#43.2 Black Winged Angel
08:00
“No, if you add a slight bass in the background to accompany the acoustic, the song will immediately have a more upbeat feel without making it a dance track,” Chanyeol reasoned with Yixing.
“True, then you can take the song two ways. One is if you use an electronic bass, the song will have a harder sound. And two is if you use a bass instrument, you’ll create a softer tone,” Yixing replied, nodding in agreement to the previous statement.
“Don’t forget you can use an acoustic-electric guitar as well,” Baekhyun chimed in with his own thoughts.
Luhan shook his head, “If only I understood music theory.”
The other three laughed, and Luhan joined as well. They had been conversing about song production for the past half hour, which was mainly Chanyeol trying to impress Yixing in a not so subtle manner.
“I can teach you if you want. I am a licensed music teacher,” Baekhyun told Luhan half serious, half jokingly.
“But you teach children. I’m twenty six.”
“Close enough,” He shrugged while a smile.
“Still, you should let me collab on one of your tracks, so I can get out of teaching people how to play broken guitars,” Chanyeol poked Yixing playfully.
“Maybe,” Yixing paused to be dramatic, “If you let me hear a demo, I might consider thinking about collabing.”
“Damn, don’t lead me on like that.”
“Come back to me when you’re better at negotiating,” Yixing scoots over to go talk to Minseok again.
Minseok has been one of the only men in the room he could trust besides Luhan. He was rational with his decisions, and he was not easy to fool, a trait that needed to be kicked into overdrive from now on.
Plus speaking in Mandarin from time to time helped take the edge off the building stress in his system. Something about his native tongue made him less worried.
“He won’t stop until he gets what he wants, you know that right?” Minseok said while Yixing sat next to him.
“I know,” Yixing sighed. Chanyeol was stubborn for a person in his mid-twenties.
“Just be careful of Baekhyun, too. He’s been jumpy for a while.”
“I haven’t noticed that. Couldn’t it be just something natural?”
“Not when the guy practically oozes confidence and charm.”
Yixing opened his mouth but shut it, not knowing what to say. Minseok took that opportunity to prove his point, “See? Something’s not right.”
“But what exactly? He doesn’t seem like such a threat.”
“Did Junmyeon?”
“Good point.”
“Let’s lay low, investigate, and hopefully find out what he’s hiding soon.”
Yixing nodded and slumped lower against the cold wall. He tried to suppress the slow growing stress by taking a few deep breaths; however he couldn’t shake the underlying darkness surrounding him. He didn’t know who would die next or who would betray someone. It was all up in the air.
“Don’t stress to much Yixing. It’s not good for you.” Minseok softly pat him on the shoulder in an attempt to comfort him.
“I know, I know.”
“C’mon talk to me. Let it out.”
Yixing laughed, “So you’re some kind of therapist now?”
“I watched dramas I know what I’m doing. So, what’s on your mind?”
“You know, this whole thing.” Yixing sighed and ran a hand through his black hair. “Don’t you feel that you’re not gonna live past this day?”
“I try not to think about it. It’s not going to do much for our situation. We’re still here no matter what.”
“You’re right, but that doesn’t mean you can’t try to do something.”
“The patient is becoming the doctor, huh?” Minseok chuckled.
“I guess so.”
“Look, I know shit’s happened, and I know shit’s gonna happen still, but we need to stick together. You, me, and Luhan.” Minseok titled his head in Luhan’s direction who was still trying to figure out the concept of music from Baekhyun and Chanyeol. “Deal?”
Yixing stuck out his hand, “Deal.”
The two shook hands briefly before deciding to rejoin the music lovers group. Something was wrong with Baekhyun. Ever since Jongdae’s death, he had been jumpy. There had to be a correlation between the two, and they would be the ones to figure it out.
“Hey you’re back,” Baekhyun said happily as the two sat back down in the circle.
“Yeah, Yixing was stressing out so we had a mini therapy session,” Minseok smiled to mask his lie. He wasn’t lying technically, they did have a ‘therapy’ chat, but there was more than just that simple conversation.
“I’m the one with a minor in psychology. Why didn’t you talk to me?” Luhan feigned surprise to joke with the other Chinese man.
“Baekhyun was too busy preaching to the choir about the treble clef,” Yixing replied with a laugh.
“I almost had a breakthrough, too!” Baekhyun added in.
“Don’t quit your day job,” Yixing pat the Korean on the back.
“It pays my bills of course I won’t.”
“I can lip sync. Give me a song, and I’ll do it, but actual music...I’m no Beyonce,” Luhan justified himself.
“Beyonce is Beyonce,” Baekhyun responded nonchalantly. He turned towards Yixing, “How’s your studio? I know it must be on the small side, but you’ve got to have some good artists under your name.”
“You probably won’t know them. Don’t get me wrong they’re amazing performers, it’s just that the bigger labels have all the money for more promotional stuff. Every time one of my artists releases new material, someone from one of the big companies is already plastering their name on every billboard and tv,” Yixing rambled, the annoyance in his voice apparent as he spoke.
“It’s all a business, which sucks. They don’t give talent a chance.”
“I know, but I’m trying to get the name out there.”
“Hopefully you get there someday. If I could speak Chinese I would join your label.”
“Can you sing?”
“I’m not a music teacher for nothing,” Baekhyun grinned, crinkles forming around his eyes.
“Is this turning into Korea’s Got Talent?” Chanyeol chimed in while lightly pushing Baekhyun in the arm. “If it is I’ll judge.”
“No, no, no. We don’t have to do that,” Yixing pleaded.
Baekhyun dramatically flipped his hair, “I was born ready.”
“Okay little miss diva, you go do your thing. I’ll be over there until you’re done,” Chanyeol sassed the other male.
“Fine. If you don’t want to hear me, I’ll just go talk to someone else,” Baekhyun stood up and began to walk away from their conversation group. “Hello Jongin.”
Chanyeol sighed, “So dramatic.”
“You guys seem close. Did you know each other prior to this?” Luhan wondered after witnessing the two’s behavior.
“No actually. This was the first time I’ve met Baekhyun. We just hit it off you know?”
“I couldn’t tell.”
“Our personalities are kind of the same in a way. My friends tell me I never shut up, Baekhyun never shuts up. It works out.”
“It’s weird how the world works,” Yixing commented.
“Yeah, it is.”
“Do you like Baekhyun?” Luhan asked Chanyeol innocently.
“He’s alright.” Chanyeol glanced over at Baekhyun who was currently engaged in a heated conversation with Jongin about dogs, “He’s been acting different lately, though.”
“I saw that too. What’s going on?”
“I’m not really sure. It all started after that phone call…” Chanyeol trailed off as he ventured into his mind.
“What are you thinking?” Yixing questioned the tall man, noticing how he contemplated his sentence.
“I don’t know. I just think that he’s lying about the call, what was said. He seemed too shaky after hanging up,” He exhaled
“I noticed that too.”
“And then Jongdae was eliminated all of the sudden. I think those two things are related.”
“Same here. It doesn’t add up,” Luhan agreed with Chanyeol. Finally someone else is suspicious.
“You don’t think...he lied about Jongdae do you?” Yixing asked in a low voice.
“It’s possible,” Chanyeol shrugged. “That’s definitely something worth investigating.”
“Here, let’s do this,” Luhan motioned for the other two to move in closer, “Yixing can go talk to the other group while Chanyeol and I talk to Baekhyun. Alright?”
Chanyeol and Yixing nodded. Satisfied with the plan, Yixing crouched on his feet to be ready to move at any time, “I’m okay with that.”
“Me too,” Chanyeol nodded a second time.
Out of the corner of his eye Yixing could see Baekhyun shift to his feet and stand up. He followed suit and came face to face with the small Korean man.
“I was just going to talk to them actually. It’s like we’re tag teaming,” Yixing let out a nervous chuckle. He hoped Baekhyun wouldn’t catch on to the plan.
Baekhyun laughed as well, “I guess so.” He raised his hand to give the other a high five to which Yixing did.
“Hi Yixing, it’s been a while,” Jongin noticed the Chinese man approaching their circle.
“Hey,” Yixing sat down in between Minseok and Sehun.
“So I heard you’ve been trying to get Luhan into music?”
“Oh yeah that. Baekhyun couldn’t get through to him.”
“We heard all about that,” Kyungsoo rolled his eyes.
“Sounds like you had an eventful conversation.”
“Very,” Sehun simply stated.
Yixing held his tongue and thought back to the plan. He had to bring up Baekhyun and the phone call soon; voting was in under a half and hour, and he had no leverage against him. There had to be a way where it wouldn’t come off as too suspicious. He didn’t want this to backfire on him.
“You know, I just get a bad vibe from Baekhyun,” Kyungsoo casually said, snapping Yixing out of his thoughts.
“His anxiety has been through the roof lately. He can’t sit still, and his mouth is moving faster and faster,” Minseok piggybacked off of what was previously said.
“I noticed that,” Yixing pushed himself back into the conversation. “Don’t you think that strange phone call has something to do with it?”
“The one before Jongdae was voted? Yeah, now that you mention it,” Sehun contemplated the events of the past few hours.
“Why was Jongdae voted off anyway?”
“He was an alcoholic, so he had the potential to rampage from withdrawal at any moment. He was a threat,” Kyungsoo replied.
“Wait how’d you find that out?”
“Baekhyun told us...oh,” Kyungsoo put two and two together after he finished. “Was he lying?”
“Don’t know. It could’ve been part of the phone call too for all we know,” Jongin shrugged.
“So he basically got the phone call, got something that gave him the idea to backstab Jongdae, and lied to everyone to get what he wanted.”
“Seems like it,” Minseok responded conclusively.
“But what exactly was he told?”
“I have a feeling it wasn’t a lie. It probably had to do with his job. I mean, he was a bartender, right?” Yixing thought back to Jongdae’s introduction. “Plus he did have that tremor in his hand.”
“Tremor? What does that have to do with it?” Sehun asked, confused as to why the two things correlated.
“Tremors usually come from medical problems like diseases or addictions. If my guess is correct, Jongdae’s alcoholism led to him shaking.”
“And Baekhyun used that against him?”
“Well he did say that Jongdae could lash out at any moment and that he was unstable. The voice probably knew his background information and bribed Baekhyun with it. I don’t think he was a threat. I think he was harmless; it was just that the voice guy wanted to make it exaggerated. That sick fuck wanted more action from us.”
“Makes more sense when you put the pieces together,” Jongin stated.
“So what now?” Kyungsoo wondered out loud after the group figured out Baekhyun’s secret.
“Now, we expose him for what he’s done,” Minseok replied with determination in his eyes. “Follow my lead.”
Minseok approached the group of Luhan, Chanyeol, and Baekhyun casually to avoid suspicion. The suspected man smiled brightly, not knowing what would happen next.
“Coming to join the party?” Baekhyun teased.
“It’s not much of a party until I show up,” Minseok retorted playfully, keeping up the mood for the time being. He sat down right next to Baekhyun, “It’s been much more quiet without Jongdae here.”
Baekhyun’s breath hitched, but he forced another sad smile onto his face, “Yeah, it’s different.”
“I was shocked when he was voted off, too. He seemed like a nice guy.”
“Yeah, but he was an alcoholic. You never know what would happen with them.”
“But alcoholics aren’t dangerous unless they’re really going through withdrawal. Jongdae only had a tremor in one hand.”
“H-how’d you know that,” Baekhyun’s voice faltered.
“I saw it happen to him in the beginning.” Minseok looked directly into the other’s eyes, “Then why did you tell Kyungsoo he was a threat?”
“W-well I didn’t know that Jongdae was-”
“So you assumed because you were scared?”
“No, no I-”
“Then why spread lies about him?”
“I-I didn’t mean to-”
“What were you trying to gain from all this?”
“He told me to okay!” Baekhyun immediately slapped his hands on his mouth and slumped back.
“Who? The voice?”
The Korean male nodded sheepishly, “He offered me information.”
“For what?”
“Nothing.”
“Nothing?”
“Yeah, he just asked me who and gave it to me.”
“That bastard. Manipulating for his entertainment.”
“Minseok,” Sehun cut off the argument. “Phone.”
With a final glare at the younger man, Minseok stepped in Sehun’s direction and snatched the phone from his outstretched hand, “What is it you piece of shit?”
“I love the pet name for me,” The omnipresent voice cooed from the other end of the call. “You know what time it is don’t you?”
“Yeah, I know. And you know who my vote is.”
“Why don’t you announce it?”
“Fine. Baekhyun,” Minseok raised his voice louder while side eyeing the person he previously argued with.
“Thank you, Minseok.”
