. They must be communicating through their feelings too. That idea still gave Minho the creeps. Not because he thought their members were crazy, but because he knew it actually worked.

Felix smiled, and Chan sighed as if he knew it was useless to fight whatever Felix was sending him through their bond.

This is all so weird, Minho couldn’t help but think. We’ve become freaks of nature and we’re getting used to it.

Jisung looked up, meeting his gaze.

I still don’t know if I’m not going crazy, Jisung agreed. But it definitely helps that this creeps you out too.

Why wouldn’t it? You’re connected to two different people in two impossible ways. Can you feel what Felix is forcing Chan to feel? Is it something mushy and sunshiny?

Jisung huffed. Worse.

Gross.

Definitely.

“Okayyyy,” Hyunjin said loudly. He stalked away from Minho and straight to the hatch in the floor. “While you four enjoy your weird telekinetic conversations that I’m not part of, I’m gonna talk to some of the only sane people still left.” He bend down. “INNIE! CHANGBIN-HYUNG! HAVE ROOM FOR ONE MORE?”

“Do NOT COME DOWN HERE, HWANG HYUNJIN!” Changbin shouted back. “STAY WITH SEUNGMIN FOR GOD’S SAKE!”

“SEUNGMING ISN’T HERE!”

“WHAT?!”

“I SAID HE ISN’T-”

“Okay, that’s enough,” Minho said, rolling his eyes. “Stop screaming. They can hear you without that and I’d rather not become deaf before I even turn thirty.” He nudged his head towards the hatch.

Tell the others about the patch we found.

Jisung perked up, turning to the hatch and lying down on his elbows to look down.

“Hyung! We did find something! There’s a piece of Seungminnie’s shirt here! We think he’s moved somewhere else!”

“What?! But-”

Changbin’s voice cut off. Minho frowned, about to step closer to the hatch too to see what could have silenced him when all of a sudden a loud hissing sound filled the room. He whipped his head up.

“What the everloving fuck is it now-”

Green Gas. Pouring from little holes in the walls. It was quickly filling the air, bellowing out and downwards towards them like an impenetrable mist. Minho cursed again, before rushing over to the hatch.

“We need to get out of here now!”

“I’m not going back down there!” Jisung quickly exclaimed, a look of horror flashing on his face. “Isn’t there a door anywhere-”

“No time!” Minho hissed. He took one look at Felix and Chan to see that they were scooting back towards the hatch as fast as they could. But the green smoke was faster. They were never all gonna make it down on time.

Fuck that, though. They needed to make this work.

“Changbin, Innie!” Minho called down. “Get ready to lower the platform again!”

When no answer came, barely a second passed before panic started to set in.

“Changbin! Innie! Answer me!”

But no reply came. Minho slapped the ground, eyes flying every which way to find another solution.

There was none.

“Dammit. Hyunjin, you take Felix. Jisung, you jump first! Come on, we gotta move!”

The others were too frantic to do anything but listen, and so Jisung wasted no time in letting himself fall through the hole in the floor. A cry came from below as soon as he hit the platform and pain exploded in Minho’s leg, making him cry out too. Tears welled up in his eyes, but he harshly bit his lip, trying to reign himself in. Now was not the time to be weak. The others needed him.

He rushed over to Chan and offered him his back. Chan circled his arms around Minho’s neck without any complaint and let himself be dragged, his leg painting a thin trail of blood behind him. Hyunjin had lifted Felix without much problem, and had already made it to the hatch.

“Brace yourself!” He called out. Then he jumped. Now it was only Minho and Chan left and they were almost at the hatch.

The green gas was too. Minho made the stupid mistake to gasp when he realized the gas was surrounding them already, and he inhaled it, the smoke immediately burning through his nostrils and making him cough.

“Get down!” Chan shouted in alarm, putting one leg back to the ground and pulling Minho lower. “Are you okay?”

“Will be,” was Minho’s clipped answer. They reached the hatch just as his coughs started to close up his airways. He stumbled, lack of air starting to hurt. His nose was burning so hard that tears were leaking from his eyes now. He pushed Chan off of him and helped him drop his leg over the ledge.

“Guys, catch Chan!” he shouted, coughing extra hard afterwards. God, he couldn’t breathe. Chan looked back at him worriedly, but Minho didn’t let him use up more time. Gas was starting to cloud all around them, even seeping down the hatch a bit, and it was probably only because Chan had incredible swimmer lungs that he wasn’t bent over choking too.

“Go!” He pushed Chan, not giving him any time to prepare himself. Chan fell down, shouting in shock. Minho coughed painfully, bending over and collapsing on all fours.

“We got him!” Hyunjin shouted up. “Now it’s your turn, hyung, come on!”

But Minho couldn’t. He couldn’t breathe, which made moving feel impossible. His whole body felt on fire, and he heard Jisung cry out for him too, no doubt feeling the insufferable pain.

With shaking hands, Minho grabbed the edges of the hatch, ready to slam it closed. He gave one last look down, wanting to see everyone one last time before whatever this was took his consciousness away. The others were looking up with wide eyes and panic on their faces.

Jisung seemed to be the first one to realize what he was about to do.

“Minho, NO!”

“You’ll find me again,” Minho said breathlessly. Spots dotted his vision. His grip was losing strength.

It was now or never.

Hyunjin tried to jump up and stop him, but gas was already leaking out, down to them and starting to circle the platform. Minho knew he was making the right choice. Without remorse, he slammed the hatch closed and immediately collapsed on top of it as the hacking from his lungs became too much. Green was everywhere around him. He couldn’t breathe.

Far too slowly, the world turned dark around him, finally taking the pain away.

Chapter Text

Minho’s sacrifice was stupid, horrifying and braveless all in one, but no matter what it was, one thing was certain: it was pointless.

Jisung wished he could tell him that, but he could feel the fuzziness start to cloud his mind and knew that Minho wouldn’t hear him. His body racked with the force of his coughs.

The gas had been under the platform too. There was a reason Changbin and Jeongin hadn’t responded. There’d been hidden valves under the platform. Jisung hoped their kidnappers wouldn’t be so cruel as to let them drown, but he couldn’t know for certain…

His mind was becoming sluggish. Around him, Felix and Chan were already out and Hyunjin was weakly coughing, having collapsed not too long after Minho threw the hatch closed.

Jisung was scared. Or no, terrified. He didn’t know what was going to happen to them. He didn’t want to be separated again.

But he couldn’t do anything.

Green engulfed everything and Jisung lost the fight.

Sorry, Minho.

Chapter Text

Subject 124
Chan woke up somewhere dark. For a second, he actually wondered if his eyes were open or not, but rubbing them proved to him they were. It was just so silent all around him and he couldn’t see any walls or ceiling. It was like he was in a void.

It said a lot about their current predicament that his first instinct wasn’t to call out to anyone or to cry in fear—it was to feel for Felix’s presence. Through all the awful moments, Felix had been a constant. His hopefulness or fear was always there, grounding Chan and reminding him that he wasn’t alone.

But Chan’s breath stuttered. He couldn’t feel Felix.

Felix’s feelings weren’t there.

The panic might have come belatedly, but it was here now, gripping his throat in a tight, unrelenting grip and making him choke on nothing. Felix, why couldn’t he feel him? He’d been able before, from the moment Felix jumped in front of those wolves to the moment the green gas filled up everything.

The green gas. Did it… do this?

A dark thought popped up in Chan’s head. If this was just an experiment to their captors and they simply saw them as test subjects, then… did they reset everything? Could they even do that?

“Lix…” Chan whispered, curling up. He put his hands over his ears, rocking back and forward like he always did when his fear became too much to bear.

(Absentmindedly, he noticed his leg didn’t hurt. Did they reset that too?)

Was this all really… just another test?

Subject 127
The word ominous was the only right word to describe what Hyunjin saw as soon as he opened his eyes.

Red smoke, everywhere, clouding a room that he couldn’t even see. He barely opened his eyes and was already freaking out, not just because of the smoke, but because there was no one else. He was alone again. And fuck, did he hate to be alone.

“Guys!” he shouted, not caring if he was loud. He couldn’t bear to be alone again. Not again. “Guys! Anyone! Answer me!”

Just like the first time, he wasn’t above screaming for hours if he had to. He scraped his throat, swallowing before shouting as loud as he could.

“HELLO? ANYONE? GUYS!”

Subject 126
Changbin jolted awake when a huge BAM! exploded close to him. He flew upwards, heaving and eyes wide open, looking around. A flash of light, before another BOOM! sounded. He flinched harshly.

All around him was gray, lifeless nothing. Plains, stretching on endlessly. Dark, rolling clouds pushing against a ceiling that was meters high.

He didn’t know where he was or where the others were. This couldn’t be good. Another flash and an explosion of sound. This time he saw what it was.

Lighting. Inside. His ears rang painfully.

This must be a new prison.

“Fuck,” he cursed, pushing himself up with urgency. He had no idea how their kidnappers had managed to create lightning inside, but he knew he couldn’t stay here. He was not about to be fried alive.

He looked around, searching for an exit. The room was large, no definitive end in sight, but since he could see a ceiling, he was positive the room had to have an end somewhere.

He started walking, blindly following an internal compass that had never been the best at finding directions. Still, it brought him to Jisung the first time, so maybe he could trust it again. He didn’t feel a pull to any direction at all, but his feet still brought him further through the room.

The lighting kept firing left and right. More than once, he had to throw himself to the side to avoid a strike. A rumbling always preluded the lighting flash, which was his only warning he got as to how close it would strike.

Still, he wouldn’t stop. Not until he found the others again. Not until they were all getting out of here.

Subject 129
The first thing Felix felt when he woke up was overwhelming fear.

Immediately, he knew it came from Chan. It felt like he was doused in ice water, waking him up from head to toe with an urgency that had him up and panting in a flash of a second.

Chan was in danger. He could feel it. Not for the first time, he wished he had the thought sharing Minho and Jisung had. If he could just ask Chan what was wrong, everything would be so much easier. But he couldn’t, and so he was stuck with fear gripping him and a vague sense of where it was coming from.

Hallways stretched from his left and right, giving him no sign as to where to go. He knew he had no other choice but to walk. He couldn’t wait for Chan to find him like last time, not when he could feel just how panicked and terrified the other was. He needed to help. He needed to find him instead.

“Don’t worry, Chan-hyung,” he mumbled, holding the wall as he slowly pushed himself up. His legs were still hurting something fierce, but it was dulled somehow. Maybe because Chan’s adrenaline was nulling it. It was a nice break either way. Also, this time, he wasn’t the same despairing person stuck in the dark like the first time. Now he had a secret weapon. The pull he felt—it was pointing him to the right. He started walking.

“I’ll always find you.”

Subject 131
Jeongin was sick of being put in a room alone. He was sick of these experiments, of how messed up this whole situation was and worst of all, how he let the loneliness affect him.

He should be stronger than this. He shouldn’t be so pathetic.

But he was just so scared. His hands shook, his entire body was breaking out in sweat and he could feel the far too successful attempts of his heart trying to break free from his ribcage. He was alone. Again. Fuck.

He coughed, looking around the room filled with fire and smoke and unbearable heat. Their captors had to be insane. Who put someone in a room full of fire just to play with them? It was almost like a wasteland in some dystopian movie where the world burned, except he could see dark walls in the distance, meaning he was still inside somewhere.

Not that that thought helped the panic inside of him reside anyhow. He felt like it was slowly choking him, the terror like a vice around his throat that was making it hard to breathe.

He was alone. The others were gone again. This was all too similar, too empty, too large, too-

He was alone.

Alone.

All alone.

“Fucking- Think, Jeongin. Keep it together.” He pulled his shirt up over his nose and ducked low, hoping to filter the air a bit so he wouldn’t die of inhaling too much smoke. “Think. Freaking out isn’t gonna help. Don’t be such a loser. What would the others do?”

Panic even more than he already was, most likely. At least he was forcing back the burning behind his eyes. There was no use crying like some petulant toddler who’d lost sight of his family again. He wasn’t helpless. He refused to be. Fear could suck it, he would not give into it even if it was the last thing he did.

But what else could he do? He loved to curse out their kidnappers, shout or scream or cry or do all of the above, but that wouldn’t help him at all. He needed to stay rational, to keep a level head.

Sweat pooled on his temples already, from more than just the fear. It was blazing in here. Literally. His shirt was getting sticky, just like his hair, strands already plastered to his forehead and prickling annoyingly in his eyes.

“Think, dammit!”

He coughed again, the air thick and dusty to breathe. What helped him last time? Last time he found a door to get out by…Ah.

Inwardly, he cursed. That stupid Safety Sense. Of course. Him and his freaky internal compass that kept leading him to the hyungs was his only way out. He hated it. It was unnatural and freaky. The only thing that made it less awful was that he wasn’t the only one being weird. And at least he didn’t share a brain or pain with anyone.

He sighed, closing his eyes. Alright then, how did this work again? Focus and breathe, trying to see it in front of him like a literal compass…

A voice cut through his concentration and he jolted. His head whipped around. There was someone else here! They were screaming, or no—yelling. They didn’t sound scared at all.

Before Jeongin knew it, a grin started spreading on his face. Oh, he knew exactly who that was.

Subject 128
Jisung woke up in silence. Like literal, bone-chilling silence. It was all around him, and even worse: it was quiet inside of him.

He couldn’t feel Felix. He couldn’t sense or hear Minho.

“What the…” he opened his eyes, slowly pushing himself into a sitting position. There was glass all around him, encasing him on three sides like a pyramid prison of mirrors. He was about to put a hand out to touch the glass but stilled.

Chains encircled his arms. All around his chest, his wrists, his neck.

Oh hell no. No, no, no, he was not about to be locked up again. He lived through this once, he didn’t want to be stuck again! Not alone! Not chained!

Before he even realized it, his lungs were constricting, his air supply being stolen from him by an invisible force. Shit, this was bad. Like really, really bad. He couldn’t hear anything, couldn’t sense anything and it freaked him out.

Hyung! he called as loud as he could in his mind. HYUNG!

But no one responded. He couldn’t feel the link between him and Minho, not even the version where Minho was unconscious or blocking him, which meant that their connection- It was gone. Disappeared. He was alone.

“No,” he gasped, trembling fingers coming up to pull at his shirt. He couldn’t breathe. It felt like he was suffocating. “No, no, no, no, no!”

Subject 125
“Fuck this shit, not again!”

Minho whirled around, only seeing fire and ashes anywhere he looked. He was alone, stuck in another room in this hellhole of a place without any idea as to where the others could be. He’d sacrificed himself, yes, and he was glad the others didn’t have to put up with more of this bullshit, but that didn’t mean that he was happy about this situation at all. Anything was better than being locked up in another deathtrap like this.

“Fuck you all!” He screamed to the ceiling. “Why are you even playing this sick game with us, huh? Money? Are you recording it and selling the footage? Are you just psychopaths that get a kick out of torturing people?!”

He wanted to swing his fist, scream obscenities and fight whatever he could find, but a small voice in his head reminded him that he had other things to worry about. He knew he needed to keep it cool.

He could feel Jisung. Faintly. Their connection was fuzzy, like it was the last time Jisung was unconscious. That didn’t bode well at all. They’d all jumped back on the platform, right? The gas shouldn’t have been able to get them there. So was he sleeping? Had something else happened?

He hated not knowing. He needed to get out of here and back to the others so he could know for sure.

With his eyes closed, he let out a deep breath. Maybe, if he just focussed, he could do what the others seemed to be able to do too. Feel where everyone was. Sense their direction or something.

Breathe in, breathe out. Ignore the heat of the fire. Focus.

Without a warning, a stab shot through his head and he flinched, one hand coming up to grab it.

Darkness. He was alone. Rocking back and forth. Trying to keep calm. Feeling empty inside. Everywhere, dark. He was alone.

Minho’s eyes flew open, his breath coming out winded even though he did nothing. What was that?!

It felt like he was seeing a totally different room, feeling totally different feelings. Echoes of it still resonated in his chest, the fear, the helplessness. He rubbed his shirt. That was weird, and not at all what he’d been hoping would happen.

Minho grit his teeth. This was it. His patience was officially gone now. He didn’t have time to think about weird visions and whatever happened to the others.

“Fuck you and your weird experiments!” he yelled to the ceiling. “Fuck you for doing this to us! We never asked to be your science pets! What you did to us better be reversible!”

All around him fire raged. It made him even madder.

“Fuck!!!”

Chapter Text

Seungmin’s heart was breaking into pieces as he was forced to watch. Again. While he was so proud of the others finding his cage in the surveillance room, by that time he was long gone. They weren’t fast enough.

Their kidnappers had thought ahead, moving him to a new place, one that was even worse than the last. They were smart, he’d give them that.

He’d been sat in a metal chair, back ramrod straight. Metal cuffs held his arms in their unrelenting hold. Another wall of screens was in front of him, showing him dozens of places, but this time, there was more in the room around him. Equipment. People.

He wasn’t alone.

Seungmin tensed his arms, trying to pull out of the cuffs with no luck. He strained his neck, trying to see if the other people in the room were watching him. If he could just escape and find the others, he could help them find a way out-

One of the people stepped into view. A long, white researcher’s coat made what they thought themselves to be quite clear.

“I see you’re awake, subject 130. That’s good.”

They rounded the chair. Their hair was up with a big hair clip, not a single strand out of place. Sharp eyes stood above a sharp nose and an empty smile.

“Your observations before were helpful, so thank you for that-”

“It’s not like you gave me a choice,” Seungmin sneered, pulling at the cuffs again. It hurt, but it was all he could do to show how much he hated what they made him do. “You threatened to kill my friends.”

The researcher grabbed a clipboard from a table close by.

“A useful scare tactic, I’ll admit. One less subject for the experiment is unfortunate but not the end of the world, after all.”

“You guys are sick.”

“On the contrary,” the researcher said. “We are healthy in both body and mind. It’s why we were set on this job to create the perfect sub-humans. Beings who’ll be even stronger than a normal person can ever be.” They looked down at their clipboard. “But enough about our goals, they don’t concern you yet. We’ve barely started with phase two.”

“Phase two…?”

They gestured toward the screens. “As you see, we’ve put your team members in different environments to further test which links have been strengthened and which we still need to attend to. If you would be so kind as to help us once more-”

“Why?” Seungmin cut her off. “Why would I ever help you?”

The researcher sighed, looking over Seungmin’s head to something or someone behind him before looking back.

“Let me rephrase,” they said, their tone patient like they were explaining something to a stubborn child, “you will help us observe the other subjects just like before, or else the same consequences will follow. Your deductions are sharp and to the point, precisely how we like them, and so it would be a waste to throw you into the tests like the others. You will conduct your part of the experiment here, with us, and as you put it earlier-” They took a step closer, meeting his eyes. “-you have no choice.”

Seungmin swallowed. He glared at the researcher. Upon noticing his silence, they nodded like they thought he agreed.

“Excellent. So how we’re going to proceed is as follows-” They turned, gesturing again to the screens. “Help us deduce which subjects have strengthened their links and give us the information we need to test it. If hypothesized correctly, we’ll be able to move on to the subjects who have yet to strengthen their connections and we will design the correct environments for them. Now, as you deduced earlier, subject 128 Han Jisung and subject 129 Lee Yongbok Felix might be bonded and we need a way to test this hypothesis. How would you suggest we do that?”

Seungmin kept his mouth firmly shut. He simply glared, not afraid to show that he wasn’t willingly cooperating with them. The researcher nodded again like they had expected that, and looked back over his head.

“Prepare incentive A00 for subject 129 please,” they suddenly said in English.

Seungmin tensed. His eyes snapped to the screens, dread pooling in his stomach. He zeroed in on Felix’s screen. The older boy was starting to wake up. He was in an empty hallway, the cameras showing how there was an endless maze of white walls and corners waiting for him. He still looked weak, pushing himself up against the wall for support. He was in no state to run from something. Seungmin’s mind was racing. Should he stand his ground and essentially sentence Felix to more danger? Should he hope for Felix to be able to withstand whatever this ‘incentive’ would be?

He didn’t know. He couldn’t know. But time was ticking. Behind him, he heard tapping on keyboards, people murmuring to each other. He tried to turn his head, but the high headrest of the chair made it impossible to see behind him.

“Incentive A00 is ready, madam,” an unknown voice said behind Seungmin, making him jump. The researcher nodded.

“This is your final chance, subject 130. Cooperate or we might lose one of the other subjects prematurely.”

Seungmin’s heart battered against his ribcage but he still bit his lips closed. He was not folding this easily. Felix could take it. He’d just have to have faith in him.

A beat of silence. Then: “Very well. You’ve made your decision. Activate Incentive A00.”

Seungmin’s eyes were stuck on Felix’s screen as he waited with baited breath. Nothing seemed to be happening yet. Felix was carefully hobbling along the wall, seeming to stare in front of him with purpose. Could it be that he was actually feeling where he needed to go?

Without warning, the screen turned dark and Seungmin jolted.

“What the-! Hey, this wasn’t the deal!”

It could be his imagination, but he thought he could see a hint of a smirk on the researcher’s face.

“Ah, did I not tell you? We won’t show you what the consequences are, of course. Only when we will get word that a subject has failed to survive, will we let you know. Tell me, subject 130, do you still want to take the risk now that you know this?”

Seungmin grit his teeth. Logically, he knew that whether he saw or not did nothing to change the odds, but still… the black screen felt like an omen. A very bad one. If he couldn’t see Felix until they heard that he’d died-

He hung his head, clenching his eyes closed. Dammit, their kidnappers had done their research alright. He hated not having all the information to deal with a situation. His hands were turning clammy, the dread making him nauseous.

He couldn’t risk this. Not with the others on the line. He couldn’t risk Felix, he couldn’t play with their lives like this just because he wanted to hold on to his morals.

Maybe… if he played along, they would all get spared at least. Maybe if he helped, he could at least steer the tests towards a direction that none of them would get more hurt. If he kept being stubborn, it would be his fault if Felix died.

The researcher hummed. “I’ll return to you after we’ve heard the next update then. Make sure to get some rest, subject 130-”

“Wait.”

Seungmin opened his eyes slowly, hating that he was once again giving in. He was so weak.

“Wait. Fine, I’ll do it. Show me Felix. Turn back the consequence. Please.”

That same hint of a smirk remained. “Oh no, that’s not how this works. The consequence is already in motion. If you do not want this to happen to anyone else, then you’d do well to cooperate, but subject 129 is on its own now.”

Seungmin balled his hands into fists, thrashing in his chair. “That wasn’t the deal! You called off the shooter before, so show me Felix! I’ll join your stupid research so stop it already!”

The researcher looked down at their clipboard, crossing something off. “I’ll tell you what: we’ll consider saving subject 129 if you give us a well-thought-out experiment to put into practice on subjects 128 and 129. If we approve of your method, we’ll deactivate the incentive.”

Seungmin wasn’t proud of how fast he looked at the screen for Jisung at that. He didn’t know if the birthday twins actually had a ‘link’ or whatever the researchers were looking for, but he needed to find something, anything that could make a so-called test on them sound believable while also keeping them safe. Opposite of Felix in his endless maze, Jisung was lying on a bed in another room, unconscious and eerily still.

He needed something that they both shared, something that would impact them but not hurt them…

“It’s touch!” he exclaimed, going for the first thing that came to mind. “They’re some of the touchiest members, so taking that away will be most effective to get a reaction out of them!”

And protect them from harm, he didn’t add. Desperately, he looked back at the researcher, praying that they’d accept his idea. They seemed deep in thought.

“Sensory deprivation… Yes, that could work. If we take a different approach from phase one and make it mental instead of physical, maybe it would stimulate their Soul Links to strengthen… Hmm, yes, and by fully pulling one of the two from their sensations and forcing the other to find them…”

Their mumbles sounded crazy to Seungmin, but the more they spoke, the more the researcher seemed to entertain the idea. Far too slow, they nodded, writing something down on their clipboard and then giving orders to other people in the room in English again. It seemed that they’d chosen this specific researcher to talk to Seungmin because they also spoke Korean, but the rest of the team didn’t. Maybe they hadn’t done their research as well as they thought then, if they expected to be able to talk over his head without him understanding them. Seungmin’s English was almost on par with that of the Australian duo, and it certainly was enough to translate what the researchers were talking about.

“Division one, give subject 128 simulation CCP and give it more suppressors beforehand. Make sure it won’t be able to feel anything. Division two, Shut down the lights for subject 129 and lock the doors. Make it difficult for it to find subject 128. We must ensure they can’t feel anything from their Soul Links so they’ll be even more desperate to strengthen them. As for subject 126 and 124, put them in simulations TR and DR respectively until we have more data on them.”

Subjects 126 and 124… If Seungmin’s developing theory was right and the numbers went up per age (128 for Jisung, 129 for Felix, 130 for him) then they must be talking about Changbin and Chan. He searched the screens and soon found both rappers lying on similar beds as Jisung, vulnerable to whatever their kidnappers wanted to do to them.

As he watched them breathe in and out in their deep sleeps, all he could think about was that whatever happened to them now happened because of him. He'd given the directions. It would be all his fault.

Quietly, so none but him would hear, he apologized. It was the only thing he could do for them now.

“I’m sorry, hyungs…Please forgive me.”

Chapter Text

The moment the lights went out, Felix had the shortest and most efficient panic attack of his life. He sucked in a breath, froze in place and let his body fill with pure despair for only a split of a second. His mind bombarded him with doom scenarios, one after the other, all zooming through his head in painful flashes. Something could be coming, another wolf or a shooter or something even more terrifying. He had to run, to hide, he didn’t want to die-

But then he felt Chan’s fear again, and remembered that he couldn’t hesitate. He pressed the terror down. The dark didn’t scare him. He wouldn’t let it anymore. He put a lid on his panic, pushed it down until he couldn’t feel it anymore and his limbs were able to move again. He took a step forward, then another.

He could feel Chan, and that was enough to make him brave.

(Very fuzzy, like an itch under his ribcage, he could also sense the vaguest hints of Jisung, but he seemed even farther away than Chan. So Chan it was. Jisung would come later.)

“Just stay calm,” he mumbled to himself, trailing along the wall. The dark had nothing on him now that he had his secret weapon. His member navigation hadn’t failed him yet, and it wouldn’t do so now. He didn’t need to be able to see the path, he’d be able to follow it anyway.

“Just breathe and find him. That’s all you gotta do. You can do this, Felix.”

He honed in on the soft calling of Chan’s fear. It was like a beacon, shining in the dark so he didn’t have to be scared of anything. With every step, he was getting closer. He wasn’t a one-trick pony who would let himself be paralyzed by the same scare tactic twice.

Take that, kidnappers, he thought triumphantly, you’re not getting me that easily.

Fully focussed on walking, it felt like time sped up. He didn’t think of anything else; he just walked forward, his mind only repeating that he needed to find Chan, get to where he was, find him and save him and make that awful fear finally go away.

In no time at all, his fingers bumped against a doorknob. On the inside he cheered while he immediately went to grab it. Chan was there, he could feel it. He jostled the knob, trying to pull open the door only to find it closed. Of course, they wouldn’t make it easy for him.

The joke was on them; he hadn’t trained his body all those years for nothing and nothing was going to keep him away from Chan now that he was so close.

With a calculated step back, he took a deep breath and pictured what he wanted to do in his mind.

“Yah!”

He roundhouse-kicked the knob right off its wooden frame. The impact was loud, but it did the job, and he quickly pushed the door open, rushing into the room. All his adrenaline rushed out at the sight that met him. Chan, asleep on a bed, a small light beside it casting the room in a soft glow. Were it not for the weird head set that covered his eyes, he would have almost thought Chan was just sleeping in a random hotel room during one of their tour stops. The reality was far less innocent, though.

“Hyung, hey.” Felix rushed over to the side of the bed. “Hyung, wake up.”

The closer he got, the more he could see the sweat building on Chan’s skin. The older’s face was scrunched up with the fear that still radiated off of him, like he was having a nightmare, and the headset that covered his eyes…

Let’s just say that Felix had watched an animated series once and all the characters that had been stuck in things like that had come way too close to dying or actually did. This looked way too much like one of those headsets.

“Hyung, please, wake up. Chan. Please. Chris, come on. Wake up.”

He shook him, tapped on the headset, pinched his skin and even whispered in his ear (something he knew Chan hated), but nothing worked. He didn’t dare pull off the headset by force. What if it was connected to the brain or some of the nerves in his spine? What if it was wired to electrocute anyone who tried to pull it off? It was too risky. He couldn’t jeopardize Chan’s life like that, especially since he couldn’t know anything for sure.

He sat down on his knees beside the bed, far too close to giving up. This was no use. Chan wasn’t waking up from whatever he was forced to see. He was stuck, just as much as Felix was, only in a whole other world. Was he even aware that he was asleep? Did he know Felix was here, or did he think he was all alone?

Felix’s heart broke at that thought. He wished he could help Chan, but it was too dangerous to try anything more than stay by his side and wait for him to wake up on his own. Out of options, Felix grabbed Chan’s hand, squeezing it softly.

“Chan-hyung, wake up,” he pleaded uselessly. “I’m here, so please…Come back to me. This place is way too terrifying without you. Please… I can’t do this alone. The others need you… I need you. Please, wake up…”

But no matter what he said, Chan slept on. Felix was stuck waiting, hoping that his closeness was enough. Maybe the bond between them would at least be able to soothe Chan in a way.

All he could do was stay and wait.

Chapter Text

It was unmistakable. Someone else was there. Jeongin could hear them yelling in anger, and so he saw only one option.

To yell back.

“Hyung!” he screamed, pressing his shirt closer to his nose and mouth while the smoke clogged the air. He crawled forward slowly, careful to avoid the flames. “Hyung, can you hear me? I’m here!”

It didn’t matter which hyung he was calling. He could feel the direction they must be in because his heart screamed SAFE! at him and so he could only follow that. The flames made it impossible to keep his eyes open much, so he mostly relied on his feelings to navigate through the heat. The voice was steadily becoming louder and clearer. He was getting closer.

“Hyung! Hyung, I’m here!”

“-and as soon as our managers find you, they’ll tear you to SHREDS in the court-”

A figure was becoming visible through the flames. Jeongin started waving, but he hissed when he got too close to some of the flames and he quickly retracted his hand.

“Hyung!!”

“-you’ll wish you were never fucking born-”

“HYUNG!”

The voice cut off, the figure stilling. Jeongin barely managed to find a spot that wasn’t scorched already and he quickly dashed between the flames to finally get to them.

“Hyung, Minho-hyung!”

“Innie..?”

Minho was there, soot on his face and skin pale. He met Jeongin’s eyes looking like he was seeing a ghost. For a second, they just stared at each other, before Minho broke the weird moment and did something entirely out of character. He rushed over to Jeongin, crushing him in a desperate hug.

“Fuck, Innie, I’m so glad to see you.” He pushed away from the hug far too soon, and Jeongin hated that he wanted to lean back into it. He barely held himself back.

“Are the others close? Is everyone here somewhere? What happened to Jisung? Why has he passed out again?”

“Woah, hyung, slow down-” During the surprise hug, Jeongin had let go of his shirt in shock, but now he quickly pulled it back up over his face. The smoke was already making his nose tickle again. He dropped into a crouch. Minho mirrored him. Above him, the air vibrated from the heat, while dark gray smoke circled above their heads like coiling snakes. They couldn’t stay here for long.

Still Minho wasn’t making any sense, so Jeongin had to ask: “What are you talking about? What happened to everyone? How do you know Jisung’s out for the count?”

Minho tapped his head. “His thoughts are fuzzy. I can’t feel him clearly and I can’t hear him either. Last time that meant he was unconscious.” He looked around. “So, where are the others? They close? Why did you go looking for me alone?”

“I- Hyung, I have no idea where the others are,” Jeongin said, feeling guilty as he said it. The frown he got for it made him feel even guiltier. He didn’t know why, but it seemed like Minho had expected them to be all together already. Now it felt like Jeongin was disappointing him, having to come bearing the bad news.

“Me and Changbin-hyung got separated. There was some weird green gas and then- well - nothing. I don’t remember what happened and I don’t know what happened to the others either. I was just swimming for one moment and then woke up here the next. Did something happen in that room above us? I remember you guys said Seungmin wasn’t there, but did you find him in the end?”

“No,” Minho sighed. “It was a trap. Before we could find any way to go after Seungmin, gas started pouring into the room and we had to flee. The others all managed to get back onto the platform in time except for me. It knocked me out. But, if you say you saw that same gas then that must mean…”

“The others got caught in it too,” Jeongin agreed, his stomach clenching at the thought. “That would make sense. It must mean Jisung hasn’t woken up yet, wherever he is now.”

Minho banged the ground with a fist, cursing. “Dammit, we only just got together! Can’t we catch a fucking break for once?”

“Hey, at least we’re not completely alone this time,” Jeongin tried to cheer him up, though the attempt fell kind of flat. “And we’re not as helpless as before. I got my freaky superpower that can help us out. I’ll be able to find the way out in no time, just you watch.”

Minho raised an eyebrow, finally some light returning to his eyes that didn’t come from the flames surrounding them. “You, admitting on your own that it’s a power? I never thought I’d see the day.”

Jeongin rolled his eyes. “Har har. I don’t really have much of a choice anymore, do I? Besides, you are just as crazy as me, hyung. At least I don’t read minds.”

“I don’t either, brat. It’s called telepathy, get your powers right.”

“Whatever, hyung. Just don’t read my thoughts.”

“I told you it’s not like that-”

Jeongin chuckled, finding a little solace in the fact that Minho was just as easy to get a rise out of as before. At least, no matter how terrifying this situation was, some things remained constant. It helped push back the terror a little bit, though he still had to hide his hands behind him so Minho couldn’t see them shaking.

He was already aching to reach out again and never let go of the older, but he refrained. His stupid power was already making him enough of a freak already. He wasn’t about to fully break down into some kind of pathetic kid who needed to be holding hands at every chance he got.

“Anyway.” He turned away with his whole body, forcing himself to stop thinking about it. “Hush, hyung. I gotta concentrate. I won’t find the others if you keep shouting in my ear.”

“Yah, I.N-ah-”

“Hush.”

Surprisingly obedient, Minho shut his mouth, glaring but not saying a word. Jeongin ignored him and closed his eyes, focussing on the feeling of safety in his chest. It was definitely feeling better now that Minho was here, less like an empty hole and more like a barely filled one, and he put his attention on the parts that were still calling out to him. He turned his head, searching.

He wished he had an instruction manual for this power. Right now, all he was feeling were some vague things far, far away.

“Got anything?”

“Just give me a sec. It’s not like I’ve had this for long, I’m still figuring out how this works.”

“Need any pointers?”

Jeongin opened his eyes, exasperated. He turned back to give Minho an unimpressed stare. “You can’t help me with this. Only Lix-hyung could, but he’s not here now, is he?”

“I can help,” Minho pressed. “Me and Jisungie have figured some stuff out for us two, so maybe it’ll help with your weird thing as well. Won’t know if you don’t try, right?”

“What’s your tip then?” Jeongin challenged. He almost wanted to laugh when his question rendered Minho silent, and he was so ready to mock him for acting like he knew anything when he didn’t.

Except Minho opened his mouth again before he could.

“There’s this thing we figured out on how to shut each other out,” Minho told him. “But also how we can reconnect. Maybe the same will help you tune in more on whatever you’re feeling. How would you describe your feeling? Is it like an itch or something?”

“Not really, it’s more like…” Jeongin waved his hand, searching for a word to describe it. “...a vague feeling of where I’m safe or not. It’s like it’s telling me where I’ll be protected. And before you make a joke about this-” He quickly stopped Minho before he could comment, the other freezing in the middle of opening his mouth. “-I know it’s cliché but that’s what I feel. Sometimes I can tell what direction is safer and that’s how I found you and the others before. It’s not like a clear sign or anything that points me a certain way. It just… feels right.”

“Okay, so focus on that feeling.”

“I’ve been doing that, but it’s not-”

Minho shushed him. “Just try it. Focus. It’s the first step.”

Jeongin sighed, closing his eyes again. He located the emptiness inside of him again, feeling a small part next to him call out safe!safe! at Minho’s presence.

“Okay, I’ve got it. Now what?”

“Now picture one specific link to one of us. It doesn’t matter who, but try to picture it like a physical rope or something. Something that you can touch or see.”

Jeongin frowned, doing as instructed. The first person to come to mind was Seungmin, as he was the only one they hadn’t seen yet in all of this chaos. He pictured Seungmin, his face and his voice, and imagined him close by, standing somewhere and calling out to him. Then, he pulled a thread from Seungmin all the way back to himself, connecting the rope to his heart. The emptiness inside of him seemed to reach out.

Safe! There, safe! The rope pulled taut. He turned his head the way the rope pulled. In his mind, Seungmin was there, holding it and tugging on it. It felt different than before. Not at all vague or just a feeling, but like a physical sensation, trying to pull him closer and bring him to where he wanted to go.

Jeongin gasped, eyes flying open in surprise. “It works! I know where Seungmin is now!”

Minho looked at him with a suspiciously proud expression. “I knew it would work. Good job, Innie.”

Jeongin was too ecstatic to call him out on the painfully soft expression the older was wearing. He didn’t even let himself think about it before he reached out with his free hand to pull Minho along as he jumped to his feet and started walking with new energy. They had no time to waste now. Safety was so close!

“It’s this way! Come on!”

The fire felt a lot less threatening now that he wasn’t alone and knew where to go. He could easily brave the heat if it meant finding Seungmin. Plus, Minho was counting on him now. He let himself be pulled, not saying anything but trusting Jeongin to know the way. It was a huge leap of faith, one that Jeongin refused to be in vain.

The flames were the only things in the way of their goal. It was a dangerous dance, pulling the two of them through them and trying to stay unharmed. Sweat was sticking to him like a second skin. Heat made his eyes blur and the air around them tremble. More than once, geyser-like explosions happened way too close to them, and they needed to jump out of the way, the heat coming far too close for comfort. Every time, this resulted in Minho letting out a colorful string of curses he didn’t even bother to filter like he would have normally done around Jeongin. Guess ‘protecting the maknae’s sensitive ears’ was finally a thing of the past now. At least in this hellhole of a place.

But luck could only bring them so far. They couldn’t keep dodging forever and it was a matter of time before it went wrong.

Jeongin heard something crumble beside them and knew to expect the explosion. He jumped to the side, enough to evade it he thought, but he hadn’t counted on it being so big.

A burst of fire shot their way, reaching all the way up to the ceiling and over their heads. They weren’t fast enough to get away.

“ARGH!” Minho screamed, taking the brunt of the fire. Jeongin and he stumbled, Minho almost collapsing on his knees as he flung himself away from the flames that hit him in the side. He collapsed against Jeongin, his body leaning heavily on the younger.

“Hyung, are you okay?!” Jeongin frantically searched the older for injuries, immediately finding the part where his shirt was singed before Minho quickly pulled it towards himself and hid it from view by turning his torso away.

“‘m fine,” he grit out. He pushed himself off of Jeongin, grabbing his hand as the only support while he stood back on wobbly legs. With a pained huff, he took a step forward, then another one. Like the stubborn fool he was, he continued walking and consequently pulled Jeongin along, not giving himself any second to pause or take a break.

“Hyung…”

The older cradled his arm close to his chest. Even from Jeongin’s side, he could see the angry red smear on the other’s arm. There was no hiding that kind of burn. Jeongin could practically feel the pain from it himself. Not literally, though. He hated himself for thinking it immediately, but he was kind of glad he wasn’t sharing pain with the older right now. Not like Jisung was…

And oh shit. If Jisung hadn’t been awake before, this must have done it. That realization brought him only more urgency to find the others soon. Who knows what pain and horror Jisung was experiencing now that they were making it worse from Minho’s side?

“We’re close, hyung, just hold on,” Jeongin said, worriedly trying to catch Minho’s eyes while also fastening his pace again, pulling in front. Minho refused to look at him, though he did turn away more, his arm pressed against his body in his useless attempt to make Jeongin worry less.

“I’m fine,” he said, “just keep focussing.”

Jeongin wasn’t fooled by the words at all. Still, Minho was right. He pursed his lips, imagining the rope again and looking in front of him instead.

Seungmin was waiting for them. Once they were together, they’d search for help. They’d search for Jisung too. Minho was strong, Jeongin never doubted that, and so he knew he’d be able to pull through. He was stubborn to a fault, badly so, but he was also so, so strong. If there was anyone who could tough it out, it was Minho.

They could do this. They had to. Everything just had to be over soon.

Chapter Text

Jisung yelped, a sudden flare of burning pain blooming on his arm. He looked down on it, panic forgotten for a second, but saw nothing. Could it be…? Was this Minho’s pain?!

Hyung! he called. Hyung, can you hear me?

He sagged when no response came. Hm. He couldn’t feel Minho either, but the pain had to be from him, right?

At least he knew for sure that their link still existed now. He almost wanted to cry from that realization. Relief flooded him, dousing the fear and making him fall against the glass totally winded. Like he’d run a marathon, his body wanted to sleep forever now that his biggest fear had vanished. Minho wasn’t gone. Something was blocking their communication, but he wasn’t fully gone.

That was such a relief to know.

Blinking sluggishly, his body’s reaction made him aware just how used he’d already gotten to their bond. How dependent. Expecting Minho to immediately respond to his thoughts and instinctively knowing that sudden pain in his arm wasn’t coming from him—he wouldn’t have ever thought that before the kidnapping. It was insane that feeling a burning pain in his forearm actually made him relieved, but he couldn’t help it. It meant Minho was there. He wasn’t alone.

He wondered if Minho could feel the cold chains holding Jisung too. If only their mental link was interrupted and Minho knew that he was held captive somewhere. If only he could ask him… but he had no idea how to get out of this glass prison. He was stuck, rudely cut off from Minho and everyone else. Outside of the glass, there was nothing but darkness that surrounded him. Like a void, the pyramid prison seemed to float in nothingness. Shouting hadn’t done anything. Crying didn’t do anything either. The chains had no locks or any way to slither out of them, and the glass didn’t seem to have any holes or secret doors either.

He was useless. Stuck and trapped and held in chains like some kind of rabid animal in a cage he was never meant to escape-

No, Jisung, don’t think like that. He had to keep his head cool, lest he let the panic take over again. He had enough of being reduced to a fearful mess. He had enough of all of this.

He harshly exhaled. Then inhaled, holding it for a couple of seconds before exhaling again. Every single anxiety technique he’d ever heard before passed his thoughts and he tried them all, forcefully calming himself down until he was practically meditating. As long as he sat still, the chains didn’t hurt him. They were cold, giving him something to focus on, but they weren’t painful.

Still, as soon as he opened his eyes again and was forced to face the cage he was stuck in again, despair still hit him like a freight train. There was no getting out of here on his own, was there? He didn’t stand a chance…

But, the knowledge that he was still bonded with Minho gave him hope. More than hope, it gave him courage. Maybe there wasn’t a way for him to get out, but if the others could just find him…

Against his better judgement, he straightened up, standing and ignoring the rattling of the chains. He stared into the darkness with a determined look, channeling everything he had in sending something out to Minho. If their link really wasn’t gone, then this might work. Maybe, Minho would hear him. Or at least sense him. Maybe, he’d finally be saved.

Which is why It didn’t matter what he sent. As long as it worked. Whether it was the feeling of the chains, the cold that was seeping into his clothes and skin, the darkness crawling around the cage, the quiet-

He tried to add it all into one sensation. One loud thought. With all his mind, he broadcasted it like he was screaming into a megaphone and trying to reach across an entire stadium. Images of their concerts came into his mind, and he tried imagining screaming on the top of his lungs to Minho who was standing on the very opposite end of the building.

Minho- hyung! I know you’re there! Even if you can’t find me, I’m getting out of here, just you wait! Hyung, I’m here!

Chapter Text

Minho gasped, startling Jeongin next to him.

“What is it? Are you okay?”

Jeongin’s voice blurred around the edges, all of Minho’s being suddenly flooded with a feeling so strong it took him over. Determination. Cold against his limbs. Silence in his ears. One thought, like a scream, piercing through his mind.

Hyung, I’m here!

The feeling cut off immediately again, but something piercing stayed behind. A new weight, right in his chest, like a heavy necklace that had already warmed up to his skin. He could feel Jisung now. Not his mind, that was still fuzzy, but his being. He knew where he was. Minho turned his head in the direction, eyes feeling like they could see beyond the fire.

“I know where Jisung is,” he said, barely even hearing himself say it. His mind was too preoccupied making sense of this new sensation, of the way he was certain this was it. Jeongin stopped walking.

“What? How? Are you sure?”

“Definitely. He’s somewhere there.” He pointed into the flames. “I can feel him now.”

“All of the sudden? What did you do?”

Minho shrugged, already starting to walk that way with a single-track mind.

“Woah, hyung, wait. We were going to Seungmin, remember? This is the wrong way!”

“I need to get to Jisung. He wants me to find him.”

“Well, yeah, but- Wait, hyung- Oh for God’s sake-” Jeongin tried pulling away, but Minho wouldn’t let him go. He stopped, turning fully to the younger.

“This is important, I.N-ah. He managed to send me something even though he’s still out. That must mean he’s in danger. I felt how cold he was. That he was somewhere stuck. I need to get him out.”

“But hyung…”

“I promised to find him again,” Minho said. He always swore he was above pleading, but his voice still took on a tone dangerously close to it as he looked Jeongin in the eyes. “Please. Let me find Jisung first. Then we can go to Seungmin together. I just need to know he’s okay.”

Jeongin stared for a second, seemingly searching for something. He must have realized Minho wasn’t backing down though, as he quickly sighed, casting one quick glance Seungmin’s way.

“Okay. But we’ll go to Seungmin-hyung as soon as we find Jisung-hyung.”

“Deal. Now get moving already, we’re losing time!”

He pulled Jeongin along, fully focussed on following the call Jisung was softly emitting. He refused to think about how his bond felt stronger now. Something had changed between them. Something crucial. It felt like Jisung had been just an extra addition up to this point, a connection he could cut off whenever he wanted to, but now they were connected far more intimately. There was no turning this off.

(In the back of his mind, a voice said that there was no turning back now, but he ignored that too. They’d find a way to reverse this. This was not final, just a weird glitch that they would soon be able to put behind them. They would not let this experiment ruin them forever.)

“There!” Jeongin pointed into the flames, where a gray wall was coming into sight. Finally, a sign that this room had an end. Minho hastened their pace, careful of the erupting flames, his arm screaming at him whenever the heat got far too close. The skin there was raw and pulsing with every step he took. He was definitely going to be feeling this for a long time.

“Now we only need to find…” Minho looked around, eyes narrowed as he tried to sense exactly where Jisung was. His eyes fell on what he was searching for within seconds.

“The door.”

There it was. A quick skip past the wall and they could reach for it. Jeongin wasted no time in pulling it open and both let out a breath of relief when they found it wasn’t locked. They stumbled out of the room coughing, the fresh air outside like a cold slap in the face after all the heat and smoke. Minho slammed the door closed behind them, done with the heat for the rest of his life.

The hallway was white and silent. Cool against their overheated skin. For just a second, both allowed themselves to lean against the wall, their bodies sagging in relief.

“We made it. Thank fuck.” Minho closed his eyes. His whole body ached.

