non omnis moriar (1/2)
Title: non omnis moriar
Pairing: Chanyeol/Sehun
Word count: 19869
Side pairing(s): sort of platonic!sekai, baekchen
Rating: R
Warning(s): [spoilers]battle royale!au, major character deaths, slight angst, blood, violence
Summary: One game. Twelve boys. Three days.
Author's Note (if any): This has been such a rollercoaster ride… I’d like to thank the prompter for giving me this chance to actually write this! I’ve been wanting to write something like this for a long time. Also thumbs up to those who can identify the little references. Thank you to K for reading this over for me and listening to me talk about it I hope I didn’t bother you too much :-( The map was taken from here, but it was tweaked a little. You won’t need it for most part though. I hope that you’ll enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it! Written for halcyonboys.
DAY 1, 12:00 P.M.
Everything is hazy and his head is throbbing. The amount of white noise isn't helping either, and so are the bright lights. A lift of his head shows some words written on the blackboard, and Chanyeol wants to pinch himself. Kill or die.
Chanyeol stares at it with squinted eyes, ignoring the alarms that are going off in his head from all the soldiers standing around. They've seen this somewhere before, they are taught to be proud if they get chosen-fuck.
An actual, loud alarm sounds and Chanyeol has to hold his hands over his ears to keep his eardrums from bursting. If he hadn't woken up before, he definitely would have now. There is movement around everywhere all of a sudden, and he realizes that it's from his classmates. He heaves a sigh of relief, because there are familiar faces and names, and he's glad that he isn't alone. Soldiers aside.
There is a loud crackle before someone speaks through the megaphone, and Chanyeol sees someone visibly jump at the sudden noise. Jerking his head back to look at the front again, Chanyeol frowns slightly at the sight in front of him. The man in front looks nothing short of scary, even if he's dressed like he's going for a morning run.
"Good afternoon, kids! You all are here today for one very important reason: to serve the country." The man's voice cracks at the last word and poorly stifled laughter can be heard. That is, until the man gives the soldier beside him a look, to which the soldier responds by lifting a gun and aiming it at the ceiling, and the unmistakable sound of a gunshot is heard. Chanyeol swallows audibly. Just what the fuck is happening?
"With how the world is today, only the fittest can survive it. Survival of the fittest, they say. I personally can't agree more with this statement-you all will realize that soon. Anyway. Today's lesson is this." He proceeds to underline Kill or die, as if it really needs emphasis.
"I hope you know that we mean this very seriously. You are given three days to kill each other off, only one person is to remain alive. At the end of three days, if more than one person is alive, all of them will be killed." And he takes his time to look at each face. The chills that run down Chanyeol's spine immediately tell him that it was a bad idea to try and hold the man's gaze.
"I will have all of you know now that the collars around your neck are meant to keep track of your vitals, which essentially means that we will know if you are alive or not. Any fiddling around with it will cause the bomb in it to detonate, and I'm sure none of you want to die that way, right?" None of us would want to die at all if we could help it, Chanyeol thinks.
"To start, I'll show you this video. If you have any questions, please ask only after it ends. Enjoy!"
DAY 1, 3:00 P.M.
The sun is bright, and the wild is unkind to him.
It has only been a few hours of walking around the perimeter of the island, but Chanyeol's arms have already gotten more scratches than he would have liked. The instruction video mentioned nothing about the punishments should anyone try to escape, but Chanyeol is pretty sure those are guard ships he sees further down the sea. The ships are always moving-patrolling, presumably-and there seems to be no land in sight nearby.
The shade he gets under a tree gives him temporary comfort, and he takes the chance to properly look into his bag.
Everything is there, as shown in the instructions video. The water and bread are poor excuses for food, but he supposes it is no surprise since their government has always been stingy with everything. Chanyeol had been so preoccupied with escaping out of everyone's sight to hide that he hadn't gotten an actual chance to look inside after he found his map, though he doesn't have to look far for his weapon at all.
"What the fuck." Chanyeol says loudly, pulling out segment after segment of ropes. This is it, he thinks. Out of all the things he could get, he got a useless bunch of ropes. What was he even to do with them? Play cowboy?
He falls back against the tree trunk with a loud sigh, letting the sea breeze run through his strands, messing his hair up. The walk around the island showed countless trees gently swaying, one or two houses if he squinted enough. Nothing was unfriendly at all, maybe except the sun. Chanyeol would have been glad that he is given this chance to get close to nature if not for the collar reminding him why he is here. The collar around his neck is still tight as it feels since he had woken up, and Chanyeol thinks that that is the thing he would never be able to get used to.
Any plans of him actively going out to kill are already ruined, seeing as how his weapon doesn't seem to be very useful. He can't find his friends either, because they're in an isolated island that has more trees than humans, and he isn't about to team up with people without a useful weapon lest his partner decides to get rid of him.
That thought immediately surprises Chanyeol. The fact that he is already starting to get suspicious of his friends of a few years scares him. All of them have known each other for at least three years. Three years of passing homework around to those who needed it, three years of working together to beat the other classes during the annual sports meet. Three years of trusting each other, but it's almost as if those three years were nothing now that they have to fight for their own survival. Or maybe it's only Chanyeol. He shakes his head, and gets up again, deciding to continue walking around until he manages to think of a decent plan.
//
Luck must be on his side, Joonmyun thinks. He had kept his eyes to the front after witnessing the consequences of trying to be funny right next to him. If Joonmyun closes his eyes, he thinks he can still feel the blood that he had so desperately tried to scrub off on his cheek. The patches might be gone, but the fact that it had been there and what caused it is something Joonmyun doesn't see himself forgetting in the near future.
He does, however, temporarily forget it when he spots a moving figure nearby. Keeping his eyes to the front and hands by his sides meant having no communication with others, and that also meant that he had to either fight alone since he didn't try to get himself a partner, or hope that he's lucky enough to bump into someone.
Patting the top of his bag to make sure his weapon was easily retrievable, he rights himself and walks forth, keeping himself behind the figure. As he nears, he realizes that this classmate is one of the taller ones, and he lets his guard down a little. Being the class president meant that Joonmyun had to be close to everyone to keep everyone connected, but there was also a select few whom he is closer to.
Maybe the towering over him makes him feel safer, maybe it is also because he is closer to the few taller ones in his class, but he quickly speeds up until he is eventually close enough to tap the classmate's shoulder.
"Hey, Yifan."
The taller jumps. "What the fuck- Joonmyun? What are you doing here?"
Joonmyun raises a brow. "What else?"
"I meant-why are you alone? It's dangerous. You look like an easy target when you're alone."
"Which is why I'm here. Do you want to team up with me? I'm not suggesting that we go around killing of course, but it would be better to have someone hold your back when you're fighting or walking around. And I trust you." He had already unconsciously loosened his hold around his weapon, his hand slowly dropping back down to rest by his side.
Yifan's eyes widen at the last statement, and Joonmyun doesn't know what to think of the way he's standing now, as if he is ready to run from Joonmyun at any moment.
"D-don't say things like that... I can't team up with you, I have someone to look for." Joonmyun gives a questioning tilt of his head. "I'm sorry."
Joonmyun waves a hand around dismissively, though he is unable to suppress the soft sigh that comes out. It's not like he had really expected a yes anyway, but it's still disappointing, somehow. He is probably capable of convincing Yifan with a few more words, but he knows his friend must have his reasons. "Nevermind then. Who are you looking for, anyway?" Yifan's cheeks seem to have a slight tint of pink to them now, and Joonmyun suddenly realizes that only one person could make this happen-"Baekhyun."
Joonmyun also realizes that Baekhyun is very much in love with his boyfriend. He knows because it is impossible to miss out on them when they are practically glued to the hip, and it doesn't help that almost everyone goes to him when they want to talk to someone.
Joonmyun is pretty sure Yifan is aware that they both like each other, but he guesses it's safe if he only wants to keep Baekhyun in his sight and make sure he is safe. "Alright then, I hope you find him soon. Stay safe."
They part ways with a wave, and Joonmyun finds himself relaxing at the fact that he had just managed to talk to someone without getting close to danger. He knows his classmates are strong enough to not waver this easily, after all. Maybe they could be the first class to actually not participate in this game and overthrow the organisers. Then, Joonmyun wonders how long it would take before someone breaks and takes the first step-until he hears a gunshot and promptly falls to the ground.
DAY 1, 2:00 P.M.
The leaves of a bush rustle along with the wind, and Yixing isn't surprised to find nobody around when he steps out of the entrance of the school. He immediately surveys his surroundings and begins to walk towards the bushes, where he had agreed to meet Jongdae and Luhan.
They had someone else too, before that someone got killed. Luhan had been wearing a frown on his face and it's not like Yixing is expecting him to be laughing since his best friend had just died in front of him, but Luhan needs to know that it isn't his fault that the teacher was previously already in a bad mood. He pauses right outside the school gate for a few moments to decide on something, only resuming in his walking after he is done.
The two hunched figures nearby are already looking at him when he approaches, so he doesn’t bother trying to scare them or surprise them. Instead, Yixing waves and greets them with a smile as he approaches.
“Hey!”
“Hey. What were you doing there?” Luhan questions, and Yixing looks back to where he was standing before. Right where he is standing, his view is blocked. They don’t know. “Nothing much. Just flipping a coin.”
Yixing is the last student in class based on their names, so he is not too worried about bumping into people. What he is more concerned about is how they might seem like easy targets. Moving together in a group might mean that they can all take care of each other, but killing the group could also greatly increase one's chances of winning, and Yixing wouldn't put it past people to want to do that. Other people might want to do that, but not his classmates-he corrects, mentally.
The school and its perimeter will be out of bounds for the entire game, so they set out to find a spot where they could sit down and properly strategize. Silence fills the air between them as they keep quiet while they walk. Even if they do speak, it is in hushed voices, pointing out different directions and discussing where to go. Yixing guesses that they aren't comfortable with the idea of having to kill their own classmates too-no one should be, actually.
None of them have gotten a chance to look at the map yet, but most of the island seems to be filled with trees, and eventually they settle down under one. The sweltering sun only makes walking around more difficult and all three of them already have more than a third of their only bottle of water gone by the time they have managed to properly settle down. It isn't the wisest thing to do-depleting most of your only source of water in less than a day-but none of them would want to die of dehydration if they could help it.
Before they proceed on with the planning, they agree to show each other their weapons first, since that would be one of the most important things they would need for these three days.
"What the fuck." Jongdae swears audibly when he finds his weapon, while Luhan simply stares at his in part fascination. Yixing thinks that he is really lucky, but he isn't going to actively seek people out just to kill them off as far as he knows, so maybe a revolver might not be that useful. Aside from the weapon, everyone's bag contains the same things. It almost feels like they were back in school again and were playing around with some cards when they all share a look with each other, count to three mentally, before setting their weapons on the dry ground.
Both Luhan and Jongdae turn to look at Yixing in unison, and all Yixing could manage is a sheepish smile. No one talks about how Jongdae's weapon has got to be the most useless thing ever because they would rather not be pinned to the ground and be forced to fight with an angry Jongdae, but Yixing had to try really hard not to burst out laughing at the pot lid. Jongdae spares the two of them an appreciative glance when he sees that they are actually able to keep their mouths shut about it because he hates having people rub things into his face, and all of them take out their maps and start to plan.