Just as they had done the past four times, everyone voted, tensions rising faster with each person. Minseok made sure to sit as far away from Baekhyun as possible, and the latter chose to do the same. Everyone else switched the focus between each of them in fear that they would be at the other man’s throat at any second.
“And now eight moves to seven as I am proud to say Baekhyun is our next lucky contestant!” The grainy speakers projected the frightening voice of the overseer.
“Hope you’re happy bitches,” Baekhyun spat venomously at the remaining people. “You’re worse than me.”
10:00
“What else is that sick fuck going to throw at us now?” Kyungsoo asked to no one in particular.
“Who knows? He’s sadistic,” Jongin threw up his hands in the air exasperatedly.
Everyone sat along against the walls of the room, and silence filled the space quickly. Exhaustion mixed with fear hung in the air as the seven reflected back on the events of the past few hours. Five people have died, any of them could be next, and they still didn’t know how they got into this mess in the first place.
“Yixing, do you think he’s gonna pull something again?” Luhan whispered to the other Chinese man.
“Who?” Yixing asked back. There were many people that could possible be harmful at the moment.
“The voice. You think he’s gonna do something else?”
“I want to say no, but I have a feeling he’s not done interfering with us.”
“You got that right,” Sehun chimed in quietly. “He’s got something up his non-existent sleeve.”
With his statement he repositioned himself to make a tight circle with the two Chinese men. No one else was talking, so they first sat in awkward silence, worried about their words. Once a small conversation broke between Kyungsoo and Minseok, the three felt comfortable enough to speak freely.
“I’m just glad I can trust you guys. You seem the most level headed out of everyone,” Sehun began with a sincere expression of gratitude.
“Dire situations change people. As long as you keep using your head and not your impulses, things won’t be as bad,” Yixing justified their behavior.
“Yeah you’re right. But it’s easier said than done.”
“True.”
Their conversation ended promptly. After already establishing interests and jobs, there wasn’t a topic of discussion except wondering who would betray them next, and that instilled anxiety into everyone’s hearts.
Eventually, the entire group became a large circle in the center of the room. The conversation started off mundane, with a few jokes thrown out in between statements.
“Running Man Korea is better than Running Man China accept it,” Jongin interjected.
“No way,” Luhan argued back. “You’re delusional.”
“Have you seen the challenges?”
“I’d ask you the same thing.”
“This will never end will it?” Kyungsoo sighed at their pointless bickering.
“I don’t know. Wake me up when it’s over. I’m taking a nap,” Chanyeol told Kyungsoo.
Chanyeol stretched his arms like a child before sliding back and laying down on his side. It wasn’t the most comfortable position, but it was the only option available.
Jongin looked over at Chanyeol’s body, “Oh what I would do to sleep right now.”
“No one’s stopping you,” Sehun told Jongin.
The older Korean took that as his cue to lay down and rest, putting the television argument on hold. After Jongin, Kyungsoo followed suit with taking a nap to regain some of his energy. Soon the only ones awake were Sehun and Yixing.
“I didn’t know everyone was so exhausted,” Sehun whispered to Yixing closely to not disturb the others.
“Stress can take a lot out of a person,” Yixing replied knowing how he felt the fatigue as well.
“So why don’t you sleep?”
“I don’t know. I might actually.”
Yixing searched for a light switch along the walls to make it easier for him to sleep until voting would come around. He spotted a small switch directly next to the locked door and quietly maneuvered his way across the room to flip it off.
It was a time like this when he wished he had his phone on him because the walk back to his spot proved to be rather difficult for him. The room was pitch black save for an eery glow emitting from the thin crack of the door. He almost tripped on someone’s leg walking back next to Sehun.
“You made it back in one piece,” Sehun congratulated Yixing for surviving his trek across the floor.
“Yeah, but I almost tripped on Chanyeol’s leg on the way,” Yixing pointed to the sleeping figure a few feet away from the pair.
Sehun laughed while slowly sinking down to be parallel with the ground, “I’ll be resting for a bit too. You should as well.”
“I will, trust me. What I would do for a bed right now.”
Yixing slid down and propped his head up with one arm. The cold temperature of the floor sent shivers down his arms and torso, but he shook the feeling away, knowing it couldn’t be fixed.
Hopefully this nightmare ends soon. He rolled to his back and closed his eyes. Even if it was for a few minutes, a break from reality would be a nice gift.
“What the fuck? Who the fuck touched me?” Chanyeol screamed, waking everyone up.
“What’s with the yelling?” Kyungsoo said with half-lidded eyes.
“One of you freaking molested me while I was sleeping!”
“I don’t think anyone would.”
“But I felt hands all over me, and I know who did it,” Chanyeol pointed to a few people away from him. “Sehun.”
“Me? I’m not even next to you,” Sehun’s eyes widened after being accused.
“I know you did it. Your gay hands couldn’t resist groping me.”
“Gay?” Sehun was taken aback by Chanyeol’s outburst. “Why do you think that?”
“Because I heard you talking to Yixing about it. I knew you couldn’t stop yourself from being all over me. I’ve seen you staring at me.”
“I wasn’t staring at you.”
“Sure. So those weren’t your hands groping me?”
“No they weren’t.”
“You know your people is what makes me lose faith in humanity. You’re a disgrace, a freak!”
Sehun was hit by the hurtful words and slinked back, trying to hide himself from Chanyeol’s attacks. He hid his face partially in his hands as he spoke, “I’m just a person.”
Chanyeol scoffed, “Sure, and normal people are gay.”
“Chanyeol stop it!” Jongin pleaded moving over to comfort a shaking Sehun.
“I’m not stopping until this monster is gone,” He pointed towards Sehun. “I won’t allow myself in a room with it.”
“Chanyeol stop!” Kyungsoo shouted. “He’s a person, not a fucking alien!”
“He might as well be.”
“Stop,” Sehun weakly protested. “Just stop.”
“Oh sounds like some tension is rising in here. Maybe I should’ve told you to play nice. Oops,” The voice interrupted with a condescending lilt to his words. “Now let’s mix things up a bit. No phoning in this time. Let’s have a good old fashioned hand raising.”
The voice paused, most likely relishing in the fight. Chanyeol’s heavy breaths filled the room as the voice began rattling off names, “Votes for Kyungsoo?” No one raised their hand. “Jongin?” Still no one. “Yixing?” Nobody. “Minseok?” No hands were raised. “Sehun?” Chanyeol proudly raised a hand in the air. “One vote Sehun. Luhan?” Nobody voted for him. “Chanyeol?” The remaining six all raised their hands simultaneously. “Perfect. Mister Park Chanyeol is our gracious winner this round.”
“You’re all a bunch of homosexual loving freaks,” Chanyeol spat, his venomous words shaking up Sehun. “Take me away from here.”
“How nice of you to voluntarily come over. I commend your bravery.”
“He’s not brave, he’s a coward,” Luhan muttered under his breath.
Chanyeol glared at Sehun and mouthed “fuck you” to him before accepting his fate outside the door.
The loud slam of the door caused Sehun to jump in his spot, “I knew I shouldn’t have talked.” His head hung low as tears welled up in his eyes.
“He’s gone now, Sehun. You don’t have to worry about him and his views anymore,” Jongin wrapped an arm around the younger’s shoulders and pulled him into a side hug.
12:00
“I guess being locked in a room with people for hours on end changes you,” Kyungsoo mused.
“No, it just reveals your true personality you wouldn’t show elsewhere,” Minseok corrected the other’s thoughts.
“I never would’ve thought that Chanyeol was homophobic. It just doesn’t fit his whole...upbeat attitude,” Luhan commented.
“Everyone has their ticks.”
“Yeah...how are you holding up Sehun?” Jongin turned his attention towards the youngest person in the room who had been silent ever since the encounter.
Sehun sniffled and quickly wiped the tears welling up in his eyes. The young adult was clearly still shaken up from being yelled at by Chanyeol. Despite being a guy with a baby face, his voice could boom, especially in a small area. Throughout his entire life since he went into the fashion industry, multiple people have given him a hard time due to his position. As a young man, being denied certain liberties because of his sexuality took a toll on his self esteem. Hearing Chanyeol spew words of hate at him only brought back those feelings he had been trying to suppress for years.
“I’m...okay,” Sehun managed to get out of his mouth, a phrase he didn’t believe himself.
“It’s fine not to be okay. He was an asshole. Don’t take anything he said to heart.”
Sehun only nodded and leaned against the wall. With only half of them left, they could all feel the emptiness of the space around them. The threat of death closed in more with more people dead from their own decisions.
After a few moments of silence, Jongin and Kyungsoo managed to coax Sehun into opening himself up more to talking again. During their conversations he refused to bring up anything to do with his social life as it would only prompt him to remember everything Chanyeol said to him.
“So, do you watch any dramas?” Kyungsoo asked Sehun to get him to speak up.
“Yeah...Cheese in the Trap is a good one,” Sehun answered.
“Oh I love that drama! And Doctors!” Jongin interjected excitedly.
“Doctors is amazing!” Sehun beamed. With something neutral to talk about, he once again found himself somewhat comfortable. “Park Shinhye is adorable.”
“Isn’t she? I’d love to marry her someday.”
Sehun laughed, “That’s me with Jisoo.”
The three continued their banter as Luhan joined in with some good Chinese drama recommendations, “Legend of the Qing Qiu Fox is my guilty pleasure.”
“Are there pretty girls in it?” Jongin asked excitedly.
Kyungsoo smacked the younger male, “Don’t be so shallow.”
“You’re probably thinking it too.”
Minseok noticed Yixing wasn’t engaging in the conversation with everybody else, so he tried to coax the man into speaking. He knew from multiple occasions that being selectively mute in situations could lead to problems down the road.
“How are you holding up Yixing? You’re secluding yourself,” Minseok asked the Chinese man who had been plainly observing everything.
“I’m fine. Shaken up, but fine,” Yixing replied simply. He didn’t feel like talking at the moment.
“Me too. I never expected Chanyeol to be...you know.”
“Yeah, same here.”
“Listen, I know it’s hard to believe anyone can be horrible, and with all the shit that’s been happening it’s getting worse. I think we should start thinking more to differentiate between the good and the bad,” Minseok switched over to speaking in Mandarin.
“Why? Is there anyone you think might turn against us?” Yixing agreed to speak in his native language.
“Well Sehun is on my radar.”
“Stop talking to Luhan, he’s just paranoid.”
“This is from my own observations.”
“In what way?”
“I have a feeling he’s lying. With the whole thing from Chanyeol, I mean. He did stare at him a lot, plus I saw him eyeing me up too.”
“He did? I thought he wasn’t like that. Well, I knew he was gay or at least less masculine than others, but I didn’t know he was staring at people. From what I’ve seen he’s a nice, decent guy.”
Minseok titled his head to discreetly watch Sehun out of the corner of his eye. Sehun was talking to Jongin about dancing at the moment, and he seemed happier now that he had a topic of conversation that interested him.
“Only when he’s not eye fucking us. You’re just too nice to see through the outer layer of people. Hasn’t he ever stared at you when you two talked?”
Yixing looked through his memories at his conversations with Sehun. What was simple, mundane talks became longer pauses and lingering stares. The words interchanged were insignificant to the body language. His eyes stayed glued to Yixing’s torso for a few seconds too long, his hands ghosted over Yixing’s legs too close. Everything clicked into place, and Minseok was the perpetuating motion prompting the revelation.
“Yeah...I didn’t notice that before, but thinking back, he did get close.”
“See, he’s attracted to you, and he can’t control himself. Pretty soon, you’ll be groped just like Chanyeol was.”
“I don’t think it’ll come to that.”
“Look at what happened earlier. He was all buddy buddy with Chanyeol, and then out of nowhere he made a move on him. You’re in the same boat whether you acknowledge it or not, same with Jongin. Any of the two of you could be his next victim at any moment in time.”
“So then what do we do?”
“We keep track of him. Make sure he doesn’t do anything to anybody, and when voting comes,” Minseok traced a thumb over his throat, “we vote him off.”
“Are you sure this is the best solution?”
“This is the only solution, Yixing. There’s not much we can do while we’re trapped in here.”
“Okay,” Yixing hesitated, “I’m on board. How much time until…”
Minseok glanced down at his wristwatch, “About thirty minutes. We have some time to kill. Let’s go join them. But remember, act like nothing happened between us.”
The two stood up and approached the foursome who were engaged in a heated discussion
over which Harry Potter movie was better.
“No c’mon the second movie was not the best. Have you seen The Goblet of Fire?” Jongin argued with Sehun.
“But Harry’s hair in that movie,” Sehun complained.
