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"The days we grew up together
The heart that will become stronger
The day that will wait for us
We will shine the light on each other"
-Best Friend, NCT Dream
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*chapter two*
"Told you we were getting kidnapped," the girl said with a shrug.
"April, not the time," Jisung groaned, nervously fixing his hair with his hands over and over.
The group of five teens stood on the dirt path, all bent over with their hands on their knees as they panted, out of breath after sprinting after their bus to no avail.
The forest around them had previously seemed open and friendly, but now that they were alone with no clue how to get out, it seemed ominous and dark. April sighed heavily, fear spreading through her heart no matter how indifferent she made herself appear.
"What do you think happened?" Jaemin asked, somehow still having a generally good attitude about the whole situation.
"He ditched us, that's what fucking happened," Renjun said, his mood the complete opposite from Jaemin.
"Yeah, but why?" Jaemin asked.
"The hell if I know."
"Thanks, that was very helpful," April said, joining their conversation with an eye roll.
"It wasn't meant to be," Renjun scoffed.
"Guys," Jeno said, "I really don't think fighting is going to help us out of this situation."
"Neither is not fighting though," Renjun said.
The three of them continued arguing while Jisung stood towards the back, obviously freaking out by the way his hands continuously raked through his now unkempt hair. April felt herself freaking out too, but before she lost her temper, the sun came out from behind the clouds, shining its golden rays on the girl.
No one else seemed to care, but April breathed in its warmth for all it was worth. She immediately felt better, like she was at home with her Mom and Jisung. She could almost feel her mother's hands soothingly stroking her hair, something that always calmed her down whenever she was upset in any way.
She took in three deep breaths, the light from the sun splaying over her face and body. She'd been tired all morning, it was a Monday after all, but now she felt rejuvenated and convinced she could face anything the world threw at her.
She turned her face away from the sky and back to Jisung, who was her first priority over the arguing teens.
She pulled his hands out of his hair, the boy looking a little surprised but recovering when he saw that it was just her.
"It's fine, Sung," she said, "Everything will work out, one way or another. And if it doesn't, then at least we're here together, right?"
He nodded, still looking a little tense, but his hands no longer reached up to his hair anymore.
April then turned to Renjun, Jeno, and Jaemin, who were still arguing. The argument was mostly being driven by Renjun though, almost like he enjoyed it.
"Look, let's just stop talking to each other altogether, how's that?"
"Fine by me."
"Okay.
"Okay.
"Why are you still talking?"
"I just said okay-"
"Oh my god, you guys are ridiculous," April said, feeling like pulling her hair out.
She was about to try and stop their argument, but was distracted when she noticed a figure in the woods. He was a bit far away, but he looked like he was either nineteen or in his early twenties. He looked lost, or like he was looking for something that was lost.
"Wait guys- stop arguing for a moment I mean it- look over there!"
Once they noticed him, everyone started jumping up and down, waving their arms above their heads to get his attentions. They looked like lunatics, but at least they wouldn't be lunatics lost by themselves in the woods anymore.
As soon as he noticed them, a visibly relieved expression spread over his face and he jogged closer to them.
"Thank Gaea I found you," he said breathlessly, "Why didn't you just stay where the bus dropped you off?"
"Did he just say 'thank gaea?'" April whispered to Jisung, who simply smacked her arm as a response.
"Wait a second," Jaemin said, squinting at the man.
He leaned backwards and put his hands up like they were a camera frame, placing Mark inside them as he squinted.
"I- uhm hello?" Mark said, letting out an awkward laugh.
"Jaemin," Jeno hissed, "You're being weird-"
"Mark?" Jaemin said, after realization finally hit, "Mark Lee? We used to talk in between classes sometimes, remember? You graduated last year, right?"
"Jaemin?" Mark said, after a moment. "What the hell are you doing here?"
"That's what we've been trying to figure out," he said, laughing.
"No, I mean I didn't know you were...you weren't supposed to be...never mind," he said, sighing. "It'll all make sense soon. Or maybe it won't. Anyways, just follow me."
He started walking off, then turned around with an annoyed expression on his face when they didn't immediately follow him.
"Hurry up," he said, "I'm already late because you couldn't stay put."
"Late to what exactly?" April asked.
"Your selective field trip of course," he replied, but with a smirk on his lips.
Then he turned around and kept walking off into the forest.
Looking back, none of them could tell you why they followed him without a second thought. Maybe it was because he used to go to their school, maybe it was because Jaemin seemed to know him, or maybe it was simply because they'd be lost in the woods without him.
Whatever the reason was, they all wished in future that it hadn't compelled them to follow him on that day, and that they had simply found their way back home on their own.