Yixing finds out that they both think that their classmates would not start to kill people so soon too, so maybe if they could find some of them and try to convince them, they might have a chance at getting out alive together. Fiddling around with the coin in his pocket, Yixing mentally reassures himself. He is going to go home. He has to go home, for his family, and all of them will do it together. A part of him still doesn't believe that he's in this. He has known his classmates for three years, not three months. A bond formed over three months might be negligible and a bond formed over three years might not be as strong as one formed over five or more years, but he still knows his classmates well enough to think that.
They were all looked down on in one way or another, even Chanyeol and Yifan, who used to have girls spend their lunch break peeking through their class windows while they take notes in class. That was what made them more bonded, after all, the want to prove themselves too all those that look down on them. Phones do not receive signals in this godforsaken island, and none of them have a loudspeaker or a hailer, so they settle on finding their other classmates by luck.
After packing their things up, with Jongdae quickly stuffing his pot lid into his bag like he was embarrassed to have gotten it, they are finally ready to go. Their plan is almost perfect, and Yixing is sure that they would be able to get everyone's help on this. If they could put aside all their differences and become a bonded class unlike what everyone had originally thought, they would be able to get pass this obstacle too.
Until he hears a gunshot. And the sound of someone's pained moan.
DAY 1, 5:00 P.M.
Sehun runs. He doesn't even know where he's heading, but he continues anyway. Anything to get the image out of his mind, anything to forget the horrible deed he had just witnessed. It doesn't take him long to get breathless with the speed and spontaneity he took off with, but fear continues to propel him forward.
Running with your eyes closed for the most part is a little stupid, Sehun realizes, as he is sent surging forward not by his own will, but because he has tripped over himself. The first thing he does is to get up and look around frantically, his chest heaving for what little air he manages to breathe in while he takes in his surroundings. Given the speed and time he ran for, he should have managed to get himself far enough from that place. Sehun mentally pats himself on the back for deciding to join the track team three years ago even if he knew that joining this game was one of the last things he thought would happen in his entire schooling life.
His prefecture isn't particularly small or huge in size and there are a fair amount of schools here, and in every school, multiple classes of the same year. Everyone knows of this game because of how heavily promoted it is but only one class will be chosen for it every year. Who would have thought that he'd get this unlucky?
Keeping his fingers wrapped securely around the sickle he had in his bag, Sehun slows down his pace eventually until he is walking, taking the time to catch his breath. The island looked pretty big in the video and Sehun can only hope that it's big enough for no one to find him until he comes up with a plan on how he is going to survive these three days.
However, growing up in the more peaceful part of the country meant that the only exposure he got to violence was through shows and books. Even then, nothing could compare to actually witnessing bullets being shot and someone falling to the ground, blood leaking dangerously quickly out of the wound. Nothing could compare to the sound of the bullets that went straight through Joonmyun’s chest, the sound of him, pained and bleeding, begging for mercy and when that didn't seem to work, help.
Just when Sehun thinks that his breathing has evened out enough for him to take a break from moving around, the images start to come back to him. The Joonmyun who had bought him food when he asked for it, gave him advice when he needed it, helped him through difficult times. Dead. Lying on the ground in a pool of his own blood.
Joonmyun's eyes were open in obvious shock, and Sehun could bathe himself in bleach and that wouldn't be able to erase that image out of his mind. There was no blood splattering like Minseok's, but it hurt just as much to see someone he loved go like this.
Luck had definitely run out for him. Sehun was only walking around after sprinting out of the school headquarters when he suddenly heard people talking near him. He immediately paused in his footsteps and hid himself behind the nearest bush, peeking out from behind it while praying hard that no one could spot the contrast of his brown hair against the green and yellow leaves. Yifan and Joonmyun didn't look like they were going to engage in a fight at least, and since Joonmyun had already turned around to leave, Sehun figured he should too.
Until he heard that gunshot.
Sehun turned his head around just in time to see his beloved classmate collapse into a lifeless heap on the ground like he hadn't been conversing with another person just seconds ago. A glance at Yifan shows him holdng a pistol, and the culprit is unmistakable. Sehun didn't know which was worse; the fact that Yifan hadn't even looked the slightest bit sorry about it, or that he had even walked closer to fire a few more shots, as if he was worried that Joonmyun might still be alive.
Sehun gasped loudly and slowly backed up against nothing, and before he knew it he was taking off, oblivious to the fact that the noise he had made had turned two pairs of eyes on him.
Rubbing a hand over his face, his fingers tighten around the handle of the sickle again. He wasn't going to let that happen to him.
//
Jongin retracts his hand from where it had reached out lest he attracts attention and gives away his position, frowning in disapproval when he spots his best friend sprinting past the school gate like he has never run before. He should have known. Oh Sehun, the star of their school's track team, what else would he do? Sighing, Jongin reaches into his bag to retrieve an electronic device. Since his best friend is obviously already way out of sight, he guesses he would just have to rely on this for now.
It isn't the most useful weapon because there is no way this electronic device was going to hurt anyone unless Jongin strikes it down somewhere important, but his main aim for now is to find Sehun, so he figures it's good enough. Taking several cautious looks around, Jongin quickly jogs out of the school gate himself, remembering that the teacher-in-charge of this game had told them that the school would immediately be out of bounds once the last person had left.
It has been a few hours or so since then, Jongin doesn't know, but nothing has showed up on the screen at all. Jongin isn't even sure what the screen is going to show at all, and what he is supposed to look for, only that he thinks this should be used to find people. At the first beep and the green dot that shows up on the screen, Jongin immediately stiffens up. More to check if the noise had alerted the person around him than to actually find him. So he actually got a tracker.
Like any person would, Jongin wonders if tapping at the screen would make any difference. When nothing seems to be changing after seconds of jabbing at the screen even, he gives up and settles on the fact that the weapon is useful enough to at least warn him that someone is near. But not who exactly.
Jongin doesn't lament though, because he knows there could be someone out there with a pair of binoculars or something, so he sets off towards the direction of the green dot, making sure to keep his steps light so that he will not alert the person easily should he sense danger. The green dot is not accompanied by another so maybe this person isn't that dangerous. Unless it is Zitao because everyone knows Zitao can wield a sword much better than he can hold a pen.
Even as he sees that the previously only seemingly broad shoulders and thin figure starts to take form, Jongin does not make any attempt to move faster. Instead, he tries to figure out what the other might be doing. It is his best friend, and Jongin is not yet suspicious of him, but it is always better to be safe and sorry.
Sehun is simply walking around idly, his head turning left and right as if he was looking for something. Or someone. Jongin is suddenly reminded of the six year old Sehun he had met years ago, the one no one dared to approach, and of how they bonded over sharing a lunchbox.
The ice prince, the other children used to call him. Jongin never understood how the other children seemed to not be able to see past Sehun's perpetual straight face. He had to admit, even he was scared when he first approached Sehun, but the kid was the only one without a lunchbox and he looked especially hungry, so Jongin thought it might be good to share his. After all, his mother had told him to go out there and make friends.
Needless to say, the boy had greeted him with the same scowl that he uses to greet everybody, even teachers, and Jongin sort of wanted to reach out to smooth out the crease between his brows, but he stretched his then short arms out instead. "Wanna share?"
Sehun didn't smile, not when Jongin first approached him, not even when Jongin offered to share his food. The frown on his brows deepened, and Jongin was amazed, that for someone who was only six then, he could look so worried over sharing a meal. There were the beginnings of a smile on his face though, when Jongin took a seat next to him instead of opposite him as he settled down. As if the smile on Jongin's face wasn't big enough, when Jongin realized that Sehun had smiled-almost, at least-he grinned so hard it literally hurt. The little tilt of the corners of his lips told Jongin that the little bit of rice and delicious chicken he had sacrificed from his portion for Sehun was more than worth it.
That was then, and then there is now. Sehun has grown up to be a tall and good looking guy, if Jongin might say. Height helped where Sehun used to be too thin-he still is, but it is better than it was before. He eventually grew to be taller than Jongin is, and how Jongin is now the one who has to strain his arm a little to be able to rest it on Sehun's shoulder makes him feel things he probably should not be feeling.
(Jongin couldn't even begin to count the amount of times he was caught staring at his best friend but Sehun, being Sehun, usually just shoved him in the shoulder with a what's up with you? whenever he turned to look at Jongin at the wrong moment and it would be over. They never talked about it.)
Where Sehun's parents tended to neglect him, Jongin filled in the gap. Even if friendship wasn't as comparable as parental love, Sehun definitely smiles a lot more often now.
The sudden rush of memories had Jongin grinning again, remembering how grumpy Sehun used to look when he was younger-and how he still sort of does even now. Some things never change. Sehun still gets embarrassed whenever Jongin calls him cute for that. There is more weight rested on his footsteps now compared to before, and if he listens past his thoughts a few leaves rustle under his feet with every step he takes. Jongin stuffs the tracker back into his bag as silently as he can, crouching slightly as he creeps up behind his best friend, and-"Boo!"
Sehun turns around, eyes rounded but he's still safe, and Jongin grins because. "Hey, Sehun-ah. God, here I was thinking this thing is useless. I've finally found you. Great!" A deep breath to calm himself. A small grin at the familiarity. "So what weapon did you get? Do you have anybody yet? I've gotten a-" tracker and we could pair up and survive this together dies on the tip of his tongue.
Maybe it is Jongin's fault for not noticing that Sehun was obviously scared. Maybe it is Sehun's fault for not trusting Jongin enough. Jongin didn't realize that Sehun had been holding onto the weapon all this time, too preoccupied with being happy over finally finding his best friend. He had hoped that they would win this game together, but of course, there were no plans for that now.
Blood is rushing out faster than Jongin can think, his mouth opening and closing and opening in weak attempts to form words. What is he going to say, he doesn't know, but he now hopes that Sehun is able to make it instead. In his place. The blade of the sickle came down harder than any scolding or punishment he has ever gotten and Jongin almost laughs at the irony. Why did he ever think that those were painful?
But those were now all in the past, even further and more intangible than they used to be. Even the memory of them agreeing to enjoy this field trip together as one of their last times sharing a class is quickly slipping away from him. As Jongin falls to the ground, an image of a certain grumpy looking kid flashed past his mind, not too different looking from the one in front of him right now. He lets a small smile grace his lips, remembering how Sehun would start to whine whenever he really wanted something. It never fit how he looked like, and Jongin never got how he managed to pull the look of whining with your eyebrows crossed off, but he always found himself giving in.
More than just a best friend, Sehun had been a pivotal character in Jongin's life.
The ground is hard and cold when his cheek touches it and his fingers slowly start to loosen their grip on the tracker he was going to fish out. All he sees are Sehun's shoes, and even they are starting to become blurry.
Jongin gathers the last of his strength and tugs at his pants weakly, wanting to see Sehun's face for the last time. He thanks anything that is holy again for Sehun actually stoops down, even if his fists are clenching and he looks like he's trying not to cry.
"Win it. Win this. For me." Jongin chooses to rasp out instead of any of the many thousands of things that suddenly filled his mind then. Even if he doesn't move, the throbbing in his neck still continues. He guesses it's time to go soon.
Then, "I love... you." It comes out so soft Jongin could have been whispering to the flowers, or his teddy bears. Sehun manages to catch it with a sudden surge of physical pain in his heart.
Jongin had always imagined and wanted himself to have a painless death. This is, in some sort of way painless in that he got to see Sehun before he goes. But it is also painful because thoughts of things he never got to do and is never going to get to do start flooding his mind, reminding him of his eventual end. So as Jongin closes his eyes, he can only hope that Sehun knows that he has never regretted walking up to him that day, and that he loves him.
