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[only within quotation marks, aka dialogue] korean, english
you might be wondering what on earth the chapter title and gif mean. don't worry, nobody's dying. not physically, at least.
it was now the 20ᵗʰ of october, and the day of the second challenge. the boys had woken up at the same time as the previous day, and been herded to the huge backyard which was set up with a bunch of boulders lying around in the grass, creating a kind of maze with lots of hiding spots.
"today's game," shouted sungho, walking over to a table piled with some objects that were covered by a cloth. he grabbed one end and yanked it off. "paintball!"
the pile turned out to be the markers and safety gear, and a few crates of the paintballs were also there. elliott smiled nervously - he had been hit on the neck with one back when he was in middle school, and didn't have the fondest memories of the sport.
each boy was handed a light but tough, black military themed suit with knee and elbow guards as well as masks and everything else, and they hurried off to change. well, the others did. elliott trudged to his room slowly, and pulled on the clothes with great reluctance. his bandanna was a blue color, like those of the others on his team.
once everyone was done, they went back out and were given two guns each as well as a whole lot of differently colored paintballs.
jeong clapped to get their attention. "today's game type is capture the flag! the two teams are the same as yesterday. the right wing will get a blue flag and the left, a yellow one."
"each team will get ten minutes to set up a base, hide the flag and come up with a plan. your goal is to steal the rival team's flag. extra paintballs have been hidden at various points in case you run out of ammunition. if you get hit on your chest or back, you're out."
"i'm liking this game more and more," commented zane, holding a marker in each hand. his well toned biceps were visible through the kind of tight shirt, and he seemed like an actual soldier in the military except for his messy, slightly overgrown curls.
christopher grabbed their flag and team blue set off into the maze of honestly huge rocks. goodness knows how they had been brought into the backyard in such little time, because elliott was sure they hadn't been there the day before.
well, k-mansion is run by millionaires.
"let's hide at the base of that rock there," suggested elliott as he pointed to a larger-than-average boulder not too far away. when faced with five questioning looks, he explained, "it provides guard against the others, plus, we can climb it to get a good vantage point."
"i keep forgetting you used to go to those summer camps and play capture the flag every year when you were a kid," laughed zane, "you do have a point. let's go!"
the six quickly set up the pole with the neon piece of cloth on it inside a crevice, and hyunjin and elliott volunteered to stay guard while christopher and felix went up the rock and the last two, zane and jeongin, made a round around their shelter to look for paintballs.
they returned with their pods filled to the brim. christopher and felix also came back down with big smiles and reported that the yellow flag was in a large cluster of smaller rocks around the edge of the playing field.
"i'll stay here and protect with jeongin," offered christopher and zane nodded. it was decided the remaining four would move as a group to the other base, and then split into half - felix with zane to distract the others team, and hyunjin with elliott to sneak up to the flag.
soon a loud bang was heard, and the game had officially started.
"ever played before?" asked elliott as he walked next to his partner while carrying the markers the way zane did. the recoil wouldn't be too bad as the guns were only nitrogen powered, and he was sure he could handle using only one hand to shoot.
"nope. does it hurt when you get shot?"
"it's a small sting, like a flick. fades away quickly."
"then why do you flinch when i do this?" asked hyunjin as he turned his marker to elliott and the boy's body involuntarily jumped, hands coming up to shield himself.
"okay, so once i was hit here, just below my chin, and it hurt like a motherfucker. anywhere protected, though, it doesn't bring a whole lot of pain."
"oh," he said in a small voice, "i'm sorry."
"it's okay."
but it's not.
they reached the place and split up. hyunjin followed elliott as he skirted the area, cautiously creeping forward and peering around the boulders before walking ahead. a few seconds passed and battle cries were heard in the distance.
"aright, now we can speed up. stay alert, though."
the two sped up and ran, still checking their surroundings with every few steps and suddenly elliott came to a complete halt, causing hyunjin to run into his back.
"someone's there?" he whispered and the taller boy nodded, holding a finger to his lips.
it was seungmin, facing away and looking for enemies in the wrong direction. he was completely unaware of the two behind him as he held up the gun and stood ready to shoot.
elliott raised his marker and pulled the trigger, and a yellow spot blossomed on seungmin's back. the poor boy jumped about a foot into the air, and spun around wearing a face of absolute terror.
elliott sent a wink his way and seungmin flushed deeply, only able to watch helplessly as hyunjin and elliott ran on with grins of victory painted on their lips.
they spotted their next enemy soon enough, just idly standing around and looking lost. occasionally minho would take a few steps here and there, but other than that he was totally zoned out.