“His hair shouldn’t determine the quality of the entire movie,” Luhan shut down Sehun’s comment. He saw that the other two were coming to join the group, and he moved backwards to give some space, “Perfect timing. We’re trying to convince those two,” He pointed to Sehun and Kyungsoo, “that the fourth movie is the best out of all eight Harry Potter films.”
“The sixth will always be the better of the eight movies, don’t deny it,” Kyungsoo argued his point. “From Snape being the Half-Blood Prince to Dumbledore dying, it was a masterpiece.”
“I have to agree with him on that,” Yixing piggybacked off of Kyungsoo’s confession.
“See? It is a good movie.”
“Oh not you too, Yixing. I thought you’d agree,” Luhan whined with an upturn of the corner of one lip.
“I think Deathly Hallows Part 1 is the best,” Minseok added in his two cents.
“You know, if I’m gonna be outnumbered here, I’m stepping back until you realize you’re wrong,” Luhan scooted backwards towards the adjacent wall.
Minseok took this opportunity to talk to Luhan about what he told Yixing. He leaned over and gestured over to the Chinese man away from them towards Yixing to signal him. Yixing shortly nodded while still conversing with the rest of the group.
“I still think the second movie is the best,” Sehun clung onto his original opinion.
“Oh my God let’s not go back to that again. We’ve already been over it,” Kyungsoo rolled his eyes.
“Fine, but I’m still standing by my opinion.”
“Is everyone standing by their opinions on their votes, hm?” The voice interjected through the grainy speakers. “The time has come once again gentlemen. Let’s see. How about we have a blind hand raise this time. No peeking. I’ll know if you are, and you don’t want to know what will happen when I see you. Alright, let’s begin.”
All six of them warily covered their eyes as the voice rattled off the names of the people in the room, pausing a few seconds in between each name, “Luhan? Jongin? Kyungsoo? Yixing? Sehun? Minseok? You can open your eyes boys, the result is clear.” The voice gave them time to readjust to the lighting of the room, “My, my this is getting interesting. Mister Oh Sehun, you have been chosen.”
“W-what?” Sehun scanned everyone with his mouth hung agape.
“Come now young man. It’s your time to shine.”
Sehun slowly stood up, using a hand to support himself on the wall. He felt sick to his stomach, like he could throw up his insides at any given moment. Unlike the others, he was terrified instead of angry. He knew he would be voted off; it was only a matter of time before he would hear his name being called.
Sehun noticed how everyone wouldn’t look him in the eye except Yixing who was giving him a sympathetic look. He sighed and faced the large door, knowing he’ll see the others who were in his position before him.
14:00
The remaining five kept to themselves for the first thirty minutes of the next two hour time slot. The boredom had set in and their movements became more sluggish with the ticking of each second.
They were running out of things to talk about with everyone already knowing the lifestyles of every person. Now their only conversations could be about television or movies, topics that wouldn’t last the entire two hour period in between voting sessions.
“Do you watch sports?” Luhan asked Yixing.
“Not really. I’m not a sports watcher,” Yixing replied plainly with a yawn.
From being locked in the windowless room for fourteen hours, the fatigue was setting in fast. Only fifteen minutes passed by and Kyungsoo and Minseok were already sleeping next to each other. Luhan looked as if he could pass out at any moment, so Yixing placed a hand on his shoulder to indicate it was okay for him to rest.
“You need your strength,” Yixing muttered in Mandarin, his fatigue making him forget for a moment to speak in Korean.
“Okay,” Luhan let the sleep overtake him, leaving Jongin and Yixing the only one’s awake.
Yixing relished in the peace and quiet the room offered, and he thought about his life outside of the walls surrounding him. How was his studio? Did they realize something was wrong with him? What even brought him here in the first place?
Too many questions, not enough answers.
Too wrapped up in his own mind, Yixing didn’t notice Jongin moving next to him until a shadow was cast over his lower body.
“Hey,” Jongin started with a small smile, “Not tired?”
“Tired, yes, but not in that kind of way,” Yixing pointed to the three people napping aroun them.
“Yeah same. So,” he inched closer, lessening the distance between their thighs. “How are you doing?”
“I’m good.”
“That’s good. Have you put any thought into your vote this time around?”
“Oh not really I-” Yixing stopped as he felt a hand sneak its way onto his thigh. He found the source of the touch yet still saw it lingering no matter how long he stared at it.
“No thoughts at all?” Jongin innocently asked, not acknowledging what he was doing.
“No...not really.”
“You know, if we can make a deal here, I promise that I can change your mind,” Jongin inched closer to Yixing.
“W-what kind of deal,” Yixing stuttered at the sudden close proximity of the Korean man.
“One that,” He walked his fingers up the other’s arm, “you’ll feel good about. Trust me, I know what I’m doing.”
Jongin pursued Yixing until he was leaning against the corner of the room. With a smirk he ghosted his lips over Yixing’s ear, “Why don’t you indulge in your fantasies a little bit? I can see what you want. I can give it to you. All you have to do is help me vote for somebody, and I can do whatever you want me to do to you.”
Yixing remained flustered with the close contact Jongin was giving him. He couldn’t think straight when another man was currently on top of him knowing all the right buttons to push. As a straight man, he never experienced someone of the same sex advancing on him, but he couldn’t shake the feeling underneath his skin that whatever Jongin was doing felt good.
“So, if you help me vote off Luhan, I’ll take you to cloud nine,” Jongin dropped his voice an octave lower, slightly nibbling on the tip of Yixing’s ear.
“N-no. I don’t think-”
“What the fuck are you doing to him?” Luhan raised his voice at the sight of the younger Korean straddling the Chinese male.
Luhan’s shouting woke up the other three as he stormed across the room and yanked Jongin off of Yixing’s petrified body.
“I was just-” Jongin began but was cut off by Luhan.
“Just what? Trying to seduce him?” Luhan questioned him with a piercing glare. “What you’re trying to get him on your side?”
Jongin couldn’t speak, and Luhan took that gap as a way to continue, “You’re not just a regular dancer are you? I knew it. So what’s your secret? Porn star? Stripper? Both?”
The Korean sighed, “Stripper.”
“Of course. And you promised Yixing a good time if he agreed to vote for the next person on your hit list, didn’t you?”
Jongin hung his head, “Yeah.”
“People like you disgust me. Using others to propel yourself forward. He’s not even gay!”
“I was trying to get rid of you, but you just had to get in the way of my plans!” He snapped.
Luhan’s mouth opened, and his eyes lit up with a newfound fire, “You bitch! What have I done to you?”
“Nothing, but I knew you are the weakest link besides him,” he pointed to Yixing, “so you’re the perfect target.”
“I’ll show you who’s the weakest.”
“No Luhan!” Kyungsoo sprung up and latched onto the older’s waist to restrain him.
“Let go of me!” Luhan thrashed to try to free himself from the other man’s grip.
“Stop it! It’s not gonna do anything!”
“Oh it will. It’ll show him his place here,” Luhan managed to push Kyungsoo off of his body, and he lunged at Jongin, pinning him to the ground. “I won’t forgive you for what you were doing.”
“If only you were voted off earlier on. This would’ve be easier to get what I want,” Jongin spat at the person on top of him.
Luhan scowled before resting a hand over Jongin’s throat, “Tell me why I shouldn’t strangle you right now.”
“I think that’s quite enough Luhan. He’ll get what he deserves soon enough,” The deep voice of the overseer prevented Luhan from choking the younger Korean man underneath his weight. “Now I suggest you climb off of Mister Kim or I’ll have to force you to.”
A lone red dot honed in on Luhan’s cheek just like it happened to Tao when they first woke up in the room. Luhan slowly took himself off Jongin, “Fine.”
“Good boy.” The voice waited until Luhan was a few feet away from Jongin’s figure. “We’re going back to the phone for this round of voting, so I’ll be waiting for you there.”
Just as he had said, the phone rang mere seconds later. Luhan waltzed over to the landline quickly and picked it up.
“Eager are we?” The voice teased.
“Shut up,” Luhan responded bitterly, still angry about the event moments before.
“No need to be mean here. I’m just asking you a simple question. Who are you voting for?”
“Jongin,” Luhan sneered through the receiver.
“Thank you, Luhan.”
With a forceful thrust of the phone into Minseok’s hands, Luhan trudged to the opposite wall and leaned against it, eyeing Jongin with daggers.
As Jongin’s turn to vote approached, he held a long stare off with Luhan the entirety of the before, during, and after the call. The other three kept looking back and forth between the two, silently hoping neither of them would pounce and attack.
“It’s getting closer to the end boys! Only five of you left, soon to be four. Now I think we all know who our winner is this time,” The voice elongated his words in a saccharine way to play with his captives.
Jongin walked over to the doorway knowing it was him.
“Ah correct! Kim Jongin how nice of you to join your comrades behind the door. Please, right this way.”
The door opened enough for Jongin’s body to squeeze through but not for anyone else to see what was beyond their cage.
16:00
“I’m sorry for what happened, Yixing. If only I knew I could’ve prevented it,” Luhan apologized for the recent fight.
“It’s not your fault. I don’t think anyone would’ve guessed that happening. And it’s not like he was going to force me into anything,” Yixing comforted Luhan.
“I’m just glad you’re okay. I know I might have went overboard,” he scratched his head, “but I was only concerned about your safety. I didn’t want him to use you like that.”
“No, it’s okay. I’m over it.”
Luhan understood that Yixing didn’t want to talk about the previous events anymore, and he promptly stopped his charade of making him feel better.
“I’m gonna sleep. I haven’t rested in a long time, and I feel like I could pass out any minute,” Yixing told Luhan who was busy picking under his nails.
“Oh that’s fine, go ahead. I’ll still be here,” Luhan didn’t look up from his hands.
Yixing leaned his back against the wall as he curled up on the cold floor. His body ached at the angle he chose to sleep at; however he had no other options. At the moment any position would be good for him with the lack of sleep catching up to his body.
Closing his eyes, he hoped time would speed up and pass the voting. He was dreading voting as the numbers dwindled down.
“Hey. Yixing,” a voice whispered over top of his figure, pulling him from his dreamless sleep. “Wake up.”
“Huh?” Yixing groaned lowly as his bones cracked with every movement. He rubbed his eyes and blinked the sleep away, seeing Kyungsoo’s small appearance fill his vision. “Kyungsoo?”
“Shh, keep your voice down. They’re both sleeping still,” He gestured over to Luhan and Minseok lying down a bit away from them.
“Why did you wake me up?”
“I need to talk to you about something.”
“What? It must be important if you had to wake me up for it.”
“Okay. Trust me when I say this,” Kyungsoo lowered his voice. “Minseok has been using you.”
“How? We’ve just been talking,” Yixing shooed off the other’s idea.
“All of your ‘talks’ was just him convincing you to side with him to eliminate everyone on his hit list. He just wanted someone to support his votes, to gain his trust, and now, you’re his next target.”
“Me?”
“Yeah, I wouldn’t be surprised if he told Luhan lies about you already. He’s the type to target the easily manipulated, and you fell right into his trap.”
“How do I know you’re not trying to manipulate me?”
“It’s up to you to take that risk. Think about it. Speaking Chinese with him, gossiping with him, getting close with him. It was all part of his plan to use you as his pet, following him around without question.”
“I can think for myself.”
“Are you sure about that?”
“Why are you questioning me?” Yixing was getting a bit apprehensive at Kyungsoo’s questions being thrown at him.
“He lied to you when he said Sehun was the one who touched Chanyeol. Sehun never touched him. Chanyeol probably did that to get rid of Sehun, but it backfired on him. Minseok just wanted Sehun dead, so he played his cards well. He knew Luhan disliked Sehun, and he knew you and Jongin would follow him around like lost puppies.”
“I would know if someone was using me.”
“Then we wouldn’t be having this conversation right now.”
Yixing sighed knowing that Kyungsoo wouldn’t let this go, “If I were to trust you, how would we find out the truth?”
“Minseok would deny everything and pin it all on me. This will be entirely up to you and your judgement. You can either believe him or me.”
“I…” He paused to gather his thoughts. “I believe you.”
“Good. Now, all we have to do is wait this out until voting. If my estimations are correct, we’ll vote for Minseok, Minseok will vote for either you or me, and Luhan will probably vote me. So, if this ends in a tie, I don’t know what that psycho has up his sleeves. Be ready for anything.”
Yixing nodded which prompted the two to separate and act as if they had a normal conversation. Out of the corner of his eye, Kyungsoo noticed that Minseok was waking up, and he began conversing with the Chinese man about a random topic, “But seriously, you should really consider teaming up with a huge brand to get your label’s name out there.”
Yixing was taken aback by Kyungsoo’s sudden change of mood, but he saw Minseok’s stirring and understood, “If only we had enough money in the budget to, I would jump on board with that.”