Cheery music starts to play and Sehun glares at wherever he thinks the music is coming from. There are dried tears on his cheeks and he is still squatting down in front of Jongin's body.
"Hello boys! The time now is 6PM, and it is time for your announcement! Remember to mark down those danger zones-we don't want to have you getting your head blown off, right? Moving on!" And Sehun scribbles down the timings for the different zones quickly, more afraid of what was to come.
"Next is the much anticipated list of those who have died so far in the order that they died. Are you guys excited?" Sehun's eyebrows pull down into an impressive frown, just what the fuck is wrong with this guy?
Then, the frowning expression is wiped off his face and is replaced by one of him squeezing his eyes shut. He knows who they are. He knows because he saw them die, and he was the one who killed one of them. He's sitting in front of one of the corpses even. But that doesn't mean that he wants to hear it.
"First off, we have boy no. 6, Kim Joonmyun." No. "Then, boy no. 5, Kim Jongin.” No. Sehun stares down at the checklist. He had already crossed out those names even before they were announced. Then he starts to worry. It was like when he was eight again, when he and Jongin got pulled into the teacher's office because they were suspected of cheating.
It was really only Sehun who had done it, but he didn't worry as much because he knew Jongin would take the blame for him because he was that good of a buddy, even as a kid. Instead of being called cheater, he will now be called murderer. All they have to do is reveal who killed the two of them. Sehun can already see the judgemental stares that are going to be sent his way should he bump into any of his other classmates.
Back then, even if he knew Jongin was going to take the blame for him, it didn't make him any less scared after being caught. Now, there is no Jongin to take the blame for it because he is gone, and Sehun is scared for he knows he has done wrong.
"That's all for today. Please get yourselves together and continue killing. At this rate, all of you are gonna get blasted at the end of the three days instead of getting killed. The next announcement will be six hours later. Happy killing!"
Wait. So they weren't going to say it?
Sehun sighs in relief, only to bring his hand up to immediately slap it over his mouth. The implication of what he had just done strikes him quickly. He is rotten. He must be the worst human on Earth. How could he even think that way?
Then, it's like something had snapped within him. There is something to be said in how he manages to bring his hand down soon enough and take a deep breath and ignore the thing that was tugging at his heart. Sehun reaches out for Jongin's hand to squeeze it one last time, bidding his best friend goodbye with a whisper before he forcefully pulls the sickle away from Jongin's neck.
Slinging his bag across his shoulder, Sehun gets up again and resumes walking around. Looking for his next prey maybe.
Sehun never bothered to peek into Jongin's bag. He could have seen Jongin reaching for something as harmless as an electronic device, but he doesn't have time for that anymore. He needs to save himself.
DAY 1, 7:00 P.M.
The sun is setting but Chanyeol doesn't want to leave yet. That makes it two. Minseok and Joonmyun. He has already seen two of his classmates die in front of his eyes, and not once had he tried to help. At this point, Chanyeol can't decide if he is even humane anymore.
Staring down at the list he is clutching, three names are already cancelled out. Three. That makes it one quarter of the class. They had come here all excited to spend time with each other before they graduate, how did they end up like this?
Crumpling the list in a fit of frustration, he groans loudly. Unlike Sehun who was stupid enough to take off that loudly, Chanyeol had bit down on his lip to keep himself silent until Yifan was done and walked off in another direction, not bothering to chase after Sehun. Chanyeol moved in the same direction as Sehun after he made sure Yifan was far enough, but he ended up back by the sea again.
The breeze is enough to keep him cool, but Chanyeol fingers at the collar like it was a tie that he could take off. The breeze is enough to keep him more than just cool, but the tightness of the collar is suddenly stifling. With it comes the reminders that he is in this game, they all are. With it comes the images of his two dead friends in front of him. With it comes great responsibilities-burdens-that he doesn't think he is ready to bear. And he thinks he will never be.
The sound of the waves crashing against the rocks beneath is a constant that he welcomes because it reminds him of what he used to do. It provides him with some of the much needed comfort for being put into an unfamiliar environment and having to fight for his survival. The breeze has been unforgiving on him for the past few minutes though and Chanyeol quickly unfolds the list to straighten it out because he needs it.
It is starting to get dark and cold, so Chanyeol picks his bag up and moves inwards and away from the sea.
Chanyeol is in an island with quite a few other people, he guesses, but after Yifan and Joonmyun, he isn't sure if he ever wants to see any of his other classmates again. Maybe he should go into hiding for the next two days or so.
Not that he can though, because Zitao is walking towards him with a look that shows obvious intent. Chanyeol doesn't know what for, for he has nothing to offer, but running away at this moment isn't the best option so he stays still.
"Hey Chanyeol. Have you seen Sehun?" Zitao doesn't have his stick (who would bring it along on a school trip anyway?), but that doesn't mean that he is any less dangerous. Hell, he could get a spatula and still be able to beat someone up with it. Whereas Chanyeol would just wave it around with his gangly limbs in hopes of scaring his opponent away, probably.
"Nope. I haven't. Why?" Before Chanyeol is even able to blink, he hears Zitao murmur a soft great and he is suddenly pressed up against the nearest tree bark. So that was his real intention.
Right. Chanyeol supposes love is really blind. Aside from being the menacing looking one who cries at the smallest things, he's also clingy as fuck. Especially so to Sehun. He doesn't know what Zitao sees in him, really, considering the fact that Sehun already has Jongin. Sehun and Jongin were never officially together, but they might as well be. Zitao must be pretty fucking blind if he does not see the way they look at each other. Either that or he has selective eyesight. To which Chanyeol doesn't even know if it is a thing but knowing Zitao, who can blow small things up into big proportions, nothing is impossible.
"You really haven't?" Chanyeol gives a roll of his eyes. Hasn’t he already answered that? "I did see him. But he ran away. Like he always likes to."
"Well thanks." Zitao now has both hands wrapped around Chanyeol's neck and he is squeezing hard. Chanyeol does not have muscles nor does he look menacing enough to scare Zitao away, but that doesn't stop him from raising his arms to throw Zitao off.
Chanyeol sees it now, that Zitao was simply going to use him for information about Sehun's whereabouts. He was going to kill Chanyeol if Chanyeol knew nothing, and if he was actually useful, he might be spared. Maybe. Suddenly Chanyeol feels like he knows none of his classmates anymore.
Chanyeol doesn't have enough energy to actually push up enough for Zitao's arms to start hurting, and by now, Zitao has his entire body pressed flush against Chanyeol's, pinning him down with everything he's got. His cheeks are quickly turning into an almost sickly shade of red and he has reduced to pounding at Zitao's strong arms with his fists like that is going to help.
Then, Zitao suddenly lets a hand go, and the other hand left choking him still has lots of strength, but obviously not as much as with both hands. Falling back down onto the ground after he pulls his weapon out of a side pocket in his bag, Zitao looks up to find Chanyeol gasping for air in between violent hacking, but more importantly, turning to run away.
Dagger in hand, Zitao immediately scrambles up and chases after him. The chase is cut short when Zitao throws himself forward and clambers onto Chanyeol's back, fastening strong thighs around his waist. Unlike Chanyeol, he is now stronger than ever with a weapon in his hand.
Out of Chanyeol's peripheral vision, he spots Zitao bringing a hand up, holding something that glints under sunlight. The jab to his collarbone hits him before he sees it, and Chanyeol doesn't know what to think of it. The fact that Zitao still can't completely bring himself to kill a friend, or that he now has a weapon with him. Either way, the situation doesn't look too good for him.
Wincing, Chanyeol turns and sends Zitao's side crashing against a tree bark, but the legs around his waist do not give. He resists the urge to let out a frustrated groan.
Chanyeol's mind is sent into an immediate state of panic when he feels a pair of rough hands close around his throat yet again, this time squeezing with more force. There is a rush of adrenaline coursing through his veins, and he knows his time is running out when the corners of his vision start to fade out as the pressure on his neck grows.
Chanyeol manages a jab of the elbow in Zitao's side as he thrashes around in futile attempts to get the deadweight off of his back, but eventually his legs weaken so much they send him falling to the ground with an obvious lack of grace, bringing Zitao along with him. They are now a tangle of limbs, but the hands around his neck are persistent as ever.
Zitao sees this as a chance to get rid of Chanyeol once and for all.
Struggling beneath Chanyeol, he tries to switch positions so that he gets Chanyeol beneath him, tightening the hands around his neck for good measure. Chanyeol's usually good looking face is painted with a bright shade of red, and his hair is sticking out in weird directions, which-in short-makes him look ugly.
In a brief moment of surrender, Chanyeol wonders why he isn't dead yet. He would rather be dead than be caught looking this horrible.
But he would rather kill Zitao than be killed by Zitao.
Long legs kick around, and Chanyeol's hands claw uselessly at the hands around his neck, fingernails too blunt to even leave scratches. Zitao smirks. Chanyeol is stupid enough to waste all his remaining energy like that.
Then, slowly but surely, it all stops.
The hands around his own pair fall to the ground, and there is no longer the sound of shoes scraping against the ground behind him, which can only mean one thing.
Chanyeol is dead, and Zitao was the one who killed him. Chanyeol is dead and he would never be able to find out what his future holds for him, because Zitao has so selfishly robbed him of his own right to live and find out. Chanyeol is dead, and the world is suddenly spinning.
Most importantly, Chanyeol is dead.
The trees seem to sway in every direction as Zitao pushes himself off of the lifeless body, all the bravery from earlier gone in a flash. He scrambles around for his bag, breath coming out quick and shallow. Quickly discarding himself of the dagger that he had used earlier, Zitao gets back on his feet and casts quick glances around him to make sure that no one was around to witness that.
When he notices no obvious movement anywhere, he runs.
//
The moon is up and Kyungsoo is glad for whatever light he gets from it.
He had spent hours walking around before he found this dilapidated house. While the walls aren't looking like they might crumble any moment, the house isn't in its best condition either.
There is the couch which caved in when Kyungsoo tried to take a seat. There is also the kitchen with a dining table but only one chair available. Did that person live alone? Kyungsoo thinks.
The house is pretty big, and Kyungsoo grins at all the personal space he gets. No one would find him here because it is so far away from the other parts of the island, and he will be able to survive these few days because he is going to hide here. The others will be busy killing each other but they will not realize that there's actually another person left. He has already thought it out, his perfect plan that will allow him to not only get out of this alive, but with clean hands too. Kyungsoo isn't even going to sleep, because someone might attack him while he is sleeping, and he can't let that happen.
The night before today's was already spent doing last minute packing for this trip, but he doesn't feel tired despite that fact that he hasn't slept for more than 24 hours already.
Making his way into the kitchen, Kyungsoo finds a spot under the kitchen island and begins to make himself home there, bringing his knees up and hugging closer them closer to his chest. Instead of falling asleep, he keeps his eyes open and waits.
He is going to win this.
//
Baekhyun breathes harshly through his nose as he tries to twist the gun away from Yifan's hands, hips jerking around while he tries to throw the taller off. Yifan might be tall, but Baekhyun hasn't learned all those years of hapkido for nothing.
He doesn't even remember much of how they ended up like this. He vaguely remembers Yifan running up to him while he was walking along the perimeters of this island. They had even managed to chat for a bit, before Yifan ruined everything.