Jeongin chuckled drily. They lapsed into silence for a couple of seconds, resting up. Not that their break lasted long, since both were too antsy to stay still when so many of their members were still unaccounted for, but even this second of catching their breaths was enough to give them renewed energy.

It was Jeongin who ended the break only a minute later. “Where to now, hyung?”

Minho instinctively turned towards Jisung’s call and pushed himself off the cold stone. Right. He was done wasting time. One second of reprieve was all he needed anyway. His burned arm was far less painful now that the air around them wasn’t suffocating anymore, although that could also be because of his new heightened connection with Jisung. His mind was so focussed on the younger rapper, everything else felt blurry and far away.

He needed to get to Jisung. That was more important than anything else. He could suppress his pain, ignore his exhaustion, if it all meant he could find Jisung sooner.

Minho nudged his head, already starting to walk again. “This way.”

Chapter Text

Rocking back and forth barely helped, but it was the only distraction he had. His mind was a whirlwind of fear. His body hurt from how tense he held to his curled up form.

He couldn’t feel Felix. He was all alone.

“So come on, pack up, all you need is an empty mind,” Chan softly sang, using the only other thing he had left in this place—his voice. His hands on his ears made his words sound extra loud, but he was sure he was barely making a sound. He rocked back and forth once, twice, three times. It didn’t really help. “Let’s follow the gentle breeze, we run to, run to. Throw away all your tangled, complicated thoughts and go. Time out…”

The dark was starting to get to him. He thought he saw shadows move; thought he heard sounds around him when there was no one. He’d long since given up looking around him. There was nothing there.

“One, two, three, four. If you don't play, you're It, if we tie, we'll do it all over again, put your hands up, rock, paper, scissors…”

If he closed his eyes, he could see the day of the mv shoot in his mind. Those hours on the beach, where everyone’s role was just to ‘have fun and make it look genuine’, he missed those. He wished he could be back on that beach right now, not having to worry about a thing.

“Drive past the tollgate and stop by the rest area, buy everything you want…”

If he closed his eyes harder, something else flashed through his head, interrupting his memories. He flinched the first time it happened, scared out of his mind, but quickly got used to it. The flashes showed him things he’d never seen before.

Most of the time it showed Jeongin. For some reason, he was in a room full of flames and he looked tired and dirty, but at least he looked okay. He was with someone else, but Chan couldn’t see who.

After the umpteenth flash through his mind, Chan finally realized that what he was seeing wasn’t just his imagination. It felt too real, too detailed. He also realized because shots of foreign emotions came with the flashes.

Anger. Frustration. Pain. Determination.

He quickly made the connection after that, remembering how he’d had flashes of this kind before. Back then he’d guessed he was seeing Minho’s situation. Especially the anger just felt too familiar. And so if his theory was right—and he really hoped it was—then that meant that at least Jeongin and Minho were together. They’d found each other and were on their way to search for others. That reassured him a bit at least.

Though beside the flashes, Chan was still alone. Without Felix’s presence, he felt strangely hollow inside. It was weird how used he’d already gotten to Felix and now it felt wrong in all kinds of ways not to share feelings between them. He missed the hope and even the exhaustion they shared before.

One good thing was that Chan was no longer broadcasting his pain now, but in truth he wasn’t feeling much of that anymore anyway. His guess must be that their kidnappers had done something to him—a super strong painkiller or a medical wonderpotion, he wouldn’t rule out either. His leg seemed fine, no pulses of pain or feeling of sticky blood anymore, but it’s not like he could see very well in the pitch black darkness. He didn’t feel the tear in his pants, though, so his wound seemed to be gone. Vanished into thin air.

“A swimming pool or the sea,” he mumbled, rocking, “the wind and blue sky, you know how my heart is fluttering. The weather is warm, look at the sky, blow away all your small worries and let's go…”

All he could do was stay curled up and wait. Their kidnappers really seemed to like making him helpless. He hated it. The darkness around him wasn’t just a physical prison; it was a mental one too.

“Go, let the stress fly away. Don't worry 'bout tomorrow, so we'll just have some fun right now. With the sunset on the horizon as the backdrop, pose…”

Chapter Text

“Guys, stop hiding already!” Hyunjin walked through the red mist, hands cupped around his mouth. “I mean it, come out already! Hello!”

There really was no end to this place. The mist was thick, and he could barely see a couple of meters in front of him before the red took over everything. At least it didn’t seem like the fog was bad to breathe in. That was a tiny relief.

“Guys! Anyone!”

He was starting to get desperate. He’d been walking for what felt like hours now and still. No one. He couldn’t even know if he was going straight or just walking in aimless circles. His feet were barely visible, taking each step forward. He really hoped he wasn’t walking in circles.

“Anyone? Please!”

As if answering his prayers, a silhouette started to become visible a short distance away. Thank goodness! He knew he wasn’t alone in here! He couldn’t see who it was, but he sped up his pace, eager to end this neverending cycle of yelling and getting the creeps. The loneliness was finally over!

“Hey! Did you not hear me calling you, why are you not answering me-”

He reached out a hand, but simply batted into nothing. Mist swirled around his out-stretched hand, the silhouette disappearing. He stopped, stilling in place. What the… He could have sworn he saw someone there. Dammit, this was not fair!

“Guys! Please say something!”

Walking forward, another silhouette slowly became visible. This time, Hyunjin was deadset on not letting whoever it was slip out of his reach.

“Hey! You!”

He ran, hand out-stretched and ready to grab them, but again, once he reached the spot, the mist swirled and there was no one. He started getting the feeling he was turning crazy. Was he just imagining things? Was he that lonely? That desperate?

More cautious than before, Hyunjin stepped through the mist, eyes peeled for any kind of movement or shape. There had to be someone here. Maybe they couldn’t hear him, but they had to be close. Time and time again, he swore he could see figures, just far enough to be out of reach, just vague enough that they could be false alarms. Still, Hyunjin wouldn’t give up any time soon. He yelled, ran and tried to reach them, aching not to be alone anymore. This place was freaking him out. It also reminded him far too much of the mirror maze that had gone on endlessly. Just thinking about that gave him goosebumps.

“Come on!” he growled when another silhouette disappeared right before he got there. He whirled around, searching for where they’d gone. Nothing. There was no one there.

It dawned on him that this must be another one of their kidnapper’s tricks. He’d probably been chasing ghosts all this time. Curse those people for playing with him like this-!

“Of all the places they had to put me in, it has to be the most messed-up, ominous room filled with fakes…” he grumbled, his pace slowing down and becoming hesitant. Filling the silence with his own words was the only thing he could do to stave off the fear that was trying to squeeze his throat closed. “Stupid room, stupid situation, stupid kidnappers…”

Another silhouette appeared further away, but this time, something felt different about it. No longer all that eager to catch it, Hyunjin approached it carefully.

The silhouette didn’t disappear. In fact, it looked suspiciously solid. Not like the misty apparitions he’d seen before. This figure was slowly taking shape, their build, height and face starting to look familiar the closer he got.

When he realized who it was, Hyunjin felt like he could cry out in relief. Hope surged through him and pushed his feet forward faster.

“Hyung!” He rushed towards them, dashing through the fog until he was standing next to the figure. Changbin was there! He was actually there! Hyunjin started to smile, excited and oh so relieved that he finally wasn’t alone anymore.

Though Changbin didn’t move. A bit of his happiness dimmed and Hyunjin reached out carefully.

“Hyung…?” He stopped his hand right before he would have touched the older rapper’s bicep. For some reason, he was scared to touch him. What if he evaporated too? Changbin’s eyes were staring into the mist, his gaze empty. He didn’t give any kind of sign that he could hear Hyunjin at all. Considering the track record their captors had with doing weird and awful things to them, Hyunjin couldn’t be sure they hadn’t drugged Changbin or something. What if he was paralyzed? What if he did hear Hyunjin, but he was trapped within his own mind?

“Hyung, blink if you can hear me.”

Changbin didn’t move. Hyunjin’s hand hovered unsurely, still too scared to actually touch.

“Hyung, please give me a sign you can hear me. Anything-”

He stopped, a strange feeling in his chest making him freeze. Before, he used to joke about having a Stray Kid Radar. Hell, he even pretended he had it in the maze when he was searching for Jeongin. Truth was, he just had a lot of luck and a stubborn gut feeling every once in a blue moon. He was the kind of guy who followed his feelings with everything, the kind of guy who found his way in a strange place by just taking random turns and hoping for the best. It was why he got lost so often. Gut feelings could help with a lot, but it wasn’t actually an exact science. Especially here, it had been leading him the wrong way more often than not.

But this? This was something else than his normal gut feeling. Something stronger. It was sending him away from Changbin and in the opposite direction. In fact, it felt like it was screaming at him to leave.

Not real! it was telling him. This way! Not real!

He really didn’t need to be told twice. He let this feeling steer him right the other way, let it move his feet through the mist as if he actually had a goal to reach. Every once in a while, figures could be seen through the mist, but his gut feeling told him those weren’t real either. He steered clear of them, walking forward with barely a glance at them.

This mist was full of illusions. Sometimes, they were vague, formless. Other times they looked exactly like the other members. Jisung, Chan, Jeongin… Still, his gut wasn’t fooled by them anymore. A switch seemed to have been flipped, and now he could easily tell that none of the shadows felt right. This must have been what Jeongin and Felix had been feeling too. Though his gut wasn’t telling him where the real members were, at least he could sense that none of them were actually hidden in the red mist. It was a start.

This maze might have been different from the mirrors in the sense that it didn’t have walls or made him claustrophobic (it actually did the opposite, it was too big), but Hyunjin was just as painfully lost. His gut didn’t help him with that. He was on his own in finding the way, praying that someone else might find him first just like Jeongin had done before.

All he could do was walk. Walk and keep an eye out for any more illusions meant to trick him.

“Please, let someone get here soon…” he mumbled, wringing his hands together anxiously. “Please, please, please.”

He hoped the others would find him quickly.

Chapter Text

A constant ringing had started up in Changbin's ears. The booms of the thunder hurt and the flashes of light left spots behind on his retinas, but still he kept walking. He had no other choice. If he didn’t want to be fried alive, he had to keep walking.

Though he was starting to think there was no way out of this place. The gray plains stretched out endlessly around him. The lightning kept him from following a straight path too, which made it awfully difficult to keep track of where he'd been already. There was no possible chance for him to rest or make a better plan. Forced to dodge if he didn't want to be electrocuted, he had to keep going.

God, he was tired.

If he ever got out, he was going to sleep for the next week. The others wouldn’t stop him, they’d probably join him. Just imagining the lazy days they could have where they’d just lounge in their beds and order take out and refuse to do any kind of work made him feel homesick like never before. It felt like they had been here for months already, even if it couldn’t have been more than a couple of days. Still, every day was one too much in this hellscape. He just wanted to be home.

He sounded like a sulking child if he thought like that, though. The others would no doubt give him trouble if they heard him. The great, strong Seo Changbin, whining because he wanted to lie in bed. They’d never let him live it down.

During all of the chaos before, he didn't have time to think about it, but now he wished he had some kind of unexplainable link with one of the others. The boom and flashes got old really fast, and with only his own mind to keep him company, he felt like he was going crazy. If only he could talk to one of the others or even just feel if they were nearby. That would make it so much easier to force his body to keep moving.

Rumble. Electricity in the air. Barely enough time to dash away. BOOM!

Another singed spot on the ground where his feet were just seconds ago.

His muscles screamed at him, angry for the sudden jumps and falls he had to endure. This was like the most intense workout he’d ever done. The burns on his arms didn’t make it better. In fact, they pulled on his skin like they thought he wasn’t paying them enough attention, making every fall hurt twice as much and every step feel like he was walking on molted lava that had barely cooled down.

Above him the gray rumbling clouds were an omen. They seemed to be saying: ‘you’re never getting out of here. Just give up already.’

He refused, but it was hard to keep being stubborn like that with every clap of thunder that warned him of another attack.

The sky lit up with bright light. Another rumble. Another strike. These ones were a little farther away from him, but even then he didn’t slow his pace. If he stopped moving now, he wasn’t sure if he could ever start up again.

The others could be in the same danger he was. That was the only thought he had that kept him on his feet. If the first time was anything to go by, they must have all been put in dangerous situations like this too. Was Jisung stuck somewhere again? Was Minho in danger? Was Jeongin alone? Was he slowly making his way to one of them, or actually walking further and further away?

There was no way of knowing, and no way he was going to find anyone else while being all over the place like this. Chanbin didn’t even know if he’d rather stay alone or find someone here, because that would mean they’d have been stuck in this storm just like him and he wouldn’t wish that on any one. Pure helplessness wasn’t a foreign feeling to him, but it still made him sick to his stomach. The others might be out there somewhere, and he couldn’t do anything.

The others would have to find him this time. And oh, how he hated that. What was all his training for, if not to protect himself and the others from harm? What good could he do, when he was in no position to help anyone, let alone himself? What chances did he even have that someone else would manage to find him before he’d lose the fight against his invisible enemy?

He meant this in the least degrading way, but chances were low and only getting lower. With their group filled with scaredycats (especially of loud sounds) and wounded people (and in some cases, a combination of both), his hopes weren't high of anyone coming across him anytime soon. They would either be fleeing or trapped too. Nobody would even know to look for him here, which meant he was stuck waiting for help that might never come. He might be cursed to run through this storm forever until he collapsed. Burned or fried. Done for. The others would be too late to save him. He would have failed them.

The depression of that thought pressed heavily on him. Was he ever getting out of here?

Chapter Text

“It's working, this is the best result we've had so far!”

“Did you see how subject 129 barely flinched when we turned the incentive on? Look, it's navigating through the dark like it can see perfectly.”

“Fascinating. It looks like our hypothesis was correct. Now the question is: who is it going to?”

“Judging from the route he's taking, it's one of the subjects in the simulations. If the hypothesis is right, it’ll take the next right turn to go towards Subject 128.”

Seungmin listened to the discussions behind him with dread. Not only did the way the researchers talked about his friends as if they were objects give him the creeps, but the subject of the discussion was also everything he didn't want to hear.

The researchers were happy. And it was all because Felix was managing to walk through the dark like he knew exactly where to go. This was proof of their so-called soul links. Even Seungmin couldn’t pretend nothing was happening anymore when he knew just how terrified Felix was of the dark. Even people who wouldn’t have been scared wouldn’t have been able to walk such a direct path without ever getting lost.

“Wait, do you see how Subject 131 is pulling Subject 125 along?”

For a second, Seungmin had to do his calculations before he knew who they were talking about. As soon as he figured it had to be Jeongin and Minho, his eyes moved over to their screens. They had found each other in the room full of fire, and Jeongin was holding Minho’s hand and guiding him somewhere. An exit. He was leading Minho straight to one of the exits.

“It’s going towards exit two, so it’s either going towards Subject 126 or…” The scientist fell quiet for a second, as if they were showing something or making a gesture that Seungmin couldn’t see. “Write that down. Prepare the necessary precautions.”

“Finally, it seems like we’re getting somewhere. This is the first group that’s shown such clear results!”

“I knew it was the right call to start with prebonded subjects. All of our preparation paid off.”

“Send those compliments to division three. They are the ones who made the stimulant that’s making all of this possible. Injecting the second dose seems to be working perfectly.”

“Agreed.”

None of the researchers seemed to care that Seungmin was even there. The more they talked, the more Seungmin got sick to his stomach. They were clearly talking about drugs, the ones that were the cause for all of this madness. If they were even speaking of a second dose, that must mean that sometime during his relocation when they’d forced him into a drugged sleep, they gave him something else too. Him and all the others.

“Look! Subject 125 is going another direction!”

Seungmin looked back at Minho’s screen, finding him to be pulling Jeongin along now. He, too, seemed to know exactly where to go. This second dose must have made whatever their links were stronger.

“It’s clearly going towards Subject 128’s room. Didn’t we form an hypothesis earlier about them having strengthened their bonds already?”

Rustling was heard, like someone was searching through papers.

“Ah, here it is. You’re right. Even before phase one, we had an inkling these two might be one of the strongest linked subjects already. See their chart?”

“Remarkable. This group really consists of powerful links.”

How Seungmin wished he didn’t have to hear all of this. He knew their team was close, but to hear it from these maniacs out loud made him feel awful. Their closeness was the very thing that pushed these people to kidnap them, to experiment on them and to put them in dangerous situations just to see if their weird ideas could come true. And the worst thing about it was that it was coming true. Their drugs seemed to work. Their ideas seemed to be real.

Stray Kids had always been close. But not like this. Never like this.

Minho and Jeongin were almost out of the room of fire. Felix wasn’t faltering for a second in his pursuit to find one of the others. He finally stopped at a door after what felt like hours, struggling with it, and Seungmin held his breath.

Felix kicked the door in. Literally. Seungmin’s jaw dropped as Felix rushed into the room with Chan, dropping beside his bed and trying to wake him. Of course. Of course, these two were linked somehow.

One of the researchers echoed his thought exactly.

“Subject 129 and 124, we should have seen that coming. Mark them down as confirmed. Let’s see if subject 129 can figure out a way to wake up subject 124.”

“Subjects 125 and 131 have gotten out! They’re clearly going to the simulation rooms too. Possible confirmed link between subject 125 and 128.”

Minho and Jeongin rushed through the halls. Felix wasn’t having any luck with waking Chan up. Throughout all this, Seungmin’s attention drifted towards one of the only members who was still alone. Hyunjin sometimes came on screen when flards of mist moved out of the way. He looked so lost. In contrast to the others, he wasn’t moving in a specific direction at all, walking in circles and calling out with a voice that couldn’t be heard through the screens. It pained Seungmin’s heart to see him alone like this. He wished someone would just find Hyunjin already. Help him out of that room.

The researchers kept discussing their notes, becoming background buzz to Seungmin.

Wait a minute. Their team was already linked according to their kidnappers, right? That was the whole reason they were picked for this, because they were already close. The researchers kept talking about the bonds strengthening, but never about them forming from scratch.

Did that mean… Seungmin was linked to the others like that too? Could he strengthen those connections on purpose?

He had no idea how he was supposed to do that, but he figured it couldn’t hurt to try. Picking out Hyunjin as his test subject, he honed in on the older boy’s screen, eyes burning into the camera feed.

Hyunjin, Hyunjin, Hyunjin, he repeated in his head, willing something to happen. He imagined all kinds of things. An invisible arrow shooting that way. A wave crashing through the screen. An electrical connection snapping between them. His hand, though still bound to his chair, reaching through the screen and taking a hold of Hyunjin’s arm, tugging at him.

Yet what did it wasn’t any of those things. It was the moment he imagined his brain waves themselves extending outwards and towards Hyunjin, like somehow his very presence was becoming bigger and bigger… when all of the sudden, a new sensation washed over him. Like a second presence in his head. Another person standing right next to him even though there was no one there.

Almost scared of what would happen, he tentatively thought, Hyunjin…?

His stomach clenched when Hyunjin froze, his whole body stilling with his eyes wide as if he’d seen a ghost. Seungmin practically bit through his lip to keep from gasping when a not-so-foreign voice sounded in his head.

…Seungminnie?

It took an astronomical amount of control not to show his shock on the outside.

Yes! Seungmin sent back. Yes, it’s me!

Hyunjin’s reaction was immediate. Seungminnie, oh my god! Where are you? Are you okay? How are you doing this? Hold on, I’m coming to save you-

Seungmin barely held himself back from smiling. God, how he’d missed hearing the others talk.

Slow down, hyung. One question at a time. This is all very new to me too.

Oh… right. Hyunjin sounded sheepish. Sorry, Minnie. Are you okay?

Behind him, the researchers kept discussing things, not paying him any attention. He’d like to keep it that way. Before I can answer that, make sure to keep walking.

What, why?

I’m held under constant surveillance. Our kidnappers are all around me. If they even suspect we are communicating in any way, I don’t know what they’ll do but it won’t be good.

Minutely, Hyunjin nodded, keeping a blank face as he started walking through the fog again.

Okay, so my first question: are you safe right now, Minnie?

Seungmin’s heart warmed. He pressed his lips tightly together to keep from smiling.

Not less than you are right now, don’t worry. They’re keeping me chained, but I’m not hurt. I can see you. There are camera feeds.

Like in the room we found?

Exactly. So don’t worry about me. As for your other question, our kidnappers are using us as some sort of test subjects to-

Find out if we’re soulmates, right? Hyunjin interrupted him.

Seungmin blinked. How’d you know that?

Lix and Chan-hyung told us you talked with them. Something about soul links, right? It’s why everyone is having such weird things happening to them.

Yes. Apparently it’s some huge experiment and we’re not the first group they tried it on. I’m pretty sure they drugged us. They did something to us that makes this whole conversation possible in the first place.

Hyunjin stopped for a second, looking into the mist before he shook his head and turned to walk the other way.

What are you doing? Seungmin asked, unable to contain his curiosity.

There are fakes around here, Hyunjin explained. I see the others sometimes, but they’re not real. For some reason I… can feel that they’re not real.

That must be another form of those soul links then.

Yes, we think so too.

We?

When we came together, me and the others talked about all of this and this feeling… it’s how Jeonginnie and Lix have been finding everyone. It’s a really weird feeling, but at the same time it also feels like something I’ve always had. Does that make any sense? I don’t know, I can’t really explain it.

I think I’m starting to get what you mean. Talking through our minds wasn’t exactly on my bucket list either, but it feels far less unnatural than I thought it would.

So you’re saying you already thought you were crazy? Hyunjin teased. Can’t say I’m surprised.

Seungmin wanted to roll his eyes. Instead, he pretended to look around the screens at the others, distracting himself.

Ha ha. Very funny. He settled back on Hyunjin’s screen. Now do you want help getting out of that room or not? I think I can see the exits on some of the other feeds.

Hyunjin barely let Seungmin finish his sentence. Oh my god, I’d literally die for you if you could get me out of here.

Please don’t die for me, Seungmin deadpanned. I’m getting you out alive and in one piece.

Have I ever said I love you, Minnie? Because I do. So, so much.

Puke. Don’t go all softy on me now, hyung.

No, but I mean it! I love you! I could kiss you right now! Right on both cheeks, wet kisses just how you like them-

Ew! Shut up, hyung. If you keep saying stupid things I’m not gonna help you.

Hyunjin’s thoughts stopped instantly. Seungmin smirked inwardly.

Smart choice. So, what you’re gonna wanna do is turn to your two o’clock and walk that way for a while. There should be a door somewhere over there.

Hyunjin didn’t think anything in return, but he did as instructed. He clearly tried to look around, pretending as if he was just thinking which way to go. Seungmin watched him do so with half an ear open to listen for any sign the researchers were onto them.

It didn’t seem like it, but he couldn’t let his guard down. Not until Hyunjin was safe and everyone else was together again. At least now, he wasn’t alone either anymore.

Something good could come from this crazy experiment after all.

Chapter Text

Holding on to Chan’s hand, Felix was powerless to stop his tears from streaming down. Chan wasn’t waking up. Felix didn’t know what to do anymore.

He was really trying to keep a positive attitude. Not just because that’s what he did, but because now, two other people were relying on him to keep it up too. He was no longer just a moodmaker in the hypothetical sense, he was literally influencing their feelings. And while Jisung and Chan both felt fuzzy and far away, he knew his feelings would still reach them.

So he forced himself to keep smiling. To not think about how Chan might never wake up. To not think about home, or how long it’d been since they got taken, how much pain they’d endured, or how the chances of getting out seemed to get further and further away the longer they stayed here and let their kidnappers do with them what they wanted. To not give up hope. To not believe that this was it, that they were done for. To not- to not-

He sobbed, curling over the side of the bed and holding onto Chan’s hand with a desperate, bruising grip. Oh, who was he kidding? There was nothing positive about this whole situation, not even the bonds they got out of it could cheer him up now because they only brought more pain. Chan was twitching in his sleep sometimes and he looked like he was having a nightmare. Felix felt wave after wave of fear and despair coming from him. It threatened to overwhelm him, just like Jisung’s panic had done before.

It scared him, just how much their bonds tempered with his mood and made him feel things he would have never before. This feeling sharing, it was changing them. Back in the hallways, he’d experienced Chan’s single-minded focus. On the platform, he’d experienced one of Jisung’s panic attacks. He was taking over their habits and being able to distinguish between what was his and what was theirs was becoming more and more difficult to do.

This whole situation terrified him. It had his hands sweating, his heart beating erratically. Paranoia was now a constant companion, and especially with Chan out for the count and Jisung unaccounted for, he didn’t know what to believe anymore. Was this fear his? Was it theirs? What was happening to them in their minds? Would he succumb to the same thing and fall unconscious soon? Would he join Chan in his nightmare because they were taking on so much of each other, that they eventually felt exactly the same? Where was the distinction between them anymore?

Come on, Felix, keep it together, he reprimanded himself. He shouldn’t be thinking like this. Not all was lost. The others had to be okay. They just had to. He shouldn’t give into despair when so many of them counted on him. He shouldn’t fail them…

“Chan, I need you,” he begged. “I can’t do this alone.” He shut his eyes, squeezing the tears out and trying to stop from completely breaking down. He let out a shaky breath, trying to calm himself down. Force his lips to pull up. Try to muster up a smile. Maybe if he pretended, he could make himself happy again and lift a little bit of the burden on the others. “Please, wake up. I need you more than ever.”

But Chan didn’t wake. He was trapped in a nightmare with no way out. It was one more thing they had in common.

Chapter Text

Minho had let them to another room. This one was full of red smoke, and the moment the older opened the door, both of them halted on the doorstep.

“I’m not going in there,” Jeongin said, already backing away. “No way. What if it’s like the gas from before? There must be some way around this place.” He made a show of looking around, even if there were no other doors or entrances in sight anywhere.

Minho shook his head. “Jisung’s there.” He pointed right into the smoke. Without any other warning, he made a move to step inside, but Jeongin’s hand shot out to stop him just before he could do so.

“Hyung, what the hell- No, it’s too dangerous. I’m not going to end up alone again just because you want us to get lost. There must be another way. Come on, we’ll look for it and-” He dropped his hand and the split-second he did, Minho slipped past him and into the room. “-Hyung, no!”

Jeongin cursed, his heart plummeting as fear struck him to his very core. He took one look around them before he gave up. There was no other door in sight. If he didn’t want to end up alone, he had no choice.

“Dammit,” he said, also rushing into the room. Immediately, red swirled around him, barring him from seeing anything else. The fog was thick like physical sludge. Even his limbs felt heavier from standing in it. Luckily for him, Minho wasn’t far yet, and he could throw his hand into the red to grab him and stop him in time before he fully disappeared out of sight. “Hyung, I get that you want to get to Jisung fast, but you’re being really stupid right now and if you’d left me there alone I would have never forgiven you, I swear-”

“Shh, look.” Minho pointed to somewhere to their right. Jeongin followed his finger to look. There was a figure in the mist.

“Hyung, that’s incredibly creepy, what about we just go the other way and ignore that-”

“I’m getting closer.”

“-Are you even listening to me?!”

But Minho had his mind set on it. He began walking, consequently pulling Jeongin along. Honestly, Jeongin was one step away from simply dragging the older out of the room by brute force. This had to be one of the stupidest things any of their members had ever done.

“How about not approaching the shady figure in the red fog,” he hissed. “Come on, hyung, let’s get out of here already.”

The closer they came, the more the figure took shape. They looked familiar, like…

“Jisungie!”

Minho pulled himself free from Jeongin’s hold and ran forward, leaving Jeongin to do the same if he didn’t want to lose him.

“Hyung, wait!”

It was indeed Jisung. He was standing still, staring into nothing like he was lost deeply in thought. He didn’t react to them at all when they came to stand beside them, not even when Minho waved a hand in front of Jisung’s eyes. The boy didn’t even blink.

Jeongin’s whole body erupted in goosebumps. He didn’t like this one bit.

“Jisung-hyung…?” he asked carefully. Jisung didn’t respond. Jeongin shot Minho an unsure glance. “What’s wrong with him?”

Minho seemed to be analyzing Jisung, frowning.

“I don’t know…” He tried to catch Jisung’s gaze, but didn’t get any reaction. He started to step even closer, reaching out to take Jisung’s hand when all of a sudden, a feeling shot through Jeongin like a lightning bolt.

Not safe! He stepped away with a flinch. Not safe! Not Safe!

“Hyung,” he said, voice trembling a bit from the intensity that was suddenly overwhelming his entire body. “...He’s not real.”

Minho didn’t respond, but he looked thoughtful, like he could feel something was wrong too. It was clear on his face, the same doubt in the crease between his eyes. Gently, Jeongin grabbed Minho’s elbow, tugging at him when he met no resistance. Without another word, they left the fake Jisung behind, letting the mist swallow him back up the further they retreated. It seemed both of them were rattled more by what must have been an illusion than either of them cared to admit, because neither of them spoke a word even after the figure had disappeared.

If their kidnappers could create mist that formed life-like illusions, what else were they capable of?

In silence, they made their way through the mist. Minho still guided the way, but it was a lot less sure than before.

More figures appeared. First there was Chan, the fact that there were no wounds on his leg and chest enough to cue them in even before Jeongin’s Safety Sense started screaming. Then came Hyunjin, Felix, Changbin, even Seungmin. All of them just stood, frozen and staring like statues. Jeongin managed to steer clear of them every time, subtly tugging at Minho’s arm so he could go around them with a wide berth.

It felt like they were walking through a very messed up Madame Tussauds, except the figures weren’t just life-like, they seemed really there. Their members, frozen in time. They didn’t speak. They didn’t react. They didn’t do anything except creep Jeongin the fuck out.

It took far too long, but eventually Minho brought them to a door, which they wasted no time fleeing out of. Jeongin was ready to leave the red mist behind forever and never look back.

“This way,” Minho said softly, turning to the left in the hall. It was the first words he’d spoken since they’d seen that fake Jisung. Minho pulled him along, down the hallway, which made Jeongin realize how he’d been holding Minho’s hand all this time. He let go of him immediately. The danger of losing him in the mist was over, so there was no reason to stay stuck to each other.

However, he still kept close, his safety sense screaming at him the second even a little bit of distance formed between them. He was still practically glued to Minho’s side, anxiously looking around the halls for any new threat that could come at them. Call him paranoid, but it felt like fate was just waiting to screw them over.

His hand twitched, everything in him telling him to just take Minho’s hand back.

He thought he was being subtle, but with just a single glance, Minho soundlessly reached out and grabbed Jeongin’s hand instead. Immediately, his safety sense quieted down, almost feeling like a warm and gentle purr now instead of blaring alarm bells. The switch left him reeling. Heat traveled to his cheeks from shame.

Curse his weird power for making him so dependent. He should not be this weak and needy just because a couple of bad things had happened to him.

…Not that he had the heart to pull away. No, he even took a step closer, brushing his shoulder with Minho as they walked through the halls in silence. He refused to make eye contact, but…

He needed this. Fuck, he needed this.

At least Minho was safe.

Chapter Text

Something was different. He wasn’t sure what, but he felt it. A wave of determination and hope mixed with his own, strengthening into something that could burst out of the seams.

It had to be Minho. He really wasn’t fully gone.

With his eyes closed, Jisung concentrated. This had to be a reaction from him trying to communicate, which meant it had to be working. Though he couldn’t hear him in his mind, Minho was out there somewhere, feeling what he was feeling, responding to him in the only way he could.

The cold glass around him felt much less colder now. It was like all of his feelings that had stayed cooped up behind his ribcage were suddenly straying out everywhere, flowing out of him like tendrils and growing his awareness of more than just the cage. It went all the way towards another source. That had to be Minho.

Jisung frowned, trying to pin-point that other source. It was far. Farther than this darkness, farther than… farther than this dream. Holy shit, this was a dream. He could feel his body—his actual body—and it wasn’t chained up and in this darkness at all. He was somewhere soft, somewhere flat. This entire glass prison wasn’t real. He was somewhere else and this was all in his mind! Minho wasn’t here at all, he was out there!

And the older was getting closer. That source, that light- that beacon, came closer and closer without Jisung having to lift a finger. Minho was coming for him.

Hyung! he called even though he knew Minho couldn’t hear him yet. I can feel you!

It gave him hope to hold out. He rested his head against the glass, sighing in relief. Minho was coming, and he’d get Jisung out of this nightmare. Not for the first time during this whole chaos, Jisung was more than glad about their weird bond. He was elated. It felt so, so good not to be alone, to be able to depend on someone and know they actually understood all of you. He would never admit this out loud to anyone, not even Minho, but-

If they were to get out—no, when they’d get out—Jisung didn’t really want to lose this connection with Minho. Nor his connection with Felix. He liked having them this close to his heart. He liked sharing (even if they could do with a little less panic overloads and terror) and he actually wouldn’t mind if… it never went away at all. Just imagining a future where he’d be all alone with his thoughts again, no bickering sessions in his mind, having to calm himself down from his panic again... It didn’t feel right at all.

Maybe he was growing too dependent. Maybe he didn’t care. Maybe he was the only one who felt like that, but he didn’t want to go back to before. Hopefully, the others thought the same. And if not… he wasn’t really sure if they even had a choice actually.

They were linked now, like it or not.

All of a sudden, Jisung looked up, a smile forming on his lips.

He could feel it. Minho was here.

Chapter Text

“He’s in here!”

The door was locked, but that didn’t stop Minho. He rammed his shoulder into the wood, again and again until a deafening crack echoed through the hallway and he burst that door open, flying inside.

Jisung was there, all unconscious princess style, a creepy-ass headset covering his eyes. Minho wasted no time in rushing to his side, taking one look at that headset and then grabbing it on both sides.

“Wait, hyung, maybe you shouldn’t-”

But he didn’t let Jeongin finish. He ripped the headset off Jisung's head, throwing it to the ground. Like a switch was flipped, Jisung’s eyes popped open wide, a loud gasp leaving his mouth as he flew upright. Minho was ready for it and held out his hands, catching Jisung before he could fall off the bed.

“I got you, it’s okay. Sungie, hey.”

Jisung looked around wildly, as if he wasn’t sure where he was. When his eyes finally landed on Minho, all the energy seemed to drain out of him. His face crumbled, and before Minho knew it, Jisung fell into his arms, shaking.

“Thank God, I was right,” he said, “You’re really here. I knew you’d get me out. Thank God.”

“I said I’d find you, didn’t I? Did you ever doubt that?”

“Maybe for a bit, yeah, but-”

Can you feel this? Jisung pulled back from the hug, looking at Minho inquiringly. Can you feel the change?

Minho nodded, easily switching to replying in his mind now that they finally could again. It’s stronger. I could literally sense where you were. That’s how we found you this fast.

I could sense you too. I realized I must be stuck in a dream when I felt you so far away. I knew you were getting closer too.

I’m still sorry it took so long.

Jisung smiled softly. You came, that’s all that’s important. That dream… it felt so real. It was awful.

Do you wanna tell me about it?

Subconsciously, Minho’s hand came to rub on Jisung’s arms, finding the younger to be far too cold even if he had been lying on a bed. A sort of soft buzzing feeling came from Jisung at the gesture, something that felt a lot like gratitude.

I was in this cage, Jisung told him. It was made of glass but it was so dark around it. And there were chains all across my body. They were so cold and they kind of hurt.

His rubbing grew more urgent when he heard that. No wonder Jisung seemed to be shivering from the memory alone.

Damn, that does sound awful. I swear, if I get my hands on our captors I will personally twist their neck-

Hyung.

Minho blinked innocently. What?

Jisung shook his head a little. I’m really glad I can hear you like this again. I missed you.

It was silent for a second. Minho struggled with admitting the same, so all he got out was: Yeah. I get that.

Jisung’s lips crooked up further. Tch. Smartass.

You know me. I’m the smartest ass.

That made Jisung smile brighter, which felt like a victory all on its own. It had been so long since Minho had seen that smile. He blinked in surprise when he felt happiness trickle in that wasn’t his. It really was weird, coming to terms with how their bond had changed now.

So we got the feeling sharing now too, huh? he thought. Can’t say I’m a big fan. You better not attack me with sunshiny shit like you do Yongbok.

And like you’re already doing, he almost added. Jisung’s happiness was infectious. It made his own lips tug up without his consent, the warmth in his chest calming down the frantic panic he’d been feeling before.

I wouldn’t dream of it, Jisung teased back, clearly noticing (or feeling) how Minho was just as happy as him. But why do you think this happened? Do you know what made this thing stronger all of a sudden?

Beats me. But don’t worry, as soon as we’re out of here, we’ll find out how to get rid of it again.

That made the happiness sizzle out immediately. Minho almost flinched from the sudden cold that enveloped him, something unrecognizable coming from the younger now.

W-what? Jisung looked oddly hurt. Hyung, I don’t- I don’t want to get rid of this.

Minho frowned. What? Jisung, that’s not funny.

I’m serious, hyung. I actually kinda like this. It’s nice to not have to talk sometimes and still say something to you. You’ve already helped me through multiple attacks and that would have never worked if it had happened out loud. I wouldn’t mind if after we get out, we get to keep this…

Minho had never heard something so unreasonable before, and that had to say something, because he’d lived through their early dorm fights where everyone would get pissed off at even a single toothbrush lying in the wrong spot.

How could you even entertain the idea to stay like this? He thought, highly offended. He would never admit it out loud, but Jisung’s words scared him. Losing the only privacy they as idols could afford? Having his mind invaded on a daily basis, never being able to hide his feelings anymore, always being aware that someone else was hearing and sensing everything you did? It sounded like the worst thing he could imagine. Sung, we’re freaks. This isn’t normal.

Jisung’s eyes bled with hurt, and the stab of it that went through his own chest made Minho almost regret saying these things. Almost, because they had to be said. He didn’t want to lie to Jisung and pretend everything was sunshine and rainbows like this. He wasn’t either of the happiness twins that could always see the best in shitty situations. He saw they were shitty, and that was it. No stupid holding on to dreams and no unreliable hope. He’d learned that the hard way throughout his career and he actually liked to think he’d become stronger because of it.

(Not that Felix and Jisung weren’t strong. They were stronger than he could ever be. Just… different.)

We’re not freaks, Jisung thought, tone shifting to defensive. And I want to stay like this. You’re not changing my mind about that.

Sung, be reasonable. This is not right. Do you really want to be some fucked up test rat for the rest of our lives? Play right into those fuckers’ hands and kiss their ass because they gave us this? What, do you think this is a gift?

So you think this is a curse?

It is! I don’t want anyone to hear my thoughts 24/7! You shouldn’t want that either!

You clearly don’t know me as well as you think then! We have a way to block it, remember, so you don’t have to share everything all the time!

That doesn’t take away the fact that you’re invading my brain!

So now it’s invading?

Of course it is, what else would you call it? I never wanted you close like this and now we’re stuck!

Well, fuck you too! Jisung practically screamed in their minds. He harshly shook Minho’s hand off of his arms. I never asked to be stuck with you either but here we are! Seriously, fuck off, Minho! It’s not like this has been a walk in the park for me either, but I’m trying to see the positive in it! Maybe you should learn to do the same!

Minho balled his fists. There is nothing positive about any of this! We’re freaks. Messed up experiments. They’ve literally mutated us just to play some fucked up game with us! How can you say you want to stay like this when-

“Guys,” Jeongin said, startling both Minho and Jisung so bad they jumped. Both whirled around to where Jeongin was giving them a weird look, his arms crossed. “Not that I want to interrupt whatever it is you’re talking about with those weird powers you got, but you promised we’d go find Seungmin now. I don’t want to waste any more time.”

Minho blinked, coming back to himself. He stood up from the bed quickly. “You’re right,” he said, all too eager to use this distraction to never think about this argument ever again. Jisung was wrong. Minho knew that the younger was just as headstrong, however, and so he knew there was no changing his mind any time soon. It was better to just ignore it until it went away.

Jeongin looked relieved at Minho immediately being on board. As if he thought that Minho wouldn’t want to find the other members after finding Jisung. That kinda hurt. He promised, didn’t he? He would always keep to his word.

“Wait,” Jisung said. Minho was about ready to start arguing again, this time out loud, but then Jisung said something he didn’t expect. He had a hand on his chest, looking down at it. “I think we should go to Lix first.”

“What? Why?” Jeongin asked.

“I can feel how panicked he is. He’s in trouble.”

“But for all we know, Seungmin could be in trouble too,” Jeongin argued. “This whole place is terrifying and Felix-hyung is one of the worst scaredy cats in our team. I’m sure he’s just over-exaggerating.”

Jisung shook his head. “No. No, this is bad. I think he really needs help.”

“But Seungmin has been alone all this time! He needs our help too!” Jeongin took a step towards the door. “We’re going to Seungmin-hyung first. We’ve put it off for far too long already.”

“He’s right,” Minho joined in. “We’ve got a clear direction to search for Seungmin, but for Yongbok we’d just be searching blindly. It would be better to go for Seungmin first. He might be able to help us find the others.”

Jisung clearly wasn’t happy with the two of them ganging up on him. He didn’t meet their eyes, only looking down like he was hanging his head in defeat. Minho almost felt guilty, except he pushed that feeling down as soon as it came up. Now that Jisung could feel the same, he needed to stay in control of himself. No more accidental feeling sharing, no more crossing of boundaries he wasn’t ready to cross.

Besides, Jisung was in no position to argue about this. He was weak, wounded, barely able to stand. The only option he had was to stay in this room or accept wherever Minho and Jeongin wanted to go. It was clear he realized that too.

“Come on,” Minho said, lowering to one knee with his back to the bed. “Climb on. We’ll find Seungmin first and then the others. Yongbok is strong enough to survive without us for a bit longer.”

Jisung kept silent, but soon, the sheets rustled and arms carefully wound around Minho’s neck. Minho slowly lifted him up, mindful of the wound on Jisung’s leg. He could feel the inner turmoil from Jisung like a bad taste in his mouth, but he stubbornly ignored it. It was better to pretend they didn’t share this. Better to pretend to be normal so it couldn’t hurt him further.

He grunted, taking a step forward.

“Lead the way, I.N-ah.”

Chapter Text

In the all-encompassing darkness, all Chan could do was distract himself with the weird visions that kept flashing through his mind. He kept his eyes closed, his mind a fake sort of calm and just watched.

Minho had found Jisung. At least that was one positive thing Chan could focus on. Now he could see Jisung and Jeongin, a fast improvement to what he saw when he opened his eyes again. Whenever he did, the darkness crawled across his skin. Shivers creeped across his spine. The silence was more deafening than any sound-overloaded waiting room the team had ever had to stay cooped up in for hours.

So it really helped to see multiple members safe and sound. It kept him sane. Now he knew three of his members were accounted for and it filled the hollow place in his chest where he should be feeling Felix instead.

Jeongin opening a door. The feeling of a person’s weight on his back. The sound of footsteps in an echoing place. White hallways stretching on endlessly.

Chan watched as the others navigated the halls. Jeongin seemed to know where to go, which was a real blessing. Though Chan didn’t like their strange connections at all, he had to admit that as long as they were in this place it was the best thing that could have happened to them. They weren’t helpless because of them. Chan just hoped they would be able to reverse the connections afterwards.

As more and more time passed in his weird liminal space, Chan started to notice how his visions (or sight-sharing? mind-blending? whatever it was) was becoming more and more detailed. It changed from impressions and flashes to longer scenes, calmer moments and clearer images. He started to feel every footstep Minho put on the ground and every shift of Jisung on the older boy’s back. It was like by fully letting himself live through Minho for a while, the lines between them became blurred more and more.

(Sometimes, Chan had to open his eyes and ground himself, reminding himself that he wasn’t actually walking with the others.)

It took Chan far too long to realize that almost all their connections up until now had been two-sided. He shared with Felix, Felix shared with him. Jisung thought to Minho, Minho thought back. If that was true for all of these things then… that gave him an idea. What if his visions from MInho were just half of the deal? What if, if he really concentrated, he could send out his own situation back to Minho?

Dangerous hope swooped in his chest.

It was worth a shot. If it ended up failing, the only one he’d look stupid to was himself. Stuck in a neverending darkness, this was the only thing he could try. Now the question was: how to go about it? Did it work the same as his thing with Felix, where he just felt a lot and it got transferred over immediately? If so, then had Minho been seeing things from Chan’s side for all this time already?

Chan let out a breath, trying to calm his racing heart. He was still scared, but with years of practice, he’d gotten quite good at ignoring his own feelings and focussing on the task at hand. At least now, he finally had such a task again.

“Okay,” he muttered. He shut his eyes firmly. “Minho please see this.” And then he opened his eyes, intentionally looking around everywhere. There was nothing to see, so he also looked down at his hands, flexing them and willing Minho to feel it. Like a form of awareness meditation, he stretched his legs next, finally uncurling from his cramped posture, and tapped his feet on the dark ground. He looked around again, trying to convey that this was his prison.

Endless darkness. No end or person in sight.

“Come on, Lino, please see this.”

He pinched his arm, then his leg. He looked out into the dark again. The sight still made his heart jump in terror, but he persisted. There was no way to know if this was working, but he needed it to.

“Come on, please find me. Please, help me.”

Chapter Text

Okay, now turn more to your eleven o’clock. You’re almost there.

Hyunjin obediently followed Seungmin’s directions, navigating through the thick fog with nothing but trust in the younger. He didn’t even think about how strange it must be that he got used to it so fast, because, sure, he startled when Seungmin suddenly spoke to him through their minds but he was also so relieved to not be alone anymore that he didn’t care how weird it was.

It was also just so easy. He only had to think something, anything, and Seungmin would know what he meant. Now he understood why Jisung and Minho kept zoning out during conversations. Talking like this was so much easier.

I think I see a door!

Good, keep walking. That door should lead to the rooms with the others.

The fact that it was Seungmin only made everything better. Finally, Hyunjin had proof that Seungmin was okay. Finally, he could hear him, ask him questions, make sure he knew they were coming for him. Not knowing had been the worst torture. Now, he felt like he could take on the whole world.

I got it! There it is!

He sprinted the last part, tired of keeping up the pretense that he was lost. Seungmin told him to act like they weren’t communicating, that he was being kept under constant surveillance and that they had to hide this, but he was too happy to keep it in. He looked around and up, hoping to spot one of the cameras Seungmin was looking through.

Keep your head down, dumbass! Seungmin berated him immediately. You aren’t supposed to know they’re watching!

Oh please, it’s not like we didn’t find the screens before. I already knew they were watching before you started talking to me.

Still. Be careful. And don’t smile at me like that, we’re still in a dangerous place if you forgot.

Yeah, yeah, I hear you. Hyunjin looked back down to the door, forcing his face to be blank once more. Party pooper.

Tsk. And they call me the giant puppy.

That’s because you are.

You’re even worse though.

I’m not.

You are.

Am not.

You definitely are.

Am definitely not-

Hyunjin opened the door. Disappointment filled him when he was met with long hallways of white and silence. His shoulders slumped.

Minnie, you said this door would take me to the others…

Not immediately, Seungmin thought drily. I can’t work wonders, hyung. You’re gonna have to walk for a while longer. Go right and follow the hall until you find another door.

But my feet are killing me, Hyunjin whined, obediently starting to trek through the hallway. Hey, by the way, what are the others doing? You can see them right? Are they okay?

They’re… alright.

The way Seungmin hesitated didn’t bode well. Hyunjin rubbed his arms, wishing he had another set of clothes since these felt far too thin and cold for these empty hallways. At least they’d dried in the time between the flood and waking up in the red mist, otherwise he would have been even more miserable.