“Think about it.”
“I will.”
“What’s this about?” Minseok’s groggy voice wondered.
“Yixing was complaining how his company is always overshadowed by the bigger labels, so I told him to partner with advertising companies,” Kyungsoo lied perfectly.
“That would help him.”
“Except I’m broke,” Yixing reminded the two.
“You’ll get there,” Minseok pat his shoulder.
“Don’t wake Sleeping Beauty,” Kyungsoo pointed over to Luhan who was still sound asleep despite the abundant noise.
“He’ll have to get up eventually.”
“Right you are, Minseok! It’s time for everyone to be up and active!” The voice jumped in on the conversation through the booming sound system, jolting Luhan awake.
The Chinese man jumped and placed a hand over his chest as his eyes widened suddenly, “What’s going on?”
“It’s voting time again! We can’t have you missing the occasion.”
With a groan, Luhan sat up shakily. He was half-asleep still, but he was awake enough to be coherent.
“The final four. What a tremendous feat for you to survive this long into the game. This calls for a round of applause,” The voice began clapping. “Come, clap for yourselves.”
All four of the people in the room slowly clapped their hands, disturbed by the current atmosphere.
“Now as it has been, four will become three. Due to the fact that there are so little of you, we’ll have a simple voting this time. On my count point to the one you wish to vote off. Alright? Okay, voting starts...now.”
All four confidently raised an index finger to the person they wanted to vote for. Kyungsoo and Yixing both pointed at Minseok, Minseok pointed at Kyungsoo, and Luhan pointed at Minseok as well.
“What? Yixing? He’s using you! How can you believe the lies he told you!” Minseok shouted at Yixing as he saw his arm extended towards him.
“He wasn’t the one who lied to me. You did,” Yixing sternly replied.
“I never lied to you!” He turned to Luhan, “And you believe them too?”
“I heard enough of their conversation to know my own decision,” Luhan glared at the Korean.
“You heard us?” Yixing asked his friend slightly dumbfounded.
“Yeah, I wasn’t really sleeping when you guys were talking.”
“You’ll regret your choice. All of you! It’s supposed to be Kyungsoo in my place!” Minseok screamed, getting red in the face from anger.
“You’ll see Kyungsoo in due time, Minseok. In due time,” The voice calmly remarked as the door swung shut behind his short form, separating him from the three remaining men in the room. “Six more hours boys.”
18:00
“It’s only the three of us now. What do we even do?” Luhan absentmindedly mused to no one in particular.
“I don’t know. We know pretty much everything about each other, all the drama has subsided, I think this is the perfect time to finally sleep without interruption,” Yixing replied with a small smile.
“Agreed,” Kyungsoo sighed contently.
“Glad we’re all in agreement for once,” Luhan chimed in.
“Yeah, so hopefully that bastard won’t annoy us and ruin my good sleep. See you guys in two hours.”
Kyungsoo propped himself against the corner and crossed his arms over his abdomen. With a lengthy exhale, he closed his eyes and settled down to take a nice--as nice as the dirty room could get--nap.
Yixing moved himself to do the same, but Luhan placed a hand around his forearm and squeezed the skin once, “Hold on a minute.”
“What?” Yixing whispered.
Luhan eyed Kyungsoo’s breathing, noticing he was still going at a normal pace, “I have a question about your company.”
“My company?”
“Yeah, I kinda forgot about it a while ago, but I just remembered it now, and I don’t want to forget it again.”
“Okay shoot.”
“Well…” He stopped to look over at Kyungsoo again, relieved at the fact that his breathing slowed down, “Okay so here’s the plan.”
“Wait what?”
“I had to stall until Kyungsoo was sleeping. Now he is, so I can tell you what I really want to say,” Luhan exhaled, “Yixing, listen. We need to stick together. I can’t deal with Kyungsoo by myself if you die, and I know you’d be in the same position if I died. I know Kyungsoo is a nice guy, but we need to...you know.”
“Vote him off.”
“Exactly. It’s not what I really want to do. If anything I’d want to band together and escape, but look what they almost did to Tao. I’m not taking my chances.”
Yixing turned his head towards the top of the door, “Yeah, I don’t want to find out what happens. But I can’t just do that to Kyungsoo.”
“We have no choice. I’m not ready for either of us to sacrifice ourselves. I consider you my friend, and I can’t just lose you like that.”
“Luhan…”
“I didn’t mean to get all sappy there, but I’m telling the truth. We bonded so quickly in this fucking messed up situation, and I don’t want to continue on knowing you’re dead out there,” He gestured towards the door.
“But when voting between the two of us comes.”
“We’ll cross the bridge when we get there. For now, let’s think about what’s happening right in front of us.”
“Okay, we’ll follow through with the plan.”
Luhan wrapped his hand and fingers around Yixing’s shoulder, “It’ll be alright.”
“I hope you’re right.”
“C’mon don’t stress yourself out too much. Let’s just sleep until it’s time.”
Yixing nodded and stretched his limbs before he repositioned himself on his back with his hands behind his head. Luhan did the same a few feet away, making sure he gave Yixing some space.
Everything became silent as pleasant darkness overtook their senses. A small escape from reality, no matter how fleeting, was a blessing. But then again in this instance, a blessing couldn’t stay long without an interruption.
“Up! Get up boys! I can’t have you sleeping on the job!” The deep voice yelled, the static of the speakers mixing in with the sound waves of his speaking. “Don’t try to ignore me. You know what happens when you do.”
“Is it time,” Luhan murmured still groggy from his nap.
“Yes it is, Luhan!”
The three of them slowly sat up in their spots before congregating into the center of the room.
“Ah our top three. You know I anticipated you three being in this position. You are the most responsible out of the twelve men. But I digress, let us begin voting. This time everyone will say your vote out loud when I call your name. Yixing we’ll start with you.”
“Kyungsoo,” Yixing dropped his head to avoid meeting the Korean’s gaze.
“Luhan?”
“Kyungsoo,” Luhan following in the other Chinese man’s footsteps and looked everywhere but at Kyungsoo.
“Kyungsoo?” The voice lilted in amusement.
“Myself,” Kyungsoo monotonously answered, arousing shock from the other two.
“A unanimous decision. I haven’t seen anything like it before.”
“Why?” Yixing looked the shorter male in the eye.
“Because I know I’d never have a chance at living past this checkpoint. Plus, someone who is more kind and deserving of living should go on, and that’s you two. I don’t deserve staying in this fucked up game.” Kyungsoo stood up and approached the door, “Hopefully I’ll see you guys again, when it’s your time.”
“Kyungsoo,” Luhan trailed off as the younger sadly smiled at him.
“It’s okay, trust me.”
Kyungsoo gave them a short wave before walking behind the small crack in the door big enough to fit his body. His short figure disappeared behind the large door, yet the two Chinese men could still hear his voice talking to them. It’s okay.
They hoped his words were believable.
20:00
“This is it, huh? It’s only us left,” Luhan scanned around the room, feeling the ghosts of the ten other men haunting the walls.
“I still can’t believe this is real,” Yixing commented with a dark chuckle. “Sometimes I think this is all a twisted dream and that I’ll wake up when it’s over, but then I pinch myself or punch my leg, and I realize I’m still here living through this nightmare.”
“I just wish I could see my family again.” Luhan sighed, “I don’t even know where we are.”
“Same here. It’s like I’ve almost forgotten what the outside looks like even though it hasn’t been a full day yet.”
“Yeah, it’s hard to imagine how our friends and family are reacting to our disappearances, if they even know we’re gone.”
A brief period of silence enveloped the two of them as they thought back to their lives outside the enclosure. Luhan darkly chuckled, “Remember when we first met. I thought it was so cool that we were from the same city.”
“And I thought it was cool I was talking to the guy on the bus stop billboard.”
Luhan chuckled, “It’s weird how the world put us together. I just wish it could’ve been in another situation without death surrounding us.”
“Maybe we would’ve met at a cover shoot for one of my artists, and you would’ve been there too.”
“Yeah.”
A comfortable silence filled the space around the two as they reminisced the past twenty hours. So much has happened, things regular people never wish to experience, and they still kept somewhat positive attitudes through their experiences.
“Hello boys,” The voice announced his presence for the last time.
“It’s not time to vote yet,” Luhan spat in the direction of the door, fed up with the unknown voice’s game.
“No need to be so hostile. I’m here to tell you about what will be happening in a few minutes. This round of voting will be the extravagant ending to a beautiful game. There will be no phones, no hand raising, no pointing, no shouting. You see, there will be a special gift just for you two.”
“Special gift?” Yixing turned towards Luhan who shrugged in response.
“Let the switch up begin,” The dark voice ignored their confusion. “By the door is a container. Choosing to use its contents is completely up to you. Have fun.”
A small, opaque container was left on the floor right outside of the doorway. Yixing picked it up and pried off the lid, peering inside. Luhan leaned over. “What is it?”
Yixing reached in the box and pulled out two capsules, both a pale blue in color. Underneath the pills was a note to which Luhan grabbed and read out loud to the both of them: “The choice is yours. You have two capsules in your possession, both containing lethal amounts of multiple narcotics. This round you have a few options: escape together and take the pills, sacrifice for the sake of the other, or refuse to take them and deal with us. You have until the twenty second hour.”
“So it’s suicide or murder,” Yixing exclaimed bluntly.
“Pretty much.”
“What should we do?”
“Let’s...not come up with a decision immediately. We still have fifteen minutes to decide.”
Yixing nodded, “Okay.”
The two each held a pill in their hands, its small weight felt heavier tenfold with the pressure of the situation lurking in the shadows around them. Yixing couldn’t bear to be without Luhan. Through the past twenty some hours, they created a bond unlike the others. They had similar tastes and backgrounds. They had a mutual understanding for each other.
Luhan felt the same way. He couldn’t bear to see Yixing die in front of him. After living twenty six years of his life, he finally found someone he could be his true self around without having to build a wall of fake emotions just to please people.
Five minutes left. Luhan faced Yixing with a serious expression, “Yixing? Do you know what you want to do?”
Yixing nodded solemnly, “Yeah.” He held up the hand holding the blue capsule, “We go together.”
“Together.”
“On three alright?” Yixing cupped the pill in his palm.
Luhan took over with the countdown, “Three. Two. One.”
They both threw the pills towards their mouths and let the outer covering disintegrate, allowing the toxins to take over their systems. The effects of the pills worked almost immediately, and Luhan’s vision fazed as he collapsed into a heap on the ground, watching through hazy eyes Yixing’s pill drop to the floor in front of him.
22:00
Yixing looked at Luhan’s lifeless body laying on the floor in front of him. He should’ve felt something: remorse, guilt, sadness, but he felt nothing. It was as if there was a hollow piece where his emotions were. If anything he felt happy.
“Brilliant! Just brilliant, Yixing!” the voice clapped over the speakers. “I had a feeling you would be the winner. I knew you would be our next sinner.”
“Next sinner?”
“My boy, this game wasn’t to eliminate sinners, it was to create sinners, and you’ve turned out perfect from the get go. Betraying them right away…”
“Okay so I’ll start and I’ll vote for the person who goes last, and everyone else votes for the person who goes before you,” Jongdae proposed the plan to the group.
Everyone went up to vote one by one. At Yixing’s turn he picked up the receiver, and held the name of his assigned person on the tip of his tongue ‘Chanyeol’ but the words transformed, and he chose ‘Tao’ for the one being eliminated.
“What? N-no! This wasn’t the plan! What--who the fuck backstabbed me?”
“Using information against the others…”
“Well, a lot of people don’t like the fact that I act more...feminine than other men.”
“One of you freaking molested me while I was sleeping!”
Yixing was the only one near Chanyeol as he slept; Sehun wasn’t within reach of the taller Korean.
“Manipulating them…”
“You’re just too nice to see through the outer layer of people. Hasn’t he ever stared at you when you two talked?”
Yixing played along with Minseok’s antics to get rid of Sehun. He nodded his head, going with whatever Minseok said, even if the facts were false.
“And the icing on the cake. Betraying your greatest ally…”
“Three. Two. One.”
Luhan threw the pill into his mouth as Yixing threw it past his mouth. Luhan fell to the floor seconds later, a look of betrayal etching onto his features as his life slipped away, and Yixing’s remained intact. Yixing crouched to the floor and brushed some of Luhan’s stray hair, “Sorry.”
The word was an empty gesture.
“I must say I did enjoy your performance, Yixing. And to reward you, I am giving you all that you could have hoped for. Congratulations.”
24:00
The barred door opened, and Yixing walked out carrying a suitcase with sleek, black wings printed on the front.