Things might have ended up a lot better that way.
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Fifteen minutes of walking through the woods only proved to increase the teens' anxieties, but Mark did eventually stop outside an old, abandoned building.
It looked like it had once been a warehouse used for storing something, but now it didn't seem like anyone ever came around, much less actually put things in the building. Vines grew up the side of the warehouse, oddly beautiful and contrasting against the cracked dull grey bricks.
Mark pulled a key out of his pocket as they approached the set of metal doors, April's eyes widening slightly when she saw it.
It wasn't anything like a normal key. For one, it was golden, but not the type of gold you'd see everywhere. It seemed to reflect the sun's light, making it gleam brighter than anything April had even seen before, but it still didn't hurt her eyes no matter how long she stared at it.
Second, it wasn't, well, key-shaped. It was a circle, actually it looked exactly like a coin, except much bigger and more like tokens that you'd find in arcades. Squinting at it, April noticed there was something inscribed on it, but she couldn't make out what it said.
Mark stuck it into the key slot, which she swore had been shaped like a normal keyhole just moments before, but now seemed like the perfect shape for his coin key.
A clicking sound was heard and then Mark pushed the door open. He walked inside, disappearing inside the dark interior. When no one followed, he simply reached his hand out, gesturing for them to hurry up.
"I told you I'm already late, now kindly hurry up," he said.
The teens all looked at each other once before Renjun finally said, "fuck it," and walked inside.
Then Jaemin and Jeno walked inside, with a shrug of their shoulders. April gave Jisung a reassuring look, before walking after them, the boy clinging to the back of her shirt and letting her lead him.
It gave her an oddly happy feeling that he would follow her into something that was probably terrifying to him, but she also hoped she wasn't leading him into danger.
Her doubts gave in to curiosity as the interior became visible to her. It looked like a normal warehouse, except the back half of the room was blocked off by a black curtain that seemed to be floating in the air, but April knew that was impossible. She wondered what was on the other side, but she couldn't see anything.
A couple other adults and Mark, who was definitely the youngest of the group, stood at one side of the of the warehouse. He appeared to be getting scolded, as he bowed repetitively.
The rest of the warehouse was occupied by more students, all appearing to be in high school. Every one of them looked confused, and all stood in little clusters which April guessed was made up of other people from their schools.
There weren't that many people, maybe just four other groups besides April's, each one made up of no more than five students.
April's eyes finally found Renjun, Jaemin, and Jeno standing near the door like her, and she strode over to them with Jisung trailing behind her.
Jaemin noticed her coming and voiced what they'd all been thinking.
"Let's stay together," he said, "We still don't know what this is."
They all nodded, Renjun not offering a snarky comment for the first time the entire trip.
After a couple moments of tense silence, the door swung open again, revealing one more boy lead by an older man. The older man walked towards the front, leaving the boy by himself as his eyes skimmed over his surroundings.
He was wearing dress pants that April recognized as the uniform from one of the only rich schools in her area, as well as the only school that even had a uniform. Contrasting that, he wore a hoodie over his top, and was wearing a black bucket hat on his head. His black hair fell over his forehead, covering his eyes but somehow he managed to not look like a complete dork.
His hands were casually tucked in his hoodie's pockets, as he looked around the warehouse like he went there everyday.
April started as her eyes met his deep brown ones, just the bottom half of them visible through his bangs. He raised a brow at her, and she realized she'd been staring, mostly out of curiosity, but she was certain it probably didn't seem that way.
She whipped her head away, her hand flying up to it as a sharp pain inflamed in the back of her neck.
"You good?" Jisung asked, concerned.
"Yeah," she said, "Just moved my neck too fast."
Renjun laughed at her, and she smacked his shoulder, realizing that despite his fiery attitude he was just the tiniest bit taller than her, and she wasn't even that tall.
"Shut up, shorty."
"What?" he asked, genuinely shocked as Jaemin held him back from charging at her, Jeno just smiling like nothing was wrong.
April laughed, despite just meeting the three of them that day, she already felt a strong connection to them that she couldn't entirely explain.
Once Renjun had calmed down, she turned her eyes back towards where she'd seen the boy walk in. No one else had followed him in, and he stood by himself, still seeming completely natural.
Jisung noticed her looking over her shoulder, and followed her gaze, his eyes landed on the figure that was very familiar to him.
"Chenle?" he said, the boy's head snapping up since they weren't that far apart.
It took him a moment before recognition glazed over his eyes.
"Charity project?"
I feel like I definitely over exaggerate Renjun's personality in here, but it actually has to do with the plot, trust me guys
Maybe I'll incorporate his more cute side in later but we'll see