Baekhyun wasn't looking for a partner, he was pretty sure he had mentioned that somewhere along the way, but Yifan offered himself up for the position that wasn’t even available in the first place. Baekhyun wasn’t planning to start his plan this early. He had simply wanted to spend some time walking around. Then, Yifan came and Baekhyun guessed having some company for a while shouldn’t be that bad. He could chat for a bit before they part ways and continue doing whatever they wanted to, but Yifan was clearly having none of that. He had tried his best to be nice for all that he usually wasn't in his rejection, but Yifan didn’t seem to have taken in everything that he said. Just when he thought Yifan had given up after the minutes of silence that had lapsed, "If I can't have you, Jongdae can't too."
Clearly Baekhyun's what the fuck in response to that was a wrong move, because he had found himself getting pinned to the ground faster than he can say say that again.
Yifan did bring his message across loud and clear though, but Baekhyun is now fighting with the intent to not only save himself and escape, he also wants to kill Yifan. How else is he going to be able to win this if he doesn't want to kill?
Baekhyun's plan is to kill everyone he sees-but not before assessing the situation, of course. He doesn't want to walk into the middle of a fight trying to kill the two of them who were trying to kill each other. It would be better if he got through with as little blood on his hands as possible anyway. As for Jongdae, well. Things will settle themselves when he gets there.
There are a few wasted bullets and Baekhyun internally sighs in relief at every one that goes out because that means that Yifan might run out of bullets soon. But he doubts that this is the only magazine he has because they have to survive three days, the government couldn't be that stingy, right?
As soon as he manages to wrench the gun out of Yifan's hands, he grabs it with both hands instead of throwing it aside, aims it at Yifan, and pulls the trigger.
The sound rings in his ear while he slowly opens his eyes from where they were squeezed shut tightly before. Baekhyun's entire body tenses up as Yifan's body goes limp and starts to fall forward on him, and he quickly throws the gun aside to shove Yifan off. Scrambling up, Baekhyun immediately tells himself that he has to do this. He has a future out there for him out there as a singer, an entertainer, he has to kill and fight for his survival for his dream.
Letting out a loud breath through his mouth, Baekhyun ignores everything that's going on in his head and grabs the gun again, inching closer and closer to Yifan afterwards. The shot is right through his forehead, but that doesn't mean that he is dead. Baekhyun allows himself a few moments of staring, purposefully avoiding the eyes that were already glazed over. He has just taken a life away. That much is known. Standing up, Baekhyun aims the gun and fires a few more shots at the already dead Yifan, watching the limp body convulse at the force of every shot.
DAY 1, 10:00 P.M.
Shaking, Zitao clenches his fists in a weak attempt to steel himself and continue walking, only that his hands remind him of the horrible thing he had done earlier. It was Chanyeol's fault. It was Chanyeol, who had proved to be useless. Zitao doesn't even dare to hurt a fly (much less a human) even if he had practiced martial arts for so many years, so it must be Chanyeol's fault, right?
The pounding of his heart has not lessened by much since he ran, and the weight of the bag and tightness of the collar around his neck feels more burdening with each step he takes. Zitao breathes in deeply and pushes the image of Chanyeol’s face out of his mind. Or he tries.
His priority right now is to find Sehun, not obsess over how he just took a life away with his bare hands.
Running around while shouting Sehun’s name seems like the fastest way now, because as Zitao continues walking, he finds himself wondering if he had walked through these same places before. The forest is an endless maze of trees and Zitao is getting lost in it. Right as he is about to take a turn and try walking in a different direction, he spots a figure moving near him and promptly picks up his steps. The sun has already set long ago, and what little illumination they get from the moon barely helps as Zitao loses the figure a few times.
He can't identify it, not when he is having difficulties with keeping up and trying to be quiet at the same time, willing his own feet not to make too much noise as he weaves his way in between trees, eyes intently looking out for that one moving tuft of hair.
"Hey!" Zitao calls out, quick steps turning into jogging as he catches up with the figure. As the figure turns, Zitao finds himself holding his breath, though he is unsure why. He wants to see Sehun, wants it to be Sehun, but he also doesn't want Sehun to know what he had just done. Will Sehun's view of him change if Zitao tells him that he had betrayed himself and contributed to the death count? Out of his own free will?
Probably, Zitao answers for himself. There is no reason not to. Then again, what he doesn't know won't hurt him right?
Sehun is holding onto a sickle but the blade isn’t stained. He isn’t the one who killed Jongin or Joonmyun then. Zitao then smiles, gentle and measured curls at the corners of his lips while he tries not to look overly excited about seeing the person who is standing in front of him now. About seeing Sehun here. He is going to ask, and they are going to work together just fine.
"Do you want to pair up with me?" Technically there was no rule asking them to. Zitao simply feels safer with someone around him, feels more comfortable in this new environment with someone familiar around him. It isn't until he finishes speaking does he realize that Sehun can very well reject him any moment. Knowing Sehun, he is probably too soft-hearted to put it straightforwardly, so he might do this letting people down gently thing he always does. Zitao has seen him do that to the people who have asked him out countless of times. Not that he was looking or listening.
Zitao heard Jongin's name earlier when the teacher-in-charge of this game made the announcement, so he knows Sehun is most probably alone since his best friend is now... dead. So is Minseok, Joonmyun and Chanyeol.
Chanyeol.
Trying to suppress the shiver that is threatening to run through his spine at the mention of that name, Zitao stretches his smile further, trying to look more hopeful. Maybe even pitiful, if that helps in pulling Sehun over.
Sehun catches his bottom lip in between his teeth while he thinks, looking like he's having a debate with himself in his mind over the choices he has, while Zitao's mind floods him with questions that will never have answers because they will never be asked. He can say no now, and play this game alone. Or he could say yes and earn himself an ally, but he would have another problem to resolve when the game starts to near its end. Sehun's best friend is gone and he is alone, weaker without someone beside him. Zitao knows martial arts so he can probably do a better job at protecting Sehun than Jongin ever could. If they had found each other at all. He doesn't know why it's taking Sehun so long to realize these facts, but he doesn't rush him for fear of scaring him away.
Eventually, Sehun agrees with a softly mumbled okay.
Now that was easier than expected, Zitao thinks. It is dark by the time they finally settle down and Zitao finds out that the wind only gets stronger at night. Now it is not only creepy and foreign, this place they're in, it is also hot in the day and cold at night. What a conducive environment for people to want to kill indeed.
Laying out the sleeping bags they found amongst the mess in their bags-wait, there is no tent?-they both climb into it hoping to get some proper rest soon. They might miss the 12am announcement, but the danger zones will not be activated until the next morning because they understand that the participants need to sleep too. Maybe they aren't that bad.
Only that sleep doesn't come that easy.
Sehun had climbed in yawning, more than ready to let sleep claim him even if the ground is incredibly uncomfortable. Lying on his back, Sehun can feel the bumps and depressions of the uneven earth. If he listens hard enough, he thinks he can make out some sounds coming nearby. They might be insects, or maybe wild animals, Sehun doesn't know. He could take a walk to check it out since he is sure he isn't going to get any sleep soon, but his mind is too busy for him to want to get up.
//
Chanyeol breathes. A long, deep breath of the cold, chilly air. The pavilion he managed to come across makes for great shelter, or at least great temporary shelter. There are ants crawling around, Chanyeol just can't see them because it is too dark to, but he feels it. The nature still hasn't changed its mind about being nicer to him, after all.
Just as he is about to pull the cover of the sleeping bag over his head, an alarm sounds, and Chanyeol quickly reaches out for the map and name list that he had placed right at the front pocket of his bag. Convenient for him to mark out the danger zones any time he hears the alarm sound. Convenient for him to cross off a friend's name like three years had meant nothing.
"Hello. This is your teacher speaking. In the last six hours, only student no. 11, Wu Yifan, has died. What is this? Do you all not want to go home?" The low voice comes out harsh even at this time of the night (or morning?) and Chanyeol is unable to stop himself from curling up just a little in his sleeping bag, like a child that had gotten scolded. "The next danger zones are F-4, which will start from 6am. D-6, at 7am." The list goes on and Chanyeol almost falls asleep marking the timings and places out, but he makes it through, waking up just in time to hear the last line. Maybe he should have fallen asleep instead.
"Sleep tight, don't let your conscience bite."
//
Sehun doesn't sleep tight. In fact, he doesn't sleep at all. Not for the next few hours, at least. Zitao had frowned for a good few minutes after the announcement and Sehun watched, not bothering to ask what he was thinking about. Sehun watched Zitao shrug at nothing before he stuffed the map, name list and pencil back into his bag and promptly snuggled back further under the sleeping bag.
Lying back on his back after he had kept the name list and map himself, he uses a hand as a makeshift pillow and allows himself to gaze at the stars for a few moments, putting off the more important task for a few moments. Sehun is sure Zitao would appreciate the few minutes of sleep he is getting before he is put to eternal sleep anyway.
If Jongin was here, he would probably make a lame joke or two about Sehun and the stars. He would say something about how Sehun is more beautiful than the stars, to which Sehun would cringe, but he would end up laughing with Jongin like they had nothing to worry about. Jongin would make constellations out of randomly placed stars, and he would take Sehun's hand but say nothing, just lie there with a stupidly wide grin on his face. He would do so many things.
Sehun takes in a deep breath that sounds more painful than anything else, shutting his eyes tightly. His conscience, which he had been doing a very good job of ignoring for the past few hours, is sure as hell biting at him now. Screaming at him for his greatest sin of killing someone who had so obviously put all of his trust in him.
Sehun's free hand goes to his sickle. He had made sure to stop by the sea to wash Jongin's blood off so that no one suspected anything. Not that Zitao had enough brains to. After Jongin, Sehun had no plans of going around with anybody. Trust no one but yourself, he thinks. Zitao simply came along and Sehun saw his chance, saw his next prey. Sehun wonders. Is Zitao awake right now, wondering when his partner would betray him like he is now?
Then, sitting up like he has finally made a decision, he moves around as quietly as he can. Turning his body around to face Zitao's, Sehun creeps closer until he can hear the steady breathing of the other's. Even and paced, it must mean that he is asleep, right?
This is my chance.
Sehun tightens his fingers around the handle of the sickle and raises it, unblinking as he swings his hand back down and sends the blade almost entirely through Zitao's neck. If Zitao hadn't been awake before, he definitely must be now. Only that he is sent back to sleep a few seconds later, given the amount of blood that is flowing. He is sent back to sleep forever this time. There is no going back anymore.
If Sehun had to choose, he would obviously choose himself over Zitao. What else is more important, a partner's life or his life? If Sehun didn't kill Zitao then, Zitao definitely would have done it to him instead, no doubt.
(Little did he know that Zitao hadn't even planned for that yet. His only aim was to find Sehun, and they will work things out from there. Sehun doesn't know that Zitao had almost zero intentions of killing him off, and that it was only his horrible nature that was telling him that people can no longer be trusted because he couldn't even trust his own best friend.)
His hands are painted with another person's blood now and this time even the sea water, with its chlorine and coldness, would not be able to wash them off. The smell of the blood is thick, so Sehun moves himself a little further to the side before he gets on his side and curls up, with his back facing Zitao's corpse. There were never any plans to partner up and win this together, not with Zitao. Closing his eyes, Sehun finally manages to shut out the voices in his head and fall asleep.
Sleep is always better when you know the person near you won't be alive to kill you, after all.