You don’t sound too sure.

That’s because I’m not, Seungmin admitted, I know Minho-hyung, Felix and Innie are okay, but I have no idea about the others. I don’t know- They’re sleeping.

Sleeping?

Yeah. The researchers said something about putting them in a simulation. They have these weird headsets on. I don’t know what they’re doing to them.

That gave Hyunjin the chills. It sounded like some dystopian horror movie, trapping people inside computer systems with no way to escape.

He had to save them.

Lead me to them, he thought resolutely. Who of them is closest to me?

I’m not sure, but… I know where Felix found Chan. I’m hoping that the doors in your hall lead to either Changbin or Jisung.

They better. Hyunjin started walking faster. And where are Minho and Jeongin? You said they’re okay?

They are. Minho-hyung seems to know where to- Oh, they’ve found Jisung!

Hyunjin wished he could be relieved at that news, but one of them was still unaccounted for. Changbin was still all alone. He turned the corner, immediately zeroing in on the door that he could see further up ahead. When he finally reached it, he was sourly disappointed.

Any ideas on how to open this, Min? It’s locked.

Felix kicked the door in and Minho broke it down, Seungmin said matter-of-factly. Hyunjin snorted in surprise.

Felix did? He almost couldn’t believe it. He knew the younger was skilled, but he wasn’t a fighter nor aggressive like that. He guessed desperate people were capable of more than he thought. Minho, he could have expected, but Felix was a welcome surprise.

He looked at the very sturdy-looking door. Yeah, no, not happening.

I don’t think I have any chance of getting through the same way as them, he admitted to both himself and Seungmin. Any better ideas?

Maybe picking the lock? I don’t know, hyung. I don’t think they’ve hidden a key for you anywhere.

Hyunjin looked around, not finding any hiding place whatsoever. Fair enough. Picking the lock it is.

He crouched down, peering through the keyhole. How did they do this in dramas again? He didn’t have a hairclip or anything like they used in those kinds of scenes. He patted his clothes, thinking hard. There had to be something…

He stopped when he felt his necklace, a flat, metal square.

Hey, Minnie, remember the trick we used for our old dorm?

He took off his necklace, grabbing the metal plate.

The one with the credit card? You don’t have one, hyung.

No, Hyunjin thought, shifting to the side, but it’s close enough. He put the metal into the crack between the door and the frame, pushing against the lock mechanism until he felt that he began to move it. He bent it towards himself, then away from himself, wiggling it until he felt the metal slipping past the lock and the door slowly started to open. With practiced ease, Hyunjin pulled open the door, standing triumphantly in the door opening.

Ha!

Seungmin was silent for a bit. Damn, hyung, he thought eventually, I’m actually impressed.

Just watch and learn, Minnie, Hyunjin thought proudly. This is a master burglar at work.

Stealing from hyung’s snack drawer doesn’t make you a master burglar.

What’s that? Do I hear jealousy?

Hyunjin snickered to himself. He stepped inside the room, gasping when he found the bed with Changbin lying on it. It looked even worse than Seungmin had described it.

“Oh my god, hyung!”

Chapter Text

It felt like hours passed. Maybe even days. Changbin was exhausted, helpless, and stuck waiting. He couldn’t do anything else, not if he wanted to stay alive and not fry to death. He was dodging lighting left and right, his chest heaving with the tired breaths he had to suck in. His whole body hurt. With staggering steps, he kept walking.

Really, this was the worst test of strength he’d ever had to endure. He made a mental note to never complain about dance practice again. That was nothing compared to this hellscape. The others would watch him skip happily into the practice room from now on. If he’d get out of here alive, he would never complain about a single thing anymore.

But daydreaming and making promises like that didn’t help much if he wouldn’t be able to see it through. And with how slow he’d gotten... One of these times, he was going to get hit and then it would all be over. He’d gotten clumsy. He’d gotten careless and exhausted and uncoordinated.

The warning rumbling was already starting up again.

Changbin tried to look around and find where the strike would hit but it was no use. Barely a split-second after the rumbling stopped, a bright light shot from above and right to where he was. He was too slow.

The lightning hit him right in the shoulder. With a cry, Changbin dove to the ground, his eyes squeezing shut as pure electricity coursed through him and-

Didn’t hurt?

Wait. No, that couldn’t be right. Changbin opened his eyes, taking stock of his body. He grunted, pushing himself from the ground. He didn’t even feel shaky or anything? Wasn’t he supposed to be in pain?

The lightning hadn’t done anything. How was that possible?

He turned his head to the ceiling, trying to find some kind of sign as to what happened. There was nothing there. On the ground where he’d been standing, a small burn spot marked where he’d stood.

But he didn’t feel anything.

The endless room and grey scenery were suddenly shed in a very different light. What if… none of it was real? Their kidnappers were smart and knew how to alter things in the human body, but no one could completely cancel out the effects of a pure, point-blank lightning strike. He should have felt burning, he should have fainted right then and there, he should have been jittery and hurt and down and—well—maybe even dead. He honestly didn’t know what lightning bolts did normally.

But this one must have been fake. Which meant the room might be too. Maybe that was why even after hours of walking, he had yet to find any exit to this place. And if the room was fake, that begged the question: was any of this real, or was it all in his head? Was he seeing things while he still walked through reality, or was he not even really moving at all, stuck in his mind?

Thinking about it all hurt his head, especially since he was so dead-tired. He sat down, sick of moving from something that he now knew wouldn’t even hurt. And well… that was one good thing about this. Now he knew he could finally rest without being scared of dying. That was something, wasn’t it? He trusted the others. They would find him, so he could rest.

What felt like even more hours passed with just him, his eyes closed, sitting on the ground and ignoring the rumble and booms around him. Time in this place was like syrup, slowly dripping through his fingers and sometimes not even moving at all. He could have fallen asleep like this, except he didn’t think he could actually sleep inside his mind. So he just sat, trying to meditate or whatever it was people did when they were too stubborn to go to sleep.

He hadn’t been this calm in a while. Simply breathing and resting. He’d needed this.

Then without warning, the whole world rocked from side to side, mercilessly throwing him to the ground. One last CRASH sounded all around him. His eyes flew open.

He gasped, shooting upright on the bed. The grey was gone, the booms and strikes too. Now, it was suddenly dead-quiet, and it actually hurt his ears more because he could still remember the deafening echoes. He was in a room. Red walls. Something soft under him.

A body slammed against his, arms capturing him in an iron hold.

“Hyung, thank God!” Came the distinct voice of none other than Hyunjin. His voice was far too loud in Changbin’s fragile ears. His head pounded with the words. He cringed away from the hug, but Hyunjin held on tightly.

“I honestly doubted if it would work but Minnie said I just had to pull it off and I was so stressed because what if it would go wrong but it didn’t and it worked and I’m so glad you’re awake again and-”

“Hyunjin,” Changbin said, voice hoarse from disuse. “Please shut up for a second.”

Hyunjin stilled, his teeth clicking together audibly. Changbin sighed, finally melting into the hug now that he had a second to gather his bearings. He closed his eyes, exhausted.

“So it wasn’t real,” he mumbled. “Thank God.”

“No, it wasn’t,” Hyunjin replied just as quietly. He seemed to get the hint that Changbin couldn’t handle much right now, and slowly lightened up on the hug too. “None of it was real.”

Changbin sighed. “It felt real,” he admitted. “I was there for what felt like weeks.”

Hyunjin made a sad sound, rubbing his back. “But now you’re out. You’re okay.”

Changbin didn’t really believe that, not with the way phantom thunder claps were still echoing in his mind and his whole body felt jittery and bruised. He guessed it was all in his mind, but that didn’t make it any less painful.

“What happened? I.N-ah, is he…”

“Innie is okay. He’s with Minho-hyung and Jisungie. He’s okay.”

“How do you know?”

Hyunjin leaned back from the hug, a small smile playing on his lips. “It’s a long story. You’ve missed a lot while you were out.”

“Well…” Changbin shuffled back until his back met the wall. He closed his eyes with a pained grimace. Though the lightning strike might not have been real, the exhaustion was, and his whole body felt stiff. “I’m not getting off this bed for a while. Hit me with it. But please don’t talk too loud.” He gestured vaguely to his ears. “They hurt.”

Hyunjin didn’t ask what he meant, which was a blessing. He just softly started to recount everything that happened. The gas in the empty room, the way Minho tried to get them out but it was useless in the end. He explained how Seungmin had managed to talk to him and that that’s how he’d gotten out of the mist and managed to find him.

“So, is Seungmin listening along right now?” Changbin asked, still not fully grasping all of this link-stuff. Hyunjin chuckled.

“No, no, but I keep him updated. He can’t actually hear me talk. Only my thoughts and only when I want him to.”

“Right,” Changbin said, even though he didn’t really get it. Weirdly enough, he kind of felt hurt. It seemed everyone was finding special powers within themselves and with each other except for him. There was no reason to be jealous of that—what was happening to them was unnatural and all for the wrong reasons—but he did. He was the only one left out of it. Was he not close enough to the others to unlock whatever this was? Did the others not trust him enough for it to happen?

Of course, he wouldn’t say any of this out loud to Hyunjin. The younger couldn’t help him with this, not when none of them knew what was actually happening and how it worked. He was getting worked up over nothing.

What he said instead was: “So, can Seungmin help us find the others?”

It seemed like Hyunjin had been waiting for that question. “He says he’s already found multiple routes to the others. Are you okay to walk now?”

Changbin nodded, wincing when it made his headache worse. “Gimme a hand and help me get up. We shouldn’t waste any more time.”

Hyunjin immediately offered his arm, which Changbin used to weakly climb off the bed. He wobbled a bit on his legs, feeling like he hadn’t used them for a long time, but eventually he managed to stand. Hyunjin gently tugged him towards the door, cautious to not go too fast. He had that vacant look in his eyes. The same one Jisung kept getting while he was talking to Minho in his head. Without a word, Hyunjin led him out of the room, turning the corner and starting to go down the hallway.

Changbin kept quiet too. He was tired, everything hurt and he was content to just be for a while. Even walking felt heavy, heavier than it had done in that weird dream. It took all of his concentration to keep upright.

At least it wouldn’t be long before they would all be together again. His waiting had paid off. He’d been found, and now they were going to find the others.

This nightmare would be over soon enough.

Chapter Text

It was hard, keeping it a secret that he was trying to keep track of two conversations at once. Next to him, the one (and maybe only) Korean researcher from before kept asking him to analyze the members. What did he see, what evidence could he find for certain bonds, what was the best way to test those observations? On the inside, Seungmin was giving directions to Hyunjin, following him on the camera feeds and trying to get him and Changbin to the others.

It was tricky, keeping both things up, but he thought he was handling it quite well.

“I think…” he said, pretending to think deeply while he followed Hyunjin haul a stumbling Changbin along, “That Hwang Hyunjin and Seo Changbin could have bonded. Do you see how they’re not talking? Hwang Hyunjin almost never shuts up, and neither does Seo Changbin.”

Go right there, hyung.

“Can’t that be because of the subjects’ exhaustion?” The researcher questioned. Seungmin shook his head.

“Oh no, those two talk especially when they’re tired. It’s how they try to keep themselves awake. And Hwang Hyunjin is the type to mumble when he’s scared. It’s definitely out of character for him to stay silent.”

Hey, Minnie, can’t you ask those researchers around you if they can drop some food for us on the way? You know, like those sponsor packages in the Hunter Games? I’m starving. I could really use some ramyeon right now. Oh! Or dumplings! Or chapchae, or spaghetti, or stir-fried rice-

I’m not gonna ask them for food, Seungmin thought back, exasperated. His analysis was spot-on, only Hyunjin wasn’t talking through his exhaustion out loud, but exclusively annoying Seungmin with it.

“Interesting.” The researcher nodded. It seemed like they were buying Seungmin’s lies. That was good. The more they believed his nonsense, the less they would look at what he was actually doing.

Go left there. You’re almost at Felix’s location.

“So what experiment would work the best on those two?” the researcher asked, though it sounded more to themselves than to Seungmin. They tapped a pencil on their clipboard. “It’s most probable that their Soul Link helped Subject 127 to identify the illusions, so perhaps we could create more of those to test it. Or we could use the modified creatures we used on Subject 124 before and weaken Subject 126 further. Then we’d know for certain if their Link is one of physical nature or not.”

The researcher’s murmurs got more and more indistinct, which made it difficult to hear. Especially since Hyunjin kept talking about anything and everything in their heads.

-you say that Chan-hyung was also sleeping? What do you think he’s dreaming about? Changbin-hyung doesn’t seem to want to say what his dream was, but he says his ears hurt and I’m not allowed to talk to him because of it… Do you think it was really scary? Do you think I should talk to him even though he doesn’t want me to? Do you think-

“Subject 130, I’m waiting.”

Seungmin failed to hide his tiny jump at the researcher’s voice getting louder again. He blinked back to the present to find them staring at him impatiently.

“I… uh…” Shoot, he hadn’t been thinking of an answer at all. “You could test it with- uh…” He couldn’t think of another ‘safe’ experiment to save the others this time. Hyunjin’s rant was too distracting even now. Seungmin didn’t know if there was any way to tune him out, not when his voice was literally inside his head.

The researcher cast a glance over his head, seemingly done waiting.

“Time’s up. We’ll be picking from our list of incentives again to test their Link. Know that this is your fault, Subject 130.”

“No, wait, I can still think of something!” Seungmin pleaded. “Please, just give me another minute and I’ll-”

“Turn on Incentive C33. We’ll test the link between Subjects 126 and 127 by assessing their ability for soundless communication. If they manage to communicate vocally, increase the decibel until it’s not possible anymore.”

“Understood.”

Barely a second later, Hyunjin’s voice cut off in the most awful way. He started screaming, even inside Seungmin’s mind, and Seungmin couldn’t hide the wince that followed. Hyunjin and Changbin collapsed on the spot, hands shooting to cover their ears. Both curled up small and in clear pain.

“Stop!” Seungmin watched the screens in horror. He couldn’t hear what was happening, but whatever it was, it must be loud, because Hyunjin started chanting, it hurts, too loud, it hurts, it hurts, too loud! “What are you doing to them?!”

“They’re not communicating vocally or through the link,” one of the researchers behind Seungmin stated. The researcher next to him nodded.

“As we thought. They’re immobilized. Disappointing. Now, Subject 130-” they turned to Seungmin. “-lead them out of the hallway, please.”

Seungmin’s eyes grew wide, but he quickly masked it by putting on a glare instead. “What? How am I supposed to tell them anything? They can’t hear me!” Hyunjin’s screams became louder and louder in his head. He and Changbin were trapped against the ground, faces scrunched up and hands knuckle-white over their heads. Seungmin’s eyes started burning from the utter helplessness that struck him.

“Stop it, you’re hurting them! Can’t you see they’re in pain?!”

“This is just level one,” the researcher said simply. “It doesn’t deal permanent damage yet. If you cooperate, we won’t have to up the level either. Guide them out of the hall.”

“How do you want me to do that?!” Seungmin shouted. “Please, stop it! I don’t know what you want me to do!”

Finally, the researcher looked him in the eye. “Just tell Subject 127 through your mind link like you’ve been doing so far.”

Seungmin paled. “W-what?”

“C33 slowly approaching level 2,” someone behind them stated. It could be his imagination, but he thought he saw the researcher’s lips go up a tiny fraction.

“Level 2 is where the eardrums will start to really hurt. If you don’t want them to attain permanent impairment, I suggest you get them out of that hall soon, subject 130.”

Tears pricked in the corners of Suengmin’s eyes as he realized he was not just busted, but that he didn’t have another choice. He bit his lip, looking at the camera feeds.

Hyunjin. He thought, trying to focus on being a calm voice through the older’s screaming and pleading. Hyung, you need to listen to me. I can get you out.

Seungminnie, it hurts, it hurts so much, I can’t-

Just stand and help Changbin. I’ll get you out.

Seungminnie-

“Fascinating,” the researcher mumbled, fixated on Seungmin. He tried to ignore them, but their piercing eyes seemed to dissect him from the inside out.

You can crawl too, just let me get you out of there. You can do it, hyung, just listen to me.

Slowly, Hyunjin started moving. He and Changbin didn’t drop their hands from their ears, but with hesitant steps, they rose from the ground and started walking again. Changbin didn’t even seem to ask Hyunjin where they were going, simply trusting the other.

“Where should I lead them?” Seungmin said emotionlessly. The researcher practically lit up.

“The room you were previously leading them to will suffice. If you tell them the code to the door, they’ll be safe from the frequency.”

Seungmin nodded. Without any more resistance or pretense, he dutifully passed on the numbers and the direction. Hyunjin followed it without question. Around Seungmin, ecstatic exclamations were heard when Changbin and Hyunjin successfully opened the door and stumbled in, throwing it closed behind them. They both sagged to the ground, totally spent.

Seungmin shot an angry look at the researcher. “Happy now?”

Chapter Text

The second he could feel Jisung again, it was like a weight lifting off his shoulders. The rapper must have been awake again. Finally. Felix chose to see that as a good sign even if he couldn’t be sure the other was safe right now.

“Jisung's awake again,” he softly told Chan, simply filling the silence. “Do you think that means someone woke him? He feels relieved and about as happy as you can be in this place. That's good, right? It must mean he's with one of the others. My leg also hurts less, so he's probably resting. If only he could do that more often, hm?” Felix chuckled, though it slowly died down when he got no answer.

He rubbed his thumb over the back of Chan's hand. Somewhere in his waiting, he'd abandoned sitting on the ground and moved to the bed instead, carefully fitting himself next to Chan so he could rest against the wall. He hadn't lied; the pain from Jisung was significantly less, even if it still made his leg hurt like hell. It was like he could feel precisely how big and wide the burn mark was, like his own skin was pulled taut all the way to his knee. Lifting it on the mattress had been a painful task, though luckily Jisung had still been unconscious at that time.

Now he was staring at a spot on the red wall in front of him, absentmindedly rubbing Chan's hand and thinking about all the things that had happened ever since dance practice.

And man, a lot had happened.

The time in the car, the way he hadn’t even realized something was wrong until it was too late. How he failed to warn Jisung and how he woke up all alone in that darkness before. And then Chan, finding him and leading him out only to get badly hurt trying to protect him… Their bond. The feeling he got when they were searching for the others. The link he got with Jisung when the water crashed over them and he almost drowned. The darkness, the frantic searching, the way Minho sacrificed himself only for the gas to come from everywhere else too…

He was far away in his mind when, without warning, a door on the other side of the room flew open and two people came rushing in. Felix had tried to open that door countless times, but it had been locked with some sort of code. Now, the two people collapsed the second the door closed again, panting heavily and bracing themselves against the ground.

Felix was off the bed immediately, his panic mode activated.

“Changbin-hyung! Hyunjin!”

He rushed over and fell down beside them, hands flitting between them in worry and fear.

“Oh my God, are you guys okay? What happened? How did you get here? How did you get in?”

He didn't get an answer, but both met his eyes with expressions full of relief. They looked awful. Changbin already did before because of all the small burn wounds littering his arms, but now he also looked exhausted and pale, dark shadows painting the skin under his eyes that made him look weary and like he could faint any second. Hyunjin looked frantic. His hair was in disarray, and his eyes scanned the room as if he expected a threat to jump out at them at any second.

“Guys, what happened? Talk to me, how can I help?” Hyunjin didn't even look his way as he said it, so he waved a hand in front of his face. Finally, Hyunjin turned to face him.

“FELIX,” he said, voice booming so loud that Felix jumped. “I CAN'T HEAR YOU BECAUSE THERE WAS TOO MUCH NOISE. SORRY.”

“Too much noise?” Felix looked to Changbin for answers. “Hyung, what does he mean?”

Changbin gave him an apologetic look and said with the tiniest voice possible, “I can hear you like you're underwater right now. Give us a second, I'm sure it'll go away soon.”

Felix nodded, too stunned to really do anything else. He offered his hands to both of them to pull them up and gently guided them towards the wall, where they both sat down and leaned against it with twin sighs.

“I'M GLAD YOU'RE OKAY,” Hyunjin said to him, refusing to let go of his hand. He squeezed it. “I WAS SO WORRIED.”

Changbin jabbed him with an elbow, earning a yelp from the younger.

“Don't scream right into my ear,” he chided, tone still softer than Felix had ever heard from him. He must have been controlling his volume on purpose, but in the end it made him talk so quietly that Felix wasn’t sure Hyunjin had understood a single word of it.

Felix really wished he could have offered them some water or another bed to lay down in. He hated not being able to do anything for them. All he could do was hold Hyunjin's hand and wait for them to recover. He crouched down, biting his lip to keep from talking since it didn't have any use anyway.

At least this was better than being alone. Now he knew two more members were okay, and two more breaths filled the room as it descended into silence again.

Minutes ticked by. Hyunjin's hold on his hand started to become sweaty, but he still didn't let go. He seemed to need it. Felix was in no position to deny him, not when the touch meant at least he wasn't alone anymore.

After a while, Changbin was the one to speak up first, his voice returning to a normal level.

“Okay, the ringing has stopped enough, try to talk again?”

“What do you want me to say? Can you hear me right now?”

Changbin nodded. “It's still a bit muffled but that was clear enough. I'm sorry if we scared you before, Yongbok-ah.”

“Don't apologize for that. What exactly happened? How did you get here?”

“It's a long story,” Hyunjin grinned. “But goodness, I'm so happy to hear your sweet, sweet voice again. It's healing my ears right up.”

“Long story short,” Changbin took over, rolling his eyes, “they played a very shrill, very painful sound in the hall just now. It came out of nowhere. It felt like it was breaking my skull.”

Hyunjin put his hand to his ear. “It was awful. I'm surprised it's not bleeding right now.”

“Let's be happy it's not,” Changbin said. “It's only because Hyunjin's been able to talk to Seungmin that he could get us out and give us the code to that door. Otherwise I think we could have left with much worse than some ringing. What are those crazy people thinking? Do they want to kill us even though it would ruin their insane plans? Seriously…”

“Seungminnie?” Felix asked eagerly, latching on to that detail. “They allowed him to talk through the speakers again?”

Hyunjin shook his head, crossing his arms as if he were proud. “Nope, we're sharing thoughts now. He's talking to me in my mind, just like Minho and Jisung can do. Pretty cool, huh?”

Felix's eyes widened. “So you can talk to him at any time? Is he okay? Where is he? Can he still see us or did they take him somewhere else? Is that how he knew the code? Do you know how to get to him?”

Hyunjin didn’t seem fazed by the amount of questions. He ticked each off with a finger. “Yes, yes, I don't know, probably, and I also don't know. He says he's surrounded by the kidnappers and that it's better to not come his way.”

“What? But we can't just let him stay alone!”

Hyunjin held up his free hand. “Hey, I'm also not a fan of the idea. But I do think we should wait until we're all together again. We don't know what the kidnappers have up their sleeves. We'd better be off storming their lair with as many of us as possible.”

“Hyunjin makes a valid point,” Changbin agreed. “Plus I really want to stay here for a bit. I’m not storming any kidnapper’s base like this any time soon.”

“You guys stay here for as long as you need,” Felix nodded along. “We can only wait anyway.” He turned around, sending a meaningful glance towards the bed and Chan. Hyunjin made a noise of surprise.

“Is that Channie-hyung? Oh my God, it is!” All of a sudden, he was up on his feet, letting go of Felix’s hand to stride over to the bed. “Here let me-!”

Felix realized a second too late what the dancer was going to do and threw out a hand to try and stop him. “Hyunjin, no!”

Hyunjin reached for the headset with purpose. “Don’t worry, I know what to do.”

“No, don’t, it could be dangerous!”

But Hyunjin didn’t listen. He pulled it off, dropping the machine to the ground without preamble. Felix choked, fear gripping his heart. What if all those shows were right and the headset had short-circuited Chan’s brain now and killed him? What if he was somehow stuck in whatever hellish world he’d been trapped in forever? What had Hyunjin done?

None of Felix’s doom scenarios actually happened, though, because through the stinging of his eyes, he witnessed Chan shooting upright, his eyes and mouth blowing open with a startled gasp. Felix lifted shaking hands in front of his mouth.

“...Hyung!”

He stumbled to his feet, hurrying to the bed and collapsing against Chan, who caught him with quick reflexes.

“Felix…?”

“Hyung,” Felix sobbed, overwhelmed by the sudden change within his chest. Gone was Chan’s fear and despair, and now only pure relief was left. It left Felix melting into Chan like he was boneless, all the exhaustion taking over. Chan’s arms wrapped around him in a secure hold.

“Oh, Lix. It’s okay. I knew you’d get me out somehow.”

“I was so scared,” Felix admitted in English, “You weren’t waking up and it didn’t matter what I did and I didn't want to hurt you and- and what if you were stuck like that forever?” His voice cracked. “I was so scared.”

“I’m okay now.” Chan’s voice was steady and gentle, enough to finally push the tears behind Felix’s eyes to the forefront until they streamed down his cheeks. “I’m so glad you found me.”

Felix buried his head in Chan’s shoulder, crying from relief.

They stayed like that for a bit, Chan rubbing his back and patiently waiting until he calmed down again. His breath stuttered too, once or twice. Clearly, he was only holding it so he could focus on Felix. Still, the relief coming from him in waves was practically palpable.

When Felix was sure he wouldn’t burst out crying again, he reluctantly let go of the hug. He wiped his nose, sniffing. Hyunjin took that as his moment to finally announce his presence.

“Hey, Channie-hyung.”

“Jin-ah. Changbin-ah.” Chan sighed, his lips pulling up. “Man, it’s good to see you safe.”

“Right back at you,” Changbin said. He nodded from his place on the floor. “Believe me, that dream thing is no joke.”

That made Chan’s smile drop again, his face turning serious. “Tell me everything that I missed.”

And so they did. Felix told him how he found him and this room in the dark hallways. Then it was Hyunjin's turn, and he explained how he’d gotten out of the mist and found Changbin. Just like Felix, Chan was infinitely relieved when he heard Seungmin was okay, except he didn’t bombard Hyunjin with questions like Felix had done. All he said was:

“Please tell Seungmin-ah that we’re coming for him. We’ll get him out.”

“Already did,” Hyunjin said. “We’re not going to leave him alone no matter how much he tries to warn me to keep away.”

Chan nodded, looking proud. Hyunjin continued to tell everything about what happened in the hall just before and what Seungmin told him about the others. For Felix, it didn’t matter how many times he heard it; it was like a balm to the heart to hear everyone was accounted for and relatively okay. It healed some of the pieces that had broken off when they’d gotten separated (again). It didn’t fully heal—not as long as they weren’t all together—but it helped knowing that they could be soon.

“I hope I.N-ah can hold on for long enough until we can find them,” Chan said. Felix frowned.

“Why only him?”

“Hm?”

“Why do you only hope Innie will hold on? What about the others?”

“They aren't carrying Jisungie, of course. He's been bulking up, but carrying a person for a long time is hard regardless,” Chan said as that explained everything. Felix shared a confused glance with Hyunjin and Changbin.

“How do you know Jeongin is carrying him?” Hyunjin asked. “Seungmin never told me that.”

“Oh.” Chan's eyes widened. “Uh, well-”

But he couldn't finish his sentence as Hyunjin suddenly let out a shocked gasp, looking around the group in horror.

“Guys! Min says there's about to be a-”

The whole room shook.

Hyunjin screamed, dropping down and pulling Felix along with him. Felix yelped, falling off the bed and landing painfully on his elbow and side. A shadow covered them as Changbin rushed to cover them, curling his body protectively to hide them from whatever the threat was. Chan clung to the bed with all his might as even the metal frame under him rattled.

“-Earthquake!”

Chapter Text

They were on their way to Seungmin when the whole building started to shake. Jeongin wasn't fast enough to stabilize himself. He yelped, stumbling, before his knees buckled and he lost his grip on Jisung's legs.

“No!”

He was too late to save him. Jisung was thrown off Jeongin's back, landing harshly on the ground with a pained cry. Minho cried out too, tripping over his own feet and dropping to the ground next to them. He clenched his eyes shut as he cursed.

“Shit, shit, shit, I think I sprained my ankle,” he hissed, grabbing his leg. Jisung cursed too, holding the same leg where his burn wound was.

“Fuck, I feel it, yeah that's bad, fuck-”

Jeongin braced himself against the ground. The whole world shook and it was making him nauseous. This really was the worst time for those two to share pain. Now two out of three might be cripple and out for the count. He’d barely managed to carry one.

“Can you guys still move?” He asked, desperate not to give up. He was panting, his back hurting something fierce. “If we can just get to Seungmin and ask him for help-”

“I'm not moving while there's a fucking EARTHQUAKE,” Minho shouted, similarly pressing his hands to the floor in an effort to keep from crashing. “We need to wait this out!”

“But hyung!” Jeongin protested, trying to stand up and failing miserably. “I’m not waiting for who knows how long, the others could be hurt! Seungmin could be hurt!”

“Yes and we are hurt too!” Minho shot back. “If you don’t want to end up the same way then you’ll just have to suck it up and wait!”

“No!”

Jeongin tried again, clumsily pushing himself on his feet and taking wobbly steps. “You can stay here but I’m gonna keep going. Seungmin needs someone. He’s been alone all this time and I’m not going to let it stay like that for any longer. He deserves someone to find him.”

“Innie, please just wait it out,” Jisung pleaded with him. “What if the quakes get worse? It might be their plan to hurt us with this! Seungmin is probably the only one safe from this because he’s with our kidnappers!”

“Exactly!” Jeongin whirled around, almost losing his balance again. “He’s with them! Can you imagine how terrifying that is? We need to get him away from them!”

“Yang Jeongin, you stay here until the shaking’s stopped or so help me God I-”

“You what?” Jeongin glared at Minho. “You can’t stop me, you can barely stand. You need to stay here with Han-hyung and I’ll go ahead. Wait until I come back with help. It will only hurt you both more if you keep moving.”

And with that he turned around, taking large steps away and trying not to sway too much.

“I.N-ah, no!”

“Innie, come on, don’t do this!”

Jeongin kept going, balling his hands into fists. His Safety Sense was not liking that he was walking away from two sources of safety and it was screaming at him, practically banging against his ribcage for him to turn around and stop acting so stupid. He ignored it. Seungmin was more important. Those two had each other whether he left or not; Seungmin had no one.

(Still, a tiny part of him crumpled in fear at the thought of walking through this building alone again. After that white room, that mirror maze, that room full of fire, he thought he’d be done with it all. That he was safe. But he wasn’t, not really. Not as long as the whole group was still separated and others had to be even more scared and alone than he was. That was the only thought that kept him going.)

With every step forward, he left his safety behind. He’d made his choice.

Minho cursed him out all the way. Every word was a knife in his heart, but he acted like they did nothing. He let them bounce right off, ignoring the way his eyes traitorously started welling up.

“Yang Jeongin, come the fuck back right now-! I’m not forgiving you for this! You brat, turn around now or I’ll make you regret it!”

Steeling himself and refusing to look back, he strode forward. The walls vibrated around him, the ground shook. The others could deal without him. Seungmin needed him.

“Yang JEONGIN!”

He turned the corner. As soon as he was sure he was out of sight, he dropped his pretense and stumbled against the wall, breath coming out in a painful rattling exhale. The shaking was making it really hard to stand. Between his gut screaming at him and the way his whole body felt like it was trembling, it was extremely hard to perfectly pinpoint where his Safety Sense was trying to lead him to. Back from where he’d come from, for one, but also somewhere to his right. He followed that one, clumsily using the wall to keep him upright and bring him around the corner.

His lip trembled, but he refused to cry. He pressed the tears back, blinking fast. This was his own choice. He’d deal with any consequences it brought.

Seungmin wasn’t far away, he was sure of it. He’d brave being alone again if it meant Seungmin didn’t have to be for much longer. Minho, he- he didn’t mean any of that. He would forgive him. He’d understand once Jeongin had saved Seungmin and brought everyone together again. He’d make everything right again.

He really, really hoped they’d forgive him for this.

Chapter Text

“Wait, Subject 131 is already-”

“Guards, to your stations!”

“It’s rounding the corner. Subject 131 is too close!”

“Stop obstacle EQ2 immediately. It’s not holding it back so it’s no use. We need to use another method of disheartening it. Lock the door. Guards, standby.”

Seungmin tried to strain his neck, but it was useless to try and see around the back of his chair. He did have limited sight of the door to the room, so when two very big, very intimidating guards took their spots on either side of the door, he knew something was up. If his English was still accurate (which he believed it was, he got enough daily training around his members), the researchers were talking about Jeongin. He was getting close… did that mean close to this place? Was he almost here?

The researcher’s voices were turning more and more frantic.

“Should we start phase 3 early? We don’t have all the necessary data, but it might be the only way to deter Subject 131 from getting inside.”

“No, it doesn’t have to come to that. We still have unutilized methods left. We can-”

All of a sudden, everyone in the room shut up when the door handle jostled. Seungmin held his breath. That had to be Jeongin. One of the researchers appeared in his view, directing the guards.

“Wait for it. Guns at the ready. If it manages to open the door, shoot it. It cannot discover us before the end of the experiment.”

The guards stomped with their feet and held their guns high—their large, very dangerous looking guns. Seungmin swallowed against his upbubbling fear. He had to warn Jeongin. He couldn’t come in. If he did, he would die.

Okay, focus, he thought to himself. He closed his eyes, breathing out deeply. It would be just like he’d done with Hyunjin. Focus. Imagine the connection. Think as loud as you can.

DON’T COME INSIDE.

The jostling stopped. Before he knew it, Seungmin’s mind was flooded with another presence. A worried, very overbearing one.

WHAT THE- You scared me to death, hyung! Wait- how am I doing this?! How are YOU doing this?! How are we doing this?!

Jeongin, I’m-

Woah, this is so weird. Definitely not as cool as the hyungs made it sound. This is very, very weird- Wait, no focus, dude- Hyung, how are you doing this? Are you okay?

Seungmin watched the guards warily. The researcher he could see was pacing, and behind him, he could hear quick typing on a keyboard and hushed voices discussing their options.

None of that matters right now, he thought sternly, Jeongin, you need to listen to me. Do not open that door.

So you are behind it? I can feel you’re there, you know. I’m coming in no matter what. I’m not letting you be alone for any longer.

No, stop it, listen to me. They’re waiting for you to come in. You’re in danger.

Jeongin’s protests stopped for a second. Then, tentatively, he asked, how much danger?

What does that matter, Seungmin shot back, just get the hell away from here-

No, I mean it, Jeongin interrupted. Like are we talking knock-out gas dangerous or about to be drowned dangerous? Because I’ve experienced both already and survived. They’re going to have to do better than that to scare me away, hyung. I’m not leaving you here.

“Is it still there?” One of the researchers asked. Another one confirmed.

“Yes, it seems Subject 131 is inspecting the door.”

You need to leave now, Seungmin pleaded. They’ve got guns, Innie. Gigantic ones. You’re not gonna survive it if you break down that door.

I’ve also already been chased by a shooter, you know.

Jeongin, I’m serious!

So am I! Hyung, no matter what you say I’m not leaving you here-

You’ll HAVE TO! Yelling in his mind was a new thing for Seungmin, but it came naturally. Like imagining to sing really loudly. He quickly lowered his ‘tone’. I’m not taking any risks. You should leave now before the researchers decide they’re done waiting and shoot you right through that door.

But… I…

He could tell he was convincing Jeongin. He gave a final push.

I’ll be fine, I promise. But I couldn’t live with myself if I got you shot just because I failed to warn you. Go now, find the others. Come back when you have more manpower to take these lunatics on at once.

Hyung… It was quiet for a second. Around him. The researchers seemed to be getting ready to start some new protocol he couldn’t hope to decipher.

Now. Please, Jeongin, I’m begging you here. You need to run.

I’ll come back for you, came the instant reply from Jeongin’s side. He sounded determined, but also sad. I’ll come back for you with everyone and we will get you out. I promise, hyung.

I trust you, Seungmin thought. Please stay safe.

You too.

Jeongin didn’t retreat in their minds, but with the faint sound of footsteps leaving, it still felt like a goodbye. The researchers seemed to hear it too, and some of the tension left the room.

“Subject 131 is leaving,” someone said. “It appears to have given up for now.”

Relieved murmurs rose up. Seungmin suddenly became conscious of his hands curling around the metal armrests with a knuckle-white grip and he loosened them, turning back to the screens. He jerked in his restraints when the Korean researcher was standing right in front of him, scanning him with an uncomfortably piercing gaze. There was a dangerous spark in their eyes as they said:

“So, you truly are the finest specimen this session… You just strengthened another link, didn’t you? On demand alone? Truly, truly fascinating.”

Seungmin’s eyes blew wide and he swallowed, caught red-handed. “I- I didn’t-”

“We are definitely going to make use of this,” the researcher stated, their lips pulling up ever so slightly. “This might just be the breakthrough we’ve been hoping for.”

Seungmin’s grip on the arm rests turned so tight his whole arm felt on fire. His nails scraped against the metal.

He’d managed to save Jeongin for now, but at what cost?

Chapter Text

Pain, everywhere. Both in his leg and his heart. He knew he shouldn’t be this hurt by the things the others said, but… how could he not? When Jeongin didn’t want to listen to them and risked his safety for Seungmin? When Minho literally told him that he wanted to undo their mind link and get away from him? When he knew just how much it must suck to be trapped with his useless panic and fear and vulnerability?

Watching Jeongin’s retreating figure, knowing there was nothing he could do, made him loathe this vulnerability even more. It was starting to press on his chest, forcing him down to the ground. Why was he so useless? Why did Minho have to be stuck with him? Why was even Jeongin, their youngest, leaving him behind because he was a liability?

Jisung could feel his breathing becoming shorter and shorter, but he tried to keep himself quiet. He didn’t want to bother Minho with this. He shouldn’t become even more of a burden than he already was. To make matters worse, despair was trickling in from Felix, filling Jisung’s lungs with lead. His leg sent bursts of pure fire through his nerves, paralyzing him even further.

He was useless. He was hurt. He was unable to breathe.

Clenching his eyes shut, Jisung wheezed softly, scraping his nails over the floor in a futile attempt to feel anything else to distract him. Minho didn’t say anything, not out loud nor in their minds. There was no way he wasn’t feeling the restrictions on their lungs, the panic that held Jisung captive, but he wasn’t commenting on it. It could mean only one thing: he didn’t care. He knew Jisung was choking and he simply didn’t care.

Think happy thoughts, he reprimanded himself. Felix and Minho could feel this too. He was being a burden on two of his members right now and he needed to get himself under control. Felix was already feeling awful. If he got overwhelmed again and took on Jisung’s anxiety like before, who knew what kind of dangerous situations he could get into. He needed to keep it in, to stay calm, to breathe.

Everything is going to be fine. Jeongin will return, he- he will come back and bring Seungmin with him. The shaking will stop and we’ll be fine and we’ll find the others and then we’ll get out of here-

It wasn’t really working. With Minho’s silence, the world rocking and constantly jostling his leg and the way spots were dancing through his vision, there was little that could actually make him believe those words. There was no way he was ever getting out of here without help. There was no way Jeongin would be able to find them again. There was no way they’d find the others, no way for them to get out, no way for this hell to ever end.

-sung, Jisung, JISUNG!

Minho’s voice suddenly pierced through his panic and Jisung gasped, coming back to reality to find himself curled up with his head against the ground. He wheezed, no air entering his lungs.

Jisung, come on-

“Listen to me: you’re okay. None of that is fucking true. We are getting out of here and we’re going to make those sick fuckers regret ever laying a finger on us. Jeongin is going to find Seungmin and he’ll be able to find us again because of his weird member compass or whatever it is. We are going to get out.”

We’re okay. I’m sorry.

“Come on, you gotta breathe. Do it on purpose. Take a deep breath in, hold it and let it out. Come on, follow my lead.”

Please, you’re always scaring me when this happens.

“No- Shit, I didn’t mean that. It’s not your fault, I’m just worried. Ignore my thoughts for now, okay? Just focus on my voice, breathe with me.”

Slowly, with both Minho’s constant talking and his occasional thoughts filtering through, Jisung came back to himself more and more. He noticed the quaking had stopped somewhere in his attack. Minho had also shuffled closer to him, not touching, but staying near.

“That’s it. You’re no longer shutting me out, so that means you’re coming back right? You had me going crazy for a second there. Sung, can you hear me?”

Switching between talking out loud and thinking, Minho added, If you can’t talk yet, can you at least let me know something this way?

Jisung was still far from being able to talk, but the guilt at letting Minho try to calm him down was growing more and more. He was doing it again. He was being a burden.

I- I was shutting you out? was all he could think, getting stuck on that part of Minho’s rant.

You were, Minho admitted. I don’t think you could hear me, right?

“I could still hear you, though. I didn’t even know you could cut it off halfway like that.”

Jisung winced. I didn’t mean to, he thought. I’m sorry.

“What the hell are you apologizing for, huh?” Minho said, sounding winded himself. It must be because he was feeling just as breathless. “Just focus on getting better. Then we can talk.”

You should- You should go.

Minho recoiled, a shot of hurt went through the both of them. “Sung, what the- no. No, I’m staying right here.”

Innie needs you more than me.

“I’m not leaving you here alone,” Minho shot back immediately. “I.N-ah can handle himself.”

Jisung took shaky breaths. He looked up to find Minho already glaring at him. If he were anyone else, he’d have thought that Minho was angry, but Jisung could see his expression for what it really was. Fear. He could also feel it, faintly through his own panic. Minho was on edge. His eyes had a manic glint to them and his lip was trembling ever so slightly. The idea of leaving Jisung was scaring him.

And while that was sweet, Jisung shouldn’t keep him here just because he wanted to have company. He was stuck, Minho wasn’t. He shouldn’t have to stay.

I can cut off the connection just like before, he argued, I bet it works on the pain too. You’ll be able to walk away, get to Innie, help him free Seungmin from wherever he’s stuck. I’ll just wait here for you all to come back.

“Sungie, no. I’m not leaving you and that’s final.”

“It’s not really a- a choice,” Jisung said, slowly getting his breath back. “Seungmin’s probably… in a really bad situation… if he hasn’t already escaped on his own. You know that too. Innie’s gonna… need your help. You can’t help me right now. It’s better if you… leave me here.”

Another wave of hurt flashed across Minho’s face. “Sung, this is the worst idea you’ve had so far, I’m not leaving you alone.”

“You’ll have to,” Jisung argued, starting to lose his patience. He knew he was right. Minho knew it too. Why was it so hard to just give in and make the smart decision to help the other members? “I’m a liability. We won’t get any closer to getting out if we’re both just waiting in this hall. At least you can still do something. Do it for the both of us.”

Minho was visibly fighting with himself, even though they both knew that Jisung was starting to get through to him. He cast a glance to the side, to the emptiness around them.

“I’ll come straight back to you.”

Jisung’s shoulders sagged in relief. “Of course,” he said, saying it more to placate Minho than actually thinking it would happen. If they had time to come back for Jisung they would, but he didn’t expect that to be very likely. This place was a maze, and more than that, the other members could be in a lot of danger. Once Minho was with them again, he wouldn’t have time to go back for Jisung.

At least Jisung would no longer hold him back if that was the case.

Minho still made no move to get up, so Jisung took the initiative. He focussed hard, imagining the same wall he kept imagining when shutting out Minho’s thoughts, and now lengthened and stretched that wall until it was all around him. He imagined it holding back everything that could come from him, his thoughts, his pain, his fear—anything that could possibly transfer over to Minho.

Next to him, Minho suddenly shuddered, watching Jisung with a displeased expression.

“Okay, that feels really weird,” he said. “But I guess it works.” He stretched out his legs, twisting his ankle and rolling his feet. “It doesn’t hurt as bad anymore. Are you sure you can keep this up?”

“I’m sure,” Jisung said. Minho nodded, slowly pushing himself up until he was standing on his own two feet. He still clearly preferred one over the other, but at least he wasn’t being crippled anymore by Jisung’s pain on top of his own. He shuffled along the wall, taking his first steps away from Jisung.

“I’ll come back as soon as we’ve freed Seungmin,” he promised again. Jisung gave him a fake, reassuring smile.

“I know. Be careful.”

Minho pursed his lips. He gave a firm, final nod, and then he turned away. Jisung watched him go, just like how he’d done with Jeongin only minutes before. He made sure to keep the image of the wall strong, not allowing any of his growing fear and panicked thoughts to slip out and towards Minho.

This might be the last I see of him. He curled his hands into fists, trying not to cry. This was the only way. At least now, he wasn’t holding anyone back anymore. Minho disappeared around the corner. Against the imaginary wall, waves after waves of panic crashed against it, but Jisung refused to let it through. He needed to keep this to himself. Minho needed him to stay silent.

For the first time since the link between him and Minho snapped in place, Jisung was alone again. It was his choice, so why… why did it hurt so much?

Chapter Text

He might have been lying to Jisung before. Walking still hurt a lot, though he was never going to tell the younger that. Sure, Jisung had somehow figured out how to mute the feeling coming from his burns a bit, but it wasn’t completely gone. And between that and his own twisted ankle, Minho was far less steady than he would have liked.

It also didn’t help that guilt was eating him alive. Everything in him was crying at him to turn back, to not leave Jisung—bloodied, burned and panicked—behind.

But Jisung was right. He couldn’t help him. The only thing he could do was get the others and make sure they would all get out. Only then would he be able to help. Only then would he be able to search for a cure for all of this and finally free Jisung from him.

Because that was the biggest reason this whole situation was freaking him out. Not the place, not the danger, not the kidnappers—but what they’d done to them on a biological level. What they were experiencing (the thought sharing, the pain, the sensing), it shouldn’t be possible. They’d done something to him and the others that was anything but natural and now…

Now Jisung was stuck with him of all people. They’d not just become freaks, but they’d also gotten trapped together. Now Jisung had to suffer through all of Minho’s insecurities, all of his confusing thoughts and fears and everything that he never wanted anyone to know.

He needed to find a way to reverse it all. He needed to find a way to free Jisung.

Limping through the halls, Minho hoped that he was going the right way. Jeongin must have gone through here, didn't he? There wasn’t any sign for him to follow, nothing that showed him he was going the right way. But there were barely any other directions to go in. He must have been going this way.

The longer he walked, the more he started to doubt himself. He didn’t feel like he was getting any closer to Jeongin. Though he hated to admit it, that weird compass feeling the others had would have come in handy right about now. He’d only started walking minutes after Jeongin did, he couldn’t have gone too far, could he?

With only his own thoughts as his company, it was impossible to ignore the one thought that plagued him.

He’d gotten lost, hadn’t he?

Slowly, he stopped, leaning against the wall to both catch his breath and consider his options. He should go back. Now that Jisung was blocking him, there was no way to tell if the other was going right back into his panic attack. He could be in need of help. But at the same time, maybe he was close to Jeongin. Maybe it would be a mistake to turn around now. Maybe he should just walk for another minute or two, just to see what was up ahead.

Gritting his teeth, he pushed himself from the wall again, continuing his trek forward. He’d turn around if the next hall was empty too. He just wanted to give this one more try before he gave up.

