Treasure tales

Jaehyuk #7: Boredom

Jaehyuk crashed onto the ground, huffing heavily. He winced as he grabbed his shoulder, feeling a bruise form.

He looked up, shaking. The person standing in front of him had a smirk on his face.

"There's a reason why we must do this," he said, kneeling down in front of him. He cupped a hand over Jaehyuk's chin. "Be strong, okay?" Then he leaned in closer and whispered in Jaehyuk's ear, "but keep silent, or your friends, and especially that Rin girl..."

I sat on the crusty bunk bed grumpily, folding my arms in childish temper. I was not the only one. Everyone was clearly a little on edge. Jeongwoo for one had been pacing the room in a desperate attempt to expend his boundless energy, but too frustrated to do so through his usual excitable bursts. Even the usual undaunted Jihoon look troubled. He hadn't moved from the rock-hard bed since morning, and it was already 4pm in the afternoon.

I looked around the room. Doyoung had been trying to tell the lamest jokes ever in a bid to raise the mood, hopping to and fro, but his attempts have proved futile. Poor boy, he was so sweet. Junghwan was acting as he usually did, but I'm not one to judge since he was almost always cold around me. The other members tell me he's generally more cheerful. Haruto had become even more clingy with his doll(why did he even bring that on a Jaehyuk rescue mission, now that I think about it?) than usual. He simply refused to part with it.

Asahi on the other hand had been ignoring everyone since morning, which wasn't much since nobody other than Yedam and Doyoung tried to talk to him(and Doyoung's antics was met with the cold shoulder.) Asahi has his earphones in as usual, and refused to look at anybody, focusing strictly on his music. Yedam being Yedam tried to make conversation here and there as well, in a much more tactful and socially acceptable way than Doyoung(which basically just means no jokes that makes people go 🙄), also in a bid to lighten the mood. But it was clear to me that he himself was a tad bit disturbed, which made trying to cheer others up exponentially more difficult.

Yoshinori on the other hand had taken to a box of paints he found in a corner filled with colours never seen on earth before, and probably couldn't exist on earth. There was one that appeared to be a silvery-brown-green-mosaic shade, but it is difficult to put into Earth words. It made Yoshi excited, so he had his mind set on decorating the drab walls of the dorm(a very sorry sight of a wall, admittedly) with beautiful paintings. I saw Asahi look at Yoshi a few times during the process, but he seemed adamant in keeping to himself.

Junkyu and Mashiho were sitting close together, gaming on their mobile phones. It seemed to be their way of taking their minds off our predicament, and also probably because it was impossible for Mashi to play basketball in this cramped space. It did not help that the rest of the members were agitated as well.

Lastly the leader Hyunsuk had been sitting at the corner, eyebrows furrowed, staring into space. Occasionally I see his fingers tap and fidget, a characteristic action of someone who is trying to think very hard. I believe he is trying to think of a strategy to save us, but he refused to answer my question so I shall not make any assumptions.

 Where was Jaehyuk, then, you may ask. You see, after that day Bigbang caught us, they had shuffled us to this dorm, with no way of getting out or gaining access to them, so that we could neither escape or fight them. And each day they took Jaehyuk for an extended period of time, at a differing number of hours each day(on the first day it was about 16 hours, on the second it was 8 hours, on the third it was 13). But Jaehyuk had apparently been scared to silence by them, because he refused to tell us what they did to him every day, or what happened to him during the period he was gone at all. 

What we do know, however, is that each day he entered completely exhausted. He also had odd bruises and bandages never seen on him prior, which he claims occurred when he fell down. All of us knew that Jaehyuk wasn't the klutz he was making himself to be, so it was certainly odd that the injuries only increased every day. I sighed to myself. Five days had already passed since then. Deep down inside me I also worried about my grades back on earth, but I supposed that was less important considering this was a life-and-death situation. I wondered if we had already been declared missing back on earth. I would prefer to get past my A level year smoothly, however.

In the dorm there was only one good bed, a single bed, with fluffy pillows and a soft mattress. All of the others were rock hard. At first we contested over who would get the good bed, but after all that was happening to Jaehyuk, the winner(Junghwan) begrudgingly gave the place to Jaehyuk. So that, whatever was happening to him, he may at the very least, get a good night's sleep.

So here I was, sitting on my bed, observing the other Treasure members, anxiously waiting for Jaehyuk's return. And I'm sure it was the same for the others. Other than the almost unbearable ennui that had enveloped us in this dangy drab room(now that I think about it, how has Junkyu and Mashiho's phones not died yet?), we were all worried for one person: Jaehyuk. No one knew what they were doing to him, or why they did it to specifically him. Even Asahi, who was the most distant from Treasure given his late entry to the group. He looked troubled. He tried to hide it, but it was written all over his face. Even the usual expressionless Asahi was not unaffected.

There are many things that I don't believe in, and one of them was religion. But as I sat there, my eyes closed, I prayed to the very skies that I didn't believe in and begged them to save and protect all of us, and especially Jaehyuk.