(5 killed, 7 left.)
next
Pairing: Chanyeol/Sehun
Word count: 19869
Side pairing(s): sort of platonic!sekai, baekchen
Rating: R
Warning(s): [spoilers]battle royale!au, major character deaths, slight angst, blood, violence
Summary: One game. Twelve boys. Three days.
Author's Note (if any): This has been such a rollercoaster ride… I’d like to thank the prompter for giving me this chance to actually write this! I’ve been wanting to write something like this for a long time. Also thumbs up to those who can identify the little references. Thank you to K for reading this over for me and listening to me talk about it I hope I didn’t bother you too much :-( The map was taken from here, but it was tweaked a little. You won’t need it for most part though. I hope that you’ll enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it! Written for halcyonboys.
DAY 1, 12:00 P.M.
Everything is hazy and his head is throbbing. The amount of white noise isn't helping either, and so are the bright lights. A lift of his head shows some words written on the blackboard, and Chanyeol wants to pinch himself. Kill or die.
Chanyeol stares at it with squinted eyes, ignoring the alarms that are going off in his head from all the soldiers standing around. They've seen this somewhere before, they are taught to be proud if they get chosen-fuck.
An actual, loud alarm sounds and Chanyeol has to hold his hands over his ears to keep his eardrums from bursting. If he hadn't woken up before, he definitely would have now. There is movement around everywhere all of a sudden, and he realizes that it's from his classmates. He heaves a sigh of relief, because there are familiar faces and names, and he's glad that he isn't alone. Soldiers aside.
There is a loud crackle before someone speaks through the megaphone, and Chanyeol sees someone visibly jump at the sudden noise. Jerking his head back to look at the front again, Chanyeol frowns slightly at the sight in front of him. The man in front looks nothing short of scary, even if he's dressed like he's going for a morning run.
"Good afternoon, kids! You all are here today for one very important reason: to serve the country." The man's voice cracks at the last word and poorly stifled laughter can be heard. That is, until the man gives the soldier beside him a look, to which the soldier responds by lifting a gun and aiming it at the ceiling, and the unmistakable sound of a gunshot is heard. Chanyeol swallows audibly. Just what the fuck is happening?
"With how the world is today, only the fittest can survive it. Survival of the fittest, they say. I personally can't agree more with this statement-you all will realize that soon. Anyway. Today's lesson is this." He proceeds to underline Kill or die, as if it really needs emphasis.
"I hope you know that we mean this very seriously. You are given three days to kill each other off, only one person is to remain alive. At the end of three days, if more than one person is alive, all of them will be killed." And he takes his time to look at each face. The chills that run down Chanyeol's spine immediately tell him that it was a bad idea to try and hold the man's gaze.
"I will have all of you know now that the collars around your neck are meant to keep track of your vitals, which essentially means that we will know if you are alive or not. Any fiddling around with it will cause the bomb in it to detonate, and I'm sure none of you want to die that way, right?" None of us would want to die at all if we could help it, Chanyeol thinks.
"To start, I'll show you this video. If you have any questions, please ask only after it ends. Enjoy!"
DAY 1, 3:00 P.M.
The sun is bright, and the wild is unkind to him.
It has only been a few hours of walking around the perimeter of the island, but Chanyeol's arms have already gotten more scratches than he would have liked. The instruction video mentioned nothing about the punishments should anyone try to escape, but Chanyeol is pretty sure those are guard ships he sees further down the sea. The ships are always moving-patrolling, presumably-and there seems to be no land in sight nearby.
The shade he gets under a tree gives him temporary comfort, and he takes the chance to properly look into his bag.
Everything is there, as shown in the instructions video. The water and bread are poor excuses for food, but he supposes it is no surprise since their government has always been stingy with everything. Chanyeol had been so preoccupied with escaping out of everyone's sight to hide that he hadn't gotten an actual chance to look inside after he found his map, though he doesn't have to look far for his weapon at all.
"What the fuck." Chanyeol says loudly, pulling out segment after segment of ropes. This is it, he thinks. Out of all the things he could get, he got a useless bunch of ropes. What was he even to do with them? Play cowboy?
He falls back against the tree trunk with a loud sigh, letting the sea breeze run through his strands, messing his hair up. The walk around the island showed countless trees gently swaying, one or two houses if he squinted enough. Nothing was unfriendly at all, maybe except the sun. Chanyeol would have been glad that he is given this chance to get close to nature if not for the collar reminding him why he is here. The collar around his neck is still tight as it feels since he had woken up, and Chanyeol thinks that that is the thing he would never be able to get used to.
Any plans of him actively going out to kill are already ruined, seeing as how his weapon doesn't seem to be very useful. He can't find his friends either, because they're in an isolated island that has more trees than humans, and he isn't about to team up with people without a useful weapon lest his partner decides to get rid of him.
That thought immediately surprises Chanyeol. The fact that he is already starting to get suspicious of his friends of a few years scares him. All of them have known each other for at least three years. Three years of passing homework around to those who needed it, three years of working together to beat the other classes during the annual sports meet. Three years of trusting each other, but it's almost as if those three years were nothing now that they have to fight for their own survival. Or maybe it's only Chanyeol. He shakes his head, and gets up again, deciding to continue walking around until he manages to think of a decent plan.
//
Luck must be on his side, Joonmyun thinks. He had kept his eyes to the front after witnessing the consequences of trying to be funny right next to him. If Joonmyun closes his eyes, he thinks he can still feel the blood that he had so desperately tried to scrub off on his cheek. The patches might be gone, but the fact that it had been there and what caused it is something Joonmyun doesn't see himself forgetting in the near future.
He does, however, temporarily forget it when he spots a moving figure nearby. Keeping his eyes to the front and hands by his sides meant having no communication with others, and that also meant that he had to either fight alone since he didn't try to get himself a partner, or hope that he's lucky enough to bump into someone.
Patting the top of his bag to make sure his weapon was easily retrievable, he rights himself and walks forth, keeping himself behind the figure. As he nears, he realizes that this classmate is one of the taller ones, and he lets his guard down a little. Being the class president meant that Joonmyun had to be close to everyone to keep everyone connected, but there was also a select few whom he is closer to.
Maybe the towering over him makes him feel safer, maybe it is also because he is closer to the few taller ones in his class, but he quickly speeds up until he is eventually close enough to tap the classmate's shoulder.
"Hey, Yifan."
The taller jumps. "What the fuck- Joonmyun? What are you doing here?"
Joonmyun raises a brow. "What else?"
"I meant-why are you alone? It's dangerous. You look like an easy target when you're alone."
"Which is why I'm here. Do you want to team up with me? I'm not suggesting that we go around killing of course, but it would be better to have someone hold your back when you're fighting or walking around. And I trust you." He had already unconsciously loosened his hold around his weapon, his hand slowly dropping back down to rest by his side.
Yifan's eyes widen at the last statement, and Joonmyun doesn't know what to think of the way he's standing now, as if he is ready to run from Joonmyun at any moment.
"D-don't say things like that... I can't team up with you, I have someone to look for." Joonmyun gives a questioning tilt of his head. "I'm sorry."
Joonmyun waves a hand around dismissively, though he is unable to suppress the soft sigh that comes out. It's not like he had really expected a yes anyway, but it's still disappointing, somehow. He is probably capable of convincing Yifan with a few more words, but he knows his friend must have his reasons. "Nevermind then. Who are you looking for, anyway?" Yifan's cheeks seem to have a slight tint of pink to them now, and Joonmyun suddenly realizes that only one person could make this happen-"Baekhyun."
Joonmyun also realizes that Baekhyun is very much in love with his boyfriend. He knows because it is impossible to miss out on them when they are practically glued to the hip, and it doesn't help that almost everyone goes to him when they want to talk to someone.
Joonmyun is pretty sure Yifan is aware that they both like each other, but he guesses it's safe if he only wants to keep Baekhyun in his sight and make sure he is safe. "Alright then, I hope you find him soon. Stay safe."
They part ways with a wave, and Joonmyun finds himself relaxing at the fact that he had just managed to talk to someone without getting close to danger. He knows his classmates are strong enough to not waver this easily, after all. Maybe they could be the first class to actually not participate in this game and overthrow the organisers. Then, Joonmyun wonders how long it would take before someone breaks and takes the first step-until he hears a gunshot and promptly falls to the ground.
DAY 1, 2:00 P.M.
The leaves of a bush rustle along with the wind, and Yixing isn't surprised to find nobody around when he steps out of the entrance of the school. He immediately surveys his surroundings and begins to walk towards the bushes, where he had agreed to meet Jongdae and Luhan.
They had someone else too, before that someone got killed. Luhan had been wearing a frown on his face and it's not like Yixing is expecting him to be laughing since his best friend had just died in front of him, but Luhan needs to know that it isn't his fault that the teacher was previously already in a bad mood. He pauses right outside the school gate for a few moments to decide on something, only resuming in his walking after he is done.
The two hunched figures nearby are already looking at him when he approaches, so he doesn’t bother trying to scare them or surprise them. Instead, Yixing waves and greets them with a smile as he approaches.
“Hey!”
“Hey. What were you doing there?” Luhan questions, and Yixing looks back to where he was standing before. Right where he is standing, his view is blocked. They don’t know. “Nothing much. Just flipping a coin.”
Yixing is the last student in class based on their names, so he is not too worried about bumping into people. What he is more concerned about is how they might seem like easy targets. Moving together in a group might mean that they can all take care of each other, but killing the group could also greatly increase one's chances of winning, and Yixing wouldn't put it past people to want to do that. Other people might want to do that, but not his classmates-he corrects, mentally.
The school and its perimeter will be out of bounds for the entire game, so they set out to find a spot where they could sit down and properly strategize. Silence fills the air between them as they keep quiet while they walk. Even if they do speak, it is in hushed voices, pointing out different directions and discussing where to go. Yixing guesses that they aren't comfortable with the idea of having to kill their own classmates too-no one should be, actually.
None of them have gotten a chance to look at the map yet, but most of the island seems to be filled with trees, and eventually they settle down under one. The sweltering sun only makes walking around more difficult and all three of them already have more than a third of their only bottle of water gone by the time they have managed to properly settle down. It isn't the wisest thing to do-depleting most of your only source of water in less than a day-but none of them would want to die of dehydration if they could help it.
Before they proceed on with the planning, they agree to show each other their weapons first, since that would be one of the most important things they would need for these three days.
"What the fuck." Jongdae swears audibly when he finds his weapon, while Luhan simply stares at his in part fascination. Yixing thinks that he is really lucky, but he isn't going to actively seek people out just to kill them off as far as he knows, so maybe a revolver might not be that useful. Aside from the weapon, everyone's bag contains the same things. It almost feels like they were back in school again and were playing around with some cards when they all share a look with each other, count to three mentally, before setting their weapons on the dry ground.
Both Luhan and Jongdae turn to look at Yixing in unison, and all Yixing could manage is a sheepish smile. No one talks about how Jongdae's weapon has got to be the most useless thing ever because they would rather not be pinned to the ground and be forced to fight with an angry Jongdae, but Yixing had to try really hard not to burst out laughing at the pot lid. Jongdae spares the two of them an appreciative glance when he sees that they are actually able to keep their mouths shut about it because he hates having people rub things into his face, and all of them take out their maps and start to plan.