Turning the corner, his hope crashed to his feet when he was met with white and quiet again. Fucking figures. Of course Jeongin wouldn’t be here, he’d probably gone a totally different way and Minho was just getting more and more lost at this point-

He froze mid-way in turning back, something catching his eye. In the white, just up ahead, was a door. Now that he hadn’t encountered yet. Curiosity piqued, he approached it, trying the handle only to find it locked with a mechanic lock that needed a code. He weighed his options: try every code on that door until he got it or turn back.

Not wanting to return to Jisung empty handed, he chose the first option.

“Okay,” he muttered to himself, “Okay, let’s try it.” He pushed in some random numbers.

2510, his birthday. Wrong.

2503, their debut date. Also wrong.

1234. Wrong.

4321. Wrong.

He didn’t really have much to go off, so sue him for trying the easiest codes first. He paused, thinking hard. It would have been nice if he could have discussed this with Jisung right now, hear another opinion. How the hell was he supposed to figure this out?

He put in more random numbers. 4567. 1357. 9876. 5432. Nothing worked. It was making him more and more agitated, the urge to just give up and turn away growing stronger with every disappointed beep the machine gave him.

Until he realized that every number seemed to have a different sound to it. Some of the numbers gave a high-pitched ding! when he pressed them while others barely made any sound. Maybe…

He pushed the numbers one by one, trying to memorize which ones had the right sound.

The 2, the 3 and the 6. He still missed one number. Maybe one of them had to be used twice? He started pushing them in random order. 2236. Wrong. 2336. Wrong. 2366. Wrong.

He kept trying, one combination after the other. He had to be right. He didn’t know what was behind this door, but now he needed to know. Maybe one of the others was trapped behind it. Maybe their kidnappers were lying in wait, hoping for him to crack the code so they could trap him. If that was the case, he was about to be majorly fucked.

2623. Ding!

The mechanic lock clicked and a green light turned on above the panel with numbers. Minho’s eyes widened. Carefully, he turned the knob.

The door opened.

He must be a genius.

Eagerly, he stepped into the room, quickly growing baffled at the rows upon rows of shelves that reached all the way to a very high ceiling. It looked like a giant warehouse. Or no, more like an archive. The shelves were filled with labeled carton and plastic boxes, some of them clearly containing files while others held random items. He walked past the first row, hearing the door click closed behind him. A sensory light sprung on above him, casting the room in a soft, albeit eerie glow.

It was dead quiet. At a random spot, Minho stopped, curiously pulling the lid from one of the carton boxes with files. He grabbed one out of the box, sucking in a large breath when he read what was written on the front. Though it was in English, he could understand the gist of it.

With morbid curiosity, he opened the file. The first page showed a large timetable, dating back to even before they’d been taken. Some of the things on there creeped him out more than he’d ever admit out loud. There were the schedules of every member, of their whole management team, of the driving company, of even the catering service in the JYPE building. There were notes in the margins about schedule changes, habits some of the members had regarding overworking or taking a specific car. It showed a whole time planning as to when, how and where they could be seen outside, from a window, during a public meeting and more.

Everything was in there. Minho was getting nauseous the more he read, but still he went on.

The next pages were the same ones they’d found in the room with the cage before. The ones with all of their profiles, their listed fears and weaknesses, their habits and relationships. He paged through those quickly, not wanting to be confronted with this all again lest he’d spiral into the same panic that he’d barely gotten Jisung out of before.

And speaking of the young rapper, once Minho flipped past his profile, he stopped. There was a page here that hadn’t been in the file in the cage. It said:

Minho’s English wasn’t good enough to understand most of it, but he understood enough of the words to guess what it said. He knew the words volume, hypnosis, gas and resistance. That was more than enough. They were talking about Jisung and most probably the thing that happened in the car, weren’t they? That’s how they must have knocked them out. With hypnosis.

Man, that creeped him out. Who was to say they hadn’t been using that all this time to make them believe anything? Were they even really trapped or was this all in their heads?

A shiver racked down his spine. No. No, he shouldn’t go there. He could feel the pain from his ankle. He could feel the slight breeze in the room. He could feel the file in his hands. This was real. It had to be.

He closed to file, stuffing it back into the box and taking out one from further back. This one was labeled ‘Soul Link Test 400-410’ and when he opened it, he was met with a similar timeschedule and information overview of other people. Random people. There was a page about a doctor from Seoul, a high schooler from Daegu, a fisher from Jeju Island, an accountant from Ilsan, a married couple from Busan—and the list went on. He pulled out file after file, finding them to be full of profiles from different people not just from South Korea but also from across the border and even the sea.

If their group were called subject 120-something, then did that really mean that more than a hundred people came before them? All of them, taken against their will and forced to go through these messed up trails all for the sake of some forsaken experiment? How did it even end for them? If their kidnappers felt the need to do more tests and take his team, did that mean that all the previous ones…

Minho’s hold on the file tightened, the paper crinkling.

This was sick. No, more than sick, this was psychotic.

He stuffed the file back, paging through the files until he was back at the most recent ones about them. He needed to know what they were planning. If he could find out their plan, maybe he could think of a way to stop them. Maybe he could prevent them all from ending up like… like all those other people.

After the ‘phase 1’ file, there was a phase 2, 3 and 4 already fully written out. He grabbed ‘phase 2’ first, blanching when he managed to catch the words ‘gas’, ‘drugs’ and ‘reset’ there. It also talked about some heavy food supplements they’d been injected with to keep them healthy. So that’s why this situation felt like it had been going for days and he still wasn’t all that hungry. They were feeding them some sketchy drugs to keep them alive.

It took Minho a while to figure out what ‘phase 2: procedure’ meant, but when he did, he scanned the plan and found more and more details to line up with what was happening right now. The pages talked about illusions, about testing their ‘links’ to see if they were strong enough to see through them. They talked about testing soundless communication and transferring feelings.

There was even a list of ‘links’ that had already been strengthened in phase 1. Though he didn’t understand everything, he knew enough to feel absolute disgust coiling in his stomach.

• Subject 131 Yang Jeongin and Subject 127 Hwang Hyunjin. Subject 131 clearly sensed Subject 127’s location behind the wall, found the mechanism and successfully executed the steps to open it. Link: presence sense.
• Subject 124 Bang Christopher Chan and Subject 129 Lee Felix Yongbok. Subject 129 seems to be affected in the same areas that Subject 124 is wounded. They collapsed in synchronization. Link: pain sharing.
• Subject 129 Lee Felix Yongbok and Subject 131 Yang Jeongin. Subject 129 has stated it is leading the way towards Subject 131 and did not go in the wrong direction even once. Has also stated to the others that this is the case. Link: presence sense.
• Addition: link seems to be two-sided. Subject 131 led the group straight to Subject 129 and 124 without error.

Minho swallowed uncomfortably when he read the next one.

• Subject 125 Lee Minho and Subject 128 Han Jisung. Subject 128 has explained multiple times now that it is sharing its thoughts with Subject 125. Moreover, it has been passing on messages to Subject 125. Link: mind sharing.

The list of links was long, and as Minho scanned through it, he was oddly invested in finding out if their captors had managed to catch all of the things happening between them. He didn’t see any mention of the vague visions he’d been getting from Chan. At least that had managed to stay under their radar then. He himself didn’t fully understand that link yet, but he knew it was happening. Sometimes, vague feelings entered his head or images flashed before his eyes that he knew weren’t his own. He knew they came from Chan.

But their kidnappers didn’t seem to know anything about it. Minho would rather keep it that way. He already found it chilling enough that there were not only cameras but apparently also microphones hidden around this place. He’d have to watch his words from now on, maybe only communicate the most important things to Jisung through their minds.

Putting the file away, Minho reached for the one he was dreading to see the most.

‘Phase 4’: their kidnapper’s ultimate goal. He mouthed along with the words, trying to translate them in his head as he read:

• It hurts subjects to be apart from each other approx. 1 km or more.
• Subjects tend to speak or move at the same time as a result of their mind meld. Quickly solving of friction between subjects can be another manifestation of the mind meld. Other observable data can include: synchronized walking, changing direction without any prior discussion, changing facial expressions at the same time, taking on each other’s habits (e.g. nose scratching, making particular sounds, blinking, shifting in place, etc.).
• Heightened perceptiveness to sedatives and incentives. This should level out between all Subjects until they will react to it at the exact same time. For example, after completion of the soul meld, they should react to hypnosis within 60 seconds of activation since their genotype will have gotten accustomed to following orders and being submissive to our orders-

Minho shut the file harshly, having read enough. His heart hammered in his chest and his lungs felt like they were barely taking in any air. His hands shook as he stuffed the file back in the box, not wanting to touch it any longer.

This-

This was horrible. This was insane. They wanted to make them mindless robots. Some sort of creepy, post-apocalyptic beehive that would do and think everything the same while their kidnappers could order them around and make them do anything they wanted. This wasn’t just fucked up, this was straight from hell.

He needed to warn the others. They needed to get out before the experiment could ever get to phase 4.

Sung! he shouted in his mind. His thoughts bounced right back to him, the result of the wall that the younger was still successfully holding up.

HAN JISUNG!

Awareness flooded back into his mind and he physically felt how Jisung jolted. All of a sudden, panic and guilt slammed into him, threatening to drown him. Pain and hurt and pure despair washed over him like waves and he needed to brace himself against the shelves in order not to collapse from the sheer weight of it all.

Hyung, what- how did you- I wasn’t-

Jisung, listen. I don’t have time to explain, Minho cut him off. I didn’t find I.N.-ah but I found something way worse. I need you to focus right now. This is seriously fucked up shit.

He could feel Jisung nod. Some of the despair and hurt lessened, giving him the chance to actually breathe again. Jisung was pulling back, but only on the physical and emotional front. Minho had no idea how the younger was this good at controlling their weird connection like that, but right now he couldn’t care less how things worked. Jisung had always been more in tune with (and easily overwhelmed by) his feelings. It stood to reason he would figure all of this shit out earlier too.

I found this room with all of our files, he went straight to the point, deciding that addressing Jisung’s whirlwind of awful emotions would just have to wait for now. Guilt was choking him, knowing that he had chosen to abandon Jisung at such a low point. He might never forgive himself for it.

But there was no time to think about that now. He could hate himself later.

It’s not like before. The files have all these things they didn’t before and- There’s also their plans for us here. We’re in phase 2 right now. They have 4 planned out. And if we ever get to phase 4…

We’re fucked.

Chapter Text

The moment the shaking stopped, Chan took stock of the damage immediately. One of the lamps from next to the bed had fallen off the wall, but luckily it hadn’t hit anyone. The bed had also moved position, but somehow Chan had managed to hold on. It was a small miracle that none of them had gotten seriously hurt.

He himself was breathing hard, but it was nothing compared to the hyperventilation he could hear coming from Felix. The younger was hidden completely by Changbin’s broad back, the rapper still bent over Felix like he was afraid to expose him to the outside world. Further away in the room, Hyunjin was plastered against the wall, ghost-white but overall fine.

Softly, he heard Changbin ask, “Yongbok-ah, are you okay? What’s wrong? Did you get hit?”

Felix’s words came out high and wheezy. “It’s not- wheeze - me. It’s- ngh - it’s Jisungie. He’s-”

“Don’t try to talk,” Chan said, quickly catching on. He wished he could scoot off the bed and take Felix in his arms, but he was stuck. Watching Changbin hold him would have to do for now. “It’s what he’s feeling, right? Can you ride it out? Or can you calm him down like he did for the both of you last time?”

Changbin leaned back, finally revealing Felix under him. The younger was shaking, his eyes wide and fearful for some danger that none of them could see.

“I- I- Can’t-” His words dissolved into short, shallow breaths.

Changbin rubbed his arm, trying to calm him down. Chan could only watch. He could feel a bit of the panic and fear trickle in from Felix's side, but it was nowhere near what he must be getting from Jisung. He guessed that the connection must not carry over like that. It was all kinds of wrong—if Felix and Jisung were suffering, he should be too. Still, he tried his best to send positive things Felix's way, hoping that it might alleviate a bit of the stress he was feeling.

Eventually Hyunjin crawled closer too, taking up a spot at Felix's other side.

“I don't know how this works exactly, but does it help to focus on something else?” The dancer asked, sounding anxious. He was fidgeting with his hands, seemingly hesitating if he could touch Felix or not. Eventually, it was Felix who offered his shaking hand which Hyunjin took a hold of immediately.

“If this is really Sung's panic,” Hyunjin continued, emboldened by Felix’s silent approval, “then maybe the same tactics work? So, uh… think about your favorite game character or something. Weren't you telling me the other day about how you have a new main in your Genshin team? Who was it again? Neurva- Neurvolé? Neurvolent?”

“Neu- Neuvillette,” Felix gasped out. Hyunjin made an understanding noise.

“Right! That was it. Neurvillette. Pretty weird name, but he was French right?” Felix nodded, his eyes seeking Hyunjin's like he was the only one keeping him from drowning. Hyunjin started to draw little circles on the back of Felix’s hand absentmindedly. “Right, and he was really cool, right? I remember the design was really pretty. Who else was in your team again? You showed me some of them, uh... That cool dj with the blond hair and that pirate with the brown hair, right? They swung those really heavy swords-”

“Xi-Xilonen and… and Beidou.”

“Right! So are those a good trio together for uh- stats and kills? Or do you use them more for their aesthetic, because they’re pretty?”

Slowly, Felix's posture was starting to lose tension. “I guess it's-” His breath stuttered but gradually, without him probably even noticing, it slowed down. “-it's a mixture of both. Beidou's really- really good with her electro defense and that matches with Neuvillette's hy-hydro-”

Slowly but surely, Hyunjin got Felix talking about anything and everything. The younger must not even realize when his breath returned to normal, but everyone else certainly did and it was like a pressure lifted from the room at large.

Chan shot a grateful look towards Hyunjin, which the other responded to with a wink. Only once Felix had fully calmed down did Chan interrupt his soft-spoken discussion about his current favorite character in LOL.

“Which is why I always use her second skill first before I jump in for a close-range attack-”

“And, Lix? You good?”

Felix startled. His mouth popped open in a surprised ‘o’, the next words dying on his lips. He blinked.

“I- yes, yeah I guess I'm okay again.” He pushed himself to sit up. Hyunjin and Changbin rushed to help him, but Felix brushed them off, a clumsy yawn escaping him as he blinked quickly again. “Damn, these attacks leave me so tired. I don't know how Sung still performs after them.”

“He's an amazing artist alright,” Changbin said, moving out of the way. He went to sit against the wall, looking just as spent.

“I hope he's okay,” Hyunjin said. Felix rubbed his chest.

“He's not,” he answered sullenly. “He's not overwhelmed anymore, but he's still really scared. He's also… guilty? He's feeling really bad about something.”

Chan's heart broke hearing that. His leader instincts were urging him to move, to go and find his members and wrap them up in blankets so no harm would ever come to them again.

But he was in no position to protect anyone. He was exhausted and steady shots of pain came from his leg, the blood having clotted to make multiple giant scabs where the wolves’ teeth had been. He felt like the wound was much further along then was normal, but he was no doctor and there was no way their kidnappers would actually try to heal him, was there? They did this to him in the first place. It wouldn’t make sense if they suddenly got cold feet and tried to care for him while he’d been unconscious.

No matter what the case actually was with his wound, there was no way he was going to wait until the others might find them. Now that he was freed from that cursed dream and the earthquake had stopped, there was nothing (in his surroundings) actively stopping them from going out there. He hated to ask this of them, but:

“I want to find the others, do you guys think you're up for walking?”

Changbin shot him an unimpressed look. “The question is if you're up for walking, hyung. You're the one with the bust up leg, not us.”

“It's already healing,” Chan argued. “I can manage. I'll just be extra careful.”

“Not gonna happen,” Changbin said. He grunted, coming over to the bed. Up close, he was even paler in the weak lighting of the lamp. “Either you let me carry you, or we're staying here and waiting. I think we could all use the rest, so just know that I’m voting for the second option, but if you’re really set on going-”

He began to turn around, offering up his back.

“No,” Chan immediately protested. “You don’t have to- I can manage on my own.”

Changbin looked a breath away from fainting. There was no way Chan would ever let him carry him in that state.He started to shift off the bed, hissing when it pulled at the fabric of what was left of his pants and rubbed against his wound. Changbin put a hand to his chest, stopping him before he got very far.

“I can walk,” Chan insisted stubbornly.

“You're not fooling anyone, hyung,” Felix decided to butt in, looking up at him tiredly. “I feel everything you do, and I’m about ready to collapse. My leg still hurts, so yours does as well, I know. I can ignore it with no real consequences, but there's no way we're letting you put pressure on that wound. Do you want it to start bleeding again? Do you know how bad that would be?”

Chan looked down at the dried blood that had colored the shirt around his leg completely red.

“I swear I can…”

“It's not worth fighting about, hyung,” Hyunjin said, sounding faintly amused. “Either you let us all take the best power naps of our lives or you let Changbin-hyung carry you. It’s up to you to decide, but I know what I’d choose.”

“You just wanna sleep,” Changbin said. Hyunjin huffed.

“No, actually. I wanna go find Seungminnie. I have a vague feeling for him, but with Lix here, we have so much more chance of finding him. I’d say Chan-hyung swallows his pride and we go out there right now.”

All three of them looked at Chan imploringly.

“It’s your call, hyung,” Changbin said.

“Why me?” Chan complained. “You already know what my stance is and you are all against it.”

“We do, but you also know that we’d follow you regardless,” Changbin admitted simply. “If you really think you can manage on your own, I’ll let you walk out of here on your own two feet without another word of protest. Not a single word. But you don’t really believe yourself, either, do you?”

“I-” Chan looked the others in the eye. He could see how sincere they were. They were trying to be strict on him, but they also wouldn’t really fight back if he were to make an incredibly stupid decision right now. They trusted his judgement, and even if they knew he was wrong, they were willing to follow him anyway.

Or maybe, they knew that he stood no chance to actually walk. They just wanted to see if he was foolish enough to push through it like he always did.

Chan sighed, already feeling himself give in. Maybe this habit sharing really went both ways. Not only was Felix starting to take on his (unhealthy) single-minded focus at times, he was also beginning to sympathize more with his members than ever before. That must come from Felix’s side of things. He was already starting to feel bad about even thinking of letting the others down or pushing his own plan. He could feel how Felix was waiting for him, how he was hopeful for him.

He knew Chan would make the right choice.

Chan slowly opened his arms. “Fine.”

Just that one word was enough for everyone to understand and Changbin nodded, turning back around and positioning himself right beside the bed with his back towards Chan, crouching low enough. He held his arms backwards and carefully, with Hyunjin’s help, Chan pulled himself upon Changbin’s back. There was nothing in the strength he could feel under him that betrayed just how exhausted Changbin had to be. He was still carrying him like it was nothing.

When Chan was secure in Changbin’s hold, Hyunjin went over to Felix to gently help him up.

“We’ll take it slow,” he said. “If any of you feel worse or like you need a break, say so, okay? We’ll never get to Minnie if we collapse before that.”

“It won’t get to that,” Chan and Felix promised at the same time. They locked eyes in surprise. Felix offered a small smile.

Changbin huffed, starting towards the door. The others followed.

Walking through the halls, only their footsteps and breathing sounded between the walls. They were all tense, all focussed on their individual tasks. Felix was leading the way, Hyunjin helped him stay upright, and Changbin carried Chan along. Not tasked with anything really, Chan felt his concentration shift again, back to his connection with Minho. It almost felt natural now, tuning into Minho’s experience and letting the world around him fade.

He watched Minho walk through halls just like theirs, except he was all alone. Hadn’t he been with Jeongin and Jisung? Where were they? Did they get separated? Did he lose them?

Not finding any answers from Minho’s limited vision, Chan let the connection fall to the back of his mind again, his own surroundings returning. He noticed how silent it was around him. Or wait, no, scratch that, Hyunjin was mumbling to himself, a habit that Chan knew to mean he was scared or anxious. He was most likely both.

The other two were uncharacteristically quiet. Chan was used to Changbin filling silences with words whenever he thought it would help others feel more at ease. Same with Felix. He also knew that Changbin especially was a vocal reaction kind of person when scared, anxious or stressed. He had filled their studios with senseless rants more than Chan could count, too buzzed up on either stress or adrenaline to keep quiet the more a deadline would approach. It was something he’d actually been counting on to distract him this time as well, to put him at ease while they were stuck in this endless horror.

“Hey,” he started softly, meaning for only Changbin to hear, “something on your mind?”

Changbin shot him a half-glance, stoically walking onward. He didn’t answer for a second, until he suddenly asked a question of his own.

“Do you think I don’t fit in the group anymore?”

The question was so vulnerable that Chan felt like he was slapped in the face. He blinked, taken aback.

“What? Of course you do. Why do you suddenly ask that?”

Changbin didn’t look his way again, stubbornly keeping his eyes trained on the empty hall before them.

“Then why am I the only one who hasn’t gotten a single one of these strange links?” he asked. “Every one of you has one, some even more. Am I not close enough to anyone for it? Does no one trust me like that?”

“Changbin…” It hurt Chan to hear him even ask that. How long had Changbin been thinking this? It felt like it came out of nowhere, especially since Chan hadn’t thought about it like that at all, but knowing Changbin, this must have been on his mind for a while now.

“None of us choose any of this,” he said softly. “We don’t control it, not when it happens and not with who. I’m sure it doesn’t matter how close you are to someone.”

“Doesn’t it, though? Don’t tell me you haven’t noticed how everyone has bonded with people they’ve always been close to, even before this.”

“I mean-”

“You and Yongbok, Hyunjin and Seungmin, Jisungie and Minho-hyung, do I need to go on?”

“Okay, I get your point,” Chan conceded. “But believe me, it just happened and none of us chose this. We have no idea how this really works.”

Changbin was silent for a bit. Then, he asked, “Do you hate it?”

Chan frowned, not sure if he was following. “What do you mean?”

“You know what I mean.”

In front of them, Felix had started a soft conversation with Hyunjin, the words just quiet enough for him that Chan couldn’t hear what they were talking about. They both looked so tired, but still, their postures were determined, every step with purpose. It felt like he was watching them step on stage during their debut era, that same stubborn resolve pushing them far over their limits.

He was so damn proud of them. Always had been, always would be. It was all the more reason he felt so guilty, knowing that part of the exhaustion on Felix’s face came from him. He was like a shackle, unintentionally making those steps twice as hard. He was holding the younger back.

But he could also strengthen his courage, send determination his way in the hopes of at least slightly lifting the burden. It was a seesaw, a two-sided coin that kept twisting either way.

Yeah, he knew what Changbin meant.

“I mean I’m not happy any of this is happening,” Chan started, trying to put all his thoughts into words. “But if you’re talking about my connection with Lix… I don’t know if I hate it.”

“But you don’t like it,” Changbin murmured, hitting the nail right on the head. “I heard your answer before. You don’t think it’s good that you and him have bonded, right?”

“I…” Chan faltered. “I don’t want to hold him back. I don’t want him to know.”

“Know what?”

“Everything. I don’t want him to know that I’m barely keeping it together. I don’t want him to be hurt by my wounds or by my insecurities. I don’t want any of this for him.”

“But you have no choice,” Changbin parroted his own words back to him. “So why not try to see it from the positive side like Yongbok-ah has been doing?”

“I can’t. None of this is positive.”

And that was the truth. The bad far outweighed the good. If he could cut off this connection, free Felix from the shackles, he would in a heartbeat. Felix didn’t deserve any of this.

Changbin sighed out through his nose, seemingly stuck for what to say. Both fell silent again, the weight of the situation taking their energy for talking away. Now, Chan was filled with even more worries than before. Not just because Changbin had brought back his worries about sharing so many bad feelings with Felix, but also because he now knew that Changbin had somehow gotten it into his head that he was somehow lacking and unloved. How could he ever think he didn’t fit in with the group?

Felix shot him a quick glance, no doubt sensing Chan’s increasing distress. Chan just offered him a tight-lipped smile.

Eventually, footsteps from somewhere up ahead made them all pause, a collective second of disbelief running through them. The footsteps were coming closer. There was no time to run.

“It must be one of the others!” Hyunjin exclaimed, his pace suddenly increasing. “Let’s go!”

Before anyone could stop him, he rushed off, leaving Felix and Changbin to rush after him. Chan almost wanted to shout after him that this could be someone dangerous, but the words died on his tongue the second they rounded the corner and saw Jeongin coming their way. Instant relief flooded in from Felix and combined with his own, making him sag against Changbin’s back.

“I.N-ah!” Hyunjin barreled right into their youngest, crushing him in a hug before he seemed to even properly realize they were there. Jeongin froze up, his eyes huge.

“Guys, what- How did you get here?”

“Are you okay?” Hyunjin asked, barreling right over Jeongin’s questions to ask his own. He let go of the hug, scanning him from head to toe. “Are you hurt? Haven’t you been able to find anyone else yet? Were you looking for us? Where did they trap you?”

Jeongin looked overwhelmed with all the questions and Chan was ready to put a stop to them, except Felix beat him to it. He put a hand on Hyunjin’s shoulder.

“Jinnie, he can’t answer all of that at once.” He gave a soft smile to Jeongin. “It’s good to see you, Innie. We’ve been following the way to Seungmin, you feel him too right? Why are you heading the opposite way?”

That made Jeongin’s face fall, and he frowned like he’d just been told off for doing something bad. It seemed Jeongin wasn’t as happy about their reunion as everyone else was. It made Chan even more concerned. What could have happened that made Jeongin so stand-offish?

“He sent me away,” was all Jeongin said, his tone dark.

“What?” Changbin stepped closer. “What do you mean?”

“I found him, but he sent me away.”

“How? What happened?” Hyunjin pushed. “Is he in danger? Is he hurt?”

Jeongin shook his head, not meeting any of their eyes. “He’s- He’s with the kidnappers.”

“We know,” Hyunjin said grimly. “I can talk to him in my mind now. He told me.”

Jeongin’s eyes widened and they snapped to Hyunjin. “Wait- you too?”

“Yes, it happened not that long ago when-” Hyunjin stopped himself. “What do you mean, me too?”

Jeongin pointed to himself. “He yelled at me to leave. The kidnappers were going to shoot me if I got to him, so he told me to leave through our minds. I can talk with him now.”

Hyunjin gaped at the younger. “He didn’t tell me that!” he exclaimed, sounding affronted. “What’s the use of this link when he doesn’t tell me important things like that! And what do you mean the kidnappers were going to shoot you?! Why are you so casual about that?!”

“It’s not like it’s the first time,” Jeongin said. “The door was locked and I wanted to break in, but Seungmin-hyung said they were waiting for me with guns. I didn’t care, but he insisted-”

“Why do you mean you don’t care?” Chan asked sharply, finally joining into the conversation. Jeongin’s nonchalant attitude was triggering all the wrong alarm bells in his mind. “Jeongin, this is serious-”

“As if I don’t know that,” Jeongin snapped, his eyes narrowing. “But we’ve been in constant danger since we were thrown into this place. We’ve been chased, we almost got shot, we’ve gotten way too close to drowning, we’ve been separated, hurt and tested again and again and again-” He forced out a deep breath, lowering his voice. “When I say I don’t care, I mean that I’d risk having a gun on me again if it would mean I could save Seungmin-hyung. He’s worth it. All of you are. The kidnappers think we’re worth something, otherwise they wouldn’t have put this much effort into everything, would they? They won’t kill us just like that. The guns must have been a scare tactic, I bet you they are.”

He squared his shoulders, not backing down. “So yeah, I’d face down a gun at any time if it meant I could save any of you.”

“Innie…” Felix mumbled, sounding unsure. “I get what you mean, but risking getting shot like that…”

“Don’t say you wouldn’t do the same,” Jeongin countered, aiming his glare Felix’s way. “None of you get to judge me for this when Seungmin has been needing our help for all this time. We need to take risks, otherwise we won’t ever be getting out of here. Do you want that? Do you want to stay trapped here until the kidnappers decide to separate us again?”

“Enough,” Changbin said. “Jeongin, enough. This is no use fighting over. We shouldn’t take any unnecessary risks and that’s that. If Seungmin said it’s too dangerous, we shouldn’t go there either.” He shot a stern look around the group. “We’re in no state to face those guys and we might be putting Seungmin at risk too if we keep heading his way. They’ll see us coming and might point those guns his way before we ever get to him.”

Hyunjin paled. “Would they really do that?”

“That’s exactly why we shouldn’t wait!” Jeongin shot back. “Seungmin said I shouldn’t go alone but if we all go, we can surprise them, take them off-guard and overpower them-”

“This isn’t some action movie, I.N-ah,” Chan said tiredly. “Look at us. There’s no way we can do that. We need to play it safe and find everyone else. Can you help us with that?”

Seeing Chan that defeated must have finally drained the fight from their youngest, because Jeongin’s face fell and his form physically seemed to shrink.

“I… I was on my way to do that,” he said, voice getting smaller, “but for some reason I haven’t been able to find them. I should have found Minho and Jisung-hyung already by now, but I don’t remember where I left them…”

“Can’t you sense them?” Felix asked. Jeongin shook his head.

“I can, but… I think they’re moving, they keep getting farther away.”

“That’s because they are,” Chan said, drawing all the attention to himself. “At least Minho is.”

Jeongin looked his way. “How do you know?”

Chan hesitated for one second, but knew he had no choice but to admit it now. He’d doubted these visions for long enough. They were real. They had to be. Maybe, they could finally be of use too.

“I’ve been having these impressions-”

And so, Chan told them about the visions he’d been getting on and off ever since he collapsed that first time. He explained how he knew Minho had been with Jisung and Jeongin, how it felt so real whenever he looked through the other’s eyes, how he could feel everything as if he was living it himself. He told them that even while he was with them, he kept retreating into his mind to check on Minho.

“It’s gotten easier,” he admitted. “I think I’ve got a handle on it now. Maybe I can see some clues to where he is. I don’t know why he left Jisung, but at least we could find him like this.”

“And I can help with Sungie,” Felix added, pressing a hand to his chest. “I think I’ve got a lock on his location, he’s-” He slowly turned to the left, facing a wall. “-somewhere that way.”

“Then that’s what we’re going to do,” Changbin said. “We find the others and then we’re all going for Seungmin. I still don’t think our chances are high, but at least it will be the highest we can make it. I think I.N-ah’s right about that at least: they won’t just kill all of us after all this work. If we all show up and put pressure on them, we might be able to steal Seungmin away from right under their noses.”

Jeongin still didn’t look very happy with the plan, but he offered no alternative. Chan understood how he felt. None of this was ideal, and he’d much rather run to Seungmin right now to take him away from those awful people who had put them through so much pain already.

But they couldn’t. They had to play this smart, otherwise one of them—maybe even Seungmin—would pay the price. They couldn’t risk it. Not when their kidnappers still held so many of the cards.

“I’m gonna see where Minho is,” he said, meeting Jeongin’s eyes. “We’re gonna find him and then Jisungie and everything will turn out okay. We just gotta believe that, I.N-ah.” He tapped Changbin gently. “Okay, I’m gonna focus now.”

The silent cue was enough for Changbin and the others to fall silent, allowing Chan to draw back into his mind and turn his complete attention towards Minho’s side of things. It was easy, like switching gears in a car he was used to riding for years.

Shelves. Bleak lights. Papers, in his hands, on the shelves. Paging through them. The words, becoming clear and striking terror into him.

Soul Link Test… Under Hypnosis… quell any resistance… Lists of people, all reduced to subjects in a messed up experiment… Phase 2… Reset… Phase 4: Mindmeld…

The more Chan read along with Minho, the more his concentration wavered and his heart sped up. Where did he find all of this? If all of these papers were true, it was even worse than he’d dared to think. The files talked about them, about all of those other people, as if they were only objects used to indulge someone’s sick curiosity. They detailed the horrible procedures that should never be used on people so plainly, like it was a report describing the weather or a list for a baking recipe. All the steps were there, the things they’d had to endure black on white as mere facts. There was no human emotion. No remorse.

The words started to blur, the warmth of Changbin’s back started to return.

Chan blinked, disoriented for a second.

“Holy shit,” he muttered. Around him, everyone’s faces were starting to come back into view. “Oh my God.”

“What? What is it?” Felix asked instantly. Hyunjin jumped in too.

“Is Minho-hyung okay? Is he hurt?”

Chan shook his head, words failing him. His mouth opened and closed, but whenever he tried to talk, his throat closed up. This was too much. It wasn’t just messed up, it was horrifying.

Felix’s hand clenched his shirt, his face paling more and more.

“Is it that bad?” he asked, voice wobbling. “He- he isn’t-”

“Minho’s fine,” Chan said quickly, not even needing to guess what Felix must be thinking as he felt Chan’s frightened state. The tensiness from the others lessened too, and Chan felt bad for scaring them like that.

“I…” he said, “I saw where he is.”

He told them about the room, the shelves and the files. He told them about all he’d read from the files before he’d lost his concentration.

“So that’s how they got us,” Changbin concluded, sounding strained. “They put us to sleep with hypnosis and only Jisungie managed to hold out.”

“And it explains why I’m still not hungry.” Hyunjin inspected his arms, shuddering. “Those psycho’s have been injecting us with all kinds of things.”

“You know what bothers me the most? What’s happening right now is their idea of phase 2,” Chan said. “They called it a reset, and Minho found files of at least four phases.”

“Shit…” Felix repeated, holding his head. “So they’re planning to do this two more times? Will they sedate us again just before we all find each other just like last time?”

“We can’t let them,” Hyunjin said resolutely. “We have to get out of here before that.”

“If they hit us with that gas we don’t stand a chance,” Changbin said. “They can literally do anything to us and we’d be powerless to stop it.”

Jeongin balled his fists, looking at the ground angrily. “Dammit, why did this have to happen to us? We didn’t do anything to deserve this, it’s- it’s not fair!”

“It’s not.” Felix gently grabbed one of the younger’s fists, massaging the skin there until he let some of his tension go. Jeongin met his eyes and they shared a look, frustration bleeding from Jeongin’s while Felix gave him a soft smile. Chan could feel how Felix was forcing himself to keep it cool, but beneath that, the same anger simmered that showed on Jeongin’s face. They were all angry. Angry and so damn scared.

Chan wanted to make it all go away. He wanted to make it right.

With that resolve, he closed his eyes, pushing himself back to Minho’s side to see if he could spot anything useful in their attempt to find him-

His hands, searching the boxes, throwing the lids off and grabbing file after file. Nothing useful. Moving on to other boxes, clear plastic ones with items inside. Glasses, watches, keys, pho-

Phones. Random phones. Another box. More phones.

Their phones. That was Felix’s phone case. Seungmin’s and Jisung’s and-

And his. His phone, right there in his hands. He pushed the on button and the screen lit up. 30% battery left. That was more than enough.

Fingers tapping feverishly, a list of contacts popping up-

“Guys… guys- Guys!” Chan snapped back to himself. The feeling of being dropped back in his own body was like he was being slammed against a concrete wall and he reeled from the sudden hurt that exploded throughout his entire body. He saw Felix flinch from the sensation, swirling around to look at Chan in shock, but none of that mattered right now. This was huge, this was-

“Guys, Minho found our PHONES!”

Chapter Text

The researchers were panicking. It made Seungmin want to laugh maniacally and cry at the same time. Because the reason they were panicking was amazing. The situation it put him in was far less so.

Minho was missing. They clearly hadn’t counted on that to be possible but he was gone. He’d disappeared from all camera feeds, and now the researchers were rushing around like chickens with their heads cut off.

Which made them more desperate but also more dangerous than ever before.

The Korean-speaking researcher had been in the middle of a very one-sided interview with Seungmin, trying to get answers out of him as to how he’d been forming links between himself and the others on purpose. Then one of the people behind them had exclaimed that Minho had disappeared and all hell had broken loose. The researcher had stilled for a second, their back ramrod straight.

And then they’d leaned forward, their expression turning dangerous so quickly that it sent chills down Seungmin’s spine. He could feel the kidnapper’s breath on his face and he turned his head, trying to get as far away from them as he still could.

“Strengthen your link with Subject 125 immediately,” they commanded, their voice low and sharp, “or else we will not hesitate to kill one of the others.”

Seungmin met the researcher’s deranged eyes with a look of determination.

“No.”

It was a risk; he knew that they wouldn’t hesitate to actually set something in motion now, but he banked on it being non-fetal. They wouldn’t actually kill them off. Not yet. Not now that the experiment had been going well for what might have been the first time in all the times they did it. Stray Kids was too valuable. They couldn’t afford to lose them.

A vein pulsed on the researcher’s temple.

“You will strengthen that link now,” they hissed. “Or we will-”

“Wait, we’ve got audio! Subject 124 is revealing another link!”

The researcher froze, their eyes flicking up to look around Seungmin’s chair. “What is it?”

“Subject 124 seems to have reached even further than feelings sharing. It can look through Subject 125’s eyes and share their senses completely, like it’s the same person as Subject 125.”

The Korean researcher hummed, and they straightened up, giving Seungmin more space to breathe. He barely did manage to get in any air however, because this didn’t sound good at all. What they were saying… Was that even possible? Could they really start to see through others’ eyes now? Could their minds completely melt together?

That sounded like the creepiest science-fiction idea he’d ever heard. Surely, this couldn’t be real.

“Are you saying it’s already reached the melding stage?” The researcher in front of him asked, sounding somewhat incredulous but for all the wrong reasons. Their tone was elated. Like a kid discovering what present they were getting before they should really know. Something dangerous glinted in their eyes. Eager. Greedy.

Tapping on a keyboard sounded, before one of the researchers answered: “We don’t know for sure, but it seems like it. It’s not as strong as it could be yet, but Subject 124 says it can tap into it on its own already. It is…” The researcher speaking sucked in a large breath. “It says Subject 125 is in the storage unit.”

“It’s WHAT?” The researcher in front of Seungmin stepped away further, their hand flying out to point at the door. “Get guards over there now! This is endangering our entire experiment! Prepare to use another dose of gas before it can find-”

They stilled, their sentence stopping mid-scream. Their eyes turned to Seungmin.

“Wait,” they said, suddenly sounding calm. “There’s a far better way to get Subject 125 out.” They slowly dropped their arm to their side again, their movement deliberate, their expression cold now. All the excitement was gone, only ice cold clinicality left. “We can afflict pain on it through a link… and Subject 130 will help us do so.”

All this time, Seungmin had acted like he could barely understand English, but now he couldn’t hide the visceral flinch he made at those words. The researcher’s gaze told him he wasn’t fooling anyone anymore, and they walked around his chair, returning with something glinting in their hand.

“If you don’t comply,” they said, slowly bringing the knife closer to him, “we will make it rain knives down on all of your members. It’s your choice. You either make us kill them, or you’ll enable us to stop Lee Minho from breaking the rules.”

“The rules?” Seungmin parroted, trying to hide his terror behind a wall of sarcasm. “You never told us there were rules, don’t you think that’s a little unfair? I would have tried to cheat far earlier if I knew there were rules.”

“Focus on Subject 125 and strengthen the link,” the researcher pressed, putting the knife against his forearm. It was trapped in cuffs, meaning he had no way to avoid being sliced if the researcher lost their patience.

Still, that thought didn’t terrify him as much as it should. He would gladly take a knife in his arm if it meant all the others would stay safe.

“Or what? You’ll kill all of us? Would you really do that to your most special specimens?”

He glared at the researcher, meeting their eyes head-on.

The knife pressed harder, drawing the first drops of blood. Seungmin swallowed, but refused to give any reaction to it. He kept up his glare.

“Think about Subject 125,” the researcher repeated again. “Think about the pain it’ll feel if the guards get to it and punish it for disobeying.”

Before he could stop it, Seungmin’s mind flitted to an image of Minho being beaten by two big guards, falling to the ground and crying out in pain. The knife pressed harder, tearing skin. He hissed softly. Minho’s pain and his almost seemed the same in his mind, as if what he was imagining was also happening to the other.

Wait no. No, he wasn’t going to let this happen. Now that he knew what to look for, he could feel the connection towards Minho calling out, could feel how it was reaching back to him, growing until it would snap between them, but he refused to let it. Thinking of a wall rising up all the way to the sky, he blocked it out, forcing himself to stay still and keep his mind blank. He wouldn’t allow himself to strengthen this link. He wouldn’t make Minho feel this pain too. He looked right into the researcher’s eyes, focussing on the reflection of crazed light in their irises.

The knife slid across his arm, drawing an angry red strip of dark blood. He welcomed the pain, letting it distract him.

“Its vitals are stable,” one of the researchers called from behind the chair. “It’s not working.”

The researcher in front of him narrowed their eyes slightly. Seungmin’s heart skipped a beat, but not because of the icy wrath he could feel wafting off of them—it was because they’d just revealed exactly how they knew about his connections. So they’d been monitoring him. Of course they had. It all made sense now. From the moment he synced with Hyunjin and later Jeongin, they had known. That must have been why they kept him this close. Not to make him plan their experiment for them, because that had all been one big lie, a front that served as a way to torture him and push him to ‘strengthen’ his links. They only kept him here so they had one of their specimens close for easy observation.

That others had always been in danger, regardless of what he would have chosen. It had all been orchestrated, a perfectly planned set-up for his specific prison from the very beginning.

“You sick bastards,” he growled, a fire lighting in his bones. “I’ll never play along with you again. You won’t get anything more out of me.”

The knife moved to his other arm, slicing through skin to make a new cut without remorse. It seemed the researcher didn’t care if it was working or not. They just wanted him to be in pain.

“Share this pain with Subject 125,” they demanded, “Do as we say!”

“No.”

The researcher put the knife against his throat next, leaning in way too close for comfort.

“Division 1,” they suddenly addressed the people behind them. “Turn on incentive RK1, make sure it covers the entire hall so the subjects can’t outrun the knives-”

Hyung! Jeongin’s voice pierced through Seungmin’s mind without warning. He jolted, the knife drawing a faint scratch on his skin. Hyung, this is big news! Minho-hyung’s found our phones!

He what?!

Seungmin looked with wide eyes to the screens, though he should have known he wouldn’t be able to find Minho there. Still, he did see how the group with Jeongin and the others was discussing something with more energy than he’d seen from them this entire time.

Yeah! Chan-hyung says he’s trying to contact the police right now!

Seungmin couldn’t believe it. After all this time, had they finally hit a lucky break? Was this it? Was this the moment things would turn around for the better?

“Bad news!” One of the researchers exclaimed. “Subject 125 has found the confiscated objects and has turned on one of the cell phones! Guards are still one minute away from the unit!”

Seungmin dared to grin at that, and it made the researcher in front of him turn absolutely murderous.

“Sounds like your team is losing,” Seungmin mocked. “Should have explained those rules better beforehand, don’t you think?”

But the researcher didn’t rise to his bait. Their expression closed off and they drew the knife back, their whole demeanor changing.

“Very well,” they said calmly. “We have no other choice then. Everyone, Initiate Phase 3. Now.”

The whole room burst into activity and Seungmin’s blood turned cold, wiping the grin right off his face. All of a sudden, a hand was coming over from the back of the chair, a gas mask in their hold.

“No-!” he exclaimed, slamming himself backwards as far as he could. The chair kept him trapped, so there was no way he had any chance of dodging that thing but he still tried. He had to warn the others. With all his might, he focussed on sending it to both Hyunjin and Jeongin.

Guys! He called as loud as he could. The hand pushed the mask over his nose and mouth and he held his breath, stubbornly prolonging the moment for as long as he could. They’ve found out about Minho! They’re moving to the next phase and they’re- they’re-

His breath faltered and he inhaled for one mili-second. Shit. The gas burned his nose and made his head spin immediately, jumbling his thoughts.

You need to- To run! They’re- They’re going to use- To use-

His eyelids fluttered and involuntarily, he breathed in again, his head starting to feel lightheaded and fuzzy. His body started to loosen up, his control over his muscles slipping away from him. He sagged in the chair, the cuffs being the only things to keep him from sliding down to the ground.

The… gas… He thought desperately, not even sure if this was reaching anyone anymore. Please… run…

The world slipped away from him. Everything turned dark.

Chapter Text

Seungmin’s voice boomed in his head not even a second after Chan had shared his amazing discovery with them.

Guys! They’ve found out about Minho! They’re moving to the next phase and they’re- They’re-

His voice cut off. Instinctively, Hyunjin met Jeongin’s wide, shocked eyes.

“Seungmin,” they breathed at the same time. Jeongin whirled around, looking down the empty hallway.

“We need to get to Seungmin!” he cried out. “He’s in danger!” He shot one terrified look back at the group. “We need to go now!”

Ice ran over Hyunjin’s spine as he felt something he’d never felt before. Seungmin’s presence dimmed, like he was a candle that was starting to flicker out, and it made even Hyunjin’s own thoughts more fuzzy and disoriented.

“Seungmin? Is he-” But Felix didn’t get to finish his question before Hyunjin was already answering it, needing to say it before he’d forget. He grasped onto the meaning of Seungmin’s warning with everything he had.

“The kidnappers have discovered what Minho-hyung’s doing! They’ve done something to Seungmin and I can’t hear him anymore! He’s- he’s gone!”

He grabbed Felix by the hand, pulling him along in his rush to follow Jeongin. Changbin started running after them, no more questions asked. Hyunjin’s mind whirled. Was this the feeling of Seungmin dying? Were their captors really that twisted? The moment any of them discovered anything, they’d start killing them off?

It was when a loud hissing noise rose up from the walls that Hyunjin finally realized that Seungmin wasn’t the only one caught in the crossfire. They weren’t running to something anymore.

They were running away.

He’d heard that sound before and he knew exactly what it was.

“The gas!” he screamed. “They’ve turned on the gas again, everyone get down!” He dropped to the ground, his elbows skidding painfully, and pulling Felix along with him. Jeongin dove to the ground as well, crashing harshly in his speed and yelling in pain as he hit the floor. Changbin was a bit slower in lowering both him and Chan to the ground, huffing as he did so.

“We won’t be able to hold our breath for long,” he said. “We need to find someplace where it can’t reach us. Wait it out.”

“And where would you suggest we do that?!” Hyunjin threw both hands over his nose and mouth. Already the first clouds were starting to form from invisible holes in the ceiling. The experience of the last time flashed through Hyunjin’s mind. The fuzziness, the feeling of sinking into nothingness as the platform and the others had disappeared from his view. He didn’t want to experience that again. Never, ever again. “There’s nothing here!”

“We can go back,” Felix tried, “if we’re fast, we can go back to the room with the bed. We can make it if we run and stay low.”

“No, we can’t.” Chan’s voice was so full of resignation that Hyunjin couldn’t believe it was coming from the same guy who’d pushed through more than seven years of trainee hell on pure willpower alone. Chan was never one to give up like this. His heart broke, while at the same time some desperate, last remnant of hope was trying to claw its way up to his words.

He turned around, starting to crawl the way Felix had suggested. “Yes, we could, if we just hurry we can make it-”

The green gas billowed across the ceiling, filling the top half of the hall more and more and hiding the white from sight. They didn’t have a lot of time, but if they could be fast enough, they could make it for sure. They’d be able to avoid ending up useless and unconscious and they’d be able to resume their rescue mission for Seungmin as soon as the gas would have dispersed.

“No,” Chan said again. “Minho’s surrounded by the gas too. He’s trying to hide but it’s no use. They must have released this everywhere.”

“So there’s no place to hide?” Hyunjin stopped. He twisted around on his knees, facing the group. With a shaking hand, he grabbed Felix’s in a childish attempt at comfort, needing him close. He looked around the group as if this was the last time he’d see them. Maybe it was. “But I don’t want to be separated again.”

