Third Person's POV
With a frown on his face, Baekhyun stood at where Jihyun left him. It had been a few minutes since she said she'd go to the bathroom but until now she isn't here.
Baekhyun stated to have a bad feeling. But he thinks that maybe he is just paranoid and getting too worried again. He just can't help it whenever Jihyun's not beside him.
"Baekhyun hyung!"
The latter hissed and placed a hand on his chest. With a glare, he turned to the guy behind him. "Chanyeol, are you giving me a heart attack??" he hissed at the latter.
"What's occupying your thoughts, hyung?" asked Chanyeol.
"Nothing," Baekhyun hisses.
"Yeah right," Chanyeol scoffed. "Well whatever it is, it must be so deep it got you frozen right at your spot," he says.
"Whatever, Yeol. Just state your business," Baekhyun replied with a little roll of his eyes.
"Have you seen my queen?" Chanyeol inquired.
Baekhyun frowns. "Your queen?"
"Oh, yeah right. She's your queen," Chanyeol laughs slightly. "But seriously, did you see Jihyun? You two were together earlier."
Baekhyun sighed, "I also have no idea, Chanyeol. She went to the bathroom earlier and is gone for minutes now."
The smile on Chanyeol's face faltered. Not knowing why, his friend's statement just brought a rush of nervousness through his system.
"So... She's still in the bathroom at the moment?" Chanyeol asked and Baekhyun nodded.
Without saying anything else, Chanyeol grabbed Baekhyun by the wrist and pulled him away from the crowd and booming music. Only then Baekhyun realized that Chanyeol is pulling him towards the bathroom where Jihyun could possibly be.
"Jihyun?" Chanyeol calls out. "Jihyun!!" he repeated louder.
They tried to enter the bathroom despite the fact it were for females only. And there they saw something on the wall.
"What's...?" Baekhyun trails off as he read what was on the wall.
Both of their blood ran cold. They instantly knew what happened to Jihyun and their hearts thumped hard against their chests.
A familiar red print of a tiger's head with styles of dripping right at the bottom was what's on the wall.
"Jihyun..."
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Jihyun currently lies unconcious on a queen-sized bed. The whole room was fit for a queen with the mix of the different shades of red and black.
Despite the dark colors, there was enough light inside the room. Everything seemed normal. Everything seemed peaceful. Even Jihyun who just lied down the bed, sleeping ever so soundly.
But that is what it seemed.
Soon later, the girl awoken. Her head spinned as soon as she opened her eyes. But she managed to sit up straight and wake her senses up.
Her eyes immediately grew wide when she realized she's in an unfamiliar vicinity. And what surprised her more is her clothing. She is now wearing a pair of black leggings, shoes, and shirt. Even her hair wasn't in a bun anymore but just down.
"W-Where---" she uttered but was interrupted by a voice.
"I see you've awaken, Jihyun."
The latter gasped silently and looked around, trying to search where the voice came from. Was he inside the room?
"No, Jeon... I'm not in there---but I am watching," the voice says.
The man who's speaking must be so powerful that even just by his voice, Jihyun felt so nervous, so scared.
She already know who kidnapped her - which gang did. And she felt so frightened.
But she cannot let it take over at the moment. She needs to be strong.
"Where am I??" she asks after a few seconds later.
"Guess," the man behind the speaker chuckled devilishly.
"I am not good at guessing," Jihyun answered back boldly. But her blood was running cold. Where could the others be??
"Alright then," the man says. "Let's just say you're in one of my cages. And inside other cages are where your friends lay."
"Release them," Jihyun demanded. "They have done nothing wrong."
"You don't know anything, Jeon," the man responds. His voice getting darker than usual. "So if I were you, learn how to rightfully talk back someone like me - powerful."
Jihyun shook her head. "If you're not going to release them, I'll do it myself," she spoke. Despite her braveness, she still felt scared deep inside. But for the sake of her friends, she needs to be tough.
"Alright then, brave girl," the man laughs. "But you don't know what you're doing. So I'd I were you, just stay there and wait until your friends arrive to save you. If they could."
"I'm not dependent like you," Jihyun snaps back.
"Dependent??"
"Yes," Jihyun answered back. "If you're really powerful, strong, brave, whatever... You could've just showed yourself in the first place. But you covered yourself with your minions and hid."
"Like you and your friends weren't?"
That had Jihyun's lips sealed. He's right. They were also hiding all the time from them.
"But... If it really is your wish, then might as well grant it," the man says.
Nothing else came right after that. Jihyun decides to get off the bed and headed towards the door.
