The funhouse of murder • Stray Kids X reader

51 ☠️

Hyunjin was the first to get moving, walking up to the note that was displayed obviously. That probably had the instructions. There was no way we'd just have to go at random, that felt too easy. I walked up to Hyunjin, carefully reading along over his shoulder, making sure not to get too close to him. I was thankful for his earlier outburst to defend me, but I'd still rather stay out of his way. "Everyone shut up for a sec," he said, about to read it, giving an extra glance at Jisung. Honestly, he might dislike him even more than me if he's going to be that petty to a guy that just burned his entire back. Hyunjin scrapes his throat, making sure he's got everyone's attention.

"Dear players, firstly, congratulations on making it to the next zone. Before you stands a box with in there 9 colored sticks. You will each blind pick a stick to get your designated door and color. There will be no trades, or both players will be disqualified. Good luck, and remember; have fun."

"Seems simple enough," Felix answered him relieved. For now all we had to do was simply had to pull out one each, and get through the corresponding doors in time. Behind those doors was probably the real challenge. They just wanted to make sure we wouldn't match the teams to our advantage, I'm sure. Clever of them, but it might make it harder for us. Though I wished we could, paring me and Seungmin together in this case was probably a bad idea, given our physical states. Both Jeongin and Jisung weren't feeling the best either with their injuries. This really all came down to chance. A true gamble.

"Order doesn't matter in this thing right?" Hyunjin asked, not even waiting for an answer as he put his hand through the flaps of the box. I instantly tensed up. Judging from before, it could have just as well been a trap, but thankfully that didn't seem to be the case. He pulled his hand out again, revealing a small brown ice cream stick with a blue top on it, the same glass mark engraved in it. "That's settled then. Who's next?" he nonchalantly continued, like nothing bad was going on, like Jisung's whimpering didn't even exist. "Felix?" Hyunjin urged him, as Felix was one of the few actually paying attention to the box. Chan, Minho and Seungmin were all around Jisung, trying their best to calm him down.

"Sure," Felix answered, pulling his eyes off Jisung, to repeat the same action. My eyes were glued to the box, so curious to see who enters where. We had to strategize in these short... now nine minutes that we had left to get out of here. "I got green," Felix answered hesitantly, as he stared at the mushroom engraved on his stick. Something seemed off about his reaction to it, but he couldn't possibly know what it would be, right? Unless he hated either the color green or mushrooms, it didn't make much sense. I shrugged it off, watching as Changbin stepped forward to get his designated door. "Mine's red," he answered, already standing next to the door. That meant I would get with either of these three at least.

Jeongin followed too, getting assigned to the blue door. Hyunjin's eyes lit up slightly as he figured he'd be together with Jeongin. Those two were pretty close after all, judging from the way Hyunjin kept me from him in the beginning of it all. They must have known each other already, like Minho and Jisung, though truthfully I still didn't know how either of them all were connected. I quickly counted in my head; three doors for nine people. Were we going in three by three by three? It seemed like the most logical option.

I followed, watching how the other's were still busy. I hesitantly stuck my hand in, feeling nothing but the few sticks left. Peeking wasn't an option given how tight the grip around my hand was. I held my breath, closing my eyes as I hovered over two of them, debating which of the two to pick. I breathed out, picking one up. The suspension was killing me, the color coming out last. A familiar looking color came up, my eyes immediately going to the same door; blue, like Hyunjin and Jeongin. I didn't know whether to be annoyed or relieved with my group, but for now it seemed like this was what I'd have. Meaning just as well I probably wasn't going to see the others anymore until we made it out again.

"Guys, the clock is ticking," Changbin urged, though my eyes went right past him to Felix. If I still wanted to talk to him, it'd have to happen either now, or not until way later. I gave Jeongin a quick smile back, walking up to Felix first. "Lix, can we... talk for a second?" I asked hesitantly, checking to make sure no one was paying attention to us. The worry on his face was now nowhere to be seen, that same nothing-saying smile on his face again as his pinky interlocked with mine. He leaned in, his lips almost touching my right ear, his hot breath hovering over my neck. "Let's talk when we get through this zone okay? There's something I want to tell you, and I'd rather take my time for it," he chuckled, backing away again with a wink.

I pulled my pinky back, feeling my face heat up. "Sure," I muttered, giving him a small nod before hastily getting back to my group. Worrying over what it was wouldn't help me now, but it only made me more and more curious about whether Changbin was right or not. Did he truly like me? Or was he so casual with others too? Maybe he was just trying to keep it quiet, trying to hide whatever conversation we'd be having. And still, I already knew I wasn't going to be able to get it out of my head, wondering just what he wanted to say.

But that answer had to wait just a little longer.