“No, if you add a slight bass in the background to accompany the acoustic, the song will immediately have a more upbeat feel without making it a dance track,” Chanyeol reasoned with Yixing.
“True, then you can take the song two ways. One is if you use an electronic bass, the song will have a harder sound. And two is if you use a bass instrument, you’ll create a softer tone,” Yixing replied, nodding in agreement to the previous statement.
“Don’t forget you can use an acoustic-electric guitar as well,” Baekhyun chimed in with his own thoughts.
Luhan shook his head, “If only I understood music theory.”
The other three laughed, and Luhan joined as well. They had been conversing about song production for the past half hour, which was mainly Chanyeol trying to impress Yixing in a not so subtle manner.
“I can teach you if you want. I am a licensed music teacher,” Baekhyun told Luhan half serious, half jokingly.
“But you teach children. I’m twenty six.”
“Close enough,” He shrugged while a smile.
“Still, you should let me collab on one of your tracks, so I can get out of teaching people how to play broken guitars,” Chanyeol poked Yixing playfully.
“Maybe,” Yixing paused to be dramatic, “If you let me hear a demo, I might consider thinking about collabing.”
“Damn, don’t lead me on like that.”
“Come back to me when you’re better at negotiating,” Yixing scoots over to go talk to Minseok again.
Minseok has been one of the only men in the room he could trust besides Luhan. He was rational with his decisions, and he was not easy to fool, a trait that needed to be kicked into overdrive from now on.
Plus speaking in Mandarin from time to time helped take the edge off the building stress in his system. Something about his native tongue made him less worried.
“He won’t stop until he gets what he wants, you know that right?” Minseok said while Yixing sat next to him.
“I know,” Yixing sighed. Chanyeol was stubborn for a person in his mid-twenties.
“Just be careful of Baekhyun, too. He’s been jumpy for a while.”
“I haven’t noticed that. Couldn’t it be just something natural?”
“Not when the guy practically oozes confidence and charm.”
Yixing opened his mouth but shut it, not knowing what to say. Minseok took that opportunity to prove his point, “See? Something’s not right.”
“But what exactly? He doesn’t seem like such a threat.”
“Did Junmyeon?”
“Good point.”
“Let’s lay low, investigate, and hopefully find out what he’s hiding soon.”
Yixing nodded and slumped lower against the cold wall. He tried to suppress the slow growing stress by taking a few deep breaths; however he couldn’t shake the underlying darkness surrounding him. He didn’t know who would die next or who would betray someone. It was all up in the air.
“Don’t stress to much Yixing. It’s not good for you.” Minseok softly pat him on the shoulder in an attempt to comfort him.
“I know, I know.”
“C’mon talk to me. Let it out.”
Yixing laughed, “So you’re some kind of therapist now?”
“I watched dramas I know what I’m doing. So, what’s on your mind?”
“You know, this whole thing.” Yixing sighed and ran a hand through his black hair. “Don’t you feel that you’re not gonna live past this day?”
“I try not to think about it. It’s not going to do much for our situation. We’re still here no matter what.”
“You’re right, but that doesn’t mean you can’t try to do something.”
“The patient is becoming the doctor, huh?” Minseok chuckled.
“I guess so.”
“Look, I know shit’s happened, and I know shit’s gonna happen still, but we need to stick together. You, me, and Luhan.” Minseok titled his head in Luhan’s direction who was still trying to figure out the concept of music from Baekhyun and Chanyeol. “Deal?”
Yixing stuck out his hand, “Deal.”
The two shook hands briefly before deciding to rejoin the music lovers group. Something was wrong with Baekhyun. Ever since Jongdae’s death, he had been jumpy. There had to be a correlation between the two, and they would be the ones to figure it out.
“Hey you’re back,” Baekhyun said happily as the two sat back down in the circle.
“Yeah, Yixing was stressing out so we had a mini therapy session,” Minseok smiled to mask his lie. He wasn’t lying technically, they did have a ‘therapy’ chat, but there was more than just that simple conversation.
“I’m the one with a minor in psychology. Why didn’t you talk to me?” Luhan feigned surprise to joke with the other Chinese man.
“Baekhyun was too busy preaching to the choir about the treble clef,” Yixing replied with a laugh.
“I almost had a breakthrough, too!” Baekhyun added in.
“Don’t quit your day job,” Yixing pat the Korean on the back.
“It pays my bills of course I won’t.”
“I can lip sync. Give me a song, and I’ll do it, but actual music...I’m no Beyonce,” Luhan justified himself.
“Beyonce is Beyonce,” Baekhyun responded nonchalantly. He turned towards Yixing, “How’s your studio? I know it must be on the small side, but you’ve got to have some good artists under your name.”
“You probably won’t know them. Don’t get me wrong they’re amazing performers, it’s just that the bigger labels have all the money for more promotional stuff. Every time one of my artists releases new material, someone from one of the big companies is already plastering their name on every billboard and tv,” Yixing rambled, the annoyance in his voice apparent as he spoke.
“It’s all a business, which sucks. They don’t give talent a chance.”
“I know, but I’m trying to get the name out there.”
“Hopefully you get there someday. If I could speak Chinese I would join your label.”
“Can you sing?”
“I’m not a music teacher for nothing,” Baekhyun grinned, crinkles forming around his eyes.
“Is this turning into Korea’s Got Talent?” Chanyeol chimed in while lightly pushing Baekhyun in the arm. “If it is I’ll judge.”
“No, no, no. We don’t have to do that,” Yixing pleaded.
Baekhyun dramatically flipped his hair, “I was born ready.”
“Okay little miss diva, you go do your thing. I’ll be over there until you’re done,” Chanyeol sassed the other male.
“Fine. If you don’t want to hear me, I’ll just go talk to someone else,” Baekhyun stood up and began to walk away from their conversation group. “Hello Jongin.”
Chanyeol sighed, “So dramatic.”
“You guys seem close. Did you know each other prior to this?” Luhan wondered after witnessing the two’s behavior.
“No actually. This was the first time I’ve met Baekhyun. We just hit it off you know?”
“I couldn’t tell.”
“Our personalities are kind of the same in a way. My friends tell me I never shut up, Baekhyun never shuts up. It works out.”
“It’s weird how the world works,” Yixing commented.
“Yeah, it is.”
“Do you like Baekhyun?” Luhan asked Chanyeol innocently.
“He’s alright.” Chanyeol glanced over at Baekhyun who was currently engaged in a heated conversation with Jongin about dogs, “He’s been acting different lately, though.”
“I saw that too. What’s going on?”
“I’m not really sure. It all started after that phone call…” Chanyeol trailed off as he ventured into his mind.
“What are you thinking?” Yixing questioned the tall man, noticing how he contemplated his sentence.
“I don’t know. I just think that he’s lying about the call, what was said. He seemed too shaky after hanging up,” He exhaled
“I noticed that too.”
“And then Jongdae was eliminated all of the sudden. I think those two things are related.”
“Same here. It doesn’t add up,” Luhan agreed with Chanyeol. Finally someone else is suspicious.
“You don’t think...he lied about Jongdae do you?” Yixing asked in a low voice.
“It’s possible,” Chanyeol shrugged. “That’s definitely something worth investigating.”
“Here, let’s do this,” Luhan motioned for the other two to move in closer, “Yixing can go talk to the other group while Chanyeol and I talk to Baekhyun. Alright?”
Chanyeol and Yixing nodded. Satisfied with the plan, Yixing crouched on his feet to be ready to move at any time, “I’m okay with that.”
“Me too,” Chanyeol nodded a second time.
Out of the corner of his eye Yixing could see Baekhyun shift to his feet and stand up. He followed suit and came face to face with the small Korean man.
“I was just going to talk to them actually. It’s like we’re tag teaming,” Yixing let out a nervous chuckle. He hoped Baekhyun wouldn’t catch on to the plan.
Baekhyun laughed as well, “I guess so.” He raised his hand to give the other a high five to which Yixing did.
“Hi Yixing, it’s been a while,” Jongin noticed the Chinese man approaching their circle.
“Hey,” Yixing sat down in between Minseok and Sehun.
“So I heard you’ve been trying to get Luhan into music?”
“Oh yeah that. Baekhyun couldn’t get through to him.”
“We heard all about that,” Kyungsoo rolled his eyes.
“Sounds like you had an eventful conversation.”
“Very,” Sehun simply stated.
Yixing held his tongue and thought back to the plan. He had to bring up Baekhyun and the phone call soon; voting was in under a half and hour, and he had no leverage against him. There had to be a way where it wouldn’t come off as too suspicious. He didn’t want this to backfire on him.
“You know, I just get a bad vibe from Baekhyun,” Kyungsoo casually said, snapping Yixing out of his thoughts.
“His anxiety has been through the roof lately. He can’t sit still, and his mouth is moving faster and faster,” Minseok piggybacked off of what was previously said.
“I noticed that,” Yixing pushed himself back into the conversation. “Don’t you think that strange phone call has something to do with it?”
“The one before Jongdae was voted? Yeah, now that you mention it,” Sehun contemplated the events of the past few hours.
“Why was Jongdae voted off anyway?”
“He was an alcoholic, so he had the potential to rampage from withdrawal at any moment. He was a threat,” Kyungsoo replied.
“Wait how’d you find that out?”
“Baekhyun told us...oh,” Kyungsoo put two and two together after he finished. “Was he lying?”
“Don’t know. It could’ve been part of the phone call too for all we know,” Jongin shrugged.
“So he basically got the phone call, got something that gave him the idea to backstab Jongdae, and lied to everyone to get what he wanted.”
“Seems like it,” Minseok responded conclusively.
“But what exactly was he told?”
“I have a feeling it wasn’t a lie. It probably had to do with his job. I mean, he was a bartender, right?” Yixing thought back to Jongdae’s introduction. “Plus he did have that tremor in his hand.”
“Tremor? What does that have to do with it?” Sehun asked, confused as to why the two things correlated.
“Tremors usually come from medical problems like diseases or addictions. If my guess is correct, Jongdae’s alcoholism led to him shaking.”
“And Baekhyun used that against him?”
“Well he did say that Jongdae could lash out at any moment and that he was unstable. The voice probably knew his background information and bribed Baekhyun with it. I don’t think he was a threat. I think he was harmless; it was just that the voice guy wanted to make it exaggerated. That sick fuck wanted more action from us.”
“Makes more sense when you put the pieces together,” Jongin stated.
“So what now?” Kyungsoo wondered out loud after the group figured out Baekhyun’s secret.
“Now, we expose him for what he’s done,” Minseok replied with determination in his eyes. “Follow my lead.”
Minseok approached the group of Luhan, Chanyeol, and Baekhyun casually to avoid suspicion. The suspected man smiled brightly, not knowing what would happen next.
“Coming to join the party?” Baekhyun teased.
“It’s not much of a party until I show up,” Minseok retorted playfully, keeping up the mood for the time being. He sat down right next to Baekhyun, “It’s been much more quiet without Jongdae here.”
Baekhyun’s breath hitched, but he forced another sad smile onto his face, “Yeah, it’s different.”
“I was shocked when he was voted off, too. He seemed like a nice guy.”
“Yeah, but he was an alcoholic. You never know what would happen with them.”
“But alcoholics aren’t dangerous unless they’re really going through withdrawal. Jongdae only had a tremor in one hand.”
“H-how’d you know that,” Baekhyun’s voice faltered.
“I saw it happen to him in the beginning.” Minseok looked directly into the other’s eyes, “Then why did you tell Kyungsoo he was a threat?”
“W-well I didn’t know that Jongdae was-”
“So you assumed because you were scared?”
“No, no I-”
“Then why spread lies about him?”
“I-I didn’t mean to-”
“What were you trying to gain from all this?”
“He told me to okay!” Baekhyun immediately slapped his hands on his mouth and slumped back.
“Who? The voice?”
The Korean male nodded sheepishly, “He offered me information.”
“For what?”
“Nothing.”
“Nothing?”
“Yeah, he just asked me who and gave it to me.”
“That bastard. Manipulating for his entertainment.”
“Minseok,” Sehun cut off the argument. “Phone.”
With a final glare at the younger man, Minseok stepped in Sehun’s direction and snatched the phone from his outstretched hand, “What is it you piece of shit?”
“I love the pet name for me,” The omnipresent voice cooed from the other end of the call. “You know what time it is don’t you?”
“Yeah, I know. And you know who my vote is.”
“Why don’t you announce it?”
“Fine. Baekhyun,” Minseok raised his voice louder while side eyeing the person he previously argued with.
“Thank you, Minseok.”
