it’s nearly three o’ clock in the morning, and jeongguk is now the only student left on campus.

the tiny letters and numbers of his math textbook are starting to river dance up and down the page, and jeongguk knows it’s time to call it quits and go home.

there’s only so much studying you can do, before your mental capacities tap off, and there’s just no more learning space left to squeeze in anymore information.

that’s just asking for scholarly suicide.

rubbing his bleary eyes and stretching out the kinks in his back, jeongguk yawns out loud, glancing at the clock hanging above the library double doors one more time.

three o’ eight.

yup, definitely time to go home.

so with a final crack of the neck, jeongguk begins cramming his textbooks and highlighters into his backpack, not really caring whether he’s being orderly or not.

it’s not like anyone’s going to be looking in there anyways.

after packing away the last of his belongings, jeongguk hauls himself to his feet and zips up his bag, tossing it over his shoulder as he makes his way towards the exit.

he carelessly nudges open the double doors, yawning for the umpteenth time that night as he steps out into the hallway.

a whispery wind sighs throughout the empty school grounds, like a soft voice murmuring grave secrets that jeongguk can’t quite hear.

and he’s not going to lie, the campus is a slight bit creepy this late at night, so dark, so alone.

but jeongguk is a big boy, and this is his school. nothing to be afraid of.

so squaring his shoulders, jeongguk makes his way down the hall, passing door after uniform, standard door, shadows looming this way and that from the moonlight pouring in through the windows.

and he has that strange sensation that someone is watching him, that tingling feeling like ants are crawling under his skin, a shiver wracking down his spine.

quickly glancing over his shoulder, then to his left, and to his right, jeongguk searches his surroundings for the source of this discomfort. but nothing is there.

just him, and the furniture, and the school building itself.

no big deal.

“come on, ah! let’s go!” he gives himself a small pep talk, hitching his backpack higher on his shoulder. “you’re being ridiculous, jeon jeongguk!”

he finally reaches the turn in the hall where an opening leads to the stairwell, quickly stomping down each step as he rushes to get to the first landing.

the faster he moves, the faster he can get out of here and go home.

jeongguk urges his feet to move faster, just a few more halls to go before the school’s front entrance, when a loud wailing noise shrieks throughout the entire campus, shattering the calm and quiet of the night, startling jeongguk into jumping ten feet out of his own skin.

his hands automatically clamp down on his ears, trying to block out the shrill siren blasting all around him, making his heart quiver out of control and his blood pound so loudly in his veins.

the siren stops, and an eery silence follows.

“what the heck?” jeongguk whispers to himself, his throat going dry from the panic freezing his entire body to the core, unable to move a single muscle. his breathing begins to pick up pace, his own shallow pants ringing loudly in his ears.

and suddenly, a low, crackly, disembodied voices leaks through the walls itself, as if materializing from the ominous shadows that stretch out around him, creatures, claws, all making their way in jeongguk’s direction.

“… you have been selected to take part in this deadly game of win or lose. you and an opposing member will be given a variety of aptitude tests, and based on your abilities to think under duress and react properly under pressure, the winning party will be deemed worthy for survival…”

“what the fuck?” jeongguk’s eyes widen in panic, terror crippling his entire being into immobility.

“… game starts now.”

a soft crackling noise, and everything is once again emerged under a thick, heavy blanket of suffocating silence.

“what the fuck,” jeongguk feels the faint beginnings of hyperventilation squeezing out his lungs, clamping his airways and preventing his body from obtaining the much needed oxygen he requires.

jeongguk can’t think.

what the hell is this?!

“oh my god, oh my god,” he breathes, panic and anxiety clutching its painful claws into his heart. “oh my god.”

and then he hears the sound of pounding footsteps, coming from somewhere at the other end of the hall.

“hey! who’s there?!”

jeongguk’s head shoots up, his fingernails digging little imprints of crescents into his own temples.

“hey! wait, jeongguk? is that you?”

jeongguk squints into the darkness, seeking out the face of the newcomer.

he recognizes that voice.

“jeongguk.”

“jimin hyung,” he replies, surprised at how calm and collected his own voice sounds in his ears.

“hey,” jimin pants, pausing beside jeongguk, hunched over as he tries to catch his breath.

jeongguk gives him a minute to cool down, watching the rise and fall of the elder’s chest as he recovers from his previous sprint throughout the entire campus.

“man, i fell asleep during study hours and my friends just left me,” jimin huffs, finally standing straight and pushing some of his sweat plastered hair away from his forehead.

“hmm,” jeongguk nods in response, an unbidden sense of calm spreading throughout his entire body.

“what the hell is going on?” jimin frowns, glancing around the moonlit hallway as if searching for the source of the voice they had just heard. “what is all this bullshit?”

“i have no idea hyung,” jeongguk replies. and he really doesn’t. the only thoughts racing through the younger’s mind is the fact that jimin hyung is his opposing party, and just how much easier his chances of survival have gotten.

“i tried the doors, but they’re all chained shut,” jimin states, walking over to one of the square windows along the wall. jeongguk watches as he gently taps a finger against the glass. “and the windows are all barred up, so we can’t exactly climb out through that.”

“hmm.”

jimin turns back and glances at jeongguk’s face.

“wanna help me look for another way out?”

jeongguk smiles, truly feeling a lot calmer than just a few moments ago.

“sure hyung,” he replies in a serene voice, following behind as jimin leads the way.

let the games begin.