Chan looked pained as he shared more bad news. He had his eyes closed. “The phone has no reception. Minho’s message isn’t even being sent. I don’t think… they must have blocked reception here. Who knows, maybe we’re literally in the middle of nowhere and they knew it wouldn’t matter if we found the phones or not.”

The gas was slowly taking more and more territory. It was only a matter of seconds before it would fill up the entire space. Hyunjin was almost expecting the air to start burning him, his whole body tense in waiting for some kind of pain to explode around them. Why did the gas seem so innocent when it was everything but?

Felix hit the floor with a fist. “Dam-mit!” His voice broke as he hit the floor again and again. “Dammit! Not again!”

Hyunjin felt his own eyes water, the thought that they were all powerless to stop it overwhelming him. Everyone else looked just as despairing as he was and Hyunjin reached out his other hand towards Jeongin. To his surprise, the younger immediately accepted it and grabbed his hand with an iron hold. Jeongin held out his other hand to Chan. The five of them made a little circle, holding onto each other for what could be the last time.

With the exception of Chan who was keeping tabs on Minho, all the others locked eyes with each other, seeming to try and memorize each other’s faces. Felix had already lost the fight against his tears and Hyunjin felt he was close to it as well.

“I’ll come find you all again,” he promised vehemently, squeezing their hands. “I swear, wherever they’ll put us, just hold out until I find you again. They won’t be able to separate us for long.”

The gas was close to reaching them now, clouding just above their heads. Hyunjin shrunk in on himself, away from it.

“We’ll get out of here,” Changbin added, his own voice trembling. He slowly let Chan slide to the ground. “The next phase will be the last. We’ll all get out of here.”

The gas filled in the space around their heads. Even as they all bent down as close to the ground as they could, it was no use anymore. They might have been seasoned singers, but no human could hold their breath forever. Jeongin was the first to lose the fight. A loud inhale came from him, followed by a string of curses Minho would have been proud of. He crumbled to the ground, just able to cushion his head before his eyes slipped shut.

Hyunjin tightened the hold on their hands, before he too, lost the fight and breathed the gas in. Immediately, the fuzzy feeling from Seungmin spread until it was encompassing his entire mind, his body starting to become weak and unresponding. His arms buckled under him and he crashed to the floor. He wasn't as fortunate as Jeongin and felt his head slam against the ground, before that feeling too got washed away by the fuzziness.

He could barely hear it as Chan gasped and opened his eyes. The older sucked in such a large breath that made him sway immediately, also sagging to the floor. Felix and Changbin followed soon after.

Darkness started encroaching on Hyunjin’s vision. He couldn’t push it back, couldn’t do anything to stay awake. It was a matter of counting down the seconds until he’d wake up in a new place again.

All alone.

Just before his mind left him completely, he heard Chan mumble one last thing that had his heart jump weakly in his chest.

“The checkmark… got blue…”

The world disappeared.

Chapter Text

He felt it before he even fully awoke. Anger. All encompassing, blinding anger. It filled him from head to toe and burned him from the inside out.

He sat up, his vision immediately zeroing in on the other members lying spread out across the dark floor. Some were still unconscious, some were stirring, just like he’d been moments before.

This was their fault. His suffering was all on them.

Closest to him lay Jeongin, which was perfect. The whole team had a soft spot for their youngest, so if Changbin really wanted to make a point, if he really wanted them all to feel how much he’d had to suffer, Jeongin would be the perfect target.

He didn’t even wait before Jeongin had properly woken up. The moment the younger opened his eyes, looking around in disorientation, Changbin pounded. He pushed himself from the floor, stalking straight towards Jeongin with no second to waste.

“You,” he snarled. “This is all because of you.”

Jeongin’s head turned, confused, but the moment he laid eyes on Changbin, he suddenly scrambled up, crawling backwards and away.

“Changbin-hyung, what- What’s wrong?”

The stuttering only made Changbin angrier. What right did Jeongin have to pretend to be confused? He knew what he’d done. He knew what all of them had done. To Changbin, the only one who’d stayed innocent in all of this.

It was because of the fact that they were freaks, because they had these unnatural connections with each other, that Changbin had to pay the price. Searching for them, carrying them, getting hurt because of them—he’d done it all and what did he get in return? Nothing. This was all their fault.

“We’re trapped here because of you,” Changbin growled, the world turning red around him. “They’d have never picked us if it wasn’t for all of you freaks. I’m stuck here because of you!”

He raised his foot and Jeongin’s eyes widened, only a split-second of realization flashing across his face before Changbin descended on him. He kicked the boy right in his side, making him cry out in pain and crash to the ground. He lifted his foot again, this time stomping down on the kid’s stomach and taking his breath away with a pathetic wheeze. Tears pooled in Jeongin’s eyes, his voice pleading.

“Hyung, stop, why are you- AGH!” Changbin stomped again on his leg this time, a satisfying CRACK! echoing through the large open space. “HYUNG STOP IT!”

Jeongin’s cry had more of the members waking up, and one by one, they sat up, looking around before finally spotting what was happening. Multiple cries of Jeongin’s name came from them. Hyunjin was the first to scramble to his feet.

“Innie!”

Changbin ignored them and stomped again on Jeongin’s leg, feeling the bone shifting with an accompanying and satisfying scream from the younger. It was in no way enough to account for all the pain they’d caused him, but it was a start.

Hyunjin reached Jeongin, flinging himself in front of the boy with his arms spread wide and a murderous look on his face.

“SEO CHANGBIN!” He bellowed. “What the hell are you doing?!”

“Hyung, stop!” Felix cried out from a distance. Minho was pushing himself from the ground too.

“Changbin, what the hell do you think you’re doing-”

“This is his own fault!” Changbin yelled back. He raised a fist, ready to force Hyunjin out of the way. Under him, Jeongin was full-on sobbing, his leg unnaturally bent and a total mess. It fit perfectly with what they already were, and Changbin was intent on making his other leg exactly the same. A fitting state for a monster like him.

“It’s because of you that we got taken! The kidnappers only chose us because you all are freaks of nature! If you’d just been normal, none of this would have happened!”

He swung his fist, catching Hyunjin off-guard and hitting him square in the jaw. Hyunjin cried out, his head snapping to the side and his body being flung away from the sheer force of it. Cries of his name came from the others.

“STOP RIGHT NOW!” came Minho’s useless command.

“Try to stop me!” Changbin raised his fist again, this time hitting Jeongin against his weakly thrown up arms. The defense was poor and his fist hit them so hard Jeongin’s arms recoiled against the boy’s face, earning another cry from him. The kid was shaking, tears flowing over his face and his eyes full of fear as he looked up at Changbin. He was practically asking for a beating.

“What the fuck is WRONG WITH YOU!”

This time it was Changbin who was caught off-guard as Minho slammed into him and tackled him to the ground, his hands immediately coming up to grab Changbin’s wrists and bend his arms around his back. He fought against the hold, knowing that he should be stronger, but he’d been weakened too much. All the carrying and having to live through nightmares had made him lose too much strength.

Minho’s hold was bruising him.

“Give me one good fucking reason why I shouldn’t kill you right now,” Minho demanded harshly. He was clearly trying to be threatening, but all Changbin could think of was that this was just another instance of them hurting him. All because they cared for each other. But never for him. No, they’d never given a single fuck about him.

So Changbin laughed.

“Go ahead,” he said. It hurt to talk with his face smushed against the stone floor. “Kill me. You’ve been doing nothing but hurting me from the moment we got kidnapped anyway.”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

From the corner of his eyes, he could see how Felix was coming closer. He turned his verbal attack the other dancer’s way.

“It’s all your fault Chan got hurt!” he shouted. Felix froze, eyes wide. “Just as it’s Jisung’s fault that I had to go through literal explosions! Don’t you guys get it?! It’s all because of you that this is happening! It’s because of your mutations that I have to suffer! You’re all despicable! None of you deserve remorse! It’s all your fault!”

He thrashed in Minho’s hold, almost breaking free. He could feel the grip loosening, Minho losing the fight and hurrying to pin his legs against his to keep him in place.

From a distance, he could see Felix’s face morph into anger too, his whole form shaking with rage.

“Say another word and I’ll kill you,” Felix said icily, his voice taking on the low register that he rarely ever used. It made the words come out like a monster’s growl. Changbin wanted to laugh at the irony, but a sudden fist slamming into his nose had him howling in pain instead.

Hyunjin appeared in front of his blurry vision as unwelcome tears welled up in his eyes, a vindictive look on the younger’s face.

“Not if I kill you first,” he promised darkly, already drawing back another fist. Minho cursed.

“Wait- Hyunjin, stop! Shit, they were right.” He pressed harder on Changbin, making him grunt from the way his muscles felt like they were being crushed against his bones.

“Guys!” Minho called out, clearly speaking to everyone in the room. “Get a hold of yourselves, do you even hear what you’re saying? Nobody’s actually killing anyone!”

“Oh, but Changbin deserves it-” Hyunjin started to say, but Minho cut him off.

“Listen! I found files that had a list of the links we have! The most recent one they added- it was of Changbin with every single one of us! This is his anger affecting you! Snap out of it!”

Changbin did laugh this time, not believing what kind of nonsense Minho was spouting right now.

“Are you serious?” he snapped, writhing in the other’s hold. “I’m not a freak like you! I’m not bonded with anyone! Let me go and I’ll show you how their anger is nothing compared to MINE!”

He twisted and growled, finally escaping from Minho’s hold and immediately twisting around, his fist reared back to do some serious damage to Minho’s shocked face.

-Before a sudden wave of something crashed into Changbin’s chest that had him inhaling so sharply, stars exploded behind his eyes.

Worry. Pain. So much of it. Relief. Confusion. Anger, but different from the one he was feeling before. This one came from real hurt. This one came from pain in the heart, from having been betrayed. This one come from-

“F-felix?”

He blinked, the new feelings drowning out the previous anger and making his tunnel vision widen out all of a sudden. No longer was the world filled with red, but the gray of the ceiling greeted him. Now, Minho’s face didn’t look just shocked, but deeply hurt. It sent a sharp pain of guilt through his chest and before he could stop it, tears leaked from his eyes and down his bloodied nose and cheeks.

“Wha-what is-what was…” He couldn’t talk, couldn’t form the words he wanted to say. All of it was too much.

Beside him, Hyunjin dropped his fist, blinking quickly as if waking up. Felix was approaching them, but he was no longer looking like he wanted to jump into the fight. Instead, he looked so sad and broken that Changbin’s heart shattered into a million pieces.

Another wave of worry and pain washed over him, causing a sob to leave his lips.

“Changbin-hyung…?” Felix asked softly, finally reaching them. He crouched down, his hand reaching for Changbin.

He winced. Silence followed that move, everyone else watching him with silent surprise.

“Oh my God,” was all he could say, his eyes scanning over all of them and seeing all the wounds he had inflicted both physically and mentally. Hyunjin’s cheek was already turning red and blue. Felix’s face was covered in tears. And Jeongin-

“Innie, no…” He could barely turn his head and look at the damage he’d inflicted. Jeongin was sobbing, watching him with unadulterated fear and distrust as if he was expecting another hit. His leg was bleeding, bent the wrong way from the knee down to his ankle and it was already swelling. His nose was bleeding.

Changbin wiped a shaking finger under his own, coming back with blood too.

“Jeongin, I’m- I’m sorry.”

Nothing changed in Jeongin’s look. He didn’t seem to believe Changbin’s words at all. The distrust was still there, right along with the fear. He was scared of Changbin now. And for a damn good reason.

He’d done this. Oh God, he’d done this.

Another sob tore from Changbin’s throat at that realization. Minho had gotten off of him now, so when Felix’s arms suddenly wound around him, he jolted, not having expected the touch.

“L-let go of me, you shouldn’t come close-” He barely got any words out, weakly trying to fight Felix’s hold because he knew he didn’t deserve it. He had no idea how this had happened but he knew one thing.

He had done this.

“It’s not okay, but we’ll fix it,” Felix mumbled in his ear. “You weren’t yourself. I can feel it now. I’m sorry I didn’t earlier. I forgive you, hyung.”

And that… that made Changbin lose it completely, giving up his weak attempts to get free. He crumbled in Felix’s arms, crying loudly. Nobody else moved closer. His cries mixed with Jeongin’s, the giant room being filled with heartbreak and pain. He had no idea what had happened between the gas in the hallway and waking up here, but that didn’t matter anyway.

He’d done this. This was all his fault.

Chapter Text

Seungmin had watched it all.

Not from a screen this time, though. No, when he’d woken up, afraid to find himself all alone again, he’d been more than surprised to hear shouting.

And not just shouting, but voices that he could recognize anywhere.

He opened his eyes, sluggishly rolling onto his side. He winced, feeling scabbed over wounds on his arms. Ah, right. He’d been cut on both arms. The wounds seemed to be halfway healed already for some reason, but it still hurt to put his weight on them.

As he weakly pushed himself up, he looked around. He was in a big, grey room, pillars supporting a high ceiling and painting a contrast against the walls filled with dark black shadows. There were pieces of debris strewn about, large sticks and stones laying spread through the room like they were remnants of some great war that had taken place. Some distance away, he saw people.

His members. They were here.

Joy and relief washed over him for a split-second, before all that happiness got doused by ice cold terror when he realized what he was seeing.

Jeongin was screaming. Changbin was beating him down. Literally. He was hurting Jeongin.

Innie, no! He cried out through their minds, his eyes blowing wide. His first instinct wasn’t even to yell out loud, but to try and get him to respond in their minds. He rushed to stand, starting to run and almost tripping over himself in his haste to get closer physically too.

He was too far away, he was never getting there in time.

Minho managed to hold Changbin back. The rapper’s frenzied insults were like knives stabbing right inside Seungmin’s chest. With every word, he felt himself become angrier and angrier. Changbin had to have become insane! How was this their fault? How dare he pin anything of this on them?!

But then Minho shared his theory and Seungmin stopped in his tracks, suddenly realizing he had his fist raised with the full intent to hurt Changbin more than he’d hurt Jeongin. He blinked, dropping his fist in horror.

What the… Why had he been thinking of joining the fight?! Why could he still feel the urge to hit Changbin, to rip Minho off of him and give him what he rightfully deserved-

What? No! No, he would never! This wasn’t right! That wouldn’t be payback, it would be an all out slaughter!

Inside of him, the foreign anger battled to take over control and it made him nauseous all over. It was like two personalities were clashing inside of his body, one full of hatred and anger, the other scared and betrayed. He didn’t know which one was the real one. He could barely make out where one began and the other ended and that scared him even more.

This anger, it wasn’t his, it couldn’t be-

All of a sudden, it disappeared and left him reeling. It felt like a carpet had been pulled from under his feet and he stumbled backwards, gasping loudly. With only the fear left, it crashed into him full-force, making him weak in the knees.

His mind was a mess. What was happening to him?

Felix approached Changbin carefully. Seungmin almost wanted to shout for him to stay back and watch out, terrified that the older would keep fighting.

But then Felix flung himself forward and trapped Changbin in a hug, and all that the rapper did was melt right into his arms, sobbing with his whole body. It didn’t make sense. None of it did. Seungmin hated to admit it, but… Changbin scared him. The duality, the sudden switch, he didn’t know if he could even trust it.

Nonetheless, Seungmin started walking once more, hesitantly getting closer to the others until he was close enough that he could softly say:

“Guys...”

Hyunjin’s eyes were the first to snap towards him and they virtually bulged out of their sockets when he realized what he saw.

“SEUNGMIN!”

He was up and on his feet in a flash, dashing Seungmin’s way and crashing against him in a bruising hug that Seungmin was only all too glad to return tenfold.

All he could think, both to himself and to the other two was: Finally. He shut his eyes, infinitely relieved, and melted into the hug. For just a second, he could forget everything, only focussing on the fact that the others were here, he was here, and he could touch them again.

But that second passed far too quickly. Even though he refused to let go of Hyunjin and the other seemed just as reluctant, he still opened his eyes when a weak voice came from the duo on the ground.

“Innie, I’m so s-sorry-”

“Don’t say anything,” Minho cut him off, harsh and cold. He walked over to Jeongin, physically shielding him. “You’ve done enough.”

Changbin let out another sob, burying back into Felix and hiding away. Seungmin had never seen the older seem so fragile before. It gave him a mixed feeling: on the one hand, he felt the crushing guilt and sadness from Changbin and knew he regretted it. On the other, he also didn’t want to see the older rapper anywhere near Jeongin any time soon. He didn’t really know what to think, actually.

How much of that violence had come from Changbin himself? What had the researchers done to him? Was it… was it Seungmin’s fault? If he’d shared pain with Minho, they wouldn’t have pushed through to the third phase so fast. Maybe this whole situation could have been avoided if Seungmin had cooperated. Was hurting them through Changbin their messed up revenge plan? Had they acted out of desperation because things weren’t going to plan anymore? Had Seungmin caused this?

“I’m so glad you’re here,” Hyunjin mumbled, rubbing his back and bringing him back from his worries. Seungmin sighed, closing his eyes again so he could pretend for a second longer that everything was alright. If he tried, he could act like there weren’t multiple of his members crying right now. That it wasn’t all his fault.

“Yeah,” was all he could say, a lump in his throat. “Yeah, I’m finally here.”

Chapter Text

Seungmin was there, right in the flesh. Felix couldn’t believe it. In his mind, it had been so long since they’d seen the younger. Days at least, maybe more than a week. Which in this place, actually felt like an eternity.

He watched with teary eyes as Hyunjin crushed the boy in a hug, almost tempted to join them were it not for the crying one he had in his own arms. He softly rubbed Changbin’s back, his heart breaking for the pure despair and guilt he could feel coming from Changbin’s side of things.

Which was a new development, and not one that had happened like the other ones. This—this he’d actually done himself. That moment Minho told them what was happening, that his anger wasn’t his own, it felt like everything felt into place. All this time, Changbin had been the perfect picture of someone collected, of someone keeping it together for the sake of the group. They’d never noticed a bond with him because all of their feelings had been overwhelming already, clashing and mixing and making things worse, drowning him out.

Now it all made sense, how from the moment Felix had woken up this time, he’d felt agitated. Antsy. Terrified and full of hate at the same time. It had felt like he’d been overloaded with emotions, not knowing what was his and what wasn’t.

It’s why he could never blame Changbin for anything he’d done while he’d been so different. This hadn’t been him. Felix could feel it. Something had been done to him, feelings forced on his mind and body until he completely succumbed. When Felix realized that, forcing a stronger connection had been like drawing a line on paper with one fell swoop. He shot everything he could at Changbin, all of his worry, his pain, his urgency.

And Changbin had responded. He’d snapped out of it.

But the damage had already been done.

Jeongin’s leg, Hyunjin’s face… His own tears fell as he thought of what this turn of events had caused. He’d been too late to realize how wrong it had been, how even his own anger hadn’t been real.

Something had made Changbin lose control. Something had happened and planted those thoughts inside of his mind.

Felix could bet it was all their kidnappers’ fault.

“I’m sorry,” Changbin kept muttering in between sobs. “I’m so sorry, I never meant to- God, I’m so sorry- Jeonginnie, he’s- I never meant to-”

“Shhh,” Felix shushed him. “I know. That wasn’t you, I know.”

“I don’t know what-” Changbin hiccuped loudly. He must not even realize that another teary scene was happening right behind him, too caught up in his own tsunami of guilt and pain. “-what happened. I swear I didn’t mean- I’m sorry!”

As Felix tried his hardest to get Changbin to calm down, he kept half an eye on what happened around them. Seungmin and Hyunjin had quickly moved over to try and calm Jeongin, though that was just as much a lost cause as Felix’s was. Minho had returned to Jisung’s side, carefully trying to lift him up and bring him closer to everyone.

They were all one big mess. Wounded and hurt and broken. Even those that weren’t physically affected had been hurt more than enough for a lifetime. And those that were physically hurt…

Felix didn’t think he’d ever forget Jeongin’s or Changbin’s cries after this. They were heartbroken, trust-broken and sounded like they were experiencing the end of the world. In a sense, that really was it for them. Changbin had been forced to break something between them, something that Felix didn’t know how to even begin to fix. And Jeonginnie… he’d been hurt almost beyond repair. There was distrust coming from the others now too. He could feel how Minho was barely holding himself back for the sake of everyone, how Hyunjin was worried, how Seungmin was full of guilt too. They were in shambles, and though none of it was their felt, at least half of their team thought it was.

That made Felix feel angry all over again, white-hot rage billowing out from his mind down to his feet and filling him with thoughts of revenge. This time, he knew it came from himself. It was all because their kidnappers kept playing these stupid games with them. Was it worth it? Why did they keep trying to tear them apart, to push them to find each other, only to start it all over again? And this- this was far worse than anything they’d done to them so far. This was crossing a line that shouldn’t ever be crossed.

“Hyung, what happened?” Felix wondered softly once Changbin’s cries had quieted down. He kept the hug firm, not wanting Changbin to feel like this was an interrogation of any kind, but he just wanted to understand. Changbin’s breath shuddered.

“I don’t know, Yongbok-ah… I- I woke up and I- there was this feeling and all of these thoughts- I don’t know where they came from. They weren’t mine but they felt like they were. I was so- I was so mad.”

It was rare to hear Changbin stutter, showing just how wrecked he was. The words he got out didn’t make much sense to Felix though, because:

“You just woke up with it? Can you remember anything else? Anything at all about before?”

“I- No…” Changbin’s grip was tight and desperate, like he was scared of letting go. “We were surrounded by the gas and the next thing I know… I see you all lying here and I got so angry… it felt like this was all your fault. There was this voice saying if it wasn’t for you, we’d be safe.”

Like he’d been burned, Changbin flung himself away from Felix, his voice frantic. “But I swear I don’t really believe that! I don’t think this is on any of us, I don’t know why I said that! Please, you have to believe me-”

“I do,” Felix quickly went to reassure him. “I do, hyung, I’m just trying to understand…”

Changbin deflated, his eyes straying to where their other members were all gathered now.

Away from them. Away from him.

With one hand on his face, Felix steered his gaze away from the others. “Hyung, don’t look. You don’t need to see that.”

“I do, it’s- I did that. It’s my fault.”

Felix lifted up his other hand, capturing Changbin’s face with both and forcing him to meet his eyes.

“No, it isn’t. I can feel how confused and guilty you feel. This is not on you. You’re just as much the victim here as Innie is.”

“But I-”

“I don’t take buts here, hyung. You are not to blame. Those kidnappers will pay for what they did to the both of you. If only I could take your pain away, I would, I swear.”

Changbin was silent for a bit, clearly too choked up to argue any further. Felix had never seen the older this broken before. He himself was barely keeping it together, but he had to, for Changbin. For Jisung too, since he could feel the hurt and betrayal and confusion leak from his side of things. For Chan too, since he-

He-

Wait.

Where was Chan?

Felix sucked in air, letting go of Changbin’s face and searching the room around them with a frantic urgency flooding him without warning. Chan, where was he?! He hadn’t said anything yet and Felix couldn’t feel him clearly, just like last time when he was stuck in that dream-

“Hyung, Chan-hyung is- I can’t- he’s- He’s not here.”

The words were difficult to get out of his mouth, his entire body freezing up with sheer horror at the realisation.

Chan wasn’t here with them.

He was the only one who wasn’t here.

Changbin’s eyes widened too and they both looked around, desperate to find him somewhere in the distance, maybe hidden behind some of the rubble, maybe laying unconscious somewhere…

But no, he wasn’t anywhere in sight. Felix reached out through their link too, but came up empty. Chan’s side didn’t even feel fuzzy. He was barely there, edging on the verge of just being gone. Again.

Before he could help it, a sob left his own mouth that took him by surprise, his entire strength to keep his cool vanishing into thin air. All of a sudden, their roles became reversed, and Changbin was the one pulling him into a bruising hug as he cried helplessly.

“Dammit, not again,” he cried, his hands tightening into fists that held Changbin’s shirt with far too much force. “He’s gone again- They’ve taken him and he’s all alone now- I can’t even feel where he is-”

“Shh,” Changbin said, still sounding like he was barely holding it together too. “We’ll find him. Just like before. We’ll find him again.”

“But he’s- he’s all alone.”

“He won’t be for long.” And that was Minho, having seemingly heard their conversation from where he and Jisung had sat down beside Jeongin. The others had fallen quiet, even Jeongin, though soft sniffles were still coming from him. Everyone was looking at the two of them.

Felix looked their way, blinking through the tears.

“Hyung…Chan-hyung is…”

A soft sniffle came from Jisung at the same time as he made the sound and they locked eyes, Felix’s sadness passing between them. For some strange reason, it placated him a bit, knowing that he wasn’t alone in what he was feeling. Changbin, Jisung, even the others, though they didn’t share their literal feelings. Everyone thought the same.

They had to go to Chan.

“Can’t you and Innie feel him?” Changbin asked carefully. The older avoided looking at Jeongin, clearly heeding Minho’s warning, but the question was clearly just as much meant for him. Through his sniffles, the youngest managed to answer.

“I… I could try.”

“Innie, you don’t have to do anything-” Hyunjin’s attempt to reassure him was met with a weak glare from Jeongin, which shut him right up. At least a little bit of the younger’s normal self was resurfacing again.

“I will try,” Jeongin said resolutely. Everyone ignored how his voice still wobbled. He exhaled deeply, closing his eyes too. Felix followed his example. Maybe, even if he couldn’t sense Chan’s feelings, he could still pinpoint where the fuzziness was coming from.

Unlike other times, it wasn’t like a rubber band suddenly snapped or like an arrow shot out and pointed him the right way. All he focussed on was the emptiness inside of him, that one last puzzle piece that was missing again, and followed the trail. It was a quiet technique, something that felt like second-nature now as he followed it and followed it, all through the room and-

It hit the wall there.

Felix frowned, trying again.

Chan had to be somewhere there, behind the far away walls of this place. If he could just sense where- But no. Something was blocking him. And not just at one point, it felt like it was coming from all sides. There was some sort of mental wall there along with the physical, making his senses hit something hard and painful every time he tried to reach out. It hurt, but he forced himself to hit it again and again, trying at different places, searching for an opening, anywhere he could slip through and reach further.

It was no use. Their kidnappers must have found a way to block them out. He wasn’t getting any sense of direction at all.

Opening his eyes again, he found a very similar hopelessness reflected back at him in Jeongin’s expression.

“I’m not getting anything,” the younger confessed brokenly, looking like he was about ready to cry again. “This hasn’t happened before, I don’t- I don’t know what to do.”

“Maybe I can try,” Seungmin said, and it was the first thing Felix had heard from him in so long. The younger looked around the group unsurely.

“How would you try?” Hyunjin asked. “Because no offense, but these two are the ones who’ve been leading us through this place all this time. If they can’t sense Chan-hyung, I don’t think you have much chance.”

“It couldn’t hurt to try, though,” Seungmin refuted. “I found out how to strengthen new links on purpose, I could try to create one with Chan and see if I can make it strong enough to find him.”

“You can do that?” Jisung asked. “How?”

“It’s not like I had much else to do while they kept me strapped down,” Seungmin admitted. “Up until now, I’ve been imagining it as some sort of stretching of my awareness? If that makes sense. For both Innie and Jinnie-hyung, I tried to reach out through my mind and kind of searched for them? No, maybe more like felt for them? It was like I was making room for someone else in my head and then when I thought really loud and hard I succeeded in sending them my thoughts.”

“That sounds like bullshit,” Minho said. When everyone turned to him, somewhat incredulous, he shrugged. “What? It is. I didn’t say it couldn’t work. It’s just kind of insane that we’ve gotten to this point where ‘stretching awareness’ is something we all actually understand.”

Jisung gave him a weak punch to the shoulder. Minho yelped. “You’re just as insane, hyung.”

“I never said I wasn’t!”

“I’m gonna try,” Seungmin said, squaring his shoulders. While one of his hands was trapped in a death-grip by Jeongin, he lifted the other to his chest. “Wish me luck.”

Just like the others before him, he closed his eyes and all fell quiet. Felix’s nerves couldn’t take waiting anymore, and so he returned to rubbing Changbin’s arm absentmindedly, needing something to keep him busy. Changbin caught his hand, taking it down from his nervous massaging and putting it in his lap instead. He squeezed it, shooting Felix a reassuring look.

When they both faced Seungmin again, the younger singer was scrunching up his nose, clearly trying hard. Though in the end, he let out a harsh breath, shoulders sagging in defeat as he opened his eyes.

“It’s not working,” he said dejectedly. “Dammit, why isn’t it working?”

“There’s only one option left now,” Minho said, and he looked around the group with a fire blazing in his gaze. “The old-fashioned way: we’ll search for him until we can’t anymore. First step is getting out of here, and whether we’ll find those psycho’s or Chan-hyung first will determine whether we’ll slaughter someone or escape without having to shed more blood.”

Another punch from Jisung. This time Minho didn’t even give a sound, his face saying that he’d expected the silent reprimand and didn’t regret anything.

Felix couldn’t help but chuckle darkly, something vindictive growing inside of him. Minho was right. They just had to push through this. The end goal was so close, even if they couldn’t feel it. They’d become so reliant on their strange powers that it hadn’t even occurred to him that they didn’t need them to keep going.

They were going to find Chan either way. He would make sure of it.

Slowly, he pushed himself from the ground, helping Changbin up too. The rapper swayed for a second, blinking fast, but Felix managed to hold him steady.

“You okay, hyung?”

Changbin nodded stubbornly. Hyunjin’s hit against his face had clearly affected him more than he was trying to let on, though, as he blinked in quick succession again after moving his head so fast. Felix held one of his arms, worried he might fall back down if he didn’t.

The others were trying to get up as well, Minho lifting up Jisung once more with a grunt and shaking arms, while Seungmin and Hyunjin tried and failed to do the same to Jeongin. The moment they did, the youngest cried out in pain, the scream echoing through the whole space.

Changbin sucked in a breath, his face so full of guilt that even Felix’s soft rubbing on his arm couldn’t help at all. They’d never heard Jeongin scream like that before.

“I…” Changbin said, his voice barely audible. “I need to fix this.”

“Hyung, this is not something you can just fix-”

Changbin suddenly looked at him, something in his expression shifting to a stony determination.

“No, I’m gonna fix this.”

“...Hyung?”

But Changbin was getting a faraway look in his eyes. He didn’t respond. It scared Felix, not knowing what was happening.

“Hyung, what are you trying to…”

A broken sob came from Jeongin at the same time Changbin cried out, his knees folding and bringing both him and Felix back to the floor. Felix yelped, crying out Changbin’s name.

“Changbin-hyung, what’s wrong?”

“Hy-ung…”

Jeongin’s voice cracked as the younger looked unbelievingly towards Changbin, who was getting paler and paler with the minute. His breathing was turning to wheezes and he clenched his eyes shut, as if in pain.

“Hyung, no don’t, you don’t have to-” But Jeongin cut himself off for seemingly no reason, except that some color was returning to his face. He watched with wide eyes as Changbin crumbled to the ground even further, crying out in clear, heartwrenching pain.

“Hyung! Hyung, talk to me!” Felix begged him. Finally, Changbin looked at him, tears welling up but a fierce smile on his face.

“There,” he said. “I’ve fixed it.”

“Hyung, please, you don’t have to do this,” Jeongin said, steady tears streaming down his cheeks. “I can handle the pain, I swear. Please, don’t do this.”

“What is happening right now?” Hyunjin finally asked what they were all thinking. Jeongin shot him a broken look.

“Changbin-hyung’s strengthened our link. He’s- He’s somehow taking my pain all for himself.”

“You can do that?” Jisung asked, horrified. “Hyung, what the hell- why would you do that?”

“It’s-” Changbin panted. “It’s the only way I can make it right.” He barely lifted his head, his whole body shaking with extortion, but he still managed to meet Jeongin’s eyes. “I don’t expect you to forgive me for this for maybe ever, but this is the only way I can think to make it up to you. I’m sorry, Innie.”

“Hyung, you don’t have to do this!”

“Try to lift him up again,” Changbin said. “Grab one of those planks first and use it as a splint for him and then lift him up. I can- I can still walk-”

He tried to stand, but his legs quickly gave up and Felix was just in time to save him from crashing face first into the unforgiving stone below.

“Hyung, careful!”

“T-thanks, Yongbok-ah. Help me stand?”

“Hyung, you shouldn’t push yourself-”

“It’s not my pain, I can handle it. I won’t make it worse by walking. I- I can do this. Just help me. Please?”

And Felix couldn’t say no to his pleading. He never could before, and he certainly couldn’t now. With both pain in his heart and vague pain coming from Changbin (though he was clearly also keeping it from getting to Felix), he helped the older rapper stand and take a couple of wobbly steps forward.

Everyone seemed more than shaken by Changbin's selfless choice, but none of the others tried to argue anymore with him. They realised it was something he wanted to do. Something he had to do.

Still, Felix would never let him do it alone. As the others got busy caring for Jeongin, he leaned in close and whispered.

“Please at least share a little bit with me, hyung.” Changbin attempted to talk back, but Felix cut him off before he could get a single word out. “Don’t argue with me on this. You don’t have to carry this alone. Please, share this with me.”

“Felix, I would never want-”

“This is not up for debate, hyung.”

And when Changbin met his eyes, he must have seen something there, because with the tiniest, most relieved smile Felix had ever seen from him, he whispered back:

“Okay. Thank you.”

And really, even as the sudden shot of pain bursting from his leg was enough to make him bite his lip until it was bleeding, Felix wouldn’t have it any other way. He forced a wobbly smile, ignoring the literal fire in his bones, and honed in on the wall furthest from them. He could do this. For the others, he could survive anything. They started walking.

Chapter Text

Jeongin didn’t dare look down, too scared of the gruesome scene he would find around the lower half of his body. The pain might have disappeared (for now, and it was weird), but he knew he was everything but okay yet. Even as Seungmin was carefully maneuvering his leg and binding a wooden plank to it with some torn-off scraps of fabric, he didn’t feel a thing. Like the strongest anesthetic, except it came with a price heavier than he’d ever wanted to pay.

He saw the sweat pooling on Changbin’s temple and even Felix looked to be swaying from having to hold up the older. He hadn’t dared looking the other’s way again, stupidly afraid of him (and he hated that, that just one wrong move could have his heart beating so fast just by seeing one of his members), but now he couldn’t take his eyes off the older rapper. Changbin was taking his pain. Changbin was doing it all for him.

He refused to stay afraid of that.

Seeing how pale the older was and how hard he was trying to carry the burden all on his own, Jeongin’s heart broke for him. Yes, there had been a minute where even the thought of Changbin gave him the worst anxiety ever, but that was already melting away, replaced by a pain that was entirely different.

Changbin’s resolve sealed it for Jeongin. This whole Soul Link business was fucked up. As soon as they were to get out, he wanted it gone. He never wanted anyone to suffer because of him ever again.

“I think this is good enough.” Seungmin leaned back from his handiwork. “It isn’t hurting you, right?”

Jeongin shook his head. “No, but that’s because of them-” He nodded towards Changbin and Felix. “So you should ask them what they feel.”

“Somehow I don’t think we’ll get an honest answer then,” Seungmin mumbled. “Guess this will have to do for now.” He shifted to his knees, looking Jeongin up and down. “Uh… so… I think I can carry you best by hooking around your knees? Or no, that would aggravate it-”

“I’ll carry him,” Minho cut in all of a sudden, startling them both. He still had Jisung on his back, but he was already slowly lowering him again. Jisung didn’t give any sound of protest, giving Jeongin the idea that they must have discussed this through their link already. “We can switch. Jisungie’s lighter and easier because at least he can still somewhat move his leg. You’ll have less trouble with him.”

“I’m sure I can handle this,” Seungmin tried to argue, though Minho wouldn’t accept it.

“Good singer lungs don’t mean you can suddenly carry double your body weight. Jisungie’s less of a dead weight. I’ve already been carrying everyone around for years. Just let me do this.”

And before anyone could further protest, Minho crouched down beside Jeongin and lifted him from the ground, grunting and needing to put a step forward to stabilize himself before he’d fall over. Jeongin held back a shout of surprise at suddenly getting off the ground and threw his arms around Minho’s neck. He didn’t feel anything, but a loud, pained grunt from Changbin alerted them that Minho wasn’t as careful with Jeongin’s leg as he’d tried to be.

“It’s fine,” they heard Changbin mutter to Felix. He didn’t look fine, but no one dared comment on it. Jeongin couldn’t get himself to look at the older rapper’s eyes, his mind stuck on the way Changbin tensed his leg like it was really broken. Though he couldn’t take his eyes off, there was a battle going on inside of him as well, one where his mind was screaming at him to look away, to get as far away from Changbin as possible.

Yes, he refused to be scared, but his fear clearly hadn’t gotten the memo yet.

He just couldn’t stop the irrational tightness constricting his lungs. Flashes of a foot coming down, of agonizing pain, of white-hot panic blinding him crossed his mind. He loathed it with a passion, but in his head, Changbin now equalized danger. Even his safety sense was trying to send him away from the other, screaming at him that the others were safe but he wasn’t.

Jeongin stubbornly kept looking at Changbin, refusing to back down. He wouldn’t let his fear rule over him. He would never let himself be afraid of his members.

“Okay, you ready?” Seungmin asked, drawing Jeongin’s attention. The other boy was crouching down before Jisung, looking anything but sure about having to carry him. Still, he offered his arms and back, waiting for Jisung to make the first move. Slowly, Jisung shuffled closer, winding his arms around Seungmin’s shoulders. Seungmin clumsily locked his arms around Jisung’s legs, trying to stand and lift him up.

He stumbled immediately, his arms slackening like he wasn’t ready for the weight after all. Jisung yelped loudly, sliding off Seungmin’s back and dropping back to the ground. Jeongin startled harshly when Minho faltered, barely catching himself from falling too. He grunted, hoisting Jeongin more securely in his arms.

For the second time in a matter of seconds, Jeongin startled again, but this time by the voice that flooded his mind.

Dammit, need to be more careful. Minho was right, I’m too weak to carry anyone but I can’t let them do everything. This is all my fault. If I hadn’t messed up so many times, none of them would have gotten hurt like this. Stupid, stupid, stupid-

Jeongin had almost forgotten about his link with Seungmin. He must have been blocking it all this time, the chaos far more important to focus on than communicating without their voices. He watched as Seungmin struggled to lift Jisung again, face set in a determined frown while his mind whirled with self-depracation. He didn’t get very far and was shaking on his knees before Jisung returned to the floor once again. Seungmin wasn’t strong enough to get him up. All the while, his mind was in a constant loop, saying that he would only hurt everyone else more if he couldn’t even bear this.

Dammit! Just do it already! Don’t be so weak! This is all because of me! If I hadn’t said- Then Jisung wouldn’t be- And I-

His thoughts were a jumbled mess as they filtered into Jeongin’s mind, but the gist was clear. Seungmin blamed himself, somehow, for everything that had happened to them.

It had been a while since Jeongin had heard such bullshit.

Hyung, stop it already, he chided, none of this is your fault.

Seungmin jolted, almost dropping Jisung again but saving them both just in time. His head snapped up, eyes locking with Jeongin’s.

Shit. Innie, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean for you to hear that.

What are you apologizing for? None of what you’re thinking is true. This is all our kidnapper’s fault. They are the sick minds behind this place. They hurt us, not you.

No, you don’t know. I did do this. It’s my fault so many bad things happened. That so many things are still happening.

Hyung, but that’s bullshit.

No- Seungmin looked away. No, it isn’t. If I cooperated better, so many things could have been avoided.

That had all sorts of alarm bells ringing in Jeongin’s head. Cooperated? he repeated, horrified. Hyung, what the hell? What does that mean?

Seungmin must have mistaken Jeongin’s tone for an attack, because he seemed to curl into himself and his thoughts disappeared with startling suddenness. Like an ice wall rising up between them, the connection between them was blocked off and left Jeongin banging against it uselessly.

Hyung! he tried to send, Please, I’m just worried! What do you mean ‘cooperated’?!

But Seungmin didn’t seem to hear. Out loud, he said, “I- I can’t get you up, Sung. I’m sorry.”

And Jeongin was stuck. He couldn’t slap some sense into Seungmin because he was trapped in Minho’s hold, forced to be on the sidelines. The only thing that he could have done was talk through their minds, but now Seungmin was stopping him from doing that too. He was helpless to watch as Seungmin hung his head, as the others started to discuss how they were going to do this with so many of them down and in such bad shape.

Changbin and Felix were pale and swaying. Minho was clearly struggling but holding on stubbornly. Hyunjin was trying to come up with a solution, though he couldn’t offer to carry anyone either. Jisung and Jeongin were useless either way, and Seungmin… he was just staring at the ground, no doubt blaming himself regardless of Jeongin’s attempt to make him see reason.

If only Chan was here. He would have known how to convince Seungmin and how to give everyone new faith. He would have said something inspirational, something that would make them all able to go on and try again. He would have been able to put their worries to rest, even for a little bit.

But Chan wasn’t here. That was the problem. All of them were here except for him, and it showed, not just in the way everyone was clearly clinging on to the last shreds of hope, but by the way everything felt disorganized. Scattered. They weren’t one front anymore, but a bunch of wounded, insecure boys that all tried and failed to keep their own head above water.

Jeongin’s arms tightened around Minho’s neck, helplessness settling deep inside his stomach and making him nauseous. Like an instinctual response, Minho hummed softly. Maybe that worked on his cats to calm them down, but it did nothing for Jeongin.

Okay, maybe it did something. The soft vibrations did help ground him a bit, reminding him that he wasn’t all alone at least. The others might have been around, but he still felt isolated. Minho’s presence was his anchor that kept him present.

“Everything’s going to be alright,” the older muttered, showing uncharacteristic softness. Jeongin’s first response was to roll his eyes, pretend Minho was reading him wrong and those weren’t exactly the words he needed to hear. He did none of that, though, still feeling guilty about having abandoned him before in the hallways. Instead, he offered the tiniest nod, showing his appreciation in the only way he could without making it obvious.

God, this whole place had made him soft, hadn’t it? He kinda hated that it had such a huge impact on him, feeling ashamed of how he’d come to rely on the others more than he would have ever done before. He let them carry him, he let them cuddle him and hush him and treat him like a fragile thing because that’s what he was now. He couldn’t do anything himself anymore. His mind was a mess. His heart ached. Everything was wrong.

The others weren’t getting closer to a solution and Jeongin wanted to stop listening already. He was so close to giving up, only Minho’s words were keeping him from actually doing so.

Everything’s going to be alright.

Yeah, sure. Wishful thinking, that’s what it was.

If only Chan was here…

Chapter Text

Discussing how they were ever going to find Chan when half of their group was wounded and down was not a talk Jisung ever wanted to have. He hated the way the only solution seemed to be either giving up or splitting up. As if that would end well for any of them. The last two times they split up voluntarily, they didn’t manage to get back together until the next phase began.

They really needed to find Chan and get out of here. Together. No other outcome was allowed and giving up was just simply not an option. That’s why with one last look around the group, Jisung made up his mind, steeling himself for what he was about to suggest.

I have a very bad idea, he thought to Minho. And I’m sorry, but you’re not going to like it.

It can’t be worse than what I’m doing right now, Minho thought back wryly. The strain from his arms made Jisung’s own ache, telling him how difficult it was for the older to keep standing with Jeongin in his arms.

It may be.

Minho sent him a deadly stare. There came no immediate response through their thoughts, so Jisung took that as a sign to go on and explain his plan.

I think I can manage to walk. We shouldn’t stay here just because there’s no one to carry me. My burns don’t even hurt that bad anymore.

No. That’s a lie and you and I both know it.

Do you have a better idea then?

Minho pressed his lips into a thin line.

Listen, it’s gonna be harder to hold up Innie the longer we stay here. Chan-hyung could be in danger. We can’t afford to stay still any longer.

But if you aggravate your wounds-

They’re burns, it’s not like I’m losing blood. Besides, you can feel it, can’t you? They are less painful since the first phase. I think our kidnappers did something to speed up the healing process. It wouldn’t be the craziest thing they’ve done.

No, but that doesn’t mean it’s just gone. You’re hurting me too, remember? I don’t want you walking on that leg until an actual medic has taken a look at it and that’s that.

Okay, fine, then I won’t walk on it. Are you going to tell the rest we’ll simply abandon Chan and wait for our kidnappers to start phase 4?

Minho fell silent, but his glare got impossibly deadlier. Jisung didn’t back down, meeting his gaze head on with a stubbornness that could only come from being part of their team for as many years as they had. They’d faced so much together. They just had to pull through this, exactly like all the other times.

Giving up was not an option.

It seemed his argument was convincing enough, or at least, there was nothing better to say against it. Soon, Minho let out a deep sigh.

Fine. Ruin your damn leg, see if I care. Don’t come crying to me if the medics say it’s unsalvageable later.

It’s really not that bad! Jisung almost wanted to laugh. But thank you for worrying. It’s very sweet of you.

Tsk.

And that was that. Minho stopped talking to him (the stubborn guy) and Jisung had set his mind on his plan. He cleared his throat, shooting Seungmin an understanding look.

“It’s alright, I think I can try to walk on my own?”

Seungmin looked just as appalled at the suggestion as Minho had been, but before he could start to argue the same way, Jisung put his hands on the floor, lifting himself up with tiny grunts of effort. His skin pulled as he put his leg under him, then the other. The floor swayed, or maybe he did. Apparently Seungmin realized that Jisung was more than serious, and so without a word, he went to help. Together with his hands supporting him, Jisung managed to stand on his two very own feet, a triumphant grin stretching on his lips.

“See?” he said, lightly out of breath. “Easy-peasy. Just don’t let go of me.”

Seungmin nodded, worriedly scanning Jisung’s leg and side. He was wise enough not to say anything, but Jisung knew he didn’t like this idea. Just like Minho didn’t. Just like the rest probably didn’t either.

“Here, help me get over to them.” He nudged his head Changbin and Felix’s way. Soundlessly, Hyunjin joined in on his other side, hands hovering around Jisung’s burned side before he offered his elbow so Hyunjin could support him too. He did so with only the tips of his fingers on the parts of fabric that weren’t singed away, but it was the thought that counted.

Minho followed them with Jeongin in his arms and finally, finally they were close as a group again. A ragtag, virtually falling-apart-at-the-seams group, but a group nonetheless.

Every step hurt, as was to be expected, so Jisung begged Minho once more not to say anything.

I can handle it, he thought to him when a particular spike of pain came from his dragging leg. Let’s not make them worry more.

Minho didn’t answer. Not that it was necessary, his face said it all: he was not happy with the arrangement but knew they didn’t have another choice. When he kept his eyes straight ahead as he walked in front, the others trailing behind him, Jisung suppressed the urge to smile.

Thank you for trusting me.

The journey through the room was a silent one. Only pained grunts and breathless huffs shattered the peace every once in a while. No one really knew where they were going, and it was not like the room gave anything away, but at least they were moving. Around them, rubble and stone decorated the floor like an old battle field. Sticks pierced into the air from the grey. The walls stretched out endlessly, no door or window inside. It felt like one big circle, maybe a stadium or an arena. A place where spectacles had happened. Where one was happening now if their kidnappers had to be believed.

