a/n: this is the most I've posted in months 🤯
[ 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐈𝐗𝐓𝐘 𝐒𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍 ]
Without much of a direction in my head, I wandered aimlessly trying to spot any of the familiar metal boxes but I quickly realised that the majority of the house had been raided and I'd wasted too long back at the lake.
Just as I was about to give in, I spotted a small door which I could only assume would lead to a basement. Eagerly, I reached out and turned the brass knob knowing rightly that no one would have explored down here yet. What I didn't expect was for the door to stay sealed shut.
Using my shoulder as extra force, I heaved against the door handle but, unfortunately, I couldn't hear the click of a lock and the door refused to move. I huffed, almost as if I were trying to make the inanimate object know that it had disappointed me. One last attempt remained fruitless and I had to leave that mysterious doorway alone despite my frustration.
"Hayeon! Are you doing okay?" Hoseok asked, strolling into the room lazily. He was lucky; he didn't have to stress of running around like some sort of headless chicken trying to find these blasted tokens.
"I can't find anything," I admitted, shrugging resignedly. The boy hummed, ruffling his hair before speaking again.
"I'm not really supposed to help you but I know that there's a box, upstairs, that no one has been able to open. It's in the medical bay, if you want to try and crack the code."
"Thank you," I moaned gratefully, instantly heading towards the stairs. Although, I couldn't help but wonder what was so different about this box that it had managed to stump the others so irrevocably.
With a spring in my step, I sprinted down the hallway and avidly reached out to open the door. Unlike the last time, the room was opened for me and the sight was almost daunting.
I hadn't been in this room since arriving but it was, quite obviously, home to both Jin and Namjoon's crafts. This homemade laboratory was so strange considering I hadn't stepped foot in a place of science since leaving MediHeal. In some way, it was comforting to be surrounded by the familiar tools and sights that I'd grown accustomed to in my time as a scientist but, also, the memory of the abuse that I'd witnessed back at the laboratory was too scarring to make me fond of the place. Preferably, I'd like to get out of here as soon as possible.
The metal box was sat out in the open, papers strewn around it messily. Whoever had tried to open this box prior to me had certainly given the box a good beating, the metal dented immensely but, luckily for me, it had remained glued stuck with a large industrial lock. Peering down, I quickly realised that it was the type of lock that required four numbers.
At first, I tried spinning the number dials randomly in hopes for a bout of luck to kick in but, as I expected, fortune was not in my favour.
With a bit more panic as I realised that time was quickly slipping out from my fingers, I snatched up one of the papers that had been carelessly thrown. As soon as I read the first line, I realised exactly what Hoseok expected me to do.
Equations. Algebra. Basically, everything I hated.
Trying to calm myself with a shaky breath, I reached out for a pen and chewed the end slightly as I squinted down at the jumble of numbers and signs. For a while, it all seemed like one large blur and for that time I sat analysing, I appeared to come down from my adrenaline high as my hands shook, my handwriting sprawling over the page.
It felt like forever before I managed to figure out the answer, the entirety of my page covered in the black ink from my working out. Hastily, I scanned my work until I was reassured with the answer and stood up, reaching out for the box.
The code was placed in and I felt like fainting in happiness when I heard that comforting click. Tugging the latch, I reached into the box and grabbed that blessed token with greedy hands with an immense feeling of pride. All I had to do now was keep it safe.
Reaching towards my back pocket, I inserted the newly found token and felt around to find the other one I'd obtained earlier. When my fingers grasped thin air, I felt my knuckles clench angrily.
"Kim Taehyung!" I bellowed, my voice so loud that I wouldn't be surprised if the others could hear me all the way back at the field. Storming down the stairs like an angry buffalo, I yanked open the kitchen door and glared angrily at the boy in front of me.
"Where is Taehyung?" I asked Jin, who stood innocently as he held up his hands in surrender .
"He went back to the field, the game should be ending soon," he said, biting his lip as he looked down at the floor in pity. It was pretty obvious that Jin knew exactly what that devil had done.
"I'm going to strangle that imp," I announced, cracking my knuckles as I marched back to the front door and towards the forest, my vision red.
Time seemed endless as stalked through the forest, planning my revenge on that blasted fiend. Did he think he could steal from me and get away with it?
"You look as though steam will come out of your ears at any minute," a voice shouted from above.
Quickly looking upwards, I spotted Jungkook kneeling lazily on a high branch of a large tree. Just as I'd expected, the boy had done the riskiest manoeuvres possible in order to ensure a winning position.
"Think you can spare me a token or two?" I asked back, ignoring his previous comment. If he could be generous enough to lend me a token or two, I might be lucky enough to not come in the last two places. After all, I couldn't imagine that Jin or Jimin had much time to collect tokens after what I'd observed of the two boys.
Jungkook laughed, that annoying and mischievous glint in his eye. "I thought you didn't want to team up?"
I placed a hand on my hip as I stared intently at him, hoping to crack his resolve. "Aren't you supposed to share things with your girlfriend?"
The boy jumped down from the branch like some sort of monkey boy and leaned in closer, a wolffish smirk on his face. "You're my girlfriend?" he taunted, his voice dripping with humour. "I didn't think we'd made that official yet."
I raised my eyebrow, an unamused expression glazing my face. "Are you saying that you got around kissing people who you aren't dating?"
The boy held eye contact with me for a while before snapping out of his sudden reverie, a soft smile on his face as he jumped off the tree landing only inches away from my chest. "Fine, you got me." He held up his hands and leaned in closer as though he was expecting a kiss. "Kim Hayeon, will you be my girlfriend?"
I sniffed, pushing his chest lightly. "I'll consider it, if you give my one of those." I tapped his side trouser pocket, full to the brim with tokens, with the sole of my shoe. Predictably, he responded by pulling away in surprise. I didn't expect him to give me many tokens , especially with that overbearing sense of pride he had , but I didn't expect him to give me none.
"No way!" He said, taking a step back from me as I groaned under my breath, shooting him a look that could kill.
"Why?" I moaned, following his footsteps. It wasn't as if I was asking for that much.
"I want to taste your cooking," he announced as if it was the most obvious thing he had said all day. It was so resolute that it almost, almost made me pause. However, that slight waver was enough for that cunning boy to catch up on as he managed to take another series of considerable steps away from me.
"I suck at cooking!" I wouldn't be shocked if there was a hint of a whine in my voice at this point. Not only was I dreadful at that particular task but I hated it with my entire being. The boredom of standing there aimlessly waiting for something to happen was not appealing in any way.
"Oh well, it will be fun to watch." The boy chuckled again, hopping back as though he was prepared to run. Luckily for me, I could read his actions like the page of a book.
In that moment, as I did, he realised that if he were to escape, he'd have to do it quickly. His decision took mere seconds and before I even had time to comprehend, the boy was sprinting back to the field leaving only a trail of dust in his wake.
"Jungkook!" I screamed only for him to turn back and pull out his tongue at me.
I cursed under my breath before launching after him, the nightmare of cooking plaguing my mind.