it was nearing eleven pm when the thirteen teens were all gathered in their bedroom, huddled up in blankets. the atmosphere was filled with cozy chatter about how much they enjoyed the camping trip so far. there were no further activities planned until their departure the day after, so they decided to spend their last night all together, trying to get the best out of it.
mingyu and wonwoo, for example, were both seated on the bottom bed cuddled up in one blanket. mingyu stole kisses from wonwoo every now and then as they were the only ones who weren't engaged in the conversation the group was having.
"i like you." "i like your face." "i like your smile." "did that make you giggle? oh please let me do it again that was adorable!" "can i kiss you? you know i'll kiss you anyways." were multiple things mingyu whispered, inaudible for the rest of the room to hear.
mingyu praised the gods for letting wonwoo accept his love. even when he asked for nothing in return, wonwoo gave all he had to offer. and even with him finding it hard to return the correct things, to mingyu the slightest smile seemed more than enough.
on the opposite side of the room, soonyoung and jihoon sat next to each other on the upper bed. the duvet was spread over both their legs, their shoulders lightly being pressed against each other. the other teens in the room secretly admired how jihoon, the mysterious and rather distant composer, had grown such a liking to the energetic dancer.
the proximity between them seemed to grow closer the more time passed, making everyone realize jihoon might not be as cold as he appeared. however, this was only the way he acted towards soonyoung. whenever it came to anyone else beside the dancer he still tend to appear cold, distant and rude, just like he had always been. though they had to admit, the past few days he'd been nicer than ever.
"i want to sleep." jihoon whispered the moment the conversation focused on the relationship between the chinese couple. soonyoung looked directly into his drooping eyes and realized the smaller boy was actually in a big need for sleep.
gently, he squeezed jihoon's hand he was holding onto underneath the blanket, out of sight for everyone else. "i don't think it will last much longer now, it's getting late."
jihoon huffed silently, leaning a tad bit closer to soonyoung. "you better hold me very tight tonight." he used the occasion as an excuse so soonyoung would cuddle him through the night again.
"i'd love to." soonyoung willingly answered, giving jihoon a wink before uniting himself in the conversation again. and if he'd only seen the blush that spread over jihoon's cheeks..
"hey guys, can you be quiet for a second?" seokmin asked to everyone in general, which went unnoticed because of the wild discussion that surrounded the jeonghan and seungcheol couple.
"guys!" hansol raised his volume, earning everyones attention at once "seokmin asked you to be quiet." he effectively shushed the entire group, who were left confused. had they been too loud to his liking?
seokmin mouthed a quick 'thank you' to hansol, smiling fondly at seokmin who sat on the exact opposite bed of his. "i thought i heard a weird noise coming from outside."
the thirteen teens listened attentively to what seokmin could be describing. however, the only thing being heard was absolute silence mixed with the sound of the wind rustling through the leaves of the nearby forest. the wood of the cabin creaked every now and then, which was also a regular sound they got used to.
yet something seemed off.
there was this horrifying tension that filled the air out of sudden, making the thirteen boys feel uncomfortable. it was like something was happening outside without their knowledge of it. as if something was creeping up to them in the darkness. the silence they shared was no longer comfortable and turned into something rather dangerous.
"seokmin, stop joking around, nothing's there." seungkwan nervously made an attempt to laugh the tension in the room away. however, he himself was smart enough to know that there was something very wrong.
and there it was again. an indistinct scream that sent a shiver down their spines.
"i heard that too." jeonghan interrupted the heavy silence, his voice nearly shaking from anxiety.
no one in the occupied room had a clue of what was going on outside. the voice they heard seemed to come from the opposite side of the terrain, giving them two options of what could be happening. a) the girls sneaked out of their room for a secret game in the darkness.
or b). the option they preferred to leave forgotten; there might actually be something very wrong outside.
just when seungcheol was about to speak up to reassure the group of teens another scream interrupted the painful silence. this time more audible, followed by a the same heavy silence again.
"you know what, i'll take a look outside. it's probably the girls who got caught outside by mister park or something." chan got up from his bed and made his way towards the door. even when his words sounded brave, everyone saw the fear dripping from his expression, no one daring to bring it up as they rather not took his place.
"are you sure? isn't it wise to just stay inside for now?" seungcheol tried to stop him, taking full responsibility on himself as the eldest among them and fulfilling his need to protect the youngest.
"what can possibly happen on a school camp? i'll wake mister lee up to ask what's wrong!" chan was determined to go outside and before anyone could disagree he already disappeared through the doorframe, making the door fall back in its lock with a heavy click.
everyone in the room waited for the youngest to return, filled with anticipation. no one dared to speak a word as they focussed on every single sound that came from outside. from what seemed to be a single footstep to whatever happened in the forest.
for a while it remained calm. the terrain seemed to be occupied with utter silence. but it still didn't feel right to the boys who exchanged frightened glances. it was almost as if there was something bound to happen.
as if it were a silence for the storm.
and then all hell broke loose. screaming from over a hundred students filled the terrain, making the thirteen boys jump up from their beds. panic. panic was the only emotion that filled the atmosphere when the terrified screams only got louder.
until another loud sound was heard, repeatedly. a sound that nearly resembled..gunshots?
the door violently got thrown opened, a panting and hysterically crying chan appearing in the doorframe. and it was then when they realized, their lives depend on the single word he was about to scream.
"RUN!"