Yixing finds out that they both think that their classmates would not start to kill people so soon too, so maybe if they could find some of them and try to convince them, they might have a chance at getting out alive together. Fiddling around with the coin in his pocket, Yixing mentally reassures himself. He is going to go home. He has to go home, for his family, and all of them will do it together. A part of him still doesn't believe that he's in this. He has known his classmates for three years, not three months. A bond formed over three months might be negligible and a bond formed over three years might not be as strong as one formed over five or more years, but he still knows his classmates well enough to think that.
They were all looked down on in one way or another, even Chanyeol and Yifan, who used to have girls spend their lunch break peeking through their class windows while they take notes in class. That was what made them more bonded, after all, the want to prove themselves too all those that look down on them. Phones do not receive signals in this godforsaken island, and none of them have a loudspeaker or a hailer, so they settle on finding their other classmates by luck.
After packing their things up, with Jongdae quickly stuffing his pot lid into his bag like he was embarrassed to have gotten it, they are finally ready to go. Their plan is almost perfect, and Yixing is sure that they would be able to get everyone's help on this. If they could put aside all their differences and become a bonded class unlike what everyone had originally thought, they would be able to get pass this obstacle too.
Until he hears a gunshot. And the sound of someone's pained moan.
DAY 1, 5:00 P.M.
Sehun runs. He doesn't even know where he's heading, but he continues anyway. Anything to get the image out of his mind, anything to forget the horrible deed he had just witnessed. It doesn't take him long to get breathless with the speed and spontaneity he took off with, but fear continues to propel him forward.
Running with your eyes closed for the most part is a little stupid, Sehun realizes, as he is sent surging forward not by his own will, but because he has tripped over himself. The first thing he does is to get up and look around frantically, his chest heaving for what little air he manages to breathe in while he takes in his surroundings. Given the speed and time he ran for, he should have managed to get himself far enough from that place. Sehun mentally pats himself on the back for deciding to join the track team three years ago even if he knew that joining this game was one of the last things he thought would happen in his entire schooling life.
His prefecture isn't particularly small or huge in size and there are a fair amount of schools here, and in every school, multiple classes of the same year. Everyone knows of this game because of how heavily promoted it is but only one class will be chosen for it every year. Who would have thought that he'd get this unlucky?
Keeping his fingers wrapped securely around the sickle he had in his bag, Sehun slows down his pace eventually until he is walking, taking the time to catch his breath. The island looked pretty big in the video and Sehun can only hope that it's big enough for no one to find him until he comes up with a plan on how he is going to survive these three days.
However, growing up in the more peaceful part of the country meant that the only exposure he got to violence was through shows and books. Even then, nothing could compare to actually witnessing bullets being shot and someone falling to the ground, blood leaking dangerously quickly out of the wound. Nothing could compare to the sound of the bullets that went straight through Joonmyun’s chest, the sound of him, pained and bleeding, begging for mercy and when that didn't seem to work, help.
Just when Sehun thinks that his breathing has evened out enough for him to take a break from moving around, the images start to come back to him. The Joonmyun who had bought him food when he asked for it, gave him advice when he needed it, helped him through difficult times. Dead. Lying on the ground in a pool of his own blood.
Joonmyun's eyes were open in obvious shock, and Sehun could bathe himself in bleach and that wouldn't be able to erase that image out of his mind. There was no blood splattering like Minseok's, but it hurt just as much to see someone he loved go like this.
Luck had definitely run out for him. Sehun was only walking around after sprinting out of the school headquarters when he suddenly heard people talking near him. He immediately paused in his footsteps and hid himself behind the nearest bush, peeking out from behind it while praying hard that no one could spot the contrast of his brown hair against the green and yellow leaves. Yifan and Joonmyun didn't look like they were going to engage in a fight at least, and since Joonmyun had already turned around to leave, Sehun figured he should too.
Until he heard that gunshot.
Sehun turned his head around just in time to see his beloved classmate collapse into a lifeless heap on the ground like he hadn't been conversing with another person just seconds ago. A glance at Yifan shows him holdng a pistol, and the culprit is unmistakable. Sehun didn't know which was worse; the fact that Yifan hadn't even looked the slightest bit sorry about it, or that he had even walked closer to fire a few more shots, as if he was worried that Joonmyun might still be alive.
Sehun gasped loudly and slowly backed up against nothing, and before he knew it he was taking off, oblivious to the fact that the noise he had made had turned two pairs of eyes on him.
Rubbing a hand over his face, his fingers tighten around the handle of the sickle again. He wasn't going to let that happen to him.
//
Jongin retracts his hand from where it had reached out lest he attracts attention and gives away his position, frowning in disapproval when he spots his best friend sprinting past the school gate like he has never run before. He should have known. Oh Sehun, the star of their school's track team, what else would he do? Sighing, Jongin reaches into his bag to retrieve an electronic device. Since his best friend is obviously already way out of sight, he guesses he would just have to rely on this for now.
It isn't the most useful weapon because there is no way this electronic device was going to hurt anyone unless Jongin strikes it down somewhere important, but his main aim for now is to find Sehun, so he figures it's good enough. Taking several cautious looks around, Jongin quickly jogs out of the school gate himself, remembering that the teacher-in-charge of this game had told them that the school would immediately be out of bounds once the last person had left.
It has been a few hours or so since then, Jongin doesn't know, but nothing has showed up on the screen at all. Jongin isn't even sure what the screen is going to show at all, and what he is supposed to look for, only that he thinks this should be used to find people. At the first beep and the green dot that shows up on the screen, Jongin immediately stiffens up. More to check if the noise had alerted the person around him than to actually find him. So he actually got a tracker.
Like any person would, Jongin wonders if tapping at the screen would make any difference. When nothing seems to be changing after seconds of jabbing at the screen even, he gives up and settles on the fact that the weapon is useful enough to at least warn him that someone is near. But not who exactly.
Jongin doesn't lament though, because he knows there could be someone out there with a pair of binoculars or something, so he sets off towards the direction of the green dot, making sure to keep his steps light so that he will not alert the person easily should he sense danger. The green dot is not accompanied by another so maybe this person isn't that dangerous. Unless it is Zitao because everyone knows Zitao can wield a sword much better than he can hold a pen.
Even as he sees that the previously only seemingly broad shoulders and thin figure starts to take form, Jongin does not make any attempt to move faster. Instead, he tries to figure out what the other might be doing. It is his best friend, and Jongin is not yet suspicious of him, but it is always better to be safe and sorry.
Sehun is simply walking around idly, his head turning left and right as if he was looking for something. Or someone. Jongin is suddenly reminded of the six year old Sehun he had met years ago, the one no one dared to approach, and of how they bonded over sharing a lunchbox.
The ice prince, the other children used to call him. Jongin never understood how the other children seemed to not be able to see past Sehun's perpetual straight face. He had to admit, even he was scared when he first approached Sehun, but the kid was the only one without a lunchbox and he looked especially hungry, so Jongin thought it might be good to share his. After all, his mother had told him to go out there and make friends.
Needless to say, the boy had greeted him with the same scowl that he uses to greet everybody, even teachers, and Jongin sort of wanted to reach out to smooth out the crease between his brows, but he stretched his then short arms out instead. "Wanna share?"
Sehun didn't smile, not when Jongin first approached him, not even when Jongin offered to share his food. The frown on his brows deepened, and Jongin was amazed, that for someone who was only six then, he could look so worried over sharing a meal. There were the beginnings of a smile on his face though, when Jongin took a seat next to him instead of opposite him as he settled down. As if the smile on Jongin's face wasn't big enough, when Jongin realized that Sehun had smiled-almost, at least-he grinned so hard it literally hurt. The little tilt of the corners of his lips told Jongin that the little bit of rice and delicious chicken he had sacrificed from his portion for Sehun was more than worth it.
That was then, and then there is now. Sehun has grown up to be a tall and good looking guy, if Jongin might say. Height helped where Sehun used to be too thin-he still is, but it is better than it was before. He eventually grew to be taller than Jongin is, and how Jongin is now the one who has to strain his arm a little to be able to rest it on Sehun's shoulder makes him feel things he probably should not be feeling.
(Jongin couldn't even begin to count the amount of times he was caught staring at his best friend but Sehun, being Sehun, usually just shoved him in the shoulder with a what's up with you? whenever he turned to look at Jongin at the wrong moment and it would be over. They never talked about it.)
Where Sehun's parents tended to neglect him, Jongin filled in the gap. Even if friendship wasn't as comparable as parental love, Sehun definitely smiles a lot more often now.
The sudden rush of memories had Jongin grinning again, remembering how grumpy Sehun used to look when he was younger-and how he still sort of does even now. Some things never change. Sehun still gets embarrassed whenever Jongin calls him cute for that. There is more weight rested on his footsteps now compared to before, and if he listens past his thoughts a few leaves rustle under his feet with every step he takes. Jongin stuffs the tracker back into his bag as silently as he can, crouching slightly as he creeps up behind his best friend, and-"Boo!"
Sehun turns around, eyes rounded but he's still safe, and Jongin grins because. "Hey, Sehun-ah. God, here I was thinking this thing is useless. I've finally found you. Great!" A deep breath to calm himself. A small grin at the familiarity. "So what weapon did you get? Do you have anybody yet? I've gotten a-" tracker and we could pair up and survive this together dies on the tip of his tongue.
Maybe it is Jongin's fault for not noticing that Sehun was obviously scared. Maybe it is Sehun's fault for not trusting Jongin enough. Jongin didn't realize that Sehun had been holding onto the weapon all this time, too preoccupied with being happy over finally finding his best friend. He had hoped that they would win this game together, but of course, there were no plans for that now.
Blood is rushing out faster than Jongin can think, his mouth opening and closing and opening in weak attempts to form words. What is he going to say, he doesn't know, but he now hopes that Sehun is able to make it instead. In his place. The blade of the sickle came down harder than any scolding or punishment he has ever gotten and Jongin almost laughs at the irony. Why did he ever think that those were painful?
But those were now all in the past, even further and more intangible than they used to be. Even the memory of them agreeing to enjoy this field trip together as one of their last times sharing a class is quickly slipping away from him. As Jongin falls to the ground, an image of a certain grumpy looking kid flashed past his mind, not too different looking from the one in front of him right now. He lets a small smile grace his lips, remembering how Sehun would start to whine whenever he really wanted something. It never fit how he looked like, and Jongin never got how he managed to pull the look of whining with your eyebrows crossed off, but he always found himself giving in.
More than just a best friend, Sehun had been a pivotal character in Jongin's life.
The ground is hard and cold when his cheek touches it and his fingers slowly start to loosen their grip on the tracker he was going to fish out. All he sees are Sehun's shoes, and even they are starting to become blurry.
Jongin gathers the last of his strength and tugs at his pants weakly, wanting to see Sehun's face for the last time. He thanks anything that is holy again for Sehun actually stoops down, even if his fists are clenching and he looks like he's trying not to cry.
"Win it. Win this. For me." Jongin chooses to rasp out instead of any of the many thousands of things that suddenly filled his mind then. Even if he doesn't move, the throbbing in his neck still continues. He guesses it's time to go soon.
Then, "I love... you." It comes out so soft Jongin could have been whispering to the flowers, or his teddy bears. Sehun manages to catch it with a sudden surge of physical pain in his heart.
Jongin had always imagined and wanted himself to have a painless death. This is, in some sort of way painless in that he got to see Sehun before he goes. But it is also painful because thoughts of things he never got to do and is never going to get to do start flooding his mind, reminding him of his eventual end. So as Jongin closes his eyes, he can only hope that Sehun knows that he has never regretted walking up to him that day, and that he loves him.