Just as they had done the past four times, everyone voted, tensions rising faster with each person. Minseok made sure to sit as far away from Baekhyun as possible, and the latter chose to do the same. Everyone else switched the focus between each of them in fear that they would be at the other man’s throat at any second.
“And now eight moves to seven as I am proud to say Baekhyun is our next lucky contestant!” The grainy speakers projected the frightening voice of the overseer.
“Hope you’re happy bitches,” Baekhyun spat venomously at the remaining people. “You’re worse than me.”
10:00
“What else is that sick fuck going to throw at us now?” Kyungsoo asked to no one in particular.
“Who knows? He’s sadistic,” Jongin threw up his hands in the air exasperatedly.
Everyone sat along against the walls of the room, and silence filled the space quickly. Exhaustion mixed with fear hung in the air as the seven reflected back on the events of the past few hours. Five people have died, any of them could be next, and they still didn’t know how they got into this mess in the first place.
“Yixing, do you think he’s gonna pull something again?” Luhan whispered to the other Chinese man.
“Who?” Yixing asked back. There were many people that could possible be harmful at the moment.
“The voice. You think he’s gonna do something else?”
“I want to say no, but I have a feeling he’s not done interfering with us.”
“You got that right,” Sehun chimed in quietly. “He’s got something up his non-existent sleeve.”
With his statement he repositioned himself to make a tight circle with the two Chinese men. No one else was talking, so they first sat in awkward silence, worried about their words. Once a small conversation broke between Kyungsoo and Minseok, the three felt comfortable enough to speak freely.
“I’m just glad I can trust you guys. You seem the most level headed out of everyone,” Sehun began with a sincere expression of gratitude.
“Dire situations change people. As long as you keep using your head and not your impulses, things won’t be as bad,” Yixing justified their behavior.
“Yeah you’re right. But it’s easier said than done.”
“True.”
Their conversation ended promptly. After already establishing interests and jobs, there wasn’t a topic of discussion except wondering who would betray them next, and that instilled anxiety into everyone’s hearts.
Eventually, the entire group became a large circle in the center of the room. The conversation started off mundane, with a few jokes thrown out in between statements.
“Running Man Korea is better than Running Man China accept it,” Jongin interjected.
“No way,” Luhan argued back. “You’re delusional.”
“Have you seen the challenges?”
“I’d ask you the same thing.”
“This will never end will it?” Kyungsoo sighed at their pointless bickering.
“I don’t know. Wake me up when it’s over. I’m taking a nap,” Chanyeol told Kyungsoo.
Chanyeol stretched his arms like a child before sliding back and laying down on his side. It wasn’t the most comfortable position, but it was the only option available.
Jongin looked over at Chanyeol’s body, “Oh what I would do to sleep right now.”
“No one’s stopping you,” Sehun told Jongin.
The older Korean took that as his cue to lay down and rest, putting the television argument on hold. After Jongin, Kyungsoo followed suit with taking a nap to regain some of his energy. Soon the only ones awake were Sehun and Yixing.
“I didn’t know everyone was so exhausted,” Sehun whispered to Yixing closely to not disturb the others.
“Stress can take a lot out of a person,” Yixing replied knowing how he felt the fatigue as well.
“So why don’t you sleep?”
“I don’t know. I might actually.”
Yixing searched for a light switch along the walls to make it easier for him to sleep until voting would come around. He spotted a small switch directly next to the locked door and quietly maneuvered his way across the room to flip it off.
It was a time like this when he wished he had his phone on him because the walk back to his spot proved to be rather difficult for him. The room was pitch black save for an eery glow emitting from the thin crack of the door. He almost tripped on someone’s leg walking back next to Sehun.
“You made it back in one piece,” Sehun congratulated Yixing for surviving his trek across the floor.
“Yeah, but I almost tripped on Chanyeol’s leg on the way,” Yixing pointed to the sleeping figure a few feet away from the pair.
Sehun laughed while slowly sinking down to be parallel with the ground, “I’ll be resting for a bit too. You should as well.”
“I will, trust me. What I would do for a bed right now.”
Yixing slid down and propped his head up with one arm. The cold temperature of the floor sent shivers down his arms and torso, but he shook the feeling away, knowing it couldn’t be fixed.
Hopefully this nightmare ends soon. He rolled to his back and closed his eyes. Even if it was for a few minutes, a break from reality would be a nice gift.
“What the fuck? Who the fuck touched me?” Chanyeol screamed, waking everyone up.
“What’s with the yelling?” Kyungsoo said with half-lidded eyes.
“One of you freaking molested me while I was sleeping!”
“I don’t think anyone would.”
“But I felt hands all over me, and I know who did it,” Chanyeol pointed to a few people away from him. “Sehun.”
“Me? I’m not even next to you,” Sehun’s eyes widened after being accused.
“I know you did it. Your gay hands couldn’t resist groping me.”
“Gay?” Sehun was taken aback by Chanyeol’s outburst. “Why do you think that?”
“Because I heard you talking to Yixing about it. I knew you couldn’t stop yourself from being all over me. I’ve seen you staring at me.”
“I wasn’t staring at you.”
“Sure. So those weren’t your hands groping me?”
“No they weren’t.”
“You know your people is what makes me lose faith in humanity. You’re a disgrace, a freak!”
Sehun was hit by the hurtful words and slinked back, trying to hide himself from Chanyeol’s attacks. He hid his face partially in his hands as he spoke, “I’m just a person.”
Chanyeol scoffed, “Sure, and normal people are gay.”
“Chanyeol stop it!” Jongin pleaded moving over to comfort a shaking Sehun.
“I’m not stopping until this monster is gone,” He pointed towards Sehun. “I won’t allow myself in a room with it.”
“Chanyeol stop!” Kyungsoo shouted. “He’s a person, not a fucking alien!”
“He might as well be.”
“Stop,” Sehun weakly protested. “Just stop.”
“Oh sounds like some tension is rising in here. Maybe I should’ve told you to play nice. Oops,” The voice interrupted with a condescending lilt to his words. “Now let’s mix things up a bit. No phoning in this time. Let’s have a good old fashioned hand raising.”
The voice paused, most likely relishing in the fight. Chanyeol’s heavy breaths filled the room as the voice began rattling off names, “Votes for Kyungsoo?” No one raised their hand. “Jongin?” Still no one. “Yixing?” Nobody. “Minseok?” No hands were raised. “Sehun?” Chanyeol proudly raised a hand in the air. “One vote Sehun. Luhan?” Nobody voted for him. “Chanyeol?” The remaining six all raised their hands simultaneously. “Perfect. Mister Park Chanyeol is our gracious winner this round.”
“You’re all a bunch of homosexual loving freaks,” Chanyeol spat, his venomous words shaking up Sehun. “Take me away from here.”
“How nice of you to voluntarily come over. I commend your bravery.”
“He’s not brave, he’s a coward,” Luhan muttered under his breath.
Chanyeol glared at Sehun and mouthed “fuck you” to him before accepting his fate outside the door.
The loud slam of the door caused Sehun to jump in his spot, “I knew I shouldn’t have talked.” His head hung low as tears welled up in his eyes.
“He’s gone now, Sehun. You don’t have to worry about him and his views anymore,” Jongin wrapped an arm around the younger’s shoulders and pulled him into a side hug.
12:00
“I guess being locked in a room with people for hours on end changes you,” Kyungsoo mused.
“No, it just reveals your true personality you wouldn’t show elsewhere,” Minseok corrected the other’s thoughts.
“I never would’ve thought that Chanyeol was homophobic. It just doesn’t fit his whole...upbeat attitude,” Luhan commented.
“Everyone has their ticks.”
“Yeah...how are you holding up Sehun?” Jongin turned his attention towards the youngest person in the room who had been silent ever since the encounter.
Sehun sniffled and quickly wiped the tears welling up in his eyes. The young adult was clearly still shaken up from being yelled at by Chanyeol. Despite being a guy with a baby face, his voice could boom, especially in a small area. Throughout his entire life since he went into the fashion industry, multiple people have given him a hard time due to his position. As a young man, being denied certain liberties because of his sexuality took a toll on his self esteem. Hearing Chanyeol spew words of hate at him only brought back those feelings he had been trying to suppress for years.
“I’m...okay,” Sehun managed to get out of his mouth, a phrase he didn’t believe himself.
“It’s fine not to be okay. He was an asshole. Don’t take anything he said to heart.”
Sehun only nodded and leaned against the wall. With only half of them left, they could all feel the emptiness of the space around them. The threat of death closed in more with more people dead from their own decisions.
After a few moments of silence, Jongin and Kyungsoo managed to coax Sehun into opening himself up more to talking again. During their conversations he refused to bring up anything to do with his social life as it would only prompt him to remember everything Chanyeol said to him.
“So, do you watch any dramas?” Kyungsoo asked Sehun to get him to speak up.
“Yeah...Cheese in the Trap is a good one,” Sehun answered.
“Oh I love that drama! And Doctors!” Jongin interjected excitedly.
“Doctors is amazing!” Sehun beamed. With something neutral to talk about, he once again found himself somewhat comfortable. “Park Shinhye is adorable.”
“Isn’t she? I’d love to marry her someday.”
Sehun laughed, “That’s me with Jisoo.”
The three continued their banter as Luhan joined in with some good Chinese drama recommendations, “Legend of the Qing Qiu Fox is my guilty pleasure.”
“Are there pretty girls in it?” Jongin asked excitedly.
Kyungsoo smacked the younger male, “Don’t be so shallow.”
“You’re probably thinking it too.”
Minseok noticed Yixing wasn’t engaging in the conversation with everybody else, so he tried to coax the man into speaking. He knew from multiple occasions that being selectively mute in situations could lead to problems down the road.
“How are you holding up Yixing? You’re secluding yourself,” Minseok asked the Chinese man who had been plainly observing everything.
“I’m fine. Shaken up, but fine,” Yixing replied simply. He didn’t feel like talking at the moment.
“Me too. I never expected Chanyeol to be...you know.”
“Yeah, same here.”
“Listen, I know it’s hard to believe anyone can be horrible, and with all the shit that’s been happening it’s getting worse. I think we should start thinking more to differentiate between the good and the bad,” Minseok switched over to speaking in Mandarin.
“Why? Is there anyone you think might turn against us?” Yixing agreed to speak in his native language.
“Well Sehun is on my radar.”
“Stop talking to Luhan, he’s just paranoid.”
“This is from my own observations.”
“In what way?”
“I have a feeling he’s lying. With the whole thing from Chanyeol, I mean. He did stare at him a lot, plus I saw him eyeing me up too.”
“He did? I thought he wasn’t like that. Well, I knew he was gay or at least less masculine than others, but I didn’t know he was staring at people. From what I’ve seen he’s a nice, decent guy.”
Minseok titled his head to discreetly watch Sehun out of the corner of his eye. Sehun was talking to Jongin about dancing at the moment, and he seemed happier now that he had a topic of conversation that interested him.
“Only when he’s not eye fucking us. You’re just too nice to see through the outer layer of people. Hasn’t he ever stared at you when you two talked?”
Yixing looked through his memories at his conversations with Sehun. What was simple, mundane talks became longer pauses and lingering stares. The words interchanged were insignificant to the body language. His eyes stayed glued to Yixing’s torso for a few seconds too long, his hands ghosted over Yixing’s legs too close. Everything clicked into place, and Minseok was the perpetuating motion prompting the revelation.
“Yeah...I didn’t notice that before, but thinking back, he did get close.”
“See, he’s attracted to you, and he can’t control himself. Pretty soon, you’ll be groped just like Chanyeol was.”
“I don’t think it’ll come to that.”
“Look at what happened earlier. He was all buddy buddy with Chanyeol, and then out of nowhere he made a move on him. You’re in the same boat whether you acknowledge it or not, same with Jongin. Any of the two of you could be his next victim at any moment in time.”
“So then what do we do?”
“We keep track of him. Make sure he doesn’t do anything to anybody, and when voting comes,” Minseok traced a thumb over his throat, “we vote him off.”
“Are you sure this is the best solution?”
“This is the only solution, Yixing. There’s not much we can do while we’re trapped in here.”
“Okay,” Yixing hesitated, “I’m on board. How much time until…”
Minseok glanced down at his wristwatch, “About thirty minutes. We have some time to kill. Let’s go join them. But remember, act like nothing happened between us.”
The two stood up and approached the foursome who were engaged in a heated discussion
over which Harry Potter movie was better.
“No c’mon the second movie was not the best. Have you seen The Goblet of Fire?” Jongin argued with Sehun.
“But Harry’s hair in that movie,” Sehun complained.