But something caught her eye.
"No way..." she utters as she walked up towards it.
It was the same jacket she saw in Heeji's closet the first time she stepped foot in the hideout.
It felt so light in her hands. The leather felt ordinary and the print felt like an ordinary print too. The feeling she had when she saw it first was quite different in this one.
Without thinking twice, she slipped the jacket on and walked out the room.
It was dim. The walls appeared a darker shade of red and there were only a few small lights on. But they were enough for Jihyun to see.
Another thing was how narrow the hallway was.
Jihyun's heart started to race. She already felt unsafe inside the that room and the feeling worsened here outside. But the thought that her friends are just right around the corner gave her this courage, she started to take steps forward.
"You can do this..." she breathes out to herself as she continued on her way. Her footsteps were the only thing she could hear and everything else was silent. And that made her heart race more - in a bad way.
She finally reached the end of the hallway but there was a way to the right and another to the left. Both paths looked just the exact same and Jihyun was unsure which to choose.
So she decides the path on her right.
"How long is this hallway??" she thought to herself.
She finally reached the end but there was one other way to the left. So she continued walking. But then she encountered the same thing earlier, the paths split.
She decided to choose left this time. Then turned right in the end but encountered a dead end.
That's when it hit her.
"A maze..." she utters.
Her hand went to touch the wall in front of her but she jumped back in surprise when a speaker suddenly popped up.
"Tik tok, tik tok, Jihyun..." the same voice from earlier says. "Better be fast or you might not get to your friends in time."
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"I don't like this," Kai sighed.
"I don't like this either," agreed Kris.
The two along with Lay right behind them walked along the narrow hallway.
"Let's just stay calm, everyone. As much as possible we should," said Lay.
"We are calm, hyung," Kai chuckled, trying to lighten up the mood.
The three stopped when they heard something all of a sudden.
"What was that??" Kris spoke out.
The three turned simultaneously. They were caught in surprise when what was supposed to be just a blank wall opened a new path.
"Should we take that path??" Kai whispers to his friend, not knowing why he is whispering.
"I don't have a good feeling about it, to be honest," Lay uttered back.
Kris sighed and walked through the newly opened path with the two of them walking right behind him.
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"Are you sure about this path we're taking?" Tao asks Sehun.
"I don't know, hyung. It's not like I built this maze or something," answered the latter.
"You two must stop. This is not the right time to bicker," Luhan scolded the two silently.
"Hyung's right. We need to get out of this place as much as possible," Suho adds.
"But we're taking a path that just opened," Tao points out. "We don't even know what could be here," he adds.
"Of course we don't, Tao. We did not build this maze, alright?" Luhan replied.
"Dead end," Suho points out when they neared the end.
Their conversation was cut off by the same sound from earlier - the sound of another path opening.
But what they saw was something otherwise. It was a path closing.
"No, no, no, no, no, no---!" Luhan exclaimed as they tried to run and escape before the path closes. "Damn it!" he grunted when they failed, slamming his fist to the barrier.
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"Jongdae, stay calm," Baekhyun says, holding the latter by his shoulders. "We need to stay calm, alright?? Our friends are in danger! And so are we! So as much as possible, we need to stay calm! Do you get me??"
"Alright, alright," Chen utters, shrugging Baekhyun's hands off. Clearly it was Chen who's calm, not Baekhyun.
"Okay," Baekhyun took inndeep breaths. His chest kept tightening by thinking of the rest of his friends and Jihyun. He hopes that they're not hurt.
"Holy---" Chen muttered when right at the dead end they encounter earlier appeared four men standing. They were completely covered in black and looked bigger than the rest of the men they fought before.
The boys soon felt more nervous. And every step the men take forward to them, the more their heart started to beat crazier.
They stopped when they were just a meter away. They stared at each other for a few seconds before the one in front raises his hand and said,
"Eliminate."
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And in a blink of an eye, a punch was sent straight to Xiumin's face which D.O. quickly returns to the men in front of them.
One of the grabs Xiumin by the collar but D.O. caught the man's fist averting the latter's attention to him. And as he turned, D.O. was quick and punched him right at the face.
Xiumin, on the other hand made sure not a fist lands on his friend. He was quick to dodge the hits but the narrow hallway made it harder for them.
And the two also noticed how these men were a lot stronger to the past.
Xiumin sent a kick to the stomach of one which sends the latter stumbling towards D.O.
D.O. quickly grabs the man and used him as a human shield, completely knocking one out. He quickly grabs another by the hair and rams his head to the wall but not to crush it completely.