Cheery music starts to play and Sehun glares at wherever he thinks the music is coming from. There are dried tears on his cheeks and he is still squatting down in front of Jongin's body.
"Hello boys! The time now is 6PM, and it is time for your announcement! Remember to mark down those danger zones-we don't want to have you getting your head blown off, right? Moving on!" And Sehun scribbles down the timings for the different zones quickly, more afraid of what was to come.
"Next is the much anticipated list of those who have died so far in the order that they died. Are you guys excited?" Sehun's eyebrows pull down into an impressive frown, just what the fuck is wrong with this guy?
Then, the frowning expression is wiped off his face and is replaced by one of him squeezing his eyes shut. He knows who they are. He knows because he saw them die, and he was the one who killed one of them. He's sitting in front of one of the corpses even. But that doesn't mean that he wants to hear it.
"First off, we have boy no. 6, Kim Joonmyun." No. "Then, boy no. 5, Kim Jongin.” No. Sehun stares down at the checklist. He had already crossed out those names even before they were announced. Then he starts to worry. It was like when he was eight again, when he and Jongin got pulled into the teacher's office because they were suspected of cheating.
It was really only Sehun who had done it, but he didn't worry as much because he knew Jongin would take the blame for him because he was that good of a buddy, even as a kid. Instead of being called cheater, he will now be called murderer. All they have to do is reveal who killed the two of them. Sehun can already see the judgemental stares that are going to be sent his way should he bump into any of his other classmates.
Back then, even if he knew Jongin was going to take the blame for him, it didn't make him any less scared after being caught. Now, there is no Jongin to take the blame for it because he is gone, and Sehun is scared for he knows he has done wrong.
"That's all for today. Please get yourselves together and continue killing. At this rate, all of you are gonna get blasted at the end of the three days instead of getting killed. The next announcement will be six hours later. Happy killing!"
Wait. So they weren't going to say it?
Sehun sighs in relief, only to bring his hand up to immediately slap it over his mouth. The implication of what he had just done strikes him quickly. He is rotten. He must be the worst human on Earth. How could he even think that way?
Then, it's like something had snapped within him. There is something to be said in how he manages to bring his hand down soon enough and take a deep breath and ignore the thing that was tugging at his heart. Sehun reaches out for Jongin's hand to squeeze it one last time, bidding his best friend goodbye with a whisper before he forcefully pulls the sickle away from Jongin's neck.
Slinging his bag across his shoulder, Sehun gets up again and resumes walking around. Looking for his next prey maybe.
Sehun never bothered to peek into Jongin's bag. He could have seen Jongin reaching for something as harmless as an electronic device, but he doesn't have time for that anymore. He needs to save himself.
DAY 1, 7:00 P.M.
The sun is setting but Chanyeol doesn't want to leave yet. That makes it two. Minseok and Joonmyun. He has already seen two of his classmates die in front of his eyes, and not once had he tried to help. At this point, Chanyeol can't decide if he is even humane anymore.
Staring down at the list he is clutching, three names are already cancelled out. Three. That makes it one quarter of the class. They had come here all excited to spend time with each other before they graduate, how did they end up like this?
Crumpling the list in a fit of frustration, he groans loudly. Unlike Sehun who was stupid enough to take off that loudly, Chanyeol had bit down on his lip to keep himself silent until Yifan was done and walked off in another direction, not bothering to chase after Sehun. Chanyeol moved in the same direction as Sehun after he made sure Yifan was far enough, but he ended up back by the sea again.
The breeze is enough to keep him cool, but Chanyeol fingers at the collar like it was a tie that he could take off. The breeze is enough to keep him more than just cool, but the tightness of the collar is suddenly stifling. With it comes the reminders that he is in this game, they all are. With it comes the images of his two dead friends in front of him. With it comes great responsibilities-burdens-that he doesn't think he is ready to bear. And he thinks he will never be.
The sound of the waves crashing against the rocks beneath is a constant that he welcomes because it reminds him of what he used to do. It provides him with some of the much needed comfort for being put into an unfamiliar environment and having to fight for his survival. The breeze has been unforgiving on him for the past few minutes though and Chanyeol quickly unfolds the list to straighten it out because he needs it.
It is starting to get dark and cold, so Chanyeol picks his bag up and moves inwards and away from the sea.
Chanyeol is in an island with quite a few other people, he guesses, but after Yifan and Joonmyun, he isn't sure if he ever wants to see any of his other classmates again. Maybe he should go into hiding for the next two days or so.
Not that he can though, because Zitao is walking towards him with a look that shows obvious intent. Chanyeol doesn't know what for, for he has nothing to offer, but running away at this moment isn't the best option so he stays still.
"Hey Chanyeol. Have you seen Sehun?" Zitao doesn't have his stick (who would bring it along on a school trip anyway?), but that doesn't mean that he is any less dangerous. Hell, he could get a spatula and still be able to beat someone up with it. Whereas Chanyeol would just wave it around with his gangly limbs in hopes of scaring his opponent away, probably.
"Nope. I haven't. Why?" Before Chanyeol is even able to blink, he hears Zitao murmur a soft great and he is suddenly pressed up against the nearest tree bark. So that was his real intention.
Right. Chanyeol supposes love is really blind. Aside from being the menacing looking one who cries at the smallest things, he's also clingy as fuck. Especially so to Sehun. He doesn't know what Zitao sees in him, really, considering the fact that Sehun already has Jongin. Sehun and Jongin were never officially together, but they might as well be. Zitao must be pretty fucking blind if he does not see the way they look at each other. Either that or he has selective eyesight. To which Chanyeol doesn't even know if it is a thing but knowing Zitao, who can blow small things up into big proportions, nothing is impossible.
"You really haven't?" Chanyeol gives a roll of his eyes. Hasn’t he already answered that? "I did see him. But he ran away. Like he always likes to."
"Well thanks." Zitao now has both hands wrapped around Chanyeol's neck and he is squeezing hard. Chanyeol does not have muscles nor does he look menacing enough to scare Zitao away, but that doesn't stop him from raising his arms to throw Zitao off.
Chanyeol sees it now, that Zitao was simply going to use him for information about Sehun's whereabouts. He was going to kill Chanyeol if Chanyeol knew nothing, and if he was actually useful, he might be spared. Maybe. Suddenly Chanyeol feels like he knows none of his classmates anymore.
Chanyeol doesn't have enough energy to actually push up enough for Zitao's arms to start hurting, and by now, Zitao has his entire body pressed flush against Chanyeol's, pinning him down with everything he's got. His cheeks are quickly turning into an almost sickly shade of red and he has reduced to pounding at Zitao's strong arms with his fists like that is going to help.
Then, Zitao suddenly lets a hand go, and the other hand left choking him still has lots of strength, but obviously not as much as with both hands. Falling back down onto the ground after he pulls his weapon out of a side pocket in his bag, Zitao looks up to find Chanyeol gasping for air in between violent hacking, but more importantly, turning to run away.
Dagger in hand, Zitao immediately scrambles up and chases after him. The chase is cut short when Zitao throws himself forward and clambers onto Chanyeol's back, fastening strong thighs around his waist. Unlike Chanyeol, he is now stronger than ever with a weapon in his hand.
Out of Chanyeol's peripheral vision, he spots Zitao bringing a hand up, holding something that glints under sunlight. The jab to his collarbone hits him before he sees it, and Chanyeol doesn't know what to think of it. The fact that Zitao still can't completely bring himself to kill a friend, or that he now has a weapon with him. Either way, the situation doesn't look too good for him.
Wincing, Chanyeol turns and sends Zitao's side crashing against a tree bark, but the legs around his waist do not give. He resists the urge to let out a frustrated groan.
Chanyeol's mind is sent into an immediate state of panic when he feels a pair of rough hands close around his throat yet again, this time squeezing with more force. There is a rush of adrenaline coursing through his veins, and he knows his time is running out when the corners of his vision start to fade out as the pressure on his neck grows.
Chanyeol manages a jab of the elbow in Zitao's side as he thrashes around in futile attempts to get the deadweight off of his back, but eventually his legs weaken so much they send him falling to the ground with an obvious lack of grace, bringing Zitao along with him. They are now a tangle of limbs, but the hands around his neck are persistent as ever.
Zitao sees this as a chance to get rid of Chanyeol once and for all.
Struggling beneath Chanyeol, he tries to switch positions so that he gets Chanyeol beneath him, tightening the hands around his neck for good measure. Chanyeol's usually good looking face is painted with a bright shade of red, and his hair is sticking out in weird directions, which-in short-makes him look ugly.
In a brief moment of surrender, Chanyeol wonders why he isn't dead yet. He would rather be dead than be caught looking this horrible.
But he would rather kill Zitao than be killed by Zitao.
Long legs kick around, and Chanyeol's hands claw uselessly at the hands around his neck, fingernails too blunt to even leave scratches. Zitao smirks. Chanyeol is stupid enough to waste all his remaining energy like that.
Then, slowly but surely, it all stops.
The hands around his own pair fall to the ground, and there is no longer the sound of shoes scraping against the ground behind him, which can only mean one thing.
Chanyeol is dead, and Zitao was the one who killed him. Chanyeol is dead and he would never be able to find out what his future holds for him, because Zitao has so selfishly robbed him of his own right to live and find out. Chanyeol is dead, and the world is suddenly spinning.
Most importantly, Chanyeol is dead.
The trees seem to sway in every direction as Zitao pushes himself off of the lifeless body, all the bravery from earlier gone in a flash. He scrambles around for his bag, breath coming out quick and shallow. Quickly discarding himself of the dagger that he had used earlier, Zitao gets back on his feet and casts quick glances around him to make sure that no one was around to witness that.
When he notices no obvious movement anywhere, he runs.
//
The moon is up and Kyungsoo is glad for whatever light he gets from it.
He had spent hours walking around before he found this dilapidated house. While the walls aren't looking like they might crumble any moment, the house isn't in its best condition either.
There is the couch which caved in when Kyungsoo tried to take a seat. There is also the kitchen with a dining table but only one chair available. Did that person live alone? Kyungsoo thinks.
The house is pretty big, and Kyungsoo grins at all the personal space he gets. No one would find him here because it is so far away from the other parts of the island, and he will be able to survive these few days because he is going to hide here. The others will be busy killing each other but they will not realize that there's actually another person left. He has already thought it out, his perfect plan that will allow him to not only get out of this alive, but with clean hands too. Kyungsoo isn't even going to sleep, because someone might attack him while he is sleeping, and he can't let that happen.
The night before today's was already spent doing last minute packing for this trip, but he doesn't feel tired despite that fact that he hasn't slept for more than 24 hours already.
Making his way into the kitchen, Kyungsoo finds a spot under the kitchen island and begins to make himself home there, bringing his knees up and hugging closer them closer to his chest. Instead of falling asleep, he keeps his eyes open and waits.
He is going to win this.
//
Baekhyun breathes harshly through his nose as he tries to twist the gun away from Yifan's hands, hips jerking around while he tries to throw the taller off. Yifan might be tall, but Baekhyun hasn't learned all those years of hapkido for nothing.
He doesn't even remember much of how they ended up like this. He vaguely remembers Yifan running up to him while he was walking along the perimeters of this island. They had even managed to chat for a bit, before Yifan ruined everything.
