FIRE DRILL. / lee haechan

forty-one

seri settled down beside hyuck and gave him a smirk before she set her eyes on the screen. the girl was confident that she'll win the racing game she chose. it was one of her favorite games. she can even recall some memories playing the game with her father before.

"get ready to spill, lee," seri says, oozing confidence making the other boy sigh.

just when the game was about to start, everything went black. the lights went off, the only thing seri can saw is the faint light from the moon slipping through the curtains on her window.

"i think electricity is out," hyuck informs.

seri clicked her tongue, "you're right captain obvious."

the girl tries to reach for her phone place on her bed. she turns it on and uses it's flashlight, accidentally flashing it directly to hyuck who immediately covered the light.

"sorry, lee. where's your phone? the emergency lights are located downstairs, near the dinning area." seri stands up and tries to help the male get up.

"left it downstairs." he dusted his shorts off, "you can stay here, i'll just get it. might as well some emergency light."

seri nods her head in agreement. "okay. use my phone, be careful and be quick."

she handed him her phone,"use it as a light. i don't want to hear you rolling down the stairs."

"aww," donghyuck pouted, "don't worry. i won't hurt myself."

"just go get your phone quickly."

when seri was left alone in her room, she looks around and slowly walks closer to the door. "uhh, donghyuck? can i come with you?"

she hears him chuckle, followed by footsteps on the stairs. she sees donghyuck on the stairs with her phone and walks toward him.

"hold my arm," he says as he showed his arm to her.

seri shook her head. "no need. i'll walk after you."

"okay."

when they were down, seri felt chills. the silence was scary, let alone that her phone was the only light she can see. hyuck suddenly turns the phone off. seri's brows furrowed and she snatches the phone from him.

"wh-" seri was shut off by hyuck's hand on her lips.

"shh," he whispers, "i can hear something. i think someone's here."

seri's breath quickened as her heart skipped a beat.

"let's slowly get inside the bathroom. then we'll call jaehyun hyung," hyuck says as he held her arm, pulling her towards the bathroom.

seri stretches her arm, hoping to touch something that can help her identify where they are. her hand bumps with something. her other hand was holding hyuck, she uses the opposite one to touch the item she bumped into and she realizes it was the kitchen counter.

she feels relieved knowing they are near the bathroom door.

just as hyuck tries his best to open the door without a sound, a bat was swung behind him, hitting his head as he lost consciousness.

the sudden sound of hyuck falling to the ground and her phone reached seri's ears. the sound increased her anxiety.

when she loses her grip on hyuck's arm. she stops moving. she had no idea what happened. she wanted to call him yet she was scared that someone might hear her.

the girl bit her lower lip. she takes a step forward but she halts when she felt a warm skin under her foot. seri crouched down and her hands found hyuck's arm.

she gulps as she felt the familiar texture of his hand. she was certain that it was donghyuck's. she swallows the lump on her throat, "hyuck.." she whispers as she shakes him.

just as when she was to search for her phone, an arm was placed around her neck, choking her.

the pressure on the sides of her neck was making it hardfor her to breathe as she can feel her neck bruising. "h-help!" she tries to yell but it came out as a whisper.

she was slowly losing her strength. her vision becomes blurry. then the electricity suddenly goes back, the lights were on.

she sees three man infront of her with the skull masks. the two stops and picks up donghyuck's unconscious body while the other was walking straight to her.

the person slips out something from his pocket. with blurry eyes, she sees the syringe. he quickly squeezed her arm, injecting something on seri.

that was the last thing she remembers as faints.

■

hyuck curses in his mind as his head was throbbing. his eyes were still closed. he tries to move his hand but he feels a cold mental restrain him. he hears the sound of it too.

he slowly opens his eyes and immediately sees seri unconsciously sitting while her hands were tied by metal chains. he glances as his and sees the same thing.

"fuck," he hissed as he tried to break free from the chains. "this is my fault."

his jaw clenched at the sight of seri's uncomfortable position. her head was hanging low while she was sitting on the tiles of the white room. hyuck can feel the cold tiles even with his jogger pants. what more to seri who was wearing shorts.

"seri," he tries to reach her with his feet. "jung seri, wake up!"

he gently kicks her foot. "seri!"

soon enough, his hardwork paid off when he sees a movement on her head. seri lifts her head up as she slowly blinks to adjust to the light.

"w-where... are we?" she looks around and sees the white painted walls and of course, hyuck who's eyes were glistening with tears.

"hyuck?"

he hungs his head low. "i'm sorry," he says in a strained voice. "i'm so sorry, seri."

"huh?" seri gulps, "what do you mean?"

he sniffs. "i.. i was suppose to protect you... yet..." he feels the lump on his throat. "i failed. i'm so sorry, seri."

seri shakes her head. "what the fuck? stop apologizing! it wasn't your fault. to be honest, i should be sorry... this is my mess. it was me who's life is in danger... yet you're here... and that's because of me.."

hyuck looks at her. "no.. it's not your fault. i should have been more careful. i should have-"

hyuck's words were cut off by the sound of the door swinging open. a male enters with a familiar mask. of course, the mask of deathless. their symbol. that skull mask.

"blah blah blah. stop with those bullshits. you think that was romantic? taking blames?" the male laughs. "well, that doesn't matter now."

he takes off his mask. both seri and hyuck's jaw dropped in surprise. seri couldn't believe it. he was one of her trusted friends. she felt like someone just punched her in the gut.

no words were coming out from her mouth.

"mark lee?!"