Downpour

HE STAYED QUIET

"Chan?"

The voice talking to him is rough and distinctive. It only takes him a matter of seconds to place it, his sleep-addled brain slower than usual.

Jihoon.

He opens his eyes, trying to work out where he is, but there's only darkness. The room he's in is pitch black, impossible to make out anything amongst the dark. Very faintly, he can make out the silhouette of someone next to him.

"Are you awake?" Jihoon's voice is quiet, he's practically whispering. There's a crash in the distance, and Chan suddenly notices how close they are when he feels the older tense up at the noise.

He goes to rub his eyes, but something's constricting his arms, "Yeah." It's uncomfortable, and he's not quite sure where he is or what's happening. It's too dark, and his eyes haven't adjusted yet.

"Good." There's another crash in the distance, and when Jihoon speaks again, his voice is barely audible, "Stay very, very quiet. Don't let them know we're here."

Chan's mind races, trying to come to some sort of conclusion that makes sense. The older's breath is warm by his ear, They're close, skin just touching. It's slightly uncomforable, he's lying on his stomach and Jihoon is as well, but he can't quite figure out why.

His hands are trapped by his sides, and there's something above him as well, preventing him from getting up. He shifts slightly, trying to get into a more comfortable position, and his knee knocks against Jihoon's leg, confirming their proximity.

There's an even louder crash in the background, but this one is much closer. He can make out footsteps in the distance, the doors clicking loudly against the tiled floors.

Someone switches on a light.

The room is suddenly illuminated, but it doesn't make anything clearer.

He's lying underneath some sort of wooden structure, pressed up next to Jihoon. There's hardly any room to move, barely enough space to fit two people, but neither of them are particularly large.

The planks above his head are what obstructed him earlier, and they surround them, blocking out all light except for a narrow strip directly in front of him. He can see Jihoon frantically scanning through the gap, and he frowns, taking in the view himself.

There's a small aisle between their hiding place and what looks like a shelf in a supermarket. The colourful packaging glistens in the bright artificial light, but they're faded and crumpled. They obviously haven't been replaced in a while.

Chan doesn't know exactly how much a dream can differ to the real world, but this seems like a huge contrast to the robot-like workers of supermarkets he'd seem before. Something is strange.

Jihoon's warning echoes in his mind.

Stay quiet.

What was that all about? Nothing makes sense, but something stops him from asking Jihoon.

There's something very off about the entire situation, something that seems dangerous. There are goosebumps running up his arms that he hadn't noticed before. Something's making the alarm bells in his head ring, and he can't quite work out why.

Next to him, Jihoon's entire body goes rigid.

The footsteps are coming closer.

Chan can just about see them at the end of the aisle, making their way slowly past the wooden structure. The sound of their heels on the floor seems impossibly loud, black soled shoes blocking out his view as they walk past.