Baekhyun wasn't looking for a partner, he was pretty sure he had mentioned that somewhere along the way, but Yifan offered himself up for the position that wasn’t even available in the first place. Baekhyun wasn’t planning to start his plan this early. He had simply wanted to spend some time walking around. Then, Yifan came and Baekhyun guessed having some company for a while shouldn’t be that bad. He could chat for a bit before they part ways and continue doing whatever they wanted to, but Yifan was clearly having none of that. He had tried his best to be nice for all that he usually wasn't in his rejection, but Yifan didn’t seem to have taken in everything that he said. Just when he thought Yifan had given up after the minutes of silence that had lapsed, "If I can't have you, Jongdae can't too."
Clearly Baekhyun's what the fuck in response to that was a wrong move, because he had found himself getting pinned to the ground faster than he can say say that again.
Yifan did bring his message across loud and clear though, but Baekhyun is now fighting with the intent to not only save himself and escape, he also wants to kill Yifan. How else is he going to be able to win this if he doesn't want to kill?
Baekhyun's plan is to kill everyone he sees-but not before assessing the situation, of course. He doesn't want to walk into the middle of a fight trying to kill the two of them who were trying to kill each other. It would be better if he got through with as little blood on his hands as possible anyway. As for Jongdae, well. Things will settle themselves when he gets there.
There are a few wasted bullets and Baekhyun internally sighs in relief at every one that goes out because that means that Yifan might run out of bullets soon. But he doubts that this is the only magazine he has because they have to survive three days, the government couldn't be that stingy, right?
As soon as he manages to wrench the gun out of Yifan's hands, he grabs it with both hands instead of throwing it aside, aims it at Yifan, and pulls the trigger.
The sound rings in his ear while he slowly opens his eyes from where they were squeezed shut tightly before. Baekhyun's entire body tenses up as Yifan's body goes limp and starts to fall forward on him, and he quickly throws the gun aside to shove Yifan off. Scrambling up, Baekhyun immediately tells himself that he has to do this. He has a future out there for him out there as a singer, an entertainer, he has to kill and fight for his survival for his dream.
Letting out a loud breath through his mouth, Baekhyun ignores everything that's going on in his head and grabs the gun again, inching closer and closer to Yifan afterwards. The shot is right through his forehead, but that doesn't mean that he is dead. Baekhyun allows himself a few moments of staring, purposefully avoiding the eyes that were already glazed over. He has just taken a life away. That much is known. Standing up, Baekhyun aims the gun and fires a few more shots at the already dead Yifan, watching the limp body convulse at the force of every shot.
DAY 1, 10:00 P.M.
Shaking, Zitao clenches his fists in a weak attempt to steel himself and continue walking, only that his hands remind him of the horrible thing he had done earlier. It was Chanyeol's fault. It was Chanyeol, who had proved to be useless. Zitao doesn't even dare to hurt a fly (much less a human) even if he had practiced martial arts for so many years, so it must be Chanyeol's fault, right?
The pounding of his heart has not lessened by much since he ran, and the weight of the bag and tightness of the collar around his neck feels more burdening with each step he takes. Zitao breathes in deeply and pushes the image of Chanyeol’s face out of his mind. Or he tries.
His priority right now is to find Sehun, not obsess over how he just took a life away with his bare hands.
Running around while shouting Sehun’s name seems like the fastest way now, because as Zitao continues walking, he finds himself wondering if he had walked through these same places before. The forest is an endless maze of trees and Zitao is getting lost in it. Right as he is about to take a turn and try walking in a different direction, he spots a figure moving near him and promptly picks up his steps. The sun has already set long ago, and what little illumination they get from the moon barely helps as Zitao loses the figure a few times.
He can't identify it, not when he is having difficulties with keeping up and trying to be quiet at the same time, willing his own feet not to make too much noise as he weaves his way in between trees, eyes intently looking out for that one moving tuft of hair.
"Hey!" Zitao calls out, quick steps turning into jogging as he catches up with the figure. As the figure turns, Zitao finds himself holding his breath, though he is unsure why. He wants to see Sehun, wants it to be Sehun, but he also doesn't want Sehun to know what he had just done. Will Sehun's view of him change if Zitao tells him that he had betrayed himself and contributed to the death count? Out of his own free will?
Probably, Zitao answers for himself. There is no reason not to. Then again, what he doesn't know won't hurt him right?
Sehun is holding onto a sickle but the blade isn’t stained. He isn’t the one who killed Jongin or Joonmyun then. Zitao then smiles, gentle and measured curls at the corners of his lips while he tries not to look overly excited about seeing the person who is standing in front of him now. About seeing Sehun here. He is going to ask, and they are going to work together just fine.
"Do you want to pair up with me?" Technically there was no rule asking them to. Zitao simply feels safer with someone around him, feels more comfortable in this new environment with someone familiar around him. It isn't until he finishes speaking does he realize that Sehun can very well reject him any moment. Knowing Sehun, he is probably too soft-hearted to put it straightforwardly, so he might do this letting people down gently thing he always does. Zitao has seen him do that to the people who have asked him out countless of times. Not that he was looking or listening.
Zitao heard Jongin's name earlier when the teacher-in-charge of this game made the announcement, so he knows Sehun is most probably alone since his best friend is now... dead. So is Minseok, Joonmyun and Chanyeol.
Chanyeol.
Trying to suppress the shiver that is threatening to run through his spine at the mention of that name, Zitao stretches his smile further, trying to look more hopeful. Maybe even pitiful, if that helps in pulling Sehun over.
Sehun catches his bottom lip in between his teeth while he thinks, looking like he's having a debate with himself in his mind over the choices he has, while Zitao's mind floods him with questions that will never have answers because they will never be asked. He can say no now, and play this game alone. Or he could say yes and earn himself an ally, but he would have another problem to resolve when the game starts to near its end. Sehun's best friend is gone and he is alone, weaker without someone beside him. Zitao knows martial arts so he can probably do a better job at protecting Sehun than Jongin ever could. If they had found each other at all. He doesn't know why it's taking Sehun so long to realize these facts, but he doesn't rush him for fear of scaring him away.
Eventually, Sehun agrees with a softly mumbled okay.
Now that was easier than expected, Zitao thinks. It is dark by the time they finally settle down and Zitao finds out that the wind only gets stronger at night. Now it is not only creepy and foreign, this place they're in, it is also hot in the day and cold at night. What a conducive environment for people to want to kill indeed.
Laying out the sleeping bags they found amongst the mess in their bags-wait, there is no tent?-they both climb into it hoping to get some proper rest soon. They might miss the 12am announcement, but the danger zones will not be activated until the next morning because they understand that the participants need to sleep too. Maybe they aren't that bad.
Only that sleep doesn't come that easy.
Sehun had climbed in yawning, more than ready to let sleep claim him even if the ground is incredibly uncomfortable. Lying on his back, Sehun can feel the bumps and depressions of the uneven earth. If he listens hard enough, he thinks he can make out some sounds coming nearby. They might be insects, or maybe wild animals, Sehun doesn't know. He could take a walk to check it out since he is sure he isn't going to get any sleep soon, but his mind is too busy for him to want to get up.
//
Chanyeol breathes. A long, deep breath of the cold, chilly air. The pavilion he managed to come across makes for great shelter, or at least great temporary shelter. There are ants crawling around, Chanyeol just can't see them because it is too dark to, but he feels it. The nature still hasn't changed its mind about being nicer to him, after all.
Just as he is about to pull the cover of the sleeping bag over his head, an alarm sounds, and Chanyeol quickly reaches out for the map and name list that he had placed right at the front pocket of his bag. Convenient for him to mark out the danger zones any time he hears the alarm sound. Convenient for him to cross off a friend's name like three years had meant nothing.
"Hello. This is your teacher speaking. In the last six hours, only student no. 11, Wu Yifan, has died. What is this? Do you all not want to go home?" The low voice comes out harsh even at this time of the night (or morning?) and Chanyeol is unable to stop himself from curling up just a little in his sleeping bag, like a child that had gotten scolded. "The next danger zones are F-4, which will start from 6am. D-6, at 7am." The list goes on and Chanyeol almost falls asleep marking the timings and places out, but he makes it through, waking up just in time to hear the last line. Maybe he should have fallen asleep instead.
"Sleep tight, don't let your conscience bite."
//
Sehun doesn't sleep tight. In fact, he doesn't sleep at all. Not for the next few hours, at least. Zitao had frowned for a good few minutes after the announcement and Sehun watched, not bothering to ask what he was thinking about. Sehun watched Zitao shrug at nothing before he stuffed the map, name list and pencil back into his bag and promptly snuggled back further under the sleeping bag.
Lying back on his back after he had kept the name list and map himself, he uses a hand as a makeshift pillow and allows himself to gaze at the stars for a few moments, putting off the more important task for a few moments. Sehun is sure Zitao would appreciate the few minutes of sleep he is getting before he is put to eternal sleep anyway.
If Jongin was here, he would probably make a lame joke or two about Sehun and the stars. He would say something about how Sehun is more beautiful than the stars, to which Sehun would cringe, but he would end up laughing with Jongin like they had nothing to worry about. Jongin would make constellations out of randomly placed stars, and he would take Sehun's hand but say nothing, just lie there with a stupidly wide grin on his face. He would do so many things.
Sehun takes in a deep breath that sounds more painful than anything else, shutting his eyes tightly. His conscience, which he had been doing a very good job of ignoring for the past few hours, is sure as hell biting at him now. Screaming at him for his greatest sin of killing someone who had so obviously put all of his trust in him.
Sehun's free hand goes to his sickle. He had made sure to stop by the sea to wash Jongin's blood off so that no one suspected anything. Not that Zitao had enough brains to. After Jongin, Sehun had no plans of going around with anybody. Trust no one but yourself, he thinks. Zitao simply came along and Sehun saw his chance, saw his next prey. Sehun wonders. Is Zitao awake right now, wondering when his partner would betray him like he is now?
Then, sitting up like he has finally made a decision, he moves around as quietly as he can. Turning his body around to face Zitao's, Sehun creeps closer until he can hear the steady breathing of the other's. Even and paced, it must mean that he is asleep, right?
This is my chance.
Sehun tightens his fingers around the handle of the sickle and raises it, unblinking as he swings his hand back down and sends the blade almost entirely through Zitao's neck. If Zitao hadn't been awake before, he definitely must be now. Only that he is sent back to sleep a few seconds later, given the amount of blood that is flowing. He is sent back to sleep forever this time. There is no going back anymore.
If Sehun had to choose, he would obviously choose himself over Zitao. What else is more important, a partner's life or his life? If Sehun didn't kill Zitao then, Zitao definitely would have done it to him instead, no doubt.
(Little did he know that Zitao hadn't even planned for that yet. His only aim was to find Sehun, and they will work things out from there. Sehun doesn't know that Zitao had almost zero intentions of killing him off, and that it was only his horrible nature that was telling him that people can no longer be trusted because he couldn't even trust his own best friend.)
His hands are painted with another person's blood now and this time even the sea water, with its chlorine and coldness, would not be able to wash them off. The smell of the blood is thick, so Sehun moves himself a little further to the side before he gets on his side and curls up, with his back facing Zitao's corpse. There were never any plans to partner up and win this together, not with Zitao. Closing his eyes, Sehun finally manages to shut out the voices in his head and fall asleep.
Sleep is always better when you know the person near you won't be alive to kill you, after all.
(5 killed, 7 left.)
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