Let's Play a Game // Monsta X FF

Game ???

The storm came in the form of a scream that stabbed through the disconcerting silence.

Kihyun wasn't sure which one was scarier, the high-pitched scream that penetrates the silence, or the fact that it made his skin crawl. It was probably the latter seeing how it felt like a thousand ants colonized on every inch of exposed skin.

The scream definitely came from a male's voice. The thought of the person being one of the missing contestants didn't necessarily calm Kihyun, although it did mean that they were still in the same building, and not exactly missing. Not yet, anyways. There was no way of telling what was happening to that person, but it did create some sort of relief knowing the screech sounded it was released out of shock more than out of terror or agony.

Kihyun's first instinct was to run out the door, towards the source of the sound, towards the person who needed help, the person who was very likely to be either Jooheon or Wonho. But it was no use, his body was frozen in place, too tensed up to make any kind of action.

Another scream ripped through the air. This time it sounded deeper, like a howl, but it was no less terrifying from the previous one. Whatever was happening to the first person was happening again to another victim. They jolted, stumbled, as if a mini earthquake was set off. But Kihyun stayed unmoving, paralyzed.

Shownu was the first to move. It was hard to focus with fear blinding his senses, but Kihyun saw a moving figure right in front of him. Shownu had eyebrows so furrowed it must've turned sore from the exertion. He turned around and said something to Hyungwon, sending him off running down the corridor. Then he entered the room and gradually everyone snapped of their initial shock and joined Hyungwon, chasing away their fears and running towards where they thought the sound came from.

Kihyun felt people sped past him, and he tried to shove away the terror inside so he too could do some help. It took him a moment to realize his trembling legs weren't going to do anything useful. No matter how hard he tried, waves and waves of despair and fear crashed down onto him every time he had just dried himself of the water. It was swallowing him whole. He was drowning in terror.

Despite the overwhelming amount of pressure in him, he couldn't stop hating himself. As he stared at everyone hurrying through the opened door, he couldn't stop wondering why he was the one staying here. Why he was the one too scared to move. Why he always needed more time to recover. He remembered how long it took for him to recover from his headache. He remembered how much time he wasted trying to convince him he was fine. He remembered how long it took him to venture into the darkness of this building and join the game. Nothing could change the past. It had always been like this.

And yet he still jumped when all Shownu did was tap his shoulder.

"Kihyun, are you ok?" Kihyun looked up at Shownu's sincere eyes and responded with a tremulous smile.

"It's fine, we're going to find them. Whoever screamed...they are going to be okay. You can stay here if you want. If you need me, I can stay here with you. Everything will be fine." The way Shownu said it made it seem whatever he said was going to be the truth. Kihyun appreciated the effort, but his heart didn't think it was reassuring enough. But when he looked closely at Shownu's dark eyes, he could see the warmth and care dedicated for himself. He saw understanding. While it wasn't really the time to think of such things, Kihyun wondered silently whether that meant anything.

Just less than two days ago, the same pair of black eyes had been staring at him with hatred and bitterness. It was an exact replica from one year ago when the most heart breaking moment of his life happened. But now those eyes had transformed. The compassion in those orbs was telling something to Kihyun. It was the same pair of eyes that had looked at him whenever he made a mistake, whenever he was doing worse than everyone else. It was the same pair of eyes that he saw everyday when they were together.