The soft background murmurs of Minho’s thoughts kept him from losing hope. They were not alone, but Chan was. He needed their help. There was no giving up until they found him. Jisung would push forward for the rest of his days if it meant finding Chan and getting everyone back to safety.

Even when his foot caught on a stone he’d missed and he slipped out of Seungmin’s hold, he didn’t give up. He yelped, stumbling, and crashing to his knees, but even the bright-hot agony that burst from his leg wasn’t enough to stop him. Minho cried out too, going down on one knee, before gritting his teeth and forcing himself and Jeongin up again. Jisung did the same.

They walked on, eyes set on the walls they were getting closer and closer to. He refused to stop. Chan needed them. All of them.

Chapter Text

Pushing forward was pointless, but that wasn’t enough to make him give up. There had to be a reason only Chan had been taken from them. A reason they kept being fed and healed in between phases. A reason they weren’t dead yet.

Their kidnappers did not actually want them to die. They needed the boys to succeed. Minho hated playing their games, but… then again, what if he did play, but with his own rules? Pretend they were winning, only to cheat at the very last moment?

The objective was very clear: ‘find your leader and find a way out.’ Had to be doable, right? On paper, it sounded like an easy maze, a puzzle meant for children. Where, oh where, had they hidden their dear friend? Could they find him using their stupid, psychotic powers of friendship and love? Couldn’t they just join hands and sing a lovely song and be done with phase 3, just like their kidnappers wanted? Was it so hard to accept that they were experiments and that this was their only goal in life?

The answer to all of that was one single thing that Minho kept thinking to himself over and over. It was a mantra, one he wanted nothing more than to scream at their faces until they understood:

Fuck. Off.

Jisung didn’t even comment on the continuous string of Fuck off, fuck off, fuck off that he must be hearing, which said a lot about their shared mental state of mind. They were all done with this shit. More than done, they were exhausted. Both physically and mentally.

Though some took that more literally than others. The more they walked, the more Minho’s arms hurt from the strain of holding Jeongin up, but that was nothing compared to how Felix was looking. Not Changbin, with his white-ass face and his eyes on the constant verge of tears, no—Felix.

He looked to be on the brink of either fainting or flat-out dying.

Minho had enough of it.

He slowed his pace, letting Jisung and the others take the lead for a bit so he could walk side by side with Felix and Changbin. The both of them barely looked his way, too stuck in breathing through every step.

“So, what’s going in with you?” he asked, going straight to the point. “You don’t look so good, Yongbok-ah.”

Felix huffed, something that should have sounded like a laugh but instead only came out as a tired sigh.

“You should take a look at yourself, hyung. We all look awful.”

Minho hummed. “Fair, but why do you look the worst? Isn’t Changbin the one who’s being the most reckless and stupid right now? He isn’t putting all his pain on you, is he?”

“Y-yah…” Changbin wheezed, tears clinging to his lashes that he quickly blinked away. “I wouldn’t do that.”

“I promise I’m fine, hyung,” Felix tried again. “It’s not that- ngh-” He faltered in his step, crunching his face and closing his eyes as he let out a deep, pained breath. When he opened his eyes again, Minho gave him an unimpressed raise of his eyebrow.

“You were saying?”

Felix pressed his lips together, looking away. He started walking again, helping Changbin along. Jeongin was silent in Minho’s arms, eyes stuck on the ground in a way that was far too uncharacteristic of him. Minho guessed he didn’t want to see Changbin right now. He had all the right to feel that way, since Minho himself still had trouble standing close to him. Rationally, he knew Changbin hadn’t been in control, but still… It was hard to trust him now. What promise did they have that Changbin wouldn’t turn his act around again? That the anger wouldn’t come back and he’d hurt another one of them, but this time irreversibly?

Minho clamped a firm hand on those feelings of distrust and smothered them until they died out. Especially in this place, they needed each other. He couldn’t afford to let the kidnappers succeed in driving them apart. The fact that the kidnappers had managed to ruin some of their faith in each other was already awful enough…

“It’s Chan,” Felix suddenly confessed, breaking off Minho’s thought process. Minho turned his attention back to him, having momentarily forgotten that they were talking in the first place. “It’s not fully true that I can’t feel him.”

“What?” Now, Changbin looked worried as well. “But you said you don’t know where he is.”

“I don’t, but… I can feel how he isn’t here.”

“Sorry to say but that doesn’t make any sense,” Minho said. “How could you feel something that isn’t there?”

“it’s like-” Felix seemed to fight over his words. “Like when he was there but he was asleep, I could feel him faintly. When he was awake, I could feel his connection to me clearly. But now… his connection is not just gone, it’s gone. It’s not like it has never been there, like everything has gone back to normal, but like it has been there and now it’s gone.”

“So like a void?” Minho tried, imagining his own bond with Jisung. Felix let out a shaky breath.

“Yeah. Yeah, it’s empty and it’s like- like it’s bleeding or maybe oozing and it hurts-” He whimpered again. “It’s like I’m being torn apart from the inside out. Like someone took Chan-hyung away and pulled a part of me with him and now he’s gone and maybe he’s dead and I- I-”

Blinking quickly, he swallowed. Minho pursed his lips, willing to keep himself in control even if his heart skipped a beat at the thought too. Jisung sent a questioning hum through their mind, but Minho just shook his head when the younger looked around to check on him. He was fine. At least as fine as he could be in this hellhole. Jisung didn’t need to worry.

“Can’t you try?” Felix suddenly asked, tone turning pleading. Minho blinked, feeling like he missed part of the conversation. “Can’t you see where he is?”

“What?” Minho readjusted his grip on Jeongin. “What do you mean?”

“Your link,” Felix said. “Chan used it before to see where you were when you found our phones. We were trying to find you before the gas took us out. Can’t you use it the same way? See where he is and if he’s alright? I know it’s not like sensing where he is, but I just… Please. I need to know he’s still alive.”

“I… am not sure I can force it whenever I want. But I can try.”

Felix looked at him hopefully, sending a stab of guilt through Minho. He didn’t deserve to be looked at that way. Not when he failed to contact the outside world and when he wasn’t even sure he could help now. If Felix was having trouble sensing Chan, why would he stand a chance? He barely had any connection with the older. He’d had flashes of Chan’s state maybe once? Twice? And other than the vague feelings and visions, nothing else had happened between them. That could hardly count for anything. Still, those big, pleading eyes were too much to say no to. It made Minho want to try at least.

If Chan had been able to use it from his side, then maybe Minho could too?

“Okay, so how do I do this again…?” He closed his eyes, pausing his walking. He’d given advice to Jeongin before on how to channel a link like this. If he just imagined it the same way he did with Jisung, like he was physically attached to him and could feel him like that then… He scrunched his brow, trying to focus.

Every single thought, he directed to Chan, his body, his nerves, his pain and exhaustion, his complete senses. He tried to recall how it felt to see those short flashes through Chan’s eyes. Back when he’d been trapped on the platform, when he’d felt their shared helplessness. Back when he’d been walking through those halls, when he’d gotten vague notions of feelings that weren’t his own. Of pain, of exhaustion, of doubts and of determination.

The world fell away around him, and Minho felt how his senses dulled. It felt like moving away from his body, like traveling through nothingness in search of something to hold on to. He wasn’t standing on solid ground anymore, but reaching, moving, going straight to-

Like a beacon lighting up, the world suddenly blinded him.

White walls. People in white coats surrounding him. His head swimming, pounding, throbbing. Chains, barely holding him upright as something warm trickled down his face. Voices. Words he couldn’t hear. Pain, in his chest, tearing at him like a knife twisting and ripping him apart-

Minho’s eyes flew open, a large gasp leaving him as he stumbled in place from the pure vertigo that hit him as he slammed back into his own body.

“I- I feel everything now,” he said, bile quickly rising in his throat. He looked around the group, eyes barely focussing. “I also know where he might be.”

Walking was a hard task, every step feeling like the ground was tilting, but still he put one foot in front of the other. Felix met his eyes with tears, the hope in them palpable.

“Thank you,” he said wetly, “thank you, thank you-”

“Don’t-” Minho swallowed heavily, the ghost feeling of warm blood on his face haunting him. “-thank me yet. We haven’t found him and he’s in really bad shape.”

And now I am too, he didn’t say out loud. His mental focus was nowhere to be seen, however, which meant that Jisung heard that part loud and clear. He shot a concerned look Minho’s way, but Minho kept walking forward stubbornly.

It was like he was in two places at the same time. Connecting once with Chan’s side had left him open and vulnerable, and now he couldn’t turn it off anymore. Part of his mind was in that chair now, chains cutting into his flesh, bright light hurting his eyes and making him nauseous. He swayed and staggered, but with Jeongin in his arms, he didn’t have another choice but to go on.

They all counted on him now. Chan counted on him, even though he didn’t know it yet. Minho had to lead the way.

The others followed him silently, anticipation buzzing between them. Except for their heavy footsteps and Jisung’s dragging of his leg, they didn’t make any sound. It made it easy for his ears to pick up some things from Chan’s side.

“-cut off successfully.” The scientists were saying, sounding like disembodied specters around him. They were talking in English, but Minho could understand the basics of it. Maybe hearing it through Chan helped, like a built-in translator. “The injections are working as intended. Subject 129 is looking sick, so we can note that the physical effects are happening as expected. It must hurt it to be so far away from Subject 124. The other subjects shouldn’t be able to feel him anymore either. To them, it will feel like Subject 124 is dead.”

“You hear that, Subject 124? Everyone thinks you’re dead.”

Minho blinked quickly, fighting against tears that weren’t even in his own eyes. They mixed with the sweat building on his face.

So even if Chan was barely conscious, he still worried about them, huh? The feeling quickly filled Minho from top to toe, the pain of being separated, the need to know if they were alright. He wished he could tell Chan they were, but he didn’t know how to turn this bond around. Was there even a way to communicate like this? Or were they stuck simply experiencing each other’s situations?

“Yongbok-ah,” he said, knowing that this was the only thing he could do right now. He couldn’t help Chan, but he could help Felix. Maybe, by extension, it would lessen some of Chan’s pain as well. “I… should have phrased that better. Bad shape doesn’t mean dead, okay? He’s alive. He’s okay. He’s worried about us, and he’s awake.”

“Are you sure?” Felix asked, his tone scared. Like he didn’t dare believe it. Minho shot him the best, although the shakiest smile he could muster.

“I’m sure. The kidnappers are talking about cutting him off from us, but he’s still there. He’s alive.”

Felix let out a sob, nodding. “Thank you.”

Minho turned away. “I haven’t done anything.”

“But you have,” Changbin said. “You’re doing more than any of us can do right now. That counts for something too, you know.”

Minho didn’t agree, but he felt it was useless to try and argue. He needed all of his energy to keep standing, let alone walk. The other’s gratitude was unfounded, but if it was what kept them upright, then Minho didn’t want to be the one to take that away. Most of them were looking as if they were barely holding it together anyway.

God, they just needed Chan.

It took them far too long, but eventually, they approached one of the far walls of the room. Minho knew this was it. Chan was behind this. He took a step closer, squinting at the wall. Somehow it looked like…

Oh. Oh fuck, that he hadn’t thought of that before.

“Innie, I’m gonna have to put you down now,” he warned. Jeongin tensed, and so did Changbin. The youngest boy nodded. Very carefully, Minho lowered himself, swaying on his legs for a second when a short blink pushed him into Chan’s side and back. Still, he managed to lower Jeongin to the ground without any extra sounds coming from Changbin or Felix, which he took as a good sign. The moment he let go of the younger, he dropped his arms in relief, sighing in tandem with Jisung.

“You guys protect him,” he commanded. Jisung, Seungmin and Hyunjin were the most able-bodied of them so he mostly directed his words to them. Hyunjin nodded, pulling them all back until they were standing right in front of Jeongin. A wall of guardians there to hide him from danger. Minho stepped forward, reaching out for the wall.

He knew everything now. He could see the room Chan was in, could hear the kidnappers talk excitedly about them because no one else had to come this close before. He knew what to do.

The wall wasn’t real anyway.

With one strong swipe, he hooked his fingers into the paper and ripped a hole in the wall, gasps coming from everyone behind him. Light streamed in. It took a second for his eyes to get used to the blinding white, but when they did, he saw the room. Chan’s white room.

And there he was, small and weak, but there. He was trapped on a metal chair, just like Minho already knew, but the sight of his bloodied hair and gaunt cheeks was still the sight of nightmares. It looked even worse than what Minho could feel through Chan’s side. He must have been heavily sedated, because almost none of those bruises or cuts were hurting him.

A sob came from Felix. A shaky curse came from Hyunjin.

Minho ripped the wall further, enlarging the hole so everyone would be able to go through. The sound of ripping tore through the air like gunshots and everyone was stunned except for him, watching it happen. When the hole was big enough, Minho stopped, breathing heavily.

Then, the kidnappers applauded.

“Bravo!” They cheered. Like a pack of hungry hyenas, they smiled at the group, all teeth and grins and greed. Their eyes were crazed, their postures open and relaxed in a way that sickened Minho. To them this wasn’t a place full of danger or pain. It was a game. One that the members had, apparently, won.

The applause made it sound like they’d put on a performance. An act. Like this was something they deserved compliments for like a child doing the most basic things for the first time.

“Incredible!” One of the kidnappers in white coats stepped forward. They had their hair stuck up, their sharp face warped into a far too big smile. “No one has ever made it this far! Congratulations! I suspected you would be able to figure it all out. You’ve been our most successful subjects yet! And now that you’ve proven that, you’re finally ready for phase 4. No other subjects have managed to get out of this room before, an impressive performance indeed!”

They gestured for other researchers to come forward, to go through the hole and towards the group, but Minho hissed at them, stepping back. He made himself appear bigger, trying to hide the others from view as much as he could. He spread his arms, providing a physical shield.

“Fuck you,” he could finally say out loud. It was as cathartic as he’d hoped. “Seriously fuck you all for what you’ve done to us. We’re done playing your games. You don’t control us and you’re not going to separate us ever again.”

Someone else came to stand beside him, and from the pains he felt in his leg, he could easily tell it was Jisung, stubbornly walking without assistance.

“Screw you,” the younger added, sneering when one of the researchers tried to approach again. He swept out a hand like that would stop them. “You’re not going to lay another finger on us!”

From behind them, Felix joined in too. “How dare you hurt our leader like that! We didn’t do anything to you! Who gave you the right to hurt us like this?! Why? Why did you have to do all of this?!”

Seungmin came to stand on Minho’s other side, putting a shaking hand on his shoulder. “We’re done cooperating,” he said lowly. “This experiment is over.”

Like they were one mind, hope and conviction surged through them, binding them together into one impenetrable front. A wave of pain came over them all, but it was way less than before. Like a raging sea that could finally even out between them now that it wasn’t concentrated on just one or two of them. The feeling was new, yet something Minho got used to immediately. He knew, now, they shared everything.

It made Jisung able to stand more upright. It made Changbin able to stand on his own, also taking a step forward to complete the front they were creating to protect Jeongin. A constant buzzing vibrated between them, everything melding together until it soothed and strengthened each and every one of their problems. Even Chan, partly hidden behind the kidnappers, was starting to look more present and okay again. He blinked, looking up like he was seeing the world for the first time.

United, they took the step across the hole, entering the room. They were ready to fight their way out. This was the moment they’d all waited for and they wouldn’t let themselves be taken down again. Fire practically burst from Minho’s eyes as they flicked from person to person, his fist itching to throw the first punch. He wanted to growl, to hit and kick and scream and curse. The kidnappers deserved to be hurt, to be taken down once and for all. They deserved to suffer for all that they’d done. Not just to them, but to all the people that came before them. These fuckers needed to pay.

And then all of those plans came crashing down because sirens sounded from outside. Loud, piercing sirens. They were getting louder and louder, blaring through the walls with what was the most beautiful sound Minho had ever heard.

He wasn’t imagining that. Everyone looked around, some with panic, some with pure hope. That sound had to be real.

Sirens. The police kind. They filled every crevice of the building, announcing their arrival like church bells after a war telling people they were saved.

It was over. Help was coming.

“No, no, no!” The researcher at the front looked around in panic. “Quick, get the sedatives! We need to move the subjects and get out of here!”

“Oh hell no, you don’t-!” Minho shot forward, his fist flying and connecting point-blank with the researcher’s cheek. They cried out in shock, head snapping to the side. The others didn’t waste any time to follow Minho’s example, flooding into the room like demons from hell’s gate, ready to rain down pain on the ones that hurt them so many times.

Jisung yelled loudly, going for two people on the right. He made the first double over with a sharp elbow in the stomach and kicked the second one so hard they collapsed to their knees with a cry. Changbin wrestled with three at the same time, hitting and kicking and shouting. Even one against three, the researchers were heavily outnumbered, his fists and kicks swift, precise and out for blood. Felix and Hyunjin had joined forces to tackle two researchers who were going for a control panel, stopping them from putting any new programs into motion. Felix had their arm wound around one of the kidnapper’s throat, bringing them down mercilessly as they weakly tried to hit him, while Hyunjin went for the other researcher’s hair, pulling so hard their head snapped back and a cry of pure agony left their mouth.

One short glance behind him showed Minho that Seungmin had stayed behind with Jeongin, protecting him so no one else could get close. That put his mind at ease. It gave him the room to fully focus on taking their enemies down. He whirled around, fist aching and ready to hit another one. One kidnapper lunged for him, but he side-stepped, jamming his elbow in their back and making them trip. They cried out when he gave a kick to their sheens, successfully crashing them to the ground. Another person moved in the corner of his eyes and he whirled around, being a split-second earlier than them to punch them in the face. He let out a fierce cry, hitting again when they didn’t go down immediately. It was overkill, and the kidnapper’s face snapped to the side so hard that he could hear something crack, but Minho didn’t care.

They deserved this. This was far less than they’d done to Stray Kids or all those other victims that couldn’t fight anymore.

His fist felt hot with blood. It wasn’t his.

“This is for all you did!” he bellowed, hitting the researcher again. It didn’t matter that they were down already. He punched and hit again, making sure they were out cold before he finally let go and rose to his feet, immediately scanning the room for a new target. His members were holding their own. He didn’t dare hope, but… it even looked like they were gaining the upper hand. Clearly, these people were lab nerds, not fighters, and they didn’t stand a chance.

A cry from Hyunjin pulled his attention to the side, and he steeled himself, ready to throw another hit.

But then something cold touched his temple. He stilled, uncomprehending.

“Everyone freeze!” a voice yelled loudly into his ear. Minho flinched, but when the cold was pressed even harder against his head in response, he realized what was happening. Slowly, he lifted his hands up in surrender. That was a gun. Aimed at his head.

It was like the room had been put on pause, everyone freezing and their faces turning terrified the minute they spotted Minho’s predicament. Minho swallowed, his heart practically beating out of his chest.

“If you don’t stop resisting, I will shoot Subject 125.” The gun was pressed harder against his head and Minho flinched involuntarily this time. In his mind, Jisung was screaming for him in panic. He locked eyes, trying not to let his own panic show.

It’s okay, he tried to send, I’m okay.

Jisung just shook his head, tears already welling up. The researcher clicked their tongue.

“That’s more like it. You should know that your links are almost complete, which would mean that this wouldn’t just hurt him. Ever wondered what would happen if one of you were to actually die?” they asked darkly. “At this stage, you're far enough in it to be affected. Your brains will stop along with Subject 125. You will all die.”

They cocked the gun, the click of it echoing through the space. “Shall we test it or will you cooperate?”

Panic washed over them all, a shared skip of their hearts following. Slowly, Jisung let go of the white collar he was bunching between his hands, the kidnapper collapsing with wheezed breaths. He lifted his hands in surrender. Felix, Changbin and Hyunjin each followed one by one, holding up their hands as all color drained from their faces. Kidnappers lay on the ground around them, groaning or undeniably unconscious. They’d dealt good blows, but it seemed it had all been for nothing now.

They wanted to get out, but not like this. Giving up one of their own wasn’t an option. Even though they didn’t all share their thoughts, that sentiment still passed between them all like an unspoken death sentence. It was either playing out the rest of the experiment or ending it right here, right now. Neither was what Minho wanted, but he knew they had no choice. The kidnappers knew what they were doing: they had the group at a road block, forcing them to cooperate and keep them as their playthings, forcing them to give in once more…

The sirens outside were only getting louder. Minho wished they could have just held on for a little bit longer. Just a little bit, and then they could have all gotten out. The outside world had gotten so close. It was still calling for them.

He grit his teeth, eyes scanning the room for anything he could do. Dammit, he was not ready to give up yet!

A very stupid plan to buy time formed in his mind.

Oh. Oh yeah, he had turned insane already, hadn’t he?

Well, no time to doubt himself now.

“Fuck. You. Bitch,” he hissed and then without warning, shot his elbow backwards and right into their ribcage. He swept his arm upward and immediately slammed his fist into the researcher’s face as they came down with a grunt, knocking the gun from their hand in the process. Diving down, he grabbed the gun, raising it and swirling in place until the roles were suddenly reversed.

The kidnappers froze, their eyes widening as they now looked down the barrel they had brought to the fight themselves.

“All of you, into that corner. MOVE IT!”

They didn’t need to be told twice. Hands shot up in surrender and all of the white coats that could still walk shuffled backwards, even the one who was now holding a freshly bleeding nose. Those pathetic excuses for humans looked absolutely miserable after the scuffle their group had put them through. Coats askew, collars crooked, bruises already coloring their cheeks and hands.

His members quickly fled the scene, rushing to stand behind Minho and as far away from the gun as possible. One of the kidnappers tried to grab a hold of Felix’s arm, but Minho immediately pointed the gun their way.

“I will shoot, so move! Back up!”

The kidnapper gulped and retreated, all the color draining from their face. Minho didn’t even know how to use a gun, but that didn’t matter. They’d already loaded it for him. The safety was off. Even an amateur shooter would be able to hit something if he were to pull the trigger now.

It took him a second too long to recognize, but the sirens weren’t just getting louder anymore. Now, footsteps echoed through the halls outside, dozens of them. Before he could even blink, the door on the other side of the room burst open and an army of SWAT agents flooded in, guns at the ready, helmets all turned towards the kidnappers.

“Down to the ground! You are all arrested for kidnapping and hosting unlawful experiments! Get down!”

One by one, the kidnappers complied, some glaring their way, some gulping as they finally seemed to realize they were fucked. The agents wasted no time cuffing them, screaming for the kidnappers to stay still and comply or else they’d get shot.

When one of the agents approached Minho and asked him to put his gun down, he didn’t know what to do. He was shaking. His hands didn’t listen to him. Carefully, the agent stepped closer, gentle fingers prying the gun from Minho’s trembling hands. They pushed up the visor of their helm, warm eyes looking at him.

“You guys did great. You’re okay now. You can let us handle the rest.”

And it was those words that finally put the final nail into the coffin. A wave of pure relief washed over the group that had multiple of them collapsing right where they stood. Felix and Jeongin sobbed. Hyunjin cried out as his hands flew up to his mouth in disbelief. Seungmin staggered back, as did Changbin. Minho stood frozen. He couldn’t even believe what he was seeing.

And Chan. He was looking at them all. Barely awake, barely holding on, but alive. Crying but smiling.

This was it. They were saved.

Everything was finally over.

Chapter Text

The world was a blur for a while. From the moment he’d woken up after the gas attack, he knew there was no way he’d ever get out on his own. Blinking was hard, as was thinking or moving or doing anything. It’s why Chan had been living mostly through Minho, all that time in that chair, surrounded by people in white coats who talked about him as if he wasn’t there.

He saw how everyone woke up. How they fought. How Jeongin got hurt and how Changbin cried. He felt Minho restrain him.

He almost forgot where he was, completely living through Minho instead of facing his own reality he didn’t want to face.

That’s why it felt unreal when all of a sudden, Minho himself was in front of him. Through blurry vision, he could see his features pinched in worry, his hand reaching to feel the warm trickle of blood and wipe it away. His head was fuzzy. Minho was asking if he could answer him. If he was alright. Chan’s tongue felt like lead. He could barely open his mouth to say that ‘no, he wasn’t alright’.

Other people appeared around him too. He’d heard the yelling, the fighting, but he couldn’t believe it until the police had swarmed their kidnappers and had taken them away. Now, only their members were left. Or at least, Chan thought so. Everything was vague. He closed his eyes, not wanting to be present anymore.

“No, hey,” Minho was saying. It sounded like he stood kilometers away. “Stay awake, hyung. The paramedics are almost here. Chan-hyung?”

He felt his head being taken into warm, gentle hands, holding it up as his eyes fluttered. He couldn’t do it.

So he didn’t. Voices blurred together. Touch did too. He couldn’t tell when Minho let go of him and others took his place, only that one moment he was still in that chair and the next he was flat, moving somewhere. The screeching of tiny wheels. Flashing lights in red and blue. The sounds of his members.

All of it was far away. Something, pinching his skin in his arm and then-

Nothing.

Nothing for a long, long time. Sometimes, bare-bone flashes of unfamiliar walls, of people hanging over him, of machines whirring and beeping and making noise managed to penetrate through the fog in his mind. Sometimes, he couldn’t tell if it was really his experience or Minho’s. Words, sometimes unfinished, sometimes too loud, reached his ears.

“-need to sedate-”

“All of them react-”

“-otherwise they won’t-”

“Another dose-”

“-is steady, but we can’t have any of them wake up yet-”

Chan drifted.

When he finally resurfaced, his whole body hurt and his mind felt like it had been pulled through the wringer. There was gentle quiet around him. A soft beeping of what couldn’t be anything else of a heart monitor. No voices, no movement. Chan exhaled slowly, thoughts starting to wake up.

Wait. Silence? No, no, no, that wasn't good. Medical machines meant their kidnappers were near. No voices meant the members were taken away from him again. Was this the next phase? Did they fail? Had he only dreamed of them being saved?

Panic and urgency fueled his muscles like an electric shock. His eyes flew open and he gasped, face blanching at the sight of a white ceiling.

Another experimentation room. The members, where were they-

Felix. He could feel Felix again. He was close. Chan immediately lifted his head, eyes scanning over his surroundings feverishly. Felix was somewhere around, if he could just pinpoint where-

The wall in front of his bed. He was behind it. Without any regard for the things stuck to him or the blanket covering his torso, Chan flung himself from the bed, easily ignoring the expected burst of agony shooting from his leg. The skin pulled and burned there, but he didn't even look down. He wasn't hurt too bad to walk. Felix was more important than anything else, which made it laughably easy to push his pain to the far back of his mind.

Step by step, he stumbled to the door. He expected it to be locked, but a far too powerful tug on it had it flying his way and banging against the wall. He cringed, quickly looking around. The kidnappers must have heard that too. If they didn't want him to leave this room, they might be on their way to stop him already. He had to act fast.

White walls met him, just as all the times before. Dammit. He knew they weren't free yet, but this confirmed it. He rushed out of the room, wary of any traps or dangers. One hand against the wall, he used it to push himself forward and keep himself as steady as possible. At least this way, he’d have one safe side he didn’t need to pay constant attention to. His eyes scanned over his surroundings continuously, ready for anything.

If they decided to cut the lights, he would be ready.

If they made the floor shake or the ceiling lower or the place fill with water, he would be ready too.

Felix was only a door away, he wouldn’t let anything get in his way before he’d get there.

“Sir! What are you doing up?”

Chan whipped his head around, heart speeding up. There was a person at the end of the hall, white coat undeniable. Shit, he was already caught. He whirled back around, rushing forward and dragging his uncooperative leg with him. He was breathing heavily, his arm shaking from having to keep himself up, but he could hear whoever it was walking after him so he was damned if he stopped.

Felix, Felix, Felix, he chanted the mantra in his head, zeroing in on the door he could see further up.

All of a sudden, the person behind him started shouting to someone.

“Doctor, he’s out! I’m trying to get him back but he won’t listen!”

Quick footsteps and suddenly, a strong hand catching Chan’s bicep. His blood ran cold and he immediately ripped his arm free, turning around to find another man in a white coat standing next to him.

“Kid, I’m gonna have to ask you to return to your room now,” he started, voice low and gentle as if he was speaking to a spooked animal. Chan was far more than that. He was a caged one, a terrified one. It was no wonder then that he lashed out as one too. With a quick jab of his hand, he hit the guy in his side, using the moment the man doubled over with a surprised cry to limp further along the wall and make it to the door. It was unlocked, so it burst open with no problem. Chan didn’t even allow himself to look back and rushed inside, slamming the door closed behind him. He quickly turned the lock, hearing the satisfying sound of metal sealing him away. His chest heaved and his leg throbbed, but he’d made it. He was safe.

And right there, on the bed that looked far too much like a medical one, Felix lay with his eyes closed. Chan wanted to cry in relief. He limped to the bed, stuttering out sniffles as his whole frame started to shake. Felix was here. He was safe. He didn’t look more hurt. In fact, he looked peaceful as he was sleeping, not a crease in sight.

Tears slipped out. Chan collapsed at the side of the bed, whimpering when he landed wrong and on top of his wounded leg. He lifted a hand, finding Felix’s and holding on tightly. Felix was warm. He was there and safe and warm and real.

Chan stayed by his side for who knew how long. Time seemed to blur, but if it was because of the pain or the exhaustion or even the loss of adrenaline, he wasn’t sure.

The door banged open after what could have been seconds but could have also been years. This time a team of three white coats stood in the doorway. Chan looked up with resignation. He couldn’t resist them if they dragged him out now. He could try to fight his way out again, but they would no doubt increase security around his room after his stupid escape attempt. They could lock him away easily, separating him from Felix and all the others and he could do nothing.

He strengthened his grip on Felix, trying to rise from the ground, but he barely came further than halfway before he fell back to the ground. His knees refused to hold him.

“Stay- Stay back,” Chan warned. He only had his words now to protect him and he intended to use them until he couldn’t anymore. “Don’t come any closer.”

To his surprise, the middle man in the white coat simply sighed. He didn’t look surprised. Frazzled, yes, and he was holding a set of keys with his one hand while his other was clutching his side where Chan had punched him, but not surprised. He gave a meaningful look to the other two next to him.

“This is going to be a long healing process, isn’t it?”

Chapter Text

Hyunjin was running. The hallway wasn’t that long, and the room next door was his target, but he still felt like he needed to run. In this place, you never knew what dangers could be lurking around the corner. Already, he thought he could hear footsteps, and his gut said that it wasn’t any of the members.

That’s why he had to be fast. Changbin could be in danger.

Throwing the door open, he found a scene very similar to what he’d woken up to. A large hospital bed, Changbin sleeping on it with a small cord leaving his arm and another coming from his finger tip to give his vitals to the monitors next to the bed. His face was bruised in shades of green and yellow now, showing a perfect print of a fist where Hyunjin had hit him before.

The footsteps were coming closer, so Hyunjin quickly shut the door, leaning against it to block anyone from entering.

“Hyung,” he whispered. “Hyung, wake up! We gotta find the others and get out!”

He was more than frustrated that he had to say that again. They’d come so far in the last phase. They’d found Chan. They’d finally been together. They’d fought with their kidnappers and they’d gotten so, so far into escaping…

Had he just imagined the cops and the medics? Had the kidnappers succeeded in gassing them again and did this one give them hyper-realistic dreams? Hyunjin couldn’t be sure of anything anymore, except that this was really Changbin, and the others were out there somewhere, probably in danger, possibly in need of saving.

They needed to get out of this room and find them as fast as they could.

When the footsteps passed the door and went in the direction of Hyunjin’s room, he knew they didn’t have much time before the kidnappers would realize he’d escaped. He dashed towards the bed, shaking Changbin and pulling both the needle from his arm as well as the cap from his finger. That proved to be a mistake, though, as the monitors suddenly let out piercing shrieks of alarm, the heart line flattening and the little red lights flashing. Hyunjin froze, his heart leaping in his chest.

“Shoot, shoot, shoot, dammit- No-” He lunged at the monitors, trying to find the off-switch. At least the ruckus was enough to wake Changbin up, but Hyunjin couldn’t find the time to be relieved. While Changbin groaned and blinked his eyes open, Hyunjin kept looking between the door and the machines while he fruitlessly tried to turn them off.

“Come on, come on, come on…!”

Changbin slowly sat up, clearly not completely present yet. “What is…”

“Help me turn these off, hyung!”

As a clear result of being on high alert for such a long time, Changbin didn’t even blink before he sprang into action, throwing the blanket off and jumping to Hyunjin’s aid. He didn’t go for the screens however, but for the cable itself, pulling it out of the socket in the wall and effectively silencing all machines at once. Only their heavy breathing was left in the room. Hyunjin sagged in relief.

“Thank goodness… I hope they didn’t hear that.”

“I think everyone in the building heard that,” Changbin said dryly. He fell back to the bed, massaging his jaw. Hyunjin turned to him, his expression turning guilty when he realized Changbin was wincing as he touched his bruises. Carefully, he reached out for Changbin’s face.

“Sorry for that,” he said. Changbin shook his head, softly taking Hyunjin’s hand down with his own.

“You had every right to do that, I was being an ass when we woke up last time. I’m surprised you didn’t immediately sock me just now as a precaution.”

Hyunjin huffed. “I won’t just punch you for no reason, hyung. I know you didn’t have control though, so… I’m sorry. I think I was siphoning off your anger too.”

“Yeah, probably,” Changbin said, voice going lower. “I’m sorry you had to see me like that.”

“Hey, stop that. It wasn’t your fault-”

Hyunjin’s next word died on his tongue when Changbin suddenly stilled. His whole frame went rigid, eyes staring straight over Hyunjin’s shoulder. Hyunjin turned, trying to see what caught his attention, but didn’t find anything.

“Hyung? What’s wrong?”

He turned back, frowning, only to let out a little gasp as he ducked just in time to dodge a punch aimed at his face.

“Hyung!”

He dashed to the side, watching in horror as Changbin rose from the bed with a murderous glint in his eyes. He looked completely different from just a mere second ago. A furious aura was radiating off him, which at first, Hyunjin thought was his imagination, until he realized he was actually feeling the anger. Like a rotten smell, burning his nose until it reached his insides and made him squeasy.

So that part hadn’t been a dream. They shared a bond now, one with all of the members and their feelings. This couldn't be anything else but Changbin’s anger, but then… why? Why so suddenly?

Hyunjin’s eyes widened as he recognized the anger twisting in his stomach. Wait-

“Hyung, is this the same as before? Try to snap out of it! Hyung!”

Changbin started advancing. Hyunjin could feel the urge to throw a punch grow inside of him, but he suppressed it. These weren’t his feelings. They weren’t really Changbin’s either.

“Shoot, what did Felix do again?” he murmured to himself. He yelped when he barely managed to dodge another fist aimed his way. He skirted around the bed, pressing himself against the wall there. Changbin cried out angrily.

“Stop dancing around! This is your fault! You deserve to be hurt! Your fault- Your fault- Your fault-”

“Hyung, you don’t mean that,” Hyunjin argued shakily. Changbin sounded unhinged, constantly repeating the same thing. Your fault, your fault your fault- was that what had triggered him? Had it been Hyunjin’s words that had made Changbin’s anger return? Had the kidnappers left something behind to mess with them like that?

He swallowed, trying to breathe through the fury slowly enveloping his mind. He wanted to fight. To scream back. To make Changbin pay for hurting him and putting all the blame on them-

No, no, no, he shouldn’t get angry too. This wasn’t him, this- this wasn’t them.

“Come on, Hyunjin, think,” he muttered. “What did Lix do to fix this?”

Changbin lunged for him and he lifted his arms, grunting when Changbin’s iron-like fists hit him without mercy. Shielding his face, punches rained down on him, one after the other. Man, that hurt. He was sure he’d find bruises there in a minute.

“Hyung, snap out of it! For God’s sake, don’t let this make you do something you’ll regret again!”

“It’s all your fault-”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ve heard it all before!” Hyunjin snapped, unable to hold back all of his emotions. His mind was whirling, thinking of a solution. Last time, it had seemed like one moment Changbin had been ready to rip Minho’s head off, and the next he was sobbing in Felix’s arms. How had Felix done it? Had he said something? Done something? Thought something?!

“You gotta calm down, hyung! Think of the others! Think of Innie!”

When even that didn’t work, Hyunjin truly began feeling desperate. Changbin’s fists hurt and it was only a matter of time before he’d switch tactics and start kicking instead. He needed to calm him down before that.

Wait, calming down. That could be it! When the September twins had their panic attack, they’d managed to calm each other down through their link. Maybe Hyunjin could do the same? If he just focused on his connection with Changbin, to try and level the anger with something else, take the air away from the flames…

When he was frustrated the most during difficult choreo sessions, he always used to think of what made him hold on for so long. His friends, his family, his drive to prove that he wasn’t the useless, stiff trainee that would only succeed for his stupid visuals like everyone had always said he would-

No, Hyunjin, don’t think like that, he quickly pushed down the anger again. Maybe he should think of something else then. The members? But that mostly filled him with worry, plain and simple. He was scared for everyone, not knowing where they were or whether they were alright. Fear wouldn’t help dissipate anger, though, it would only fuel it more.

Something else then, something that had to be so strong, that not even Changbin’s blazing fury would be able to go against it.

There was only one answer that came to his mind. Pain.

Hating the plan but not knowing what else to do, Hyunjin made a rushed decision. He moved fast. In a split-second, he lowered his arms, threw himself at Changbin and did something neither of them could have expected. He slammed his head right against Changbin’s, their foreheads colliding and sending stars through his head. Changbin’s fist still collided half-heartedly against his cheek, but that was nothing against the explosions behind his eyelids. He grunted, Changbin mirroring him. They almost went down together, were it not for Hyunjin holding on for dear life.

“Snap out of it, hyung! Come on!”

He blinked heavily, dizziness overloading him. God, that hurt. Thankfully, Changbin looked just as bad, a red spot growing on his skin as he blinked in quick succession.

“Hyun…jin?”

Hyunjin closed his eyes, sighing. Thank goodness.

“Yes,” he breathed out. They swayed and Hyunjin was barely fast enough to at least direct them towards the bed before they collapsed onto it. He let go of Changbin, slumping on the covers and holding his head with a groan. The whole world tilted.

“Did I… dammit, it happened again, didn’t it?” Changbin said, voice sounding rough from all the yelling before. Hyunjin wanted to nod, but even moving his head a bit sent another wave of stars across his vision. He weakly punched Changbin’s shoulder instead.

“Yes. That’s for all the bruises I have because of you now,” he chided. “Ngh, my whole body hurts now.”

“I’m… sorry.”

Changbin had rarely sounded this small in all the time Hyunjin had known him. Still, ever since they’d been taken, he had been seeing sides of his members that he didn’t even know existed. Hyunjin himself wasn’t the same anymore either. Guilt and sadness washed over him from Changbin’s side, and he was far too dizzy to do anything but let it consume him. He curled up on the bed, softly dragging Changbin with him until they were laying across the length of the mattress, plastered together.

“‘s not your-” he faltered, not wanting to say that word again if that was really what had set off Changbin before. “It wasn’t your idea to get brainwashed,” he changed it to instead. “Those damn lunatics and their hypnosis did this, not you. I- Ngh.” He grunted again, the pounding in his head making even his tongue heavy. “Let’s just sleep this off, hm? I don’t wanna think for a while anymore.”

“Okay,” Changbin agreed softly. All thoughts of escaping were put away for now. They were both too banged up for it anyway. Instead, Changbin wrapped his arms around Hyunjin and, with none of the previous intent to hurt, pulled Hyunjin as close as he could go. Changbin was anything but the cuddly type, but weird circumstances clearly called for uncharacteristic actions.

Hyunjin sighed and melted in his arms. He wasn’t getting any complicated emotions from anyone else, which probably meant that either they were all still asleep, or they were alright. He chose to believe the second option. Sharing feelings was not something he ever expected to get used to, yet it already felt as instinctual as breathing.

They’d just rest for a minute. Then they’d go to the others. Recuperating. That was all they were doing…

He allowed himself to rest.

Chapter Text

Waking up, the first thing his mind latched onto wasn’t the painful pounding behind his eyes or the bruises he could feel littered across his skin. It was the world moving. Literally. Through half-lidded eyes, he saw the ceiling move above him, white plates passing him by one after the other. He felt himself move, though not with his body, but with the thing he was laying on. Something warm held him close, which made it impossible to even move either of his arms, but that didn’t seem to matter. Little wheels screeched. A door opened.

And then, voices.

“Put them on that side, the empty bed is his. Yes, right there. Don’t attach the drips yet, we need them to consent so they don’t rip them out again.”

“Here? Is this right?”

“Yes, perfect, ah, and the patients on that side can- Oh, sir, are you waking up?”

Changbin tried to open his eyes further. The person next to his bed was looking at him, he thought, and he tried to see their face. They were wearing something white, something like a long coat, like- like- like a scientist-

“Please don’t panic, sir, you’re alright. We’ve just moved you and your colleagues to a different room, but they’re all here. Just take a look.”

Changbin frowned, not quite following. He still did as instructed, not intent on disobeying their kidnappers before he was even awake enough to talk. He weakly lifted his head, looking around the room.

It was big. Big and spacious and no longer sterile white. Brown tints, cream walls and softly glowing hanging lamps made the atmosphere a completely different experience from anything he’d seen in their time since being taken. Across the opposite wall, four beds lined up, three of them occupied while one was empty. The reason for it became obvious the second he realized just who lay in the beds.

Jeongin was the furthest away, out cold, his leg wrapped in a big cast as it hung suspended. Next to him was Seungmin and he was awake. He was sitting against the headrest of his bed, blanket covering his legs as he read a book of some sort. He looked… at peace. Not at all like Changbin had last seen him when they’d been fighting the kidnappers for their freedom and their lives.

Did that mean they weren’t in danger anymore? Or had they done something to Seungmin to make him think he was safe while he wasn’t? Changbin wouldn’t put it past the kidnappers to use hypnosis for more than just making him unexplainably angry.

His eyes fell on the bed next to Seungmin, where two figures were bundled up under the covers, clinging tightly to each other. Chan and Felix. They were whispering to each other, soft words incomprehensible to Changbin. The sight calmed something in him that he had a hard time naming. Maybe it was the literal calm he could feel wafting off of the two. That definitely helped settle his own fear.

If three of his members were trusting this place to be safe, he could try to do the same.

The fourth bed was empty in the row, which meant it was most likely Felix’s, and as Changbin looked to the side, he found that two similar hospital beds stood on his left side and another one on his right. Eight in total, so one for each of them. Though on his side, the beds weren’t used as intended either. Him and Hyunjin were already sharing one, and maybe unsurprisingly, Minho and Jisung were lying just on the left, both dozing next to each other on the same bed. Minho lazily opened his eyes, humming when he met Changbin’s.

“They finally brought you in, hm?” he asked, voice gruff from sleep. “‘Bout time. Hey, Sungie, wake up.” He poked Jisung against his cheek, a very soft gesture that Minho would never have done if he wouldn’t feel absolutely safe. Changbin couldn’t understand why no one was making a fuss here. What had convinced them all this place was truly safe? Who were the people in the white coats?

As if knowing his mind was circling back to them, the person at his bedside spoke up again.

“Would you let us attach this to your arm?” Changbin looked back to them and saw them holding up a small see-through pipe with a needle at the end. He recognized it from movies, but that didn’t mean that he was very excited to get injected with unknown substances just because the white coat asked nicely.

“Just let them do it,” Minho’s voice came from behind him. “It’s nothing bad. Just some nutrients and pain killers. Hearing what you did with Jin-ah, you’re definitely in need of them too.”

What he did with Hyunjin…? The question must have been visible on his face, because the doctor (if it wasn’t one of their kidnappers, it had to be a real doctor, right?) next to him hummed gently.

“You have a slight concussion after your altercation with Hwang-ssi,” they explained. “We found you both knocked out on the bed, and a quick look at the security cameras showed us that it’s because you two got into a fight?”

They posed it as a question, but Changbin heard the hint of an accusation in their tone. He shrunk into himself, the memories slowly trickling in one by one. The trigger word. Right. He hadn’t even known what had happened before he’d been taken over by the same wrath as before.

There’d been a voice, taking over his mind and making him believe anything. That the others had caused all his pain, that they’d been to blame, that he needed to make them hurt. There had been no fighting against it, no way to stop himself before he’d been punching and screaming away. He’d been dangerous, and Hyunjin had been stupid enough to (literally) face him head-on.

So he had knocked their heads together hard enough to cause a concussion? Changbin definitely deserved that. He could even say he felt kind of proud.

“Ah…” was all he could say. He didn’t want to explain everything to this stranger. Deciding to trust Minho’s judgement more than he did the stranger, he still held his arm forward. The doctor took it without another word, thankfully not asking any more questions.

Once they were done trapping Changbin in his bed with the drip, he gave himself some time to get comfy. Hyunjin was still a warm weight against his chest and he didn’t want to wake him up if he didn’t have to. It made moving difficult, but he’d trade that any day if it meant having at least one of his members as close and safe as this.

Or as safe as they could be, since he was still a ticking time bomb.

He needed to speak to the others about this. They needed to know the dangers he still carried with him.

Sighing, he gently started shaking Hyunjin awake. Maybe it was better if they talked about this sooner than later.

“Jin-ah, it’s time to wake up. Come on, Jinnie~”

Hyunjin was an awful morning person (not that he was sure it was even morning anymore), and so it took a while of muttering soft things and shaking and poking him before he gave even a sound of comprehension.

“Hmmm?” Hyunjin snuggled closer. “Hmmm….”

“Come on, Hyunjin-ah, I need you to wake up. The others are here too. Don’t you wanna see them? They’re all okay and they wanna talk with you…”

That finally roused Hyunjin from his sleep. He fluttered his eyes before without warning, they shot open and he met Changbin’s with big, wide ones.

“The others?” he asked, no hint of sleepiness in his voice anymore. “They’re okay?”

“See for yourself.”

He helped Hyunjin prop himself up until they were both better positioned against the headrest and could look out over the room. Hyunjin took it all in with wide eyes, going from Jeongin to Seungmin and scanning each and everyone of them just like Changbin had done before. Changbin did it again too, needing the reassurance that this was real. That they were here.

Seungmin looked up from his book all of a sudden, cocking his head a bit and smiling.

“Not telling you,” he said. Hyunjin huffed.

“That’s not fair, I wanna know what you’re reading.”

“Sucks for you then.”

Changbin belatedly realized that they must be partly talking through their minds. He’d almost forgotten that was an established and existing way to talk now. He looked between Hyunjin and Seungmin, noticing how they were staring at each other intensely. He was kind of glad he didn’t have a connection like that. What peace he must have in his mind compared to the others.

And speaking about the others. He turned to Minho, who had gone back to dozing with his hands on his stomach and his eyes closed, apparently having given up trying to wake up Jisung.

“Minho-hyung,” he said. The older hummed without opening his eyes, letting him know he was listening. “What happened to you all? Why are we here?”

That made Minho grin all of a sudden, and he opened his eyes to show there was a glint of amusement in them.

“We gave the hospital staff here too much trouble,” he said, sounding smug. “I personally managed to knock out a nurse before they could subdue me and take me to Jisungie. Jokes on them for thinking they could keep us separated after going through literal trauma for days. They should have expected us to fight back.”

“You said ‘we’,” Changbin observed. He wasn’t all that surprised to hear that Minho had put up a fight, but he was curious: “What happened with the others?”