“His hair shouldn’t determine the quality of the entire movie,” Luhan shut down Sehun’s comment. He saw that the other two were coming to join the group, and he moved backwards to give some space, “Perfect timing. We’re trying to convince those two,” He pointed to Sehun and Kyungsoo, “that the fourth movie is the best out of all eight Harry Potter films.”
“The sixth will always be the better of the eight movies, don’t deny it,” Kyungsoo argued his point. “From Snape being the Half-Blood Prince to Dumbledore dying, it was a masterpiece.”
“I have to agree with him on that,” Yixing piggybacked off of Kyungsoo’s confession.
“See? It is a good movie.”
“Oh not you too, Yixing. I thought you’d agree,” Luhan whined with an upturn of the corner of one lip.
“I think Deathly Hallows Part 1 is the best,” Minseok added in his two cents.
“You know, if I’m gonna be outnumbered here, I’m stepping back until you realize you’re wrong,” Luhan scooted backwards towards the adjacent wall.
Minseok took this opportunity to talk to Luhan about what he told Yixing. He leaned over and gestured over to the Chinese man away from them towards Yixing to signal him. Yixing shortly nodded while still conversing with the rest of the group.
“I still think the second movie is the best,” Sehun clung onto his original opinion.
“Oh my God let’s not go back to that again. We’ve already been over it,” Kyungsoo rolled his eyes.
“Fine, but I’m still standing by my opinion.”
“Is everyone standing by their opinions on their votes, hm?” The voice interjected through the grainy speakers. “The time has come once again gentlemen. Let’s see. How about we have a blind hand raise this time. No peeking. I’ll know if you are, and you don’t want to know what will happen when I see you. Alright, let’s begin.”
All six of them warily covered their eyes as the voice rattled off the names of the people in the room, pausing a few seconds in between each name, “Luhan? Jongin? Kyungsoo? Yixing? Sehun? Minseok? You can open your eyes boys, the result is clear.” The voice gave them time to readjust to the lighting of the room, “My, my this is getting interesting. Mister Oh Sehun, you have been chosen.”
“W-what?” Sehun scanned everyone with his mouth hung agape.
“Come now young man. It’s your time to shine.”
Sehun slowly stood up, using a hand to support himself on the wall. He felt sick to his stomach, like he could throw up his insides at any given moment. Unlike the others, he was terrified instead of angry. He knew he would be voted off; it was only a matter of time before he would hear his name being called.
Sehun noticed how everyone wouldn’t look him in the eye except Yixing who was giving him a sympathetic look. He sighed and faced the large door, knowing he’ll see the others who were in his position before him.
14:00
The remaining five kept to themselves for the first thirty minutes of the next two hour time slot. The boredom had set in and their movements became more sluggish with the ticking of each second.
They were running out of things to talk about with everyone already knowing the lifestyles of every person. Now their only conversations could be about television or movies, topics that wouldn’t last the entire two hour period in between voting sessions.
“Do you watch sports?” Luhan asked Yixing.
“Not really. I’m not a sports watcher,” Yixing replied plainly with a yawn.
From being locked in the windowless room for fourteen hours, the fatigue was setting in fast. Only fifteen minutes passed by and Kyungsoo and Minseok were already sleeping next to each other. Luhan looked as if he could pass out at any moment, so Yixing placed a hand on his shoulder to indicate it was okay for him to rest.
“You need your strength,” Yixing muttered in Mandarin, his fatigue making him forget for a moment to speak in Korean.
“Okay,” Luhan let the sleep overtake him, leaving Jongin and Yixing the only one’s awake.
Yixing relished in the peace and quiet the room offered, and he thought about his life outside of the walls surrounding him. How was his studio? Did they realize something was wrong with him? What even brought him here in the first place?
Too many questions, not enough answers.
Too wrapped up in his own mind, Yixing didn’t notice Jongin moving next to him until a shadow was cast over his lower body.
“Hey,” Jongin started with a small smile, “Not tired?”
“Tired, yes, but not in that kind of way,” Yixing pointed to the three people napping aroun them.
“Yeah same. So,” he inched closer, lessening the distance between their thighs. “How are you doing?”
“I’m good.”
“That’s good. Have you put any thought into your vote this time around?”
“Oh not really I-” Yixing stopped as he felt a hand sneak its way onto his thigh. He found the source of the touch yet still saw it lingering no matter how long he stared at it.
“No thoughts at all?” Jongin innocently asked, not acknowledging what he was doing.
“No...not really.”
“You know, if we can make a deal here, I promise that I can change your mind,” Jongin inched closer to Yixing.
“W-what kind of deal,” Yixing stuttered at the sudden close proximity of the Korean man.
“One that,” He walked his fingers up the other’s arm, “you’ll feel good about. Trust me, I know what I’m doing.”
Jongin pursued Yixing until he was leaning against the corner of the room. With a smirk he ghosted his lips over Yixing’s ear, “Why don’t you indulge in your fantasies a little bit? I can see what you want. I can give it to you. All you have to do is help me vote for somebody, and I can do whatever you want me to do to you.”
Yixing remained flustered with the close contact Jongin was giving him. He couldn’t think straight when another man was currently on top of him knowing all the right buttons to push. As a straight man, he never experienced someone of the same sex advancing on him, but he couldn’t shake the feeling underneath his skin that whatever Jongin was doing felt good.
“So, if you help me vote off Luhan, I’ll take you to cloud nine,” Jongin dropped his voice an octave lower, slightly nibbling on the tip of Yixing’s ear.
“N-no. I don’t think-”
“What the fuck are you doing to him?” Luhan raised his voice at the sight of the younger Korean straddling the Chinese male.
Luhan’s shouting woke up the other three as he stormed across the room and yanked Jongin off of Yixing’s petrified body.
“I was just-” Jongin began but was cut off by Luhan.
“Just what? Trying to seduce him?” Luhan questioned him with a piercing glare. “What you’re trying to get him on your side?”
Jongin couldn’t speak, and Luhan took that gap as a way to continue, “You’re not just a regular dancer are you? I knew it. So what’s your secret? Porn star? Stripper? Both?”
The Korean sighed, “Stripper.”
“Of course. And you promised Yixing a good time if he agreed to vote for the next person on your hit list, didn’t you?”
Jongin hung his head, “Yeah.”
“People like you disgust me. Using others to propel yourself forward. He’s not even gay!”
“I was trying to get rid of you, but you just had to get in the way of my plans!” He snapped.
Luhan’s mouth opened, and his eyes lit up with a newfound fire, “You bitch! What have I done to you?”
“Nothing, but I knew you are the weakest link besides him,” he pointed to Yixing, “so you’re the perfect target.”
“I’ll show you who’s the weakest.”
“No Luhan!” Kyungsoo sprung up and latched onto the older’s waist to restrain him.
“Let go of me!” Luhan thrashed to try to free himself from the other man’s grip.
“Stop it! It’s not gonna do anything!”
“Oh it will. It’ll show him his place here,” Luhan managed to push Kyungsoo off of his body, and he lunged at Jongin, pinning him to the ground. “I won’t forgive you for what you were doing.”
“If only you were voted off earlier on. This would’ve be easier to get what I want,” Jongin spat at the person on top of him.
Luhan scowled before resting a hand over Jongin’s throat, “Tell me why I shouldn’t strangle you right now.”
“I think that’s quite enough Luhan. He’ll get what he deserves soon enough,” The deep voice of the overseer prevented Luhan from choking the younger Korean man underneath his weight. “Now I suggest you climb off of Mister Kim or I’ll have to force you to.”
A lone red dot honed in on Luhan’s cheek just like it happened to Tao when they first woke up in the room. Luhan slowly took himself off Jongin, “Fine.”
“Good boy.” The voice waited until Luhan was a few feet away from Jongin’s figure. “We’re going back to the phone for this round of voting, so I’ll be waiting for you there.”
Just as he had said, the phone rang mere seconds later. Luhan waltzed over to the landline quickly and picked it up.
“Eager are we?” The voice teased.
“Shut up,” Luhan responded bitterly, still angry about the event moments before.
“No need to be mean here. I’m just asking you a simple question. Who are you voting for?”
“Jongin,” Luhan sneered through the receiver.
“Thank you, Luhan.”
With a forceful thrust of the phone into Minseok’s hands, Luhan trudged to the opposite wall and leaned against it, eyeing Jongin with daggers.
As Jongin’s turn to vote approached, he held a long stare off with Luhan the entirety of the before, during, and after the call. The other three kept looking back and forth between the two, silently hoping neither of them would pounce and attack.
“It’s getting closer to the end boys! Only five of you left, soon to be four. Now I think we all know who our winner is this time,” The voice elongated his words in a saccharine way to play with his captives.
Jongin walked over to the doorway knowing it was him.
“Ah correct! Kim Jongin how nice of you to join your comrades behind the door. Please, right this way.”
The door opened enough for Jongin’s body to squeeze through but not for anyone else to see what was beyond their cage.
16:00
“I’m sorry for what happened, Yixing. If only I knew I could’ve prevented it,” Luhan apologized for the recent fight.
“It’s not your fault. I don’t think anyone would’ve guessed that happening. And it’s not like he was going to force me into anything,” Yixing comforted Luhan.
“I’m just glad you’re okay. I know I might have went overboard,” he scratched his head, “but I was only concerned about your safety. I didn’t want him to use you like that.”
“No, it’s okay. I’m over it.”
Luhan understood that Yixing didn’t want to talk about the previous events anymore, and he promptly stopped his charade of making him feel better.
“I’m gonna sleep. I haven’t rested in a long time, and I feel like I could pass out any minute,” Yixing told Luhan who was busy picking under his nails.
“Oh that’s fine, go ahead. I’ll still be here,” Luhan didn’t look up from his hands.
Yixing leaned his back against the wall as he curled up on the cold floor. His body ached at the angle he chose to sleep at; however he had no other options. At the moment any position would be good for him with the lack of sleep catching up to his body.
Closing his eyes, he hoped time would speed up and pass the voting. He was dreading voting as the numbers dwindled down.
“Hey. Yixing,” a voice whispered over top of his figure, pulling him from his dreamless sleep. “Wake up.”
“Huh?” Yixing groaned lowly as his bones cracked with every movement. He rubbed his eyes and blinked the sleep away, seeing Kyungsoo’s small appearance fill his vision. “Kyungsoo?”
“Shh, keep your voice down. They’re both sleeping still,” He gestured over to Luhan and Minseok lying down a bit away from them.
“Why did you wake me up?”
“I need to talk to you about something.”
“What? It must be important if you had to wake me up for it.”
“Okay. Trust me when I say this,” Kyungsoo lowered his voice. “Minseok has been using you.”
“How? We’ve just been talking,” Yixing shooed off the other’s idea.
“All of your ‘talks’ was just him convincing you to side with him to eliminate everyone on his hit list. He just wanted someone to support his votes, to gain his trust, and now, you’re his next target.”
“Me?”
“Yeah, I wouldn’t be surprised if he told Luhan lies about you already. He’s the type to target the easily manipulated, and you fell right into his trap.”
“How do I know you’re not trying to manipulate me?”
“It’s up to you to take that risk. Think about it. Speaking Chinese with him, gossiping with him, getting close with him. It was all part of his plan to use you as his pet, following him around without question.”
“I can think for myself.”
“Are you sure about that?”
“Why are you questioning me?” Yixing was getting a bit apprehensive at Kyungsoo’s questions being thrown at him.
“He lied to you when he said Sehun was the one who touched Chanyeol. Sehun never touched him. Chanyeol probably did that to get rid of Sehun, but it backfired on him. Minseok just wanted Sehun dead, so he played his cards well. He knew Luhan disliked Sehun, and he knew you and Jongin would follow him around like lost puppies.”
“I would know if someone was using me.”
“Then we wouldn’t be having this conversation right now.”
Yixing sighed knowing that Kyungsoo wouldn’t let this go, “If I were to trust you, how would we find out the truth?”
“Minseok would deny everything and pin it all on me. This will be entirely up to you and your judgement. You can either believe him or me.”
“I…” He paused to gather his thoughts. “I believe you.”
“Good. Now, all we have to do is wait this out until voting. If my estimations are correct, we’ll vote for Minseok, Minseok will vote for either you or me, and Luhan will probably vote me. So, if this ends in a tie, I don’t know what that psycho has up his sleeves. Be ready for anything.”
Yixing nodded which prompted the two to separate and act as if they had a normal conversation. Out of the corner of his eye, Kyungsoo noticed that Minseok was waking up, and he began conversing with the Chinese man about a random topic, “But seriously, you should really consider teaming up with a huge brand to get your label’s name out there.”
Yixing was taken aback by Kyungsoo’s sudden change of mood, but he saw Minseok’s stirring and understood, “If only we had enough money in the budget to, I would jump on board with that.”
