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.”