Minho jabbed a thumb over to Chan and Felix. “Hyung fought a doctor before locking himself in with Yongbok for an hour before they could find the right key to get it open again.” He moved his hand in Jeongin’s direction. “And Innie decided it would be a good idea to walk all the way to Seungmin’s room on the other side of the floor even though he had his leg in a cast. The doctors really weren’t happy with that one.”

“Short story short,” Jisung mumbled, rousing from his place and yawning as he opened his eyes. “We were too much trouble to keep on our own, so they just gave up and finally put us together.”

“As they should have done from the beginning,” Minho grumbled.

“As they should have done from the beginning,” Jisung echoed easily. He rubbed his eyes. “Even when they were brought in here, Innie refused to let go of Seungminnie. They needed to sedate him so they could at least fix his stitches and save his leg from being permanently damaged.”

“I even got a bruise from it, look-” Seungmin proudly held up his arm, a clear hand print visible on it. He looked anything but annoyed by it. Changbin didn’t think it was far off if he guessed that Seungmin was probably happy Jeongin had put up so much of a fight to stay together.

“It’s why we don’t wanna wake him up yet,” Chan joined the conversation. He seemed to be done whispering with Felix for now. “He needs all the rest he can get, and we’re sure he wants to go back into one of our beds as soon as he comes to.”

“And I don’t blame him,” Felix admitted easily. “If they even so much as try to let me sleep alone tonight, I will scream so loud everyone in the hospital will think someone was getting murdered.”

“That’s not funny, Lix,” Chan chided softly. Felix shrugged. As if to illustrate his point, he buried himself into Chan’s arm, cuddling against him like a touch-starved koala.

“It’s good to see you awake again, by the way,” their leader said to Changbin and Hyunjin. “We got really worried when the doctors said you fought. What happened?”

Changbin shot a glance towards the door. There could be medical staff listening in right now. He didn’t want them to know just how much of a loose canon he really was. Or maybe he did. Maybe then, they’d bind him to the bed like they did with dangerous people. Maybe that would actually be safer for everyone else…

“Oh, we just panicked a bit,” Hyunjin said. “You know how I am. I thought we were still… you know. And Changbin-hyung didn’t want to run away with me so I got mad. It’s all my fa- uh-” He shot a look towards Changbin before quickly looking away. “It’s all on me. He knocked some sense into me, though, don’t worry.”

Minho chuckled. “That he did. Concussion-level. Gotta say I’m impressed.”

“I bet you are,” Hyunjin shot back. He clamped his hands around Changbin’s bicep, much like Felix had done to Chan just now. “Hyung’s just that strong. Look at his pretty muscles~”

Minho rolled his eyes. Changbin gave Hyunjin a conflicted look, but Hyunjin didn’t react to it except to offer him a small smile.

He was lying for him. Covering up what really happened just so Changbin wouldn’t have to come clean and make everyone afraid of him. He couldn’t help it, but… he was secretly grateful. Just for a little while, he wanted to pretend everything was finally fine.

They got out. They were at a hospital and they were all together. Just for an hour, maybe two, he wanted to pretend nothing was wrong and everything was over. The others went on talking about anything and everything, simply filling up the silence, and he listened to it quietly. Conflicted, to say the least. Later, he would at least tell Chan, he promised himself. They needed to make a back-up plan for if he had more trigger words than just… that one. He didn’t even dare think it, afraid that he would lose his mind.

For just a little while, he would ignore this, but he couldn’t forever.

He would have to come clean.

As the others had predicted, the moment Jeongin woke up, all hell broke loose. As soon as he realized he was not only alone in his bed, but also trapped by the cast on his leg and the contraption holding it up, he started writhing in the sheets, crying out in fear. Changbin had never seen the younger that distraught. They’d been talking about what kind of food they wanted to eat as soon as dinner time would come around, but that conversation was instantly cut short when the crying began.

Changbin shot up, zeroing in on Jeongin as he was immediately on edge. All the others reacted the same way. Across their bond, panic and terror washed over them and it took a second to recognize it wasn’t his own. No, it all came from Jeongin, flooding the line and affecting everyone in the process.

Seungmin was off his bed in a second, rushing to Jeongin’s side.

“Innie, I'm here. You’re okay. Hey, you’re okay, shh.”

Changbin felt bad even thinking it, but Jeongin’s wails sounded like those of a small child. He was crying out for them, fat tears spilling from his eyes, and he was banging his hands against the mattress as he tried to get free. He seemed completely out of control.

What had the doctors been thinking, drugging him in the middle of what was clearly a panic attack? He would obviously wake up disoriented and even worse than he was before!

Felix jumped from the bed too, joining Seungmin in his efforts to get Jeongin to calm down. Wails of ‘No, not again!’ and ‘I thought it was safe! It’s not safe! Chan-hyung! Minho-hyung! Help!’ pierced through Changbin’s heart and made him hurt in an entirely new way. Jeongin had never lost his composure like this before. It almost seemed like he was still in a nightmare and he wasn’t even awake to know what he was saying.

“It was all fake!” The youngest cried. “No! Don’t take him away from me again! Seungmin-hyung!”

“I’m right here,” Seungmin was trying to say, barely audible through the younger’s sobs. “Innie, I’m okay, I’m right here.”

“I don’t think he can hear us.” Felix looked back at the group with a pained expression. “I don’t want the doctors to come in and drug him again. Hyungs, what should we do?”

It was unclear who he was addressing, but it didn't really matter. Changbin kept silent either way, knowing that nothing he could do could help Jeongin. He would only make it worse. Jeongin was probably still afraid of him and for good reason too.

“Let’s do it across the bond,” Chan suggested, closing his eyes as if to concentrate. “It worked before. Maybe it’ll work now too.”

“Good idea.” Felix followed his example. Seungmin, Jisung and even Hyunjin followed quickly. Changbin and Minho didn’t, neither sure of what to do or how to do it. They simply watched as the other five concentrated, Jeongin’s cries booming through the room like thunder. All Changbin could feel across the bond was the tumult coming from the younger, the pain and the fear and the panic.

As the seconds ticked by, the cries got softer. Morphing into sniffles. Morphing into occasional hiccups. Jeongin stopped fighting his bed too, simply sagging on it like he was completely spent of all energy. He likely was, as injured and very much weakened as he was.

Felix was the first to open his eyes.

“Innie?” he asked, turning back to the bed and taking Jeongin’s hand in his own. The others seemed to come back from their intense meditation too, slowly. “Can you hear us now? Are you okay? Look, I’m here, Seungminnie’s here too. Everyone is okay and here.”

Jeongin sniffed, blinking his eyes and trying to sit up without success. “Lix-Lix-hyung?”

Changbin couldn’t see it with Felix’s back turned to him, but he could hear from his voice that he was smiling or at least trying to.

“Yes, I’m here. We all are. Please, let me help.” He took the remote for the bed and made it lift up a bit so Jeongin could prop himself up against his pillows to sit upright. It must be an uncomfortable position with his leg still hanging like that, but Jeongin didn’t make a sound of protest. He silently let Felix manhandle him around, his eyes red and his face still glistening from the tears. He looked wrecked. Changbin and no doubt everyone else in the room ached to give him a big hug.

As soon as Jeongin was situated, his eyes swept over the room, painful disbelief in his features.

“Lix-hyung,” came his soft voice, “I think they did something to me again. I can’t… feel any danger around, but that can’t be real, right? You can’t all be real, right? They must have done something to me. Blocked… blocked my safety sense or hid you away or something… You’re not really here, are you? I can’t sense any danger.”

Felix’s breath stuttered. When he seemed unable to respond to Jeongin, it was Seungmin who took over.

“We are real, Innie. You’re safe. We’re in the hospital and we’re all together again. They got us out.”

Jeongin’s face scrunched up, his gaze going over everyone in the room again and again. He didn’t even seem to be aware of Felix’s hand holding his. A distant sheen covered his eyes.

“You know what?” Seungmin offered. “What if you rest some more? We’ll all be here when you wake up. I promise that. We’re safe now, Innie.”

Unseeing, Jeongin nodded. He turned his head away, staring at the ceiling. Seungmin took the remote from Felix’s frozen hand and made the bed come down again, brushing Jeongin’s bangs away from his face.

“Just go to sleep, okay? We’ll all be here when you wake up. I promise.”

“You promise?”

“I do.”

“Hmm.” Jeongin hummed as he closed his eyes, seemingly content with Seungmin’s reassurances. He was asleep within seconds, his breath evening out as Felix’s only got more haggard and shaky.

“He wasn’t really awake, was he?”

Seungmin sighed, going to sit back on his own bed and pulling Felix with him. He pulled him close with an arm around his shoulders.

“No, I don’t think so. He didn’t respond to the questions in my thoughts at all. They must have drugged him more than we thought.”

Loud creaking rose up from the bed next to Changbin and when he looked over, he saw Minho holding the railing of his bed with a grip tight enough to bend it.

“I’m gonna make those fuckers pay if it’s the last thing I’ll do,” he promised to the room. “For hurting us and for making Innie not even believe he’s safe. I’ll haunt their asses until they go insane. I won’t let any of them get away, I’ll swear it on my fucking life-”

“Hyung.” With just a single word, Jisung made Minho stop his rant and with a soft tug on his arm, he made Minho let go of the railing. Maybe it was because they were closer to Changbin, but he could feel every twitch of anger roll off of Minho and every calming wave clash from Jisung. They were battling it out, not out loud, but through their link.

What had their lives even become at this point, that they could do that and Changbin could sense it too…

“I think the doctors will come back soon to hook you up too, Hyunjin-ah,” Chan said, clearly trying to bring up a lighter topic to divert the attention from the heated looks Jisung and Minho were still giving each other. “We should get some rest until then. When it’s time for dinner, I’ll make sure to wake you all up.”

“Oh no, you won’t,” Felix said sternly, shooting Seungmin a grateful look when he stayed by Jeongin’s side before he stood up and returned to Chan’s bed. He pushed the older down until he was laying flat too. “You need rest maybe even more than any of us. Don’t argue. You know I can feel it. It might do all of us some good to get some shut-eye. I mean, when was the last time we really got a good night’s sleep?”

At that, he looked around the group. No one had a ready answer.

“Exactly. So go to bed, everyone. The doctors will wake us when it’s time to eat.”

Changbin huffed, his lips quirking up at how much Felix sounded like a nagging parent right now. He almost wanted to joke with a ‘yes, sir’ but refrained.

Hyunjin wasn’t as well-behaved.

“Yes, mom,” he said, his voice extra whiny. Felix shot him a mock glare, before climbing on the bed with Chan and curling back around him like the Australian koala he was. Hyunjin chuckled, and did the same with Changbin, consequently pulling him down with him. Even Seungmin closed his book and slid under the covers, but not before going over to the door and turning off the biggest lights. Small ones were still lit at each of their beds, but the large ceiling lamps shut off. It gave a safe and comfortable atmosphere. The perfect place to finally allow themselves to rest.

Though Changbin didn’t really sleep. He dozed on and off. Waking up sometimes and instinctively looking around the room to check on everyone, before placing his head back on the pillow and trying to go back to dozing again. The doctors came a while later to help connect Hyunjin to his IV drop, just as Chan had said. He complied with the nurse without a fuzz, which Changbin rewarded by allowing him to cuddle extra close. None of the doctors made them move back to their own beds, but they were there, an option for if they got tired of each other’s presence.

When it was time for dinner, a nurse came by to ask what they wanted, and the ones awake (read: Changbin and Seungmin at that time) simply ordered basic dishes for all of them to share. They managed to wake up Jeongin, who didn’t seem to remember ever waking up in this hospital room before, which meant that none of them mentioned what happened either. Their youngest was a prideful one, and they didn’t want to tell him what he’d said and done when he hadn’t been of sound mind. It was best to forget it. At least for his sake.

After their simple but surprisingly filling dinner, sleep took most of them away again. Maybe they were making up for the lost nights in captivity, maybe their bodies were finally crashing after being exposed to such a high level of adrenaline for so long. Maybe the sleep was needed for healing faster. Whatever it was, Changbin soon dozed off too.

Sometimes, when he woke up again, he heard two or three voices converse softly. All throughout the night, there was always someone awake when he woke up too. At one point, he whispered with Jisung for a while, just talking about the music they had been working on before everything happened. The distance between their beds was small, and because they were both wrapped up in another member’s embrace, it almost felt like they were sharing secrets while the rest slept during a slumber party. Though not before long, Jisung had started nodding off again, and Changbin had hummed him a lullaby until he had fallen asleep again.

The second time Changbin woke up, it was to Felix making rounds by the beds and checking on everyone. He was just righting the blanket covering Changbin and Hyunjin when Changbin slowly blinked open his eyes.

“Hey,” he’d said quietly.

“Hey,” Felix had said back. He was smiling and pulled the blanket all the way to Changbin’s nose, chuckling when the rapper huffed and tried to wrestle his head above it again without using his hands. He succeeded and gave Felix a playful glare.

“You should go to bed,” he chided gently. Felix rolled his eyes.

“I’m going back when I’m done, don’t worry. I just… needed to be sure.”

Changbin didn’t need to ask what he meant. Sure they were here. Sure they were safe. Sure they were real. Probably all of the above. He hummed, nodding and closing his eyes again. He heard Felix shuffle around again, adjusting more blankets and stopping at each and every occupied bed to check on the people in it. When Changbin finally heard him climb back into his own (or rather Chan’s) bed too, he could let himself rest again too, knowing that everyone was safely tucked under the covers.

After such a tumultuous day—or no, a tumultuous week, they deserved this time of quiet. Though it was a wonder any of them could even sleep for any amount of time, he was convinced it was only because they were so close. Would this be able to peace stay when life would take their time and closeness away again? What was going to happen when they left the hospital and life would resume as normal?

He didn’t want to think about that for too long. They’d cross that bridge when they’d get to it and no sooner.

For now, he could sleep all he wanted, knowing he was safe. That everyone was safe.

That was all that mattered.

Chapter Text

Though Felix had promised Changbin, he hadn’t gone back to sleep again. How could he, when all he saw when he closed his eyes were the horrors that had happened? Chan, bound and bloody in chains. Jeongin, sobbing with a mangled leg laying uselessly in front of him. Minho gasping with his head above water just before he disappeared under the inky waves. And the list went on. He couldn’t sleep with those nightmares in his mind. Especially not since he knew what they were. They were real. They had happened. Those nightmares had been his reality, and it felt like they weren’t over at all.

So Felix didn’t sleep. He just waited. He listened to Chan's slow breaths and watched the light in the room change from night to soft sunlight coming from the slits between the closed curtains. Morning greeted them for the first time in what felt like centuries. It brought the painful promise of tears to Felix’s eyes.

He hadn’t dared to believe he would see it again. Wiping at his eyes and keeping his sniffles to a minimum, he still couldn’t wrap his head around that they were finally safe enough to experience it.

Breakfast time was a disjointed affair. Members woke up at random times and Felix was there for them all, helping them sit up if necessary or simply keeping them company while they ate the basic, healthy food the nurses had brought them. It wasn’t anything special; just some rice and mushed vegetables that tasted horrible yet delicious for their food-starved mouths. Felix himself had barely managed to swallow a single bite, but if that was because he was dealing with the nausea of others or of himself, he wasn’t quite sure.

He was in the middle of a soft-spoken conversation with Jisung when the door to the hospital room opened and one of their managers entered, looking like he was rather anywhere else than there. He halted at the doorstep, taking his sweet time as he slowly closed the sliding door behind him.

“Good morning, boys,” he greeted them half-heartedly. Even if he wasn’t really looking, multiple of the members still straightened up, Chan being the most obvious.

“Manager-nim,” he said, bowing his head shortly. “Good morning. It’s good to see you again.”

The manager shot a weak smile Chan’s way, though none of the awkwardness left his shoulders. “Same to you, Chan-ah. We need to talk. Please wake the members.”

He was referring to Minho, who’d gone back to sleep, and maybe even Seungmin, who was lying with his back turned away from the door. When Felix approached him to wake him, however, he found the younger simply staring at the floor. It seemed he hadn’t been asleep for a while. His eyes met Felix’s and he looked anything but happy to have to talk to someone outside of their group, though with one nudge from Felix, he reluctantly rolled around. Felix sat down on the edge of his bed, offering him support with a silent hand on his hip to ground him.

When everyone was seated and the attention was back to the manager, he let out a deep sigh, taking a folding chair and putting it as close to the door as possible.

“Boys, I’m… really glad to see you all again. You have no idea how worried I’ve been. Me and the team have been helping the search for all this time, and I promise you, we didn’t take a single break until we got that text and could send the police your way. Minho-yah-” He turned towards the older. “-I’m proud of you. Without your help, the search would have taken far longer.”

Minho cleared his throat. It made Jisung chuckle, and the reason became apparent soon, because even from Felix’s spot, he could easily spot the slight blush growing on Minho’s cheeks.

The manager didn’t look at the members for long, quickly averting his eyes again to face part of the wooden floor.

“I don’t know if you’re aware of what happened at the company while you were gone,” he started carefully, “but it has been hard. The higher-ups have been in uproar, as has the media and even the other idols under our label. There have been protests and search parties and- Oh, well, you’ll get your phones back in a bit, so you’ll see it for yourselves. You’ve caused quite a stir.”

He shifted in his seat, everyone hanging onto every word he said. “But I’m not here to tell you all that happened. I’m actually… I’ve got orders from higher up that I should…confirm some of the statements you made to the police.”

Right. The police. Felix had almost forgotten their brief visit the night before. Not everyone had been brought to the big room yet, but Felix had been present, as had Chan, Seungmin, Minho and Jisung. Jeongin had been sleeping. The police had tried questioning them, but it hadn’t exactly worked…

No one had wanted to talk. How could they, when no one wanted to face the fact that everything that had been done to them was real? When the doctors had told them that they had no idea (yet) how to reverse their links and that searching for a cure or solution could take them months, if not longer? How could they say anything when not everyone was present and they couldn’t see if everyone was safe?

It didn’t matter that they knew, logically. Their lips were sealed until everyone was in the same room, together again.

The interrogation had been very one sided. Until the police changed their line of questioning from ‘what happened’ to ‘so who is linked with who’, most of them hadn’t even spared the two officers a glance. But when they started asking directly about the links, that’s when everyone had tensed up and the first words had started flowing.

“How do you even know about that?” Chan had asked, the only one of them brave enough to break the silence. Suddenly, the police didn’t feel like protectors anymore. Had they known for long? Had the kidnappers told them? Did they think the boys were unnatural now? Did they think they were freaks? Were they questioning them just so they could send them to a psychiatric ward immediately after they decided the group had gone crazy?

But no. In a calm manner, the officers had explained they’d found the files. The kidnappers hadn’t said anything during interrogations yet, but the files explained a lot of what their plan had been. That’s how the police knew. How they knew the members were different now, how they knew about their links and how they knew everything was far worse under the surface than the naked eye could see.

“You don’t need to know,” Minho had practically growled at them. “If the files really explained all of that, you already know anyway. I’ve read them too. There’s a list. Stop fucking around. You should put every officer on getting those sickheads to prison.”

It was a short conversation after that. The police tried to weasel more information from them, but they only gave the vaguest details about their time in captivity. Soon the police realized it was a lost cause.

“We’ll come back another time to get more of the story.” One of the officers had said. “Please get some more rest. Have a good night.”

They had left. Not long after, Changbin and Hyunjin’s beds had been rolled inside the room, and everyone had pushed the memory of the police visiting to the back of their minds.

So now that the manager mentioned it, what was there to confirm? They barely gave the police anything. Not about their prisons or about how they’d fought the kidnappers at the end.

But perhaps the manager wasn’t really talking about that part anyway. Perhaps—and Felix was taking a wild guess here—the fact that the guy, who’d been working with them for years and who had laughed with them, helped them out countless times and had even vouched for them when things got tough, didn’t want to look them in the eyes anymore, Felix was quite sure he was talking about the experiment part. The part where they had been drugged, changed, modified. How he knew, Felix didn’t know, but that had to be it.

Maybe the police had shared the files. If so, how many people knew now? Would they ever be treated normal again or would everyone walk on egg shells around them?

Judging from the way the air seemed to sour between them all (which Felix could feel through every single link), he knew he wasn’t the only one following this line of thought.

“Confirm, manager-nim?” Minho was bold enough to ask. “There is nothing to confirm. We’ll talk about what happened when we’re ready and not a single minute earlier. No offense, but even if we were ready, we wouldn’t tell you first, which means you’re just wasting your time if you’re here for our tragic stories.”

“That’s not why I’m here,” the man sighed. His hand twisted in his lap. “The company wants to know… well, we all want to know if… your new condition won’t interfere with your work.”

“Our work?” Seungmin asked, a flash of hurt coming from him. “That’s what you want to talk about? What do you mean by condition?”

Their manager gestured vaguely around. “You know… your… changes.”

Spikes of insecurity, hurt and disgust came from multiple people at once and Felix winced. Ah. So he was right. Their manager was scared, or maybe even disgusted, with what had happened to them. Did he even know what it entailed? Did he know that there was nothing to be scared of? That just because they had these mental and physical links now, they were still the same kids as before?

“With all due respect, sir, but work is the last thing we want to think about right now,” Chan said softly. Discomfort crawled between their beds, tangling in the sheets and clawing at their feet. Felix wanted nothing more than for the manager to leave again so this feeling would disappear. He was this close to just sending the man away.

“Of course,” their manager said. “The company will give you all the time you need to recuperate and heal. We won’t push you to work until you’re ready for it. Please don’t worry about that.”

“Then what?” Hyunjin asked. “What work do you wanna talk about?”

“We need to think long-term,” the man droned, sounding like he was reading from some sort of impersonal status report. “I’ve talked with the doctors. They say they are not sure they’ll ever be able to reverse this. Right now the fans are on board with you needing rest and time away, but in no time they will get restless. We need to consider how Stray Kids should keep the public eye on them even after these unfortunate events. Everyone is anxiously waiting to hear from you, and while we’ve got the updates handled, it can’t hurt to think about how you’ll return once you’re ready. What you’ll say to the press and what you’ll… confess or not.”

“Then how long has it been?” Hyunjin asked. Ah, right, Felix forgot he wasn't there when the police told them.

“It's been two weeks and counting,” their manager answered, a bit of emotion finally bleeding into his words. “You disappeared for one week and you've all been kept unconscious for another week until all the surgeries were over and you were all stable enough not to… set each other off.”

Felix swallowed at that. Just imagining the pain from feeling someone else in a surgery made him nauseous already. Good thing the doctors had the foresight to work around that. He couldn’t imagine how awful it must have been if he had felt ghost impressions of them stitching Chan’s leg or setting Jeongin’s.

Though the time they spent imprisoned worried him. Had it really been only two weeks since their last dance practice? It felt like years. He was a completely different person. They all were. How could they ever return to the same work they’d been doing before like everything was still alright?

“We’re suing them, right?” Minho asked. “Those psychos will rot in jail for the rest of their lives for what they did to us, right? They kept us like lab rats for a whole week. They don’t deserve anything less than a lifelong sentence.”

Their manager’s frame shrunk impossibly further. He really looked about ready to bolt now.

“I… We can’t promise that.”

Everyone sat up straighter at that. The nauseous feeling in Felix’s stomach grew.

“What…?” Jeongin breathed. “Manager-nim, what do you mean?”

“Jeongin-ah, I-” The man looked up, only to immediately avert his eyes again. Guilt. His eyes flashed with guilt. Felix didn’t have a good feeling about this, and it was not just the uneasiness coming from all around him anymore.

“Manager-nim, we are putting them on trail, right?” Changbin asked.

“Boys, we’re already busy enough dealing with everything else, we cannot afford to-”

“Afford?” Seungmin snapped. “Manager-nim, even if we have to spend every cent we have, we have to put those people away for good! You don’t know what they did, how they talked about us, if we let them go free-”

“We won’t, there’s talk about issuing a restraining order and maybe a light sentence-”

“A light sentence?!” Minho yelled, anger zapping from him and sending tingles down Felix’s spine. “They need to pay for what they did, that’s non-negotiable! What the hell, sir, are these really your orders?! You can’t be serious if you agree with what the higher-ups think! Tell us you fought them on this! That you didn’t come here knowing that you’re letting our kidnappers go with just a soft fucking slap on the wrist! Tell me you’re not that stupid!"

“Minho, that’s enough.” Their manager finally looked up and rose from his chair. “That’s no way to talk to me or any of the team that will stop by later. I’m still older and higher up than you and you need to respect that.”

“I will respect you if you tell me the truth right now,” Minho spat darkly. “Do you agree with the higher ups, sir?”

“I cannot say I disagree with them.” He held up a hand before Minho could start yelling again. “This whole situation is messed up and I agree with you on that. Those people deserve punishment and should never be able to come anywhere near you ever again. That’s why we’re issuing the restraining order and helping the families of other victims with funds if they want to sue them. We will just not join them in that endeavor."

“Why? Why not?” Chan asked.

“The board has come to an anonymous agreement that, were JYP to sue those people, we’d have to come forward with all the evidence regarding your time imprisoned. That would mean revealing not just what happened, but also what the lasting effects are on each of you. The trial would need to go public. We refuse to let that happen, because…” His eyes lowered again. “We don’t want anyone finding out… what you are now.”

What you are now. Not who. Not how. But what.

Like they were objects.

Like they were still test subjects.

Finally, all Minho’s anger, all Seungmin’s hurt and all of the other’s feelings became too much. Felix saw red.

“I think it’s best if you leave now, sir,” he said coldly, his expression shutting off. “Before any of us says something we’ll regret.”

Their manager balked at Felix’s tone, indignation flashing across his face.

“Yongbok-ah, that’s not for you to decide-”

“Oh, but it is.” Felix rose from the bed, his hand sliding from Seungmin’s waist and balling into a fist. “Leave. Now.”

His voice dropped lower than it had ever done before. It had the desired effect, as the manager’s eyes widened and he looked around the others like he was afraid they would all go ballistic all of a sudden. He stood up from his seat so fast that the folding chair skirted across the floor and made a sharp screeching noise.

“We’ll continue this discussion another time then,” he said, not at all turning around as if he had his tail between his legs. Felix glared at him all the way until he was out of the door, the wooden frame rattling with how harsh the man slammed it closed behind him. As soon as he was gone, the anger drained out of Felix and he sagged back to the bed. Everyone looked at him in shock.

“Sorry,” he said softly, dragging a tired hand across his face. “It’s just that nobody should talk about any of us like that. It’s not right. We are not- Not objects for other people to make decisions about.”

He made sure to look each and every one of the members in the eye, trying to make sure they knew how serious he was about this. Not that he needed to; they could all feel it.

“Whether this-” he gestured between his chest and the room in general. “-is something that can be reversed or not, it shouldn’t matter. We are not fucked up nor are we freaks. We will be able to do our work just like before, and I won’t let any of the managers or anyone else say otherwise.”

“But aren’t we though?” Minho said and Felix whipped around to face him. “Do you really think our fans will stay when they know that we’ve been part of human experiments? Wouldn’t that be too much even for them?”

“And what about all the people around us…?” Jeongin added. “They wouldn’t be able to trust us anymore because they will never know if we’re talking about them inside of our minds or not. People hate the idea of mind reading already, so who wouldn’t feel uncomfortable if they discovered we can talk between us?”

“I mean, I guess I can understand why they’d want to keep it from the media,” Seungmin agreed carefully. “They’d twist everything and paint us as monsters. Who knows what they make us out to be. Maybe they’ll say we aren’t even in control of our actions anymore. That our kidnappers succeeded and made us braindead minions no matter how much we try to show them the opposite. They’ll just frame it as us trying to win the public’s favor to avoid suspicion before following some great, big, evil plan.”

“Or maybe…” Changbin said, “telling people about this will attract others like… like them.”

That had cold fear run through Felix’s body. He hadn’t even thought of that. Still, he didn’t believe that would really happen. These people had been crazy and they were outliers. It didn’t feel right, hiding such a big part of what had happened to them.

“You guys…” Felix looked between them, hurt to hear how much they were doubting themselves and the world. Did they really think Stay would ever abandon them for something like this? That their friends and family would turn their backs on them? Even if they didn’t want to come out to the world, it sounded like they didn’t even trust their closest circles to know this. Would anyone really blame them for what had happened to them?

“I don’t agree with what the company wants to do,” Chan said, and Felix turned his way with desperate hope.

Chan would side with him on this. He’d be able to convince everyone about and help them see how they didn’t need to hide.

“But I also understand where they’re coming from.”

And like that, the hope shattered to Felix’s feet again, because… what? Even Chan agreed…?

“I think it’s best if we kept our links a secret. We won’t bring any attention to them and just try to go back to how things were. I think that’ll be best for everyone.”

“Best for everyone?” Jisung repeated, finally speaking up. “I don’t want to ignore our links. They’re part of us now.”

“Yeah,” Hyunjin joined in. “It’d be wrong to act if they don’t exist at all.”

“I’m not saying that,” Chan said, holding up a placating hand. “I don’t think it’ll even be possible to fully ignore them, not with how intertwined everything is now. But we can try to keep it to ourselves. Don’t let anything show, don’t tell anyone. We can act normal and people won’t be scared away or… fascinated by it. We should stay safe by keeping it a secret between us. To protect ourselves.”

“I think we should vote,” Seungmin agreed. Holding up his hand. “Who’s in favor of keeping it a secret?”

Minho and Jeongin immediately lifted their hands. Changbin was slower, but he joined them too. Felix and Jisung shared a pained look, neither of them moving. Next to him, Seungmin was giving Hyunjin the most intent stare, and it took a second for Felix to realize that they must be arguing inside of their heads.

True enough, soon Hyunjin reluctantly raised his hand as well, making Felix and Jisung majorly outvoted.

So it was decided. Their links would stay unknown to anyone but them and the few that already knew beside them. Except for the police and a couple of staff at the company, none would learn about them now.

Felix wished for a second he didn’t share feelings with everyone. They could no doubt feel the way hurt stung from his side, how betrayal and sadness clashed inside of him and how he retreated inside himself.

If this was what they wanted, fine. He would follow it. The group was a united front and if the majority wanted to do this, he had no choice but to follow. That’s what Stray Kids were. A team. He’d always have their back, even if he didn’t agree with their decisions.

Didn’t mean he would be happy about it.

Chapter Text

Hands were pulling him away from Seungmin, the only one he’d been able to find in this unending maze of hallways and pain. His leg throbbed, his head spun. He had no voice left, but still he screamed.

“Let me go! Seungmin-hyung! Don’t take me away from him! No! NO!”

He thrashed against the fingers curling into his arms, tugging, pulling, dragging him away. He refused to let go. His hands were clamped around Seungmin’s arm as tight as he could. He was never letting go.

“NO, NO, NO!”

He wouldn’t lose anyone again. He refused to be alone and he wasn’t scared to fight tooth and nail to make sure they failed at taking him. His leg throbbed. His head spun. He refused to let go.

“We can’t hold him like this, we need to sedate him again!”

“Innie, it’s okay, we’re safe-”

“NO! Don’t take hyung away from me! Not Seungmin-hyung, no!”

Something stung the back of his neck and his entire body froze up. Fire burned down his spine before it pooled in his legs, making them lose strength. His one good knee buckled, the other one in the cast going down with it.

“No! No, no…”

He didn’t let go of Seungmin. Even as his muscles started slackening, he refused to let go. Seungmin was saying something to him, but he couldn’t hear. The hands were starting to succeed in pulling him away. He struggled weakly.

“No… no, please, don’t… I don’t…. want… to… be… alone…”

His eyes fell closed.

He lost the fight.

It had taken Jeongin a long time to come to terms with the fact that they were safe now. And not just ‘getting a small break in between torture’ safe, but real, ‘they got out and can heal and rest for as long as they need’ safe.

The big hospital room was nothing like the building they’d been kept in before. Brown walls were different from the clinical white. The lamps were soft, not hurting his eyes. The doctors and nurses never did anything they said no to (at least not since Jeongin had tried to fight them) and they got food here. With every minute he spent awake in the hospital ward, it became easier and easier to separate it from their kidnapping.

He was safe. The others were safe.

That was his biggest reason for finally relaxing into his bed sheets. The murmurs of his members blanketed him. Even if he were to close his eyes, he could still hear them. Talking. Relaxing. Healing.

Safe.

But then the manager came, and all of that warmth had vanished in an instant. He’d been ashamed of them, or no- He’d been afraid of them. Called them a handful to deal with and refused to meet their eyes.

He knew they were freaks. That they weren’t fully human anymore.

True to the man’s word, however, only minutes passed after he’d fled the room when Felix had scared him away, before another staff member entered and silently gave them all their phones back. Recharged and ready for them to use.

Jeongin stared at the device on his lap, not sure what to even do with it. Some of the others had immediately unlocked theirs, calling whatever family member they could think of to assure them they were okay. On the bed next to him, Seungmin was softly talking to his mom, his voice watery as he clutched his phone with both hands.

“Yes, I promise I’m okay now, eomma. I miss you too. Is… Is appa okay? Can you get him on the phone?”

Jeongin’s hands felt like lead as he stared at the black screen. He should call someone too. His mom. Maybe one of his brothers. His grandma. One of his friends.

He couldn’t. He didn’t want to hear their worry and all of their questions. He didn’t want to tell them what happened to him. Then, he’d have to accept that this was all real. That he’d been kidnapped. That he’d been hurt. He didn’t want- That couldn’t be-

His phone lit up by an incoming call. He jolted, giving his screen a wide-eyed look as he realized it was his mother. How did she know? The picture of a flower smiled up at him, one she’d taken with his phone on one of their family vacations back before he’d even been a trainee. It seemed to mock him, the sunshine and the memories of then feeling like a dream that could never happen again in his life.

It didn’t stop ringing. Knowing his mother, she wouldn’t stop until he answered the call.

Reluctantly, he swiped to accept it, putting the phone to his ear.

“E-eomma?”

“My Jeongin-ah,” his mom’s voice spoke softly. “Oh my baby.”

Ah, dammit. Before he could stop it, his nose started burning and his eyes welled up. He sniffed, his hand trembling as he pressed it closer to his ear.

“Eomma,” he sniffed. “Eomma.”

His mother hummed soothingly. She sounded choked up as well. “You’ve been so strong, sweetheart. I’m so happy I can hear your lovely voice again. Channie messaged us that you got your phone back, and I’ve got a couple of people here that would love to speak with you. Do you think you’re up for it?”

Before he knew it, he shook his head. She couldn’t see it, but-

“Eomma, I can’t- I can’t talk about it…”

“Oh, sweetie, that’s not what I meant. You don’t have to say anything. Do you want to switch to video calling?”

“I… I…”

He must have looked like a mess. Bruises littered his body, his eyes felt bloodshot and the tears wouldn’t stop coming. Still, the idea of getting to see his mom again… Maybe he was weak, but he desperately wanted to see her.

They switched to video easily, and the moment his mom popped up on the screen, Jeongin held a shaking hand against his mouth to stifle a sob.

His mom looked tired, dark circles painting the skin under her eyes. She was crying too. He’d missed her so much.

“Oh, baby, it’s so good to see your face again,” she cooed, wiping her own eyes. “How have you been sleeping, hm? Are the beds okay there? We would have visited sooner but the doctors said there were no visitors allowed yet until they knew you were all okay again. Did you eat breakfast already?”

Jeongin huffed out a wet laugh. “Yeah, yeah, I did. It was carrot mush.”

His mom made a face. “Ew, but you don’t like carrots at all. Oh my poor baby. The second we can get you home, I’m making your favorite stew, okay? Just look forward to that. I’ve already put in an order for that expensive meat at the butcher and Mrs. Kim promised we can use her fresh kimchi any time. It’s gonna be a feast. The others here have been pestering me about when you’ll get home just because they can’t wait to eat it.”

They chuckled together. Jeongin relished in hearing her voice again, previous reluctance completely forgotten. Of course, his mom wouldn’t demand answers from him immediately. She’d ease him into it, talk about anything and everything until he was ready himself.

“Ah, right! I promised the others wanted to speak with you as well, so I’m passing the phone, okay, sweetie? I’ll be right back.”

The phone was passed over, sounds of hands transferring it crackling through the speakers as a pair of pants appeared on screen, before his dad righted the screen and smiled at him.

“Hey, there Jeongin-ah.”

“Appa.”

“You look pale. You’re not in pain, are you?”

“I’m okay.” Jeongin tried to put up a convincing smile. “Got a lot of painkillers, but I’m alright.”

“Hm. Good. I’ll come over there myself if the doctors don’t treat you right, got that? You’re a world star, they better show you respect.”

“Appa, seriously, I’m okay-”

Yes, Eomma, I’m eating well. No, I’m not hurt. How many times does she need to hear this?

Seungmin’s thoughts cut him off and made him forget what he wanted to say. He looked over to see the older in a heated debate with his mom, trying to convince her he was fine when she wouldn’t let up. It seemed he didn’t even realize he had let anything slip to Jeongin.

I know she means well, but this is seriously making me tired. No, don’t come! Eomma, come on…

“Jeongin-ah? Are you okay?”

Jeongin blinked back to the video call. Oops. His dad seemed to be scanning him in worry and he quickly put his smile back on to avoid suspicion. They’d decided to keep this a secret, Jeongin shouldn’t mess that up this soon already.

“I’m sorry, what did you say? I think the painkillers are making me drowsy, haha…” he chuckled awkwardly.

His mom appeared back on screen. “Then you need more rest! We can always call later again, that’s not a problem!”

“No!” Jeongin wasn’t ready yet to say goodbye again. “No, that’s not necessary, I can talk for a bit longer. I’ve barely heard anything from you yet. How’s hyung? How’s Jihoonnie?”

His mom smiled, but before she could say anything, the phone was snatched from her hand and his brothers appeared. Jeongin almost went back to crying immediately, though he managed to hold it back. His homesickness was growing rapidly, and combined with that of every other member in this room right now, it was very overwhelming.

He swallowed, managing a watery smile.

“Hi, hyung. Hey, Jihoonnie.”

“Innie-hyung!” his younger brother cried out. “I swear we’ve tried visiting but the people at the desk sent us away! They said you were in surgery! Are you okay? What happened?”

“Jihoon-ah,” his mom said sharply. Jeongin’s smile turned more strained.

“It’s- It’s okay, Eomma. I’m sorry Jihoonnie, but I can’t- I’m okay, but look-”

He turned his phone to show the cast hanging above the bed.

“This is gonna take a long time to heal. The doctor says I’ll probably be able to walk and maybe even dance again, but only if I take it easy. I’m sorry I scared you all.”

“Hush, none of that,” his mom said. “None of this is your fault.”

He turned the phone back to see his older brother take it from his mom.

“Who did this to you? I swear, I’ll kill them on the spot-”

“Eunjeong,” his dad said. “Enough. You promised not to ask anything about the accident.”

“But, Appa, how can you stay so calm when they did that to Innie! We need to make ‘m pay for it!”

Jeongin’s eyes flicked to Changbin, swallowing. He was definitely never telling his family what happened.

“I’m okay, hyung,” he felt like he reassured for the thousandth time. “You shouldn’t kill anyone for me.”

“Oh, I should and I will,” Eunjeong promised darkly. “As soon as the police finally reveal everything, I’m at the front of the mob, just watch me.”

Heart speeding up at the mention of the kidnappers, Jeongin fought not to let any of his panic seep over to the others around him. Seungmin’s thoughts still popped up every now and then, but those were easy to block out. If Jeongin was getting overwhelmed on top it, he didn’t know how well blocking would work anymore.

He just needed to calm down. His family meant well. They couldn’t know he’d start stressing the second anyone mentioned those people.

“Please don’t,” he said. “You getting in prison is not worth it.”

“Exactly,” his mom agreed, taking the phone back. “I don’t want to keep you for too long anymore, baby, but I do have some good news. We’ve spoken to the rest of the parents and we’re planning on hosting Channie’s and Yonbokkie’s families on roulation until they can find apartments close to your dorms. They’re already on their way, and Channie’s parents will be staying with us first. We’ll be picking them up from the airport tomorrow, so next time we call, you and Channie can do-”

My God, does Eomma ever chill? I’m fine! I’m not even really hurt out of all of us! Why can’t she believe me! No, no don’t come here, I’m fine-

Jeongin almost jumped when Seungmin’s thoughts got louder for a bit. He tried to ignore it and focus on his mom, but he couldn’t help but miss some of that she was saying. He blinked quickly, trying to stay present.

“I heard you share a room with the others,” his dad added, nodding to someone his mom must have said. “So tell him his family’s here soon. He must miss them a lot.”

Jeongin tried to answer, guessing that they were still talking about Chan. “I will. He probably already knows, but…”

Okay, that’s it, I’m hanging up. Goodbye, Eomma. Yeah, yeah, always the same. Love you too and- Yeah, yeah, see you.

“Jeongin-ah? Aigoo, sweetie, you must be really tired,” his mom’s voice pierced through Seungmin’s. She watched Jeongin with clear concern on her features as he struggled to focus on her through Seungmin’s constant stream of thoughts. “We’ll let you rest now, okay? We’ll visit you too soon, don’t worry. Sleep well!”

Now reluctant for a completely different reason than before, Jeongin bid goodbye to his family. His mom was right. He couldn’t even focus on splitting his thoughts from what he was actually hearing around him. Maybe he really was exhausted.

Once the phone was silent and off again, he let it drop to his lap, closing his eyes for a second. Now that he didn’t have anything else to pay attention to, he could hear both Seungmin’s thoughts and words out loud, mixing and overlapping sometimes to create a mix of disjointed words and sentences.

I need to cut it off before she can start again-

“Yeah, Eomma, I promise-”

Ugh, I should have never said-

“Bye now. I’ll see you tomorrow-”

Please hang up, please hang up-

It was draining. Jeongin was too tired to do anything else but let it wash over him. As soon as Seungmin had finally managed to end the call, however, Jeongin turned to his bed and opened his eyes again.

“Hyung, we need to talk.”

Seungmin sighed, dropping the phone.

“Yeah,” he said, sounding resigned. “I know.”

Without another word out loud, Hyunjin came striding their way, joining Seungmin on the edge of his bed.

“That was the most chaotic phone call I’ve ever had,” Hyunjin said. “We need to get control over this mind thing or else I’m going crazy for real. My parents think my concussion is far worse than it actually is because I was barely able to talk to them.”

Ah. So that’s why he was here. Seungmin must have broadcasted his argument with his mom to everyone he was connected to. Said boy winced.

“Sorry about that,” he said. “I got frustrated.”

“It was kinda hard to keep track of multiple conversations at once,” Jeongin agreed. “But how would we ever control that? It’s not like any of us can stop thinking. Most of it is bound to slip out.”

“At least I can’t hear you too,” Hyunjin said, nodding along. “That would make it even more chaotic.”

“So the connection doesn’t go through me,” Seungmin said, “but I’m still able to talk to you both at once. That’s not great. Why does this have to be so complicated?”

“Hey, it’s not us who created the bond,” Hyunjin said.

“It's not like I had much of a choice either,” Seungmin shot back.

“Well, you could have just let me walk around for a while longer until I’d found the exit on my own.”

“As if you would have been able to. It’s because of me that you ever got out of there-”

“How rude, that’s not true! I wasn’t that lost!’

“You were, I could see you. You had no chance of getting out on your own.”

“Yah!”

Jeongin held up his hands. “Guys, it doesn’t matter who strengthened this thing or what the reason was. It happened and now we gotta deal with it. We can’t block it forever and I don’t know about you, but I don’t wanna hear everything you’re thinking every second.”

“Minho-hyung said they have a way to block each other.” Hyunjin jotted a thumb behind him. “We could ask him for pointers.”

“I already did,” Seungmin said. “And it’s what I've been doing ever since I woke up. It’s a lot harder than you’d think to keep it up.”

“Maybe we all need to do it for it to really work,” Jeongin suggested. “I mean, I haven’t been blocking anything. That’s probably why as soon as you became distracted, the block disappeared.”

“Okay, so everyone tries to block.” Hyunjin cocked his head. “But then how would we say anything to each other when we want to? I don’t know for you guys, but I don’t really mind this link. I’d like to say something to you every once in a while without saying anything.”

“Maybe we can make a sign?” Seungmin offered. “Something to say that we wanna talk through the mind link so the other has time to unblock?”

“That could work. How about this?” Hyunjin made a circle with his pointer finger to his thumb, putting his other finger and thumb through the circle in the same manner. “It’s a link sign, right? Pretty on the nose, but it could work.”

Jeongin copied the sign. Talking about mind sharing like this made it somehow so much less scary and weird. It was just something they did now. Maybe… maybe it wasn’t that bad if they actually made rules around it?

“Okay,” he said, surprisingly feeling himself get excited. “Yeah, that could work.”

Seungmin mirrored the gesture too. “I like it. It’s simple. Maybe when we’re talking and you guys wanna say something to each other, I can act as a messenger too? Then we can have conversations between us three?”

Hyunjin smiled. “I’d like that.” He met Jeongin’s eyes. “Let’s try to make something fun out of this, what do you say?”

“I’m in,” Seungmins said.

Jeongin looked between them. “I think I am too. It’s worth a try.”

“Okay,” Hyunjin said and jumped up from his spot. “Let’s start practicing right now!”

He rushed across the room and dropped down on his bed on the other side. He frowned and closed his eyes.

Nothing happened for Jeongin, but judging from the way Seungmin pursed his lips, something must be in his mind. A couple of seconds passed where only the other voices of the members could be heard from those who were still in a call, and then Hyunjin suddenly held up the link sign. Immediately, Jeongin heard Seungmin in his head.

It works. I couldn’t hear him anymore until he did the sign and unblocked me. He says that you should try too.

Jeongin nodded and closed his eyes. Blocking Seungmin out wasn’t as hard as he’d thought, it just required a bit of concentration.

“Think something to me,” Jeongin said out loud. Nothing came. He couldn’t help but grin, a happiness bubbling up in him that must be partly Hyunjin’s.

He did the link sign and imagined dropping the blockade. Instantly, Seungmin’s voice returned.

-so I think that it could work if we did it like this, right? What do you guys think?

Jeongin opened his eyes, finding Seungmin already looking at him.

I think this can actually work.

Seungmin huffed, seemingly relaying that to Hyunjin. Soon his answer came back.

Of course it does, he says it’s his idea.

Tell hyung he’s too full of himself.

Gladly.

“Yah! Yang Jeongin, wanna repeat that to my face?”

Chapter Text

The tension in the air was pressing down on them and making it hard to breathe. Jisung didn’t even want to look. He couldn’t.

“We only have a couple of questions,” the police officer said patiently to their very unresponsive audience. “Please work with us so you can be discharged sooner.”

Jisung tensed. He didn’t need to be reminded of the fact that soon, they’d have to leave their safe place. The beds they’d stayed in for the last two weeks, the room they’d shared and the walls that had kept them protected from the outside world. Finally, the time had come to leave. To go back home.

If this had been any other kind of situation, he would have been thrilled. But getting home meant facing the world. It meant stepping outside. It meant stepping into a car.

Fingers tugging at his blanket, he kept his head down, letting the others do the talking.

“We’ll try our best to answer your questions,” Chan said, “but please don’t ask the same ones your colleagues did. We don’t want to answer anything too personal.”