Their chests heaving heavily, Xiumin and D.O. managed to finish the fight. Xiumin wiped the blood coming from his lips while D.O. hissed as he touched the bruised part of his face.
The two was caught in surprise by the man behind the speakers who suddenly spoke.
"Amazing... But not amazing enough..." he says, chuckling darkly in the end.
And right before the two, the wall that was supposed to be a dead end opened. Not for them to walk through but for the uncountable men on the other side to get through.
---------
"Get them."
Chanyeol immediately started to run after that with all the men chasing right behind him. He knew that his friends are in danger too and he needs to be quick.
He tried to mislead them but this is their maze. They probably know every route of this maze.
"What in the..." he utters and stops abruptly when he just passed by a door. But before he could walk back to open it, the men reappeared and he had to run once more.
But this time, he did it in circles in order for him to return back to the door. He quickly opened it and got inside, locking the door behind him.
He scanned his eyes throughout the room. It grew wider when he saw a familiar gown from afar.
"Jihyun..." he utters. "Where is she??"
"You cannot hide in there forever, Park."
Chanyeol frowned when he heard something hissing. Looking up, he saw a green cloud of smoke filling in the room.
He quickly turned to the door and tried to open it but it was locked.
"Sh*t!" he exclaimed as he tried to break the knob but it was too hard.
The smoke soon filled the room and no matter how hard he tried not too, Chanyeol inhaled the gas. His mind started to get fuzzy while his vision was blurring.
Yet he used the left bits of his strentgh and successfully broke the door down with a loud grunt.
He ran as quick as he could though he stumbled a few times due to the effect of the smoke to his body. Still, he managed to run away.
Jihyun, on the other hand, who encountered a room just like so was unable to do the same. The latter fell on the ground before she could even reach the door of the room.
"Help..." was the only thing she uttered lastly before her vision completely blacked out.
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Jihyun's POV
I'm awake...
No...
Don't... Don't open your eyes yet Jihyun.
That was all just a nightmare... A terrible nightmare.
"Okay..." I breathed out and my eyes slowly fluttered open.
But my mind was wrong. I swallowed hard when all around me was darkness, and the only thing that provides light is the little bulb hanging right above me. Heck, I can't even see the other end of it.
Then I am also on a chair with my arms chained around it.
"Well look who we have here..."
I held back a gasp. I knew in an instant this was the man behind the speakers, and I knew in an instant he is not behind one anymore.
"Jeon Jihyun..."
I shivered at his voice. It sounded so dark I won't be ashamed to say it frightened me.
But I toughened up and asked, "Where are my friends?"
There was no answer until the sound of footsteps echoed across the whole room.
I gulped when in can feel him get nearer. But then he stopped.
"Where are the others??" I repeated, my own voice echoing as well.
"They would be here soon, tough girl," he answered. "Did you like the maze?"
"The maze that could probably kill us? A psycho would probably do," I muttered.
"You really are what he described you..."
I frowned. "He?"
"Yes... He... You will meet him soon so don't worry."
"I don't want to meet anyone and just get me out of here. Get us all out of here, you devil," I growled but he just chuckled.
"And why would I? I won't spend years of hardwork for failure," he laughed darkly ang my hands clenched on the seat unconciously. "Don't worry, Jeon. They'd be here soon."
"They won't be. They'll find their way out."
"Impossible," he scoffed. "Because I am actually helping you all find your way here."
Then the whole area was suddenly filled with lights and I squinted due to the sudden brightness.
It took me for a while until I managed to cope up with my surroundings and my jaw dropped.
We were inside a huge circle room. And when I say huge, I meant huge.
And I felt tears stinging my eyes as I saw my other friends chained a lot of meters away from me. We were almost complete, only Chanyeol and we would be.
I felt my heart clench when some where awake yet had a cloth around their mouths to prevent them to speak.
And what made the situation worse are all those men surrounding us, standing by the wall.
"I wonder what's taking Chanyeol so long."
My head snapped to the owner of the voice.
A man stood from afar with a bloody smirk plastered on his face. He inched closer towards me and I just kept eye contact.
"May I allow to introduce myself.." he says, stopping as he was a meter away. "I am Yoo---"
"Youngjae!!"
That voice... That familiar voice.
The latter smirked. "Oh... My dear cousin..." he uttered, steeping aside.
No...
It can't be...
Right in front of us stood no other than...
...Joshua Hong.
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Hey peeps! Author's back!
Another long wait but I am back now. I'd try to update more if possible. I will be back soon again.
Stay tuned for the next chap!
Thanks for reading :)
Love lots!
R.E.T.❤