EIGHT HOURS ━ STRAY KIDS

HOUR ONE.

Bang Chan wasn't sure why he was here.

He hated parties. He despised them with his entire being. To him, they were a waste of time. Why would he go out and voluntarily get drunk when he would much rather be curled up at home, burrowed under his comforter with a flashlight and his favorite book?

But his best friends loved them, and because of that, Chan was forced to attend every single party on campus. And every single time, the medical student was left with two wasted friends that he had to drive home himself (once, his friends dragged him to a party and he was up too late taking care of them—he ended up sleeping right through his surgery examination) (no, he was not asleep while performing surgery, he just forgot to wake up in the morning). 

So, like always, when Jisung and Changbin caught wind that there was a party happening on campus, they stormed Chan's dorm room, coerced him out of his sweatpants, and forced him to the party. And that brings us to the present.

Chan is currently standing in the corner of the large room, red Solo cup in his hand. He had never been the biggest fan of alcohol, but the cup acted like an invisibility cloak—as long as he had it in his hand, he didn't stick out like the sore thumb he felt he was.

"Channie!" A groggy shout came from behind him. Chan recognized the voice as Lee Felix—a sophomore who Chan swears he isn't keen on. It's completely normal for your heart to flutter around your friends...right?

"Hey, Felix." Chan smiled. "Are you drunk already?"

"I'm just tipsy, I swear!" Felix stumbled towards him, arms open wide. "Hug me!"

Chan sighed and embraced the boy, ruffling his hair slightly. "Where are Jisung and Changbin?"

"They're playing party games with Hyunjin, Jeongin, and Minho." Felix waved over into a corner of the room. "Let's go join them!"

Chan scoffed and let himself be led towards the corner, smiling in slight disbelief. He was not looking forward to taking care of five drunks tonight.

"Channie!" A drunk Jeongin stumbled toward him, falling into his arms. "You're here...Come play games with us!"

Ignoring Chan's protests, Jeongin dragged him towards a circle of boys. "Channie is going to play with us!"

Hyunjin and Chan made eye contact across the circle. "You're sober?" Hyunjin asked, hopefully.

Chan nodded. "I despise alcohol."

Hyunjin smiled. "Thank goodness. One less drunk to take care of."

Chan smiled in response and looked away when he heard Changbin exclaim, "Don't get near me. I know who you are."

Chan snickered. "That's an awfully tense mafia game."

"Guys!" Minho called out, getting everyone's attention. The engineering major smiled. "Let's play hide and seek!"

Chan hesitated. Not only were the majority of them wasted, but the seven boys around him didn't know their way around this house. Yet Felix was already grabbing his hand, pulling him towards the hallway.

"Come on! It'll be fun!" Chan glanced behind them and saw everyone pairing up—Jeongin and Jisung, Changbin and Minho, Hyunjin and another boy Chan didn't recognize. Chan turned his head, seeing that Felix had already disappeared down the dark hallway.

As much as he didn't want to run around a pitch-black house with a drunk, he knew he didn't really have a choice.

He sighed and followed Felix.