“I understand that, Bang Chan-ssi. I’ll try to watch my words, you have my promise.” Papers rustled, and then they asked their first question. “Okay, so let’s start with the very beginning. Can you recount that night? Do you remember anything about your drivers the evening that you were taken?”

Jisung listened to his members’ answers detachedly. It still felt so unreal. Had they really gone through that? The bandages on his waist and hand showed him that yes, this had been real, but he couldn’t wrap his head around it. Everyday he’d spent at the hospital had made it feel further and further away. Like everything happened in another lifetime.

A pen, scratching against paper.

“And the music? What was the music like?”

“We, uh… didn’t really notice it,” Chan admitted. “I think the only one who did was Jisung.”

At the mention of his name, Jisung tensed. Though he refused to look, he could feel everyone in the room turn to him.

“Sung?” Minho asked from his spot beside him. Do you want to tell me so I can tell them?

Jisung shook his head. No, he wasn’t mute. He could tell it himself. If only the words weren’t stuck in his throat.

Just. Gimme a second.

Okay. Minho didn’t push him any further. Everyone simply waited for Jisung to collect himself.

It took a ginormous amount of energy to finally speak.

“It was… really weird,” Jisung started, kneading his blanket. “The beat was slow and it was like… my breathing synced with it and my thoughts weren’t loud enough to beat the music. It felt like it took me over. It made me really tired.”

“And when did you realize this was happening?”

“When Felix fell asleep mid-sentence. He was talking to me and then he just… stopped. That didn’t feel right so I- so I messaged Chan-hyung about it and he said everyone was asleep in his car as well.”

“I tried to talk with our driver,” Chan took over, “but he didn’t give me straight answers at all. He refused to look at me and he only turned the radio up higher.”

More pen scratching. “And that’s when you fell asleep too?”

“Yes. I think Jisung was the last one awake, in the end.”

Jisung flinched, trying not to think back to it but failing. The messages stopping from Chan’s side of things, the driver giving curt answers, the music, getting louder and louder and dragging him down and down and down until he’d lost the fight against it.

“Can you tell me what you felt when you woke up again? Feel any lasting effects? Dizziness, bad balance, things like that?”

“I can’t really speak for everyone, but for me, it just felt like I could fall right back asleep again,” Changbin said. “I didn’t feel rested at all, but at the same time I wanted nothing more than to just lie down and sleep again.”

The officer asked more questions. About what they did, where they woke up. Jisung blocked it all out. He didn’t need to hear Minho’s recount of how long he’d been trapped on that platform or Felix’s story about how he and Chan had been chased by monster wolves. He didn’t want to hear any of it. The more they repeated it, the more it felt real. The more the burns on his side started itching. The more he just wished he could claw out of his skin and dissolve into a sobbing mess.

Eventually, the line of questioning shifted from recounting their experience, to verifying the evidence.

“Before this incident, did any of you ever hear of a group called MLF, also called the Meta Liberation Foundation?”

“No,” Seungmin said.

“What about Risa Oribe?”

“I’ve never heard of that name either.”

Similar answers rose up from around the room. The officer hummed, going through their papers again. “Do you know this person?”

They must have held up a picture, because instant gasps came from everyone. Jisung finally pried his eyes from his bed only to be hit with ice cold terror at the face glared at them in the picture.

That was one of the kidnappers.

“I do.” Seungmin’s voice was tight as he answered. “A little too well.”

The officer put the photograph away. “Sorry for that,” they said. “We technically already have the security footage, but we still needed the vocal confirmation. You have never met them before, have you?”

“No. No, I would have remembered that.”

That’s the bitch that held a gun to my head, Minho sneered in their minds.

“Alright, then I think those were all my questions I had.” The officer stood, finally showing the room at large a small, apologetic smile. “This must have been quite distressing, I’m sorry for that. We have everything handled now. Those people will never come anywhere near you again.”

“Thank you,” Chan said, but it was clearly more of a formality than that he was actually glad. They all had a hard time believing the officer’s words, Jisung could see it on their faces. With what the company had said, what their manager had told them… they couldn’t be sure their kidnappers would get the punishment they deserved. The police couldn’t make promises like that. They didn’t… they couldn’t be sure.

“We’ve arranged for extra security to escort you out,” the officer told them. “There will be surveillance around your dorms until every single one of the perpetrators have been tried, and only then will we lighten your protection. Please don’t worry about anything but resting up and getting better.”

“We really appreciate it,” Changbin said. The officer nodded, and then they finally left.

Nobody said anything when the door closed. The questions had brought forth all the memories they’d rather forget and they were choking, strangling them. Jisung had to do everything in his power not to start hyperventilating.

The group remained silent all the way through their discharge. They were released from their IV-drips and Jeongin got a pair of crutches. Chan got one to lean on too, just so he didn’t have to put too much pressure on his stitched leg. Their manager appeared with a large bag of medicine and painkillers for them to take home and then that was that.

They were free to go.

None of them made the move to step out of the room. They shuffled their feet, all staring at the door apprehensively.

“Okay, fuck this.” Minho took Jisung’s hand and marched to the door, throwing it open and finally taking that first step. Jisung silently let himself be manhandled through the hallway, his heart beating against his ribcage so loud he was sure it could burst out at any moment. The walls loomed around them. They were white, just like they had been there. They were quiet, just like they had been there. They were unending, just like- just like-

Minho pushed open the door to the stairs. “You go first,” he told Jisung. “I’m gonna help carry Innie. None of us should use those shitty elevators right now.”

And like that, Minho disappeared and his hand was replaced with Felix’s, the younger giving Jisung a reassuring but shaky smile.

“I’m scared too,” he said softly. “But we can do this. We’ll be home before you know it.”

Jisung nodded, throat too tight to say anything.

Seungmin appeared on his other side. “Everyone’s accounted for. Let’s get to the cars as quickly as we can. Manager-nim says we can use a special back door to avoid any prying eyes.”

They descended the stairs together, the constant click-clack of their shoes echoing through the space.

Okay. Okay, he could do this. Felix’s hand was an anchor keeping him safe. Seungmin’s presence gave him calm of mind. There was a constant background buzzing of anxiety coming from every single one of them, but it was manageable. Nothing he hadn’t felt before.

They were practically home already.

Approaching the back door, two officers were already stationed and waiting for them. A couple of their own bodyguards too. Jisung gave a wobbly smile to his personal bodyguard, glad to see a familiar face again. Within seconds, the group was flanked by their security from all sides. Just a safety measure, their manager assured them.

And then they were ready to go.

The door opened.

All hell broke loose.

A cacophony of screams and yelling, bright flashes, camera lenses pointed right at their faces as everyone froze on the spot. The background anxiety exploded into full blown panic because this, this wasn’t what they were promised. Jisung’s confidence shattered. He took a step back, but Felix’s hand trapped him in place.

The light was too much. The sound was too much.

“Stray Kids! Stray Kids, look here!”

“What happened when you were gone? How badly are you hurt? Are you okay?”

“Do you have any words for your kidnappers? Are you going to sue them?”

“How well is your company protecting you? Are you going to sue them for failing you? What do you wanna say to the fans?”

“Bang Chan-ssi, look here please! Give us a statement!”

“Stray Kids, look this way! Give us a smile!”

“Stray Kids!” “Stray Kids!” “Stray Kids!”

Jisung whimpered, body curling into himself. There had once been a barricade, but a few measly fences weren’t stopping the onslaught of reporters ready to tear them apart. Their bodyguards and the police tried to move them forward and get them to the cars, but it was no use. Hands reached, bodies slammed into each other, elbows knocked together and feet tripped over everything. The members were frozen, paralyzed with fear. They could barely see anything, let alone walk. Masses of cameras surrounded them the moment they stepped out of the door and from there on, it was a lost cause. Pressure came from all sides. Jisung was forcibly slammed against Felix’s side, and he let out a loud hiss when the younger’s elbow hit his bandages right in a vulnerable spot.

They couldn’t go anywhere, people were surrounding them from all sides.

They were trapped once again.

Terror flooded in from their group link, clogging Jisung’s nose and taking his air away. He wheezed, his free hand flying up to his chest where his lungs were desperately fighting for air. No, no, no! If he had an attack here, he would influence everyone! He couldn’t hurt the entire group like this!

“Stray Kids, look here please! Give us a smile!”

He bent over, chest rattling with the breaths he failed to take in.

“Have any of you seen the news? What do you think about the actions taken by JYP? How mad are you at the company?!”

He clenched his eyes, hearing Felix whimper too. He was giving him his panic, no doubt. The hold on their hands was bruising and everything within Jisung burned from either pain or fear. High-pitched wheezing sounded. He couldn’t tell if it came from him or Felix.

“Say something to the fans! They want to know if you’re okay!”

“Stray Kids, over here!”

“When will you return to work? Do you think you could use this experience for inspiration? What are you planning for the future-”

“STOP IT!”

The group jolted in tandem when a loud scream cut through the reporters and a girl wormed her way through the crowd. Jisung’s eyes flew open and he looked up, surprised to see her fight her way to them. She had a large banner in one of her hands, the other pushing people out of her way left and right with no remorse. When she got close enough that she was barely held back by the bodyguards, she held up her sign.

We love you Stray Kids! it read and out loud, she screamed, “Get lost! Don’t you see you’re scaring them?! Let them through! They are already hurt enough!”

Other screams joined hers, and more and more fans appeared from within the crowd, pushing back the reporters and forcing them to make room. Jisung watched, baffled, as one particular Stay grabbed a camera and slammed it to the ground, shattering the lens and stomping on it for good measure. He winced; that would surely be enough reason to arrest them, but the fan didn’t look bothered by that fact at all. They whirled around, eyes meeting directly with Jisung’s.

“Leave our boys alone!”

More and more, Stays formed a barrier of their own, linking hands and holding back all the people demanding things from the group. Cameras were blocked, banners were held in their place to make sure not a single shot could be taken.

I helped the search! I’m so glad you’re safe! one said.

We will never let you be alone! another said.

Eight is Fate and Stay will make sure it stays that way!

You make Stay stay!

I’m so glad you’re okay! Please heal safely!

Stray Kids, we love you!

Tears were gathering in Jisung’s eyes, but whether it was because of his lack of air or because he was touched by the messages he couldn’t tell. The mob around them was still pushing, hurting him and hurting Minho and hurting them all, but it all fell to the background. Stay’s cries drowned out the reporters’ questions. They were actually creating space for them to move.

Slowly, agonizingly so, the bodyguards managed to manoeuvre the group to the awaiting cars. As soon as Jisung climbed inside, the lights disappeared. The darkened windows filtered everything. He sagged on the first seat he could get to, wheezing and pushing the tears out of his eyes.

Wave after wave of overwhelming panic wafted from the members. It was too much.

He lost time, trying to survive. At one point, he thought he heard the door to the car close, but then he lost control of his senses again and everything blurred. He could feel his body tremble, but he couldn’t stop it. Sounds of harried breaths came from some of the others too. Nobody spoke. Not when the car started driving, not when the panic finally subsided and Jisung was left exhausted and empty.

Nobody turned on the car radio. Nobody grabbed their phone. Nothing was like it should be.

Minho didn’t even think anything, not to him at least. It made everything dead quiet.

The only thing keeping Jisung from falling asleep right then and there, was the spikes of fear every time he could feel himself nodding off. Logically, he knew the danger was gone, that he could let go and let the others protect him. But fear wasn’t logical, and it didn’t let him get a single second of rest.

Sleeping in a car would probably never feel safe again. He never wanted to wake up some place unknown ever again.

That’s why it felt like hours before they finally arrived at the parking lot of their dorm building. Jisung was helped out of the car by two members holding him by the arms so he didn’t collapse the second he was out. Innie was helped too, as was Chan. Maybe Felix too, he couldn’t see. They were messes, all of them, and Jisung couldn’t even really see who was helping who. His eyes were blurry. He was just so, so tired.

Still, his eyes trailed up to look at their dorm. Their home. They were finally home.

They’d been brought to the 3racha dorm first. as a way to prolong their separation for as long as possible, everyone trudged up the stairs. Only their manager followed with the keys, all the officers and bodyguards waiting outside. Jisung was grateful for that. It gave them a sense of privacy they hadn’t had in, well, weeks.

Once at the door, their manager unlocked it. This was it. Time to split up.

Jisung finally looked around him, finding that Felix and Hyunjin were the ones holding him up. They exchanged desperate glances.

Nobody wanted to separate.

“I guess we’ll… see you later?” Hyunjin said to Felix. The other swallowed and nodded. They already had plans to get together for dinner in one of the dorms, but everyone did want to take a shower and see their own rooms again, get a new set of clothes, maybe even unwind on their own beds. So they had decided to split, just for the time being. Only thirty minutes, maybe an hour. Then they would be together again.

Nobody seemed all that eager to follow the plan anymore.

“Come on, Lix,” Seungmin said, softly tugging the younger away from Jisung’s side. “We’ll see them in a bit but we desperately need to change. And don’t you miss your own bed? You can finally take a nap in it again.”

Seungmin barely sounded like he believed it himself. Felix reluctantly let go of Jisung, leaving a gaping, empty hole where he should be.

Chan was the first to step inside the 3racha dorm, turning around with a tiny wave.

“I’ll order the food, okay? See you all later.”

The others followed him inside, Jisung being the last with a glance back towards the four they left in the hallway. This didn’t feel right. They were letting them out of their sight. This wasn’t right- this wasn’t right-

Chan was already bending down to take off his shoes, but the moment he did so, he stumbled, grunting like he was hit with pain.

“What the…”

A similar grunt came from Felix, and Jisung whirled around to find the younger staggering back, his knees buckling. He had to catch himself with his hands in front of him before he could make a head dive against the floor. He hadn't even reached the staircase. At the same time without warning, Jeongin reacted as quick as lighting and snatched the arm of the person closest to the doorway, which was coincidentally Jisung’s. He pulled harshly, making Jisung stumble back out.

“Wait, don’t leave me-” Jeongin said, before suddenly snapping his mouth shut, his eyes wide.

He looked distressed by his own reaction. That… that wasn’t normal.

“Innie?” Hyunjin asked. Jeongin let go of Jisung’s arm like he’d been burned.

“Sorry, I don’t- I don’t know what that was.”

“Lix, are you okay?” Seungmin kneeled down beside the dancer. “What’s wrong?”

“I… I can’t…” Felix turned and searched for Chan. They met eyes. He lifted a hand to his chest, confusion spiking from him. “I can’t leave.”

“What do you mean you can’t leave?” Minho asked sharply.

“Wait, let me try.” Hyunjin moved further into the dorm until he was out of view from everyone. He returned seconds later, a crease between his eyes showing signs of discomfort, but not necessarily pain. “I mean, it’s not a nice feeling to leave you, but it doesn’t hurt.”

He helped Chan up and together they took another step inside. Felix whimpered audibly and Chan sucked in a breath.

“Are you kidding me?” he said, voice barely above a whisper. “Of all the side effects we could have gotten…”

The group fell silent, exchanging looks. This had to be another thing the links did to them. Hadn’t it just been enough to hurt them? Did they really have to feel physical pain if they even tried to separate? How was any of this fair?

Jisung wanted to fight and scream and curse out everyone who did this to them. Similar frustration fizzled between them in the bond. Wordlessly, Minho marched to the door and stepped inside. The others could only follow, all of them aware that it was no use to fight it. They were still too weak. They were still too different. Of course, leaving the hospital hadn’t magically fixed all of their problems. It had been naive to think so.

“I’ll bring some things from the other dorm,” their manager said, practically fleeing and leaving them alone in their mess. Jisung sighed, resignation making him feel cold all over.

They’d simply brought all of their problems home with them, hadn’t they?

His hand found Felix’s again and he helped him up, supporting the staggering boy inside the dorm. Felix was pale. Jisung could feel through their link that he was overflowing with worry and guilt. He squeezed his hand.

“This is no one’s fault, okay?” he mumbled. “We’ll figure this out. You can shower first if you want. I’ll lend you my clothes. I hadn’t returned that blue hoodie from you anyway, so you can take that too.”

Felix shot him a wry smile. “Thanks.”

Jisung shrugged. It was all he could do. They just had to figure things out somehow, try to make it through this together.

Everything was far from over.

Chapter Text

Jisung was suspiciously quiet. Even in their minds, he didn’t say anything. After they’d showered and sat down in the living room to wait for everyone else, they didn’t exchange a single word.

The silence was grating on Minho’s nerves. There was this awkwardness between them now, and Minho had no idea how to break it. Was it because he said something wrong? Or simply because the whole day had been an exhausting whirlwind of emotional bullshit and Jisung was completely drained from it? Was it something else? Could he do anything about it or did he just have to wait until tomorrow might make it better?

He shot the younger another glance as they waited on two different couches. The tv wasn't on to fill the emptiness and the end of the day made it so there weren’t any sounds of life from outside.

Minutes ticked by. Minutes that Minho didn't like to spend sitting around and doing nothing.

Deciding that, fuck it, he refused to stay useless like this, he stood up from the couch. Maybe he couldn’t help Jisung, but he could help the others. The young rapper looked up in surprise when Minho stepped around the couch but didn't ask anything about where he was going. Minho refused to meet his questioning gaze. If he didn’t want to talk, then he would stay silent as well.

He made his way to Chan's room, knowing that the older had spare mattresses tucked away under his bed. If the group was stuck with each other until the doctors found a way to reverse their links, they'd just have to make due. And he was not letting anyone sleep on the bare ground or alone tonight. Their stupid separation anxiety wouldn't let them anyway.

Huffing softly, he made quick work of hauling the two mattresses to the living room. As soon as the younger saw it, Jisung jumped up and started shoving the couches aside, thankfully catching on.

“I have another one,” he said, before leaving for his room and coming back with another mattress and a pile of sheets. He seemed to have trouble dragging the heavy thing and Minho could feel the phantom burns on his side hurt. He tsk'ed, quickly coming to the rescue because apparently Jisung's stupid silence was extended to asking for help.

When he dumped the mattress next to the other two, Jisung awkwardly pointed to the hallway. “Changbin's got more pillows.”

“Got it. You stay here.”

Jisung didn't even protest. Another thing that was out of character for him.

When Minho returned with the pillows, Hyunjin and Chan had joined Jisung on the new sleeping arrangements, folding the sheets and hooking them around the mattresses. Hyunjin was the only one that looked up when he entered and when Minho shot a searching look around his shoulder to see if he could spot any other members, Hyunjin quickly updated him on why no one else was around yet.

“Minnie and Lix are helping Innie shower. Changbin-hyung should be done in a minute.” Hyunjin grinned as he held up the remote, materializing it from somewhere between the sheets. “And I won rock-paper-scissors so I get to choose what we're watching. It’s gonna be the cheesiest romcon I can find and you can’t stop me.”

“No, you don't, I never played,” Minho retorted. “So no romcons for you.” He dropped the pillows right on Hyunjin's head, earning a satisfying oomph from him as one hit him right in the face.

The mattresses shifted when Minho stepped on them to sit down. Chan wobbled along with it and a grunt left him. Minho almost wanted to apologize but held his tongue, seeing how Chan quietly took a pillow from Hyunjin's sputtering self to prop his bandaged leg up. He didn’t seem irritated that Minho had forgotten to be careful. The older sighed in relief as he leaned against the couch.

“That's better. It was starting to pinch.”

As a silent apology, Minho took his sheet from his hands and finished with hooking it around the corners of the mattress. Chan shot him a grateful look.

“Oh!” Hyunjin sat up straighter. “Innie's done in the shower.” He immediately started arranging the other pillows to make room. “Come on, he should sit in the middle! Chan-hyung, move over!”

Minho was content to just watch as they fumbled to make room. It was a battle, getting Chan to sit comfortably while he was balanced on the far edge of the mattress, but eventually they managed. They left a big open spot for Jeongin, pillows surrounding it to create a home-made pit of soft comfort.

Gradually, member after member trickled in. They were all subdued, clearly exhausted after the tumultuous day (or actually month) they'd had. Felix plopped down beside Chan on the floor and cuddled up to him without hesitation. Hyunjin offered him a pillow to sit on so he wouldn’t have to sit on the cold floor. Seungmin and Jeongin came soon after, the older helping Jeongin down and putting his crutches away before joining him on the mattress. He helped prop Jeongin’s leg up in a similar manner to Chan and in just the same way, the youngest sighed in relief as he closed his eyes and leaned his head backwards against the couch, his damp hair creating a dark spot on the fabric.

Changbin was surprisingly last to enter the room and he looked all but happy to be there. Minho narrowed his eyes at that.

There was something there. Changbin was hiding something.

The question was whether or not he wanted to bully Changbin into spilling it.

He didn't get a chance to decide, because Hyunjin started up the tv debate again, proudly proclaiming that he was the boss tonight. Unlike other nights where the whole group would have descended into a loud discussion over who would get to decide, most of them surprisingly just nodded and let Hyunjin do whatever he wanted. Even the dancer himself had clearly not expected that, and he deflated a bit.

Minho couldn't have that, so he sacrificed himself as the one to take the bait.

“As I already said, I refuse to watch a romcom right now. I demand a rematch. You didn’t even play with all of us before you snatched the remote for yourself. Did you do it without me because you’re scared to lose?”

Hyunjin perked right back up, his grin from before returning.

“Ha, you’re on! I will always win! You’ll see, now that you suggested it, you’re set to lose.”

Minho chuckled darkly. “Nuhuh.”

In a flash, both had their hands held out, ready to start the fight. Everyone else was just silently watching. That needed to change.

“Come on,” Minho said, “why don’t I see more hands? Have you all turned into a bunch of cowards? Should I just put on a horror movie when I win?”

That broke at least Seungmin from his stupor. He held out his fist as well, huffing. Jeongin followed suit.

“This really isn’t the time for horror, hyung,” Seungmin said. “We need to be able to sleep tonight.”

Minho shrugged. As if he didn’t know that. Still, he had a part to play, and not everyone was on board yet.

“I don’t know, I think it’s perfect for tonight. A little bit of stress to keep us on our toes. I was thinking the Nun, maybe a Quiet Place?”

“That’s literally the last thing we need,” Chan said tiredly, but at least he also held up his hand. Felix seemed reluctant to loosen his clingy hold on Chan’s arm, but he managed to unstick himself just enough to raise his hand. With only Jisung and Changbin left, the two of them had no choice but to do the same. Their group has always been weak to peer pressure.

(Or maybe everyone was just in need of a bit of normalcy. It was not so much that they really wanted to win, but more that they wanted to contribute and return to how everything was before.)

Minho grinned, satisfied that his plan had worked. “Okay then. Rock… paper, scissors!”

As Hyunjin had predicted, Minho was the very first to lose after just two rounds. He pretended to grumble and mourn his loss of his horror movie night, but of course he didn’t mean it. He sat back, contently watching how the rest slowly got lost in the competition and started putting in effort to actually win. Light was returning to Jisung’s eyes. Felix finally seemed to relax for the first time in what was probably weeks. Changbin actually spoke more than a few words, his reserve around the group finally fading to the background even if it was just for a short while. Jeongin even laughed. It had been a long time since Minho had heard that.

During the thrilling finals of the rock-paper-scissors game, Minho managed to slink away for a second to accept the takeout their manager brought up. The man gave him the boxes with a strained smile, barely greeting him and wishing them all a good night before he was gone again.

Minho rolled his eyes. As soon as everything settled down more, he’d have a serious talk with their manager about his stupid assumptions around their links. It’s not like they were infectious or something. He really should just treat them as normal as he’d always done.

Minho carried the takeout to the kitchen, hearing a subdued argument coming from the living room since Hyunjin had apparently won the tournament, but nobody really wanted to watch a romcom either. Seungmin was vouching for baseball while Jeongin wanted to watch an old animated movie. The others didn’t sound like they cared all that much, but that was not the point.

The background chatter helped ease some of the tension in Minho’s shoulders. Finally, their dorm sounded a bit more like it should. He distributed the dishes to a set of plates and made sure to give everyone the most of their favorite ones before carrying them out to the living room.

“Dinner’s ready,” he announced, interrupting Hyunjin in the middle of his spiel about why ‘Love Actually’ would be the perfect movie to calm down today. The younger’s mouth snapped shut, looking offended for just a second before he hummed happily when he saw Minho brought food. He made grabby hands, but of course Minho ignored that. Just to spite him a little bit, Minho offered the first plate to Chan and the other to Felix, the younger smiling softly when he noticed just what Minho had given him (more egg rolls, his favorite). Minho just gave him a blank stare before going to pick up food for everyone else.

They ate in silence. That was new. Stray Kids never ate in silence, but even Minho didn’t know how to break it. It seemed the discussion from before had died down again and now the tv played some boring ‘How It’s Made’ documentary about bottled water since no one could actually decide what to watch. The competition had been virtually forgotten in favor of staring at their food or at the droning voice on the tv. The dorm returned to its unnatural gloominess that Minho began to hate so much.

Although nobody spoke, Minho did spot some weird looks between the maknaes and Hyunjin. Were they talking in their minds? That didn’t feel fair. They could be filling the quiet right now with their voices, but it seemed that whatever they were talking about, they didn’t want the others to know.

That was new too. The secrets. The insecurities. Before everything happened, they would have shared whatever made Seungmin frown like this and made Hyunjin look at him imploringly. But now Minho could only guess.

Just like he could only guess what was happening with his own link.

He glanced over at Jisung, who was moving his food around lacklusterly. His thoughts were so damn quiet. Something weird kept panging in his chest at the thought that Jisung didn’t want to talk to him anymore. Seriously, what did he do wrong? Was it something he’d said before? He had no clue what it could be, but if it had upset Jisung that much…

Fuck it, he should just man up instead of pouting like a petulant child about it.

He took a breath, before he purposely thought:

Sung, is everything okay?

Jisung jolted visibly, his spoon scooping up a bit of rise and catapulting it off his plate. He quickly cleaned it up before anyone saw and it made Minho’s lip quirk up for the first time that day. There was the Jisung he knew. Clumsy, anxious and easy to startle. He’d missed that so much.

Then a thought from Jisung’s side finally entered Minho’s head for the first time that day and the ache of missing him melted away like snow in the sun.

I’m alright.

And that… was all? Jisung’s eyes turned back to his plate. He didn’t even spare Minho a single glance. He fell annoyingly quiet again. Minho frowned, his lips tugging down again as he waited in vain if Jisung would say anything else.

He didn’t.

Then why don’t you say anything? Minho pressed, not ready to let it go and let them return to their never-ending silence. You’re acting like I broke your laptop and lost all of your music or something.

It’s nothing, don’t worry.

It’s not nothing. Minho really started to lose his patience now. The clipped answers from Jisung reminded him of their predebut time, when everyone was cautious around each other and Jisung always seemed to be looking for a fight. Now he knew that he’d done that because he’d been scared and had tried to distance himself, carve a place within the group before anyone could forcibly pull him out. But what did Jisung have to be afraid of now? It was only them. Them, a boring tv show, their exhausted members and their weird links that kept them stuck within the same perimeters. They were safe. There was no need to fight for a place or to be understood anymore. At least, not if they would just be truthful to each other like they used to be.

Are you just tired? Minho continued. Are you blocking me half-way again? Is that why I haven’t heard a single thing from you all day? How do you even keep that up for so long?

It’s nothing, hyung. Please drop it.

Minho put his plate behind him on the couch, not feeling particularly hungry anymore.

No, I won’t drop it. Not until you tell me exactly what’s going on with you. I know you’re not okay. You look like shit and you barely wanted to fight for the watching rights tonight even though you always try to bore us with the same Ghibli movies. Tell me what’s wrong before I’ll have to make you.

Nothing is wrong, Jisung answered. If it was even possible, it sounded like he said it through gritted teeth, frustration blending into his tone. Not that that would make Minho stop. He didn’t care if he was annoying Jisung. He’d press the younger until he gave in, not caring if it hurt his little, fragile pride he’d suddenly developed between the hospital release and the dorms.

This link meant no secrets between them, and while he hated that, right now he made every use of it. Jisung couldn’t hide from him forever. He’d find out what was bothering him if it was the last thing he’d do.

So what? You’ve just gotten sick of me? Decided to ignore this freaky bond just because you can’t handle it anymore? Damn it, Sung, didn’t we decide at the hospital that we wouldn’t ignore this between us? This doesn’t only affect you, you know. It’s a two way street. If you stay quiet, I don’t know what you’re thinking or if I can do something about it.

Oh, so you only care when it affects you too? Jisung snapped. Finally, he looked up. There was a small fire starting in his eyes, one Minho recognized all too well. He took the invitation for a fight all too eagerly.

No, but-

Jisung wasn’t done yet, blazing over him. I thought you liked having your mind for yourself. You keep reminding everyone this whole thing is just a freak accident you want us to forget. Did I get on your fragile nerves by finally staying quiet? Isn’t that what you wanted? Should I cut off the physical link too? Is feeling my fucking heartbeat too much for you?

Minho immediately frowned, Jisung’s remark hitting the spot within his ribcage with a sharp jab that surprisingly hurt.

Fuck off. That’s not what I meant or what this is about, he responded, even if it was exactly what this was about. The phantom padum-padum of Jisung’s heart was annoying every time he became aware of it. As was the feeling when Jisung went to sit down, move around or just do anything really. It wasn’t like it was something he was aware of every second of the entire day, but every time he remembered, Jisung’s side of things always felt like an unreal layer on top of his own skin. He wished he could scratch it off. He wished he could get used to it already.

He wished he could like it just like Jisung seemed to do. Everything would be so much easier then.

He softened his tone. I’m just- I wanna know what’s going on in your head. I don’t like it when you’re so silent because… I wanna… I’m worried and I wanna… ugh, don’t make me say it. You know what I mean.

Jisung rolled his eyes. No, I don’t. Just drop it, hyung. If we keep talking like this, the others will think we’re talking about them or something.

So what? Let them think that. I don’t care about what they think about us.

You don’t? Hah. Then what about how people think about us? The manager? The higher-ups? They agree with your take that this is unnatural. They hate it just as much as you do. Don’t you wanna pretend this whole thing doesn’t exist so nobody else will see us as the freaks that you keep calling us? Don’t you wanna save your own image so people don’t think you are messed up in the head?

That stung for some reason. Before he could stop it, a thought popped up in his mind that surprised even himself.

That’s not true, I don’t hate it.

He blinked, taken aback. Wait, what? He did. He hated their link with a passion. It had changed everything between them. It had stuck him with Jisung in a way he’d never wanted and it had given the younger insights in things he’d never wanted to get out into the open. He hated how he could barely control it while Jisung seemed to breeze through blocking him off and changing the rules whenever he wanted. He hated how it showed everything he wanted to keep close to his chest. How someone else was always listening in on his thoughts when he had no choice of the matter. How he was left open and raw for Jisung to dissect as he pleased.

He hated everything about it.

This was just another example of a thought he couldn’t control.

Tsk, don’t lie to me, Jisung thought back. You’ve made it quite clear even before we got saved. You hate this and you hate talking to me. You don’t have to deny it.

This conversation was quickly unraveling from Minho’s hold and he blinked again, fighting to keep his thoughts under control before something else escaped without his intention.

What? Why would you believe that? That’s not it at all. I don’t hate talking to you. I never said that. I- I would never say that.

Had he messed up that bad? Had he made Jisung feel like he hated him instead of the link between them? How had that even happened?

Jisung’s cold face and rigid posture was enough of an answer for him. He didn’t say anything anymore. It seemed he really didn’t believe Minho when he said he didn’t hate him.

Minho had thought that when he woke up in the hospital all alone, he’d felt what absolute terror was. He thought that nothing else could top it. He thought that after their rescue, and after they’d gotten released from the hospital and were allowed to go back home, that he would never have to feel as off-kilter and vulnerable as that ever again.

He was wrong. Because his thoughts didn’t seem to have gotten the memo to stay quiet, and he wasn’t in time to stop what came out next.

Sungie, I don’t hate you. Please, I- I hate myself.

Jisung’s eyes widened and Minho didn’t know how fast he slammed the mental wall in front of his thoughts. He jumped from his spot on the mattress, startling everyone else. Without a word, he left the room, his dinner half-eaten and forgotten on the couch. It didn’t matter what everyone thought of him as he stormed away, he just needed to leave. He rushed inside the bathroom, closing the door and locking it.

Shit, shit, shit, he had not just thought that. This was exactly the thing he’d wanted to avoid. This was why the doctors had to find a cure for them fast. Jisung shouldn’t have to hear any of his doubts. He shouldn’t have to bear with Minho’s stupid insecurities and be stuck with all that was the anxious mess that he was inside of his mind.

Trying to make his mind slow down, he clamped his hand over his head, squeezing his eyes shut.

Far too soon, knocking came from the other side of the door.

“Hyung? Please stop blocking me. I’m sorry I pushed you to say that. I… I know you didn’t mean it.”

Minho squeezed his eyes even tighter, putting all his focus on keeping the wall up.

Because no, he did mean it. His mind had finally had enough and given Jisung the one truth that he had never wanted out in the open.

He hated himself. The only reason the bond was such an awful thing to him was because he was too broken inside. It wasn’t Jisung’s fault, but somehow that had gotten lost in their communication and now Jisung thought that Minho hated him. Hated talking to him and hated being close with him. That wasn’t even close to the truth.

Minho knew he’d always been rash. Sharp and cold and foul-mouthed and closed off. He knew that Jisung was one of the only people who’d ever managed to get into his shell and nestle there, stubbornly claiming his place. He’d stayed close no matter how many times Minho tried to push him away.

Compared to Minho, Jisung was a saint. Though he fought and cussed just as much, he did it clearly because he cared so much about everything. Everyone could see that. Minho on the contrary, fought because he was just an asshole like that. He fought and lashed out because he didn’t want anyone close, because he wanted to keep to himself and keep only himself safe.

The kidnapping had changed that and he hated it. He hated how he’d been all over the place with his emotions. How he’d been useless, helpless and stuck. He hated how the others had been the ones to constantly save him. To get him off that platform, to pull him out of the inky waters, to navigate and guide him while he was forced to follow or stay behind.

He hated himself because when it mattered the most, he couldn’t do anything. He was a useless, useless member. The others got hurt because he hadn’t done anything to help. Jisung had gotten hurt because he hadn’t done anything to help.

“Hyung, please. You’re okay, I’m here. You’re- You’re having a panic attack. Let me help you, please. Please, open the door?”

Minho shook his head even though no one could see it. He knew Jisung would be able to feel it anyway.

He wasn’t having a panic attack. That was ridiculous. His breathing was fine. He wasn’t even shaking. This was nothing like what the younger dealt with.

He was just overreacting.

“Hyung, whatever you’re thinking, it’s not true. Do I need to get Chan-hyung? He’ll probably do a better job at calming you down than me, but… I don’t wanna leave you alone. You’ve helped me through these so many times now, I wanna return the favor. So take a deep breath for me? Try to say to your thoughts that they should shut up because they’re not true.”

Minho’s fingers dug into his scalp. It hurt, but it was grounding. The darkness behind his closed eyes felt oppressing but he couldn’t find it in him to open them again. Flashes of the platform shot through his head. The distance, the height, the darkness. The way it felt when it went down, the hands coming closer, the water swallowing everything and the pure horror that he’d felt when he’d sensed Jisung’s lungs start burning from filling up slowly. He’d been drowning. Minho was still drowning.

“Hyung, please! At least drop the wall! Let me hear what’s hurting you so much!”

“No!” Minho finally found his voice again. It sounded shrill in the echoing bathroom and he flinched. That sounded nothing like him. The pitch was too high, that one single word was too scared.

But he wasn’t scared. He couldn’t be. There was nothing to be scared of.

Some mumbling came from the other side of the door, before suddenly, a flood of calm overcame him. He couldn’t tell who sent it to him, but it made all the tension bleed out of his body in a single second. He staggered back, back banging against the door as he slid down to the ground, completely boneless. The images of the platform fuzzied out, nothing replacing it and leaving his mind blank.

Deep breaths, his heart calming down, arms hugging him tight. Those feelings clashed with his own and drowned the memories out. Almost on their own accord, his hands loosened their grip on his head and he dropped his arms, his eyes opening and blearily looking around like he’d just woken up. With the sudden calm came tickles of relief too, sadness and worry and all kinds of feelings that didn’t make sense together. These had to be from one of the others. Judging from the silence on the other side of the door, most of it probably came from Jisung.

Tentatively, Minho spoke again. He breathed out shakily.

“Sung, are you… doing this?”

Just as quietly, he got his answer.

“Is it working?”

Minho nodded and he could feel Jisung let out a big breath. There was pressure against his back, meaning that Jisung had probably gone to sit against the opposite side of the door. He felt guilty about having made such a big deal about everything now, especially since it had been Jisung who’d had to save him from it. Again.

“Sorry,” was all he said. Jisung stayed quiet for a second, seemingly letting him collect his thoughts and what he wanted to say at his own time. Minho leaned his head back, clunking it against the door. “I know this is a long shot: but can you just forget everything that just happened?”

A tsk came from the other side of the wood. “That’s not an option, hyung. We gotta talk about this. I think we’ve been misunderstanding each other, don’t you think?”

Well, misunderstanding was probably not the right word. Minho just hadn't been clear in what he meant and he’d made Jisung doubt things that he would have never had to doubt if it weren’t for Minho’s inability to express what he felt. It was all on Minho. Jisung hadn’t done anything wrong.

“I don’t really wanna keep talking like this. Can I come in?”

Reluctantly, Minho shuffled to the side and reached out to unlock the door, letting it swing open. It was easier to talk on the same side of the door and he knew Jisung wasn’t going to let this go even if he did keep the door locked. He shifted until he was with his back against the wall, making place for the younger to join him.

Jisung crawled in, closing the door with a gentle click behind him.

“Hey.”

“Hey.”

Jisung sat on the opposite side of their small bathroom. They tentatively looked at each other, something unspoken passing between them.

“I didn’t know you had panic attacks too,” Jisung said eventually.

“I don’t. That wasn’t a panic attack.”

“It was, though.”

“It wasn’t.”

Almost fondly, Jisung huffed. “You really didn’t realize it? Panic attacks come in all shapes and sizes, you know. It doesn’t have to be the hyperventilating kind. Getting lost inside your own head is another form of it.”

Minho frowned. Was it? But it hadn’t felt like the kind of attack Jisung had at all.

Jisung must have sensed his confusion, because a small, sad smile pulled at the corner of his lips.

“Oh, hyung. I’m sorry I didn’t help sooner. If I’d known you were struggling so much, I would have been more honest. I thought…” His smile dropped again. “I thought you wanted to ignore our link because it freaked you out. I thought you hated that you were stuck with me.”

“I do hate it,” Minho said softly, wincing at the pang of hurt that came from Jisung. “But not like that,” he quickly added. “I hate it because you’re stuck with me.”

Jisung’s eyes grew wide. “What?”

Minho swallowed. “Yeah, I… you shouldn’t have to deal with me like this. I… I should be stronger. I’m only bringing you down when you can hear everything I think. You shouldn’t have to hear everything like that.”

“I know you may not believe it,” Jisung said carefully, “but I actually like hearing everything.”

Now it was Minho’s turn to be perplexed.

“What? What do you mean? How can you possibly…”

Jisung shrugged, looking up at the ceiling. “I don’t know, I guess it’s comforting? Having your constant background thoughts calms me down. It makes me feel safe because I’m not alone? If that makes sense.”

Minho toyed with the edge of his pants, curling his knees against his chest so he could hook his chin on his knees.

He could kind of see where Jisung was coming from. The silence from the younger had been unnerving today. He’d already gotten so used to Jisung’s constant mumbles in their minds that the quiet had made him more stressed than he’d like to admit. Closing off the link like that… if it was even possible, that felt like the unnatural thing to do now.

Oh, what their lives had come to.

“I guess…” he admitted when he’d realized he’d been quiet for too long. Jisung hummed.

“Yeah, so… I understand if you don’t wanna keep this thing open between us. I can block it off from now on and I promise I won’t take it down without your permission. I just… you should know that I don’t actually mind hearing what you think even if it is vulnerable or scared, okay? I kinda like knowing what you think when you can’t say it out loud. I like having you this close.” Jisung’s head snapped to the side and he quickly waved his hands, avoiding eye contact. “Not that I’d ever force you to be that open with me of course! You’re entitled to your own mind! I’m sorry I might have been invasive to you! I get it if you don’t wanna share everything with me!”

Seeing Jisung try so hard to be understanding was making something stupidly gooey melt in Minho’s chest. He fought to keep down a smile. It didn’t make any sense, but some of his reluctance about being open just melted away around Jisung. The boy always tried to be so gentle with him, even if neither of them was gentle by any means.

Maybe… maybe he could return the favor for once.

Inhaling deeply, he braced himself.

“I don’t actually mind it most of the time, Sung,” he confessed. “Knowing that you can hear me scares me, but knowing that I can hear you is… it’s nice. It’s not bad. I guess what I’m trying to say is… I guess I wouldn’t mind keeping the link open for now.”

Jisung’s eyes grew impossibly wider and he looked back. “Yeah?” he asked, far too much hope in his tone. “You mean it?”

“Don’t make me say it again, but… yeah. We should still block it when we need to concentrate during work, but when we’re in the dorms like this, I… don’t mind.” He pointed a finger Jisung’s way. “As long as you swear you’re not telling any of my thoughts to anyone else. These are only open to you and no one else, got it?”

A grin spread on Jisung’s face. He looked far too pleased, his eyes sparkling. “Got it,” he parroted back. “As long as you tell me when I need to fuck off, okay? I don’t wanna be the cause of another panic attack if I can help it.”

“It wasn’t a panic attack, stop calling it that.”

“it was, though. You can’t lie to me of all people about that.” He glanced at the door. “Oh, and probably not to the others either. I’m pretty sure we could all feel it…”

Minho followed his gaze to the door. Ah, shit. He’d forgotten about that. As soon as they would return to the living room the others would no doubt bombard him with questions after the stunt he’d just pulled. They weren’t going to let this go without answers.

“Hey, we can just say it was me,” Jisung offered. “Everyone knows I’m prone to have these and Felix actually helped calm you down because he must have thought it was me, so it would be believable?”

Minho kinda loathed that he actually considered the offer.

“No,” he said, shaking his head. “I’ll just say that it’s none of their business. You don’t have to lie for me. Those nosy kids don’t need to know everything that happens between us.”

Jisung chuckled. “If Chan hasn’t already seen it happen anyway.”

Minho groaned. “Dammit, I forgot about that too. These links make everything so much more complicated.”

“They do,” Jisung said with a shrug. He stood up with a grunt, dusting off his pants. “But I gotta say, they also make things more interesting.” He held out his hand and pulled Minho up with it. “We just gotta figure it all out together.”

Minho only grunted, having had enough of all the sappy words. He let the wall in his mind lower slowly, looking everywhere but at Jisung when he could feel the younger start to smile.

When he was sure the block was down, he thought a single thing.

Thank you.

Jisung’s smile stretched so wide it hurt Minho’s own cheeks.

Chapter Text

While he wasn’t sure of much anymore, he could hear one thing loud and clear: screaming.

His members were screaming. They were in pain. He couldn’t get to them. His members were in danger and all he could do was listen.

“This won’t hurt you too much, subject 124,” an unknown voice said to him. He blinked open bleary eyes to see a person in a white coat bend down closer to him, something metal glinting in their hand. It pierced his neck, going in deep and Chan went rigid, letting out a weak grunt of pain as he felt something being injected.

It burned him from the inside. He was dying.

His members were screaming.

“Chan! Chan, help me!”

“Chan-hyung, help!”

“It hurts! Stop! Chan-hyung!”

“Please, someone, help! Chan-hyung!”

Chan couldn’t move. The fire was immobilizing him. Around him, blurry people in white were moving. He couldn’t even sense the others right anymore.

“And now onto the second phase, dissecting your heart…” The person bent closer again, and Chan was helpless to fight them off. He couldn’t even scream. “This won’t hurt too much… for you.”

His members filled his silence. Screaming drowned out everything else. The pain, the fear—it was nothing compared to the pure agony he could hear around him.

“CHAN-HYUNG!”

He shot awake.

Breathing ragged and painful, wide eyes shot to every corner of his living room, searching blindly for any kind of danger. He could never be sure what was hiding in the dark. There could be wolves. There could be a flood. There could be death. Rapidly cooling sweat made him shiver. He kicked off the sheets tangled around his legs, digging his nails into the mattress.

He was at the dorm. How had he…?

A soft hum came from beside him and frantic eyes looked down, finding Felix curled up under the sheets next to him. He didn’t even seem to be awake, but he still stirred, his hand searching for Chan’s. Chan simply watched as Felix sleepily mumbled something, grabbing his hand and squeezing it softly, before he stopped moving again. His breathing was deep and calm. Subconsciously, Chan tried to mirror it.

Oh. Looking across the mattress, he spotted Jeongin and Seungmin. On the other side, there were Jisung, Minho, Hyunjin and Changbin. Everyone was here. That was right, they’d fallen asleep in the living room that night. They couldn’t go too far, not when it hurt him or Felix to be too far apart or when Jeongin ran the risk of relapsing into a frantic state of mind every time he lost the others out of his sight.

Chan put his free hand on his chest, letting it rise and fall on purpose. Okay. He was alright. It had just been a dream. It hadn’t been real.

It wasn’t what had actually happened, he knew. Back when the gas had taken him away and he’d woken up strapped to a chair and surrounded by the mad scientists, he’d quickly discovered something had been really, badly wrong. They’d somehow blocked his links. He couldn’t see through Minho’s side, he couldn’t feel Felix, he couldn’t sense anything. It’s a blur, what exactly had happened between the time he’d woken up and the moment his members had torn through the wall and defended him with their lives. All he knew for sure, was that it had been terrifying. Terrifying and painful.

They’d done something to him. He still… he still couldn’t feel the others that well. Felix had told him that at the end, a link had snapped between them all and they could sense each other’s feelings across the entire group now.

Chan couldn’t.

Even now, with Felix right next to him, he felt far away. Unclear. Like a muffled voice calling a name he didn’t know. The others felt even worse. Whatever link had snapped between them had either passed him or been blocked off almost completely by whatever the scientists had used to keep him hidden from them before. Like a raging river only allowed to pass through a little hole, a measly stream was the only thing getting to his side. He’d shared this with the doctors, of course, hopeful that it could be the answer to getting rid of these bonds, but the doctors hadn’t found a clear cause for his abnormality.

Which meant that not only were the others still stuck with their links, but he was stuck with this vague, gnawing feeling. Knowing he should be able to sense them but being virtually unable to.

The only plus side to it was that Felix hadn’t fully woken up from his nightmare because of it. At least now, Chan could be alone with his fear once more. The younger already slept awfully since their rescue, it was the least Chan could feel grateful for that he wasn’t ruining that sleep even further.

Maybe the kidnappers damaged something in him permanently. He didn’t know how to feel about that. Was he happy he was blocked off from the others again? Was he sad about it? Was he… jealous?

When they got mobbed that afternoon by the press, he’d barely felt the panic from the others. It had allowed him to lead them at front without getting overwhelmed by anything more than his own feelings. That had been an advantage. He’d seen how Jisung and Felix had succumbed to the flood of feelings. How Minho had closed off and Jeongin had looked close to losing it. Hyunjin had been paler than a ghost. Seungmin had taken one rear, Changbin the other. They’d barely made it to the cars.