“Think about it.”
“I will.”
“What’s this about?” Minseok’s groggy voice wondered.
“Yixing was complaining how his company is always overshadowed by the bigger labels, so I told him to partner with advertising companies,” Kyungsoo lied perfectly.
“That would help him.”
“Except I’m broke,” Yixing reminded the two.
“You’ll get there,” Minseok pat his shoulder.
“Don’t wake Sleeping Beauty,” Kyungsoo pointed over to Luhan who was still sound asleep despite the abundant noise.
“He’ll have to get up eventually.”
“Right you are, Minseok! It’s time for everyone to be up and active!” The voice jumped in on the conversation through the booming sound system, jolting Luhan awake.
The Chinese man jumped and placed a hand over his chest as his eyes widened suddenly, “What’s going on?”
“It’s voting time again! We can’t have you missing the occasion.”
With a groan, Luhan sat up shakily. He was half-asleep still, but he was awake enough to be coherent.
“The final four. What a tremendous feat for you to survive this long into the game. This calls for a round of applause,” The voice began clapping. “Come, clap for yourselves.”
All four of the people in the room slowly clapped their hands, disturbed by the current atmosphere.
“Now as it has been, four will become three. Due to the fact that there are so little of you, we’ll have a simple voting this time. On my count point to the one you wish to vote off. Alright? Okay, voting starts...now.”
All four confidently raised an index finger to the person they wanted to vote for. Kyungsoo and Yixing both pointed at Minseok, Minseok pointed at Kyungsoo, and Luhan pointed at Minseok as well.
“What? Yixing? He’s using you! How can you believe the lies he told you!” Minseok shouted at Yixing as he saw his arm extended towards him.
“He wasn’t the one who lied to me. You did,” Yixing sternly replied.
“I never lied to you!” He turned to Luhan, “And you believe them too?”
“I heard enough of their conversation to know my own decision,” Luhan glared at the Korean.
“You heard us?” Yixing asked his friend slightly dumbfounded.
“Yeah, I wasn’t really sleeping when you guys were talking.”
“You’ll regret your choice. All of you! It’s supposed to be Kyungsoo in my place!” Minseok screamed, getting red in the face from anger.
“You’ll see Kyungsoo in due time, Minseok. In due time,” The voice calmly remarked as the door swung shut behind his short form, separating him from the three remaining men in the room. “Six more hours boys.”
18:00
“It’s only the three of us now. What do we even do?” Luhan absentmindedly mused to no one in particular.
“I don’t know. We know pretty much everything about each other, all the drama has subsided, I think this is the perfect time to finally sleep without interruption,” Yixing replied with a small smile.
“Agreed,” Kyungsoo sighed contently.
“Glad we’re all in agreement for once,” Luhan chimed in.
“Yeah, so hopefully that bastard won’t annoy us and ruin my good sleep. See you guys in two hours.”
Kyungsoo propped himself against the corner and crossed his arms over his abdomen. With a lengthy exhale, he closed his eyes and settled down to take a nice--as nice as the dirty room could get--nap.
Yixing moved himself to do the same, but Luhan placed a hand around his forearm and squeezed the skin once, “Hold on a minute.”
“What?” Yixing whispered.
Luhan eyed Kyungsoo’s breathing, noticing he was still going at a normal pace, “I have a question about your company.”
“My company?”
“Yeah, I kinda forgot about it a while ago, but I just remembered it now, and I don’t want to forget it again.”
“Okay shoot.”
“Well…” He stopped to look over at Kyungsoo again, relieved at the fact that his breathing slowed down, “Okay so here’s the plan.”
“Wait what?”
“I had to stall until Kyungsoo was sleeping. Now he is, so I can tell you what I really want to say,” Luhan exhaled, “Yixing, listen. We need to stick together. I can’t deal with Kyungsoo by myself if you die, and I know you’d be in the same position if I died. I know Kyungsoo is a nice guy, but we need to...you know.”
“Vote him off.”
“Exactly. It’s not what I really want to do. If anything I’d want to band together and escape, but look what they almost did to Tao. I’m not taking my chances.”
Yixing turned his head towards the top of the door, “Yeah, I don’t want to find out what happens. But I can’t just do that to Kyungsoo.”
“We have no choice. I’m not ready for either of us to sacrifice ourselves. I consider you my friend, and I can’t just lose you like that.”
“Luhan…”
“I didn’t mean to get all sappy there, but I’m telling the truth. We bonded so quickly in this fucking messed up situation, and I don’t want to continue on knowing you’re dead out there,” He gestured towards the door.
“But when voting between the two of us comes.”
“We’ll cross the bridge when we get there. For now, let’s think about what’s happening right in front of us.”
“Okay, we’ll follow through with the plan.”
Luhan wrapped his hand and fingers around Yixing’s shoulder, “It’ll be alright.”
“I hope you’re right.”
“C’mon don’t stress yourself out too much. Let’s just sleep until it’s time.”
Yixing nodded and stretched his limbs before he repositioned himself on his back with his hands behind his head. Luhan did the same a few feet away, making sure he gave Yixing some space.
Everything became silent as pleasant darkness overtook their senses. A small escape from reality, no matter how fleeting, was a blessing. But then again in this instance, a blessing couldn’t stay long without an interruption.
“Up! Get up boys! I can’t have you sleeping on the job!” The deep voice yelled, the static of the speakers mixing in with the sound waves of his speaking. “Don’t try to ignore me. You know what happens when you do.”
“Is it time,” Luhan murmured still groggy from his nap.
“Yes it is, Luhan!”
The three of them slowly sat up in their spots before congregating into the center of the room.
“Ah our top three. You know I anticipated you three being in this position. You are the most responsible out of the twelve men. But I digress, let us begin voting. This time everyone will say your vote out loud when I call your name. Yixing we’ll start with you.”
“Kyungsoo,” Yixing dropped his head to avoid meeting the Korean’s gaze.
“Luhan?”
“Kyungsoo,” Luhan following in the other Chinese man’s footsteps and looked everywhere but at Kyungsoo.
“Kyungsoo?” The voice lilted in amusement.
“Myself,” Kyungsoo monotonously answered, arousing shock from the other two.
“A unanimous decision. I haven’t seen anything like it before.”
“Why?” Yixing looked the shorter male in the eye.
“Because I know I’d never have a chance at living past this checkpoint. Plus, someone who is more kind and deserving of living should go on, and that’s you two. I don’t deserve staying in this fucked up game.” Kyungsoo stood up and approached the door, “Hopefully I’ll see you guys again, when it’s your time.”
“Kyungsoo,” Luhan trailed off as the younger sadly smiled at him.
“It’s okay, trust me.”
Kyungsoo gave them a short wave before walking behind the small crack in the door big enough to fit his body. His short figure disappeared behind the large door, yet the two Chinese men could still hear his voice talking to them. It’s okay.
They hoped his words were believable.
20:00
“This is it, huh? It’s only us left,” Luhan scanned around the room, feeling the ghosts of the ten other men haunting the walls.
“I still can’t believe this is real,” Yixing commented with a dark chuckle. “Sometimes I think this is all a twisted dream and that I’ll wake up when it’s over, but then I pinch myself or punch my leg, and I realize I’m still here living through this nightmare.”
“I just wish I could see my family again.” Luhan sighed, “I don’t even know where we are.”
“Same here. It’s like I’ve almost forgotten what the outside looks like even though it hasn’t been a full day yet.”
“Yeah, it’s hard to imagine how our friends and family are reacting to our disappearances, if they even know we’re gone.”
A brief period of silence enveloped the two of them as they thought back to their lives outside the enclosure. Luhan darkly chuckled, “Remember when we first met. I thought it was so cool that we were from the same city.”
“And I thought it was cool I was talking to the guy on the bus stop billboard.”
Luhan chuckled, “It’s weird how the world put us together. I just wish it could’ve been in another situation without death surrounding us.”
“Maybe we would’ve met at a cover shoot for one of my artists, and you would’ve been there too.”
“Yeah.”
A comfortable silence filled the space around the two as they reminisced the past twenty hours. So much has happened, things regular people never wish to experience, and they still kept somewhat positive attitudes through their experiences.
“Hello boys,” The voice announced his presence for the last time.
“It’s not time to vote yet,” Luhan spat in the direction of the door, fed up with the unknown voice’s game.
“No need to be so hostile. I’m here to tell you about what will be happening in a few minutes. This round of voting will be the extravagant ending to a beautiful game. There will be no phones, no hand raising, no pointing, no shouting. You see, there will be a special gift just for you two.”
“Special gift?” Yixing turned towards Luhan who shrugged in response.
“Let the switch up begin,” The dark voice ignored their confusion. “By the door is a container. Choosing to use its contents is completely up to you. Have fun.”
A small, opaque container was left on the floor right outside of the doorway. Yixing picked it up and pried off the lid, peering inside. Luhan leaned over. “What is it?”
Yixing reached in the box and pulled out two capsules, both a pale blue in color. Underneath the pills was a note to which Luhan grabbed and read out loud to the both of them: “The choice is yours. You have two capsules in your possession, both containing lethal amounts of multiple narcotics. This round you have a few options: escape together and take the pills, sacrifice for the sake of the other, or refuse to take them and deal with us. You have until the twenty second hour.”
“So it’s suicide or murder,” Yixing exclaimed bluntly.
“Pretty much.”
“What should we do?”
“Let’s...not come up with a decision immediately. We still have fifteen minutes to decide.”
Yixing nodded, “Okay.”
The two each held a pill in their hands, its small weight felt heavier tenfold with the pressure of the situation lurking in the shadows around them. Yixing couldn’t bear to be without Luhan. Through the past twenty some hours, they created a bond unlike the others. They had similar tastes and backgrounds. They had a mutual understanding for each other.
Luhan felt the same way. He couldn’t bear to see Yixing die in front of him. After living twenty six years of his life, he finally found someone he could be his true self around without having to build a wall of fake emotions just to please people.
Five minutes left. Luhan faced Yixing with a serious expression, “Yixing? Do you know what you want to do?”
Yixing nodded solemnly, “Yeah.” He held up the hand holding the blue capsule, “We go together.”
“Together.”
“On three alright?” Yixing cupped the pill in his palm.
Luhan took over with the countdown, “Three. Two. One.”
They both threw the pills towards their mouths and let the outer covering disintegrate, allowing the toxins to take over their systems. The effects of the pills worked almost immediately, and Luhan’s vision fazed as he collapsed into a heap on the ground, watching through hazy eyes Yixing’s pill drop to the floor in front of him.
22:00
Yixing looked at Luhan’s lifeless body laying on the floor in front of him. He should’ve felt something: remorse, guilt, sadness, but he felt nothing. It was as if there was a hollow piece where his emotions were. If anything he felt happy.
“Brilliant! Just brilliant, Yixing!” the voice clapped over the speakers. “I had a feeling you would be the winner. I knew you would be our next sinner.”
“Next sinner?”
“My boy, this game wasn’t to eliminate sinners, it was to create sinners, and you’ve turned out perfect from the get go. Betraying them right away…”
“Okay so I’ll start and I’ll vote for the person who goes last, and everyone else votes for the person who goes before you,” Jongdae proposed the plan to the group.
Everyone went up to vote one by one. At Yixing’s turn he picked up the receiver, and held the name of his assigned person on the tip of his tongue ‘Chanyeol’ but the words transformed, and he chose ‘Tao’ for the one being eliminated.
“What? N-no! This wasn’t the plan! What--who the fuck backstabbed me?”
“Using information against the others…”
“Well, a lot of people don’t like the fact that I act more...feminine than other men.”
“One of you freaking molested me while I was sleeping!”
Yixing was the only one near Chanyeol as he slept; Sehun wasn’t within reach of the taller Korean.
“Manipulating them…”
“You’re just too nice to see through the outer layer of people. Hasn’t he ever stared at you when you two talked?”
Yixing played along with Minseok’s antics to get rid of Sehun. He nodded his head, going with whatever Minseok said, even if the facts were false.
“And the icing on the cake. Betraying your greatest ally…”
“Three. Two. One.”
Luhan threw the pill into his mouth as Yixing threw it past his mouth. Luhan fell to the floor seconds later, a look of betrayal etching onto his features as his life slipped away, and Yixing’s remained intact. Yixing crouched to the floor and brushed some of Luhan’s stray hair, “Sorry.”
The word was an empty gesture.
“I must say I did enjoy your performance, Yixing. And to reward you, I am giving you all that you could have hoped for. Congratulations.”
24:00
The barred door opened, and Yixing walked out carrying a suitcase with sleek, black wings printed on the front.